Subject: Character Wells Run Deep
From: Mechaman
Date: 4/26/1996, 7:21 PM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com

On Fri, 26 Apr 1996, Ranma al'Thor <ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu> wrote:

On Fri, 26 Apr 1996, Mechaman wrote:

I'm sorry, Nightelf, but this has got to be one of the most classic cases
of not checking out the opposition first.  Ryan's been doing intense
characterization since almost fic one (and I DO mean fic one), six years
ago.  Anime fanfic writing on the Net has been blamed on HIS shoulders.
He was writing the Big! Sweeping! Epics! even back then.  Take a look at
http://www.eyrie,net under "Dirty Pair Fanfiction" We have a few of his
fics up there with some synopses.  Then read (or print for the summer)
some of those fics.  You'll be glad you did. 

Yexs, but his characterization while good, is as created whole cloth as 
he accuses the characterization of anyone writing "deep" Ranma fanfiction 
of being.  The Dirty Pair are close to blank slates upon which he creates 
his masterworks...Unless they hid deep characterization of the Dirty Pair 
in the TV episodes I haven't seen...
(I'll admit I've only seen 6 TV episodes and the movies of Dirty Pair...)

   Hmm, true and not true at the same time. Overall, there IS a character
base for the Pair, just like any other anime.  There ARE character traits
and "Pavlov" responses involved, yet There are also other touches that
make a good DP fic as well, at least to me.  (Admittedly, some of the
traits below come from Ryan's fics, but they can generally be justified by
the anime.)

Kei: The exuberant one.  Ready for the fight, and on a two-second fuse.
While sometimes ditzy, more times than not it's her emotions and
temper that get her into trouble.  Oddly, she appears to be the scemer of
the two, or trying for the easy deal.  Of the two, she's the one to
likely meet the roguish beau, more than once ending in tragedy.  One of
the hardest parts to characterize with her is that while she IS a tomboy,
she doesn't beleive herself to be one, and can act quite the charmer if
she wants.

Yuri: If Kei is exuberant, Yuri is refined.  This doesn't mean she's a
cold fish, her temper can flare as well.  But if something more subtle
is needed, she's more equipped to handle it.  She's also the more
technical of the two, and more likely to pay attention to the breifing or
understand the technical end of things.  While being infamous for causing
coronaries in passengers, she's handles driving under combat conditions
fairly well, and is the more accurate shot of the two. She may be more
scary in the long term; she doesn't forget.

   But it's not just the girls themselves, but the inteaction between
them, a sort of pattern that's sometimes hard to quantify.  Each is one
half of the other, a type of symmetry and banter thant makes it easy to
see that they've known each other for a good LONG time.  At least, in a
"good" DP fic, that's the case.

  Personally, I'd put both of them on an even footing, both have to add
characterization to make it in an all-text environment.  And there have
been as many interpretations on Ranma as The Pair.  But neither can be cut
"whole cloth" for a new characterization.      
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 James Rinehart aka Mechaman- Anime Fanatic and Itinerant Journeyman
 jrrst16+@pitt.edu            | 
 mechaman@jurai.net           |  He's not afraid of your judgement,  
                              |  He's knows of Horrors worse than your Hell 
------------------------------|  He's a little bit afraid of dyin'
 http://www.pitt.edu/~jrrst16 |  But he's a lot more afraid of your lyin'
                              |
                              |      - Rush, "The Weapon", _Signals_
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