Ranma Al'Thor wrote:
Well, some of it is in the previous chapters. (I showed Akane and Ukyou
getting cursed in Chapter 2 in Flashbacks), and eventually, I should have
a flashback to explain more clearly why Ranma originally came to the WOT
world and ended up in the Tower, and what happened when they came looking
for him (And further explaining the incident that split Akane)
Ahhh, non-linear storytelling. It still seems unnecessarily confusing
to me, but....... <shrug>
After all, why should _everybody_ respond the same way to something like
that, really?
Well, I'd like to hope I didn't show them all having EXACTLY the same
reaction to their situation.
Well it gets into very interesting territory. Sexuality is determined
by genetics, sure, but _when_ is it determined by genetics? Are the
genes affecting the brain's production of hormones at all times, or do
they create a "program" in the brain to determine that sort of thing
during puberty? If something is determined by genetics at one point,
does that mean it's genetics at all points? Not to mention that
here it's all magic in the first place.
Phah. I'm just a poor engineering major. Anyway, no they aren't all
reacting the same way. But they are all having well, "lustful",
thoughts about members of the "now-opposite sex. I'm sure there are
indeed story reasons for it. I just thought it might have been a little
more fun (not to mention screwing with Ranma and Akane's heads a lot
more) if Ukyou-kun had pointed out some cute guys or something.
(Choosing Ukyou because right now it's the adjustment problems of Ranma
and Akane that seem most central to the plot.)
In the Wheel of Time Universe, if you are stilled, or burned out, you
wither away and die unless you find some sort of overriding quest to give
you a purpose in life. For men, it's pretty much a guaranteed Death
Penalty. For women, it's pretty close.
It's part of the universe. That's not to say that the Ranma cast couldn't
find sucha purpose to sustain them, but the two of them who actually know
anything about it have been fed lots of horror stories of how you wither
away :)
Like I said, I'm not so sure it is part of the universe. How much of
what happens to those former channelers is from loss of the Source, and
how much from being ostracized from all their friends and family?
Why do you think Thom hates the Reds so much? Sure they gentled his
nephew, but the nephew would have died otherwise. One gets the
impression they were unnecessarily brutal about it. Thom certainly
seems to believe that if the Red sisters had done things differently,
the boy would never have committed suicide. We don't know if it's true
or not, but it is another point of view from the novels.
I'd put being Gentled with suffering from chronic depression. It can
kill you, but it's possible to survive with either support from others,
or having an overiding obsession that keeps you too busy to be
depressed. The key phrase there being that stilled sisters don't get
"support from others", they get shunned. I imagine a man who has been
gentled might as well pack his things and move to another country.
Everybody from his hometown is going to look at him cross-eyed for the
rest of his life.
I guess my main point is that the automatic death sentence is
"conventional wisdom". In the novels, how many times has conventional
wisdom turned out to be a load of horse apples?
Besides, Ranma's obsession with martial arts certainly equals any
One-Power wielder's obsession with the Source. I don't think he would
ever kill himself, and I'm not sure it's physically possible for someone
in his shape to "waste away". I'm not sure about Akane, but I think
that like Ranma, she's in far too good of physical condition to wither
away. Unless maybe she was stuck with her own cooking.
By the end, all three of them will be back to their normal cursed state.
Physically, anyway :)
Now if you had only brought Genma along. He could have been stuck in
panda form for eight months, only to develop an intense obsession with
lady pandas. He deserves worse.
entirely, but I don't see that happening. (And how long _were_ you
planning to leave Ukyou stuck as a man, Mr. Biles? Giving yourself
plenty of fodder for revenge-fics, aren't you?)
You always hurt the ones you love :)
Oooh, good line. Ukyou's going to be chanting that as she splashes you
with the water and introduces you to your new boyfriend. (No seriously,
I think you can get one freaking hilarious revenge-fic out of this
thing, and I'd love to see it.)
I have no plans to introduce any love interest for Ranma, male, female, or
giant wombat. Akane and Ukyou are enough for any sensible aquatranssexual
:)
Hah, you're just saying that. I'm sure a pair of Maidens of the Spear
are just lurking in the wings. "Hah, he's mine!" "Fine, and she's
mine!"
Arggh. An idea for a Dirty Pair/WoT crossover just struck me. Kei and
Yuri as Maidens of the Spear.
{"Don't blame yourself for the town's destruction, Rand. These things
happen when the Pair are around. Why do you think we've had them on
'scout duty' in these lands for the last five years?"
Sammael gibbered in fear. It was _them_. Worse than the Dragon Reborn.
Light, worse than the Dark One himself! They has been reborn so many
time, spat out again and again by the Wheel, their threads refusing to
mesh into the weave. The true lords of chaos.
The Dirty Pair.}
It's insane, but somehow it works.
Things will not, however, be back to the Status Quo, at the end of the
story.
I didn't really think they could be.