I think this story could be REALLY funny if Shampoo and Ranma decide
they want to try to keep it a secret after it happens, hoping to find a

cure

before anybody else figures it out (perhaps Shampoo will get in deep
trouble for messing with an artifact she shouldn't have touched, and
Ranma's just plain embarrassed).  Scenes in which Ranma and Shampoo
try to imitate one another could really be a riot, if done cleverly.

Language is going to give them away immediately.  Ranma can fake Shampoo's
Japanese, probably badly, but Ranma can't speak Chinese, and eventually
Mousse or Cologne would figure it out.  Might take longer if they were
speaking to Shampoo in Japanese only on purpose, to force her to learn the
language, but even then, customers and suppliers at the Nekohanten are
frequently Chinese, and I assume they would attempt to speak Chinese to
Ranma.

Would be fun to see a scene where Ranma tries to negotiate with a
wholesaler, without speaking Chinese and without having a clue what she's
buying.  ^_^

Shampoo, on the other hand, would be hopelessly out of her depth trying to
talk like Ranma.  If you subscribe to the theory that she's not an
empty-headed bimbo (just acts like one at times for effect), then she'd be
smart enough to try to get by without speaking, which might make Akane think
Ranma was in one of his moods.  Also, she could probably toss out the
standard Ranma insults without arousing too much suspicion.  "Kawaiikune!
Baka!  Um... Kawaiikune!"  But when she's forced to do more than say yes or
no or nod her head, she'll be toast.  ^_^

Then again, I could just see Akane leaping to the wrong conclusion...  "Why
is that baka trying to imitate Shampoo all of a sudden?  Is he trying to
make fun of me?"

The curse thing is another matter worth considering.  It might be amusing
to have the curses stick with the bodies.  That way, one might rationalize
having Ranma drop into the Nekoken whenever she's changed, becoming
the Demon Cat from Hell until she gets turned back.  That could be pretty
funny too.

Since I was talking about Shampoo-friendly fics in another thread, it's
worth mentioning that this would be a nice way for a Shampoo-friendly
writer to arrange a very plausible pairing with Ranma.  If each of them has
to spend time in the other's body, this gives them a mechanism to get
to know each other better, to come to respect one another.  Shampoo
has to deal with Ranma's life, Ranma has to deal with Shampoo's.
It might be interesting, for instance, to have Shampoo have to deal with
Ranma's enemies while pretending to be him.

And Ranma has to deal with Mousse, and with hostility from Akane and Ukyo.
^_^

I'm suspicious that when it comes to Soun or Genma putting pressure on Ranma
to marry Akane, Shampoo might not be able to resist saying, "Ranma not marry
violent girl!  Ranma marry Shampoo!"  Even IF she's trying her hardest to
act like Ranma, it would be difficult for her to pass this opportunity up...
^_^

I really don't recommend writing the other characters as cold-hearted
harpies and gargoyles who abandon Ranma to his fate, whatever course
the story takes.  I also would counsel against writing Ranma in such
a way that he knuckles under to the problem rather than fighting to
set things right.  But if Shampoo is fighting alongside him rather than
against him in this, it would be a very sweet way to bring them closer
together.

I hope this sparks some inspiration out there, however large or small.

I agree that Ranma wouldn't go to China just to become a good little Amazon.
So Cologne's going back to China -- what's that got to do with him?  Okay,
Shampoo's got his body, but... Ranma can be stubborn.  On the other hand,
Ranma would be likely to find his cure in China, so GOING there probably
wouldn't be a problem... marrying Shampoo and settling down in the Amazon
village would.

Keep in mind that, should Ranma reach a point where he accepts that he will
never get his body back, that's only half the story, because he's not STUCK
in Shampoo's body as it is.  His next step would be to seek out the
nannichuan and become a guy again... a Chinese guy with purple hair, maybe,
but that's a step in the right direction.  He might opt for the chisuiton
(I'm not going to bother looking up the spelling, so sue me!) next, or maybe
he's happy with the ability to be male most of the time (hot water would be
his bane, instead of cold).

I wonder if Akane or Ukyo would be interested in a mostly-male Ranma,
knowing that the truth of the matter is that he's not only female in
actuality, but SHAMPOO.  I mean, either one of them might have been able to
reconcile themselves to marrying a guy who's a girl part time... after all,
they know who Ranma really is.  But this is one or two steps further into
the weird... they might not be able to handle it.  If you want an eventual
Ranma/Shampoo pairing, that might be one way to go at it.

Miko!

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather a scornful tone, "it
means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many
different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's
all."

(Lewis Carroll, Through The Looking-Glass)

Nausicaa@sprynet.com   Belldandy@angelic.com
Anime rpg at http://come.to/akane/
Fan Fiction at http://listen.to/bell/