Actual C&C to a simple fanfic? Domo arigato gozaimasu! ^_^
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew M. Petalik <wolf@sbm.org>
To: Fanfic Mailing List <ffml@fanfic.com>
Date: Monday, April 19, 1999 2:18 PM
Subject: Re: [FFML][C&C] The FFML Matrix
least, but when he'd got here, Wanderius had turned out to be
Ryoga.
Wanderius? <chuckle> ok.
I didn't want to call him Morpheus, so this was the best I could come up
with. ^_^
Ranma stared at the mildewed curtains and the peeling
wallpaper. "Ryoga," he asked, "what the heck are you babbling
about?"
"You've been looking for me for several years," Ryoga said.
"No I haven't!"
"But I've been looking for you for a lifetime," Ryoga
continued, ignoring his rival.
"Well I've been here all along," Ranma said. "What's this
about, that bread thing again? If you wanna fight, you don't gotta
to drag me all the way up here."
Ryouga's dialogue here was basically a total rip-off. Hate to be a pill,
but you could've made a bit more effort to adapt it to the it to suit
Ryouga/Ranma type conversation.
Well, Ryoga's dialogue isn't original (although, writing from memory, I'm
sure I didn't manage an exact copy) but I think there's more humor in Ryoga
speaking like the all-knowing Morpheus, while Ranma tries to figure it out.
I just thought that would be the funniest way to represent it, and in a
spamfic, funny always wins out over logic...
Namely because, the next scene doesn't work without some kind of trust...
or some other motivation for Ranma to participate.
Well, that's true... then again, a close examination of the manga will show
that Ranma does a lot of things not because they're logical or consistant
with his character, but because Ms. Takahashi thought they would be funny...
^_^ For my part, characterization was not a strong consideration in a short
spamfic like this... I mean, Ryoga's completely out of character...
Maybe if you tie in Ranma's search for a cure with his something else,
you'd get somewhere. Like the red pill giving him the truth about his curse
or something like that.
Ranma: Is that a cure?
Ryouga: No... but it will give you the truth about your curse so
that you make your own cure.
Yeah, something like that could have worked... only done in a more dramatic
or funny way:
-----------------
"You never talked like this before, you know that?" Ranma said. "So, is
this one of the ghoul's tricks?"
In answer, Ryoga lifted a glass of iced tea from the coffee table. He
made certain that Ranma clearly saw the ice cubes floating in the glass,
then he upended the contents on his own head.
Nothing happened. Ranma's eyes got very big.
"You found a cure?" He exclaimed. "Is that what the red pill is? A
cure? Gimme that!"
"It's not a cure," Ryoga said, as Ranma snatched up the pill. "At
least, not directly. Nor is it a trick. Remember, all I can offer you is
the truth."
"Yeah, whatever," Ranma said, swallowing the pill. "If it saves me
from transforming, then who cares what it is?"
Ranma snatched up another glass of iced tea. "Hey!" Ukyo exclaimed,
"I'm not done with that!" Ignoring her, Ranma upended the cold liquid on
himself.
Instantly, Ranma became female.
"What the heck?" she exclaimed. "Why didn't it work?"
"Because," Ryoga said patiently, "You haven't been listening." He held
up a hand mirror, the face of which was spidered with cracks. "Remember
this, Ranma?" he asked.
-----------------
Better???? ^_^
"Yeah, whatever," Ranma said. He grabbed the red pill and
swallowed it. "There. Are you happy now? Is that all? Can I
go?"
Considering all the poisonings Ranma goes through on the FFML, don't you
think he'd be just a tad reluctant to take something like that from anyone?
Especially the way it's worded here?
***
Ranma awoke in a bathtub. The water was cool, and she
was therefore female. She cursed softly, climbed from the tub,
and began drying herself.
Here's the thing, would Ranma not have a curse in the real world?
If a fictional character could escape into the real world -- especially an
animated one -- how much would they change or remain the same? Forget
whether Ranma has a curse or not for the moment... how large are his/her
eyes???
It's best if you don't think about these things too hard. ^_^
"I think you know our compatriots," Ryoga said. "Over
here, we have Dr. Tofu. He was the first to discover the FFML
matrix, and escape into the real world. That's why he
disappeared from the original manga storyline, you know."
I recommend that you just call it "The FFML." It gets the point across
nicely.
Well, I think I only did it once, just to drive the point home... ^_^
Note: Having Dr. Tofu being the one to be the first to get out makes some
sense.
Like many of my best ideas, I didn't think of it. I think it was Sky's
idea. ^_^
The dark secret to my success is that I often write up the ideas that my
roommate Tom and my friends Sky and Jeff think of, since they're very
unlikely to write them on their own. ^_^
I wouldn't make it Cologne or Happousai since they would stand to lose
instead of gain. Why would they even look?
Very true! ^_^
"Don't worry," Ryoga said, "it will eventually make sense to
you. Now, sitting next to Dr. Tofu is, of course, Kasumi...."
The eldest Tendo sister turned from her computer screen and
smiled sweetly at Ranma. "Hello, Ranma! How are you doing?"
Ranma is totally amazed that Dr. Tofu isn't climbing the walls and trying
to eat his shoes.
Another characterization I overlooked, mostly on purpose... probably
shouldn't have had Kasumi there, but I figured Tofu would want to free her
first thing. ^_^
"Don't worry, Ranma," Daisuke said. "We got someone
good to play you. Ever hear of Tenchi Masaaki?"
"Uh... huh?" Ranma asked.
"Don't let it worry you," Ryoga said. "They've got
something going with Angus MacSpoon. Quite funny, really."
Ha ha! Nice plug!
"The world which you have known up until now is an
illusion. It is a fiction, written by the people who exist in the real
world. You and I, and all the others who are still trapped in the
world of fan fiction, are the pawns of the fan fiction writers,
forced to do every vile deed that they write down."
Ranma considered this. She seemed to be thinking very
hard.
"If it comes to that," she said, "I mean... if it comes to being
forced into vile deeds... something tells me that it happens to me a
lot more than to you, or Ukyo...."
Yeah... especially Gary trying to turn Ukyou into a dog. ^_~
Ah, I probably should have had Ukyo say something about her characterization
in various fanfics.... ^_~
"The oracle," Ryoga said, "told me that I'd eventually find
the one, and now I have. You don't know how many years I've
wandered the earth, searching for the one... and I'll admit, after I
found you, I wandered for several more years, hoping against
hope I was wrong... but I wasn't. It's you."
Bwahahahahahaha! That's great. Even in his search for the One, he couldn't
stand it being Ranma.
"So I was prophesied?" Ranma asked. "Are you trying to
say that I'm some sort of savior? That I'm going to save the
anime world?"
<raises and eyebrow> Wonder where he got that idea?
"But, now that you know the truth," Ryoga said, "you can
turn the tables on the fanfic writers, and seize your own destiny."
Can you say: REVENGE FICS?
I bet you wish you couldn't.
^_^
Miko: Rev... Revin... Revon... nope, can't say it. ^_^
***
"It involves a whole bunch of really neat martial arts. It
involves me never being cursed again. And it doesn't involve a
damned wedding! Got that?"
Ha! Talk about a wish that doesn't backfire!
Ranma let the receiver drop. He glanced about the streets of
Nerima, then shrugged, and flew straight up, disappearing into
the clouds.
From the dangling receiver came a very confused "Growf?"
Ha ha! Looks like there's one Panda that will never escape the FFML.
Well, I liked it... but thought that there are parts that are quite weak.
Of course, being a spamfic, that might've been the intention.
I'm never too concerned about the weaknesses in the plot of a spamfic. ^_^
Hope you write more stuff... it was a fun ride.
I'm always writing! Glad you liked it! And thanks for the C&C