Michael Noakes wrote:
Hi!
Well, it's been a while since I've posted. This being Bridget, >rather
than Jamie (who seems to post weekly...). It's not the fic I
Good to see you're still writing!
...if slower than dirt, but what else is new? :P
had hoped to post next, but it's the one that got me writing again,
Guess we'll just have to wait a bit longer for the next chapter of
Monotagari... but that's okay, since now I'm hoping you'll also continue
this new series.
Good! I am working on the next chapter of Monogatari as well, but I
find it moves much more slowly, even when there's no poetry involved; I
think I'm overly attached to the fic, which makes me more nervous about
doing it justice, which clogs up the ink in my veins to no end...
and I suppose I should be grateful that it's the least complex and
potentially shortest one I've got going... In any case, I do hope >you
enjoy.
Disagree with you on that one, however: possibly short -- I don't know, I
don't know where you're going with it -- but it's also possibly very far
from being simple.
I was speaking relatively; the other stories on my drawing board are
much more... involved... than this one. Certainly requiring more
research, and detailed plotting. This one is one of the few I have
entirely plotted out.
What I mean is... well, it's a familiar story, there's been other fics that
have speculated on a Ranma being raised as a female, or being dunked in the
spring as a child to make an unwilling daughter, and so on. Yours is
probably the best written of what's been seen, however - I still maintain
you're one of the best fic-writers on the list - and it's the setup thats
refreshingly different... and that seemed to hint at something I found
totally unique.
*blush*
I'm probably way off in left-field, here, but it seems like this fic could
be retelling the Ranma story in a sort of de-mythic way; that is, stripping
away a lot of the fantasy of the series and resetting it in a sort of 'real'
world. Nothing simple there. So instead of a Chinese cursed spring, say,
then a mother's oath to raise their son as a daughter, and the same gendered
problem of the series.
That is rather where I am taking it - though the magic still exists,
it's just that Ranma hasn't encountered it. I like gender problems :)
Other interesting ideas: is Ranma's prediliction towards martial arts bred
in the bone? He's been sheltered from it all his life in your story - can
he still learn and achieve what he has in the series? Or could he learn
anything with equal proficiency, and it was just his father's insistence
that drove him to excel? Looking forward to see where you go with it.
Well, I can tell you right now (with no spoilers intended) that there's
no way he will achieve his "normal" proficiency by the end of this
series; it would be ridiculous, to say the least. But as to the rest...
we'll see, won't we?
Although it's hard to imagine, in your story, that he could pull off the
illusion for much longer. He's a fairly cut guy in the manga; Nodoka's
determination/insanity might have kept some of that down, but he's still not
going to develop in a feminine way. Ucchan was one thing - and she made a
fairly poor guy at that - but I don't imagine that Ranma'd be able to pull
the facade off much longer, especially if he doesn't _want_ to.
True enough. Once puberty hit, his "biological clock" started ticking.
That beard would be pretty hard to deal with... :)
Well, anyway, nothing but idle musings here. Very interesting story, and
looking forward to seeing more. Real nice detail work, too: I could picture
the school scenes perfectly. (On the side, I'm not sure about this, but I
think there's a school regulation about hair-length, even for girls. I
don't think waist-length is allowed, at least not hanging freely. But
that's a real minor nit-pick.)
Well, as to the hair... I know that a number of schools have restricted
cuts to the point where one has either a short bowl-cut, or long hair
with bangs, no other styles allowed. It wouldn't surprise me if length
were restricted - but then, we know the Furinkan High Principal's view
on this matter, now don't we? :P
Heh. Now you've got two series I'm waiting to read....
...and hopefully, two series I'll be finishing within my lifetime... :)
Thanks for the comments (all the way from Japan, yet)!
Bridget
--
"I choose you - PIKASPEW!!!"
Jamie to 2 month old daughter Madeline,
shortly after being spat up upon...
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