I guess the biggest place I differ from some critics is here. This
character
is *not* Ranma as we know him. This Ranma is a girl, Ranko, who
has been
raised as a boy, and acts macho and blustery in an attempt to live
up to the
way he/she was raised. She is not comfortable being a boy; she
feels like a
girl inside. The Ranma in the manga is very comfortable being a
boy. This is
an enormous difference. They could not possibly react to things
the same
way.
Sure, a girl trapped in a boy's body could act like a boy, could
even act
like Ranma if they were raised that way, but their feelings and
motivations
would be different from Ranma in the manga. To me, the interesting
part
about this story idea was that I could see someone acting like
Ranma due to
being in this situation; it's an alternate explanation for Ranma's
behavior.
I guess my summary is that Ranko's motivations are completely
different from
those of the manga Ranma, even though their *behavior* (prior to
the
revelations about Ranko's past) is very similar. If you have
trouble
accepting this change in the character, then the story is not
going to work
for you.
And let me clarify *THIS*. I am a *TRANS SEXUAL*. Someone
who's body does *NOT* match who I am inside, I am fundamentally
female to the depths of my being... and I know more about these
situations than you do. Which is why I was incredibly offended by
the trivialization of these situations which show through your
writing.
Try and RESEARCH such things before going and writing about
them.
Akane. Akane is far too sappy, her mode of speech more
reminiscent of Kasumi with a slight dose of personality.
Downplaying her anger is commendable, but it hampers the overall
portrayal of Akane, and I find it difficult to believe (Simply
by
telling me) that she must have treated Ranma so badly because
her
(Subconcious) friend was taken away from her.
Akane is prone to emotional and compassionate behavior.
Granted. However, the strangeness that just rubs me the wrong
way
has to do with how lovey dovey she acts with Ranma halfway
through
the story. I am not so sure people, in real life, work this
way,
considering there are a thousand and one things Akane can hold
against Ranma.
There's also the speculation that Akane has not, nor has
ever, had lesbian tenencies. Granted, this is your
interpretation
of Akane, and everyone perceives this particular situation
differently, so I shall leave it alone.
I have had other people tell me they think Akane is in character.
I can see
your points, though. My premise in the way I wrote this is that
Akane *is* a
compassionate person. It always seemed to me in the manga that
with her
friends she was very different: friendly and loving. I never saw
her brain
Sayuri or Yuka with a mallet, or be angry to them. She is still
angry here;
look at how she treats Hirota; when the boy comes to hit on Ranko
at the
beach, Akane is irritated. She is furious at Genma and wants to
kill him. To
me, she's the same. Ranko is now in a different category: "best
friend,"
rather than "annoying unwanted fiance," so she treats her
differently.
Just for the record, Ranma and Akane were deeply in love, and I
doubt Akane would let gender problems get in the way of her love...
(Summarizing, I think the reasons for Akane's "FRIENDSHIP" with
Ranko are bunk, and don't hold up to emotional critiquing about such
events actually happening).
I am not a pro pro Cannon person, I only suggest people see the
manga for what it is and try and work with what's in it towards
wherever they want to go, not throw it out the window in favor of
their own (Excepting Alternaverse cases, which I can honestly
accept).
I also have to say I am a sappy person. It tends to contaminate
everything I
do. I have a little too much Kasumi in me. It's hard to write dark
things
when you have even a little bit of Kasumi in you. Oh, excuse me, I
feel this
urge to go clean up the kitchen.
Keep practicing, this situation didn't pan out because it lacked
the angst and dark turmoil beneath the characters personalities, not
to mention, as others have, these just don't seem like the Ranma
characters. Not at all. Only person who seems close to realistic
is... Tofuu. ^^;
There's also the speculation that Akane has not, nor has
ever, had lesbian tenencies. Granted, this is your
interpretation
of Akane, and everyone perceives this particular situation
differently, so I shall leave it alone.
Is this "guilty until proven innocent"? What is there that leads
you to
believe Akane is a lesbian? She certainly seems to me to have
romantic
tendencies towards boys in the manga, at the same time as she
finds most of
them irritating.
*Whistles Innocently* I have my sources, and one must also
remember that Takahashi was poking fun at common day gender roles in
Japan... so it is very likely she had Akane as a bisexual, and would
be ironically fitting with her relationship to Ranma.
Why is thinking Akane doesn't have lesbian tendencies
"speculation"?
Wouldn't it be the other way around, that thinking she *does* is
speculation?
Both are speculation, look speculation up in the dictionary. In
any case, I was severely disappointed how fast Akane dropped Ranma.
It just didn't seem real, believable, and was another one of those
annoying things. (When I say drop, I mean drop romantically).
Nodoka: I cannot say an awful lot about Nodoka. She seems
accurately portrayed, when correlating to the Manga and Anime.
Flighty, emotional, but generally a very sweet and caring
person.
At least in this, I can say Nodoka was portrayed well.
*HOWEVER*, I
do not see Nodoka as being so instantly accepting that Ranma is
a
guy. Yes, the author did mention that she wasn't REALLY
prepared
for it, but even pretending to tolerate it takes a great deal of
time and emotional soul searching on a parents behalf.
I think she tolerates it, but is not happy about it. If she's a
loving
parent, what else should she do? Tell Ranma "If you don't become a
girl
again I want nothing to do with you?"
Yep. Welcome to the real world. My *FATHER* has almost said as
much to me, and he is a good man with a good heart. The world is a
cruel, malicious, and generally un-nice place.
Not to mention Nodoka, however odd her sense of honor, DOES
follow the old ways of Japan... and this likely would put Ranma
without a mother, and possibly a father (Depending on how much
influence Nodoka has upon Genma).
Genma: I should shoot the author for developing an
You didn't read the whole thing. As I've mentioned before, the
narrative
says nothing about Genma. Zero. All the observations about Genma
are from
the characters. Think about it from their point of view: he's
apparently
done something horrid, though they're not clear on the details.
He's skipped
town. Of course they're going to assume the worst. It's human
nature to
assume the worst of someone who runs away from a bad situation and
isn't
around to defend themselves.
Yes, I said in this message I didn't read the whole thing, and
from what I've heard, I'm somewhat glad. It was a good idea, but
executed poorly, even though your writing skills are above par some
of the best I've seen, you need to develop some of the other talents
of literature more (Plot, Storyline, Continuity, Conflict, Climax,
Reality of Substance Matter especially.)
If you think I hate Genma, read part 3. The antagonism of the
characters
towards Genma while he is gone is dramatic tension, and personally
I think
it works very well.
Honestly, the Tendou girls haven't much of a right to hold
anything against Genma (Soun Does, Nodoka Does, Ranma Does, and
Akane has SOME right...). Cologne and the others would not give a
flying monkey F%^@# about Genma (Simply by their personality
traits).
I could possibly have stood for Genma bashing from just the
Tendou's, but the Amazon's ruin your believability. Like I said.
*RETCH*.
This is the same Nabiki who, in the very first chapter of the
manga, had
both hands to her mouth and was saying "Ooooh! He's cute!" about
Ranma?
Nabiki was fishing for a husband in the first episode. She
would've lost interest after learning Ranma had no money to really
speak of. Nabiki is rather two faced at times, and though I believe
there is a human being underneath that exterior, her motives are far
from giving a damn about anyone else but "NUMBER ONE".
I think Nabiki is a girl. Every girl can say "icky" once in a
while. I do
myself, and I'm no spring chicken, believe me. And Nabiki is only
17. My
nieces are older and say a lot more cutesy things.
Not every girl says "ICKY" and Nabiki Tendou is one of those
girls that doesn't say it. EVER. Any Nabiki fans out there, back
me up on this.
More specifics here would be helpful.
I'm sorry you want to tear your hair out. I'd recommend against
it.
Specifics are Ranma's speech is rough Japanese, not annoyingly
rough japanese, just impolite enough to get the effect he wants, and
he isn't always speaking rough japanese in every single sentance of
the series. He alternates, depending on situations.
I think Cologne is very pragmatic. She is not going to waste time
crying
over spilt milk. She is over a hundred, you know. Shampoo and
Mousse usually
follow her lead. You'll note that Shampoo is much more upset than
Cologne.
Waste time crying over Spilled Milk? Is this the same Cologne
that came all the way to Japan to find Ranma to force him to marry
Shampoo??? The same Cologne that has, time and again, persisted in
forcing Ranma towards her Great Great Granddaughter, despite being
intelligent enough to see Akane loves Ranma and vice versa??? The
Same Cologne who is stubborn, persistent, patient, and plotting???
Hmm. For some reason The Memory Erasing Shampoo popped into my
head a moment ago. I am sure they would attempt to use it on Ranma
to erase memories of ever being a girl, to better secure him as a
fiancee... (And another poster noted that the Amazon's would most
likely be PRO lesbianism, considering men are considered inferior in
their culture, only useful for breeding stock).
I might also note that Ranma, girl or man, will not get away
from Cologne. Cologne has invested WAY too much time, training, and
effort on Ranma to let Ranma slip from her grips, not to mention
Ranma was possibly the most perfect specimen of a man Cologne had
ever come across in her life (Which means much stronger children for
the royal lineage of the Amazon's).
Comparing Nabiki's pranks (which is I'm sure the way she views
them) to
abducting a child and forcibly changing its sex doesn't seem
realistic to
me.
Pranks??? Taking illicit, and naughty, pictures of her own
sister and her sister's fiancee?? Or how about using Ranma's caring
and love to exploit money from him time and again (Not to mention
the entire arc where she was his fiancee and used him again and
again as an object more than a person).
Nabiki isn't as bad as Genma, granted... but she definitely
isn't as compassionate as you think she is.
Gender Dysphoria: Now then. Speaking as someone who scores
a pretty damn high score on the tests for determining
transsexualism, I will say this much. This isn't as easy as the
author makes it out to be. This is a hard, tough decision that,
despite Ranma's curse (Which makes things easier) is NOT
anywhere
easy to make. There is also no amount of *EASY* coping involved
with ANYONE who is involved in the situation.
I find it demeaning and trivializing that Akane, Kasumi,
Nabiki, and everyone else just ACCEPTS Ranma as female and rally
against genma (Which I am beginning to *GAG* over by now), and
despite how everyone says "Oh, it's Ranko's choice, don't force
it,"
in the story, they *ARE* Forcing it. ESPECIALLY AKANE.
Ranma being who Ranma is, I cannot believe in any sense of
the word BELIEVE that he would just drop everything he is in
favor
of being a girl. Doesn't work.
I am very sorry to hear that you are gender dysphoric. I wish you
the best
of luck in finding your own personal path.
I didn't ask for your pity. I told you why you are inaccurate
about this story, and why it is offensive to me and anyone else who
might be gender dysphoric.
I think you are missing something. Ranko was born a girl. She
lived the
first four years of her life as a girl. She has a birth
certificate to prove
she is a girl. She has darling pictures and home movies to prove
she is a
girl. This is a somewhat different situation than someone who has
been
biologically male from birth saying they feel like they are
female. Maybe it
shouldn't be, but people tend to give more weight to facts than to
feelings,
even though that's not always the right thing to do. Note that I
am not
criticizing gender dysphoric people here -- far from it -- but
that Ranko
has rather more ammunition on her side to prove she really *is* a
girl. It's
kind of hard to say "you're not female" to someone when they are
waving a
birth certificate and baby photos in your face.
Actually, it's very easy to tell a person they aren't.
Especially parents. That is the cruel thing about most situations
like this, the parents propogate it. I don't really care much about
all the "EVIDENCE" you throw into the mix. This isn't a situation
which Evidence will effect... especially with someone like Ranma.
I also cannot believe Ranma has always had a liking for his
curse, which again brings up the topic that these are not Ranma,
Akane, and everyone else. They are figments of your imagination.
They really should have different names, seems like you just
borrowed the Ranma crew to tell a rather unrelated story.
You may not be criticizing Gender Dysphorics, but you are
insulting them without even realizing it.
Also, some people *do* give the proper weight to feelings, and
respect to
the people who express them.
Don't preach to the choir, honey. I deal with people every day
which have heavy emotional problems, GD, Bipolar Disorder, Manic
Depression. I live by compassion as a rote, so feelings matter a
hell of a lot to me.
Yes, the characters try to not give their opinion to Ranma, and
fail.
They're human.
Yes, Humans are flawed. However, all of us are flawed in
different ways. I do not see half the people forcing ranma towards
female doing so. It just is not their personalities.
Which *AGAIN* brings up the fact that these do not seem like
Ranma characters, but people you made up from Scratch for
convenience sake. You yourself have said these are not the
characters we know, so why the hell did you use their names if they
are completely different people?
Part of the reason I latched onto this idea by Steve is that this
situation
is ideal for exploring Ranko's own situation without getting too
wrapped up
in other character's reactions. I wanted to write about what this
was like
for *her*. Having this irrefutable proof that she actually *is* a
girl
removes any right other characters have to tell her she's not.
Then it just
becomes a matter of "what is best for her? what should she do?"
I don't have much to say to this... only because I've already
replied to it. You seem to have decided the characters were going
to act completely OOC before even starting on the story, so
obviously nothing I say will conduct any sense of honor and justice
to the actual characters.
I wanted to explore what this was like for *Ranko*. I could have
written
reams about the other character's difficulties in coming to terms
with this
situation. The story is already approaching 200 pages and is not
even done
yet. There is really only room in this story to explore Ranko,
unless I want
to make it truly enormous, which I don't. It's like Nodoka's
kitchen: there
isn't room in there for everyone.
Hmm??? Oh, right. I've already wrote REAMS of stuff, on this
sort of subject. I take it slower, and don't worry about how long
it will be. It will be as long as the muses wish it to be, and
rushing just makes people gag at the rushed feeling.
In short... you SHOULD have written Reams abot her coming to
terms, because how it is right now it is laughably bad in the
realistic sense. People don't react this fast to things. People
change their minds, they change them back, and then back again....
People struggle with things, they don't just come to a conclusion
and decide "Great, I'm sticking by this."
That happens rarely.
One thing I am dissatisfied with myself is that Ranko/Ranma does
not spend
enough time agonizing over this. As she says later on, "Letting go
of being
Ranma is the hardest thing I've ever done." I didn't show that
very well.
However, "agonizing" means fretting over the same thing over and
over and
over and over again, and while that is sound psychology, it makes
for boring
reading. I felt that if I wrote 30 pages where Ranma was saying
"Should I?
Shouldn't I? Should I? Shouldn't I?" that people would fall asleep
(me
included). So having it happen over a week is utterly unrealistic,
but this
is fiction, and I think it works better. My experience has been
that people
get tired of hearing other people whine for prolonged periods of
time.
Boring Reading??? My fans would beg to differ about what is
boring. Without realism in such emotions, there is no connection to
the readers, and that is what any author worth their mettle must do.
CONNECT.
Either that or offend. =)
I will say this much. Fiction is not good fiction unless the
fiction is believable as Reality. Thus, your fiction is bad
fiction. Very bad fiction. Not only could I not believe it was the
Ranma crew, I couldn't believe that they were real people, and I am
a pretty imaginative person (As my friends can attest to).
I'm sorry you didn't like it. I like Fragile Clay. Are you going
to write
some more of it soon?
Thank you. ^^; It is a struggle for me to write, in many
different ways, the most being my Attention Deficit Disorder. I am
struggling, and the muses will gift me with a burst of creativity
some time to finish the first part of Volume 3.
I would like to apologize to you for seeming to be so harsh on
my criticism, I usually am more polite in it. However, I do see
that you have some potential to improve, and that your writing
skills themselves are very good, so take my harshness into account
and learn from it, don't cast it off as the words of some mad woman.
--
Sincerely....
Shimitsu Kaori.
Lost "Dragon-Gal"
of Shimitsu-Ryuu.
Princess of Chaos.
"What makes a curse is simply the view, a blessing to some is a
curse unto you, But
acceptance can conquer that fear you hold high, through acceptance
comes peace.....
are you willing to try?"
-Quote from Kaori Shimitsu.
My Homepage at!
http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/Shimitsu/chaos.htm
The FRAGILE CLAY WEBRING is at
http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/Shimitsu/ring.htm
ICQ UIN: 28514115
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