You know, I sent a copy of this to the FFML, and after what must be eight
hours later, still no copy. Let's see if it works again.
In a message dated 9/12/2001 12:37:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
Thermopyle@tds.net writes:
I challenge everyone on the FFML to write this. I haven't seen this
idea done much before.
-
We all know how this goes : girl and panda in street , panda hits girl
with sign , girl goes to Tendoes , Tendoes find girl is boy , Akane
gets angry at Ranma , now here's the difference.
"You saw me in the nude you lech. Pervert." , screams Akane.
"You walked in on me. Besides it's no big deal for me to see a naked
girl , after all I'm gay." , said Ranma.
-
Here's the challenge - turn this into a fic about what happens next
(the whole series) and their reactions.
It wouldn't change a single thing as far as the overall story goes, just
motivations. Kasumi and Nabiki would both step back, volunteering Akane as
the fiancee. 'Akane's a tomboy, so she'd be the best choice!', and 'Go for
it, Akane! This is your best chance to get a guy who understands you!'
[Heh. You'd wish it would be that simple.
[I think the whole "gay" concept would put a dramatic spin on things. For
example, at what point did Ranma decide that he was gay? Did something happen
between he and Ukyou before she was abandoned (a most logical place to
diverge I think)? Was there an incident in between the time after Ukyou was
abandoned and before meeting Ryouga (more material to work with, as Takahashi
never really touched on those areas)? Was it being around Ryouga that
inspired it? The history alone could spawn a few chapters. The actions
afterward, from when Ranma meets the Tendos to whenever you plan the story to
end, would be affected completely. It might not be a sweeping change like
Ranma falls into the Spring of Drowned Mount Phoenix Amazon Cat Warrior of
Love and Justice, but the impact would be just as great, if not greater.
[For example, suppose the divergence occurs with Ukyou. Perhaps a
six-year-old Ukyou tells a six-year-old Ranma that their father's arranged
their marriage to each other and that she loves him. Since we haven't
changed Ranma thinking about Ukyou being a guy, he still thinks of her in
that manner. Assuming Genma hadn't taught him any differently, this may come
up as an "okay" thing, until he asks him about it. Several instances could
crop up here; a likely one is that Ranma is shown the error of his thinking
(probably though guilty association concerning his mother, or more physical
methods, both of which could create a closet mentality for Ranma throughout
his life--ever seen American Beauty?), but it doesn't "go away" like Genma
had hoped. Instead, our favorite martial artist keeps his secret to himself
for all these years (the announcement was treated as a joke, which Ranma
meekly concedes to--already, this is diverging; note the personality change
around this subject) until the arrival of Ukyou, and subsequently discovering
that she's really a girl.
[All hell breaks loose at this point.
[This could launch the story into a variety of directions: a quest looking
into who he truly is sexually, which could result in Ranma and Akane either
becoming closer or ripping them apart (we assume that Ranma has been trying
to act like a heterosexual male for the duration of his engagement, but his
actions are noticeably jerky and devoid of real emotions, which could already
cause a rift between the two of them; denial of Ukyou's gender, instead
pretending things haven't changed (although he continually insists on
treating her like a male "Oh, silly, you almost went into the women's
bathroom. Here's the MEN'S bathroom), which would put a lot of tension on
their relationship; or Ranma comes to the conclusion that Ukyou is really
cursed like him, and was somehow locked into her form permanently, and is
suffering from amnesia, and it's up to him to help out his other fiancee into
discovering her "true self".
[Written properly, it could be just as engaging as "Genma's Daughter" (kudos
to that lucky author) or as flat as Michael Rhea's works were (dear God, I
hope not). Honestly, it looks like something I'd try my hand at, but the
subject matter is certainly not my forte, and practical experience I have
none with it (boy, I've got great ideas, but as far as carrying the lot of
them out...)]
And as for the question of the curse and whether Ranma would spend all of
his time in that form, and what would happen when he gets locked by Herb...
Being gay doesn't mean he'd want to be a girl. Not at all. He'd still have
a strong sense of self, rather than being a guy who is straight, he'd be a
guy who is gay. He wouldn't think of himself as a girl just because he's
gay. Sure, it would be an issue... but not as one as you probably think.
He wouldn't be outrageously different just because of a change in sexual
preferences.
[It all depends on where the story diverges at, the direction you're taking
it, and how much psychology you like investing into the story (as it's
already going to be part of the story, like it or not). Let's assume Ranma's
secretly in love with Ryouga; however, Ryouga's strictly a ladies' man.
Would he really use his curse to get what he wants, or would he remain male
and try seducing the Lost boy that way? Hell, Cologne's use of the Cat's
Tongue might be a welcomed thing, indeed for this type of story.]
Adrian D. Rainman
Don't rush what you enjoy most; that's just being selfish.
My fanfiction can be found at <http://lwf58.tripod.com/fan_fiction/raemowse/>
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