painamplifier@tds.net wrote:
At 10:40 AM 3/22/02 -0700, you wrote:
painamplifier@tds.net wrote:
At 09:28 PM 3/21/02 -0500, you wrote:
YAY! Another chapter!
Glad you enjoyed it. Thought I'd just try to address your concerns.
Please forgive me for being so...lacking...in my C&C compared to the size
of this fic, but you really don't leave much to complain about in your
writing. Well...except this little typo.
OOps. My bad. I spoke too soon. I went back and re-read this (It's too
good to read only once!) and I noticed a couple of other little spots that
have a problem. Even more embarassing, my original questioning of the name
"Spasma" does indeed on second examination appear to be Makoto's 'pet name'
for Dasma as evidenced later when it is used again. I'll try to do better,
I promise!
Yes, Makoto does not seem to be "Spasma's" biggest fan. Might not be
a good
idea to get in the habit of calling a goddess by such an undignified name,
though. You know, just in case.
So far as I can tell Genma sealed the techniques because the one technique
has
a nasty habit of killing people around you randomly and the other
technique has
a...bad effect on your personality. I see no reason why those considerations
wouldn't apply to Ranma, particularly if he's hoping to get along with his
hosts.
? Obviously I need to go find those chapters again and re-read those. I
don't remember anything like that...but I'ts been a long time since I read
those. (From the Ranma Project translations.)
Recall that these techniques never surfaced again in the series, no
matter
how desperate things became for Ranma.
Frankly, for me the old "Senshi look at how superior Ranma is and ooh and ah"
routine got old a long time ago. It particularly wouldn't work in this world
which is full of a wildly exotic range of superpowered beings. Ranma just
isn't
that special.
I note, incidentally, that the Senshi don't use attack phrases either, and
that
works for me as well.
Ah, you misunderstand. Damn I suck at explanations.
I agree 'Superior' Ranma stories are boring, mainly due to how they are
written but also due to overuse. I was trying to refer more directly to
the fact that most of Ranma's fight descriptions are very dry. No hints at
various techniques are given nor any indication of how Ranma is stronger
than 'normal' people. I'm more looking for those little things than him
shouting out some lame ass attack name. When the senshi attack we see them
throw their chain/lightning/fire/ward. When Ranma fights, it's more like:
Punch, Kick, jump. (And oh yeah, the ever so generic 'chi-bolt') Now what
the senshi throw around has some 'oomph' to it as normal people don't/can't
do that, while everyone can do what Ranma is doing.
I don't think I'm getting your point here either. Not everybody can
do what
Ranma does, although as David pointed out earlier he is in a world full of
people with powerful abilities, senshi and sorceresses and wild bounty hunters
alike. The attacks that the senshi use are magical in nature, most of them
elemental magic. It stands to reason that there are sorcerers and magic users
in this world who are also powerful in elemental magics, so this is not
unique. The powers that would be unique to the White Moon Court would be
Usagi's, Hotaru's, and probably Setsuna's. Other than that, this world, and
particularly this city, is a place where outrageous modes of combat are quite
accepted.
As for Ranma being somehow mundane, several references have been made
in the
story to the fact that Ranma is a fighter of rare talent. He springboards off
of one monster and attacks another in mid-flight, he dances through enraged
mobs of beasts and emerges unscathed while wreaking havoc, and generally uses
his talents to destroy these creatures with his bare hands. Let me just point
out a few references from one of the latest chapters, chapter 10:
Just then a streak went through the middle of the growing
cloud of mayhem, sending several bodies flying in its wake. The
streak bounded through the combatants with reckless abandon, and
Mars opened some space between herself and the knot of monsters.
"Is that ...?"
"Ranma?" V replied with a crooked grin. "Uh-huh. I don't
know whether to ream her for being so reckless, or just stand in
awe."
Mars could see what her friend meant. The little red-head
performed a breathtaking dance routine with death as her partner,
skating along the razored border that separated the living from
those who were one instant too slow. On that border, one
distraction or misstep meant eternity in a cold grave, but the girl
moved with absolute certainty and the grace of a goddess as she
unleashed a series of terrifyingly deadly yet beautiful attacks.
Ranma's body ricocheted off of a flying eyeball much like
one of those they'd encountered earlier, arcing to the ground near
where the two senshi were fighting.
"Why are they following you?" Ranma demanded, not
sounding at all winded.
That doesn't have ooomph? Ranma engages in close-quarters attacks
that take
her through the heart of the enemy while Mars and Venus attack from a
distance. It may be martial arts, but it takes a fighter of rare talent to
attack in that manner.
I want to see why
Ranma's punch or kick is special. Is it because of his strength/endurance
or some nifty technique he learned somewhere. Like his first fight with
Ryouga in the manga. He doesn't have any special moves he uses at that
point, but the scene is memorable because it shows what is special about
Ranma/Ryouga in relation to what everyone else is capable of.
But you're talking about what is essentially a martial arts duel,
technique
versus technique. That was in fact prevalent in the Ranma series, as his
opponents were generally other martial artists and he had to match and defeat
their techniques with his own. In the above scenario, Ranma incorporates his
strength and speed along with all his training. In this story, I'm not going
to have him shout out "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken" to indicate that he's
punching fast; I'll just note that his punches are a blur. That is more in
keeping with the tone of the story.
The best scene so far that shows what Ranma is capable of was the time when
he rescues Minako from the Nightmistress...we see that he's something
special even though he doesn't actually do a whole lot.
I don't understand. Ranma's fighting ability has been seen as
something
special from his first meeting with Usagi and Rei. His speed and grace, his
death-defying aerial attacks, have been noted at EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE where
he engages the enemy. I don't understand why you feel he is being
shortchanged.
I DON'T think
having him steal the scene whenever he's in a fight would be a good idea
either, but too often when he's fighting monsters, it's completely
background material.
In an ensemble cast, he's not always the focus of the action. I do
not
agree, however, that he is somehow in the background just because his every
movement is not choreographed. If the focus of a chapter was a duel between
him and another martial artist, that would probably be appropriate. Here, I
do not believe it is.
How about having Rei/Ami/Minako be curious or
suspicious of his 'chi-bolts' instead of completely oblivious and accepting
that he can throw them?
They have discussed Ranma's chi earlier on, with regards to how it
powers the
key. And Makoto made reference to witnessing master level martial artists;
chi talents are not unknown to these people, and certainly not likely to cause
suspicion in folks who can use combat magic.
> Or just throw in some literary flavor and show
that Ranma just didn't throw a 'punch' but rather a 'Tiger strike punch'
(If your using Makoto as the observer.) Or a punch with 'piledriver' force.
(Maybe just by using a description of what the effect is of the blow on the
opponent/environment.)
Well, how about this from an earlier chapter?
Off to one side Ranko leapt through the air,
executing a lethal aerial ballet that was beautiful yet deadly. The red-head
moved in a pattern that
was incredibly complex, one that she must only have been able to create
moments before initiating
it; it carried her from one flying creature to the next, each on a different
path and moving at
different speeds. And yet, Ranko not only hit each flying nightmare, she did
it without a single
wasted movement.
Rei had never seen anything quite like it; even Makoto, whose physical
attacks were more
grounded in martial arts than those of any of the other Inners, couldn't match
the sheer artistry of
this attack.
I think there was plenty of literary flavour there. Maybe you
disagree.
Maybe what I'm trying to say is that when Ranma isn't in the spotlight, he
fades too far into the background to the point he's nobody. Kind of like
a Marvel superhero comic. Normally he's boring Clark Kent (Ranma), but
when someone is in trouble *BOOM* He's Superman (Ranma THE Martial Artist).
Ranma is an outsider here, and doen not feel comfortable. He
certainly isn't
going around doing handstands and breaking walls with his fists, but I do not
agree that he becomes a nobody when he isn't fighting. A great deal of the
introspection, and all of the first person introspection, has been his. He is
only one character in this story, but I certainly do not agree that he has
been in any way shortchanged. I just don't see it.
Well, thanks for your comments, and I hope this addresses some of your
concerns about the story.
Ciao,
Mark
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