--- Ukyou Kuonji <ucchans@ameritech.net> wrote:

That's true, I suppose... as bad as Genma is (and as you know, *I*m
rather
biased against the damned yatai thief), ANYone could be a better
father than
Gendou Ikari.

Or Gendou's brother, apparently.

This Shinji is a lot better off than the original jellyfish that

was

rejected by his whole family Shinji

Definately.  But while *Shinji* may be better off, this may pose
problems
for NERV.  Gendou Ikari, after all, needs (yeah, can you imagine
using that
verb after that name?  But it's true) weak wills that he can
manipulate to
his purposes.  This new and improved Shinji may prove far too
strong for him
to sufficiently dominate.

might.  might not.

                        COULD BE WORSE
                      by Scott K. Jamison

Yeah, it could be by someone who *makes* grammar and spelling
mistakes.  All
I'm gonna be able to do is make smart-alecky remarks for the next
couple of
pages.  But what the hell, it's fun.

Oh, I have typos from time to time.

                           Prologue

Odd that you gave us chapter one first, and *then* the prologue. 
Checking
to see if people would be interested in the concept before veering
off from
the typical Evangelion storyine?

First posted the Prologue many months ago.  Obviously, many of the
readers had forgotten it.

_Then_

   "And stay out!"
   The panda came sailing out the gate face first, but tucked and
rolled for minimum damage.

You know, I never thought that I'd seen Genma-baka *do* that, but
you
*would* expect a martial artist to think of things like that, now,
wouldn't
you? 

Precisely.  Establishing right away that this is no ordinary panda.

 OTOH, you'd think Ran-chan would be fast enough to chuck him

out so
that his old man wouldn't have *time* to break his own fall...

   He picked himself up, brushed off the dust, and headed back
towards the house, only to be met by his son.
   "Sorry, Pops, but this time Akane means it.

Oops, my bad.  *Akane-chan* threw him out.  Well, good for her.

The woman has a temper.

   "Yeah, yeah, I turned out just *great*, didn't I?  I'll

raise

my son the way me and Akane decided to, thank you very much."

RANMA: Besides, if I turned out so wonderful, why d'ya think I'm
not capable
of raising my own kid properly?!

Precisely.

    Well, except for that one bearded fellow in the tinted

glasses

and a really nice-looking suit talking on his cell phone.  He

didn't

look like the type who went to bars during the day.

I just realized something, Scott-kun... this is obviously taking
place
post-Second Impact, isn't it?  This isn't actually Nerima anymore,
is it?

No, it isn't.

What with it going underwater with the rest of Tokyo-1 and all...

I don't know if you think it's germane to the storyline or not, but
I'd
think that would make a major difference in the lives of us
Ranmaversal
characters (hell, I suppose the fact that none of us peripheral
characters
have been mentioned thus far might be *because* of having been lost
in
Second Impact, I dunno)

Not telling.

  I think I'd try to cover that a little bit

more
somewhere along the way.

yup.

    And he'd brought a child in with him.  A boy, three or

perhaps

four at most.  Kind of scrawny and pale, sullen, but there was
something in his eyes Genma recognized.  He had *potential*.

I'd say he'd be five, given the timeline you mention (he's fifteen
in the
original story when he's summoned to NERV, isn't he?  

fourteen.

    Genma leaned a little closer to hear what the bearded man was
saying.
    "--mean, you can't take him?  I have important work to do, I
can't be burdened with a child at this juncture....Yes, it is
unfortunate that his mother is...no longer with us....You are my
brother, after all, and blood is thicker than water....Very funny.

Heh.  Would have liked to hear *that* joke. 

It should be obvious, following from the previous phrase.

 For that matter, would

like to
meet this brother: anyone able to say 'no' to and make jokes at
Gendou Ikari
is a formidable person in his own right.  Either that, or he's got
no idea
of what he's dealing with.

This version of the brother really, really doesn't want to get
saddled with Shinji.

Fine then.  I will make other arrangements."  The man hung up.
    "This was not in the plan," he muttered, ignoring the child's
tugging his sleeve.

You can actually see him admitting to that?

Gendou's under severe emotional distress at the moment.

    "My condolences.  It's been my experience that boys need a

strong parental presence when they're little, or the nearest thing
they can get.  Looking at your boy, I'd say exercise and fresh air
would do him a world of good.  Have you considered having him
trained in the martial arts?"

As has been pointed out, it's amazing how two wrongs (ie, Gendou's
abandonment, and Genma's training, of Shinji) are about to make a
right.  Or
at least, three lefts.

Three lefts is indeed more correct.
 

    "As it happens, I am a martial arts instructor.  Genma

Saotome,

at your service."
    An eyebrow quirked.  "As in Ranma Saotome, the one who--"

All things considered, unless Ran-chan had something to do with
saving Japan
from the worst of Second Impact (and who's to say he might not
have?), I'm
surprised Gendou would know anything about him.

I needed some reason for Gendou to even consider this insane
arrangement.  We may learn at some point just what Ranma did, but for
now, suffice it to say that he's very famous as a martial artist.

    Genma grinned as he carried the boy on his shoulder.  Gendou
Ikari hadn't even blinked at the outrageous yearly stipend he had
suggested as a training and boarding fee.

GENMA:  Why, for the money I asked, you could practically build
your own
giant robo!
GENDOU:  Wrong series, putz.

Actually, Genma has a dubious idea of what constitutes "big money."

    He was already laying out a training schedule in his head.
They'd have to start slow, because the boy was so puny, but in a
few months he'd be ready for some real training.  And this time,
Genma promised himself, no mistakes.
    He looked up at the boy.  "Yep, Shinji, you're going to be
grateful, you are..."

He's also not gonna be raised ANYTHING like Ran-chan was, assuming
Genma-baka avoids ALL the mistakes he made....

Nope, only the mistakes he knows he made.  In the manga, Genma
doesn't repeat a mistake *if* he realizes he made one.  The trick is
getting him to acknowledge an error in the first place.

    "He didn't say, but he did stress that it was urgent."  She

reached into her apron pocket.  "This is from the woman who will
meet you at the station there.  Healthy-looking, isn't she?"

Very nice.  Is Nodoka expecting Shinji to be 'manly' with Major
Katsuragi?

The world may never know.
 

Nice to see you writing again, BTW, sugar.  Although while I've got
you
here, any word from Scott Johnson...?

Still struggling with RL issues, last I heard.

"When you need to lift a heavy rock, think of it as a woman's

butt.

Then you'll be able to move it no problem."-_Antarjuat, the Fast

Runner_

I *should* take offense at that, but I'd like to think the shoe
(or, in this
case, the baggy jeans) doesn't fit.

I'll point out that this line is spoken by the brother that does
*not* have the two best-looking women in the tribe chasing after him.

Good movie, by the way.

Thanks,
SKJAM!

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes
http://autos.yahoo.com

             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'