----- Original Message -----
From: "David Johnston" <rgorman@telusplanet.net>
To: "Vampyr" <vampyr3@wanadoo.fr>
Cc: <ffml@anifics.com>
Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 12:30 PM
Subject: [FFML] Re: [Ranma 1/2][Buffy TVS] Cursed in life, Cursed in death -
prologue

The problem is, that if you play in the Buffyverse, you have to play by
their rules.  That includes the fact that the human soul departs to be
replaced by a demon that may have the human's memories and quirks but is
not truly the human in question.  Now, you might argue that Ranma has
such special qualities that his soul can overcome this, remain in his
body and defeat the encroaching demon* but if so, then you should
actually write the battle between Ranma and the demon that wants to take
over his body.

*And if he's so special, how come he got taken down by a couple of
noodge vampires that the scoobies could have beaten?  Me, I think
a bit more of an advantage of surprise was called for, or the
introduction of a major villain.

Me, I had some real problems with Ranma being taken down by a couple common
vamps myself.

Nit to pick here... this _is_ the same Ranma that took on a godling.. and
won.. right?  You know... the God that could have cracked Glory over his
knee and used her bones to pick his teeth if he got the yen to try it... You
know.. the one that Ranma destroyed a mountain to kill.

The way I see it... this fic seems to be going the route of lowering the
powers/ability levels of Ranma and the Nerima neurosis squad to the point
that the Vamps from BtVS would become threats to serve a goal of making it a
semi dark fic... the only problem is... the author seemed to be
concentrating too much on saying "Yay vamps is cool and powerful" and not
enough on recognizing that Ranma should have been able to clean their clocks
without breaking a sweat.

The problem with this is that portraying the Ranma cast as somewhat "less
than themselves" is that it weakens the intrinsic ties to the anime mayhem
of Ranma... and leaves me wondering if these characters are really from
Nerima at all.

I mean let's be honest here... if Ranma were taking a BtVS style vamp on
head to head... it wouldn't last a tenth of a second against him... Hell...
Ryoga would be flat out impervious to their attacks... what with the Bakusai
Tenketsu  confered toughness he has going for him.

As to Ranma's toughness... remember when he lost his strength due to the
moxibustion  attack of Happosai's?.. He got pounded into a rock wall by
Ryoga  and he left a _crater_ in it... and still came back for more...that
crater was about 2.5 to 3.5 meters across... and a half meter to a meter
deep... Given that Rocky soil doesn't compress well...that would take
hundreds of tons of force.. and vamps on Buffy arent' anywhere near that
tough... I mean even Xander has kicked their tails before in season 1 and 2.

Something tells me a couple run of the mill vamps couldn't even begin to get
one up on Ranma.

As such.. I think that since author is deliberately lowering the power level
of the Neremites so that the vamps don't seem to be a joke, that  he's
missing an interesting opportunity in doing so.

The Ranma theme thrives on humor.. and turning the Vamps of Buffy into a
joke has plenty of opportunities for yucks.

Plus what with Sunnydale in the offing... I see plenty of chances for Ranma
to insult Buffy... Comments like "Chestless tomboy", "Uncute foreign martial
arts hack" and the like spring to mind.... and events like Akane laughing
nervously when the Scooby gang discovers how incredibly strong she is...
thinking she's another Slayer... and Ranma clearing it up with comments
about how she just naturally has the strength of an ogre...that it's nothing
supernatural...  and that if they want to see Slaying.. they just need to
let her cook them dinner.

Other issues like the dialog of the Vamps (sorry Vamp... but the "shall we
dine" comment just made my eye twitch... the vamps on Buffy haven't been
that stereotyped in ages.

Just some thoughts ..

-Steve



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