hkmiller wrote:
Chris "HomerNet" McFarland wrote:
Rabid Ranmafic Lover's perspective:
Excellent diversion to pass the time, even if finishing what has
been written is about as
frustrating as reading through all of the previously mentioned
"Ranma and Akane: A Love
Story", "The Nature of the Curse", and "Hearts of Ice". If you
don't know these stories,
you're not a rabid Ranmafic lover.
I found it interesting that you list these three together, which
presumably means that you
think they're of approximately equal quality. I'm curious as to why
you rate "The Nature
of the Curse" so highly; I don't know that I've ever seen it rated as
other than "Yawn-
Pedestrian" before. I didn't find it sufficiently interesting to
continue reading it.
I'm also interested in why so many people rate RAALS as high as they
do. You are
certainly not alone in rating this story highly, but for the life of
me I don't see why.
It seems to me more flashy narrative technique than actual
high-quality story.
Perhaps you could enlighten me?
I notice you didn't have anything to say about HoI... ;)
Seriously, though, I'll address each one separately:
The Nature of the Curse:
This one is particularly enjoyable for several reasons. 1.) It's one
of the very few fics that actually examines the Jusenkyo curses with any
sort of "scientific rational" (if such can be applied to magic), making
it a good study for other fans and writers to base their writings about
Jusenkyo curses and cursed individuals. 2.) It is actually a *well
written* fic; I'm speaking here about structure, grammar, punctuation,
plot development, etc. 3.) It follows with the original "feel" of the
Ranma 1/2 manga series; as in, it doesn't go all angsty, there's no
silly crossovers, there's misunderstandings like crazy, it's funny,
etc. Not a huge adventure, but good stories don't need a cross into
hell or "father atonement" or any of that to be a good story.
Ranma and Akane: A Love Story:
I feel that this is one of "The Best Fics of All Time" because it has
some incredible writing with amazing potential for great story. Keep in
mind that this fic is so massively incomplete you may as well only have
read Chapter One. Close examination of the hosting website shows that
RAALS is actually only volume one of a four part saga, and "volume one"
is so incredibly incomplete that those who do get hooked on the story
feel the end of what _has_ been written like a knife to the kidney.
Also, I suppose that whether or not you like RAALS is rather akin to
learning in different ways. Some people learn best by hearing material,
some people just seem to *know* the material, some have to actually get
in and get their hands dirty. You may simply not visualize the written
word the way I do. If I could somehow translate what goes on in my head
into cinema (or virtual reality, or whatever it is you best
conceptualize stories as) you'd probably be hooked, too. ;)
Hearts of Ice:
This bad boy is an INCREDIBLE epic, totally worthy of being a classic if
it could ever get over the stigma of being a fanfic for a series that
most of mainstream culture would gladly sweep under the carpet and
forget about. If you ever wanted a Ranmafic that followed Joseph
Campell's "Hero Cycle" nearly to the letter, this would be it. If you
ever wanted a fic that had emotion and drama (unlike angstfics, who's
only goal is to inspire you to depression), this is the one to read.
The structure and composition are so good you'd think a Professor of
English tenured 80 years had checked and rechecked it, and content so
good (with plot twists) if it were a donut it would be a Krispy Kreme.
The big reason I lumped them all together here is because they are all
frustratingly incomplete with very little chance at this point of being
finished, they're all good, and they are all "relatively" obscure. (Let
me explain that) People jumping in to the Ranmafic scene for the first
time are unlikely to know about Nature of the Curse, RAALS, or HoI until
they've been "enculturated," and to get to that point one needs to have
read ALOT of Ranmafics. These three are 1.) no longer updated, 2.) not
talked about very much, and 3.) not readily available on the usual
sources.
I hope that explains everything.