On Thu, 7 Nov 1996 21:21:55 -0600 (CST) Scott Jamison wrote:
: (Scene: Scott's apartment. Scott is trying to watch "Lois and
: Clark" while Ranma and Akane play Doom on his computer.)
:
: Ranma: Ahgh! Giant smiley face! Use the @Bap Stick!
:
: Akane: Right! (Punches buttons furiously.)
:
: Computer: @BAP @BAP @BAP!!! WHOORWhoorwhoor...
:
: Ranma: Dang! Isn;t there anything that can take out the giant smiley
: face?
Heh heh heh. Gotta love those Doom patches.
: Scott: Actually, people seem to like "Twilight Existence."
"Like it"? I *love* it! Where do you always come up with these
great ideas?
: WORSE
: by Scott K. Jamison
: (standard disclaimer)
: Chapter Six: In Which Ryouga Explains a Little
: "I suppose you want to know how come I changed into a pig."
: Ranma nodded.
: "In my wanderings, I found myself in China, in a place known as
: Jyuusenkyo, the Valley of Cursed Springs."
Hmmm, I have a little problem with this. It was obvious in the
last chapter that Hikaru would have something to do with Ryouga's
curse, but to have Ryouga just *accidentally* go to China and
*coincidentally* arrive at Jusenkyou at the same day Hikaru got
cursed... Doesn't work for me. Despite his directionlessness,
Ryouga has never left Japan, except on purpose. Crossing an ocean
isn't something that even Ryouga would do without noticing.
: Elements of this chapter were rewritten in response to the
: discussion of "Thy Outward Part."
Isn't this wonderful? A story is written in response to others,
and influences yet another. A true writers' community we have
here. :)
: Sleep did not come immediately. I, this body, was in love with
: Ryouga. She could not quite get her mind around it. She tried to
: imagine herself kissing Ryouga, touching his unclad body. Nothing but
: repulsion. Ranma even tried recalling his feelings during the fishing
: rod incident back in the real world. Still just the faint nausea he
: normally felt when remembering it.
Good to know that at least *one* author remembers that Ranma has
had a brush with loving a male before.
: Ever since Kunou had first come on to the "pig-tailed girl" and
: the rather disturbing dream afterwards, Ranma had feared that his female
: form would affect his mind and make him want boys. But here she was in a
: body that was permanently female, had *always* been female, and Ranma was
: no more interested in boys than he'd ever been.
: Short-term, this was good. She didn't have to worry about
: unwanted "girl feelings" confusing her motivations. Any concessions she
: made to this form would just be an act to make things easier, not a
: horrible slipping away of masculinity.
: The long-term was going to be a problem, though. She certainly
: didn't want to marry Kunou or Ryouga, let alone Mousse or Tsubasa. The
: thought disgusted her, and it wouldn't be fair to them either.
: And the other major option wasn't really all that appealing
: either. Ranma had been raised to think of lesbianism as just as
: unnatural as male homosexuality, and while she could probably overcome
: that conditioning, her choice of partners would be relatively limited.
: She didn't think Akane, for all her protestations of hating boys, would
: really be interested. No question, she had to get back to the real world
: or his real body, and soon. Akane...I want Akane...
Hmmm. I'm not so sure about Ranma's homophobia as others seem to
be. He is very forceful about his own orientation (probably for
the reasons outlined here: it's his way of assuring himself that
his masculinity is still intact), but where are any signs that he
thinks badly about *others* being homosexual, or homosexuality in
and of itself? Remember that homosexuality does not have such a
long history of being vilified or tabooized in Japan, as it has in
christian-dominated coutries.
Sebastian