Hi Richard,
On Tue, 10 Dec 1996, you wrote:
: Sebastian Weinberg wrote:
: > Unless the Olympics and his winning in Cairo are one and the same
: > event, I'd completely drop the Olympic angle. It's overkill.
:
: The Olympics took place in Cairo. I'll make that clearer.
I had gotten the impression that whatever happened in Cairo had
been some martial arts event - world class, but not of interest to
the general public. Perhaps that would work better than an
olympic victory, anyway.
: > : Nouma looked past Shampoo. Suddenly, he couldn't breathe.
: >
: > Angus: Hey, did you see that?
: >
: > Sebastian: See what?
: >
: > Angus: That chubby, half-nude kid with the bow and arrow that
: > just streaked by. Bloody cheek! He could have hurt
: > someone with that thing.
:
: Hehehehe. Nice to see Angus again. He and Jennifur hold a special place
: in my heart. :)
I have no idea why he was absent for so long, or what prompted his
recent return, but I *do* welcome it. In a way.
Angus: I *heard* that!
: > Whoah, they really *do* live a rough life, in the valley of the
: > Amazons. Among normal people the same thing would have been
: > communicated with a simple touch, as a reminder to behave
: > yourself. Or is it just Khu Lon, who needs to be more forcibly
: > kept in check?
:
: The latter. Khu Lon is rather high-spirited - think Shampoo mixed with
: Kodachi.
I still have no idea why the hell I feel so spooked by her. It
just doesn't make sense. [shakes head] It may be just Nouma's
rather sudden infatuation with her; I just have this feeling that
she will play a very important role - and not an entirely positive
one.
Angus: Hello and welcome to "Wild Speculation Theatre". Your
hosts, Angus and Sebastian, will develop the wildest and weirdest
theories you have ever seen outside of alt.conspiracy.
Sebastian: And without any basis of facts, either.
Angus: That's right.
Sebastian: Our task for today is to find a plausible... er,
actually *any* explanation for my strange reluctance to get warm
with Khu Lon. Am I paranoid and holding her name against her, or
is there actually something... not quite right about her?
Angus: Yeah, She could be actually a boy who fell into the
Nyanniichuan. That would neatly explain her red hair, since
Richard seems to have converted to the dark side of the Fanfic
Force.
Sebastian: You mean the red side?
Angus: *Anyway*, during the climactic battle, Nouma will be able
to resist some kind of devilish temptation due to his affection to
Khu Lon - and afterwards, when all is over and they are ready to
part, he learns that all this time he was pining for a boy. Man,
that would be the mother of all facefaults.
Sebastian: Ah, but that sounds more like something *I* would
write. You have to think more like Richard. Drama, not comedy -
remember that this is the man who wrote _Appearances_. And don't
forget that beginning; Ugh.
Angus: Oh, you mean, like, Khu Lon is in fact aptly named because
she is really a reincarnation of the original Cologne (or perhaps
possessed by her), who has somehow managed to remember her past
and is now bent on revenge? She could have used her parent's
stay in NY to get to Canada and because she knows everything about
Ranma's curse, was able to pull the right strings and set a stage
for him, whereupon she went back and made sure that she was on his
team, to infiltrate and attack from the back. Nouma is taken with
her, and everybody trusts his judgement implicitly, completely
forgetting that love makes blind. She contacted him that evening,
because he is elemental to her plan for getting back at Ranma - If
she can get him to desert his allies, thinking that to be the only
way to save them, she would have a much easier task of breaking
Ranma, who set such hopes into him.
Sebastian: Uh. Right. And where do Elvis and the aliens figure
in your story?
Angus: Funny you should ask that. Let me explain...
Sebastian: Aaaarrrrgh! [runs away]
: > : "It's great. I love the work." Nouma turned to Akari. "How's
: > : life been for the Savior of the World?"
: >
: > I guess he uses that title to tease her. Right?
:
: Well, actually, I wrote this bit intending it to be the first time that
: "Savior of the World" was associated with Akari. I kept writing more
: and more background material to explain it, when I realized it was way
: too much, and was bogging down this part of the story. So I snipped it
: all out and turned it into "Interview".
Whoah, you were planning all this, *back then*, already?
: Oh, and this also tells you how long I've been working on this. :)
Yeah, I suddenly have a lot more respect for this story. :)
: > "BLT's"?
:
: Kun-chan had the same problem here. I didn't realize the abbreviation
: was an American one. A BLT is a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.
: I'll expand this.
Ah, that also explains a scene in _The Princess Bride_, where I
had the distinct impression that the translation was not conveying
the original meaning. Did the Miracle worker talk about such a
sandwich, perchance? (God, I *hate* the german habit of dubbing
films. Grrrr.)
: > : Ukyo shrugged. "Not all of the international ones do so
: > : well. I had to close the New York restaurant, but I've
: > : still got one in San Fransicso, as well as Hong Kong,
: > : Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, and Bangkok."
: >
: > Waaah, I wanna have one here in Germany! C'mon, Duesseldorf and
: > Cologne (the city) would *fight* for the honour of having an
: > "Ucchan's" restaurant. :)
:
: Kun-chan had me move the restaurant from Sydney to Melbourne. Someone
: else had me add one to Honolulu. I guess I can add one to Duesseldorf,
: too. If Zen asks me to put one on Phobos, though, I'm drawing the
: line. :)
Heh.
: > [raised brow] Hmmm...?
: >
: > Naaah. Luckily Richard isn't *that* kind of guy.
:
: Hey, Angus? @bap this guy for me, will ya? :)
Angus: Gladly!
<@BAPPPP!>
Owww. Hey! I thought you were my imaginary *friend*!
Angus: You must have imagined that.
: > Still? After all these years? Fully intentional almost-murder is
: > forgiven and forgotten but insanity isn't, even after it's been
: > treated?
:
: Funny how society works, eh?
Yeah, but rather strange for the Ranmaverse, where most things are
forgotten - or at least forgiven - by the next issue. :)
: I'm actually planning on leaving the TIL universe after this story.
: Doesn't mean, though, that my stupid brain won't force me to write
: something. You should see the lemon it made me write. (ick)
Indeed. [taps foot] I should.
: > : Mikanma did look surprised, but she also looked determined
: > : and angry, as if she wanted to take on the fear and fight
: > : it hand-to-hand.
: >
: > Which fear? Her fear of what is before them?
:
: Uh, yeah. This wasn't clear?
Not immediately. For a moment I thought she was thinking of
Ranma's sense of danger.
: > The Tendou Wunderkind strikes again. How about having him *not*
: > excel in something? You could emphasize that he is actually a
: > human being, by making his knowledge of Mandarin rudimentary,
: > instead of Not-quite-fluent? It could have been a required course
: > that he barely passed with lots of work, so that he now is able to
: > more or less follow the conversation, but couldn't hope to ever
: > take part.
:
: I'm embarrassed to admit this, but in the first draft he *was* fluent in
: Mandarin. <sigh> There's a plot necessity to his perfection, but I am
: trying to tone it down a little. Your suggestion here makes sense.
Well, if Cairo and the olympics are one and the same, he doesn't
come over as *that* annoyingly superior - just *somewhat*
annoyingly superior. :)
: > This, of course, assumes that Nouma is *meant* to be an actual
: > human being. The evidence against it seems to pile up. :)
:
: Well, a really, really good human being. :)
Yeah, I heard they actually exist, once.
: > : "Why he would want to afflict you with the curse is
: > : quite beyond my ability to comprehend."
: >
: > Perhaps he figures there's a way to pass on the "Savior of Lost
: > Causes" mantle without actually cursing his son.
:
: Ranma's plans get spelled out in a later chapter.
:
: Oh, and stop reading my mind. :)
That's what Krista Perry says, too. :)
I can't do anything about it - it just happens. ;)
: > Ah, so Mikanma will at some crucial point save Nouma from certain
: > doom. Perhaps when he is taken over by the dark side of the
: > force, she will beat sense into him again, in a way that
: > symbolically harkens back to their fightas about entering the
: > house. That's how these things usually work. :)
:
: Oh, are you so wrong. You are so, so wrong. Not even close. <big anime
: sweatdrop> Not even in the ballpark.
If it lands outside the ball park, we call it a home run. :P
: > : "Tendo Nouma."
: >
: > Angus: [in a Darth Vader get-up] "Luke."
:
: I was actually thinking more of Lord Foul taunting Thomas Covenant, but
: this works, too. :)
Angus: Who cares, as long as I get to dress up.
Sebastian: "You came in *that*? You are braver than I thought..."
: > Heh, nice double meaning. This could either mean that he won't
: > survive this adventure - or that he *does* inherit his father's
: > "vocation".
:
: To be honest, the second meaning hadn't occurred to me - but it does
: fit, doesn't it. :)
There you go. You are good without even trying. ;)
: Oh, and I keep putting off that Ranko 1/2 C&C. Sorry. Tomorrow for
: certain.
Well, *I* keep putting off *writing* more _Ranko 1/2_, so it all
balances out. :)
Sebastian