An idea I'd like some feedback on

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

This is just something that's been gnawing at me for a while and I finally decided to try scrawling the basics of it here and seeing if something useable might be brewed from the sludge. The main characters are Shampoo and Ukyo, and it's essentially shaped into a three-way pairing (Ranma+Shampoo+Ukyo). It involves some "playing" with the rules of Joketsuzoku, but as we get none of them beyond the Kisses of Death & Marriage even in the manga (and I work from the anime canon), that isn't such a problem.

The rough beginning I have is Shampoo sitting on a rooftop after her shift is over, thinking to herself why it is that Ranma never seems to have any time for any girl but Akane. After all, she and Ukyo both treat Ranma far better (in their point of view- remember how Ranma & Akane tend to act towards each other while either of the other girls are around) than the youngest Tendo, so why is it that he drifts towards her instead of either Shampoo herself or Ukyo?

Then she has a brainstorm; it's because whenever she and Ukyo are in the same place, they inevitably start fighting over Ranma, which makes them look worse in Ranma's eyes. And while they're fighting, Akane basically creeps in and steals Ranma out from under their noses. Upon realising this, Shampoo comes to a decision: while it's really something she'd prefer to avoid, tis a far, far better thing to get half the prize than none at all. So, she sets off towards Ucchan's Okonomiyaki to have a powwow with Ranma's cute fiancee.

Ukyo, naturally, is sceptical of Shampoo's claims to want to talk... and dumbstruck by what Shampoo is telling her. Basically, it's a way to "settle" their quarrel by taking advantage of two Joketsuzoku laws: the first, the fact exceptional male warriors (like Ranma) are allowed to have multiple wives, the better to pass on their genes, and the second the fact that outsider women who impress a Chinese Amazon can, if they wish, be adopted into the tribe as official Joketsuzoku warriors. If Ukyo agrees to become a (Japanese) Amazon, she and Shampoo can share Ranma by law.

That's about all I have for it this far. So, any comments?

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

This is just something that's been gnawing at me for a while and I finally decided to try scrawling the basics of it here and seeing if something useable might be brewed from the sludge.

That's about all I have for it this far. So, any comments?

Some of this was part of A V Morgan's Reflections/Reflexes, you might want to check that out.

The problems as I see it are

1. Shampoo would have to convince Ukyo of her honest intentions
2. Shampoo and Ukyo would have to convince Cologne or another elder
3. Shampoo and Ukyo would have to convince Ranma they can share him, and that he should stop seeing them as a pest and a buddy, respectively
4. Shampoo and Ukyo would have to out maneuver or pay off the Tendo/Saotome patriarchs and their agreement.
5. They'd have to pry Ranma lose of Akane. At this point in his life, I think Ranma would rather have the large but vicious harem, rather than a long-term commitment from a smaller group.
6. Shampoo and Ukyo would have to continue to tolerate each other and Ranma for prolonged periods of time (I don't like Akane but she puts up with more of Ranma than the other two).

The other complications would come about from Shampoo having a friendly rival who can be trusted, and Ukyo having someone at hand as physically and openly affectionate as Shampoo. There is not the taboo on girl-girl love as in the U.S. and Europe. It would add a complication to their relationship.

My thoughts, worth what you paid for them

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

For that last point, the girls ending up developing bisexual relationships is a cliche for Ranma harem-fics, so I was thinking of instead going the other way- aka they agree to share Ranma, but he's the only one they have sex with. There was a vague scene in my mind where one of the two brings up the topic, either Ukyo pointing out that "just because I've faked being a guy for 10 years doesn't mean I like girls" or Shampoo preempting her with something along the lines of "Ukyo get this straight: Shampoo willing to share Ranma with you, but Shampoo no sleep with you, okay? Shampoo not swing that way", followed by her explaining her going for Ranma-chan wasn't bisexuality but "Ranmasexuality"- ie she does it because Ranma-chan is really Ranma-kun inside.

Also, the anime is different to the manga. The two girls are somewhat softer (Shampoo's worst episode has 6 Ugly acts; Akane has three episodes with that many Uglies), and Ranma seems to be a bit more romantically inclined towards them (though not so much as he is towards Akane).

[WG_Writer]

For your idea it would need planning and only start any actual sign of a three way a few chapters in. Definitely doable just needs build up and character growth.

[DCG]

Looks like an interesting idea to me.

Just need to make sure they work a bit for it. A big part would be stop fighting each other and attacking akane.
Left to her own devices Akane WILL end up hanging herself.

Ranmachan-shampoo-ukyou HLS or the win.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

What precisely do you mean by that third line? And yes, they will have to work for it: if Ranma has been willing to put up with Akane, despite all she's done to him (Shampoo, the worst behaved in the anime -next to Kodachi- merely tries love-magic on Ranma twice and attempts to kill her archenemy once; Akane has done a lot worse), they will have to work hard so that she stops seeming the better choice.

[bneef]

In order to make the story believable, for me, you need to consider the following:

How will you account for Shampoo being a cat? Remember, Ranma is, essentially, deathly afraid of cats. And Shampoo seems to enjoy using her cat form around Ranma, even knowing what happens to him.

Also, unlike Ukyou, Ranma hasn't shown any real desire to "love" Shampoo, just because she decided to marry him after trying to kill him and Akane. While he isn't shown to hold grudges, there are hints he remembers what people do to him.

As for Ukyou, she has to live down the "cute" fiance issue. She also has to overcome her comments about her life with Ranma (He raises the kids while she works at Ucchan's, even going so far as giving up his art for hers.) Ranma is aware of these, as she made these during events like the Hiryu Shoten Ha arc.

The final point is Ranma and Akane, in their own clumsy way, try to make their relationship work. Ranma does get frustrated at Shampoo, Ukyou, and Kodachi (and everyone else, for that matter) interfering with and interrupting their relationship. The only time Ranma pursues Ukyou and Shampoo for more than food or cures is during the Reversal Jewel arc, where his ego is challenged.

And if this takes place after Saffron, you have the extra burden of negating the assault on Akane (and guests), with food bombs, at the wedding. Then there's the killing of Saffron, Shampoo trying to kill Akane-Doll.

Addressing these issues will help make the story stronger and avoid the "fanboy" label. Just my thoughts to help imporve the plotting.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

In case you don't know me, I *always* work from the anime canon, as I'm more familiar with it and actually prefer it. The problems you raised are far less so there, as the other girls are given a more even-handed treatment in terms of personality.

Also, Ranma's fear of cats seems to me to be somewhat exaggerated amongst fans; I can't speak for the manga, but in the anime he rarely has problems saying the word unless they're actually grabbing onto him, he doesn't show the sightest sign of fear at hearing a bunch of cats yowling on the roof over his room (anger, though, he does show) and he doesn't run away screaming when one of the martial artists he fights in the Ogre Festival of the Dark disguises himself as a cat and starts advancing on Ranma menacingly. It takes lots of cats, them startling him (ie jumping at him suddenly) or physical contact to make his fear act up.

[claymade]

I don't really buy the premise, myself. I see nothing in any of the girls' character that would indicate a tendency to up and suddenly throw jealousy out the window one day, and settle down into a nice little polyamory relationship. How many times do you really see such romantic non-jealousy happening in normal life, let alone between people as stubborn as the Nerima set?

Furthermore, on the whole Amazon topic--are you planning on having Ukyo leave her whole culture behind to go live in the Chinese mountains? Just to get somewhat better odds at sharing Ranma, rather than trying for the whole kit and kaboodle? I'm not really buying that. On the other hand, if they're going to all be living in Nerima anyway, I don't really see what benefit invoking all the extra Amazon baggage gives you.

Ultimately, if the two of them were convinced that it was actually each other that were their own worst obstacles to Ranma because of their fighting, a realistic reaction wouldn't be a sudden, out-of-nowhere onset of sexual pluralism. A reaction in keeping with their characters would be to simply resolve to stop fighting like that. It's a subset of what they'd have to do anyway, and it doesn't contradict all the times when they specifically call on Ranma to make a choice. (Hot Springs Race, Ten Year Sauce)

In short, there's just nothing in the belief that "fighting is what's stopping Ranma from liking me" that would generate "I must therefore share him with my rival to win." You could expect them to cooperate to the extent of dealing with the problem, but there's just no reason for it whatsoever beyond the problem being solved.

(Not to mention that, if Shampoo is being true to form, she'd be far more likely to just try to arrange a Taro-esque "accident" for Ukyo if she felt anywhere near that strongly about it--which would be a much simpler and more beneficial solution to that particular problem for her. But I digress.)

[antimatterenergy]

I find the idea intriguing, but instead of having them suddenly decide that a three-way is the best option there are other things you can do.

I like the idea of Shampoo and Ukyo working together. Makes sense. See that Akane has the lead, decide to team up until Akane is out of the picture. One of the first things I'd expect them to do would be to somehow get Ranma out of the Tendo's house so that he doesn't spend so much time around Akane (they most likely see him living with her as an unfair advantage). Then do stuff to separate Ranma and Akane like purposely antagonize Akane into breaking up with Ranma by maybe spreading rumors and convincing Ranma's mom that Akane is a terrible choice.

If you really want the three-way relationship. You could have them become actual friends during all their planning and decided that even though they want him to themselves, they become willing to share. Have them decide that even though it is not a good solution and not what they really want sharing is the best solution that they can come up with and at least this way they both can have him. Polygamous relationships are not unheard of in Japan. While technically illegal (since 1945) they do exist and some women even prefer them for several reasons (like shared raising of the children). There are books on mistress's and concubines in Japan like Mistress-Keeping in Japan - Then & Now by De Mente, Boye, Lafayette (there are others but I've not read them) one of the most interesting things about it is that the wife generally chooses the mistress/concubine not the guy. If you do go the three-way relationship route it could be very interesting as to how you deal with the various problems that brings about. How you deal with time-sharing (how they divide the time with him), legality (several ways to deal with this even not going the amazon route), logistics, hierarchy (i.e. who is the first wife), and jealously (there will be jealously) could be very interesting but also likely to be very complicated. It does open up a lot of possibilities.

As for fighting with each other in the manga they do not fight each other all that often and even have gotten along together on a few occasions (even Kodachi has been civil with the other girls in the Manga). It's not really the fighting that's the problem but that's a good enough reason as any for them to team up.