How might Nerima change?

[Jupiah]

I'm surprised you don't have anything more to add or question about my profile. Was I that accurate?

First up, about the marriage laws - do they apply to men? I don't think Takahashi intended for them to apply to men - from a cultural perspective, having a man practically stalk a women claiming that she is his wife (whether she wants to be or not) and trying to slip her love potions and what not is a lot creepier (and much less funny) than when a women does it to a man. Stupid and sexist, I know, but true nonetheless. Also, hasn't Mousse gotten KO'd by Akane a few times? Wouldn't he be married to her if they did apply?

Besides, I'm pretty sure that there has got to be some kind of 'sparring exception' clause to the marriage law, and I think that Yemon would be smart enough to invoke it before fighting a female opponent. Personally, I think the marriage law probably requires that the suitor verbally challenge the Amazon, specifying that it is a marriage challenge, and Shampoo was stretching the rules to apply to Ranma in canon. I find it hard to believe that accidentally KO'ing an Amazon with a sneak attack, especially in another person's defense, which is what Ranma did, normally counts.

I think I mentioned it earlier, but what do you think of this idea? Yemon and Ryoga's daughter fall in love all on their own. When Ranma and Ryoga find out about this, they both freak out, because neither of them wants to be related to each other. Both forbid their children from seeing each other. When that fails, Ranma immediately travels to Nerima himself, joins forces with Ryoga, and the two of them, in an ironic role-reversal of their meddling fathers, try their damdest to seperate their stubborn children. As Ranma and Ryoga are both a good bit smarter than the dopey duo (usually), their meddling is actually somewhat effective, representing a signicant obstacle to the kids.

[EDIT] My condolences about your broken home computer, I know what that's like.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I saw no problems with your profile or with your ideas for his personality, so unless Heaven's Deamon has complaints it's good to go.

Neither canon gives us anything about the Kisses of Death & Marriage beyond the fact they exist; my personal theory is that they're a Warrior-only rule and apply for either gender. Mousse ignores those few times Akane or another girl KOs him because A: he's fixated on Shampoo, B: he doesn't seem to have any trouble with bending rules to suit his purposes (quite willing to have someone throw a fight in his favor, for example) and C: he never loses in an "official" match, which is his primary defense should Shampoo or Cologne spot such an event (they never do) and try to pressure him into going with it.

As you say, the KoM probably has a number of very specific rules and points, but Amazons are allowed (or even encouraged) to play loose with the rules if their desired "mate" seems particularly promising. Shampoo was undoubtedly stretching the law near to breaking point when she claimed Ranma, but once her clan matriarch approved him (after the final battle for the phoenix pill), her claim on him by Chinese Amazon law is ironclad.

So, to get back on subject, probably ignore the KoM, unless we want to have the Neo-Kuonji try and use it. I'm a bit leery about having Yemon and Neo-Hibiki fall in love and thus causing Ranma & Ryoga to try and break it up- primarily because it seems a really cheap usage of the two of them (Ryoga on his own, however, would be fine- and there could be comedic possibilities in Kasumi doing her best to foil her husband, either because she approves of the match or because she's a romantic). Besides, Ranma has probably forgotten all about Ryoga by now... though Ryoga's likely nursing a nice white-hot grudge against him.

Hmm... perhaps, if the Neo-Hibiki is a daughter, use the "mutually quenching" format of the love-hate relationship? Initially, they have a deep enmity for each other due to their rival martial arts prowess, but they eventually "cool down" into friendly rivalry, with budding romantic interest on either or both sides? Hmm... it might be a switch to have Yemon have a crush on Neo-Hibiki, but she's got a crush on someone else- like, say, one of Yemon's male rivals?

[Jupiah]

If the KoM is truly gender-equal, than it would be logical to assume the Kiss of Death is as well. But if that were true, than Mousse would have tried to kiss and murder most of the male Ranma cast by the end. For that matter, why is there a kiss of death at all? In the KoM apples to men, than if an Amazon lost to an outsider of the same gender, wouldn't it be more logical for the defeated Amazon to try and introduce the outsider to an opposite-gender relative, rather than kill him/her? It seems more likely that Joketsuzoku is a female-run society, and it is sexual discrimination that prevents males Amazons from from marrying female outsiders or killing male outsiders.

You have some good points about Ranma and Ryoga. Ranma didn't immediately remember Ryoga after only a year or so of seperation in canon, so he has likely forgotten him after 20 years (unless Ryoga has gotten lost and visited him a few times). Having Yemon and Neo-Hibiki merely being very friendly rivals, and having Ryoga and Kasumi divided over that friendship, is more original.

And having Neo-Hibiki interested in someone else would be an interesting twist. Yemon is so used to having girls throw themselves at him, he would likely be terribly confused when the first one he takes a serious interest in doesn't. Maybe Cologne or the Familiar give him romantic advice. With Cologne's advice being a century or so out of date, and the Familiar's either purposefully misleading or based upon yokai culture ("Bring her the head of her enemy, she'll love you then!"), this could have some hilarious repercussions.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

The only person who routinely beats Mousse is Ranma, and in their relationship, a Kiss of Death is a formality. Mousse never "officially" challenges anyone else but Ranma, so he'd likely use the same excuse as for the Kiss of Marriage (not to mention he doesn't really give a damn about anything more than winning Shampoo, which is why he's the least to improve of them all- he's more likely to be making googly eyes at her than training). Also, as I mentioned when I came up with my "profile" of Joketsuzoku, Warrior men -the only ones to whom the Kisses apply- are very rare, usually around 1 in 10 at most.

So, make Neo-Hibiki a daughter, a bitter rival at first due to Yemon's skill and calming down as the story progresses is the way to go? Okay then, what do we need to do to whip her into existence?

[Jupiah]

Well, brainstorm up some ideas for her and I'm try to comment and add to them. I'm usually better at working off of other people's creativity. The only thing I'm sure off is that since she is a Hibiki, she will have direction problems. Having Kasumi as a mother, she probably won't get so depressed about it though. Because she constantly gets lost, she'll be a powerful martial artist, probably best at strength and toughness like her father.

She'll probably inherit her father's Iron Cloth techniques and his umbrella style fighting (an umbrella's is a really useful item for someone who is usually too lost to find shelter when it rains). Maybe one of her hobbies is home-schooling herself - taking schoolbooks everywhere with her and studying on her own so she doesn't fall behind in school like Ryoga did.

One question I have: Is Jusenkyo going to play a role in this fic? Will any of the main characters be cursed?

[EDIT] Also, will Kasumi have direction problems? It would probably be easier for the story if she didn't and you treat the curse as genetic... but that raises some disturbing questions about Ryoga's parents.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

No, Kasumi doesn't have the direction curse, if it really is a curse and not just simply Ryoga combining A (not knowing one direction from another) and B (taking directions too literally/not paying enough attention to them) with C (ridiculous stamina & walking speed).

Yeah, that does raise some disturbing possibilities about Ryoga's parentage... but then again, whichever of them wasn't the Hibiki could have deliberately sought the direction curse, hoping it would allow them to always stay with their Hibiki lover ("if we're lost together, it's not so bad", sort of thing). Of course, it didn't work that way if that's what happened.

As for Jusenkyo... I don't really see a point to the place in this story. Beyond Taro's kid, none of the Neo-Crew is likely to have a curse (unless Ryoga's daughter inherited his- but the curses don't work that way in the canon, unless you count that nightmare Ranma had where Ryoga and Akane got married and had quad sons), as the only other person from China would have been taught to stay the hell away from the place. Given that one of the main/secondary characters is a yokai and another runs a cursed/magical item shop, I think there'll be plenty of mystical weirdness to keep the Ranma 1/2 spirit of bizarre magic hijinks alive, don't you?

Now, I had some ideas for the Neo-Hibiki... if only I could remember what they were... Let's see:
*Likely has the direction curse, but probably to a lesser degree thanks to Kasumi's Tendo genes (all the Tendos, even Kasumi, know what they want and refuse to stop until they get it or are forcibly stopped- which is generally shown in a bad way, IE Soun and Nabiki), which basically help her to partially "override" the curse.

*Like you said, given her mother is Kasumi, she probably places around as much importance on her schoolwork as on her martial arts, which means she carries "Self-Tutoring" books with her in her backpack. Hmm... perhaps she "traded" with Ukyo's kid to acquire some rudimentary Hidden Weapons, thus giving her much more room in her backpack and/or making sure the stuff inside it is safe?

*I was thinking that, if the Neo-Hibiki wields a weapon, she might wield something that plays up her Hibiki strength: a greathammer, maul or tetsubo. If you think an umbrella would work better, perhaps alter her fighting style to incorporate "umbrella fu"? As was mentioned here, there are traditional Japanese styles -used by courtesans/geishas- that involve an umbrella; if I recall right, they basically revolve around using it to distract opponents by means of hypnotic patterns & twirling and exaggerated coy/flirtatious behaviour.

*For her fighting style, the Neo-Hibiki probably bases upon her Hibiki strength and endurance... however, Ryoga was the heir to not only the Tendo School of Anything-Goes, but also the Founding School (Happosai originally came to the Tendos because he was after an heir for himself), so couple that with her direction sense and she probably knows lots of martial arts techniques. In fact, perhaps her style relies upon "quantity over quality"? Ryoga acquires a single new technique at a time and uses that until he's mastered it. His daughter favors a more "grab-bag" approach, studying over the numerous books & scrolls of techniques inherited from Ryoga, who inherited them from Happosai for moves that look promising, practising them until she's capable of wielding them with reasonable skill, then looking for a new one? This means, in contrast to Yemon, she has lots of moves, but she lacks his proficiency with each and every one.

[Jupiah]

Ryoga's curse is much worse than simply an inability to tell the cardinal directions apart or follow directions. In his introduction arc he literally walks a thousand miles in one week. Assuming he stops for at least 8 hours a day to sleep, eat, bathe, practice martial arts, ect. (and thats pushing it) that means he spent 112 hours total walking for that trip. That comes out to an average walking speed of almost 9 miles per hour. While that speed is within normal human speedwalking limits (barely), I doubt even Ryoga could keep it up for 1000 miles . And that's assuming he went in a straight line, which is extremely unlikely. So either Ryoga can walk at ridiculous speeds for insane lengths of time, or he has some kind of supernatural means of getting around. Considering that he regularly travels to Hokkaido (which is a separate island) and has once even traveled to Hong Kong (which is in China), without ever crossing a body of water, I'm inclined to believe the later.

My theory is that he has some kind of hereditary magical curse that causes him to teleport great distances without realizing it. That is about the only way to logically explain this map. The curse worsens as the Hibiki ages, which explains how Ryoga was able to survive to adulthood and was able to (irregularly) attend school until Junior High. Also, it only activates when the Hibiki is completely alone, a good distance away from any civilization, which is why he never vanishes right in front of anyone. And because I don't want to think about how both of Ryoga's parents have it if it's genetic, I'm going to assume that the curse magically extends to spouses.

Therefore I think that Kasumi does have the curse. However, due to her rarely leaving the house, she knows it's layout intimately and can get around it without getting too lost (she spends an hour or so a day lost in a broom closet, but that's the worst of it). Also, I'd imagine that the Tendo home is probably filled with neon arrows running along the floors and walls to help the family get around, and of course Ryoga's dog, Shirokiro, and her puppies live with them and guides them around. So the curse isn't much of a handicap for Kasumi. If she does leave the house, she just takes one of the Hibiki family dogs with her.

I agree with your points about Jusenkyo. I like the place, I think the curses are a landmine of comedy potential, I just don't see much opportunity to use them in this fic. The only characters I could see being cursed are maybe a yokai or fellow Amazon that followed Yemon to Japan, Taro's kid, of course, and maybe a few of the challenge-of-the-week martial artist antagonist-types that wander through town. What about Mousse and Ryoga though? Did either of them ever get cured?

I don't get what your saying about Kasumi affecting the curse in her child... are you saying that she somehow manipulated the genes her daughter inherited through sheer force of will? That's pretty freakin' amazing! And rather difficult to believe.

I'd keep the Hibiki daughter's curse just as powerful as Ryoga's was at that age. You can write her as being lost a lot less simply because she's a lot smarter about it than he was. She carries a cell phone at all times and knows most of the cab drivers in and near the tokyo area on a first name basis!

I don't think having the Neo-Hibiki know any hidden weapons is really necessary. Ryoga could carry just about everything under the sun (including a tent, kettle, and a few dozen sets of clothing) in his enormous backpack, and he would teach his daughter that skill. They're just really, really good at packing.

I'm pretty sure she would use an umbrella for a weapon. It's a very practical item for someone who often gets lost in the wilderness, and might not be able to find shelter when it rains. I don't know about that "courtesan/geisha" style you mentioned though - Ryoga never 'twirled his umbrella in hypnotic patterns' or used 'exaggerated coy/flirtatious behavior' (that sure is one funny mental image though). He pretty much swung the thing like a warhammer, and considering that the umbrella weighted a few hundred pounds, that's about the only fighting style I imagine one could use it for.

The idea of her learning the basics of a great many techniques, but never mastering more than one or two is pretty good... but do you really want to invent that many original techniques? That's a lot of work. If you can do it though, than go for it. You could easily say a few of her techniques were taught to her by Soun, justifying them by saying that Soun never used them in canon because he almost never fought anyone, and he didn't teach them to Akane because she wasn't advanced enough or he didn't trust her temper. I think the Hibiki-daughter would at least be very proficient in her family's Iron Cloth techniques though.

I still don't think Happosai would teach her anything. He's pretty sexist. He did teach Hinako and Natsume and Kurumi, but they were exceptions because they were very unfortunate kids and triggered his weakness to children. He taught Hinakoto save her life and Natsume and Kurumi because they were orphans and he wanted to give them a goal to give them hope. The Hibiki-daughter has had too good of a life to trigger his generosity, and I doubt Ryoga or Kasumi would give the old pervert permission to teach their child anyway. I don't think Happosai would teach Ryoga either, simply because the two never got along in canon, and, like Ranma, Ryoga wouldn't be willing to put up with Happosai's perverted training methods.

[Heaven's Deamon]

Sorry about taking so long to reply, but my comp died so I had to get a new one. Then found out that some net problems I'd been having for a while were due to a bad modem and needed a new one. Regardless, I like the profile, though I do miss the "Bottomless backpack" joke, the Neo-Hibiki could use it if the hidden weapons trade is done (Maybe she's more vain than her father and doesn't want to be seen with such a huge backpack?), but it doesn't sound like something that Mousse and Ukyo's kid would bother with since they wouldn't have to travel as much.

I think the point with "Kasumi's genes" was that she would inherit enough stubborness to "overide" the curse to some degree and force it to take her where she wants to go (eventually), Couple that with the Cellphone and knowing taxidrivers thing that was suggested, and maybe a GPS of somesort (maybe she could even enjoy using maps to figure out where is, and could have maps with pin pricks showing locations she's been to before in her room?), would let her live with it more easily.

For Jusenkyo, other than Neo-Hibiki stopping there by accident while lost, I agree that visitors to it would be too limited, but the Instant powder could still be used.

Also, a comment I intended to make on the youkai assassin, if it were female, you could have them develop a crush on Yemon giving them a dilema on whether to carry out their mission or do something else thus adding to the trouble, but mitigating most incidents down to a non potentially fatal level as even if she had to do something to follow orders, she'd interfere withit herself to keep him safe.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

One thing about the anime: in it, Shirokuro (who doesn't show up until season 7) wasn't the Hibiki family pet- she was a *he*, a ninken (Ninja Dog) who escaped from Sasuke's hometown of Sarugakure Village and developed a friendship with Ryoga after he saved him from first drowning and then a pack of ninken sent to retrieve/execute him. I see no problem with having him as part of the household though- after all, Ryoga needs someone who can help guide him back to his wife and kids and ensure he gets to challenges on time, right? Though, then again, 20 years is a bit too long for a dog's life... perhaps, like in the anime canon, Sasuke got fired from the Kuno's employ on one occasion, but it was Ryoga and Kasumi who helped him get back into the Kuno employ, and to repay them/this debt of honor Sasuke helped them "acquire" a female ninken from Sarugakure Village to breed to Shirokuro/Checkers?

Actually, when you take Ryoga's strength into account, a speed like that isn't too far fetched- remember, this is the guy who lifted something like 50 tons of ice *before* he'd gotten any real strength training. And it's implied that a lot of the time he doesn't rest or otherwise stop, but just keeps going (that planned fight with Ranma that took him 4 days to find). When he's just wandering casually, yeah, he stops, but when he's "in pursuit" he just does't stop. Still, the idea of it being a family curse that 'crosses over' to the people Hibikis marry doesn't sound so bad, so maybe we might go with that.

As Heaven's Deamon said, my actual point was more "the Tendo Genes she inherited makes the Neo-Hibiki so stubborn that the curse's effect is reduced by her sheer willpower". She's so determined to get where she is that it's less effective, which means she's technically the hope of the family someday getting rid of it. She's also smart enough to ensure other means to get her to her direction as well.

Yeah, obviously Ryoga never used his umbrella like that and more as a greatclub, but that's how the style works in the real world. Which does seem appropriate for a girl, but anyway. Out of curiosity, did you recognize the weapons I suggested?

Maybe I'm not making myself clear enough: in the anime canon, when Happosai first shows up, once the dads bring up their "history" with him, he tells them he's not here for revenge, but because it's high-time he picked himself an heir to carry on the Anything-Goes school. Soun and Genma immediately volunteer Ranma, and once the little matter of his gender is cleared up, Happosai immediately agrees that Ranma will do fine. The main reason he seems to have gone for Ranma in the canon, besides the curse, was because Ranma is a far more promising student that Soun or Genma. The way I see it, with Genma and Ranma gone, when Happosai wakes up, the only choices he has are the Tendos- specifically, Soun and Akane. And as he won't train girls (probably because he doesn't like the idea of them being able to fight back), that means he only has Soun.

Now, how long do you think it would take for him to get sick of the grovelling worm? While Happosai seems to enjoy the way Soun crawls to him, he seems to have a different standard for his heir- which makes Soun too pathetic for the role. Ryoga's engagement/relationship to Kasumi makes him eligible: he's Soun's heir, so he's technically part of the school anyway, which makes him perfectly viable for the position of Happosai's heir. True, Happosai would probably have to approach Ryoga a bit more cautiously than he did Ranma -after all, he doesn't have anyone to pressure him to accept Happosai's training- but Happosai can seriously train students when he wants (he's giving Ranma a lesson at the start of the final episode of season 2).

As to their willingness to learn/teach respectively, Happosai twice takes students in the anime (Kuno and a technical VoTW named Genji), while Ryoga had little problems accepting Genma's offer to be the new heir to Saotome Anything-Goes in the appropriate episode.

As for Ryoga and Mousse getting cured... honestly, I never really thought about it. I don't think it's likely, unless they found a cure in Japan somehow.

[Jupiah]

Personally, I think that Shirokuro being descended from a long line of dogs bred by the Hibiki clan for the purpose of leading them around makes a lot more sense than him being a ninken, but that works too I guess. The only real difference is that Ryoga would be the first one of his family to begin breeding such dogs rather than one of his ancestors.

Ryoga's walking speed can be attributed more to his inhuman stamina than his strength. I'm curious as to what event you're referring to when you mention strength training - in the manga he never really had any strength training beyond "constantly-destroying-everything-around-him-on-accident".

Recall that I pointed out that his walking speed of 9 miles/hour would only be accurate if he went in a straight line, which is a virtual impossibility for him. If he isn't teleporting around, he would likely have to have been moving 3 or 4 times faster than that in order to still meet his one week deadline. Not sleeping is a possibility, I suppose, but he didn't show any signs of exhaustion during his duel with Ranma. And I'd still like to know how he can cross onto a different continent if he is only moving on foot.

Having the curse overcome by stubborness sounds a bit cliched. If it could be cured that way, I think Ryoga would have already done so. It's clear that the victim can influence it to some degree though. Ryoga always seems to be able to find people he is emotionally attached to eventually, and often when his help is needed the most. I imagine that was part of the curse's origin. Perhaps an ancestor went to war to protect his family, and they were attacked by bandits while he was gone. Afterwards he prayed to a kami to give him the ability to always be there to protect his loved ones when they needed him, and the kami agreed, but took away his ability to be with them at most any other time as part of the deal.

I've played more than enough RPGs to know what a greathammer or a maul is. And a tetsuba is one of this giant spiked clubs traditionally wielded by oni, isn't it? Actually, one of those would be a pretty cool weapon. A normal umbrella might be an appropriate weapon for a normal girl, but not for a Hibiki girl. She'd use one of them depleted-uranium core umbrella's Ryoga wields, or something similarly heavy.

Happosai may have named Ranma his heir (against his will) but in the manga he never actually taught him anything, and there is only that one scene in the anime. And later he crippled Ranma with the Weakness Moxibustion and tried to destroy the cure several times, so obviously he wasn't nearly as worried about having an heir as you claim.

He might make the offer to Ryoga, and Ryoga may even accept at first, but he would quit as soon as he found out how perverted Happosai is. They would probably still fight a lot, as Ryoga would tolerate his antics even less than Ranma would, but at most Happosai would be an antagonist that would push Ryoga to improve on his own (just like he was for Ranma), rather than directly training him. Most of Happosai's techniques, with the exception of his giant aura, seem to be based on trickery and misdirection, and would be innapropriate for Ryoga's fighting style. Also, unlike Ranma, Ryoga hasn't been trained in the basics of Anything-goes, so Happosai would have to work a lot harder to train him. I doubt Ryoga would be willing to so drastically change his style anyway.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Part of the whole point of Anything-Goes is that it *is* Anything-Goes, and Ryoga certainly didn't seem to have a problem with learning from Genma. Still, you're right, Happosai isn't a real master, so if Ryoga learned anything from him, it would have been from scrolls that Kasumi snitched for him.

And I'm pretty sure I've heard of that idea of the origin of the Hibiki curse before. Can't remember where though. Perhaps instead make it the legacy of one really PO'd archmage/deity who had something of great value destroyed by a Hibiki ancestor? Cursed with the classic "May you never have a home!" curse, which basically forces the victim to keep moving (with methods ranging from involuntarily (say, teleporting in your sleep) to something like "sleeping in the same place twice will cause ravenous hordes of demons to materialise to rape/devour your unconscious body"), this weakened as the generations went on to become the "eternal wanderer" curse it is today. Hmm... if that's the case, perhaps the curse becomes contagious only from Hibiki men to women, and afflicts them when they first become pregnant with the next Hibiki (causing their blood to become "as one)? Either way, perhaps the current format is why Ryoga (and his family) can always seem to turn up in the nick of time? Or maybe that's because of the blessing of a rival archmage/deity, who gave it to that first Hibiki ancestor to "balance out" the original curse?

Anyway, we may have wandered from the original topic: the Neo-Hibiki. What are the specific basic elements we should consider for her to help us start designing her? Appearance, personality, fighting style, physical capabilities, "quirks" (the curse, Yemon's semi-possession, etc), what else?

[Heaven's Deamon]

For a bit of contrast might a "brains and brawn" aproach be used? Something like giving her an appearance and quirks more in line with a bookworm, but thanks to her father a degree of strength that is far beyond what even Yemon would expect(Though Ranma, upon hearing her parentage and remembering who Ryouga is might not be as surprised). As to the large move pool, some of them could simply be mentioned, IE she thinks to herself about what techniques to use, posibly outloud, but the number that she actually employs ends up being around that of the others, which could be pointed out to her later on.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Hmm... given we tossed around the idea before of her carrying home-schooling texts so that her education isn't too badly affected by her curse, what about making her a rather quiet, bookish, soft-spoken type (which is rather understandable if she's both raised by Kasumi and Kasumi's daughter), but who inherited her dad's strength and endurance? Sorta like Ami from Sailor Moon with the ability to benchpress a truck...

However, like her dad, she can be quite vindictive, even petty (and you can't argue that Ryoga isn't: I don't know about the manga, but in the anime he blamed getting his curse on Ranma, despite the fact *he didn't know Ranma actually was the one who knocked him in*), and when it comes to fighting she's practically a whole different person, as her Hibiki agressiveness comes to the fore. Sort of an actual split personality (more or less; the feelings are always there, she just tries to act more like her mother and deny they exist outside of combat situation) in contrast to Yemon's apparent split personality...

What do you think of this idea/these ideas?

[Heaven's Deamon]

It was the "self-learning" thing that gave me the idea in the first place, so yeah. That personality sounds good with some slight adjustments to fit her Hibiki heritage. AKA no fearing bullies or the like since she would be more than strong enough to deal with them if they bothered her. If anything I'd expect any relectance she displays to be because if matters were force she would risk hurting THEM. I could also see the aggresiveness surfacing as a "prefight warning" such as her looking up from a book with a glare and a ki aura for intimidation puposes.

I just had a thought. with the bookworm persona, could she apply the "Iron Cloth" tech to paper and pseudo replicate some of the paper tricks from the R.O.D. manga/anime?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I think we've been using Iron Cloth as basically "charge ki into something so it can be a weapon"- it's the Iron Cloth that not only lets Ryoga maxe flying buzzsaws from his bandannas and a sword from his belt, but also which lets Ukyo use her spatulas as shuriken or Shampoo spoons as throwing darts.

So, yes, I think techniques based around using paper/books seems quite suitable. Heck, they might even form one third of the basis of her style (the other thirds being Hibiki brute strength 'n' toughness and "umbrella fu").

So, if Jupiah thinks that personality suits, I believe we have to decide upon her fighting style, abilities, name and "quirks"- so which one shall we tackle now? Also, could one (or both) of you take a look at the link I posted detailing Japanese girl names and find some and their meanings that might be appropriate for the Neo-Hibiki? I can't choose any.