Natsume & Kurumi on Ranma's training trip - need suggestions

[Spokavriel]

I just thought of a really cruel twist. Cats are known for their skittishness around the unnatural and lesser kami in untrue forms have been shown to set them off just like a ghost. Then seeing Ranma turn into a Kitsune. Care to follow the twist of logic?

Nodoka might end up thinking Genma murdered their child and is using a Kitsune to trick her into thinking its really him so that Genma can claim to have succeeded in the pledge and avoid his honorable consequence of Sepuku for his failure as per contract.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Ooh, ouch, that would be a brutal twist... but how to avoid Ranma and/or Genma dying at Nodoka's hands if I make use of it? To say nothing of the fact that even if they escape, Ranma is going to be heartbroken that his own mother thinks he's a monster instead of her son and he may not ever be able to persuade her that he truly is her child, so he'll never be able to see her again.

[Spokavriel]

Sounds like equal motivation to cure the curse to me as was in the original plot.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Good point, but, as I mentioned, if Nodoka has already come to the belief that Ranma is dead and Genma has somehow bribed a kitsune to masquerade as her son, what good is getting cured going to do Ranma? She's just going to be convinced that her real son is dead and that this is another deception by her horrific husband.

[Spokavriel]

It was just an evil thought. Besides we still haven't gone over how Genma is going to get around to letting Ranma know Nodoka's alive and has been waiting all this time.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Hmm... is there any reason Genma couldn't tell Ranma the truth, or at least an approximation of it? He took Ranma from Nodoka at a young age to ensure she wouldn't make him weak, but he's been in contact with her by letters and she's looking forward to seeing him again, as he sent her a letter letting her know they were coming back soon not too long ago?

[Spokavriel]

Sounds like what Genma said when he was trying to convince him the Circus woman was his mother.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Genma actually never tried to convince Ranma of that, just to point out. He didn't seem to know that Happosai had made up that lie about her at all; he simply pointed out, quite honestly, that it was Ranma's curse that had attracted her interest in having Ranma join her circus. For once, Genma was actually innocent of of pretty much all the misunderstandings. He was just contemplating selling Ranma on joining the circus so he could get that imported bamboo.

[Spokavriel]

Sorry got confused, haven't seen that episode more than twice.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

That's alright. Okay, what shall we discuss next? And I do hope I'm not being too pushy on all these matters.

[Spokavriel]

How well do you know the plot you want for this fic? Or are you just expecting it to happen from the characters personalities?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

To be honest, I haven't thought about it. I actually have a number of other projects I'm already working from; when I came here, I just expected to get a couple of basic suggestions for stuff I could build upon when I got around to actually making a story out of this plot.

[Spokavriel]

Cannon events are going to run out fast for you. So having some idea where you want to bring at least the first arc will be important fast.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I know. Though, as I said, this idea probably isn't going to be touched for quite a while, I have several other projects on the burners right now that I'm working on. Still, that's definately going to be the first priority when I do get around to doing this, seeing as how you and Frice2000 have helped me establish so much else beforehand.

[frice2000]

Sorry been busy for a bit and haven't been able to respond to this thread anyway...

With all you've changed in this fic...you can't really have too many 'cannon events'. Sure a couple can work but with the new characters and new races situations can and should be radically different. You'll need lots and lots of outlining to make this work as with the races and them learning their new abilities there should be a lot of interplay between chapters.

As to the Nodoka idea with her not buying him as her son i think that's interesting. I'm not convinced that he couldn't eventually convince her but it does add some really interesting potential plot points. A totally different idea I had was maybe she really really likes animals. Not to the extent that she'd engage in bestiality or anything (arguably her 'husband' doesn't count). However, she is s big animal fan. She donates a lot of time in an animal shelter, donates to animal rights organizations, draws her sword to threaten those hurting animals, etc. This leads to her being really really happy with their cursed forms thinking it's great and interesting also maybe it makes her a tad jealous. That way you can co-opt her standard fannon obsessions and spread them around to new areas. Ok so Ranma doesn't have to worry about being manly but she wants him to support his new fox and other animal brethren. This is a sacred mission he was selected for by the Gods kind of thing. Maybe even have her push him on occasion to take the forms of those hurting animals and stop them or the like. Could do a minor arc or two with this if you introduce it properly. Maybe it can be a break from some heavy supernatural chapters.