General Questions mk 2

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Well, Ranma did say that Ryoga gave him the creeps. ;p

Now that I think about it, Ranma might remember what he did while under the influence of the koi rod. When he's first released from its effects, he wonders what he had been doing all of that time. That sounds more like he doesn't understand his behavior, rather than outright not remembering and somehow realizing that a lot of time has passed by. I mean, how could he know that a lot of time has passed by if he can't remember? And he didn't even phrase it as if to ask why he was where he found himself when the koi rod's effect was gone.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

That would be rather disconcerting, especially as Ryoga so oftenly goes around running, saying he will kill him.

You always hurt the one you love ....

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Gotta be cruel to be kind, right? Though I doubt Ryoga knows the right measure.

[Quickshot0]

Must be rather bipolar then I guess...

[Konsaki]

Who isn't in the Ranmaverse?

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Um... Uh... I know this one! Just give me a moment...

...

Nope, you got me. XD

I guess that'd make Genma a bipolar bear.

[Quickshot0]

I think Kasumi and Nabiki aren't bipolar.

[Southern Cross]

Nabiki's a greedy sociopath, which is worse.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Say, I get a lot of, "I'm a martial artist, too," from Akane in fan-fiction, and I was wondering if she had ever said such a thing in the manga or anime.

[LawOhki]

Say, I get a lot of, "I'm a martial artist, too," from Akane in fan-fiction, and I was wondering if she had ever said such a thing in the manga or anime.

No.

edit
for the manga.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I'm pretty sure she's said it in the anime, but only as a single throw-away line in one, maybe two, episodes out of all 161 of them. I think it was in the anime take on the Super Soba story, or perhaps the Martial Arts Takeout race. Either way, even though she did say it in one continuity, the fanon uses it way more than the canon ever did and blows it a lot out of proportion. She didn't even say it as some sort of boast or excuse, more an angry retort to being patronized. It's been a while since I've watched the series, so I can't say the precise episode or scene in which it happened. It's nowhere near as bad as some may think, though.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I was just reading through my copy of Changeling: The Lost when something caught my curiosity. Below is repeated the clause "Cloak of the Elements", from the Contracts of Elements, magical powers that come to a changeling that has forged a bond with a specific element - so a changeling would need to write up different Contracts with Ice, Fire, Lightning, Metal, etcetera. Anyway, I was wondering; If Ranma basically acquired this clause, not neccessarily by becoming a changeling, and he established his contract with Water, would it protect him, if only partially, from Jusenkyo? My own immediate interpretation is that he wouldn't be transformed by natural (rain, waves), unintentional (someone hits him and he falls into a puddle as a result) or accidental (somebody breaks a watermain near him or dumps water out of a window) splashes, but if somebody splashed him for the deliberate purpose of activating his curse, then he would transform. What do you think, though?

Cloak of the Elements
This clause protects the changeling from the natural manifestations of any single element. The changeling becomes comfotable in weather associated with this element and is protected against damage by its more extreme manifestations. A character protected from fire has no trouble walking through Death Valley at noon in Summer, someone protected from water remains warm and dry during the worst thunderstorm, someone protected from wood can walk through thorny underbrush unharmed and at normal walking pace, and so on.

In addition, the Cloak of the Elements protects the changeling against direct damage from the element in question. Against direct damage caused by the element in question, this clause subtracts one point of damage per point of the changeling's Wyrd. Cloak of the Elements (Air) would protect against damage suffered from being caught in a tropical storm or tornado, while an earth-cloak would protect against thrown rocks or falling to earth, a glass-cloak would protect against cuts made by broken glass, and so on.

However, the clause cannot protect against damage from objects created or modified with the intention of harming someone. The glass-cloak could shield its user against incidental damage from shards of fallen glass, but not against a beer bottle that was broken for the purpose of a bar brawl. A metal-cloak might protect against a fireplace poke, but not a sword or even a pipe that was detached for the purpose of serving as a weapon.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Building on from the last post, an idea that is starting to flit into my head has Ranma "waking up" a dark entity of some kind that is actually sincerely grateful and decides to "reward" him by giving him one of the mystical arts it can command - and Ranma doesn't dare refuse because, well, if a demon lord is feeling benevolent towards you and is giving you something without causing pain and death to everyone you love, do you really want to insult him? So, my question is: which of the following Disciplines, which I'm stealing from Vampire: The Requiem just because it's convenient, would Ranma choose if he had to?

Oh, and, despite the "inspiration" being used, this doesn't make Ranma himself a vampire, he doesn't need to worry about sunlight, predator's taint, blood-thirst, frenzy or any of that other nasty stuff. He will register as demon-tainted by others, but otherwise the power isn't directly going to screw with him. That's being saved for life in general. Celerity (Superhuman Speed), Resilience (Superhuman Durability) and Vigour (Superhuman Strength) were left out because, well, they're redundant.

Animalism: this Discipline focuses on controlling beasts, both the literal creatures of the wild and the dark, raging, primal half of all vampires known as The Beast. Feral Whispers is the power to communicate with animals. Obedience allows him to force them to obey. Call Of The Wild summons animals to the vampire’s side. Subsume The Lesser Spirit is the power to possess an animal and move about in its body. Leashing The Beast allows the vampire to attempt to alleviate a vampire from frenzy or Rotschreck… or cause it. This last power works both on others and the vampire itself.

Auspex: this Discipline grants supernaturally heightened senses and perception, extending the vampire’s awareness into the spirit world and even the past. Heightened Senses is… well, obvious enough. The similarly obvious from name Aura Perception allows the vampire to identify personality traits and emotional state, as well as being a subtle clue if a creature is not a human but something else. The Spirit’s Touch is the power to invoke a low degree of postcognition, touching an object and being able to psychically sense brief impressions of its past. Telepathy is another obvious power. Twilight Projection allows the vampire to project its mind as an entity that resides in Twilight, a kind of “psyche ghost”.

Dominate: this Discipline covers the art of mentally subjugating others through sheer force of will, enslaving their psyche by eye contact and allowing them to speak an order that their slave feels compelled to obey. At its most basic is the power to make a single-word Command. With Mesmerize, a vampire can implant a false thought or suggestion into the subconscious. Using The Forgetful Mind allows a vampire to steal and reshape the memories of others. Conditioning slowly poisons the victim’s mind, weakening their ability to resist other aspects of this Discipline. Finally, a vampire can take over a victim’s body entirely by calling upon the power of Possession.

Majesty: similar to Dominate, this Discipline magnifies the vampire’s natural charisma into a force capable of affecting the minds of others. Majesty focuses more on emotional manipulation rather than outright mind control, though. Its most basic power is the ability to inspire Awe, making the vampire appear far more charismatic and magnetic than normal. With the power of Revelation, a vampire can seduce a victim into sharing their innermost feelings and secrets. A victim of Entrancement is under the closest that Majesty really gets to outright mind control, as they are emotionally compelled to consider the vampire somebody they love, trust, respect and admire. Summoning creates an emotional pulse that draws the targeted individual to the vampire’s side. The greatest of all powers is Sovereignty, which augments the vampire’s personality to the extent that others react to them as if they were unquestionably the vampire’s inferior.

Nightmare: the bastard sibling of Dominate and Majesty, this is the art of manipulating fear in others, in causing the vampire to appear even more frightening than a walking corpse that feeds on human blood should be. Monstrous Countenance allows a vampire to put on a supernaturally terrifying threat display. After that comes the power to more subtly manipulate fear, causing an intense but undetectable Dread. By using the Eye of the Beast, the vampire can show a person with whom they make eye contact the nightmarish creature that lies at the heart of any vampire, literally paralyzing them with terror. From there, it is a short step to wield fear so potently that they can literally Shatter The Mind of others, while the masters wield Mortal Fear, terror so intense it can kill.

Obfuscate: this Discipline covers the arts of stealth, secrecy and deception, key powers for a night-prowling undead predator to develop. Though it functionally renders items and beings invisible, Obfuscate is more akin to the mental disciplines of Dominate, Majesty and Nightmare; it creates a psychic shroud around the target, causing the minds of those fooled to see “around” the Obfuscated item or entity. Touch Of Shadow conceals small objects, though with skill the user can hide larger and larger ones. Mask Of Tranquility enables a vampire to conceal some of its fundamental nature as one of the kindred, causing that vampire to no longer trigger the Predator’s Taint – even their aura appears to be that of a human, unless the vampire wills the power to cease. Cloak Of Night is responsible for the stories of vampires being able to become invisible. The Familiar Stranger is a form of illusion in which others perceive the vampire in being the subject they most expect to meet in the given circumstances. The ultimate expression of Obfuscate is Cloak The Gathering, which casts a Cloak Of Night over multiple beings, instead of just the vampire itself.

Protean: this most spectacular of Disciplines is the art of physical transformation, enabling the vampire to metamorphose in various ways. While several of its powers are initially weak – Haven Of Soil only allows the vampire to meld with natural earth, Shape Of The Beast only allows the vampire to become either a bat or a wolf – experience will enable a vampire to increase its powers, allowing it to add more elements to Haven and more animal forms to Shape. Aspect Of The Predator imbues the vampire with such a fierce predatory mien that they never appear the weaker when they cause Predator’s Taint. Haven Of Soil allows the vampire to meld with an elemental substance to retreat from harm, such as the light of the day. Claws Of The Wild cause the vampire’s hands to sprout elongated talons that can tear through just about anything. Using Shape Of The Beast enables a vampire to assume a bestial form – at first a bat or a wolf, though some vampires are instead (or also) able to become serpents, but eventually other predatory mammals, scavenging and predatory birds, even carrion-eating insects can be assumed. The ultimate power of this Discipline is the Body Of Spirit, the power to become a living cloud of mist.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Sorry for the triple posting, but this should be a simple question to answer: I've heard that, during the Rouge arc, Taro at one point catches a falling Rouge and plans to crush her to death in his bare hand for all the fighting with her he's had to do. Does this really happen?

If yes, can anyone tell me the page and volume number? Or even give me a link to the relevant page on AnyManga?

[Quickshot0]

If my memory isn't betraying me I think that did occur, but I can't recall which section right now and am not really feeling up to looking it up right now. (Sorry.)