Questions about the Ranma Fanon Wiki.

[LadyRelena]

So I occasionally like to go to the Ranma Fanon Wiki and read all of the really cool martial arts styles and techniques that people have come up with. I would love to use some of them in my future fanfics but I don't know if they are already being used or not. Meaning, I'm not sure whether someone thought up a style/technique and decided to post it on the Wiki or if someone read a fanfiction and decided to post it afterward.

I need to know because if it's the latter, I'd rather not copy an idea that's already being used in someone else's fanfiction. I know many ideas are similar from one fanfiction to the next but I would rather not use the idea (as a whole) if it's already taken.

BTW I'm not counting style/technique's taken from manga, just the ones created by fans.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

If you copy from one person, it's plagiarism. If you copy from three, it's research. That's what fanfiction is all about.

[LadyRelena]

I really mean no disrespect when I ask this but - how does that help answer my question Ellen? Please elaborate if I missunderstood.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

There would be no fanfiction without seizing upon others' ideas. How could we write Ranma fanfics without using ideas from Takahashi-sensei? But we shouldn't just slavishly copy her stories -- that's not fanfic, that's transcription. We have to throw some of our own ideas into the stew and stir well.

The same holds true for other writers, writers of fanfic. It's not polite to copy their OCs, but copying a technique or two is legitimate. Simply take a pot of Takahashi, a glob of that other writer's technique, and add your own idea. Stir well, and let simmer. Serve.

When you ask a writer where sie gets hir ideas, sie'll laugh. Ideas are everywhere. It's what you do with them that counts. There are really only half-a-dozen stories, but the process of elaborating on them can come up with strange and wonderful things. The basic story -- hero's quest perhaps, or coming of age -- is like an egg. A good cook can fry it, poach it, boil it, or make it into an omelet or a quiche. Those borrowed techniques can be thought of as seasoning.

In fanfiction, it's mandatory: you use other people's ideas. Don't do it poorly -- that's an insult. If you do it well, it's a compliment.

[LadyRelena]

The same holds true for other writers, writers of fanfic. It's not polite to copy their OCs, but copying a technique or two is legitimate. Simply take a pot of Takahashi, a glob of that other writer's technique, and add your own idea. Stir well, and let simmer. Serve.

Well that's just it. I really only have one or two ideas. Story, character, and detail to canon are my strong points but fight scenes, techniques, and fighting styles are my weak points. I would probably just take whatever I find on the fanon wiki and directly copy it into my fanfic. I know that sound like I'm just being lazy but I'm truly abysmal in coming up with such things. Thats why I wanted to know if these were already taken.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

Practice by doing short spamfics. They don't have to be complicated, and you can (if needed) put the battle just before, or just after, your story. I did a Sailor Moon / Ranma cross with Rhett Butler (the Great Cat Youma from episode 31 of the first season Sailor Moon anime.) Ryoga got into a fight with Rhett. It was epic, and world-spanning. I gave a few paragraphs of the beginning, then had a scene break to:

In the valley of Thingvellir, in Iceland, a battered Rhett Butler panted among shattered rocks. Where on Earth am I now? he thought.

Then he looked down at Ryoga's body. Oh well. At least there's liver.

You don't have to show the fight. You have to show what started it (sometimes) and how it ended (sometimes).

The next day, Ryoga woke up dead. It was the strangest thing: he had no wounds, he felt fine, but he knew perfectly well he was dead.

Almost no knowledge of fighting needed -- though after he wakes up dead, knowledge of the Norse afterlife is useful.

[Spica75]

Well that's just it. I really only have one or two ideas. Story, character, and detail to canon are my strong points but fight scenes, techniques, and fighting styles are my weak points. I would probably just take whatever I find on the fanon wiki and directly copy it into my fanfic.

Dont forget you can borrow from other series as well.

Example, a series like Air Master has a bundle of individual styles(even if not all are totally distinct, some are very much so, like the kid with the bicycle, or the small girl that "sticks like glue" hehe).
Shizuo and Izaya from Durarara.
Kenji, Mikoto, Karen etc from School Rumble.
Yu etc from Daphne in the brilliant blue.
Nakhal etc from Madlax.
Baccano has some decent characters though it´s more personality than martial arts styles there.

Naruto, Bleach and Railgun all also have very individual styles, even if most doesn´t work within the "normal" Ranmaverse, there´s lots of ideas to be found there.

[toushin]

basically its a little bit of everything stuff from other fanfics, stuff people specifically made up, and stuff from various manga/anime rewritten to work in the ranma universe your best bet is just to say where you got it and have a reviewer say if its original or not