How might Nerima change?

[Jupiah]

I researched a few possible names for the Familiar. All of them basically mean troublesome; I thought it fit his personality and role quite well.

Okkuu - troublesome / annoying
Jamakusai - troublesome / pain in the butt
Jamakke - obstructive (person) / troublesome (person) / a nuisance
Hansa - vexatious / troublesome / complicated
Hanta - multiplicity of troubles / so many as to be troublesome

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Sorry to have been such a pest- I really should have anticipated you were busy with schoolwork. Come to think of it, I think I was more wondering where Heaven's Deamon was- I knew you had school work.

For the familiar, Okkuu seems the most reasonable name. Especially given his role in the story.

Like I said, I wasn't trying to convince you or anything, it just wouldn't leave my head. I think child prodigies are a staple of anime anyway, so making the eldest Tendo-Hibiki one seems okay to me.

Nice idea about the cursed form actually meaning a change in fighting styles rather than simply a change in abilities- if she needs training for both forms, then that likely explains why she and Yemon met and/or duelled, yes? I'm not sure why Taro would have had possession of his daughter though... any ideas? Beyond the idea that she, well, was the result of a one-night stand and the disinterested mother promptly abandoned her to Taro (which wouldn't give her a reason to be mad at him anyway)? And a nice idea about the curse affecting her ability to have children... though, given that it's magic-based, if the change doesn't involve switching sexes or otherwise hindering the neccessary organs (a wolf's womb is smaller than a human's, for example), it seems probable to me that a pregnant cursed woman could 'hold' a child to term. Doesn't mean she might not know this and believe she's been sterilized all the same though.

Hmm... given this, do you want to handle Taro's daughter for our next profile? Or do you want to 'finish' Michiko by figuring out the details for her brothers and sisters?

And just to mention, in the anime, as well as "Instant" Jusenkyo Spring, you've also got "Powdered" Jusenkyo Spring- with this, which is a permanent cure, you need to add the powder to hot water and get in right away, as the magic dissipates when the water cools.

[Jupiah]

I think it would be funnier if Taro and his child's mother never seperated. I would write him as actually living in Joketsuzoku with an Amazon wife; he "defeated" her on accident during a match with Ranma. Shampoo certainly considered an accidental KO from a sneak attack to count, so I'm assuming other Amazons might as well. And Taro is a really good fighter, a trait that Amazon women seem to prize above all others. Shampoo, at least, is willing to overlook all of Ranma's bad qualities because he's good at fighting, so I'll say that this woman did the same for Taro. She's just as power-hungry as Taro is, and helps him plot his schemes of vengeance and power, which often sound good but never actually work. Basically, they're they crazy neighbors that wake people up at night with maniacal laughter, and Ranma and Shampoo tell their kids to avoid.

Perhaps you could take it even farther. The Amazon he married was a childhood rival of Shampoo, and combined with Taro's hatred of Ranma, they've pretty much declared an unofficial bloodfeud against them. This rivalry is inherited by their children, so Taro's daughter and Yemon grow up as bitter rivals, and Taro's daughter's hatred for Yemon is exasperated by the fact that Yemon usually wins their fights. When Yemon left for Nerima, Taro's daughter pulled a Ryoga, declared that "He won't escape from my vengeance that easily!" and followed him.

Nice point about possibly of a cursed woman still being able to have children if the cursed form still has a womb (of the same size). Of course, I suppose that I overlooked the fact that she could just jump in the Spring of Drowned Woman and cure herself if she wanted to have kids, and recurse herself after giving birth. *feels stupid for overlooking the obvious answer*

I'm actually interested in making a profile for Taro's daughter now. One question: in canon, Taro wanted to be renamed Handsome Taro. Since you decided that the Amazons used suggestion incense to make him think that his name was changed, is that his name now? And if it is, do you think he might have given his daughter an equally ridiculously boorish name? "Beautiful Hatsu" or something like that? (or maybe a Chinese name, since Taro named her)

[Heaven's Deamon]

The reason I haven't commented recently is because I didn't really think I had much to say, so I waited till I did.

I've mentioned before that making the new generation too similar to old ones could be a bad thing. While the situation for Taro and his wife sounds good, I think a more effective way of handling the daughter is for her to be embarassed by the way they act and ignore them most of the time, plus having a friendship with Yemon, possibly because he was more willing to spend time around her than some of the other villagers. Her reason for showing up could be that she wanted to get away from her parents, and figured spending time with Yemon somewhere away from the village would do that. It would also leave some room for misunderstandings if Taro and his wife assumed that she took after them in a "denial of reality" type manner......

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

So, Taro's daughter is it? Then Taro's daughter it is. First thing to tackle; her family. Hmm... we may need to figure out how Ranma & Shampoo met Pantyhose Taro: I rewatched the anime's take on his first storyline, and it turns out he only goes after and beats up Ryoga and Mousse in the *manga*. In the anime, he tracks the old letch down and tries to grab him at first without involving the Tendos. It's only after he escapes (causing Taro to get beaten up by the residents of the women's dorm he chased him into) that he decides to blackmail/force the Tendos to hand him over, apparently because he heard Happi refer to them as 'family'.

One thing that might cause problems with that idea about Taro living in Joketsuzoku is the fact it's an official facet of his personality (from the manga, yes, but from one of those stories that came after the anime was cancelled, so I'm quite willing to consider using it) to prefer "shortcuts" to actually training. Given the rest of the village is basically focused around training, mightn't that cause problems?

That said, I do like the idea Taro's relationship is still going, at least partially because his wife is as power-hungry and crazy as he is. Perhaps something of a joke is other villagers/Byankala natives commenting how surprising it is that they love each other so much- sort of a "match made in hell", if you'll pardon the term.

Good point about the kid Heaven; it also makes things a little easier- as I recall, weren't we originally going to have it that, underneath her outward pose of intense rivalry, Taro's daughter actually has a crush on Yemon, something that confues her and makes her all the more aggressive as she tries to deny it's existence?

Good idea about her having a similar name to Taro's (as in, similarly stupid)- I think that's one joke we can feel free to shamelessly recycle. And actually, the idea about her resenting the curse because it means she's sterile wasn't too bad- as I said, she just needs to *believe* she's sterile, she doesn't have to actually be so, and given that her curse is a unique creation, jumping in the Nyanniichuan poses the problem that she mightn't be able to recurse herself afterwards. Hell, the magic used to make it might have 'altered' the curse so that it can't be overwritten.

Come to think of it, her mother might have even been the magus who altered the "source water" to create her curse in the first place. She might have even been originally exiled from the tribe -or even from the same clan as Shampoo- for practising black magic before she met and fell for Taro.

Jupiah, I hate to ask this of you, but if you think you can stand it, could you possibly examine that scene I mentioned in Curse of the Scribbled Panda and detail the 'human appearance' for recycling as the appearance of either Taro's daughter or his wife?

[Jupiah]

I understand what you're saying about not making the "new crew" too similar to the old one Heaven, but at the same time we don't want to make them too different. They are the children of the old crew, so their personalities would be heavily influenced by their parents. The original canon is filled with dozens of crazy, revenge/love obsessed stalkers - I feel that this fic just wouldn't be true to the source material if we didn't include at least one such character, and Taro's daughter just seems to be perfect to fit that slot, in my opinion.
And having her hate and have a crush on Yemon aren't mutually exclusive, you know. Those conflicting feeling would make her even more confused and prone to self-denial.

I'm glad you like my idea of making her parents power-crazed wanna-be super-villians SpaceKnight. You could have all kinds of fun abusing stereotypical "villain" behavior like plotting crazy schemes, maniacal laughter and giving them a habit of giving loud speeches explaining all if their ill-conceived plans. It's not even much of a change to Taro's character; in the manga he once proclaimed that he would take over the world with the power granted to him by massage beads! And of course, you could make fun of the fact that despite their grand ambitions, they're still pretty much your typical, albeit crazy, domestic family, and of how their daughter is embarrassed by their immature antics. That "match made in hell" line sums them up perfectly.

Ranma did still fight Pantyhose in the anime didn't he? They didn't change the story that much did they? In the manga, Pantyhose utterly despised Ranma from the get-go, because Ranma called him "saggy pantyhose freak", and also apparantly because he hates transgender people (my guess is that he once found out that a girl was transgender the hard way). Taro hates Ranma so much, that I think all you'd have to do is get Taro involved is to have him hear a rumor that Ranma is in China and he'd hunt him down for a fight. After that it'd be easy to get him married to an Amazon and settled down in Joketsuzoku when the Amazons tried to get rid of him with suggestion incense and it backfired on them.

Taro does use Jusenkyo for power-shortcuts but he's not completely lazy. He was able to beat the tar out of Ranma in his human form with the advantage of Ranma having to concentrate on keeping him from getting wet. He doesn't have any fancy techniques, but his basic martial arts ability is quite impressive, being only a little behind Ranma himself. So he must be willing to train to get power - he just prefers the easy way when he can. If you wanted, you could even write him as realizing that powerups aren't everything after getting beaten by Ranma a bunch of times and starting to take his training more seriously - either that he went and experimented with Jusenkyo again and changed his curse even more. I don't see why his living in Joketsuzoku would be a problem. It's close to Jusenkyo and it's not like the Amazons will force him to train if he doesn't want too. Unless your implying that watching others train will offend him or something?

I'm glad you like the like the stupidly conceited name idea for Taro's daughter; maybe, in a twist of irony, she doesn't like her stupid name, and dislikes her father because he won't change it. And she's also bitter at him because she likes her curse, but knows she'll have to cure it if she ever wants to have children. The only question is - what is her curse?

I don't lke the idea that Taro's wife is the mage that altered the water. Taro hates the mage because he/she cheated him, doesn't he? I don't see how they'd get together. Maybe you could make a running joke about how Taro often complains about that no-good mage that cheated him; maybe the mage has cheated him numerous times. Everytime Taro meets him again and tries to take vengeance on him, the mage gets out of it by offering him a powerful magic item of some kind as recompense and swears that "this time, it's for real". And every time, Taro falls for the ploy, lets him get away, and finds out later that his awesome new magic arifact is a dud.

Sure, I'll look at the episode. What season/episode is the scene you want me to watch? I'm curious, why do you want to use the panda's girl body as her appearance?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I see. Yeah, it does kinda make sense now... one vague idea that came to me this morning was this: Taro was most likely a bully in his younger days, courtesy of his curse, and perhaps his daughter might have been the same- using her fighting skills to beat up other kids and using her own transformation to intimidate the ones who put up a challenge so they'd lose their focus and get beaten. Then she ran into Yemon, who managed to inflict the first loss of her "career" on her. Even changing into a monster didn't work- he simply thought she looked cool and actually bugged her to teach him how to do it when she came to. Perhaps this is why she hates him? After all, Mousse has been bugging Shampoo to marry him since they were three, and Ryoga declared Ranma his arch-enemy over bread. Perhaps, as well, this is what first set the fires of a crush burning in her heart? He was the first non-relative to not only not mind her curse, but also to think it was cool. And, as I mentioned before, Amazons (which she is by blood) can apparently form crushes pretty early in life.

The thing is, in either canon, Taro didn't *know* about Ranma until he met him, and in both cases he developed his hatred because of Ranma insulting him for the fact he was carrying and using pantyhose. Before meeting him for the first time, and being insulted, Taro wouldn't have given two Yen for Ranma's existence, so he wouldn't have gone after Ranma without a reason. Hmm... maybe he beat up the guide like he did in either canon, and the guide went to the Amazons to ask for help? Taro went to Japan, found he just couldn't handle Happosai, came back to upgrade his curse and was ambushed by Ranma and some of the other Amazon warriors, who caught him, interrogated him and then simply used Xi Fa Xiang Gao to give him the memory of having his name changed? Hell, that might have been where he won his 'bride'.

Oh, and yeah, Ranma did fight Taro in the anime: as I said, he beat up the guide, then went after Happosai. He was spying on the Tendo house, having apparently tracked him there, and tried to catch the old pervert when he went on a raid. When that didn't work, he decided to kidnap Akane and use her to force the other residents to hand over Happosai. The kidnapping scene went much the same as in the manga, including Ranma transforming and calling him a "pantyhose pervert". The only real changes in the anime version were that they replaced him beating up Ryoga and Mousse for no reason with the aforementioned 'stakeout' scene, they didn't manage to catch Taro until they went after him at Crow's Nest Peak, and they cut the bit about them needing to force Happosai to agree to the name-change- most likely due to time limits.

The question of her curse is a problem. The only things I can really contribute are these:
-some years ago, I stumbled across a webcomic website called "Twisted Kaiju Theatre", with its "Kaiju Girls" gallery. Perhaps, to differentiate her from Taro (whose curse is just barely humanoid), her cursed form is the same 'style' as the K-Girls? Basically, Human-Plus rather than Monster-Minus? (If you want to understand what the hell I'm talking about, the address is www.neomonsterisland.com -most of it is G to PG-rated, but there is some adult stuff (which is marked) so watch out)
-Perhaps, to reference the fact Taro was initially referred to as a "demon" before the details of his cursed form was explained, Taro's daughter has a cursed form that is truly demonic and/or has innate abilities that 'suit' the demonic stereotype?
-Additionally, or instead- either way, Neo-Taro's form is reptilian in aspect instead of mammallian like her father's (ie covered in scales instead of shaggy fur)?

Nice suggestions about the wizard being Taro's "arch-nemesis". I like it, and it works better than my idea about her being his wife. And my comment about his training (I personally think he's less 'near-Ranma' in terms of basic skill and simply better than Akane, with the added advantages -when Ranma faces him at last- of being in a place where Ranma can't use his/her full strength without transforming him and an injured upper arm) was more related to the attitudes of the other Amazons. If you're a professional fighter, training hard in order to improve, just how are you going to look upon the equivalent of a steroid popping "Heel" (to borrow the wrestling term for a dirty-blow-favouring cheating sneak)?

For Taro's daughter's name... given Taro's strength and ability to fly, perhaps he may have given her a foreign "nobby" name? Like, say, Belladonna (which, as well as being scientific for Deadly Nightshade, also means "Beautiful Woman")? The idea of her resenting it, and his refusal to change it, is a good jab at his motivation in the original canon.

As for the panda, it's season 6 episode 16, "Curse of the Scribbled Panda". As for why, I just thought it might be easier than coming up with an entirely new appearance- it's doubtful any reader is likely to recognize her, now is it?

[Jupiah]

The idea that Taro's daughter is a bully certainly fits the personalities of her parents, and having her develop a love/hate relationship (with her being in denial about the love part) with Yemon because he was the first person to successfully stand up to her sounds good to. I don't think it makes much sense for him to be the first person to not mind her curse, though. They do live near Jusenkyo; curses are probably fairly common in that area. Most people probably wouldn't be that shocked by it, after they saw it a few times. And I'm pretty sure that Yemon would know about Jusenkyo, so he would know she couldn't teach him to transform.

Right, I forgot that this fic diverged pre-Taro (again). Okay, here's my theory of how they met. In the manga, Taro was hunting down every cursed individual in Nerima because he was using the Jusenkyo Guide's stolen guestbook to find them (apparantly, every visitor signs his name and address in this book, so the guide can find them if he needs to). Since Ranma and Shampoo would be near the top of that list, having only recently revisted Jusenkyo to get cured, they would have been one of the first people he visited in his attempts to locate Happosai. Taro finds Ranma in Joketsuzoku and fights him long enought to develop a burning hatred of him, before deciding that he's wasting his time and heading off to Nerima to keep looking. If you absolutely refuse to use the manga, then you can leave this part out and start with the next paragraph, but there will be less character development.

Happosai, still bitter about losing Ranma to Cologne, tells Taro that if he brings Ranma back to Nerima he'll change his name. Cue many fights over the next few weeks between Ranma and Taro during which half the village is ruined and Taro accidently defeats his future bride. The Amazons, in a desperate attempt to get rid of Taro, manipulate his memory with formulla 911, convincing him that Happosai changed his name and he doesn't need to kidnap Ranma. To their frustration, he decides to stay and settle down with his new Amazon wife. They let him stay because, franky, there's not much they can do to get rid of someone as powerful as him, and at least he's only destroying stuff fighting Ranma once a week now, rather than everyday. Taro's wife, of course, interprets the other Amazons angry glares at her husband as jealousy and acts accordingly.

Having them set a trap for Taro at the request of the guide can work too, but I like my idea better.

I think it would be neat if Taro's daughter had a cursed form that is relatively equal to her human form in natural strength and power, but which has innate magical/supernatural powers. She trains in martial arts and ki-manipulation in her human form because her cursed body isn't well suited to it (perhaps because her cursed body isn't humanoid, or because her ki works differently in that form), and because the water was altered her skills don't automatically transfer over. To make up for her physical weakness in her cursed form, she has trained it's innate magical powers to an impressive level. So as a human she uses martial arts and ki, and as her cursed form she uses magic.

What kind of creature would fit these specifications though? I'm don't really like that monsterisland site. The "K-Girls" are a bit too "furry" in my opinion. I'd rather not turn Taro's daughter into some creepy fetish girl. Some kind of demonic cursed form could fit the magical cursed form bill, but do you want to introduce a second character with demonic powers? Yemon's already got the Youki-ken, remember. I don't mind the cursed form being reptilian though.

Belladonna or something similarly over-the-top elegent could work as her name, but I was thinking of something in the same style as Taro's "Handsome Taro". A really conceited and boorish name followed by a normal one, that makes people cringe in disbelief the first time they hear it and snicker behind the person's back afterwards. As a result, she hates her father for her name and tries to hide her embarrassing name whenever possible, only revealing the normal sounding part of it to others.

Well, the panda-girl sure is cutesy. Long flowing brown hair, done up in a bun with her bangs parted in the center of her forehead and pulled back over her ears. She has large innocent-looking blue eyes and a very round face. She's tall (equal to Ranma's male form) and thin. Very beautiful, and she walks quite gracefully. She's seems to give off a calm and serene aura. Reminds me of Kasumi/Belldandy actually.

And I really don't think it suits Taro's daughter. For some reason, I've gotten this mental image of her as a hyper, athletic tomboy, with short spikey blond hair and blue eyes. She's arrogant, conceited, short-tempered, agressive and talks down to those around her. She thinks of herself as cool and mature, and heaven help anyone who disagrees. However, she can be actually be fairly nice to those who don't insult her or challenge her authority. Sort of like Asuka Soryu Langely, except even more arrogant, not quite as violent and much more mentally stable. Just my two cents though, feel free to do with it what you will.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

So, you like the idea about how they first met and how she first formed her opinion of him, but you think it doesn't make much sense for him to be the first non-relative to not mind the curse? I agree, the idea of them being used to the curse does make sense, but on the other hand Jusenkyo seems to be some kind of 'taboo' area, which means folks keep away. Knowing about something in the abstract doesn't mean one's prepared for the reality of it. Also, when I said they met at kids, I'm talking around 4 or 5 years old- around the age Mousse developed his crush on Shampoo (and Shampoo her disdain for him).

When they took the notebook from him in the anime, all of the other names were crossed out, so it's possible he may have gone after others to narrow it down to Happosai- he just went after those who'd been entered in the right time zone (16/17 years ago) instead of everyone. So, with that being the case, I think your idea about how Taro ended up in Joketsuzoku sounds alright, but maybe alter the 'foundation' a little.

For example, perhaps after getting the guidebook, and having heard that there was a Japanese martial artist in Joketsuzoku, he decided to visit the place and "persuade" Ranma to talk. Ranma's 'refusal' to talk (actually genuine ignorance- he left Nerima before Happosai woke up so he won't know about him until he raids Joketsuzoku) makes Taro mad, and Taro's own attitude quickly gets on Ranma's nerves, so a battle royale promptly erupts, which would help foster Taro's dislike of Ranma. Taro decides to leave and heads for Japan, where he eventually finds Happosai (perhaps after bumping into Ryoga?). Happosai makes his decree, as you suggested, and things unfold like you suggest from there.

So, basically, Taro's daughter is a "normal" martial artist in her human form, and relies on spells and/or innate magical powers (spell-like/supernatural abilities, in D&D parlance) instead while in her cursed form? I like the idea, though -as you said- it brings up the problem of her actual cursed form.

I didn't really think that site would be helpful- though to be clear I meant the basic 'style' of body structure rather than the exact looks. The only reason I thought it might be helpful was a vague idea that stemmed from an early discussion that she actually resents/dislikes the curse. Basically, the body style makes the curse more repugnant because it's "more grotesque" than a simply monstrous form like Taro's. With Taro, or any human-to-animal curse, there's no real semblance of the true form in the curse. In the K-Girl style, however, her identity is still apparent: she's still recognizable as herself underneath the "trappings". Beneath the fangs and scales, the third eye and the crown of horns, that's still her face, essentially.

Anyway, it was just a thought, so I don't really know what kind of form she might have for a cursed form. As you mentioned, a demon seems redundant with Yemon in the crew, and a dragon curse is either stepping on/reminiscent of Herb (if pure dragon) or just too creepy (human "core" with draconic trappings- wings, claws, tail, scales, fangs, etc). Do you have any ideas? What about you, Heaven?

Yeah, I think a name similar to what Taro wants in the manga (he doesn't actually reveal what name he wants in the anime, which is kind of weird) works better than a "nobby" name. Any suggestions?

And that description you came up with sounds much better for an agressive type like her. Nice take on her personality- from the start, I've been thinking she'd be a very "dominant" type personality (or is it "domineering"? The minutea of the linguia escape me sometimes). There was even a vague idea that this is one of the factors that contribute to her dislike of Yemon: his natural leadership means he challenges her unthinkingly, and if she tries to press the point Amazon-style she usually loses. There's also the resentment of the fact people willingly follow him, while she has to bully and browbeat others into doing so.

[Jupiah]

Curse suggestions: Okay, I did a bit of research to find some ideas.

Apsaras - a female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Frequently encountered English translations of the word "Apsara" are "nymph," "celestial nymph," and "celestial maiden." They are said to take the form of a beautiful and gracefull woman, often with wings. They're abilities include dancing, playing music, flight, seduction, shapeshifting, manipulating fortune (such as gambling and gaming) and control over water. They are also said to care for fallen heroes, similar to valkyries. Here's some Buddhist art depicting Asparas.

Kodama - A tree spirit, a Kodama is the Japanese equivalent of a dryad. Usually portrayed as a small child-like being with mask-like features. Obviously, this curse would have nature/earth/plant magic.

Nue - A legendary Japanese Chimera, described as having the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and a snake instead of a tail. It is said to eat nightmares, bring illness and misfortune and to be able to transform into a black cloud and fly. This curse would have nightmare/illusion/sickness magic. This particular curse might apeal to Taro because it is also a Chimera.

I'll go through some D&D books later for more ideas.

Name suggestions: Well, I did already suggest Beautiful Hatsu (Firstborn), but I guess you didn't like that one. Some others that come to mind - Elegent Mana (True), Graceful Kazu (First/Obedient/Disciplined), Magnificent Kayo (Beautiful/Increasing Generation), Lovely Sora (Sky), ect...

If you want a Chinese name for her, then here are some suggestions: Ying (Clever/Eagle), Shan (Elegent Bearing), Ting (Graceful), Lifen (Beautiful Fragrance), Juan (Graciousness), Biyu (Jasper).

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Hmm... the Asparas curse would probably draw unpleasant comparisons to Rouge, with her Ashura curse. The Nue is interesting, but it might be too similar to Taro himself. So far, the Kodama is suggesting itself, but I think we'll wait for you to dig through some D&D books.

Speaking of D&D, to go off topic for a second, I didn't know you liked it. What do you think of the upcoming 4th edition?

Given both her parents are Chinese, I'd say a Chinese name would be more appropriate. Are the ones you've suggested intended to be "tails" to descriptors like Beautiful, Elegant, Gracious, etc, or are they supposed to 'stand' on their own pretentiousness? Either way, the last 4 you've suggested for Chinese names look like a good selection to pick from.

Hmm... if we end up giving her a D&D-based form, what do you think of implying (at least) that the wizard who wove the spell using the untouched water from Jusenkyo's source is actually from a generic D&D world? Either an immigrant, exile, or a "vacationer" (ie his home in the Byankalas is the extraplanar equivalent of a summer home)?

And I'm getting ahead of myself, but after we do Taro's daughter, what do you say to the idea of taking a break from profiles to do a "Tourist's Guide to Nerima in 2014"? Figure out locations of note in Nerima of the time-period the story is set in (Ranma 1/2 is set 1994, right?) and tertiary characters, both there and from Jusenkyo?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Just out of curiosity, what D&D books do you intend to look through to find possible curse-forms for Taro's daughter?

Y'know, if she uses innate magic when cursed and martial arts when human, we should probably think about her martial arts style. Myself, given her background, I think she'd probably use a basic martial arts style (karate, kenpo, kung fu, etc) and thus be an "all-rounder" type martial artist- no real speciality, but adequeate in any specific area. Not really exciting, I know, but I'm thinking her ability to switch from martial arts to magic and back gives her that special 'touch' needed for a worthy martial artist in the Ranmaverse.

Also, this just came to me: rather than agonizing over existing creatures, we could just decide what element -or elements- of magic would suit her best, then design a creature/form around those. Say, a form that grants access to Fear, Dream and Illusion magics would probably be a creature that either exists in nightmares or which specialises in causing them. Such a creature could resemble a featureless humanoid shadow that radiates a palpable aura of dread and menace, an insane tangle of writhing tendrils, eyes and fanged maws, or an eerie and freakishly large spider.

Of course, that means we'd need to figure out specific 'elements' of magic...

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Just some thoughts about Yemon- I know this technically isn't the best time to bring them up, but I just wanted to make sure either of you were still here.

*Firstly is an idea that evolved from some idle speculation about a gag being Michiko actually inherited some of Akane's cooking genes, which were balanced by Kasumi's genes and means she's purely mediocre in cooking talent. We decided one of Yemon's hobbies was cooking, right? Well, given his parents are both very good cooks, what do you think of the idea that Yemon is actually a better cook than any of the girls that desire him (much to their chagrin)?

*Secondly, did we decide whether or not Yemon was going to Furinkan?

*Third and final stems from watching movie 1; whether or not Kirin showed up at Nerima in the past of this timeline, what do you think of the idea of 'reviving' or 'transplanting' this storyline? As it seems that Nekonron's leader can marry without the scroll, perhaps Kirin never showed up in Nerima in this story's past, which means the other half of the "Scroll of Luck" is still floating around somewhere (maybe back in Happosai's possession?). Naturally, it turns up in Yemon's hands... and who should come floating down from the clouds but Kirin's daughter? Bound by Nekonronian law to take the boy who holds the other half as her husband, she kidnaps him, something that would normally be laughable but for one thing: she doesn't exactly like ferrets, which means she leaves Okkuu behind. And, as we worked out, the seperation quickly causes the negative side-effect of the link to kick in, leaving Yemon weak and depleted of energy. While they aren't far enough away for it to be fatal (Okkuu manages to rally the others to go after him before that distance is reached), it means Yemon gets stuck in the role of "damsel-in-distress" for this adventure... which is something of a nice turnabout for Ranma 1/2. What do you think?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Are either of you still with me on this project? If so, please let me know- all this time without any comment is making me edgy.

[Heaven's Deamon]

1. Yemon being the best cook out of his generation does sound rather entertaining. I wonder if one (or more) of the girls could try to have him teach them to get closer to him?

2. I don't think it got much discussion.

3. never seen the movie so I'm rather neutral. But if they did follow quickly, then wouldn't Yemon be able to start breaking himself out once the others got close enough?