How would Akane fall out of favor with Ranma?

[LadyRelena]

I have two fanfics that I have been putting off for quite some time but have decided to start writing them again. One is a Ranma/Shampoo and the other is a Ranma/Original character fic. Both of them are going to be romance/epic fics and the Ranma/Original fic is going to have some big Street Fighter crossovers.

Anyway, in my Ranma/Shampoo fic, it starts right before the manga chapter where Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodatchi demolish Nadoka's house looking for Ranma because of the engagement ring. This fic is manga time line with anime episodes inserted.

In my Ranma/Original fic, the time line is after the events of the last volume. This fic is also manga time line with anime inserts.

Now to the crux of my question...

In the Ranma/Shampoo fic, Ranma and Akane haven't completely admitted or established their love for each or told each other of how they feel although it's still apparent that they love each other. Akane falling out of favor with Ranma is quite difficult at this point but not impossible since none of the significant "engagement ring" or "Mount Phenix " stuff had happened yet.

In my Ranma/Original fic, it pretty much starts after the fact that Ranma and Akane know for sure that they love each other. This is going to be nearly impossible since Ranma and Akane's relationship is completely established (except for the wedding) by this time.

Here are the ideas I've either seen on other fanfics or thought up myself.

1)Akane finds out that P-Chan is Ryouga and blows up at Ranma (seen in the first three chapters of R/K fic Aijou & Aitou http://www.computersensa.com/A&A.html)
2) Akane gets some kind of powerful training/trinket that helps her beat the crap out of the competition unprovoked. (seen in the fanfic 'Power' http://www.fanfiction.net/s/639075/9/Power and 'A Cold Wind Blows' http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1248414/1/A_Cold_Wind_Blows)
3) Ranma simply gets tired of taking Akane's abuse over the past two years.
4) Akane dies (I know it's not Akane falling out of favor with Ranma, but it's still an idea)
5) Ranma gets a Phobia from Akane beating him up so much. (Seen in an R/U fic 'Akane Phobia")

Well, this is my list and none of them seem very possible in either manga or anime Ranma vers except for 1 and maybe 2 and 5. I would use some of these ideas except for the fact that they already belong to someone else.

So, what I need are two really good, reasonable, non out of character, original, ideas/reasons for Akane to fall out of favor with Ranma for both fics. I need a defining moment/action where Akane says or does something to completely change Ranma's love, respect, or view of her and their relationship. I know that this is a pretty tall order Im asking for but any suggestions would be great.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

This is indeed a tall order- with how Ranma 1/2 it was written, and especially with how Ranma is designed, the idea of one single event just making Ranma suddenly alter his whole stance on a subject is almost unbelieveable. Note that in the three FFN fics you listed, it was less Akane falling immediately out of Ranma's favor and more events coming together to make her seem less palatable than an alternative choice, which prompted a shift of feelings. However, I will try and help you however I can.

One possibility that has been used before is for Akane to do something so shocking that it breaks Ranma's view of her as an essentially sweet girl who just distrusts him alot and lets her temper get the best of her and makes him start looking at her in a different light. A fanfic at FFN called "Unfair Warning" has Akane use the Battle Dogi to try and challenge Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi so that they will leave Ranma alone, only she loses control and hurts them rather badly- she even cracks Kodachi's spine. This is the start of Ranma's realisation, but it takes her own ranting when Ranma confronts her, proving that she truly was in control when she maimed them and denying Ranma the ability to claim that it was the fault of the dogi controlling her mind, to make him realise just what sort of person she really is.

With your Ranma/OC fic, a good and believable way to handle things would be by having the girl simply want to be Ranma's friend at first- make it so that she has no apparent romantic interest in him and she simply wants to be pals. Perhaps she wants nothing more from Ranma at first then to learn his infamous martial arts style? This comparatively trusting and selfless behavior is different to anything Ranma receives from any of the girls- couple this with Akane's own paranoid violence, which would simply continue to grow worse and worse if Ranma continues to 'defy' her and see your OC, and Ranma would grow disillusioned.

The final thing that could instantly shatter Ranma's favor of Akane, off the top of my head, would be for her to truly and deeply betray him in some manner. For example, if he was to find that she had known all along that Ryoga & P-chan were one and the same and she'd been using his jealousy to try and goad him, or that she had actually been deliberately manipulating things so that he got into so much havoc so that he would finally run off, freeing her from the contract whilst still leaving her reputation intact.

[three headed dog]

what I need are two really good, reasonable, non out of character, original, ideas/reasons for Akane to fall out of favor with Ranma

There are a lot of possible reasons. Even if they do love each other love is often not enough.

The thing is one big thing is not the best way to go about it. The best method would be many little things with them slowly falling out of love or falling in love with someone else.

Also while they do like each other, it's not the biggest factor. They are bound by the ties of honor to wed one another, that is the largest factor. Respect - Ranma doesn't really respect Akane and Akane definitely does not respect Ranma. Trust - neither trust the other, both have good reasons not to. They do find each other attractive - Ranma thinks Akane's cute and Akane got really upset when Asuka called Ranma ugly, enough to send him on a date with Kodachi.

Even at the exact end of the manga neither knows for sure that the other loves them. Akane thinks Ranma loves her because she thought she heard him say that on Jusendo (he thought it but yelled Akane) but she is unsure because he denies saying it (which is the truth he didn't) and tried to pick a fight so as to not marry her at that moment. Ranma really has no idea how Akane feels for him at all even at the end of the manga.

If I were to write a story with Ranma finding a new love be it Shampoo or an original girl. First thing I would do is get him away from Akane. Then have him slowly fall in love with the new girl. Have her be his friend, be non judgmental, allow him to explain, don't hit him with out just cause, earn his trust, etc... Naturally he'd fall in love with this girl who treats him so nicely compared to everyone else while at the same time falling out of love with Akane -particularly since he doesn't know Akane's feelings for him and is unsure about his feelings for her.

Though if you really want some quick event here are some-
-Ranma gets hurt and girl takes care of him without asking for anything in return
-A series of increasing fights on an important subject like trust
-Akane or Ranma say something or doing something hurtful to the other. Be it on purpose or on accident and the other taking it to heart and does something stupid.
-Either Ranma or Akane getting caught in a seriously compromising position that they can not explain away
-Ranma goes on a training trip and Akane falls in love with someone new while he was away.

[LadyRelena]

This is indeed a tall order- with how Ranma 1/2 it was written, and especially with how Ranma is designed, the idea of one single event just making Ranma suddenly alter his whole stance on a subject is almost unbelieveable. Note that in the three FFN fics you listed, it was less Akane falling immediately out of Ranma's favor and more events coming together to make her seem less palatable than an alternative choice, which prompted a shift of feelings. However, I will try and help you however I can.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't make this clear in the first post. I definitely intent to have various confrontations, arguments and so on take place between Ranma and Akane to stress out the relationship over a long period of time. What I'm looking for is the an idea for the final straw that will send their relationship into the trash.

One possibility that has been used before is for Akane to do something so shocking that it breaks Ranma's view of her as an essentially sweet girl who just distrusts him alot and lets her temper get the best of her and makes him start looking at her in a different light. A fanfic at FFN called "Unfair Warning" has Akane use the Battle Dogi to try and challenge Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi so that they will leave Ranma alone, only she loses control and hurts them rather badly- she even cracks Kodachi's spine. This is the start of Ranma's realisation, but it takes her own ranting when Ranma confronts her, proving that she truly was in control when she maimed them and denying Ranma the ability to claim that it was the fault of the dogi controlling her mind, to make him realise just what sort of person she really is.

This sounds like a good fic and I intend to read it.

With your Ranma/OC fic, a good and believable way to handle things would be by having the girl simply want to be Ranma's friend at first- make it so that she has no apparent romantic interest in him and she simply wants to be pals. Perhaps she wants nothing more from Ranma at first then to learn his infamous martial arts style? This comparatively trusting and selfless behavior is different to anything Ranma receives from any of the girls- couple this with Akane's own paranoid violence, which would simply continue to grow worse and worse if Ranma continues to 'defy' her and see your OC, and Ranma would grow disillusioned.

Actually my own thoughts were very close to this, but I don't have any ideas as to what Akane would do 'specifically' to hurt my character and change Ranma's feelings about her. My character is probably at female Ranma's level and her master was Chun li (of Street Fighter)so, I don't necessarily know what Akane could really do in this situation to piss off both parties.

The final thing that could instantly shatter Ranma's favor of Akane, off the top of my head, would be for her to truly and deeply betray him in some manner. For example, if he was to find that she had known all along that Ryoga & P-chan were one and the same and she'd been using his jealousy to try and goad him, or that she had actually been deliberately manipulating things so that he got into so much havoc so that he would finally run off, freeing her from the contract whilst still leaving her reputation intact.

This one seems like the headrest one to pull of and not make it OOC.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

For the second one I suggested, she doesn't need to confront your OC, she just needs to learn that Ranma is meeting her- it is a canon fact that Akane will only ever go after the other girls who she thinks Ranma is 'cheating on her with' if she believes she stands a good chance of winning a fight. Her canon tactic is to try and browbeat (and just plain beat) Ranma into avoiding her. If she hears that Ranma is spending time with a strange girl, especially if he forgets (even once) some event she wanted him to be present for, she will harass, harangue and hit Ranma for it. And if Ranma defies her wishes and goes to see her again, she'll do it again, even more vehemently this time. As long as Ranma continues to disobey Akane and see this OC of yours (perhaps he feels honorbound to, though it's also likely he'll eventually start prefering her kinder behavior to Akane's hostility), Akane will keep acting her worst, and eventually this sustained hostility will make Ranma decide she's not the person he loves.

As for final straws in general, it really depends on what began overloading the camel's back in the first place (so to speak)- what events specifically began to push their relationship to their limits generally helps suggest what will finally break them.

[Neko-]

1)Akane finds out that P-Chan is Ryouga and blows up at Ranma (seen in the first three chapters of R/K fic Aijou & Aitou http://www.computersensa.com/A&A.html)

Likely to happen, but unlikely that Ranma will turn away from her over this. He's known it for a while, tried to make it clear to Akane, but would still feel guilty about hiding Ryoga's curse from Akane, and thus be very forgiving in respect to any retribution coming from it.

If this ends in a break-up, it'll be a long-term thing, mostly because of Akane being unable to forgive Ranma or trust him, and thus souring the relationship. It'll take a while for both of them to work to that conclusion tho.

2) Akane gets some kind of powerful training/trinket that helps her beat the crap out of the competition unprovoked. (seen in the fanfic 'Power' http://www.fanfiction.net/s/639075/9/Power and 'A Cold Wind Blows' http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1248414/1/A_Cold_Wind_Blows)

Since Akane had the Battle Doiji (sp?) and the Super Soba Noodles, she's well aware of the consequences these items hold. Not to mention that it's a 'short-cut'. She prides herself on being a Martial Artist and using a crutch to surpass the competition (and thus deminish your own pride in the process) is something that I can't see her doing on a long term basis.

While you could go for some 'fusion' of an artifact (so it's unremovable) and change her character through that means so she's prone to the unprovoked attacks, or even completely uncaring, that still leaves you with the problem afterwards of dealing with her in the line of the story. It also holds the problem that Ranma (as a debt of honor to the Tendo's) will try almost anything to cure her. As such he'll most likely not be interested in a new relationship with anyone else.

Besides, pride will not allow Akane to sit by idly and watch Ranma being carted off by someone else. Not unless you manage to change her character through these means so much that it's actually believable.

3) Ranma simply gets tired of taking Akane's abuse over the past two years.

I'd have figured he'd get tired of that sooner then 2 years. If after Mt Phoenix (even if it did not happen in your story) he actually said he loved her, the abuse of 2 years matters little to him.

4) Akane dies (I know it's not Akane falling out of favor with Ranma, but it's still an idea)

That could work... Ranma devestated or something, in need of comfort. That is... unless someone says something that actually provokes him. Vengeance And A Half comes to mind.

5) Ranma gets a Phobia from Akane beating him up so much. (Seen in an R/U fic 'Akane Phobia")

No likely I suppose. A phobia usually occurs as a result of an overstimulus of harmful intent. Akane usually differs this off with caring or atleast civil responses, taking the edge of the phobia.

[Ezvir]

For the second one I suggested, she doesn't need to confront your OC, she just needs to learn that Ranma is meeting her- it is a canon fact that Akane will only ever go after the other girls who she thinks Ranma is 'cheating on her with' if she believes she stands a good chance of winning a fight.

She doesn't ever go after other girls in the manga, at all. She is willing to respond to challenges form anyone, but eager to respond to them if they come from rivals, and she will knock Kodachi off Ranma and hit Shampoo with cold water when they are hugging him, but that's it. No going after other girls, ever.
Her usual response to Ranma meeting other girls is to sulk.

Her canon tactic is to try and browbeat (and just plain beat) Ranma into avoiding her. If she hears that Ranma is spending time with a strange girl, especially if he forgets (even once) some event she wanted him to be present for, she will harass, harangue and hit Ranma for it. And if Ranma defies her wishes and goes to see her again, she'll do it again, even more vehemently this time. As long as Ranma continues to disobey Akane and see this OC of yours (perhaps he feels honorbound to, though it's also likely he'll eventually start prefering her kinder behavior to Akane's hostility), Akane will keep acting her worst, and eventually this sustained hostility will make Ranma decide she's not the person he loves.

Manga Akane is less likely that Ukyou, Kodachi and Shampoo to do that, as shown by Hinako's introduction story.


As for breaking them apart, the best solution seems to be an early resolution of the Nodoka situation which ends up with Ranma living at home, removing Akane's main advantage. Add to that one of their fights where they are waiting for the other one to apologize first, something to distract Ranma from resolving the situation and a couple of the usual misunderstandings and situations that push them apart, and you are almost there.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

And what about the Super Soba storyline? When she found out that Shampoo was at the tournament, didn't she immediately jump at the chance for revenge now that she had the power to do so?

[Ezvir]

And what about the Super Soba storyline? When she found out that Shampoo was at the tournament, didn't she immediately jump at the chance for revenge now that she had the power to do so?

You say it yourself: That was revenge for being shown up the previous day, not going after one of the other girls for wooing Ranma, and she didn't just attack her but issued a proper challenge.

[LadyRelena]

And what about the Super Soba storyline? When she found out that Shampoo was at the tournament, didn't she immediately jump at the chance for revenge now that she had the power to do so?

I have to agree with that. While Akane is not usually the one to start fights, she seems to change her mind about that pretty fast when she suddenly has a magical item or food to bots her fighting abilities.

As far as Akane being none confrontational in both my fics, well... that's somewhat boring. Akane is typically a none confrontational person so, I was hoping for an idea that would bring her sailing over the edg, so to speak. The Dogi and the super soba are both good ideas but since they have already been done I was hoping to try an original idea. Also, for Ranma and Akane to start fighting again doesn't seem like it's a big deal to either of them, since they've been fighting for the last two years. It's true that Ranma and Akane seem to have a pretty good relationship with each other in the end. Akane especially seems to have simmered down a lot by the time the last two volumes come around. However, if they were to start fighting again, I think 'just' making their fights worst and worst each time wont be a definitive factor in their final break up. That's my conundrum.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

While Akane isn't confrontational, and I'll admit that I was wrong and that she's canonically more likely to start sulking after, perhaps, an initial outburst of fury (anime's Red Thread of Dread episode, manga... don't know it well enough to say), one factor one could bring into play is the fact that Akane doesn't trust Ranma. And makes this quite blatant in either canon- in the manga version of Hinako's introduction, you have her outright ignoring Ranma's explanation of what he's up to in favor of believing he's really just out to cop feels, while the first movie of the anime has her telling him/her, to his/her face, that she doesn't believe his/her word to be even worth considering listening to.

While Ranma takes the violence pretty much in stride, the distrust, especially post-Saffron (where he risked his life at least once, from what I've heard, as well as killed his first opponent and ruined his best chance at getting a cure, perhaps permanently) could be a key to unravelling Ranma's titanium nerves. And if Ranma started to snap back at Akane, it's quite likely to make her react even worse- while she has apologised for specific events, she has never done it for her general behavior and she seems to see nothing wrong with it, so her developing a sense of betrayal for Ranma rebelling doesn't seem that unlikely.

Actually, post the failed wedding, the simple fact that Ranma is spending sufficient time with another girl is likely to push Akane into the kind of behavior likely to make Ranma recoil at last. Akane has a lot of insecurities and little trust for Ranma at the best of times; how is she likely to react when, after she almost got married to him, she discovers Ranma remorselessly trying to resume his old "playboy" habits? And she would see things like that- remember, this is the girl who consciously edited Ranma's explaining he was after Hinako's pressure points speech so that he was actually telling her he wanted to grope, and she better not stop him. After all Ranma has gone through for her, both recently and since he moved in, the fact that she still has no trust for him is likely to damage the ties they've established. With him being hostile towards his other 'options' (Shampoo, Ukyo & Kodachi), that leaves your OC free to gently insinuate herself into his feelings- and her behavior, if closer to a normal girl's flirtations than those of Akane and the others, will get her there.

[Ezvir]

[...] one factor one could bring into play is the fact that Akane doesn't trust Ranma.[...] the distrust, especially post-Saffron (where he risked his life at least once, from what I've heard, as well as killed his first opponent and ruined his best chance at getting a cure, perhaps permanently)

Yes, Akane doesn't trust Ranma, but she is well advised not to. And in fact no one in the manga really trusts him. He is pretty much tied for least honest person with Nabiki, and while he complains about people not believing him that's largely a matter of having cried wolf too often.

By the way, Ranma doesn't really risk his life for her in the saffron arc. The closest he comes is fighting a life or death fight with someone he was going to fight anyway, and risking his life for her would imply that he admitted to himself that there was a possibility of losing. Akane sacrifices herself for him three times in that arc, though.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

So, what I need are two really good, reasonable, non out of character, original, ideas/reasons for Akane to fall out of favor with Ranma for both fics. I need a defining moment/action where Akane says or does something to completely change Ranma's love, respect, or view of her and their relationship. I know that this is a pretty tall order Im asking for but any suggestions would be great.

The problem is, what ultimately would hold Ranma to Akane is not love, but honor. That's the weak point that repeatedly gets Ranma to go where he is led, not love. His feelings are unimportant in his eventual marriage, the honor of the Saotome family, and the family School of Martial Arts are the things that binds him. Break those, and it doesn't matter whether he loves Akane or not, he must go where honor lies.

[Spokavriel]

Thinking along the Honor lines and the Shampoo story proposed I have to ask a question. Does Nodoka even know of the other fianceés before they destroy the house? In the Manga does she ever meet any Fianceé of Ranma's aside from Akane? Sure she sees her house destroyed and the failed wedding but does she know any of them in Cannon?

I propose that to get that Shampoo story going you have Nodoka not only find out about the relationship mess but have her Evaluate the family Honor because of it. That would make it so you could have her declare all Genma's Honor pacts void on his own dishonor leaving the only honorable engagement being between Ranma and Shampoo. It may be difficult and boring to write out some of the exposition to make that happen but it would be a sound basis for that one fic.

On to the Original Character idea. Has anyone considered exploiting Akane's inferiority complex? After Ranma and his "Friends" come around Akane has gone from being the best she knows in Martial arts to a little worse than most of the frequent fighters. She has also repeatedly had her illusions about her cooking shattered even with the help of Ranma's Mother in an OAV she needed help to even boil water. That's allot for an Ego to take.

So here's my suggestion.
Maybe Ranma is a failure scholastically and can't pass entrence exams with a high enough score for even the worst colleges in the nation. But Akane scores high enough to just miss Toudai and lords it over him. Finally something she is clearly better than the Great Ranma at. Ranma can't stand losing and as time passes with him as a Scholastic Ronin I could see that building up straws pretty quickly then if the OC were a friend and Tutor that Akane gets jealous of I could see it going allot of interesting ways.

[three headed dog]

Does Nodoka even know of the other fianceés before they destroy the house? In the Manga does she ever meet any Fianceé of Ranma's aside from Akane? Sure she sees her house destroyed and the failed wedding but does she know any of them in Cannon?

She likely does at the beginning of the arc in which her house is destroyed they are shown sitting with her and Ranma -minus Akane at the table having a civil conversation. Kodachi even sucks up to her. Though how much or if she counts them as valid is unknown.

I propose that to get that Shampoo story going you have Nodoka not only find out about the relationship mess but have her Evaluate the family Honor because of it. That would make it so you could have her declare all Genma's Honor pacts void on his own dishonor leaving the only honorable engagement being between Ranma and Shampoo. It may be difficult and boring to write out some of the exposition to make that happen but it would be a sound basis for that one fic.

She can't do that. She is a female in a sexist country and is not head of the clan. Genma is the only one we know of who can do anything about the engagements. She can convince Genma to do something about it or divorce Genma. Other than that she can't really do much.

After Ranma and his "Friends" come around Akane has gone from being the best she knows in Martial arts to a little worse than most of the frequent fighters.

Except canonly Akane is not shown to feel inferior to anyone in martial arts in fact she feels that she is able to handle anything. She is always confident in her Martial arts ability even when she clearly has no reason to be. What she canonly has an inferiority complex is about her looks and breast size. The other stuff she is confident in even though she has no reason to be.

Maybe Ranma is a failure scholastically and can't pass entrence exams with a high enough score for even the worst colleges in the nation. But Akane scores high enough to just miss Toudai and lords it over him. Finally something she is clearly better than the Great Ranma at.

Seriously doubt that. With his physical abilities the schools would fight to take him regardless of his ability to pass the exam. Ranma might not score high enough to get into Toudai but probably could with his physical abilities and he likely would be able to pass the exams for some schools (though about a quarter million people do not pass the exams on their first try and schools only allow a limited amount of people in even if they do pass the exams -their is also scandals where people pay others to take the exams for them, buy off people to get into the schools, or go to expensive cram schools which prepare you solely for the test). Once Ranma put his mind to it he quite likely would be able to pass the exam, maybe not on his first try but likely faster than the main character of Love Hina (can't remember his name at the moment). Ranma is intellectually superior to Akane. He figures things out faster than her, learns at a faster rate -to the point Akane has stated he learns fast, Akane continuously fails at things like cooking, swimming, and sewing -Ranma though succeeds and nearly everything once he really tries to.