Temple of Ranma's Sailor Senshi Seifuku

I'd like to see that. Turning a common story upside-down can be interesting if the writer follows all the way through.

There's one thing that wasn't made clear enough, at least to me. You mentioned that Ranma would be in Usagi's head, and later it sounds like Ranma goes to meet the "NWC" (ugh) under his (her) own power. So, to clarify, is Ranma just a mental presence, or can he (she) have control of the body (Usagi's cursed form, at least) if Usagi allows it?

As for the thing with Mt. Horai... I'm not sure what you're basing your "appears" on, in regard to the time it took them to reach their destination. To start, there is only one definite indicator for how much time has passed (as far as I'm aware): they leave the morning following the events at the nekohanten (where Ramna's curse is locked), the furo (where Ranma discovers that he can't change into a guy), and the dojo (where Ryoga and Mousse appear to offer their "aid"). The only other clue is when a woman at the hotel asks Ranma if she could clean the baths that day as well, which suggests that she (and the other two) had been working there for at least two days.

Now, if one assumes that they took a long time to reach Mt. Horai, it really shouldn't be surprising if you'd read the story. Even though they began their trip on a train, Mousse lost their money and the map they needed to get to where they were going. So, on top of needing to earn money (which they presumably need for their trip), and no longer knowing how to get to where they need to go, it's understandable if they had to spend days or longer making no progress at all. It was only by chance that Herb had gone to the hotel where they worked, and were thus able to make it to Mt. Horai by following their trail from there.

If I had to guess, I'd say that Ranma had gotten several days ahead of Herb (who appears to have traveled the entire distance on foot) by using the train. Since Ranma ended up arriving at their destination by following Herb instead of getting there first, Ranma essentially arrives at Mt. Horai at whatever Herb's pace on foot had been -- which is unknown.

Also, what do you have against ginger?

I rarely if ever enjoy a story where you kill off the main character and then have them appear in another's head so the premise as written isn't something I can really get behind. Maybe setting the spring up like Akane/Kiima where he doesn't actually drown in it so Usagi just turns into his/her twin at the age of the drowning and also gets his skills. That would be a far more interesting point to me with a older Ranma seeing a younger version of herself walking around or seeing her on the news fighting in a miniskirt. Having him in the head with her...feels like the waste of a character.

On a unrelated note...You've got AOL installed on your computer? Dear God why?

Spokavriel wrote: I have nothing against Ginger. I just used it to emphasize that its a Red Headded Ranma-chan I am basing this on. I also had a Grand Aunt (Grandmothers Sister) that was named Ginger but that is irrelevant. I might not have red hair but it is in the family history.

I know what you meant, but I felt like poking at your choice of word placement. As is, it reads as ginger-fighting girl. Two ways to fix it would be: "drowned fighting ginger girl," and "drowned ginger-headed/haired fighting girl." Or thereabouts. I prefer the second one.

Say, would Usagi be uncomfortable (in some way) with hearing a male voice, and prefer to hear a female voice so she isn't always reminded that she has a guy in her head?

And I am really only proposing that because this is not an already empowered site. Jusenkyo has its own sources of power to draw on and has the transformation curse in place. Without Ranma the only energy source would be what the Kettle? Its a bit harder to sell that

Magical spring. Sell it however you like it. Maybe Herb dies and his 'draconic power' creates the spring or something. If you don't want to kill Ranma off there are ways to make it believable without killing the guy. Hell maybe even a fake-out Ranma imprinted in the spring but survived. Usagi falls in and a copy of Ranna's consciousness at that time copies over. Again, really hate these dead in the spring crosses.

I'd really like to see stories like this but as your counter point proves its already not for everyone right off the bat.

That's because the character you want to use in the cross is dead. It makes the interest level itself die too. Most of these stories revolve around the possibility that the characters therein can die. If the start of your story already has a character dead...You've got little to build on. Would it be neat for me to read a story with a bad ass fighter Usagi? Yes. Would it be neat to see Ranma training Usagi in some form? Yes. Do I want a 16 year old male to be forced into a twelve year old girls mind and train her in that way? God no you realize that is damned disturbing right?

merging of the memories over time and Ranma slowly lose the male identity

So not only is Ranma going to be dead but you're also going to rape his mind too? Again why is Ranma in her head in the first place then? If that's your end plot point have Ranma die, have Usagi fall in the spring, have Usagi instantly gain better physical conditioning and red hair/older body, and have Usagi grow a large interest in the martial arts. While I wouldn't particularly like Ranma dying right off I could still find that story interesting. It also gets you to the same point without graphically killing and raping a character slowly over time.

Huh? Ranma is dead. Character growth for him doesn't matter in this setup. If he somehow regains his own body fine otherwise what does it matter if he grows more used to his curse hes a voice in someone elses head. A dead voice.

Dead people can experience character growth. Lord knows how many instances I've seen spirits being bad or mischievous who learn that that's not the way to act, or that there are better ways to deal with whatever problem they have. So long as something can think for itself, I believe that it can experience character growth no matter what it is, regardless of what one's idea of "alive" is.

As to the matter of creating the spring, it shouldn't be too hard. We're talking about magic, after all. And there's no evidence that the kettle (or the ladle, for that matter) was taken by either party as the mountain fell. Ryoga had the kettle last, when he was holding it in the water that was being sucked into the tornado. But it was already out of his hands by the time he saw that Ranma had encountered the hot water (and had thus become male again). It's not seen in anyone's hands during the escape, so it's not a stretch to say that the kettle wasn't saved.

That just leaves us with the magic, and since there's no obvious rhyme or reason to how it works, there shouldn't be a problem using the explanation that the kettle was damaged or destroyed, which allowed its magic to act odd and/or escape. Then it's just a matter of it interacting with the magic of Ranma's curse while they're both in water. And if the whole being dead thing becomes too much of an issue, you could say instead that the magic trapped Ranma in the water, meaning that he's alive but others may not think so because they don't find a body. So when Usagi comes along and gets cursed with Ranma's female form, he has just as much control over their shared existence as she does. (They both can control either body, that is. Which I'd think would be more humorous in addition to creating more opportunities for characters growth, since Ranma's no longer a passive participant in this case.)

Why couldn't Ranma-chan and Usagi end up seperate again from that? But of course Usagi doesn't know Male Ranma. And what would balance or be a counter point to the Moon if Ranma became a new Senshi?

So that's your goal from all of that? OK I can see the story being interesting then if the advancement to the end of Season 1 is pretty rapid. A resurrected female senshi Ranma suddenly re-entering existence and having to fit in I can get behind as something I'd like to read. I still find the initial premise off-putting though.

So long as something can think for itself, I believe that it can experience character growth no matter what it is, regardless of what one's idea of "alive" is.

True if the whole story revolves around spirits. This did not seem to since as summarized it seems the main points of conflict would be Usagi's and Ranma was simply a passenger. That he gained a body back so he could actually be an agent in his own destiny makes that development worthwhile again. The stories you refer to that have a spirit only as an observer who has no agency in anything really don't interest me.