WTF Ranma fic where he comes to grips with weapons as tools.

[Ordieth117]

There's lots of stories out there where Ranma uses weapons. Excels at them even. But he never in a fanfic, that I have found, picked up a weapon because it allows him to do more than he can do without one. That mindset always seems implied, but never made into a focus of the story.
Even Ruroni Ranko, as awesome as that is with Ranma using weapons, doesn't have Ranma realizing that sometimes one uses weapons not as a crutch but as a multiplier.
Sure, with Ranma's special abilities and circumstances (speed, strength, variability, versatility, endurance, etc) most weapons are actually a down-grade for him (which might make a good story too; one where he gets really powerful and picks up weapons just to play fair), but there have to be some creative authors out there who've made a story where Ranma picks up weapons to act as multipliers.

[FOG3]

Does simply freely using weapons and recognizing their utility count? In other words is it okay if he just does, and there's approximately zero discussion on it, and no humoring of the concept of not using weapons? In that case I may know a few, but they basically just involve crossovers where he's using whatever weapon is considered standard hardware.
I don't understand the sentiment myself. Yes, complacency will get you killed and with some people they get complacent with a false sense of security in their hardware. All you have to do is conduct a 21' drill on someone who thinks a firearm makes them invincible to someone with a knife to make the point. The idea however that the guy who first picked up a rock to get an advantage over his fellow man was a deluded moron completely at odds with reality shows someone who is what they accuse others of being.
Even a lot of mangaka utterly screw up on this. They just have no idea what they're dealing with. Sonada is one of the few that reliably gets things right within reason. Shura no Toki has the protagonist using a style where they're good enough to not need to use weapons, but it doesn't have the propaganda nonsense. Where did it even come from?

[ToastedPine]

Destiny's child. Ranma/Hotaru uses the weapon with no distaste and it works as a magic amplification device and shield.
There's also Way of ninjitsu where they do look at the advantages of swords.
http://members.optushome.com.au/dojohouse/ninjitsu/

[Ordieth117]

mmm... destiny's child was yum. Thanks for the other link too.
I'd prefer a story where the author makes a point to have Ranma learn, somehow, that weapons can be useful tools, and aren't crutches unless used as crutches.
Ruroni Ranko has Ranma using swords, and he has something of an argument about why using swords is okay to him, but ... it's not much of an explanation on the surface. "Unarmed fighters can be disarmed too."
I'm willing to bet he could have survived nicely in the Meiji era without swords, but not nearly as nicely as he did -with- swords. So I'd give that one a B- on my "Ranma with Weapons" grading curve.

[P.H. Wise]

Uh... Ranma *does* use weapons. It's been a little while since I've read the manga, but I don't recall any serious dispairagement of weapon usage on Ranma's part. He uses weapons when he needs to use weapons, and he doesn't use them when he doesn't.

[Pale Wolf]

I'd prefer a story where the author makes a point to have Ranma learn, somehow, that weapons can be useful tools, and aren't crutches unless used as crutches.

Well, there's a simple reason for that.
The people who write Ranma as someone who hates weapons in such a way are morons who've never read the manga and have even less clue of combat dynamics. The people who write him with weapons (barring the ones who just do it because a particular weapon, usually a katana, is 'cool' - those ones deserve every bit of scorn you can heap upon them) don't bother giving him 'reasons', because the real Ranma isn't a braindead moron, and is already aware of these basic facts.

[Knight of L-sama]

I think it's somewhere in the third season of the anime there's a scene with Ranma and Genma sparring with staffs/staves, so there's some evidence that he isn't completely adverse to using weapons in canon.

[ChasTaro]

Yes, I remember that scene. Also if I understand correctly bladed weapons are Illegal in Japan. To own a family honor blade it has to be registered, and licenced. And carrying it down the street as Nodoka dose would get you arrested. At least thats what I've been told. You think Kono would carry around that boken if he could get away with carrying a katana?
How about "Ranma got a gun" A gunsmith cats crossover though unfinished. http://www.ranmafics.com/Ranma_Gun/index.html
Ranma is learning to use a gun spending time on the range. Oh! And he still has his martial arts.

[ToastedPine]

The people who write Ranma as someone who hates weapons in such a way are morons who've never read the manga and have even less clue of combat dynamics. The people who write him with weapons (barring the ones who just do it because a particular weapon, usually a katana, is 'cool' - those ones deserve every bit of scorn you can heap upon them) don't bother giving him 'reasons', because the real Ranma isn't a braindead moron, and is already aware of these basic facts.

I think you missed the point. He was asking for fics, not source material, where Ranma has a proper appreciation for weapons.
As for the fics themselves, it may be fanon, but I kinda like the bias where Ranma's good enough so that weapons are only a crutch. It gives the fics a sort of mythical quality.

[FOG3]

I think you missed the point. He was asking for fics, not source material, where Ranma has a proper appreciation for weapons.
As for the fics themselves, it may be fanon, but I kinda like the bias where Ranma's good enough so that weapons are only a crutch. It gives the fics a sort of mythical quality.

I think you utterly missed Wolf's point. The fanon sentiment isn't weapons are crutch it's they're somehow limiting, inferior trash that only idiots use, which is a load of garbage that is purely fanon in nature.
Wolf addressed the nature of the fics with said sentiment and those without in commenting on Ordieth's desire for the utter stupidity to be welded unto Ranma's character so the author can turn around and remove it. He was in short explaining why things are the way they are.

[ToastedPine]

I think you utterly missed Wolf's point. The fanon sentiment isn't weapons are crutch it's they're somehow limiting, inferior trash that only idiots use, which is a load of garbage that is purely fanon in nature.
Wolf addressed the nature of the fics with said sentiment and those without in commenting on Ordieth's desire for the utter stupidity to be welded unto Ranma's character so the author can turn around and remove it. He was in short explaining why things are the way they are.

I see, so wolf just gave a different take? I'm sure that there are fics that handle it in both ways though: weapon as inferior to barehands, and ranma thinking weapons as a crutch.

[Pale Wolf]

I think you missed the point. He was asking for fics, not source material, where Ranma has a proper appreciation for weapons.

Actually, I was offering an explanation why he's not likely to find what he was looking for - that being, a fic where Ranma 'learns' weapons are useful. Because he already knows.

[FOG3]

You think Kono would carry around that boken if he could get away with carrying a katana?

Why not? Unless your plans involve maiming, dismemberment, and making a big bloody mess a traditional Japanese Katana is less then ideal. Add to this the fact if you have one there's a good chance it has historical value and whatnot.
A good oak Bokkens is tougher then a Katana from what I understand of such things and is more then capable of killing someone if necessary. Miyamoto Musashi didn't use wood to play fair, he used it because it worked good and furthermore was cheap. Don't let some sort of steel fetish blind you to how effective a booken is. Even now a bokken depending upon source and quality is like 20-50 dollars a Katana is more like 200-1,000 dollars. In the old days a Katana was supposed to have cost as much as their estates. Which would you rather haul around for everyday use?

[Scooter]

A good oak Bokkens is tougher then a Katana from what I understand of such things and is more then capable of killing someone if necessary. Miyamoto Musashi didn't use wood to play fair, he used it because it worked good and furthermore was cheap. Don't let some sort of steel fetish blind you to how effective a booken is. Even now a bokken depending upon source and quality is like 20-50 dollars a Katana is more like 200-1,000 dollars. In the old days a Katana was supposed to have cost as much as their estates. Which would you rather haul around for everyday use?

As someone who's carried a weapon around everyday with him for twelve months (along with body armor and helmet) in a combat zone, I'd rather have the bokken with me. After all, it's easier to question the injured than a dead guy.
And that was a complaint that someone pointed out as well in one of my fics; I had fat, lazy Panda-man complain that his son was weak for carrying a sword. Which is not always the case. As I write the story, Ranma still uses his unarmed skills and ki attacks, but, when someone wants your head, even having even a quarterstaff is good for self-defense.
A weapon in the hand of a competent martial artist is a tool, to extend their reach. In a one-on-one duel, the results are usually fatal, particularly if they're using bladed weapons like katanas or naginatas.
There's a scene in "Seven Samurai", one of the preeminent samurai movies, IMHO, where a master has been challenged. The duel is fought with bamboo first, and the challenger would have lost his life had they been fighting with blades. He persists, however, and the master is then forced to respond with his katana, ending the challenge permanently.
So, what have we learned in my rantings now:

a) Dead men tell no tales
b) Fanon over-does the "weapon users are weak" crutch which leads to:
c) In the hands of a competent martial artist, a weapon is a tool
d) A martial artist would rather have a live student than a dead challenger

[Ordieth117]

Hrm... I think another reason Genma in particular might dislike weapons is that people are less intimidating if they don't carry weapons, thus less likely to be noticed or remembered. Perfect for a thief.
Anyway, I understand the whole jive of canon Ranma understanding that weapons can be useful tools, and that he even occasionally uses them.
I suppose a more refined definition of my search is him learning to appreciate weapons as useful tools. Either because he (fanon) believed "Genma's tripe" about weapons being crutches, or because he relied on himself too much.
Or, because he got into a situation with someone who was able to hurt him with a weapon and he needed a weapon to respond; deciding where/why/how the weapons are appropriate.
A sequitur from this might be him deciding when/how/where it's okay to use deadly, or severe force in the defense of self and others.