#ask ranma and ryoga

[ask-ranma-and-ryoga]

[gillotto]

I just wanted to compliment your art growth over the years :) I’ve followed R&R since getting into Ranma on High School and seeing the whole thing posted on Tapas made me appreciate the art evolution over the years. Especially with things like lighting and expressions and hands! The hands in the new arc reveal art are so good. Keep up the great work and much love to Ranma and Ryoga 💖

Waaaaa~ 🥹 Thank you so much!! ♥️

I had the same feeling when I was getting everything over to Tapas, it’s neat to see how the style has developed into what it is now. Working on this comic has taught me a lot, and I’m proud of how far it’s come, and sooo exciting to see how it continues to progress. I’m very excited for this new arc hehehee

Thanks for sticking by ARAR all these years ✨

[askranma12]

Time to catch up with Mrs. Hibiki and bring her up to speed on everything?

[scottland-manor]

Hello could you please draw Ryoga Hibiki? :)

thanks for sending it in via ask! i liked doodling him a lot

[miraclecherryblossomsblog]

Who got the worst sense of direction?

[ukyou-kuonji]

Since there's no way in hell that Akane is straight either, she views her friendship with Ryoga as a sort of gay/lesbian solidarity. He pines, but she's just so happy that he feels so comfortable with her. -shuutaromendou on main

EXACTLY, THAT WHAT I'M SAYING!!

[gale-gentlepenguin]

You ever think about how Only Ryoga is justified in not immediately fixing his curse situation?

Like Ranma and his dad were at Jusenkyo. They could have easily asked the guy where the Spring of Drowned men was to fix themselves. It’s not like it’s in another random location. And before you say that the tour guide didn’t tell them, they could have asked before leaving.

Mousse and Shampoo lived in China, they could have easily just gone back and rectified their curses.

I say Ryoga because he stumbled by accident and his awful sense of direction would have practically guaranteed he would miss the spring of drowned man even if told directly where it was.

[nebulasaurus]

Who are your top 10 favorite anime boys?

Oh gosh. You're really gonna make me show my age now. Reminder, I love these boys equally, so this is in no particular order.

Kyo Sohma - Fruits Basket

Naozumu Kamuri - Kodomo No Omoucha

Ryoga Hibiki - Ranma 1/2

Amane Yugi (Hanako-Kun) - Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun

Koga - Inuyasha

Shin-Ah - Yona of the Dawn

Hikaru Hitachiin - Ouran High School Host Club

Obi - Snow White with the Red Hair

Chrno - Chrno Crusade

Killua Zoldyck - Hunter x Hunter

Feel free to ask me why they are my favorite, I love to talk about these boys. As you can see, I have a huge case of Second Male Lead syndrome. I hardly root for the first guy the girl falls for in anime, and almost always gets disappointed when my favorite doesn't win. I'm looking at you Obi, Ryoga, Koga, Naozumi, and Hikaru. My poor boys. 😭

[princess-of-the-corner]

Warlock

K, the ask wasn’t working-

I created a villain character - who I just call Warlock/Warren Locke - whose entire deal, his whole shebang, is that he “steals” something from a person’s “essence”. Like, a thing that makes up an integral part of who you are. Your creativity, your curiosity, your drive, your self-loathing, even a physical trait that feels defining to you. He doesn’t have much personality beyond “cartoon villain”, and I was mainly using him as a thought experiment. Which parts of someone would be defining/an essential part of them, that they wouldn’t even think of as such until it’s taken away?

For instance, using Chloé as an example. Let’s say Warlock takes an essential part of her that makes her treat others poorly. Like, that’s how he phrases it. Everyone thinks he took her cruelty, or her pride, but instead, he takes her resilience. Chloé grew up in a neglectful household, she needs that resilience to survive. To stand up against hardship and harshness. To keep getting back up when someone (like Audrey) tears her down. It also feeds into her issues, makes her determined, and often mean. Take it away, and she’s no longer cruel. She turns into a doormat, with the conviction of wet tissue paper.

Or, a different example, Warlock takes away someone’s self-loathing. Well, this seems like a good thing, right? But the way Warlock removes it, it’s not like something you overcame, it’s more like you never had it in the first place, and suddenly, you feel off Center. Certain things that were important to you aren’t anymore. You lack an understanding of something you had before. You’re missing something integral to yourself, and even if you didn’t like it, cutting it out has consequences.

Now, Warlock gets some pretty good use as a thought experiment assistant, and character analyzer, and I encourage others to use him for similar purposes if they want.

However, Mimi has taken a liking to Warlock, and likes to use him for comedy. She enjoys pitting him against characters, having him steal something from them they may or may not miss, and that something is WILDLY DETRIMENTAL to him, and all the hoops he has to jump through to give it back.

For Example:

Ranma Saotome (Ranma1/2) fights Warlock. Warlock aims to steal Ranma’s essence, but Ryoga Hibiki gets in the way. Warlock figures “good enough”, and takes off, cackling. Everyone is pretty concerned and worried about Ryoga, but he seems fine. They take him back with them to keep an eye on him, but over the next few days, Ryoga seems just fine. All systems normal. It’s only when he comes back from the corner store fifteen minutes away IN fifteen minutes, that it clicks for anyone.

Cut to Warlock, in a different dimension, after going confidently through the wrong door: “WHERE THE FUCK AM I!?”

-

THAT’S FUCKING BEAUTIFUL

[ask-ranma-and-ryoga]

[gillotto]

💗 🗡️

[patternwelded-quill]

Myka's (New) Intro!

I'm going to make me a fresh 

Writblr Intro

Just like revising a story!

I kinda-sorta did before, but not really, so here's a new one. I'll also be rolling the status updates for my fanfics in here for those of you following me for my apparent obsession with Ranma and elves...

My name is Myka, she/her. Nice to meet you!

I'm a trans swordsmith, armorer, jeweler, and watchmaker. I'm also an artist and author, and like all creatives, I have my days where I love my works and days where I hate them and think they're trash. For example, I did the trans flag colors on the rank pips of my PFP, but they're too tiny to see, so I'm planning to redo it out of frustration!

I'm here to build friendships and community. So feel free to send me a message or an ask about metalwork if you're looking for answers or curious. Tag games are great, too, I try to get to them within a day or so of the notif.

Original Works:

Red Angel Saga (Irae, Interitus, Impere): The story of Relarial, an elven mercenary warlord and grandmother, as she attempts to avenge the death of her family, recover from that terrible loss, and return to some semblance of a life she understands. Rated R (for Relarial, hah!) for ultraviolence and the fact that she can't avoid constant profanities.

-Status: Book 1 is being revised/rewritten, book 2 is rough drafted, and book 3 is outlined and halfway drafted.

Blades of Fate (Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove): Captain Malekah Thaynn was a divisive figure, known to some as a hero and others as the 'Butcher of Borderwatch.' The latter helped get her tossed into a dark hole for years until someone thought she'd be useful to their ambitions. But you don't pick up the epithet of a butcher of anything by playing nice with assholes.

-Status: Book 1 is a rough drafted hot mess, but it's my hot mess, I guess.

Fanfiction:

Wet Behind the (Long) Ears: What if Ranma was knocked into the 'Spring of Drowned *Elf* Girl'?

-Status: Chapters 1-6 posted. The rest of the first arc is rough drafted, aprox. 35-40k words. Chapter 7 is a mess but coming together!

The Stone Will Sing: Thematic companion to WB(L)E. Maybe Ranma's so short as a girl is because it was a young dwarf girl who drowned in Nyannichuan. Or perhaps the Khazad didn't die out, but vanished as a distinct race. Worldbuilding crossover with LoTR.

-Status: First chapter posted, linked above. Will add more as the muse demands. If this fic doesn't piss off some Tolkien scholars, I didn't do my job right.

Twice the Curse? Double the Fun!: Ranma discovers that P-chan is actually his old frenemy Ryoga. But somehow the Lost Boy managed to get himself *two* Jusenkyo curses. ...or, did he? One-shot for muffinmoonn.

-Status: Drafting, using as a nice palate cleanser when I get stressed with other writing.

Once We Were Warriors: OC Relarial is isekai'd into a 1996 Tokyo shared by Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon. This was prompted by a convo w/ a friend about our OCs as Senshi.

-Status: Book 1 is posted on A03, book 2 is rough drafted, and book 3 is being outlined.

[askranma12]

Ryoga, do you and your family have topographical disorientation?

[onedivinemisfit]

Ranma? May I ask how you got into that? Who's your favorite character? What's your favorite ship? What's your favorite ship for Ranma? (Fanon or canon is fine)

Oh boy. Okay here we go

1. It was the year 2003. My uncle, who was my family’s version of “that eccentric who lives in the Big City and has Connections” at the time, was visiting us poor north-western plebs in late summer. He was always big on cartoons. He collected The Phantom, Hardy Boys, Donald Duck, and so on and so forth - so we kids associated him with cartoons to read. Uncle was even friends with a magazine editor lady, so he usually got his cartoon batches at discounts.

This particular afternoon I wanted to read his Nemi magazine. Nemi was cool. It’s a still-running, monthly cartoon magazine about a silly goth chick and her shenanigans - it wasn’t actually in my age group, being like eight at the time, bc Nemi dealt with sex, drugs and uuuh, irresponsible adult behavior lol. But it also focused on environmentalism, human kindness and funny everyday moments. And it wasn’t like my family monitored my reading material much anyway.

As I reached for the magazine, in my grandparents’s living room, a small pamphlet fell out, and to the floor. It was a bright orange front, with a character in black-and-white. It introduced itself as being a ‘manga’, a series that would launch the coming autumn, and this was a free sneak peek of chapter one that came with every purchase of Nemi. I picked it up out of curiosity. And it was hilarious, I loved it.

Some weeks later, after school resumed, I spotted a bright orange pocket on the magazine shelves at the grocery store. I remember pacing back and forth, bc I wasn’t very good at asking for things as a child if they cost money, I was very money aware you could say. But the pocket was 49 crowns so I dared pick it up and held it in front of my father with “can I pls” eyes.

The rest is history.

2. Akane. Gimme the body-insecure, bumbling, temperamental lil baby who is so much more like teenage girls in her behaviour than any of the other female cast.

3. Canon: Akane x Ranma. Fanon: Ukyo x Ryoga

4. See above ^ I prefer AkaRan for many reasons, but if we’re being ranma-specific, it’s because she’s the only one of the girls to actually accept all facets of him, even the ones that come across as gnc. None of the other girls show the least amount of romantic interest in fem!ranma.

[princesscolumbia]

Ānzhuōniichuan - Chapter 2

Insomnia has been making a total mess of my ability to do things, including doing the stuff necessary to get rid of the insomnia. On the plus side, I've managed to get enough sleep this last week to recover enough to finished a chapter, so please enjoy:

Summary:

Ranma and Ryoga's journey, now with their new Chinese friend Xian Pu, takes them to a dojo in Japan.

Notes:

Been dealing with insomnia that's played merry hell on my ability to get, like, ANY writing done 'cause I'm just out of spoons before the morning is half over. Finally managed to grab a few time slices as I've been forcing myself to recover to get this written. Lost Little Wolf - The Minor Key Ch. 14, Double Isekai Ch. 10, Return to Recipient Ch. 6, And at This Point I'm Afraid to Ask Ch. 5, Deviation Ch. 9, Lost in the Dark Pt. 1 Ch. 2, Fission Ch. 10 Pt 2, and a few unpublished works are still on deck and work will continue...even if a bit slowly.

Preview below the cut:

Akane sat on her heels in the way that her friend Sayuri had marveled at since they were in elementary school together, feet flat on the ground, her knees up against her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, and chin resting on the little nook between her kneecaps. She was watching Ranma as the (currently) girl sat cross-legged in front of the family shrine. Ranma's eyes seemed to drift back to the largest picture on the shrine quite regularly; Akane's mother. Tears formed a track down the redhead's cheeks, and Akane had to admit that this part-time girl looked very cute and (dare she say it?) huggable. Akane was doing everything she could to fight the impulse to wrap her arms around Ranma and just hold her until the crying stopped.

"...stupid pops..." Ranma sniffled for probably the twentieth time since they'd come out here.

"Ranma..." Akane ventured, "Why did you turn yourself into a girl?"

Ranma blinked the most recent tears out of her eyes and turned to Akane, seeming like she was waking up from a daydream. "Huh? Oh..." she wiped the tracks off her face and said, "Didn't wanna cry as a guy. Aint manly."

Akane snorted, "'Manly'? What's being a man got to do with it?"

Ranma took a deep breath, "Nothin' really, just..." she wiped at her eyes again, "...pops just always kept hammerin' on me 'bout bein' 'manly,' and I thought that's just how guys'r'supposed to learn how to be guys. 'A real man does this,' 'a real man acts like that'... 'course, half'a that was the same as the bullshit 'bout bein' honorable, an' he never was."

Akane settled herself into a proper sitting position, opting for cross-legged like Ranma was doing instead of the seiza that 'proper girls' were 'supposed' to do. Yeah, she could sit seiza, but sometimes cross-legged was more comfortable. "Seems like your father was a jerk," she said, trying to keep Ranma talking.

The redhead sighed, "Yeah, Ryoga and Xian are helpin' me see that and tryin' to teach me how to be, I dunno, the kinda person I want to be. Still gotta long way to go, though. Like, I still don't know what I said wrong earlier."

Akane scrunched her brow in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"When I asked if you were a glass cannon," she sighed, "I just...a glass cannon is somethin' that can pack a hell of a punch but breaks real easy. Sometimes that's just how some martial artists are, I'm just tryin' to ask a question but something I said is wrong..." Ranma went from a little bit sad to teeth-grittingly frustrated in the space of a few words, her hands suddenly bunched into fists.

Akane found herself momentarily at a loss for words, "...but...being called a 'glass cannon' is a bad thing. Like you're trying to make fun of someone for having a weak defense."

Ranma turned to look at Akane, her jaw slightly slack, "But...I'm not trying to...I just...what?!" Her bunched fists were suddenly up and scrubbing at her eyes as a stuttering sob escaped her again, "F-fucking pops!" she stammered out, "R...Ryoga thought I h-hated him 'cause I just used the same things pops did to get me to spar with him! And since w-we started travelin' t-together with Xian they..." she heaved a couple of sobbing hiccups, "They've been t-tryin' t'teach me not to be mean 'r' cruel, an' it's like everything I say is mean! I thought that's just h-how you knew someone c-cared! And...and pops taught me that!"

Akane couldn't hold back any longer. She practically threw her arms around the smaller girl, muttering the little calming phrases and making the noises that Kasumi did whenever she couldn't handle the stress of life any longer or the Hentai Horde was particularly aggressive and nobody else would listen.

The two of them sat for a while, Ranma safely curled up in Akane's arms, the taller girl gently rubbing Ranma's back to comfort her. After the tears finally petered out, Akane realized that she was feeling something she hadn't expected for someone who'd revealed they were born a boy under the fabric of the silk shirt. She paused in her up and down motion, fingertips gently probing back and forth. Before Ranma's back could tense up any further, she asked, "Ranma...is that a bra?"

The redhead let out a nervous chuckle, "Y-yeah, got it a couple days after we got back to Japan. I had...no idea that there was such a thing as a sports bra, but...it works for me an' Ryoga 'cause of the curse." They disengaged enough for Ranma to look down at her own chest, as though the shirt wasn't there, "Pull 'em on like a shirt, the band stretches when we get hit with hot water and nothin' in the cups to really stick out or be obvious when we're in guy forms." She sighed, mostly seeming to need the breath to recover from the emotional outburst, "Didn't know...pops always made it seem like women wore bras 'cause they were weak or somethin'. Xian got kinda sick o' me fightin' without wearing one an' challenged me t'wear one during a spar an'...well, I don't think I wanna go without one ever again while I'm practicin' the Art, and since everything's practice..." she shrugged.

Akane could say quite well she didn't know any boys that didn't want to do martial arts without a bra. Now that Ranma seemed to have regained some of her emotional equilibrium, they separated, both now sitting cross-legged and facing each other. "Ranma...do...um..."

Ranma, for her part, just sat and waited for Akane to get her thoughts in order.

Akane took a deep breath, "I...my sister was right, I've been...every morning I have to fight a horde of boys just to get into school. And they made it clear they're intention is to overpower me and..." she swallowed, the fear she used to fuel her anger every day welling up inside her, "...take advantage of me."

"What?!" snapped Ranma as she started from her seated position. To her credit, she seemed to come to her senses and sit back down, "...sorry," she muttered.

Akane smiled, her expression pinched from the anxiety of the morning brawls bubbling inside but grateful that she seemed to have stumbled onto someone who was just as indignant about it as she was, "Thank you, Ranma. But," she took another deep breath, "I guess I've been letting them twist how I see boys up..."

Ranma nodded, "An' if yer enemy gets inta your head, then they're the ones pickin' the battlefield."

Akane mirrored Ranma's nod, "So because I need to...overcome this weakness, I need to ask you a question and hope it's not, like, the rudest question I could possibly ask."

Ranma tilted her head in a motion that reminded Akane of nothing less than a kitten encountering an ice cube for the first time, like she had no idea what was going to happen next but curiosity was driving her to learn no matter what and damn the consequences.

Taking that as encouragement, Akane plowed ahead, "Are you a boy or a girl?" She bit her lip, suppressing her embarrassment at having even had to ask.

Ranma's gaze seemed to turn inward, "...you know, I guess I'm a little of both?" she said after a while. "I mean, before the curse, I'd've told you I was a guy, 100 percent, but a lotta that was based on what my pops said, and we both know how much of a dumbass he was. But...I mean, I like bein' a guy sometimes. I want to be taller and more muscular and have longer reach an' all that. And sometimes I just like seein'..." she blushed, "Um...what I was born with between my legs." Akane blushed at that as well, which Ranma clearly picked up on because she said her next sentence in a tumble of words, "Not, like, in a hentai way or nuthin', but just 'cause it's, you know, what I 'spect t'see. But since I got the curse, I'm...I dunno, kinda seein' lots of stuff different. Like, chocolate is different!"

"It is?!" blurted Akane.

Ranma nodded enthusiastically, "And ice cream with chocolate? Gods! No comparison! I mean, I never got the 'guys don't eat sweets' thing before, but when I'm in girl mode it's like my tongue was made for sweets! And..." she blushed, "I...kinda like lookin' cute and...pretty. And I'd kinda like t'wear a dress an' just...be a girl for a bit."

Akane found herself smiling, easily imagining taking the redhead on a shopping trip with her friends Yuka and Sayuri.

Ranma grimaced, "Aint a fan of the cramps, though."

Akane thought her eyes would pop out of her head, "...cramps...?! Like, you have a period?!"

The redhead tossed her head back and let out a melodramatic groan that lasted nearly thirty seconds before slumping down (clearly exaggeratedly) and grumping, "Apparently I'm an 'early developer,' 'cording to Xian's granny. They weren't expectin' Ryoga or me to have our periods for, like, two months or somethin' so didn't say nothin' at first 'cause Xian was already fixin' to give me an' Ryoga 'the talk.' Then 'bout a week after we got back to Japan I woke up hurtin' like crazy and Xian had t'call home 'cause she thought it was somethin' else and Elder Ku Lon just laughed her wrinkly ass off so loud I could hear it over the phone an' across the room." She straightened, "Aint..." she turned green, "Bleedin' yet, but I gotta carry a pad around just in case now."

"But...you change back and forth, right? Can't you just, I don't know, stay a guy as much as possible during it?"

Ranma curled her lips and stuck out her tongue in irritation, "That's what I asked first thing. The magic of the curse aint, like, givin' me a new body every time. It's just flippin' me back an' forth between bein' a guy and bein' a girl like I'd been one the whole time. I can stop the period with hot water, but the second I flip back to girl-mode the period picks up right where it left off. Now I gotta wear either panties or briefs no matter what 'cause boxers sure as hell don't hold a pad."

Akane paled slightly, "Oh, um, are you...? Is it...?"

Ranma shrugged, "Nah, that was last week and was short 'cause I guess it was my body's first time an' all. But it was two days and tryin' to hide that your pad's slipping fucking sucks, let me tell you."

Akane turned as scarlet as her name for a bit as she imagined being in a similar situation. Frantically trying to drown out her scattered thoughts, she asked, "So when should I think of you as a boy?"

Ranma shrugged again, "Any time I am one, I guess. Xian and Ryoga've been tellin' me to use hot or cold water whenever I'm feelin' more 'boy' or 'girl.' That's why I got the water in there," she pointed to the house, "When I was feelin' like I needed to cry. I just...don't feel much like a boy, so I changed."

"Huh...I guess you're kind of lucky like that."

The smaller girl's face scrunched in confusion, "What are you talking about? It's a curse!"

Akane held up a hand placatingly, "Yes, and it's awful that it happened to anyone, but there've been times I kinda wished I could turn into a boy to take on the horde. Not really any other time, but if I could just once take 'em on as a man I bet they'd think twice about trying again the next day."

Ranma's smile was strained but sympathetic, "I guess I can see that."

"So do you...I guess... 'switch' mentally, too?"

Ranma shook her head, but then seemed to think about it and tentatively bobbed her head in a single nod, "I didn't think I did at first, but lately if someone says 'he' or 'him' about me when I'm in girl-mode, I start lookin' around for who they're talkin' about. And a few days ago I had a cop tryin' to look me up...long story, but we'd had more'n a few times the cops tried t'put me in jail 'cause my pops used my name for his bullshit, an' I was just...tired of it and already in girl mode, so I made up the name 'Ranko,' kinda on the spot, and yesterday I was in girl-mode and Ryoga said my name...er, she said 'Ranma' three times before I realized she was talkin' to me 'cause I just kinda started thinkin' of my girl-mode as 'Ranko.'"

They were quiet for a bit, the sound of the rain muting the rest of the outside, making them feel like their entire world was just the dojo.

He...she has periods, wears a bra, thinks of herself as a girl... Akane could almost feel her worldview shifting around in her head, I mean, sure, sometimes he is a boy, but even as a boy he was treating me better than any of the boys at school...ESPECIALLY Kuno! She had no idea what this meant for her in the larger context of her life, but her family's school was all about learning and adapting and growing in spite of everything thrown at you and becoming better than everyone else because of what was thrown at you.

She came to a decision, though exactly what the conclusion was or the path to get there she couldn't say. Smiling warmly, she reached out and offered her hand to Ran...ko. "Well, then hello Ranko, I'm Akane. Would you like to be friends?"

Akane didn't really understand the phrase 'lighting up the room with a smile' until that moment when Ranma practically glowed in response to Akane's offer.

Read the whole thing on AO3

[ukyou-kuonji]

Something that's been on my mind recently has been the ways in which hair is such a major part of Ranma 1/2. It's a major plot catalyst in at least 4 arcs (Ryoga's introduction, Super Soba, Dragon's Whisker, and Porcupine-Genma). And obviously I feel like this is thie case because hair is a gendered signifier that effects how the characters move through the world (whether or not it remains a punchline).

For Ranma and Genma, the loss of hair is tied to a loss of masculinity. For Akane, the way in which she does her hair defines her performance as a woman. This is why even as the manga progresses, and the arcs become more ridiculous, over-done, and lack the early introspection of "A Bad Cut," these themes never really go away.

In that early chapter Akane grapples with accepting herself for who she is, rather than pushing herself to adhere to a standard of femininity that both promises social acceptance and the "reward" of heterosexual affection from men. Her unwanted haircut (lining up neatly with her unwanted engagement to a woman) forces her to confront the ways in which she does not conform. It's also a visual tool to explain the thematic concerns to the audience. Despite the devastation she feels in the moment, it's truer to herself, and she chooses to start accepting that side of herself and stop trying as hard.

However, obviously because it's Ranma 1/2, the effort never totally goes away, in her nor in the other characters. The threat of her growing facial hair is just too much deviation from the norm for Akane to deal with, just as the threat of Genma and/or Ranma losing all their hair is too much. The audience is asked to accept these concepts as simple truths, and not to question them as plot catalysts in the way we do Akane's haircut "A Bad Cut." Though the later occurrences lack the nuance of chapter 13, they are very revealing about the gendered pressures all the characters experience moving through the world. The emphasis on hair in a comedy about gender really shows the ways in which, even though deviation is not consciously explored past the second book, hair defines these characters as means of expressing and conforming to their gender/gendered stereotypes.