[Ranma 1/2] Waters Under Earth

[Dracos]

So, the other day Brian was a bit nolstalgic, going through old fanfiction and the like.  He was talking about the good ol' days when men were men, and writers killed people with their pens over the internet.

He was talking about Waters Under Earth by Alan Harnum.

Waters Under Earth IS the Ranma 1/2 epic.  If anyone tells you differently, they are wrong.  There are many other great stories, but it is the mighty epic of the fandom.  Weighing in at 1700+ pages, it is not a light read by any standard.  It is massive with hundreds of interwoven tales making up it's history.

Waters Under Earth follows the story of Ranma, post-manga and while it begins to approach a resolution of the romantic conflict in Ranma, the story really isn't about that in any sense.  In fact, you could pull Ranma out of it and truthfully, the story as a whole wouldn't have that much problem.  It is well written and in the Epic Fantasy genre.  It's the type of thing that if you like Tolkien and the such, you'll probably like.  There's plenty of experimental stuff in the fanfic as it follows the story of Ranma fighting a war four thousand years in coming.

The story follows Ranma and Friends taking part in a vast war between three sister dragon/gods and a mighty King of Ashes locked away ages ago.  It is heavily based in mythology and is a story largely of myths revealing themselves in a world that is growing too old for myths.

If one has the patience, it's very good for those who like fantasy epics.  It's also complete, though many people had trouble with how it ended.  Recommended.

Dracos

[kpjam]

though many people had trouble with how it ended.  
Dracos

Understatement.

[Dracos]

though many people had trouble with how it ended.  
Dracos

Understatement.

A Master of...

[Yuthirin]

Waters Under Earth should be listed under "Required Reading."

Also, most people had trouble with the ending because they couldn't handle the fact that Ranma was not immortal.

[Dracos]

No, I don't think that's the case, Yuth.

It isn't the immortality they were seeking.  They wanted a happy ending.  You have a main character who did suffer and exist as a tool for the majority of the story.  To have him just up and die after saving the world, while it fit the theme, seemed insulting.  They wanted the ending where he went back, found the love he had fought hard to protect, and lived to be an old man and died.

Dracos

[kpjam]

Waters Under Earth should be listed under "Required Reading."

Also, most people had trouble with the ending because they couldn't handle the fact that Ranma was not immortal.

I am definitely not one for deus ex Ranma.  

Death is fine.  Heroic death is bitter sweet but awe imspiring.  PoE ended with Ranma's death, and I feel not at all cheated.  (I did feel cheated for there not being a three way sex scene.  BRIAN!)  

There's a certain tone that was set by the story and the narrative of the story, and IMHO, the death of Ranma, in the way it happened, ruined that.  It felt internally inconsistant, and for me, that's the worst thing a story can do.  

In WoE, Ranma had a certain nobility, and while the mythos was one of tragic hero, the execution of the end was...

Ranma getting hit with a 747 would have worked just as well for the ending as the tail-swipe that read like a joke.  It felt as contrived as a random Mary-sue saves Ranma fic you can find on ff.net.  Which is a shame for a masterful piece of writing.

[Brian]

In retrospect, I think that the final battle wasn't (really) between Ranma and the Oldest One Of All.  It was between Ranma and the dude with Worldcleaver.  Then it was the sisters' turn to fight the Oldest One Of All via Ranma.

And when they were done, they let him die, because his purpose was served.

At the same time, I feel that could have been better presented; perhaps Ranma was poisoned by the vileness that is the OOOA.  Perhaps he gets mightily gored by a tooth before Tizuahane (sp?) grows into a great tree.  Perhaps, some subtle sorcery or power he can never hope to understand just begins to unravel his very being.

I wouldn't mind that (I'd be sad, mind, but can accept a heroic death).  But that's not what we get.

What we get is:

OOOA: I die.
Ranma: W00t!
OOOA: OOPS!  Tail-slap!  My bad!  You die too!
Ranma: Aw, SNAP!  Pig-boy!  Take care of the epilogue for me!
Ryouga: Eh ... alright.  I'll wait until I'm dying, too, but I've got you covered.

If Allyn was trying to evoke the whole 'sympathy and contagion' thing, I think it should have been better foreshadowed (especially given his earlier formatting).  As far as the happy ending ... well, while it would have been nice, I don't know that there was room in the world for a being as powerful as Ranma at that point.  But that doesn't mean 'Tail-slap!  My bad!' sits well with me.

But that's just my longwinded and pointless ramble (how about a four-way in the sequel, KP?).

[Bjorn]

While I agree with the general sentiment (personally, the impression I get was that in line with the strong "destiny" theme of the story, Ranma had to die upon the death of the OooA, because that was the reason he had to exist), I want to weigh in and say: this story would have been a thousand times more awesome if Ranma had died because a 747 landed on him out of the blue.

[Dracos]

Mmm, I think a lack of rewrite caused that lack of foreshadowing, Brian.  A few things were obviously intended early on as foreshadowing that really were just dropped (lost in the horde) and could've been replaced with hints towards Ranma's doom rather sufficiently.

Dracos
This room is cold.