[FFML] Ref: [fanfic][Ranma/MKR] Fire in the Water, Act 2

[David McMillan]

The Eternal Lost Lurker wrote:

>>> "He has allowed himself to wither," Clef finished.
> 
>> That's counterproductive. If he really loved Emeraude that
>> much, he'd put all his will into projecting himself as a pillar of >
> strength (er, no pun intended.) Then again, the fact that
>> she's in a death-sleep and can't actually receive his support > (or could
> she?) makes it a moot point.
> 
> Zagato's emofagging. He's a biseinen. It comes with the territory.

	Seriously, or are you just kidding? Because honestly, I don't see how 
it's 'emofagging' to stat getting ground down in this situation.  At the 
end of this chapter, Zagato seems to be back on top of his game, but 
he's finally been given a target, something he can *do*, and someone he 
can *punish* for hurting Emeraude.  But in the interim... well, I don't 
care *how* badass you are, spending weeks watching the person you love 
most slowly wither away while you can't find *anything* that you can do 
to help, not even offer moral support (given that she appears to be in a 
nonresponsive coma) is going to wear you down.  Zagato's state doesn't 
look like angsting to me, it looks very *human.*


>> Well... it does raise the question: what about all the other
>> people/animals who fell in the spring?
> 
> OK, I'm going to sort of break flow here and explain my rationale for this
> happening to Hikaru and nobody else:
> 
> Keep in mind that Hikaru has EXCEPTIONALLY strong willpower--strong enough
> that she became the Pillar of Cephiro at the end of MKR2. My working theory
> (ie, the basis for the bullshit that drives this fic :P) is that Hikaru's
> strength of will is the reason she alone became a "trapped-ghost" in
> Jusenkyo.
> 
> Now, that logic doesn't completely explain why it took 1500 years for her to
> emerge in a Nyanniichuan victim--I'm still working on the bullshit for that.
> :P But by the same logic, the reason her problem is as severe as it is, is
> because it's Ranma she emerged in--possibly the only victim of Nyanniichuan
> whose strength of will is stronger than Hikaru's.
	If Ranma's strength of will is stronger than Hikaru's, though, that 
makes it a bit sticky to explain how she was able to take over his body.
	Perhaps he was just the first person whose will *resonated* with 
Hikaru's sufficiently -- they both share extremely strong protective 
streaks.  Ranma might just be the first person to fall in the 
Nyanniichuan whose core personality meshed well enough with Hikaru's to 
make this connection possible.
	Or, maybe Ranma was the first person with sufficient strength of will, 
*and* whose soul responded to Hikaru's need (that protective streak 
thing again) to find her friends, to find out what happened to Cephiro, 
to see her family one last time -- Ranma's always a sucker for a damsel 
in distress, so much so that I could see his subconscious mind might 
arguably *give* her "time share" in his body (especially the female one, 
since it fits her so much better than him) out of pure sympathy.  The 
fact that she ended up taking over is just a testament that their wills 
are reoughly equal.
	Or, I could just be talking through my hat...