I am hereby announcing "Hearts and Minds", a new Ranma 1/2 fanfiction
series. This has been months in planning, and will probably end up being
my longest series ever. The first installment has been written; it is in
the hands of pre-readers, and once I hear from all of them and make any
changes they convince me to make it will be on the FFML, followed soon
by others.

So what is "Hearts and Minds"? The main story takes place five years
after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga. The story is basically the
following: Mongolia and some of the northern parts of China have been
taken over by well-armed fascists. They are at war with the PRC. The
Amazon village stands caught in the middle. Shampoo must gather the old
Nerima gang together to defend her sisters.

What is being written now, however, is "Hearts and Minds Prelude". This
is mainly a series of flashbacks showing what everyone has been up to in
the five years between vol. 38 and HaM. Among other things, you will see
who is married to or romantically involved with whom. There will be some
standard matchups, some unusual ones, and some that I hope will
surprise.

There will be ten preludes. Each focuses primarily on a different
character or pair of characters. I intend to write these so that any one
of them can be read without knowledge of any of the others.
Nevertheless, there is a canonical order for them. The current schedule
is this:

1. Tatewaki
2. Ukyo
3. Ryoga and Akari
4. Kodachi
5. Akane
6. Shampoo
7. Mousse
8. Gosunkugi
9. Ranma
10. Kasumi and Nabiki

The format of this was inspired in part by the excellent "Reunions"
series by Erin Mills and company.

Please give this series a try at some point. All C&C and feedback will
be welcomed, seriously considered, and responded to. Public response is
preferred, but private is fine. I would like things that are likely to
start off-topic arguments (e.g. digressions on the nature of the PRC)
sent to me privately, please.


Now here's seven questions about the Preludes, just for fun. The answer
to each is a Ranma 1/2 character. No obscure ones like Piccollet Chardin
or Asuka the White Lily; if you read Ranma fanfics you should know all
of these characters. Not all of them correspond to the feature
characters for Preludes 1-10 listed above, though.

Mail me your guesses (privately, please) and I'll tell you how many you
got right. Will there be a prize for the first to guess them all, or
whoever guesses the most? I dunno. Maybe, if I think of a good one.
Maybe not. :)



Who gives Ryoga a bandanna as a present?

Who is Mousse's new girlfriend? (Not Shampoo.)

Who dies midway through the Preludes?

Who learns to throw Happodaikarin (Happo-fire-bursts)?

Who is the referee in the competition between Akane and Kodachi?

Who calls Tatewaki "Darling" (and isn't pretending)?

Who suggests that Ranma get a dog?



Gary Kleppe
kleppe@execpc.com, Home page http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe
My fanfics and the FFML map are on my comics/manga page,
       http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics