Well, here's a little something I whipped up in about a night (hell, this
might have been a 1-hour fic...but it took 90 minutes, I think).

Please, comment, flame, refute, revise, C&C, agree, etc. on it as you wish.

-----------------------

The Properties of Jusenkyo, Xanadu Continuum

by Jonathan Lung (as written from the view of Phoenix Xanadu)

Note:  This is not meant to be canon on Jusenkyo, it is only speculation.
 Also, this is not meant to be a formal essay either, and you _will_ see
first-person perspective in this (much to the grief of English teachers,
I'm sure).

	The fabled Land of Accursed Springs in Tsinghai Province, China, has been a
source of great woe and sadness for those who had been there and experienced
its horrors.  However, except to some remote few and those who have been
cursed themselves, no one really knows the true properties of Jusenkyo.  The
fact that Jusenkyo varies between different universes only further
complicates the situation.  Hopefully, the following text will alleviate
_some_ confusion as to the properties of the Cursed Springs (or perhaps cause
more).
	One of the greater mysteries of Jusenkyo is its creation.  The fact that its
origin varies from reality to reality doesn't help either.  However, I am
certain of the origin of the Jusenkyo in the universe that I am currently
residing in, as I was the one who created it.
	Yes.  I, Phoenix Xanadu, personally created the Cursed Springs of my
reality.  How, one might ask?  Well, it was simple really.  During one of my
travels, I had acquired a scroll which had the incantation necessary to make
the springs.
	It was an old scroll, inscribed on a papyrus-silk weave, and possessed a
number of different languages on it.  The incantation itself was written in
Japanese, Latin, Sanskrit, as well as English.  Apparently, the creator of
the scroll didn't want anyone to use it.
	Unfortunately, what's done is done, neh?

	The basic curse of Jusenkyo seems to remain exact throughout the multiverse;
should one fall into a cursed spring, the victim changes into the form that
the spring specifies.  Hot water changes the cursed being back to normal,
while cold water activates the curse again.  However, from this point the
properties of different Jusenkyos diverge.  Whether or not one must drown in
a spring in order to create a Cursed Spring varies tremendously, even within
the so-called "canon" universe.  Also, the things that "drown" in Jusenkyo
can be considered amazing at least.  Statues, eels, octopus, as well as other
"impossible" things drown in said pools.  According to my sources, in the
canon universe, Akane Tendo had actually "drowned" (dunked, really) in a
spring and thus created an "Akanenichuan."
	This brings up another subject:  does the one who is dunked into a spring
assume the general form or the specific form of the drowned?  Apparently,
this diverges as well, even in the canonical universe.  The "Akanenichuan"
mentioned above is an example.  However, there are also  _general_ springs in
Jusenkyo, such as the infamous Nyannichuan.  Both Ranma Saotome and Herb of
the Musk Dynasty assumed female forms of themselves, rather than the specific
form of the one drowned in the pool.
	Why does it do this?  Why is there such randomness within each Jusenkyo, and
within each specific Jusenkyo? Only the great kamis (and semi-decent fanfic
writers) know this.  However, for my own universe, I can explain this much.
 The scroll I had used was chaotic at best.  Having been written in so many
languages and infused with so much power, it would have been hard to predict
what the results were.  And since I wasn't thinking quite clearly at the
time, I don't think I was even considering the consequences of my actions...

	Well, that's all I have to say on this subject...I now return you to your
regular fanfic reading...^_^

Phoenix Xanadu