Red's Reviews: Curse of Silence Altaverse Title: Curse of Silence (A continuance of Chris Jones' oneshot fanfic of the same title) Author: Mad-Hamlet Status: Ongoing Rating: 6.8 Review Requested by: Mad-Hamlet I had read Chris Jones' Curse of Silence some time ago, and noticed a continuance by someone named "Mad-Hamlet" on the same page, but had not taken the opportunity to read it at that time. That was a mistake. As I read this fanfic, it struck me that there were very few "disabled- cast-member" fanfics out there. I suppose there is a good reason, as one would think they would be very difficult to do. I have only seen a few; notably Kevin D. Hammel's Crippled and the semi-fic Heartattacking Tragedy. I found CoS to be nicely written, though not the best on Earth. There were little grammatical booboos that were amusing, but forgettable. Some if the developments were nice, but not overly imaginative. If I had to condense my opinion of CoS to one word, it would have to be "good." Not "great," not "crappy," just "good." There is certainly room for improvement, but it will get by as is. Plot: Basically a retelling of the entire story from the beginning, altered by Akane's tragic car accident and its effects. While this is not always the best way to go about beginning an Altaverse, the potentially drastic changes in the way the Ranma plot would play out due to this big a change virtually require an almost total restart. Starting from any other point would damage this story immeasurably. The story, while still in the early chapters (up to chapter three at the time of this writing), progresses slowly. Chapter three and it's only up to the Kuno intro. In my opinion, this is essential, at least this early in the story. To speed ahead this early would rob the initial interactions between Ranma & Akane of their significance. The idea of Kuno being abusive towards Akane for her condition was a real switch from what I'm used to seeing, I had honestly been expecting to see him try to heal Akane's wounds with his divine ministrations, or some such gobbledygook. Thus far, the plot is just the basic Ranma plot, with the change in Akane's character. Very little has happened yet. We will have to wait and see how the story may veer away from the canon lines as it goes. Characters and Characterizations: Again bearing in mind the personality changes inherent in an Altaverse, especially through an alteration of such a very personal nature, I thought that the characterizations were quite believable for the characters involved. Akane is naturally very sensitive in regards to her injury. She's much more hostile to those who would patronize or be condescending towards her. Faced with Akane's situation, Ranma is forced to deal with something that, in the canon, there is no indication he's had any real contact with: a life- altering disability. With Akane only able to communicate with much of the world via her writing-board, Ranma actually has the chance to think before speaking, and to hear exactly what she's trying to say (so to speak). Not that it helps him much, but it's a start. The scene with Ranma meeting Shiro is a sure sign that more changes in Ranma's personality are in store. The other Tendous, on the other hand, fit their original canonical personalities perfectly. They all display the "ignore it an it isn't happening" that pervades their personalities in the original story. They all pretend that all is well, and that nothing is out of the ordinary. In English, they are no different than they would be in a purely canonical continuation fanfic. Then there's Genma. I was *not* expecting Genma's anti-Akane actions, although I had a feeling that he would not keep silent about her disability. Although it seemed a trifle harsh when I first saw it ("girl with problems" indeed!) it didn't go too far from my impression of the canonical Genma. Dialogue: Understandably one-sided. Okay, sorry. I couldn't resist that kind of mean pun. The dialogue of CoS fits my overall feeling of "good but not great." It works like it is, but could stand some work. The conversations between Ranma and Akane are heartfelt, if somewhat sudden. I mean, here's a young girl who hasn't had the best life so far, and she's pouring out her heart and soul to someone she's just met. Normally, I would have a problem here. BUT: The reason it works, in my opinion, is that since Akane has been forced to be such a loner and outcast by those around her, the first real honest-to-goodness friend she gets, someone she can be reasonably certain isn't simply tricking her, she would naturally latch onto with an iron grip. She needs a friend, and she needs one BADLY. Story mechanics: Good. It's very easily read. The very few minor grammatical snafus don't even warrant pointing them out. Overall: It's a good start to an idea that's interested me for quite a while: What if one of the Ranma cast were disabled? The story here so far is quite good, but could use some thickening out. While the plot moves slowly, the chapters tend to rush to the next event. Were anyone to ask me is I knew any good "disabled-cast-member" fanfics, this would be among those I would name. This story is one that I will certainly keep my eye on for further developments.