Last updated on September 10, 1999
No, I'm not back. I just came by because I deleted the Taleswap2 screen-name and had to move its files to Talswapr's web space. I also took the opportunity to do some of my favorite authors the courtesy of updating dead links to their works. Sorry, I have not yet taken the time to update bad links in the other documents on this site.
If you want to know why I disappeared, here's an explanation. Thanks to those of you who've written to me; if I didn't respond to you, the answers you seek are in the aforementioned explanation.
Appreciations of four Ranma fanfics, a couple of analytical write-ups, and a creative effort that isn't quite a Ranma fanfic. Swap This! was supposed to be a periodic outlet for my Ranma fanfic writings. Alas.
A collection of the most interesting and amusing excerpts from responses I've sent out to the Ranma fanfic fanatics who e-mail me.
Updated in May 1998. Essays of appreciation for the most influential of the great Ranma fanfics.
The 1997 Taleswapper
Awards
This article includes new looks at the 50 fics which I wrote about in Fanfic
Year (FY) 1997. In addition, I selected the seven best and then awarded
the "Golden Ranma-chan" the best Ranma fanfic of the year.
The Fourth Quarter FY
1997 Post
My favorite Ranma fanfics posted to Rec.Arts.Anime.Creative in July-September
1997. This article, the last of my quarterly posts, has essays of
appreciation on Poison, Ukyou Can Cook, One Hundred Percent
Woman Chapter 1, The Ends, You Can Never Have Too Many...,
Roses of Shadow, The Prodigal Mother, and Is Tofu Really
Good For You?
Mea Culpa
The mea culpa page lists excellent FY 97 fics that would have been
listed with the favorites in my quarterly articles had I not been unable
to write full essays about them. I did manage to come up with a few
insights in time for the
1997 Taleswapper
Awards.
The Third Quarter FY
97 Post
April-June 1997 tied the record for most fics written up by me in a single
quarter: A Horse is a Horse; Unless..., Acceptance,
Neko-phobia Part 1, Ranma 2096: Gisei, Reflective
Snapshot, Black, Hearts of Ice (Chapters 1-14),
Power, and The Bitter End.
The Second Quarter FY
97 Post
A couple of very controversial choices were among my list of favorites for
the first January-March 1997: A Real Man, Paint It Black, A
Peaceful Life, Succession: The Final Part of the Sunrise Chronicles,
Black Roses: A Love Story, Dark Family (Part 1), and Cure
for a Broken Heart (Parts 1-2).
The First Quarter FY
97 Post
October-December 1996 was probably my favorite quarter of all: Total
Recall, Flambe!, Shizuku, Thy Outward Part, Smoke
and Mirrors, Orange, A Lesson in Love, Sour Milk Sea,
Tales of Ranma & Nabiki part 8, and Chasing the Wind.
The 1996 Taleswapper
Awards
New appreciations of my choice for the top 7 Ranma stories posted in fanfic
year (FY) 1996: Thy Inward Love, Normal, Nightshadow,
Autumn, Tales of Ranma & Nabiki parts 1-7, Remind My
Heart, and Sunrise. Omake! A "musical salute" to many
of the most memorable moments in Ranma fanfic throughout FY 96, not
included in the text version of this article sent to RAAC!
The Fourth Quarter FY
96 Post
The best Ranma fanfics from the flood of stories released with the resurrection
of RAAC: Remind My Heart, Heart of the Home, Thy Inward
Love, The Ways of the Amazons, Burned and Broken: Part the
First of the Sunrise Chronicles, Hold On, and Daigakusei no
Ranma Episode 19.
The Third Quarter FY
96 Post
A short article, due to the long posting hiatus on RAAC. A couple
of my more controversial choices are here: Normal, Split
Personalities, Revolution and Revolution #9, Tales of
Ranma & Nabiki part 7, and The Least One Can Do parts 2-5.
The Second Quarter FY
96 Post
Watch out for the April Fool's joke! Includes appreciations of: Daruma
1/2, Nightshadow, Dropping Anchor, The Least One Can
Do part 1, Honor Lost, If Only, Sunrise, and Tales
of Ranma & Nabiki parts 5 and 6.
The First Quarter FY
96 Post
My second public effort, and the one that established me as a regular poster.
Includes appreciations of: Regarding Ranma, Furinkan Summer
Episode 3, Ranma .05 Vol. 2 Part 5, Magical Interludes: December's
End parts 1-6, Lies, The More Things Change, Autumn,
and Tales of Ranma & Nabiki parts 1-4.
The 1995 Taleswapper
Awards
The article that started it all, posted way back in October 1995. Includes
appreciations of: Stepping Stones - Ukyou's Tale; Ranma .05
through Volume 2 Part 4; Juyza's Lyric; Akane por Siempre;
Girls' Night Out; Winter, Spring, and Summer;
and Ryouga: The Shampoo Variation.
On the Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
of Richard Lawson
During RAAC's extended hiatus in 1995, Mr. Lawson drew my attention to his
web page. Here are the resulting critical analyses of: Heart of the
Home, The Right Side of the Ledger, Storm's End, and
Thy Inward Love and some of its side/aftermath stories.
The Taleswapper Treatment: an explanation of how I came up with the quarterly articles and the Taleswapper Awards. While the opinions and preferences outlined herein still obtain, I'm no longer doing many of the things described.
"Anime Spirit" vs. "Serious" Ranma Fanfics: Prompted by a discussion on the Fanfic Mailing List, I set down my thoughts about the apparent preference of many Ranma fanfic reviewers for serious stories over stories more consistent with Takahashi's lighthearted style.
Script-Format vs. Prose Fanfics: Again in response to a discussion on the FFML, I presented my ideas on the comparative merits of script- and prose-style fanfic writing.
Some additional thoughts about the script vs. prose issue.
Essay on "Annoying New
Characters": Here's my contribution to the long-running discussion concerning
foreign exchange students, itinerant martial artists, and author-avatars
who show up at the Tendo Dojo. My take on the subject has nothing
to do with how perfect or powerful they are, or whether they end up boinking
Nabiki. Originally part of the Third Quarter FY 1996 posting, I have
separated the essay to draw more attention to it.
Some of my favorite Ranma fanfic authors' websites:
Bailesu's Ranma Fiction Page : John Biles' works, including Putting Your Heart in the Right Place and Furinkan Summer.
Richard Lawson's Fanfics, including Heart of the Home, Thy Inward Love, The Ways of the Amazons, Thy Outward Part, Sunday, and Roses of Shadow.
Nightelf's Elysium: Nicholas Leifker's works, including Sunrise and The Sunrise Chronicles.
Joseph Palmer's fanfics, including Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Orange, and Black.
McKinley Morganfield's Fanfic Thingy: Muddy Waters' blues riffs, including Tales of Ranma and Nabiki, Revolution and Revolution #9, Hold On, and Sour Milk Sea. Yo Jeff, The Girl I Knew Before is excellent. You're way too cool.
Darren Demaine's works at Horde O' Hentai Archives, including Ranma .05 Volumes 1-3 and Acceptance.
Marisa Price's A Lesson in Love home page. This link is dead and I haven't found a replacement.
Krista Perry's Hearts of Ice home page.
Jeff Hosmer's Rogues' Gallery, including Girls' Night Out, Lies, and Ranma 2096: Gisei.
Andrew Eoff's work at Dkun's Trip To Jusenkyou, including Akane Remembered and You Say It's Her Birthday.
Mark MacKinnon's The Shadow Chronicles continuity, which includes The Prodigal Mother and The Heart's Reasons.
Transpacific Fanfiction includes the works of Susan Doenime and Mike Loader, such as Smoke and Mirrors, Poison, Ukyou Can Cook, and their collaboration on Ill Met by Starlight. Pastpresent reminds me of my own abandoned Ranma screenplay fic. Sigh.
Bridget and Jamie's Fanfics & Food features the fanfic of Bridget Engman Wilde (including Shizuku, Flambe!, and Hitting the Nail on the Head, and Daruma 1/2) and of J. Austin Wilde (including Chasing the Wind).
Other useful links:
Kendai's Ranma Fan Fiction Page: The most comprehensive and well-annotated list of Ranma fanfic links anywhere.
The Anime Web Turnpike List of Fan Fiction Links: Always a good place to start.
This page has been accessed times since
November 2, 1997.