shellphones | Video || Introduction!

Type: Video
Sender ID: catsgothistongue (Ranma Saotome)
To: Public
Subject: Saying Hi!
Warnings: TBD, N/A for now!

[The video feed opens up to a bright blue eye staring directly into the Shellphone's camera]

Yo! I'm- Oh, hang on a sec, lemme just–

[The sounds of the one with the blue eye fiddling with the buttons and grumbling under his breath some light whinging about 'Get in the right angle', before finally fixing the camera issue, showing off the teen in red who, judging from the branches and leaves, is most likely sitting in a tree as he's making this video]

There we go! Where was I... [He gave a soft wave at the camera.] Yo. Name's Ranma Saotome, for anyone I haven't met yet. I dropped in this place a while back and was messing with this phone and noticed this chatlog. I'm not the best with those [Like he hadn't already proved as much], but figured I should drop in and say hi.

[He paused and tapped his fingers against the bark of the tree he's seated on.]

I also wanted to see if there was anyone here who's a fighter who'd be up for a spar. I'm a martial artist, and no one from back home's tried to attack me yet so they're probably not here, but it'd be cool if someone here's willing to go toe to toe with me sometime. Don't want to get too rusty on this kidnapping-slash-vacation.

Anywho, I think that's all I wanted to say. So... See ya– Wait a moment. [He leaned in and squinted his eyes at the screen. Particularly to the sender ID... The boy's look turned from befuddlement to annoyance.] Actually, there is another thing I wanna ask. How do I change the name on this?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Confident is his middle name!]

All my life. I've been training and traveling all around the world with my old man before I could walk or talk. Martial arts is my everything.

[There's a sort of nostalgic fondness that flickers across Tifa's expression.]

Is he who you learned it from? Your old man?

[A slightly begrudging tone overlaid his voice as he tilted his head in a 'so-so' manner'.]

A bit, yeah. There were some other masters and monks we met in different countries when we were still traveling, but for the first couple of years, it was just me and Pop. [Now there was some passing nostalgia in his tone, though it went as quickly as it came.] Apart from him, when we settled in Nerima, there were a few techniques I learnt on my own from other 'teachers'. [The air quotes were strong here, since he couldn't consider the old hag and the old lecher proper teachers, the latter especially.]

Ah, but it must have been so nice to see the world... all the different techniques to learn. And all the different places and people, too.

[It's a martial artist's dream.]

Guess that means I'll have some things to learn from you, too. My own teacher was a traveller, so he brought techniques from all over the place to me. Was real hard to get outside my village to learn.

Mostly. There were some not so great places and some really not great people and not some great techniques... [He could name about ten off the top of his head.] And I didn't really get to meet a lot of people much, since Pop'd blabber on about how they amongst other things were just a distraction from the arts. Plus we stayed mostly away from people and towns, and if we did stay somewhere, it was usually just for a week or a few at best before we left...

[He couldn't say he had much of a childhood growing up since 99% of it was focused solely on training and martial arts. It didn't bother him all that much, though he did occasionally wonder time and again about it.] But there were some pretty nice places I got to take in for a little bit, and some helpful people who taught me a few things my old man couldn't. So it wasn't all so bad.

[He wouldn't be as good as he was now if he didn't go through all that. Say what you will about his father, he still managed to teach Ranma genuine skills. Mostly in relations to fighting, but that's neither here nor there.]

Probably? I'm more of a learner than a teacher when it comes to this, outside of giving pointers here and there. Picking up fighting styles and technique comes a lot easier to me than trying to explain it to someone else. And a lotta my best techniques are ones not many people can pick up easily. Sorry.

Edited 2024-01-26 07:16 (UTC)

It is all about finding the right style, really. Sometimes it just takes sifting through the techniques that don't work for you to find it. Did you ever learn other things, like meditation and stuff while you were out there?

'Course I did! Meditation, pressure points, learning to control my ki, the usual stuff a lotta good martial artist normally learns when he's training. Whatever was necessary, or well, whatever Pop deemed necessary to learn for me to be a better fighter, he made sure I learnt it. As long as its related to martial arts in some capacity, I usually learn just about anything easily.

[So whatever Tifa may or may not throw at him, he's ready judging by that confident smirk and a faint blue aura that flared around him on his screen, though it went as quickly as it came.]

You know, it's funny. Most people think that martial arts are just about the fighting. Kicking, punching, all that stuff. It's a little surprising that no one really thinks about the stuff on the inside. Can't exactly land a good kick without having good balance, you know? Or a clear head.

[Which is to say... good job, Ranma. She's glad that someone gets it.]

When I was teaching it back in my village, I had people asking me when they were going to learn how to fight.

Mhm. [He nodded his head in agreement.] A lotta people assume that strength and knowing how hard to hit someone is all that makes up fighting and martial arts., without understanding that strength means nothing if you're fighting someone faster, smarter or more focused than you. They don't wanna understand the basic fundamentals of it.

[Ranma's lived practically all his life doing nothing but train. Of course he knows martial arts as he does the back of his hand.]

People don't understand that martial arts is something that requires a lot of work and a lot of patience. Even prodigies have to actually learn and put effort into it. It doesn't just take muscle, but grit as well.

Exactly.

[She nods with equal enthusiasm.]

I think it all boils down to inner discipline and strength first and foremost. It takes a solid foundation... that isn't just having muscles.

[Most people would look at her and think she couldn't do most of the things she can.]

It's nice to have people around who get that. I'm looking forward to sparring with you. And maybe, if I ever get this dojo up and running beyond more than just an idea...

[Oh ho? Ranma couldn't help but sit up at the mention of a possible dojo. As far as he knew, there wasn't any fight club or dojos to speak of here which was a major bummer.]

Makes you feel any better, you got one person backing the idea. I'd attend the moment it's up and running! Woah-- [He might be bobbing up and down excitedly like a little kid... which momentarily made him lose his balance and fall out of the tree he was still in. Luckily he managed to catch himself... with his legs around the branch, so now he's just hanging upside down, though he didn't drop the phone or lose the video.] Like I was saying, if ya need any students, I'd love to check it out.

[He would offer to possibly help teach, but he figured that if it's just an idea, he doesn't want to toot his horn just yet. Even if it'd be good practice for him.]

Video || Introduction!

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