Relatively Absent: Difference between revisions
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Before he abandoned ''Relatively Absent'', Shurtleff wrote a prologue, eleven chapters and an untitled side story. Two more side stories were written by authors other than Shurtleff. One, ''Illusions of Honor'', was written by Andrew Norris in 2004 and was considered "official" enough that Shurtleff included it with the story on his website; Norris apparently yielded copyright on the story to Shurtleff as it too has been subject to take-down requests. The other, called ''Dust'', was written by an author called only "K.C."; no online copes of it are known to exist as of 2020, and virtually nothing is known about it.
While ''Relatively Absent'' is no longer hosted anywhere online, if you're lucky you can find a complete off-line archive maintained by [[User:Looney Toons|a fan]] who is willing to share. <!-- Strictly speaking, this is not true; links to copies on a dozen different file hosting sites could be found at https://jusenkyo.fandom.com/wiki/Relatively_Absent#Other_External_Links as of April 2020.
{{tropelist}}
* [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: Edges sideways into this trope.
* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: Cousin Taro, to Midori. In fact, ''all'' of his cousins find him creepy, but his obvious interest in Midori disturbs her.
* [[Aborted Arc]]: ''All'' of them.
* [[Abusive Parents]]: This fic implies that Genma is abusive beyond even the usual fanfic standard, hinting strongly that he is behind the "weak neural inhibitor" magic that damped down Ranma's intelligence and libido, and showing that he only cares about his wife and son to the degree that they can get him access to the Yamada money.
** Aiko implies that before she was adopted into the clan, Harukichi's birth family was abusive.
* [[Accidentally Accurate]]:
** [[In-Universe]] example: early in the story, Ranma is comfortable wearing a sports bra because she can view it as a "jock strap" for women. The very first sports bra was created in 1977 by sewing two jock straps together.
** Genma refuses to believe that Ranma is actually dead -- not because he has any information to the contrary, but because Ranma is so critical to [[It's All About Me|Genma's plans for his own enrichment]] that he can't conceive of her not being there for him to exploit. From his point of view, she ''must'' be lollygagging somewhere he can't find her, depriving Genma of whatever benefit he thinks he's due at the moment.
* [[Adaptation Dye Job]]: Sort of. Ranma initially has black hair in her female form, matching the manga. However, becoming the Gate's guardian and undergoing her first [[Transformation Sequence]] turns it to a red hue to match the anime version.
* [[The Ageless]]: This is an immediate benefit of being an artifact's Guardian. (It's later implied that if a Guardian finds a soulmate, they ''too'' get this benefit.)
* [[Air Travel]]: Ranma takes only her third plane ride ever in chapter 11. She's disappointed that the plane is too big for her to properly "feel" it flying ("I might as well be riding a bus," she says), but she can't deny that traveling First Class makes up for it.
* [[Altar the Speed]]: The wedding in chapter 10 was in some ways a foregone conclusion (although its participants weren't), but no one expected it to happen ''right then''.
* [[Alternate Universe]]: One key divergence is that Ranma does not escape the battle with Herb at Mount Horai unscathed, but instead was buried alive in the avalanche it caused.
* [[Ancient Artifact]]: The Gate describes itself as "constructed so long ago that not even I have a recollection of my own creation". Despite this, it ''knows'' that it shares a common origin and history with the Crystal of Life and the Glaive of Space, which could be inferred before it informs Ranma of this by the communication network and information-sharing protocols they possess. (This does not make them necessarily allies or friends; the Crystal, for instance, considers the awakened Glaive a threat, at least initially.) It's all but stated outright that they long predate the Silver Millennium and were "repurposed" by/for Queen Serenity and her Senshi.
* [[Angst Nuke]]: While Ranma is exploring her new abilities for the first time, the Gate counsels her that now that she has access to magic ''and'' unaspected ki to stop using her emotion-driven [[Ki Attacks|ki abilities]]. It explains that persisting in their use so will inevitably force her into a feedback loop where the emotion will come to dominate her personality. To further explain why this is bad, the Gate points out that Ryoga's depression-fueled Shishi Hōkōdan will only make him more and more depressed, to the point of suicide.
* [[Animal Eye Spy]]: Probably the closest trope to the way the Gate can ''only'' perceive things beyond its immediate physical location through its Guardian's senses.
* [[Anime Hair]]: Generally averted except where imposed by the source material, with one odd exception: in chapter 8, an American Naval officer who meets with Aiko Yamada is a ''Nisei'', an American of Japanese descent, and he is described as being platinum blond. The description comes from a third-person narrative view of Aiko's thoughts, and she doesn't seem to think it odd or unusual.
** There also appears to be at least one ethnic Japanese agent in Hiroyoshi's team at the JNID who is a natural blonde as well.
* [[Arbitrary Skepticism]]: Averted (as is common in fanfic) for Ranma, who has seen ''so'' many weird things just in the last few years of her life that she has absolutely no problems accepting the mysterious voice in her head that claims it's feeding her ki to keep her alive.
** Also averted in the way Aiko Yamada does not dismiss Ranma's story about the Gate and her new guardianship, but rather accepts the story, although she does have considerable proof for its truth beforehand. (Even if she does draw a wrong but reasonable conclusion about what the Gate ''is''.)
* [[Arranged Marriage]]:
** The Saotome clan had a long history of arranged marriages leading to combining different families' martial arts schools. The current
** In chapter 10, the Emperor of Japan arranges a marriage between Ranma and her cousin Midori (wearing a male form thanks to instant Jusenkyo powder) on ''very'' short notice, as a ploy to keep the Yamada ninja clan alive and to preserve their ninjutsu ryu.
** Midori also notes during chapter 10 that if she doesn't marry Ranma it is likely that she will end up in an arranged marriage with her other cousin Daichi should their aunt [[Gold Digger|Tomoko]] try to marry her daughter Hiroko to him in a ploy to gain control of the Yamada estate.
** In chapter 11, Aiko informs Lieutenant Commander Kuroi (the Japanese-American naval officer who will be one of Ranma and Midori's guards during their honeymoon) that he is now affianced to Tsuya thanks to a (disguised) omiai during the tea ceremony at the Imperial Palace the day before. She ''might'' be teasing him, but Tsuya certainly takes it seriously.
* [[Australia]]: The Gate directs Ranma to the Southesk Tablelands in Western Australia -- a remote bit of the Outback -- when she wants to try out some of her more destructive guardian powers for the first time.
* [[Australian Aborigines]]: Walkabout, a member of the Australian superteam that shows up to investigate the section of Outback Ranma devastates while training, appears to be an Aboriginal shaman despite dressing like [[Crocodile Dundee]].
* [[Bad Liar]]: In the sidestory ''Illusions of Honor'', Nodoka (just a few years after Genma left with Ranma on their training trip) attempts to hide her near-impoverishment from an old friend whom she had come upon by accident. The friend is able to determine her true circumstances despite her best efforts (but is kind enough not to let on that he's figured out the truth).
* [[Badass Bookworm]]: Kioko: reading-obsessed kunoichi.
* [[Bastard Bastard]]: Genma, who was born over a year after the death of his mother's husband. {{spoiler|He's Happosai's son, so this is understandable.}}
* [[Best Her to Bed Her]]: Inverted. When the Gate's defense of Ranma's mind knocks out the telepathic security agent who was probing her, he decides he's in love.
* [[Bond Creatures]]: This is perhaps the closest trope to the relationship between Ranma and the Gate, although which one counts as the human partner and which is the bond creature is a bit hard to determine.
* [[Bi the Way]]: Chapter 3 makes it clear that Ranma's four female cousins who are training under their grandmother Aiko have enjoyed some kind of sensual/sexual play together, particularly in the context of learning about [[BDSM|hojojutsu and shibari ties]] and how to escape from them.
* [[Big Brother Is Watching]]:
** In chapter 3, we learn that the Japanese National Intelligence Directorate is very aware of Ranma and the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew, has a group which maintains surveillance on Ranma (at least), and has some kind of project planned called "Chameleon" that will make use of her (or them) which goes active when they learn she survived Mount Horai.
** The Americans have a spy satellite watching the Yamada compound specifically to track Ranma. Unfortunately for them, she's learned to teleport by then.
* [[Big Fancy House]]: The Yamada compound is ''huge'' and opulent without being crassly showy.
* [[Big No]]: Ranma's reaction in chapter 8 to learning that her mother has declared blood feud against the Tendos, after several [[Little No]]s and before abruptly teleporting to points unknown.
* [[Big "What?"]]: From Aiko upon being informed in chapter 3 that Ranma is alive.
* [[Blonde, Brunette, Redhead]]: The four cousins. Tsuya is blonde, Kioko and Midori are brunettes, and Harukichi is a redhead.
* [[Body Language]]: Control of one's body language is an important part of the Yamada martial art, and leads directly to the complex and detailed communication possible with their [[Signed Language]]. Aiko notes upon first meeting her that, in contrast, Ranma has been deliberately taught to essentially broadcast all her thoughts through her body language.
* [[Brainwashed]]: The Gate all but tells the Crystal that she's been subject to mind control since the Silver Millennium, and suggests that she work with Sailor Moon to clear up her programming.
* [[Break the Haughty]]: This happens to Nodoka in the years after she is disowned, until she reaches a point during Ranma and Genma's training trip where she is willing to be a [[High-Class Call Girl]] to feed herself.
* [[Broken Masquerade]]: In the final paragraphs of chapter 6, a panic-stricken Luna rushes in and reports the theft of the Time Key to Usagi and the other Senshi, only to realize that Usagi's mother Ikuko is present and heard every word she said, and is apparently furious at the revelation. {{spoiler|It's actually a partial subversion -- while the Masquerade ''had'' been broken for them, it didn't happen just not on-screen during the events of the story; Ikuko and members of the other Senshi's families ''already knew'' they were the Senshi, and Ikuko was annoyed because she'd just lost the standing bet between them all over who would blow the secret first (she'd bet on Minako).}}
** The Japanese government -- and presumably the other governments of the world -- are aware of at least some paranormal phenomena, given that in chapter 9 we see that the Imperial Palace has a telepathic security guard whose tasking includes confirming that all visitors are ''human'', and that his organization has rules and regulations for the use of powers like his.
** Ranma's aunt Suzu has the Masquerade broken for her in chapter 10 when in a private audience Japanese Empress Chikako casually mentions Ranma's curse; she is later witness to a use of Instant Nannichuan
* [[Bureaucratically Arranged Marriage]]: Very strictly speaking, this is the case for Ranma and Midori.
* [[Buried Alive]]: Ranma's state at the start of the story. It takes the entire first chapter (and the Gate's help) for her to dig her way out.
* [[Changing Clothes Is a Free Action]]: Outside of [[Transformation Sequence]]s, this trope is very specifically averted for Ranma ''twice'' during the visit to the Imperial Palace in chapter 9. First she has to change as quickly as possible into a formal kimono after their arrival. And afterwards, she has to don a wedding kimono. Realistically, neither change is anything close to instantaneous.
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]:
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* [[Mayfly-December Romance]]: When Ranma is fretting about marrying Midori in chapter 10, specifically about how it's for "the rest of her life", the Gate points out that Ranma's lifespan is now potentially measurable in ''thousands'' of years, and being married to Midori for a mere 50 or 60 years is a mere blip on that scale. Ranma's not entirely sure that that's much better, but the Gate implies that if she meets her soulmate, said soulmate will also gain an extended lifespan.
* [[The Men in Black]]: Various government agents of different kinds appear in the story, but the ones that most closely embody this trope are the field agents of the Japanese National Intelligence Directorate, who wear a "uniform" of a black suit, white shirt, and a red tie.
* [[Metaphorically True]]: Once Nodoka seals the Saotome clan register, the legal entity going by the name "Ranma Saotome" is officially dead. Of course, Ranma is alive, but is legally a different person entirely (two, actually, as the Imperial Throne has formalized the convenient fiction that Ranma and "Ranko" are [[Half-Identical Twins]]).
* [[Mind Virus]]: The Neko-ken turns out to have been a magical example of this trope. It's only because Genma (predictably) bungled the ritual (which he thought was a martial arts training method) that it only barely had a toehold on Ranma.
* [[Miniature Senior Citizens]]: Aiko Yamada. Although she's not as exaggeratedly short as Cologne, she's still petite enough that she has to look ''up'' into the faces of three of her four teenaged granddaughters -- all of whom are of a size with (or ''smaller'' than) Ranma's female form. The narration explicitly calls her "diminutive".
* [[Mood Whiplash]]: It's rare, but it happens. One example occurs in chapter 8, when we go from a very serious scene between Midori and Aiko regarding Ranma's reaction to his mother declaring blood feud on the Tendos, to a short scene from Shampoo's point of view, on the trail to Mount Horai, trying to figure out why her great-grandmother (currently riding on top of the massive backpack she's wearing) is whooping and shouting the unintelligible English phrases "ride'em cowboy" and "git along little dogie". It almost immediately whiplashes right ''back''.
* [[Morton's Fork]]: Cologne, in Shurtleff's side story, realizes that she was stuck in one with Ranma -- his skills and ability to teach them were of paramount importance to the tribe, but he was unwilling to join the tribe and effectively immune to "softer" methods of persuasion. But using the most extreme methods she had available to her would break him and make him useless to the tribe. So she was caught in a situation where she both ''had'' to use those methods, and dared not use them.
* [[Motor Mouth]]: Usagi gets out an impressive stream of unseparated phonemes when Setsuna comes to visit her in chapter 10.
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* [[Mukokuseki]]:
** Harukichi is a [[Significant Green-Eyed Redhead]] and Tsuya is a blue-eyed blonde.
**
* [[Multigenerational Household]]: The Yamada compound.
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