THE PHOENIX SAGA
YOU IGNITE, AND YOU RISE!
Phoenix is an epic-length Ranma 1/2 fanfiction written by Anne Ominous. A pair of curses have left Ranma trapped in a feminine body and too physically sensitive to take a hit. With no way back to the life she knew, she flees the Tendo home and leaves Akane behind in search of a life she can call her own. After months alone, she stumbles hungry and broken into the Phoenix, a dive bar run by a kindly woman and the four hard-luck girls she took in out of the cold.
Make that five.
Ranma's new lease on life, as Ranko, gives her the chance to work through her trauma and experience the first unconditional love she's known. Empowered by the support of her new family, the partner she never expected to see again, and a newfound passion for music, she begins to embrace her new identity and rises from the ashes of the person she used to be.
Here, you'll find all of the various platforms to read Phoenix and its bonus material. You can interact with Anne, learn more about the story behind the story, and check out some cool art and side projects.
C'mon, pull up a chair, order some hot wings to share, as you watch the Dragons play. Hey, welcome to the Phoenix! C'mon in, and enjoy your stay!
PHOENIX IGNITED BOOK I: ASHES
Ranma leaves the Tendo Dojo without a plan or a support system. After months spent homeless in Tokyo, she finds herself a new job and a place to stay, and learns a lot about herself as she begins to craft her new identity with the help of a supportive found family made up of five women. She discovers a new passion for music. But as her anonymity is shattered, she must reconcile her old life and new.
Read the revised Phoenix Reignited Book I...
Read the original Phoenix Ignited Book I...
PHOENIX IGNITED BOOK II: EMBERS
Ranko attempts to reconnect with Akane without risking the new life she's built at the Phoenix. The Christmas holiday brings challenges and opportunities for Ranko and her sisters, and an old score is finally settled.
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PHOENIX IGNITED BOOK III: FLAMES
Ranko's singing career and her relationship with Akane may finally be taking off, but new friends and old enemies threaten both. Ranko faces an impossible choice that could give her everything, but destroy herself in the process. Fragile hopes are dashed and rekindled.
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PHOENIX IGNITED BOOK IV: INFERNO
Ranko's life hangs in the balance after the fight with Ryoga. Can she fight her way back to the stage? Can she fight back against a new threat to her relationship? Can she pull off being a bridesmaid? Will our Phoenix finally rise?
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PHOENIX ASCENDANT BOOK V: CLIMB
Phoenix Ascendant begins six months after the end of Phoenix Ignited Book IV. Ranko and Akane have their own apartment, as both resume their academic careers. Ranko's pursuit of music takes a huge leap forward, and Ranko and Akane further cement their relationship. But a secret Akane insists on keeping threatens to tear them apart.
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PHOENIX ASCENDANT BOOK VI: GLIDE
The aftermath of Sneak threatens every aspect of Ranko and Akane's lives together. The pressure on Ranko builds to the breaking point. Akane takes on new responsibilities. The Dapper Dragons' discography grows, but at what cost? Ranko faces tough challenges navigating popular high school social life as a gay girl. The Phoenix clan adds two new girls to the family.
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PHOENIX ASCENDANT BOOK VII: SWOOP
Ranko's promise to Akane has turned her world on its ear, and not entirely for the better. Ranko's quest to undo the damage Sneak did continues. The All-Tokyo Cheerleading Invitational looms, and so does wedding planning! Ranko faces harassment at school and an impossible choice at her music studio, and Akane takes a drastic gamble to help her. Features four new original songs!
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PHOENIX ASCENDANT BOOK VIII: PLUMMET
As preparations for her wedding launch into full swing, and her first album launches to great acclaim, ghosts from Ranko's past threaten everything she and Akane have built and throw her deep into depression and self-doubt. She and her family must fight to protect her new life from her old one. What will survive after her past, present and future collide?
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PHOENIX ASCENDANT BOOK IX: SOAR
In the finale of Phoenix Ascendant, Ranko and Akane must navigate 3 families: Ranko's Phoenix family, the Tendos, and Saotomes. Ranko and Nodoka have a battle of wills. Ranko's second album and senior year of high school are under way, and it's finally time for wedding bells! (Unless something goes wrong...) Either way, their lives will change forever!
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PHOENIX ODYSSEY BOOK X: HOME
Four months after their wedding, Ranko and Akane navigate the new challenges of married life. Akane's medical school struggles worsen as her fledgling dojo grows. Ranko tries to balance her senior year of high school with preparation for college and an international concert tour as her second album releases and her singing career takes another massive leap forward. The Phoenix family is shaken by a painful choice and a long-buried secret. features three new original songs (and 2 extended ones!)
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PHOENIX ODYSSEY BOOK XI: OCEANIA
Ranko struggles with her injury as she gets ready to graduate high school, gives a very special performance in the school musical, and finishes preparations for her first international tour. The Phoenix family’s struggles with loss, stress and resentment deepen as Ranko and the Dapper Dragons embark for Australia to reunite with Jacob’s family and his partner Zoe, without the love of Ranko's life by her side. While she’s away, tragedy shakes Ranko’s world down to its foundations. Features five new original songs!
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PHOENIX ODYSSEY BOOK XII: MEKONG
Ranko rushes home from Australia as her world collapses back in Japan. The Phoenix sisters, and an unexpected ally, must come together to fight for each other and everything they hold dear. Ranko begins life as a college student. Old wounds reopen, and Ranko must face them with her support system behind her. As Ranko and the Dapper Dragons head to the Philippines to begin the second leg of their international tour, tensions with Yokai Records threaten the future of the band. Features four new original songs!
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PHOENIX ODYSSEY BOOK XIII: CHINA
The Phoenix has been saved, but at a terrible price. Ranko's war with her record label has reached a stalemate, and her third album begins production, but she chafes under the new rules imposed upon her by Yokai. Yui and Sakura begin a new venture. A surprise wedding stuns the Phoenix crew and the band. Ranko heads to China to finish the Wildfire Tour and seek answers at the place where her journey began. Features four new original songs!
Phoenix Odyssey concludes November 2024...
PHOENIX: REIGNITED EDITION
Phoenix: Reignited Edition is a special edition remaster of the entire Phoenix Saga, with every chapter re-edited and new scenes and chapters added. You'll experience:
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction that assumes no knowledge of the canon material
More than 350 chapters of content being remastered and re-serialized, with new scenes/chapters added
Found family, slow-burn F/F romance and an inspiring trans-positive throughline
More than 30 original songs
3 chapters a week posting schedule (Tuesdays / Thursdays / Saturdays)
You can learn more about the Reignited project from the announcement post on Tumblr.
Phoenix: Reignited Edition Serialization Progress
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THE PHOENIX SAGA: RANKO'S SONGBOOK
One of the key elements of the Phoenix Saga is the songwriting talent of Ranko Tendo and her band, the Dapper Dragons. With dozens of original songs, Ranko and the Dapper Dragons are one of the up-and-coming bands of the Japanese pop/rock scene. Here, you'll find the lyrics for all of Ranko's original songs, including variants and live versions. You'll also find special album notes, representing the credits and special thanks found in each of Ranko's album covers.
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COMMISSIONED ART
Anne is eternally grateful to all of the artists who have lent their considerable talents to helping her bring Phoenix to life for all of her readers.
Phoenix Rising
(Jordan @plushkaiju)
Ranko and the Dapper Dragons
(Emily the Artist)
The Phoenix
(Emily the Artist)
Ranko 1/2
(Emily the Artist)
Hana Takahashi
(Emily the Artist)
The Wildfire Tour
(Emily the Artist)
Steam
(Jade Gillotto)
Wild Orchid
(Yachemi Hirano)
Yui Fukawa
(Yachemi Hirano)
FAN ART
I am so incredibly moved that Phoenix has inspired art from a few awesome readers. Thank you so much for honoring me with your creativity!
PIC CREW
These are pictures I made of most of our original characters on PicCrew. I hope to replace them all with commissioned art pieces as time and funds allow.
Amaya Uyehara
Ayako Jirito
Noboyuki "Crash" Matsuyama
Emi Kimoto
Hitomi Uyeno
Hoshi Sando
Izumi Sando
Jacob Trimble
Ken Hirata
Kumiko Iwata
Lance Riker
Mei Hotaro
Sakura Chino
Shinji Yokota
Yui Fukawa
Zoe King
A NIGHT AT THE PHOENIX
A Night at the Phoenix is a series of short, non-canon vignettes set in the world of the Phoenix Saga. These little one-off stories are usually performances of cover songs, sometimes including songs that allow Ranko to break the walls of time and perform songs released after the early 1990s.
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THE PHOENIX SAGA: RANKO'S ROCKTAILS
The Phoenix Saga takes place in a bar called the Phoenix. The bar offers an array of signature cocktails based on... well, spoilers. But for those who might like to feel like they're kicking back at the best little dive bar in fictional 1990s Japan, Yui Fukawa, the Phoenix' mistress of mixology, has consented to share her drink recipes so you can try them yourself!
Anne gratefully acknowledges CliffVT for all of his help in crafting memorable, and enjoyable, cocktails for us all to share! He even made one for me myself, the Pigtailed Author...*blush*
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PHOENIX MERCH
If you'd love to rep the hottest bar in Minato, or the most popular fictional Japanese rock band of the '90s, here you go! We've set up shops on Printify and RedBubble to provide a variety of cool items, all of which use original art and IP sourced by humans and none of which utilizes any proprietary content based on the original Ranma 1/2 canon. I make 0% markup on any of these items; they are offered entirely as a show of gratitude to Firebirds who might want things (and, selfishly, so I can order myself stuff!)
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PHOENIX SPINOFFS AND CAMEOS
Some of my friends have done me the tremendous honor of referencing Phoenix in their own writing, either as a recursive fanfiction, or with cameos from Phoenix' cast of original characters. The following is a list of all of these appearances I am aware of. I am deeply honored and humbled by each of these incredible gestures.
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Tail of the Phoenix: The One Dish Akane Can Cook (InaNewmoon) (recursive fanfiction)
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Code of Ethics - Master and Commander (PrincessColumbia) ft. Yui and Ranko
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A Butterfly's Wing (JaquiK) ft. Ayako, Yui, Izumi and Mei
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Yoiko 2 1/2 (InaNewmoon) ft. Crash and Starlight
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Half Moon (PrincessColumbia) ft. Crash
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Anne wishes to gratefully acknowledge the following readers, fans and friends who have contributed materially to the Phoenix Saga:
BETA READERS
Diet Gender Fluid
Eldanil
Goddessofsocialdistancing
InaNewmoon
lady_zed
LanaCalluna
Myka
PHR.PyrusLex
PrincessColumbia
QuizzicalDreams
ShonaSO5
Suryn
Vikara
Xadlly
ARTISTS AND GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
SPECIAL THANKS FOR THESE AMAZING CONTRIBUTIONS...
My incredible spouse, without whom none of this is possible. You're my song, baby. Always and forever.
Everyone I used to roleplay Ranma with back in the day, and still love decades later. Noelle, Ash, Ken, Kaori... you kept me alive. Look how far we've come from that IRC chat!
CliffVT, for his indepensible mixology magic in the creation of Ranko's Rocktails
PrincessColumbia, for all of her support and her sisterhood on the Storyteller's Speakeasy Discord server.
Xadlly, for streaming Phoenix content weekly on Twitch (Wednesdays at 6PM Eastern!)
Rumiko Takahashi and everyone who has worked alongside her creating this amazing fandom for almost forty years. Thank you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"Anne" is a 26-year veteran of the Ranma 1/2 fandom, having run an IRC (it's Discord for old people) channel called #Ranmania back in the late 1990s with a group of friends she still considers her brothers and sisters a quarter-century later. She writes Anne-Ominously in the fandom space. It's fair to say that, through her own difficult teenage years, escaping into Ranma's world saved her life, and now, Phoenix is Anne's attempt to give Ranma her own happily ever after in return and gratitude. Along the way, the story has touched countless people at different points on their own difficult journeys, and it brings Anne endless joy to know that Phoenix can be a light in the darkness for people who need it.
Anne published Book I of Phoenix in May 2023, and has put out a book every two months or so since. Being invited into your lives in this small way, getting the opportunity to touch the hearts of strangers with her words, has been one of the most humbling and awe-inspiring things she has ever done in her four-and-change decades on this earth. Your willingness to pull up a chair and let her pour her heart out to you has touched Anne in ways she will never fully convey. As her dear friend Ranko would say, there are no words big enough for how I feel. Thank you, friends, for joining her on the journey of her life.
Anne lives in the Orlando, FL area with her incredible spouse and three cats that provide absolutely no help in beta reading. She seeks to tell stories that pull no punches, confront difficult subjects with honesty and hope, and present the reader with an emotional journey.
Anne can be reached via email at anne (at) thephoenixsaga.com.
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