[Notes] "Under the Hammer"
By Henry J. Cobb
$Id: under_the_hammer_notes.txt,v 1.2 1996/10/03 03:41:09 hcobb Exp $

White Wolf has complained that everybody is out of character in "Under
the Hammer".

So, while we're waiting for Nightelf to write chapter four (hey, it's
his turn!), let's review what's happened to the characters.

Akane:

Akane's admitted her love for Ranma, after killing him.  She's pinned
the murder on Ryoga, who's always been a friend to her, and now he's
disappeared.  Ranma has returned and he's not angry with her.  He'll
stay by her side forever, but it isn't because of any affection for her
he's expressed, instead it's a dirty trick she pulled with a magic wish.
Ranma has a new fiancee, a literal goddess, that he gets along with a
lot better than he ever did with Akane.

Akane's response to all of this is to turn wild, irrational, nearly
suicidal.  She drives like a madwoman, throws herself at Ranma and eats
her own cooking.

Ranma:

Ranma has found the one thing he missed all of his life, a mentor.  And
it's God.  His eyes have been opened to a literal universe he
overlooked, and he takes his job very seriously.  He sees this mission
as a chance to work off some of the Karma of his past life, but now he's
in trouble.  He's in danger of loosing his professional detachment.
He's no longer sure which girl he loves more, and having both of them
around isn't helping.

Ryoga:

Betrayed by his only friend, Ryoga has remained the pig in Akane's arms,
because she needed somebody in her darkest hours.  But now Ranma's back.

Skuld:

At last Skuld's found that perfect somebody to spend an eternity with.
Handsome, brave, gentle, Ranma understands her and shoulders his
responsibilities.  But now he seems to be sleeping with that dangerous
woman, who has a strange hold on him.

The question is: Which character is under the hammer?  And the answer is
that they all are.

While I await the next chapter with as much anticipation as anybody
else, there are some things that Nightelf could do that would annoy me:

Kuno arrives, demanding to see his goddess for a wish.

Kasumi and Belldandy fight to the death with chainsaws.

Skuld and Akane leave Ranma for each other. ("You can keep the pig.")

	Henry J. Cobb	hcobb@slip.net          http://www.io.com/~hcobb