Phooey.  People fall out of love too!  And if Akane treats the people she
loves the way she treats Ranma, you are welcome to her.

If they were going to fall out of love, they would have done so a long
time ago ... besides, their fights mean that they still have passion
in their relationship. ;p

Nice to see such an open and exploratory attitude!  Maybe some authors just
think that there is more than one way to skin a cat (Gomen, Shamps) - It is
a writer's *job* to take things apart and put them back together again.  If
you accept that there is only one way to do things, then there is no point
to writing any of it.  <<shrug>>  That would make it a waste of time, so
Zen, for one, does not believe it.

Well, if the writer wants to rip up the whole nine years of Takahashi's
work and make the characters go against their characteristics, then
that's up to them ... but I still call that OOC. (Here, I'm talking about
fics that don't have character development, just have the characters
not displaying characteristics that have been well established in the
manga) ... But if it's in a series where the characters gradually change
over a long time, or over certain events, then it would be IC... as long
as they react in the way their characteristics would have them react, of
course.

To assume that authors that so not share your view care nothing about love
or relationships, seems rather unfair.  If Zen did not care about the
characters, he would not write fan fiction.  <<shrug>>  Zen is not so ready
to be told by others what he should believe, feel or do.

*shrug* I'm just saying it's OOC, not that it shouldn't be done. But,
then, I don't like OOC ... so I won't really read it, and if I do, I
will say that it's OOC, and should be changed to be IC... *shrug* But
I'm not everyone.

So, Zen asks "What if..." - a LOT

And 'what if' stories are generally elseworld stories ... like "What if
Ranma fell for Shampoo in China" is a what if ... as is "What if Ranma
was gay and loved Ryouga" ... so is "What if Ranma fell in love with
Ukyou" ... They "what if" makes the story an alternative universe to
the original Takahashi one ...

But if the story continues on from the manga, then it's considered, by
me, to be in the same 'world' ... they can be developed, but if they
don't go on from the nine years of work that Takahashi put into making
the manga - ie. establishing Ranma and Akane's relationship ... keeping
the characters with the same characteristics ... etc - then I think it's
like you're telling Takahashi-sensei that she wasn't good enough, and
you think you're better ... *shrug* But that's just what it seems like
to me.

But then, if the guys that write like that are Akane fans ..... ^^;;;

Zen *is* an Akane fan - he just loves Ukyou more.

Which means you're an Ukyou fan ... You can't server two masters!

And I don't know about the girls who write like that, if they do ...
probably just want to make their favourite female Ranma character
happy, and don't care about the real Ranma relationships ...

Well, that's just what I think. :p

<<shrug>>  Zen disagrees.  Zen thinks that female writers are just like
male writers.  They ask questions.

And we all "ask questions" to either make a fanfic that is "for" or
"against" Takahashi-sensei's work. I think if it's against, then why
not just make up an original story with your own characters. It seems
bad form to throw Takahashi-sensei's work away like it was worth
nothing, and you think you can do a better job than her.

(BTW - 'you' is not you, personally, Zen... just a general 'you')

Real Ranma Relationships?  *piku*
It's a Toon.  A wonderful toon.  An inspiring toon.  A real work of art.
But a Toon, nonetheless.

No, it's a manga.

And within the manga, the relationships have been set out. Therefor
it's 'real' in Ranma 1/2. It's not real as in RL. (Dur!) :p

Kun-chan...