At 08:19 PM 11/2/96 +1100, Caroline Ann Seawright wrote:

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

On the other hand, they fight with everyone.

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 ...

It's alternative if it alters stuff that happened during the original
Takahashi timeline, not if it just adds events happening afterwards or adds
stuff to Takahashi's otherwise unchanged storyline.  For example:

"What if Cologne was a voice actress instead of a martial artist" is 
alternative.  It alters the parts of the storyline in which Cologne uses 
martial arts.

"What if Cologne gave up on getting R&S together after A&R almost got 
married in vol. 38, and switched careers from martial artist to voice 
actress" is not alternative.  It uses the original storyline, intact, for
the premise.

"What if Cologne was a voice actress once but stayed a martial artist" (as 
in "The Nameless Sequel") is also not alternative.  It leaves the original 
storyline intact, while filling a gap (Takhashi never said Cologne could not 
be a Sailor Moon fan, did she?).

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!

Why can't you like more than one character?  Even in that r.a.a.m thread a 
while ago, you could have one foot in each trench (although it would be hard 
if you liked three characters...).

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

Why can't a story be "for" some aspects of R 1/2 and "against" others?  Like 
the way a lemon may be all "for" A&R's relationship but "against" the lack 
of sex scenes for married couples in the actual mangas.  It's as if you're 
saying "I can do a better job than Takahashi because she never writes manga 
that's risque enough."

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.

But if you think it's worth nothing, you wouldn't have written a fanfic in 
the first place.

(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 comic-format is a form of cartooning.

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

Good point.

Kun-chan...