On Sat, 09 Nov 1996 19:06:30 -0600 Richard Lawson wrote
: The Nature of Love
:
: by Richard Lawson
: Kentaro drew an angry breath. "There's more depth to our feelings than
: you're giving us credit for. I didn't see Ranma rushing to accept her
: engagement to Akane. Do *not* make the assumption that Ranma's feelings
: for your sister are stronger than her feelings for me. I was there for
: her when she was struggling to find a reason to go on living. I didn't
: see Akane anywhere."
:
: "Akane *wanted* to be there for him. He drove her away. After they agreed
: to end their engagement, Ranma withdrew more and more from the family. He
: just stayed in his room studying for the entrance exams, and finally moved
: away to college. He ran away from us, even if we still wanted to be his
: family."
:
: Kentaro shook his head. "You pushed her away as much as she ran away. You
: all treated her like she'd been given an incurable disease. Akane stopped
: loving Ranma, unable to live outside her sexual preference and unable to
: overcome her homophobia."
:
: "Don't you dare!" Nabiki's shout blew in Kentaro's face. She growled and
: continued. "Don't you dare judge my sister. It was very difficult for her.
: You can't imagine it. Can you, Kentaro-san? If Ranma gets cured, will you
: still love him? Will you want to marry him?"
This is a *very* important passage, concerning Akane's role and
her actions in this fic. It was a point of contention between
Zen and myself, and I am sorry to say that in a fit of mental
aberration I totally overstepped the line to the point of
insulting him. :(
Seeing that we so strongly disagreed and I saw his opinion
reflected by a few others here, I thought it best to ask about it
in public: In how far do you think are Nabiki's and Kentaro's
statements here reflecting the real events?
This hinges heavily on the scene in the college cafeteria in _Thy
Outward Part_, where Ranma and Akane meet, half a year after
breaking off their engagement. *I* read this as a proof of
Nabiki's point here, i.e. that it was Ranma who severed the ties
between himself and Akane, because she would not continue as if
nothing happened. Zen, on the other hand, interpreted it from the
viewpoint that is presented here by Kentaro, i.e. That Ranma was
pushed into isolation by Akane's negative reaction and her dumping
him, instead of staying with him as long as he needed her.
>From both these viewpoints, Akane's behavior in *this* story takes
on a completely different meaning. In the first case, it is
unsympathetic, due to her hostile treatment of Kentaro, but more
or less understandable in the assumption that Ranma would still
want her - after all, the last time she saw him, he told her to
get lost, because he still wanted her so much and wasn't prepared
to let go and move on from her. In the latter case, of course,
her behavior becomes arrogant, capricious and intolerable - first
she pushes him away and doesn't make any contact in *three years*,
and then she simply waltzes back into his life, demanding that
everything be like before, and Ranma should love her as if nothing
happened.
When Zen sent some C&C, reacting to Akane's behavion on the basis
of the latter interpretation, I reacted irritated and completely
out of proportion, accusing him of Akane-bashing, prejudice and
more or less called him a liar, when he said he had proof (citing
the cafeteria scene). An absolutely unforgivable lapse,
*especially* since that is everything I hate in discussions:
Dogmatism and the inability to see other viewpoints. And to top
it all off, I did this to someone whom I consider a good friend.
:(
So, would everyone please step up with their opinions regarding
this? Let's work this out together, so Richard can think about
clarifying a bit.
Sebastian (Feeling quite depressed at the moment)