On Fri, 31 Oct 1997, David Johnston wrote:
	<snip>
 

<Shrug>  Got to have some kind of conflict.  Otherwise everyone gets 
married, lives happily ever after and you have nothing to write about
except the next generation.  

	Conflict I do not mind.  Conflict I love.
	But conflict based on a minor variant on the most common and IMO
one of the _silliest_ Shampoo/Mousse cliches in Fandom I could live
without.

HTG (Why can't 'Poo _ever_ get a decent break in a dramatic 'fic?)

Because she's doomed. 

	My, aren't we pessimistic.

Ranma is NEVER going to love a girl who made
him cower in fear.  In the main continuity Ranma finds Akane's assaults
irritating, but not frightening.  But he was afraid of Shampoo when
she was hunting him because he never knew when she'd show up and 
try to kill him by surprise.  He is afraid of Shampoo when she
turns into a cat.  He's even a little afraid of her sexual overtures.

	You have a point here, any relationship between Ranma and Shampoo
as things stand even by her second appearence would take both a radical
catylist and a lot of work on both parts.

	Problem is, I never mentioned getting Ranma and 'Poo together.  

	I just noticed that she is singled out for extraordinary
punishment/penance in most of the serious Ranma 'fics that she has more
than a bit part in. 
 

That means if we define a happy ending as one where Shampoo ends up
with Ranma, or really, anyone we know except Mousse, a happy ending
ends up being a real stretch. 

	<deep and calming breath>
	While I am willing to accept your arguments about her relationship
with Ranma, I am forced to wonder why you insist that Mousse is Shampoo's
only viable alternative... let's not mince words here, is even _a_ viable
alternative for her to have a happy relationship with.  I can name at
least one male cast member off the top of my head that she would be much
happier with _and_ would do considerably less emotional harm to her in the
long run than Mousse and that's only among the men she might be attracted 
to without her devotion to Ranma serving as blinders.

What I can't figure out is why this makes a difference at all.
Shampoo has still disgraced the tribe by giving the kisses of death
and marriage and failing to follow through on either.  The political
reasons for Shampoo and Cologne to be targets in the story are still
there.  How does Shampoo getting her butt kicked by Mousse make her
any less of a failure and a disgrace?

	I should let MacKinnon answer this, but as I understand his... 
'embellishments' on Joketsuzoku law, so long as Cologne remains on the
high council she can sheild Shampoo from the death she would suffer for
failing to kill Ranma, wed Ranma, or die in the attempt to do either. 
Unfortunately, once Cologne's current state (blind and severely weakened) 
becomes known to the tribe Cologne's enemies would jump at the chance to
challenge her to a battle to the death for her council seat (Shampoo would
not be harmed in such an event, but she would rather finally succed in one
of the tasks mentioned earlier and allow Cologne to step down peacefully). 

	But, conviniently for _someone_, there is another option.  If a
Joketsuzoku male specifically challenged one of the villages womenfolk
for her hand and defeats her, all previous engagements are voided if it
is thought that he really wants to marry her.

	Personally, while I respect MacKinnon's story-crafting skills I
have an extremely hard time swallowing this entire setup (almost sounds
like he's singling 'Poo out to go through hell while exposing Mousse's
vast (albeit not _quite_ perfect this time around) nobility... again
<gag> 9_9). 

HTG