On Mon, Jun 14, 1999 at 09:24:57PM -0700, Gregg Sharp wrote:

i ran into a couple of "Nodoka takes charge"
stories that didn't involve her spurning all
the other engagements due to the writer's
bias towards an Akane+Ranma pairing.
Unfortunately, in both cases, the test used
to determine who loved Ranma the most was
biased itself.

Hmm...  I'd tend to think that Nodoka would be partial to having him
marry _all_ of them; after all, what could be manlier than having four
wives?

Why, having five, of course!  Six would be manlier yet...

Hey, Kasumi!  Nabiki!   :)

Anyways, leaving that aside for the moment...

         So, anyone who's up on the end of
the series and can avoid showing bias towards
or against a particular fiancee, here's the
idea.
        Nodoka comes up with the same basic
concept and isn't a racist or caste system
elitist or that concerned with whether a
promise between drunken fathers is quite the
same as a stolen dowry or both when fathers
accepted Kodachi's largesse at a desperate
time.

Well, that comes from an anime episode that was, IMHO, so annoying as
to be unwatchable.  However, the author may want to accept it as canon
anyways, simply to put Kodachi on an even footing with the rest.

       She presents each of the would-be
fiancees with a horrible choice, each
different from the one the others must face,
in order to win her favor as regards her son.
       Shampoo must choose between her status
as and residence as an Amazon, or Ranma.
       Ukyou must choose between okonomiyaki
or Ranma.
       Kodachi, i'm not sure of, but
horticulture or Ranma, or psychiatric help if
she's to be considered a viable candidate is
another possibility.
       Akane, here i'm puzzled. What would
Akane consider a sacrifice? To stop cooking?

I think a little bit of lateral thinking would go a long way here.

After all, why would it need to be a sacrifice?  

The test for Shampoo is reasonable -- after all, Shampoo would
probably want to take Ranma back to the Amazon villiage, and Ranma
would probably not want to go.

The test for Ukyou, however, is a little silly.  Her commitment to her
craft is pretty much orthogonal to her love for Ranma, and it could be
downright useful -- after all, no one else in the family seems to be
gainfully employed.

I can't really think of a good 'sacrifice' test for Ukyou, Kodachi, or
Akane.  But who says you have to use such a test?

One test I can think of for Akane: Find something that will magically
enhance her strengh and/or skill.  If she makes it for a single week
without sending Ranma to the hospital, she passes.

This:

1)  Has relevance to their relationship, and how well a marriage
    between them is likely to work.

2)  It tests an area where the FUT (uhh.. . Fiancee Under Test.  :)
    has proven to be weak at in the past. (Ref.  the Super Soba and
    Battle Dougi story arcs.)

3)  The FUT will have to make a genuine effort in order to pass.
    Akane has very little self-control -- a factor which will make
    it difficult, though not impossible, for her to pass this test.
    And, if she does manage to pass, she will likely be that much
    better a choice for Ranma as a result.

Anyways, I'm sure that similar tests could be devised for the other
fiancees, and I'm sure that this would make it a better story than
it would have been if you limited yourself to 'sacrifice' tests.

-- 
  -Sean Connor  (sec@konatsu.dhs.org)
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