!#$%. I hate wasting my time having to back up my point since there are a
lot of other things to do, but I have to refute  most of this:

I'm sorry that you consider it a waste of time to deal with a legitimate
counter-argument.

Besides that, I think the writer of this story is deserving of a
bit more respect and consideration than you showed in your response.

On the contrary. He's perpetuated a tired old fanfic cliche unneccesarily
that I've had to put up with for years now. It is fanfic convention, and

one

you have to stretch to use, yet everyone does it effortlessly and without
batting an eye. After all this time, he should be better than that.
Espcially since

As you know, we already disagree on that last count.  However, my point here
is that Nick has been writing long enough and has demonstrated enough
ability to use widely variant interpretations of characters that it is worth
considering that he might have thought through these events much more deeply
than you have considered.

As his own explanations for Shampoo's behavior (now that she's been named in
other posts) bear out.

So... that said, I disagree with your assessment.  There is only one

point

in this story in which a character is cast in a seriously negative

light,

and even at that point, that character has not acted outside of the

realm

of behavior demonstrated in the manga.

Bull. She's shown she can give up on Ranma under worse circumstances. ie:
When she believed Ranma was a girl that had lied to her (from Shamp's POV)
She also knows damn well she can't try to kill Akane openly because Ranma
would kill, or at least never forgive her. Hence why the only time she

tries

to 'kill' Akane (which was never meant to be taken more seriously than
Ryouga's constantly trying to 'kill' Ranma, or Kodachi  and Ukyou trying

to

'kill' Nabiki when she was Ranma's fiancee) was during the Tarou arc. And
even then, Akane's left convinced Shampoo was trying to rescue her (which
was the humorous outcome all along, just like Ranma thought Mousse was
trying to protect him earlier in the same story when Mousse was trying to
stab him in the back) So in fact, the source material shows she probably
wouldn't act in this way. And please don't feed me any lines about  how

the

bombing of the wedding was a 'murder attempt'. Ranma wasn't more than
stunned briefly. Further evidence of decided non-homicidal tendencies

given

the situation.

Again, I point out that the story is viewed through the eyes of Tendou
Akane, who is not likely to be giving Shampoo much in the way of benefit of
the doubt under the circumstances.

  This is not to say that this character would behave that way under

normal

circumstances, or even a significant percentage of the time...

Ah ha! Yet, we are assailed with this idea in virtually every

continutaiton

fic there is, especially the 'notable' ones. So why is it something you
admit is not normal behavior is treated as such (including here where it
serves even less purpose than in others?)

How is it treated as normal behavior in the 'fic?

I'm sorry, but this makes no sense.  ONE incident is NEVER enough to
establish a pattern of behavior for a character.  Just because a character
does something ONE time in a story does *not* indicate the author believes
that this is 'normal' behavior for this character.

If she had behaved in his manner repeatedly throughout the story, I might
see this argument... but as it stands, I don't.

but it is certainly within the realm of potential behavior for that

character in what they

would classify as a desperate situation..

Then why isn't Ukyou there as well? This is just as dire for her? Yet as
usual, despite reacting the same way Shampoo did at the wedding, she
mysteriously makes amends and causes no problems. She's been after Ranma

in

one way or another for over half her life. Shampoo's shown when pressed

she

can give up. Which is more likely to continue harrassing them.

Except that Shampoo has also shown that when pressed on the other side, she
can be pushed to coming right back.  It's not just the interpretation of
Shampoo that matters here, it's the interpretation of Cologne and the Amazon
Village in general.

If you've read much of Nick's prior work, then you know that Nick has used a
number of different interpretations of the Amazons in different stories.
Far from one-dimensional, he's depicted them with several different brushes
from several different angles... some highly flattering, some not.  (Hardly
the work of a character-basher, I might add, and one of the reasons I've
indicated that Nick deserves more respect than you've given him here!)  For
this one, I'm inclined to think he's used an interpretation similar to that
in his story "Borrowed Time".

Under such circumstances, Shampoo's behavior in this story makes a great
deal of sense.

. and the scene in question is one that character would consider

desperate... especially if pressure was being applied (as it is at

several

points in the manga) to that character.

What pressure? Cologne (who does not apply 'pressure' to Shampoo marrying
Ranma) doesn't push Shampoo into anything. Point of fact she shows a

decided

lack of interest in helping Shampoo marry Ranma, save the Reversal arc,

and

that was Ranma's fault for letting his ego persue Shampoo and setting
himself up.

This is the person who knocked Shampoo into the cat-spring after the first
time she gave up on Ranma you're talking about.  I'm not going to bother to
argue this point.

Sure it is. She's already demonstrated the ability to let Ranma go when

push

comes to shove. What's happened to change things, when she's had more time
than ever to deal with and understand the no win situation? And please

don't

feed my some mindless crap about something happening 'off camera' to force
the issue since it's Akane's POV. If you're going to show a character
behaving OOC, then you need to back it up.

"Mindless crap?"  Are we descending to insult now?  I certainly hope not.

Furthermore, when considering the view that one gets of events, one must
consider the character whose viewpoint the events are being observed

from.

In this case, the thoughts of the character whose "eyes" are being
employed  for this scene certainly would not be the most flattering

toward the

character in question

Ranma broke Shampoo's bones and left her lying there and it's clearly
indicated that Akane sees this reaction as 'justified'. There is no way
possible Nick considered for one second this is anything other than

Shampoo

going nuts and trying to Kill Akane because she wants Ranma, the
consequences be damned. You're trying to imply other motives when there
aren't any.

However, what Akane would fail to notice that another character might is a
certain degree of desperation in Shampoo's actions that would explain a
great many things.

 and a discerning reader can

see the difference between objective and subjective viewpoints..

And the reader can tell when a situaiton has been fabricated to

deliberately

cast a character in a negative light. That's not 'necessary storytelling'.
It's bashing. This is an excuse I've seen dozens of times. A writer goes

out

of his way to have a character act in a manner not consistant with

previous

behvior by putting them in a certain set of conditions

This is the most ludicrous accusation I've seen levelled at anyone in a
while on this list.

If you've read ANY of Nick's work at all, you know this is groundless.

I don't like character bashing,

On the contrary. You don't MIND character bashing so long as it plays into
your own likes or dislikes. This is actually something most people suffer
from (myself included). They'll site a fic they like. You can point out

the

bashing, and the best case scenario you'll get is 'Well, I like it in

spite

of it'

This is another insult.  And also groundless, because I've taken people to
task for Shampoo-bashing before.  In private messages, mind you.  It is my
preference to keep negative C&C off the list.

Enough said.  If you really want the last word (as your reponse indicated)
it's yours.  I'm not going to argue this point any further.

Stormwalker
--determined to keep this OUT of the realm of insults, no matter how angry
he might be.




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