Richard Lawson wrote:

My favorite Ranma 1/2 story so far is "Tendo Family Christmas Scramble",
perhaps because it's funny and touching at the same time.
Unfortunately, it has no manga counterpart; it's an OAV original.  Thus,
not canon.  Still, I love it so much that I've made it another part of
my picture of the Ranmaverse. 

	Tendo Family Christmas Scramble is so good.  Unfornately that there is no manga 
counterpart!  I really wish RT would just write a nice little sweet scene between Ranma 
& Akane.  A day where they get to share some of their feelings and stuff like that.  

When I started writing fanfics, I tried to keep everything strictly
canon.  Thus I never mention that  female Ranma has red hair.  I don't
refer to  female Ranma as "Ranma-chan", instead letting the personal
pronouns determine Ranma's gender.  My first fanfic, "Heart of the
Home", was pretty good at being "canon". 

	I've a question on that.  Doesn't Ranma always consider himself on be a guy no 
matter what?  I tend to use the third person masucline pronoun for Ranma regardless of 
which form he is in.  Is there a correct way to do that?

I began slipping more in "Thy Inward Love".  More "Kuno-baby"; and also
references to Tendo Family Christmas Scramble.  Someone also commented
that Shampoo saving Akane from the Phoenix occurred only in the anime,
and was thus not canon. 

	I think I mentioned that, but I'm not too sure.  It is so long ago...  Still, 
Richard, I think you did an excellent portrayal of Shampoo.  I think she is often 
misinterpreted as the cold-blooded bimbo that just wants to kill Akane and marries 
Ranma.  She is not that way.  She may not have the highest morals, but she is unique in 
her own way.  (Sorry, Misa, but I've to put this even though I'm an AFSS!  For others, 
notice I'm not saying whether I like her or not!)

I have no intention of going back and making them more canon.  I have a
vision of the Ranmaverse; I like it, and I write my fanfics based on
what I see.  If it's not strictly canon, I think that's okay as long as
it doesn't deviate too much.  My Ranmaverse is still recognizable as
being based on RT's Ranmaverse.  I don't think deviations are "errors",
necessarily, but rather a slight remaking of the Ranmaverse to our
liking.  Female Ranma with red hair is fine.  Satsuke is fine (I'll
never use him, but won't object if you do).  Referring to female Ranma
as "Ranma-chan" is fine, too.  It's become so common as to be almost
canon itself, in fanfics anyway.  Stories based on the movies or the
"non-canon" OAV's are fine as well. 

	I think you said it very well, Richard.  If we're to go by logic and everything 
everyone should have theoratically black hair.  Going by the color pictures in the manga 
I'll say that Akane has a greenish brown hair!  I think the only times this becomes a 
problem is when people take a movie or a non-canon OAV and assumes that to be the truth. 
For example, using the Phoenix OVA, Shampoo will not save Akane because she has no 
obligation to.  It is not really because she is evil or anything, but Shampoo feels no 
obligation for Akane (if anything, she is obligated to kill her).  However, it is also 
equally incorrect to say that Shampoo is always a nice character that just pretended to 
hate Akane.  Shampoo will kill Akane given the correct and proper circumstances.  I 
personally really liked the Tendo Christmas Special and believed that its plots are 
consistent with RT's Ranmaverse.  If you use a reference correctly, why should it be 
wrong?  Just because the source isn't Takahashi doesn't mean the idea isn't.

The point I'm trying to make here is that I hope people won't think less
of authors for making these "errors", as long as they are consistent and
true to the author's perception of the Ranmaverse.  I think it is the
diversity of the Ranmaverse that makes it a particularly attractive
place to base fanfics on.  Don't blast the authors for these flights of
fancy.  At the same time, blatant errors (like people who think Jusenkyo
was destroyed in Volume 38, or Nodoka doesn't know about Ranma's curse,
or some people who think "pig-tailed" is wrong and attempt to replace it
with "pony-tailed") should be pointed out to the authors, I think.
That's what the FFML is all about. 

	Isn't Jusenkyo overflooded by water or something like that in volume 38?  I 
never actually took the time to read the translation carefully, but I was under the 
impressio that somehow Jusenkyo springs couldn't be used again.

********************************************************************************
"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane Tendo, Ranma 1/2

"Power only breeds war ... I wish I'd never been born." Celes Chere, Final Fantasy 3

Don Wang <dwang@sprynet.com>
RPG, strategy game, and Ranma 1/2 fan.