On Mon, 28 Apr 1997, Thomas R Jefferys wrote:

On Mon, 14 Apr 1997, Redneck Gaijin wrote:

      Least Considerate?  Most Violent?  Do you remember a certain Tendo
Akane here?
      Shampoo is admittedly pushy, manipulative, and ruthless; but I'd
consider outright abuse more irritating personally.

True, but Akane isn't out to kill her rivals, and she has a rudimentary
sense of fair play.

Shampoo has never used a mallet on Ranma. ^_-

Just bonbori and the occasional sword (or should I say tried to use, she
was hunting him to the ends of the earth to _kill_ him after all)
 

And considering that she comes from an Amazon warrior society, she's been
surprisingly tame. Said so yourself. If she was really determined to kill
her rivals, there would _be_ no rivals anymore.

I don't think she's out to kill her rivals, just scare them in to leaving
Ranma alone.  "Obsticles are for killing" but only after other options
have been tried.  for example:  even after she gave Akane the kiss of
death she used the mind wipe technique instead of killing her.  Shampoo
only tried killing Akane after other options had been tried.

Ranma would be expected to train his kids, and maybe other kids as well, but
he would have zero say in how his life was led.

If that were true, than Shampoo would have already nabbed him and went, and
treating him like the dog he is. Remember, if someone has all the power,
they're going to be wield it and be corrupted by it.

True, he won't have _zero_ say.  Just not as much as he wants.

      And this is assuming that Ranma couldn't talk her into remaining
in Japan as an embassary of some sort.

This seems to me to be an absurdity, considering the blatantly insular
nature of the Amazons.

Still, this _is_ China we're talking about. Considering its overall
standard of living and technology level, it would be a Third World Contry
if it weren't for the fact that it had nuclear weapons. (Making it a Second
World Country. The old Soviet Union was the same way.)

The Amazons and their neighbors have maintained the old culture even fifty+
years after the Cultural Revolution, which was supposed to wipe it all the
way. They've got enough pull to remain insular, which indicates
considerable political power. It's not inconcievable.

They're also next door to Jusenkyo.  For some reason I don't think the
Chinese government is going to send troops to pacify an area where they
can very easily be turned into animals.  Besides it's quite possible that
the Chinese Gov hasn't even heard about the amazons (who would tell?)

thanx for listening to me rant and rave

AJ