(Replied to both Mr. Kleppe and the FFML)
On Sun, 31 Dec 2000, Gary Kleppe wrote:
Very powerful story; the kind of thing that still sticks in the mind
hours after reading it. I've always been a sucker for stories that make
you question reality, and you pulled it off really well in this one.
Thank you, I appreciate it! And thanks for sending your comments, I've
been bad about doing that for people recently.
I do find myself disagreeing somewhat with the (apparent) conclusion.
The "respectable but boring" life supposedly ahead of her isn't the only
thing this world offers, and to escape in the way she did... well, I can
hardly consider it a good thing. :) Of course, I may be interpreting it
in a way different from what you intended.
Oh, but it'd be a tragedy for any of the Ranma characters to live a
normal life, at least in my opinion. As for her escaping, I left it
purposefully opaque. I myself am not sure if she dashed her brains on the
sidewalk or if she just winked out of that plane and into the other. Maybe
it's another test, who knows? :)
Also, while we of course already have a strong idea of what the
Ranma/Akane reality is like, the story doesn't give us much of a picture
of its other reality. I'm not sure whether it would be possible to show
us more of it, but I'll throw the idea out for consideration.
I think all of us know what boring reality is like, so I didn't elaborate
too much. It's something that's been brewing for me for a while, after
reading so many 'Ranma and Akane get married, get 2.5 kids, and their life
is blandly normal' stories. I think that's part of the genius of
Ms. Takahashi, we don't have to see R&A and the gang grow old and
complacent...and of course it left the fan fiction community so much room
to play. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox.
Again, very nice work.
Thanks again! I just wish I could put out more than 7k per year. :/
(yeesh I'm hungover)
Colleen
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ODP: http://dmoz.org/profiles/minty.html