Some comments on the last Jeff Rutsch's e-mail:

I think that some of the commenters believe that because I advance an 
argument, I must agree with it.  I attempted to give arguments for and against 
deviating from the tone of the original.  But since deviating from the tone is 
a departure from the original (such as rewriting history, introducing new 
characters, etc.)  it is a decision that takes the writer from the default 
mode of the original tone.  Its true that there are great examples of fanfics 
that recreate or deviate from the tone of the original series.  But it is also 
true that there are fanfics of both types that really "Suck Moby".

Since one of the purposes of changing the tone is to explore another side of 
the characters, this automatically presumes that the readers are familiar with 
the characters as they exist at this present point in time (which for Ranma 
would mean the end of the manga).  I never argued that changing the tone 
couldn't be done or done effectively.  I argued that changing the tone is not 
a story in itself; it is a tool that the author uses to effectively tell the 
plot.  And I put forth that when changing the tone, it is important that the 
characters remain in character, because it is easy to ignore characterization 
to advance the plot.  (e.g. you could write a really dark story about Ranma 
beating up on the three Tendo sisters and have them just calmly accept it as 
their due.  Except of course that they wouldn't, and Ranma wouldn't hit them 
in the first place.  It is not in character for any of them, but the story 
could still be written.)

Readers aren't entitled to anything except a bunch of words.  What exactly 
adds to the effectiveness of the story?  Who's to say that it wouldn't it be 
more effective to lay in plot lines and details early so that the reader, 
after reading the story through, can go back and say "hey, this guy started 
this thread way back in episode 2".

Any fanfic that doesn't explicitly state that it does not tie-in, in whole or 
in part, is automatically assumed to do so completely because you are using 
the original author's characters.  And unless it is also specified, the fanfic 
will be assumed to occur right after the ending of the series (if at that 
point) with no changes to the characters.  As "story" time goes on, more 
changes can be made to that starting condition because it is believable that 
the characters would change over time.

About western reactions - how do you know that the reactions aren't eastern, 
as well?  There is no emotional generalization that covers the whole of the 
orient.  It is not emotions and thoughts that I was talking about, but rather 
facts.  It is a fact that Tokyo has a rough latitude of 36 degrees North 
(about the same as Las Vegas), so you're probably not going to get away with 
writing a New England-style winter.

Similarly, Akane and Ranma live in Nerima.  It is a fact.  That means that 
they're not going to be celebrating American holidays.  But they are going to 
be celebrating japanese ones.  Even in the current Viz translation, there have 
been a number of festivals portrayed in the manga.  Knowing what goes on in 
those festivals would make writing it more realistic, though it is possible to 
deviate from that.  But the author should know what parts are realistic so 
that he can more effectively evoke images.

Going back to my example on December's End.  A lot of the New Year's Festival 
is guesswork on my part.  I don't know that there's a festival going on at 
that time (such as there is in August), but it is not an unreasonable 
assumption to make that there is one, given the importance of the time of year 
to the japanese culture.  The mochi pounding, at least in Hawaii, is pretty 
much a family event rather than the community event shown in the series.  But, 
I made the following reasoning:  1)  Dr. Tofu's clinic is a known business, 2) 
 Business and cultural events usually coexist, 3)  Dr. Tofu's clinic caters 
mainly to the elderly, 4)  Mochi is an important part of the New Year's 
celebration, and 5)  Some elderly couples would not have children or 
grandchildren to visit and make mochi.  So I had Dr. Tofu sponsor a mochi 
making "booth" where community members, especially the elderly, could come and 
make mochi for New Year's.  And since I also had that huge Kodachi chase scene 
right through the middle of the festival, I needed something that would bring 
the Tendos and Saotomes to it.  A both complemented each other in that you 
could use one to set the stage for the other

Strictly speaking, we're all writing without permission of the original 
author.  The "continuation to Angel's Spit" was just an example that it would 
be possible to take an existing story and change the tone and the facts as 
presented without explaining why, just as some fanfics do.  In my 
"continuation", it would have been completely consistent with the original - 
and just as mysteous in why the characters act the way they do.

Changing the tone is a decision the author has to make.  But it shouldn't be 
the whole of the fanfic; it should be on the same level as "how do I most 
effectively tell this story", in regards to tone, or the inclusion of sex, or 
lemon scenes, or other plot elements.

JK