Charles Lewis <clewis@virtu.sar.usf.edu> writes:

       _Angel's_Spit_ was intentionally a very short fic.  In fact, I'm 
quite sure that your post well exceeded its length.  To have written any 
more would have, IMHO, deviated radically from the sort of work I wanted 
to produce.  
       I'm afraid that I have to disagree with some of your assertions 
about fanfics, though.  Yes, we more-or-less have a common frame of 
reference about the _past_ actions of the Ranma characters, and we _do_ 
know of certain obvious tendencies.  Ranma is a remarkably formulaic 
series.  In fact, I'd even go so far as to suggest that this is _why_ 
people like it so much.  
       This internal continuity does not, however, constitute anything 
more than a set of sufficient conditions for creating more of the same 
sort of work.  Yes -- AS deviated from the Takahashi canon and, 
similarly, Akane's character deviated from both the anime and manga.  
Then again ... so what?  Maybe the point of the story was to imagine a 
hybrid of the anime (or manga) and the Real World <tm> ... or maybe it 
was something entirely different.  Hell, maybe it even represented the 
author's perception of the tendencies of the series (hey ... wait ... 
*I'M* the author ... err..).
       The salient point really is that fan works are great because they 
_can_ stray from the original.  They represent our chance to see soooo 
many things in the Ranmaverse fulfilled that otherwise never could be.  
Where else could these characters acquire real depth, or be placed in 
such novel situations?  Certainly not in the manga ... We're not trying 
to sell tankoubans, after all.

But did it attempt to tie into the original?  I don't believe it did.  The 
majority of fanfics try to tie-in, at least to start off with, so that they 
can make the "twist" more effective.  But in tying it in, you have to 
take in account everything in the original (unless you specify a cut-
off) because you're using characters with established backgrounds. 

       Fanfic authors ostensibly choose from the same palette of 
characters.  This does not imply they're going to paint the same pictures.

I don't believe your analogy is entirely correct.  In your analogy, the 
characters are colors; perhaps it would be better to think of the characters 
and their relationships as finished portions of the canvas.  Think of the 
fanfics as the attempt of a later artist to finish the first artist's work.  
The question is, do the two styles complement each other or not?

Sometimes the painting will have to be redone.  Those are what-if's.
Sometimes people will start work early.  Those don't tie-in with the end.

The characters have a history, just like you do.  The original author 
(Takahashi, in the case of Ranma), developed this history in her work on the 
series.  If you're going to say that something ties in with the whole of the 
work (or imply it, which is the norm if it is not specified), then it should 
tie-in completely because that is what is implied.  Otherwise all you're doing 
is deceiving the reader.

Think of it as scientific theory.  A new theory not only has to explain the 
facts better than the existing theory, it also has to explain why the previous 
theory is not a correct one.

In crossovers, think of it as bridging the gap between two different 
paintings.  Sometimes it can be done smoothly, sometimes it can't.  Fanfics do 
allow great freedom, but that does not necessarily mean that traits that we do 
not like can just be ignored; they should be taken into account, if at all 
possible.  Because it is respecting the original author's work.  

Similarly, I could take "Angel's Spit" and then add to it so that Akane 
immediately turns around, finds that she does love him, and comes back to 
Ranma and makes love to him right there on the street.  Then they go home and 
have a happy ending.  But that would not be consistent with your original 
story, at least in purpose, would it?

JK