From:        Charles Lewis, clewis@virtu.sar.usf.edu

	OK.. I really think we're not quite communicating here, and I think 
people might be getting bored with this thread (and there are _very_ few 
things which annoy me more than spam).  Let me try to paraphrase my argument:

1.) All we know of Ranma (and Ranma's characters) is, essentially, a 
collection of words and pictures.

2.) We're all potentially very different people, from very different 
backgrounds.

3.) Given 1.) and 2.), we all might take _very_ different things away from 
the story and characters contained within the Ranma series.

This is reasonable so far.

4.) Given 3.), there is no ONE RIGHT interpretation of Ranma, and its 
characters.

But here things start to go on shaky ground...

5.) Given 4.), it is *impossible* to create Ranma characters and plots 
which are truly "Wrong" (with a capital W).

And here, the argument goes completely off the track. 

Yes, people can certainly have many different views and interpretations 
of the events in Ranma, or any other fictional story. But those views are 
all derived from an explicit *and objective* core -- the events 
themselves, as they are shown in the series.

Views that directly contradict the events in the series are likely to be 
rejected out-of-hand. Views that are "highly improbable" (for lack of a 
better term) explanations of the events of the series are probably going 
to be rejected, unless they are explained/justified and not just pushed 
out in front of the readers.

For example: Kasumi is shown in the manga/anime to be bright, cheerful, 
domestic, and unfazed by/oblivious to just about all of the wierd 
goings-on at the dojo. An author can certainly try to explain the reasons 
*why* she acts this way, and he could also create his own events that 
would [change/show a different side of] her personality -- "Smoke and 
Mirrors" is an excellent example of both. But if the author shows her 
flying into violent rages, without doing something to explain *why*, then 
the story fails -- it directly contradicts her behavior as seen in the 
series, where she doesn't have violent outbursts.



Travis Butler
(The Professor, formerly of Myth and Magick!, Lawrence, KS;
 tbutler@tfs.net, now from the Wandering Powerbook;
 <http://www.tfs.net/personal/tbutler/>;
 Mac page <http://www.tfs.net/business/tbutler/>)

..Cats are the proof of a higher purpose to the universe.