This is starting to resemble the "best babe" arguments on every list 
that has a shred to do with Ranma, only on a much smaller scale, of course.
    I, for one, back up Webdragon almost all the way (I know that doesn't 
mean much, as I'm a tiny mediocre author at best, not even a tenth of the 
standard of Biles and Corrigan). The main points I see being argued 
against Webdragon's characterizations are as such:

1. Ukyou is sneaky. She's trying to seduce Ranma in the poker scene. 
    Well, of *course* she's trying to seduce him! Ukyou's not Kasumi, 
after all. I mean, granted, it is pretty underhanded to try and get Ranma 
on the "rebound," but it's not like this hasn't been done before in real 
life. Remember, Ukyou wants Ranma just as much (if not more) then Shampoo 
or Kodachi; the only difference is that her methods are much more subtle 
than Kodachi's or Shampoo's. 
    Granted, this doesn't put Ukyou in the best light. But the point of 
the fic (I thought) wasn't to show that Ukyou is the absolute best for 
Ranma, but to delve a little bit into her feelings for him and to show 
just a peek at the anguish she must feel whenever she sees Ranma and 
Akane getting along. She's not perfect, but nobody in the real world is. 
That's why I like this characterization so much. It's real. 

2. Ranma's a bastard. He nearly did it with Ukyou when just a few hours 
ago he was crushed up inside about Akane. 
    Well. Again, my line of reasoning is that Ranma, after you remove the 
rock-like constitutiona and unreal martial arts abilites, is a human 
being. A *male* human being, just like you or I (yes, I'm an earthling, 
too). 
    I've heard of a phenomenon known as "emotional vulnerability," when a 
traumatic loss causes a person to be open to anyone that shows a shred of 
sympathy or kindness towards someone. This can happen if a spouse 
suddenly dies or rejects the person (this is why remarriages sometimes 
happen shortly after divorce). This has also been observed in 
doctor-patient settings, particularly in the fields of psychology and 
psychiatry. 
    Anyway, my point is, Ranma wasn't thinking about what he was doing. 
He proabaly didn't have a clue as to what Ukyou was going to try to do. He 
was acting. He was still a bit emotionally unstable from his incident 
with Akane. He was wrestling Ukyou playfully, and noticed suddenly in 
a close moment that Ukyou is a girl, and a rather fetching girl at that, 
and a girl he's quite close to. Ukyou makes her move. What's a normal 
human teenaged male to do? Even Ranma was swayed by Shampoo's cute face 
in the manga.
    I have a suspicion that even if Akane hadn't walked in, Ranma would 
have snapped out of it before things got too far. Take Nullifier (also by 
Webdragon), the scene where Ranko and Ranma (pardon me while I gag) 
almost "do it." Ranma thinks about Akane subconsciously, calls her name 
out, and the spell is broken.

3. Ukyou wouldn't really have let Ranma go to Akane. She would have 
grabbed him back to the floor after Akane left and picked up right where 
she left off.
    My feelings towards this is that Ukyou realized that Akane was 
*really* sorry and sad about what she did to Ranma, and that she didn't 
want to hurt her any more than she already was. After all, Ukyou may be 
sneaky, but she isn't a <insert demeaning word here>. She does care a 
little bit about how people feel, in my opinion, at least more than 
Kodachi and Shampoo, just to name a few examples. 
    Besides, the mood was completely and utterly destroyed by Akane 
walking in. I think that was particularly realistic. If the mood is 
interrupted, it can be *awfully* hard to regain (not that I'm speaking 
from experience or anything). 

4. Ranma sees Ukyou as a boy. He would never even *think* about doing 
such an act with her. 
    I think the "boy" stigma might still be there a bit for Ranma (after 
all, he did go through his childhood thinking Ukyou was a guy). I think 
it's one of the biggest things that keeps Ranma from dropping Akane 
(besides the fact that he loves her, of course). 
    But when you're in the bedroom, with mood music playing, and you've 
just finished a palyful wrestling match with her, and she's in cute 
pyjamas instead of the normal boys' school uniform, and you're still 
scathed by an emotional wound... it can be pretty hard to remember that 
Ukyou was your boy childhood friend. 

    One protest I do have against the fic, though...the boxer shorts 
thing was a little out htere. Ranma would probably have gotten a clue by 
then. Perhaps you could have Ukyou try a subtler method than just 
grabbing for them? Or something?


   All right, I'm done. Proceed to flame me with abandon!

---
Raphael See