Okay, I wanted to clearly explain the reason why I wrote "Thy Outward
Part".  I said it was a reactionary fanfic.  Let me explain what I was
reacting to.

There have been an awful lot of fanfics where Ranma, as a woman, does
some awfully OOC things.  From acting feminine to having sex with Ryoga
(or the male version of Ranma), a *lot* of stories have Ranma acting
like a woman for no reason.  There are exceptions - at least "Nullifier"
gave Ranma-chan a reason for abandoning her masculinity - but for the
most part, female Ranma is made to act so OOC it makes my teeth hurt. 
Even the Doco music videos which show female Ranma wearing a dress make
me wince.

After seeing just one too many stories with that theme, I decided to
write a fanfic in that same vein.  The point I was trying to make was
that Ranma acting at all feminine is something that would happen under
only the most *extraordinary* circumstances, and even then with only
*extreme* difficulty.

The funny thing was, even then, it was considered OOC for Ranma to kiss
Kentaro.  Kun-chan, Sebastian, et. al. were actually arguing on my
behalf when they pointed this out.

So, the lesson I hope aspiring fanfic writers can take from this is that
Ranma acting as a woman is something that just should not happen.  The
only exception might be if he's trying to get some short-term goal (like
getting a wish from Kuno), and even then, he'll act cutesy and stupid
rather then genuinely feminine.

Now, that being said, "Thy Outward Part" obviously isn't supposed to be
an all-encompassing or necessarily realistic look at what would happen
to Ranma if he became female full time.  I wrote it the way I did to
generate discussion and to bring this point of OOC out into the open. 
The reaction was much greater than I expected - I got over 50 responses
to this story (not including the poll I'm conducting), by far the most
I've ever gotten on a single piece of work.  It goes to show that I'm
not the only one who feels this way about Ranma.

Anyway, thanks for allowing me to indulge myself.  I apologize for
playing the devil's advocate here, debating points on which I actually
agreed in principle with the poster.  I still think it's possible that
Ranma would react the way she did in my story - maybe not probable, but
possible.  :)

I've actually begun writing a sequel to this story, trying to explore in
greater detail the issues raised in these debates.  I don't know if I'll
finish it, or post it, but I've gotten a lot of food for thought, and
it's sparked the fires in my brain, and those fires has spread down my
arms into my fingers, causing them to type furiously, almost against my
will.  :)  I'll let you know.

Thanks again for the debates.  I've truly enjoyed them, and appreciate
the time you all have taken in responding.

Oh, and I'll post the results of the poll after AWA.  I've gotten *lots*
of interesting comments.


-Richard Lawson
who also agrees with Zen about Trish-bashing