Hey, if Richard posted about the Kansas meeting, then I can post
about this.

Well, it was one of those meetings that people run from.  I, the
Protector of Akari and author of Lucky, was going to meet Chris
Willmore, author of Within The Candle-Flame and 2096.  The kind of
meeting where you mop up the blood afterwards.

Problem was, Chris was a nice, charming guy, so it didn't happen
that way.  Sorry, thrill seekers.

I arrived in NYC about 10:20, and walked over to Chris' apartment,
this truly huge tower of power with about 1 million tiny apartments.
I met his parents and brother, who were all very nice, and his 
mother gave me juice!  Apparently, according to Chris, I look a lot
like Erin Mills.  OK.  Sad to say, unlike the Kansas meeting, no 
anime was watched.  Instead, we spent about an hour discussing 
writing, and mantioning list personalities.

We come to my first shock.  Chris let me know that Within the Candle
Flame was preread by our very own high priestess!  AND, she was the
one with the idea to pair Akari and Gos in 2096!!  Here I thought I
had an ally in the Akari wars, and she BETRAYED me!!!

KUNOICHI NO BAAAAKAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

<ahem>  Anyway, the good news is that Chris said he's got an idea 
for a nice fic where Ryouga and Akari live hapily ever after.  After
quizzing him to make sure he really meant it, I was very happy.  So
happy that I'm going to repeat it here, so that he can't avoid it.
He's writing a happy Ryouga/Akari fic.  Got that, prodders?

After a lot more discussion, we set out on a large shopping expedition,
which is what I do when I'm in New York.  I was busy telling Chris
what I think about all the forced Ranma fanfic romances (Nabiki/Kuno,
Kasumi/Tofu, *especially* Ryouga/Ukyou), when he dropped the second
bomb.  Apparently, my Maison Ikkoku snuff-fic, the one that *no one*
was supposed to take seriously, deeply offended one of my favorite
people on the list.  In fact, apparently she couldn't stop being 
enraged for days.  Now I have to go crawling over and apologize, since
she is one of my favorite people.  Note to others:  THIS IS NOT A
CANONICAL MAISON FIC!!  IT WAS A LARK, AN IDEA!  NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN
SERIOUSLY!!

Sorry, but...

Chris has never seen Urusei Yatsura, to my surprise, and I had never 
seen El Hazard, to his, so we raved about those.  Chris got a new
pur-u'bu, so now he has 4, and very nice they look too.  He also got
two El Hazards, and a really silly 101 Dalmatians book.  I picked
up 2 Taiho mangas in Japanese, and an NME.  Hey, priorities.

At an anime store in Greenwich Village, I was disappointed in their
selection, but at least some entertainment was there.  One of the
salespeople was talking to us about the Dirty Pair, and he mentioned
that there are people who write fanfics on the 'net.  I grinned, 
turned to Chris, and said, "Should we tell him?"  The salesguy promptly 
fell over as he met Chris, Wow!  the author of 2096, etc.  He'd never 
heard of me.  Hmmph.  Oh, well, I got two stories in Best of Ranma 1996, 
how many did Chris get?  :-)  Chris was *very* amused by all of this.

Several ideas cooked during the day, including one based on an early
80's TV show that I won't spoil, but Chris was cackling insanely.  A
lot.

BTW, everyone tell Marisa that we found a Sailor Venus doll.  Then 
listen in England's direction for the screams.

All in all, it was a very fun day.  AGTWHBA.  The feud is over, provided
Chris writes that fic...

--Sean Gaffney
--and let's not even *mention* Akari-Skeride and Dark Skeride...