Still I find it hard to bring myself to say that I like this fic as a
Ranma fanfic. This goes completly against the Ranma style that I like, and
even though I like some of the serious (or dark fic's as you call them)

Hmmm... Dark fics are the same as serious fics? I think a fic can be 
serious without being dark. 

I
find it hard to like this as a Ranma fic.

I'm not going to argue with matters of taste. I will, however, put my 
two cents worth in. 

It would seem that, because of certain comments that Takahashi made, 
fanfic authors have been locked into a "Ranma and Akane Forever" 
mindset. You don't have to look at the fanfic archives for very long 
to see what I mean. Well, this is fine, up to a point. It has, 
however, gone on to the point of tedium now. Most every story that 
purports to be a serious continuation to the original series has this 
slant.

It is refreshing to see stories that underline the fact that this 
pairing might not be the best. And while I tend not to be 
particularly partial to darkfics, this one is significant because of 
this. After reading the manga, I was left with the distinct 
impression that if Ranma and Akane were to be married, the results 
might not be entirely happy. (In fact, I remember making a crack 
along the lines of, "Which will end up doing Ranma in, the hammer or 
the cooking?")

I will grant that, as well crafted as this story is, it isn't exactly 
a pleasant read. It is, however, a whack upside the head for a fanfic 
community that badly needs it. Zen may accuse himself of a "Pro-Ukyou 
bias" (which I share, I must admit), but in reality, he's just doing 
what fanfic authors should be doing - exploring areas that the author 
of the original series can't or won't.

Well, this has turned into a bit of a rant. Gomen. But, the way I see 
it, Ranma fanfiction isn't drying up, it's just stuck in a rut. Let's 
do something about that.

BTW, what meaning of the word 'slight' was intended in the subject 
line?

Something else I was wondering about. My mailer was giving trouble 
with the original Bitter End post. It displayed the entire MIME 
message, instead of a list of attachments. So, is Zen's mailer broken 
or is mine? (I haven't had any trouble with any other MIME multipart 
messages.)

- Sean Connor (connor@meena.cc.uregina.ca)

        "It jams." - Intel TV ad, referring to the Pentium chip.