Y'know, the more I listen to Redneck Gaijin, the more I have to wonder
who gave him the right to say what "should be" in a Ranma fic. 

       It seems to me that we already had this little flame-fest a few
months ago. I will say again what I said then. By exploring other ideas in
the creations of Rumiko Takahashi, or any other manga artist for that
matter, WE DO NOT CHANGE THE SOURCE MATERIAL IN _ANY_ WAY.
 
       Mr. Gaijin's comments seem to indicate that every fic has to be in
exact canon with the original series, no matter what. The last time this
debate came up, it resulted in the completely ridiculous [OOC] header on
many fics. This was not a realistic approach to the problem, but it seems
to be what Mr. Gaijin wants. The inherent problem with this strategy of
culling fics is this: What is OOC to one person may not be OOC to another.

      Speaking solely for myself, I found "Bitter End" to be a completely
plausible possibility for Ranma and Akane. Note: I said "possible" not
"probable." As for Ranma fics always having to be funny, let me point out
that not all of us have the gift of comedy. I have never been deliberately
funny in any of my stories. Most of the jokes in TGACFH!!! came about five
seconds before I typed them. But I digress.

       I'm sure Mr. Gaijin's response to this is "If you can't be funny, then
don't write Ranma fics." This just comes back to who gave him the right to
tell ANY of us what we should and should not write. My point simply is
this; As long the originator of the series does not sue us, stop us, or
otherwise object to anything in a fic anyone writes, then no one, and I
mean NO ONE ELSE has the right to tell ANYONE what to write.
       To use a personal example, if I had followed the kind of thinking Mr.
Gaijin is advocating, I would never have written "The Death of Ukyou
Trilogy," "Aftermath," "Warped Reflections," or even "TGACFH!!!" I
probably would have written a bunch of mediocre fics, gotten some
negative C&C, then vanished without a trace. But because I dared to push
the barriers, to break the characters out of the mold Takahashi-sama put
them in, I have found my niche in writing semi-humorous serious stories
or parodies of same and made some rather enduring friendships here on
the FFML.
          In closing, let me remind those of you here on the FFML that fanfic
writing is supposed to be FUN. It's why White Wolf set this list up in the
first place. When it stops being fun, we have to ask ourselves why we're
even bothering writing anymore. And when one person takes it upon
himself to state what should and should not be in a fic, he or she must as
themselves if they aren't taking fanfic writing a tad too seriously.

        That is my two cents worth and all that I will say on the subject.
          Thank you for your kind attention.

                                                   ---Erin L. Mills