In article  "Ashita, He Who Stays Crunchy in Milk!" <ashita@rocketmail.com> writes:

From: RTeker@aol.com
I've had it up to here on the fics were people put the Tendo bathroom on
the second floor when in the video's it is QUITE CLEAR the its in the first
floor.  for proof watch the video "Cat-Fu Fighting" and it'll show that 
its on the first floor.

Oh, jeez.  The bathroom NOT on the FIRST floor!
RED ALERT!  WE HAVE A CRISIS HERE!
SOMEBODY CALL THE JGSDF!  THEY'LL WANT TO KNOW THIS!
Oh, puh-leeze.  I think the term "artistic liscence" could be used to
cover the bathroom's locale.

I'm calling Fanfic Mailing List "Fouls" on both of you.

While the initial post might have been a little forward and exasperated, it 
addresses a legitimate continuity point in Ranma fanfics.  Which is, tying 
into "facts" as presented by Takahashi in the source material.  I would say 
that RTeker might have been more effective in writing the authors directly, 
but he was obviously going for a widespread audience of writers.  The next 
time RTeker posts something like this, I would suggest taking a less emotional 
tack, just pointing out that this misinterpretation exists and is widespread.

While some would say "who cares" about such a minor point; others would say 
why claim to be consistent with the original source material if it is not.  If 
all it takes is ten seconds (on this matter I only would need to look at the 
first issue of the manga to see a page with Ranma coming down the stairs 
before entering the bath) to ensure continuity, why not ensure it.

Fanfic writing is not a race.  It is not quantity but quality that writers 
usually strive for (ah, but only if we could ensure both...).

As to why continuity, I could just as easily write a story in which Ryoga 
falls into the spring of drowned slug (of which variants using other pools 
have already been done), but if I claimed that it was consistent with the 
anime or manga run, that would obviously be wrong.  Simply by saying it 
is a Ranma (or whatever) fanfic, and unless specified otherwise, brings the 
automatic assumption that it is entirely consistent with the source material 
(though what version may be uncertain, manga vs. anime, etc.) and even then, 
most physical objects are assumed to be exactly the same, since most alternate 
universes deal with a change in events, not locations.

Artistic liscence is not an excuse for lack of research.  It lets us fill in 
the backgrounds in such a way that does not contradict the source material 
(obviously for alternate universe stories it doesn't count as much).  Artistic 
liscence would let me put a toilet on the second floor of Maison Ikkoku (since 
there are none in the rooms and its never been defined where the toilet is, 
as far as I know).  It does not let me put a bath anywhere, since Maison 
Ikkoku has already been shown not to have a bath through several stories.  If 
I was to write a story with Yusaku showering before a date with Kozue, I'd 
undoubtably get e-mail asking me where the shower came from, since its already 
been established that he takes his baths at the local bath house (Kentaro, 
too, I believe).

As to Ashita's sarcastic reply, the less said the better, (on my part) 
probably.  But here's my suggestion.  Before you hit the "send" key, cool down 
by reading the rest of the posts on the mailing list.  If you still insist on 
sending it, decide whether or not it actually contributes anything new to the 
discussion if its to be posted to the list.  If it doesn't, send it as 
private-email.

JK