On 17 Jun 97 at 1:57, Joseph Palmer wrote:

C&C: Last 2% of story.

I must admit that I was pretty tired when I first read this, so I was
skimming the drunken bedspin paragraphs at the end, waiting for Akane
to show up.
I'm guessing that others might have done the same since there seems to be
some confusion as to what really happened. I, at least, missed the
important clues. You may want to remove some of the distractions leading up
to the
"event".

First, I think you should label this fic "Dark" based on the last few
paragraphs. After all, here we have a rape of the title character of an

I disagree.  There's a difference between 'serious' and 'dark'.  
IMHO, this story qualifies as serious, but not dark.  (at least so 
far.)

otherwise upbeat series. Nerima is hardly a post-apocaliptic place where
that sort of thing happens.

You don't need a post-apocalyptic place for rape to take place.  I 
grew up in a sleepy little farming town in northern Saskatchewan.  If 
you asked them, people might say something like, "Rape? Naw, that 
doesn't happen here - it only happens in the big cities."  But, 
almost inevitably, it _did_ happen.  After the initial shock wore 
off, people started to believe that it _could_ in fact happen there, 
or in fact anywhere.

As for R1/2 being upbeat, well it is and it isn't.  It may be funny 
for the reader, but if that reader were to suddenly become one of the 
characters, I doubt he'd be laughing so hard.  

(In fact, if you so much as steal a bicyle
in Nerima and are caught, -As most criminals are in Japan- it goes on your
record, and you cannot get a good job with a good company, perhaps ever.
Your life is ruined. Now, I wonder what happens to rapists?)

Hmmm.... To quote yourself:

Maybe it's just me but I like to keep Nerima as a place apart from
the real world.

It's easier to fight for your ideals than to live up to them, isn't 
it? :)

Second, If what I read is really the way this is heading...

....I'm afraid I'll have to be getting off here.

I really liked the first 98% of this. A lot. You were getting into some
really good stuff with Ranma and his sexual identity, I really liked
the minor characters, but I just don't like to read Ranma 1/2 fanfics
where characters are killed or raped, or kill or rape.

Maybe it's just me but I like to keep Nerima as a place apart from
the real world.

(Hmmm... I assume we're talking about the Ranmaverse version of 
Nerima here, and not the RL version.)

So tell me, where in the real world can we find people who change 
gender or species with a splash of water?  Where in the RW can we 
find such an odd assortment of martial arts styles?  Is the RW 
version of China really home to such curiosities as Jyusenkyou and 
the Amazon Villiage?

The point of all these questions is that Nerima (along with the rest 
of the Ranmaverse) _is_ a place apart from the real world, and the 
presence of such things as murder and rape doesn't change that.

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

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