At 18:54 2/26/1998 +0100, Sebastian Weinberg wrote:

Mina-san, Ohayou!

In message <3.0.2.32.19980219225347.00841100@unix.tamu.edu>
   Nicholas Leifker wrote:

: 	He should have realised something was wrong and taken steps to correct it.
:  If he had known of Akane's leanings and feelings earlier, he would have
: instituted the appropriate measures to insure that she would like men.

Yeah, sure!  There's a miracle cure now: Sapph-away(TM)!  Just add
it to the daily diet of your young sexual deviant and within days
she will be transformed to a happy, well-adjusted heterosexual! 
And if you believe that, I've got this bridge for sale...  :)

There actually is a "cure" in the Ranma 1/2 setting.  If Soun dunked Akane
in the Spring of Drowned Boy, made it permanent with the magic bucket whose
name I can't spell, and hoped that Akane-kun still only wanted female
partners afterwards, it just might work.  Of course, this exponentially
increases the odds of 1. Akane being involved in a teenage pregnancy and 2.
Soun being turned into a panda.

BTW, I notice that this text is written with "Smartquotes". 
These are not part of the ISO-8859-1 character set (Latin 1) and
most certainly not of ASCII.  Please avoid them, for the sake of
legibility.


: An Alternate History of Ranma 1/2:
: 
: Chapter Seven:
: 
: What troubles me about...

: By Ichinohei Hitomi


: 	Both girls were left wondering what to do, and since Akane did not want to
: go jogging that morning, they left for the breakfast table where things got
: progressively worse.  There Genma had refused to even look at Ranma, or
: acknowledge her existence.  To everyone in the family, it was painfully
: obvious that he was at the point of denying her very existence.

The last two sentences are phrased somewhat redundantly.  Also,
both make the same point: If he doesn't acknowledge her existence
he is denying it.  I'd suggest making the first "existence"
something like "presence", which would make the second sentence a
further explanation, instead of a restatement.

Agreed.  It's really awkward here.

: 	Kasumi sighed.  "No.  I know most of what has been going on, and being
: 'oblivious' allowed me to deal with the situations and defuse any bad
: feelings that may have resulted.  I think father knows, but if he does,
: he's never mentioned it.  In case you're wondering, I know that what you've
: been doing has been the only way we've been surviving.  I'm not saying that
: you should give it up, but perhaps you should start looking for something a
: bit more honourable to do."

Whoah!  You're gallopping with the characterization.  "Hey, look,
everybody!  In reality I'm not oblivious, and incidentally,
Nabiki, how about reforming, too?"  I can certainly understand
that the current situation at the Tendou home would bring forth
lots of development for the characters and reveal heretofore
hidden sides to them, but you're going a little fast here.

It's not criminally OOC, but I thought I'd warn you.  :)

I didn't think the characterization was too rapid, but that's just me.

: "There is no choice.
:  I must speak to Soun and we must come up with a plan to return my son's
: manhood, or give up any hope of truly joining our families.  I will either
: have a son, or I will not have a child."

Hmm.  See above.

: 	Genma suddenly snorted, "Both are to blame.  As of this moment, I no
: longer have a son, and I cannot accept that.  With your permission, I would
: like to search for a possible cure, but it may be a couple of months before
: I can return."
: 	Soun relaxed, the situation had not caused a breach in their friendship,
: "I will come with you.  It is almost time for me to make my annual journey
: around the country and check in on the towns that have requested my help.
: We could combine our purposes and look into every possibility instead of
: only a few and it will be less lonely that way."

Hoo hah!  Can you say "Plot Necessity"?  :)

Plot Necessity.

: "Shall it be like it was when we were younger and training under the Master?"
: 	Soun grinned in return.  "Except for some aspects, I think that would be
: enjoyable.

Yeah, this time Genma has to take the passive position.  :)

Ewwwww!