Not looking forward exactly, but they did it anyway.  I would call it a 
bad thing to do.  They might have felt they had no choice, but it 

wasn't 

exactly the noblest of decisions.  Lies don't lead to 
solutions. (personal philosophy)

Not proof.  I just don't think true friendship is possible with that 
level of deception (my opinion).  She didn't tell Ryouga the truth, so 
obviously she didn't trust him and didn't think very much of him.

Besides, he loves her.  Ranma has to have told Akane that Ryouga loves 
her.  How could she have let him go on in that kind of pain for so long 
and call herself a friend?  A real friend would talk to him openly, 

even 

if it meant risking blowing her cover.

Ummmm....Not if she does know about P-chan.  For that entire time, 
Ryouga has been using his deception to a) play Peeping Tom, and b) 
fondle her.  While I'll try to keep clear of character debate, I will 
say that, from the discussions I've had with various female friends, 
most women would regard that as a greater offense than concealing a 
romance.  Maybe if Ryouga were to come clean, she would feel better 
about telling him the truth, too.



 

Ummm, illogical that he would do what?  As for crashing the wedding.... 
Did you see the movie that came out a while ago, "My Best Friend's 
Wedding"?  The character, "Jewel" does a lot worse than Ukyou ever 
dreamed of, when it comes to breaking up a wedding.  Yet, in the 
end her friend forgives her....  after they'd cleared the air.  Let's 
not argue the pros or cons of crashing the wedding.  That's wandering 
off the story topic.  All I'm going to say is that Ranma and Akane are 
responsible (in this fic) for perpetuating the situation that leads to 
the incident.

Actually, the situation was created by Soun and Genma.  In order to 
avoid being rushed into the marriage, R&A agreed to pretend to keep 
fighting, while actually just getting to know one another.  At the time, 
this was a not-unreasonable solution, given the fathers' obsessive 
prodding.  Remember that when each of the subordinate suitors showed up, 
their primary prupose was the death of either Ranma or Akane.  Yes, they 
could be called friends *now*, but that took time.  Until that occured, 
they had to be assumed to be threats. 

In the real series, it's forgivable that Ranma never has a serious talk 
with Ukyou about their whole fiancee status.  He can't bring himself to 
admit in his own mind, so how could he ever tell someone else?  Here he 
knows he loves Akane and is deliberately stringing Ukyou along, just 
because he doesn't want to blow his "mask".  That's just very... 
non-heroic.

Trust me on this one.  Once you've sent up a system of lies, the damn 
things keep growing.  And it can be very hard to get out of them.

He's had a year already.  Ranma owes Ukyou more than an explanation.  

He 

owes her an apology.  The debt he's built up is bigger than a broken 
wedding ceremony, it's a broken heart.

R&A aren't upset about the "broken" wedding ceremony--Remember, the 
whole idea was to put off a wedding until they were ready.  The problem 
was the way she and Shampoo went about it.


 

No, remember this is lie-telling Ranma, not regular Ranma.  It's his 
fault alone.  The reason Ukyou doesn't get it is because Ranma has been 
actively trying to make sure she doesn't "get it".  He stages fights 
with Akane specifically to make it appear he isn't serious about Akane! 
Can you really blame Ukyou for holding out hope?

Remember that R&A have been trying to keep the truth away from Genma and 
Soun, and to a lesser extent, Nabiki (who would happily sell the info to 
the first two).  There's an old saying that goes, "Three can keep a 
secret, if two are dead."  If any of the other suitors were told the 
truth, it could blow that cover.  Remember, G&S have a history of taking 
"hope" from even the most absurd of "clues".  If the suitors all gave up 
suddenly, do you really think that those two would wait another thirty 
seconds before plotting another wedding?

Who?  No one is going to enjoy the end results of this.  I'll find the 
fic pretty unbelieveable if _any_ of these people are ever willing to 
talk civilly to Ranma or Akane again.  This level of deception is just 
unforgiveable.  I know if someone pulled something like this on me, I 
would never ever trust them again for any reason.

Even Mousse isn't going to be pleased.  You see, it turns out Ranma 
_has_ been stringing Shampoo along, just like Mousse always claimed!

This one I'll give you, to an extent.  Some of the characters are NOT 
going to react well, and at least a few might very well never speak to 
the couple again.

Let's lay this out piece by piece.  Akane and Ranma are putting up an
illusion that they do not love or particularly like each other.  This 

is

a choice on their part, done with conscious intent.  Shampoo falls 

for

this charade, hook, line and sinker.

Again, Shampoo wasn't the intended target.  Rather, she observed the 
masquerade that the two were putting on for the fathers' sake.

Yes, but Shampoo _believes_ that is what Ranma wants.  What's more, 
Akane helped foster that belief.

The author hasn't argued that R&A are totally without blame.  In fact, I 
think they may come to realize that they took the charade too far, for 
too long.  That was an error, not an evil.





Of course they do.  I just think you're failing to realize that it is 
inherently difficult to break out of a web like this.  R&A are 
teenagers, 16 when they first came up with this plan.  Cut them a little 
slack.

Sure they would have been taking a chance if they had been open, but 

Taking a chance!?  I wonder if you would be so blase about it if it were 
your life.  Ryouga and Shampoo talk, not just about payback or revenge, 
but about *killing*.  Ryouga tried to use the Breaking Point on Ranma 
when he believed it was effective on people.  That would have been a 
*lethal* attack.  Shampoo comes from a culture where killing an 
"obstacle" is a legal requirement.  I'm not sure I would want to deal 
totally openly with either one of them.

that openness would have benefited everyone.  Their selfish deceit 
benefitted only themselves.  Instead of being the man and boldly 

telling 

people they couldn't run his life, Ranma chose to feed their delusions. 
You shouldn't feed the delusions of others if you aren't prepared to 
live with those delusions.

That was pretty clear cut to me as a human being.  I don't care what 
happens to the earth if humanity can't benefit from it.  Or to put it 
another way,
"Earth first!  We can get around to strip-mining the other planets 
later."

Likewise, Akane and Ranma are concerned about *their* well-being.  While 
they don't wish harm on the others, in many cases, those "others" cause 
their own problems, largely with self-deception.  I will concede that 
certain incidents are going to require exceptional explanation, however, 
most notably the "Reversal Jewel" arc.  (Actually, I can think of the 
overall reasoning behind it, but not the reason that Ranma chose the 
exact course that he did.)

I'm also not sure where you get this "run their lives" stuff.  The 

other 

charcters are trying to run their own lives.  They just want (Ranma 
mostly) to be a part of their lives.  Until they recieve a clear and 
unambiguous "no", (such as Tatewaki and Kodachi have), they have a 
perfect right to keep trying.

If it weren't for the Reversal Jewel arc, I would argue that Shampoo has 
received that "No".

Remember, Ranma and Akane have conspired together to make it seem that 
Ranma is still available.  Why shouldn't the others try and court 
him?  (now you can argue that their methods are completely wrong and I 
won't disagree with you.)

Remember, unlike the regular series, Ranma and Akane have deliberately 
left the door open for Ukyou and Shampoo to pursue Ranma.

Very true.  I get the feeling that they've decided that the deception 
has gone on long enough.  However, they still have to figure out how to 
inform everyone without triggering a bloodbath.

See I don't know.  It just seems like there's a web of deception and 
trickery around.  Seems like a shame not to have someone out to 

discover 

the TRUTH.

Heh.  Personally, I think Nabiki is going to be the biggest threat to 
these two, once the secret comes out--Her "professional pride" is going 
to be seriously wounded.

The original premise of this fic was that "martial artists aren't 

stupid

people".  It's an interesting idea, but why is it only being applied 

to

Ranma and Akane?

[We're only at the second chapter for crying out loud! Maybe we're 

not

there yet.]

How many chapters do you think there are going to be?  Anyway, unless 
the authors are planning one mother of a surprise, I would think we 
would have see some sign of it by now.  It's been two very _long_ 
chapters and a long prologue.

Actually, the author has dropped some very dark hints about "other 
secrets" that may be lying around, that Akane and Ranma have no clue 
about.

Like I said, it's been two really long chapters.  If we haven't seen it 
by now, I'm beginning to doubt we will.

Three words:  Usagi Is Dead

 

Thanks.  Always a pleasure talking with you, even when we don't see 
eye-to-eye on everything.

I have enjoyed this examination of the story.  Thoughtful analysis is 
always pleasure to read (even if, as you say, people don't always 
agree).

-- 

Matthew Campbell 
E-mail me at mgcampb@clemson.edu

--Freemage

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