On Mon, 6 Apr 1998, Matthew Campbell wrote:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Just when I think I've got it figured out, just when I think I _know_ 
for a fact that Ranma is bad to the bone.... you throw this at me.

A perfectly reasonable alternate explanation for what happened.  Maybe 
he didn't kill Nabiki after all.  Maybe he tried to save her.  Maybe.  
Or maybe not.  Is Ranma a psycho killer or not?  After chapter nine it 
seemed certain that be was, and I was a bit disappointed that some of 
the suspense had gone out of the story.

After Chapter Five, many people wrote to say how disappointed they were
that Ranma had revealed his true colors.

Hee hee. ^_-

Boy did you sucker me.

The authors are brilliant. Brilliant I say.  There are other good 
writers on the FFMl who can match you for writing talent, but I don't 
think _anybody_ can match your expertise in plotting a thriller.  In 

Yup. And we are modest, too. ^_^

It really is meant to be a thriller more than a darkfic. It certainly does
have many dark elements, but the point of the fic is to create suspence.

fact, I want to offer a suggestion.  A 100% serious suggestion.

There's nothing in this that makes it absolutely necessary it be a Ranma 
 story.  Ranma's curse hasn't been at all that integral to the plot.  In 

Actually, we keep forgetting that Ranma is cursed. Have Mike tell you
about the time he wrote the furo scene with a female Ranma sitting in a
tub of steaming water. ^_^

fact Xian Pu's curse has been the only really vital Ranma element, but I 
bet you could work around that.

So here's my suggestion.  Take this story and remove all the Ranma 
elements.  Redesign the characters as needed.  Expand it out to novel 
length.  Detailing all the new characters that you described here with a 
name should take care of that.  Then send it off to a publisher.  
Really.

Well... probably not. The legal ground would be shaky; but, more than
that, I would not really feel right profiting off of what are in my mind
Takahashi's characters.

Although we might cowrite an original book for publication at a later
date. ^_^

"Ill met by Starlight" is better than a lot of what I see being 
commericially published.  I wouldn't suggest this for any other story, 

I agree... Of course, I think that a lot of the stuff on the FFML is
better that what is commericially published.

but like I said, I think IMBS could stand on it's own without a single 
Ranma element.  I think 'old friend of the family arrives with his son' 
is generic enough that nobody can really complain, and beyond that 
you've made the story largely your own.  I know you've both already put 
a lot of work into this.  Think about it.

Anyway, back to the story. I can see this ending two ways.  One, Ranma 
dies, but does so in a heroic enough fashion that Mariko and Co. have to 
admit they're wrong about him.  Two, he almost dies, but is still 
convincing enough so that Mariko calls off the blood debt and Xian Pu 
finds a loophole in the law.

Actually, we had three possible endings in mind. We eliminated one, and
have mostly decided on one of the remaining two.

I don't really think this will end with Ranma being revealed as a total 
psycho killer.  It would just be.... disappointing somehow.

^_^ Many people say the exact opposite.

But then, I've been wrong before......

-- 

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

- Susan Doenime
Brisbane, U of Q
"I hit the streets / They watched me in the monitor..."