Reply off the list. Or on it, if you believe this will be of help to more
fanfic writers than just myself.

Being a fan of Ranma 1/2 solely on the base of fan-fiction (Curse/Bless you
Lawson-san!) and having neither the resources nor the opportunity nor the
freedom to purchase anime or manga, I must rely on the experience of those
who have. Hence, don't flame me for asking what you believe to be stupid
questions.

I have never seen Ranma fanfiction that captured the precise feeling of
Takahashi's work, and Lawson never even tries.  Takahashi is first and
foremost a humorist, and she's rather unsentimental about her characters.
She often shows the entire crowd as short-sighted fools, and has no
compuction about interrupting tender moments or denying closure.  Lawson's
work, on the other hand, is very sentimental and almost never funny.  It's
fundamentally different stuff, even if he did borrow a few names and
concepts.

I strongly suggest you at least browse through a few issues at a comic book
store, so you'll know where the baseline is.  It may well strike you as a
hilarious parody of the fanfiction.

As for your query -- make up what you like.  Everyone else does.  But if
you really want your version of the village to resemble Takahashi's work,
your tribal laws should be as absurd and pointless as possible, and
designed to cause maximum irritation to the characters.

-- David