(This is a RAAC award, but I'll post it here anyways.)

Well, after 4 years of uninterrupted rest, the Ranma Fanfiction Awards lives 
on, even with that nasty tass.org shutdown.  (TASS is a fanclub, am I not 
correct?)

Since I'm commenting on these, there will be spoilers.  Please, if you have 
not read them, please do.  You can find these stories at the tass.org archive 
at http://www.tass.org/fanfic/.

Let's go!

Continuing Series:
First Place:
Title: The Long and Winding Road, Part 2 - Rocky Roads
Author: Zen (James Bateman)

Now, everybody says Zen is slow but extremely thoughtful.  I would be one 
of those people.  Fanfics like "The Bitter End" prove this.  The Long and
Winding Road is a fic which shows Ranma choosing Ukyou instead of Akane, 
because of the bitter words Akane had shouted at him out of rage.  They
will become wanderers to avoid everyone else.  But they have to go resolve
everything first...

The good:
Ukyou's guess at Ryouga's curse.  Of course, the scene that induced the 
whole thing helped.  (Ryouga's not _that_ conscious of his curse, is he?
Boy is he dense)

The bad:
Ranma losing his honour.  Even if it was necessary.  Ranma is the most
honourable guy in the series, and the way he drops everything seems 
dishonourable and selfish.

The ugly:
Kuonji-sama laughing at Ranma's curse.  It's not something you'd like 
to live with, ya know.  I'd love to grab a bucket of Nyannichuan and 
splash it on Kuonji-sama.


Second Place:
Title: Clothes Make the... Part 7
Authors: Nicholas Leifker, Ichinohei Hitomi, Katrina Halbred

Nicholas and Hitomi hit it off again (along with Katrina Halbred) in another
episode of Clothes, in which Ranma explores what it's like to be a true 
female.  This time, we get to see respective characters introspect and
character relationships develop.

The good:
The way we get to "see into relationships" and find out about the minds of 
the various characters in Ranma.  For example, the first scene is Kasumi and
Tofu's relationship deepening because of the understanding between the two
characters.  Cologne's introspection scene is also wonderfully displayed, as
we see a different side of Cologne - Cologne the elder, worrying about her
people.

The bad:
Lack of action.  Maybe this is just my opinion, but Ranma's reactivity instead
of proactivity made this less action-packed.  It's as if Ranma was relegated
to the middle instead of the front.  But the whole thing was still enough to
make me vote second place for it. <shrug>

The ugly:
The irony of the statement "Ranma tended to be a different person in hot 
water." :)  Oh, and "You want to play with water?  Then so will I."


Third Place:
Title: Daigakusei no Ukyou Part 5: Weekend at Lardy-Chan's!
Authors: Paul Gallegos, David Tai, Jeff Hosmer, John Walter Biles
Guest Author: Terry Johnston

Our College Boy quatro rolls out another fresh fanfic, Daigakusei no Ukyou 
Part 5!  This time Ukyou, Makiko and Megami visit Lardizabal's family 
reunion.

The good:
The whole scene in the bathroom.  Ukyou and Makiko "mock kiss" to show Megami
how it's done, but Lardizabal stumbles in and gets jealous :)  Wing-chun's 
constant hounding of Ukyou.

The bad:
Like Clothes 7, the lack of a lot of activity.  This however is after DnU
4, where Ukyou did have a lot of things going through her.  I'll let it go.
 And besides, DnR 25 makes up for all of that.

The ugly:
Megami's gonna be older than her mother :)  That made the kiss scene even
more awkward.

Oh, and a complaint:
How are the songs sung to?  Is there even supposed to be a tune?

Well, until next time!



----------------------
Jonathan Ng
jonathan@worldy.com

"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!  Rage, blow!"  King Lear, III, ii, 1

"I am a man more sinned against than sinning." King Lear, III, ii, 62-63