At 04:26 PM 8/2/98 PDT, Guy Under The Bridge . wrote:

Oh, must we? What happens to us if we don't, oh pray tell Mr.
Supergenius Guy? Will we be ticketed by the fanfiction police?

No. You risk writing a poor fanfic.

Personally, I try to keep most of my own fics as close to the canon as 

I

can. I prefer to read fics like this, too -- all else being equal. But
that's my choice, and others have a right to differ. To say that anyone
"must" write in a certain way is just ridiculous.

No one says you 'have' to write a certain way. You certainly don't have 
to write a good fanfic if that doesn't please you. As long as the writer 
enjoys his own work, they me others who do too.

What defines a good fanfic?  I judge a fanfic by quality of plot, writing,
and character development.  I rate all these things above whether or not a
story sticks to manga or not.  What I find odd about treating manga of
Ranma or other series as canon is that many if not most fans were attracted
primarily by the anime.  It is the anime and the voice actors who formed
much of our perception of the characters (can you imagine Madoka Ayukawa
without the voice of Hiromi Tsuru?).  Furthermore, there are anime series
such as Record of Lodoss War and Legend of Galactic Heroes which are based
on novels which have not been translated and which better qualify as canon
than most manga.  Should no one write fanfics on these series because they
are unable to read these novels?   

                                                        dml