Well, this ended up being much simpler than I expected -- I think a lot of
us enjoyed the fic so much that we started making up theories far beyond
the level of complexity that the story actually had.  But still, in a lot
of ways it was about what I was expecting, plotwise, though far bloodier
than I would have guessed (you said this was the toned down version.)
Akane's ambivalent assault on Ranma wasn't much of a surprise; Ukyou's
bloody death was.  As throughout all 13 chapters of the fic, the tension
was high and the prose streamlined and effective.  

My only real complaint is Ranma's survival; though the attempt at
rehabiliation fits my liberal sensibilities, I think things might have been
more viscerally satisfying if Mariko had had her way with the shotgun at
the end.

At least this chapter should settle for everyone that Ranma was definitely
the villain of IMBS, rather than a sort of anti-hero; any other contention
is almost as silly as the idea that this Ranma ever had any real control
over himself at all.  

I am thoroughly impressed with the finale.  It's a fitting conclusion to
this masterful series, which leaves no doubt that IMBS deserves to become
one of the classics of fanfiction.  I'm not sure that I'm looking forward
to the epilogues, though.

Thomas Schmidt
Tmschm@mail.wm.edu
http://nabiki.newberry.edu/job/