Hey.  Been lurking for a bit, and had a question.  If this is not 
something that should be posted here, tell me and I'll shut up and go 
away.

Anyhow, as you all know, Takahashi left a huge mess over in the 
Ranmaverse when she left.  Nothing really resolved, big chunks of 
unrequited love flopping about like dying carp.  Not pretty.

However, she did leave tools laying about to fix the mess, given time 
and care.  Tools in the form of new characters who serve to begin the 
drift away from Ranma and Akane.  Akari.  Konatsu.

A new factor in the Ranma-Ukyou portion of the fiancee tangle, Konatsu 
appears to be something to soften the blow when Ranma eventually finds 
the guts for his eventual admission to Akane and rejection of his other 
fiancees.  Konatsu is in love with Ukyou, certainly.  True, he needs to 
deal with his gender-identity problem, but no one in the Ranma cast is 
without a major problem equally problematic.  But still, perhaps, in 
time Ukyou can love Konatsu in return.  Certainly not now, perhaps not 
even soon, but some day.

However, this is not happening.

I have spent a good amount of time reading Ranma fanfics, many of these 
continuations of the manga.  A suprising number of these make no mention 
of Konatsu at all.  These either leave Ukyou with only sorrow and death 
as her life's companions or place her with Ryouga, a questionable choice 
(although it certainly can be done well).  Others, those where Konatsu 
is taken into consideration, follow similar paths.  Ukyou is consumed 
with sorrow and Konatsu marries some nameless woman.  Ukyou crushes 
Konatsu with a vehement rejection and he disappears.  Konatsu dies and 
Ukyou realizes what she had too late.  Ukyou's grief pushes Konatsu to 
become someone else, either Ranma or Ukyou herself.

In fact, the best treatment Konatsu has gotten in fanfic appears to be 
in 'Waters Under Earth,' and there he's been kidnapped and abused by 
psychotic kunoichi and had an ancient evil grafted onto his soul.  At 
least his relationship with Ukyou is improving.

So, the point this rambling leads to is...

Why?

Why can't Konatsu catch a break?  Is it simply that no one save myself 
likes him?  Since I freely admit to having no taste, am I missing 
certain aesthetic reasons for avoiding budding Ukyou-Konatsu romance?  
Is it just that Ukyou is easier to write about as someone stuck to 
perpetual misery, rather than a vital Ukyou who rediscovers her heart?  
Or do examples of this type of story exist, and I've simply been to 
foolish to locate them, though not for lack of trying.

Answers?

Is this a valid and interesting point, or am I just being a fool 
(again)?

Chris Nichols

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