Nick Leifker <nightelf@thekeep.org> wrote:

To quote from earlier:

Wow, *two* fics Gubbed in the same subject header. There's something you
don't see very often.

I asked you a question, and you make an unfair comparison.  Or could it
be that you took some misunderstanding from my title?  

It seems that I did. Apologies for jumping to the wrong conclusion and
for the remark.

That's interesting -- because I can think of several other stories that
don't show Ukyo's compassionate side. For starters, her origin story in
the Ranma 1/2 manga. Now, if you're accusing Takahashi-megamisama of
bashing or hating her characters, I'm afraid I can't take you very
seriously.

Hmmm.  Literal interpretation of the manga, eh?

Okay.  How often does Akane hit Ranma, with intent to hurt?  By that
right, we have a man-beater.  We literally have Bitter End breathing
down our necks.  Of course, the Akane fans got all over Zen for that...

BE is a can of worms that I would *really* rather not re-open... let's
just say that one of us is missing the other's point here -- I'm not
sure which. Maybe both.

There are manga stories that don't show Ukyo's compassionate side --
whether your interpretation is literal, non-literal, or surrealist --
while there are others that *do.* The same is true for many of the other
characters; the Reversal Jewel story, for example, pretty much shows
Ranma as nothing but a total jerk, whereas other stories show his good
points.

Now, are these stories bashing the characters? I don't think so. It's
the *circumstances* that determine their actions and make them act one
way in one story and another in another. Not EVERY story is going to
show the good side of any given character -- and I don't see why it
should have to, at least when we're talking about a 9 kb two-hour short.

You can say whatever you like about my characterizations, Nick, as long
as you respect my right to disagree. But questioning my personal
feelings about the characters is, IMO, out of line. I can only imagine
how you'd react if someone were to do it to you.

Perhaps, Gary.  However, that doesn't change the fact that, as written,
it looks like character bashing.

To some. Others differ, as they've said.

 I'm not the first to see it; I doubt
that I'll be the last.  

And that's fine. If you want to take it that way, that's up to you. But
the *intent* of the story is not bashing.

Now, if you want to fix some things so that it *doesn't*... that's
fine.  But, until then, what I've said stands. 

I'm willing to entertain changes, but I need to hear concrete,
constructive suggestions as to how to do so.


Gary Kleppe
http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics