At 01:30 PM 5/7/99 GMT, Gary Kleppe wrote:

Alan Harnum <harnums@thekeep.org> wrote:

    And terribly, most terribly of all, he realized that all of
it was true.  Every image, warped though it might be, was as true
as him.

Then he was shown one of the "Saint Ukyo" universes. Okay, he realized,
*some* of them were less true than others. :-)

Unfortunately not, Gary, though I do recognize that this is simply a joke
on one level.  :)

The assumption of a universe in which "Saint Ukyou" is less true than any
other requires the assumption that the universe of the manga continuity is
the "core" world, and all others are simply reflections to some degree or
another.  As the explicit point of what Ranma is being shown by the
Mirror-Lord is that this is _not_ the case, if Ranma were to be shown a
"Saint Ukyou" universe (which he quite probably was), it would be no less
or more true than the reality of his own.

(Disclaimer:  This is not to apply that the author is in any way supportive
of "Saint Ukyou", whether in the context of the original manga continuity
or otherwise.  He personally thinks that what the fanfic world needs is
less Saint Ukyou and more wild dogs.)

    "Yeah, I see."  He'd asked to wake up, and now he had.  
"Nothin' matters in the end.  Not me, or the world, or you.  But
you know, if nothin' matters in the end, then it doesn't matter
that nothin' matters.  Or somethin' like that.  So we're right
back where we started then, huh?"

I'd like to see more of Ranma's internal struggle. We're just sort of
told that he comes to a certain conclusion here, but we don't really see
much of how he gets there.

I'll check carefully and see... I myself have always found the
self-defeating flaws in the doctrines of pure absurdism and nihilism (both
of which in some forms Ranma is confronted with) to be self-evident, but
perhaps I have simply been too influenced by my choices in reading.  :)

static may be changed, twisted or skewed, by one who commands the
mirrors of space and time.  The gods are mighty, but many of them
are more petty than the pettiest man; even wise Athena cursed
Arachne with the bloated body of the spider for daring to defeat
her in a contest, and the Lord of Olympus bound Prometheus to the 
rock for daring to share fire with mankind.  The Mirror-Lord was
mightier than any of the young gods, and pettier still by far.

This part breaks the POV of the story. Is it really necessary? Could
this all be told some other way -- maybe by having the M-L make some
promise of revenge that Ranma scoffs at?

Not in my opinion.  I've used POV switches like this (Between a fairly
straight Ranma narration and a more wordy, omnipotent "Lovecraftian" tone)
throughout the series so far, and believe they enchance rather than detract
from the story.

All in all, an enjoyable story. Very well written, with a good plot
twist.

Thanks, Gary.  Much obliged for the commentary.

Ciao,
-Alan Harnum