i got two questions that were essentially the
same, hence my CCing this to the ML. sorry if
it's spam. (hmmm. existential spam? double
hmmm...)

Dear Gregg Sharp,

Read your story, Source of Pride. Thought it

was cool. I'm curious, at

the end of the story you said:

thanks. i really appreciate the feedback.
could you tell i was aiming for "snowballing
insanity"?

 something i was curious about regarding

love

potions and stories about such.
      i can't recall reading any that deal
with the likely aftereffects of a

nonabusive

use of such. As an example, Kodachi gets

her

hands on one and attempts to snare her
Ranma-sama. Ranma and Kasumi are affected,
both trying hard to please the other and
modifying their normal behavior as a

result

of being caught up in that rosy glow of
mutual admiration and affection. Akane and
the others eventually find the cure,
administer it, and everything returns to
normal. Except of course, they have

memories

of that giddy happiness, that contentment

of

pleasing the one you love, of all the

little

highs and lows that come with being deeply

in

love with someone who appreciates you.

Could you tell me what episode, manga, or

fanfic you saw/read that from?

Thanks.

Thomas Wu

      none, as far as i know. i'm curious if
anyone's tried something like this. one of
those ideas that i keep coming back to.
              i think Lurker-sempai (or is it
Lawson-san?) is doing an "abusive love potion
and the consequences thereof" - though i
think it'd be a better story if Kodachi had
done the deed as opposed to Shampoo. (ie: she
immediately gets her brother what HE wants
(Akane) and compromises a rival from
traditional Japanese views) Whereas an
Amazon's views on virginity and keeping pure
for a marriage may well diverge *greatly*. It
would add some humor to a dark subject to
have Shampoo absolutely not get why anyone
would think it would disqualify Akane as a
potential wife. but that's just an
off-the-wall opinion.
             The idea i had with this is:
                 a) mutual. Or if not, A is
in love with B through the potion, but B is
nice and kind and not taking advantage of A's
relative helplessness. If set pre-Akari,
maybe Nabiki as A and Ryouga as B. No obvious
jealous rages either, so that lets out Ranma
+ Anyone that Akane would clobber.
                 b) no convenient
forgetfulness. A (and/or B) *remember* how
kind and nice, etc, the other was. They
remember the rosy haze and how nice the whole
experience was despite the lack of control,
etc. Likely they either lash out to drive
those feelings away, or (more interesting)
they want to feel that way again...
                c) consequence. In the canon,
damn little has consequence. That's a
cornerstone of slapstick. Since one of the
things going here *is* consequence, it isn't
gonna be close to canon. A has certainly been
changed, but B is likely to view A in a
different light as well. If B took advantage
of A (either financially, physically, or
otherwise), then we have a darker set of
events. This is why i was suggesting Kasumi
initially as the B, though that depends on
your interpretation of Kasumi (ie nice,
religious, spiritual, brain-dead, or
drugged.)
               d) not too gross. It is
*possible* to write where Ranma-chan was A
and (Soun, Happosai, or other male cast
member) was B. Coming out of the effect would
just set up Ranma-chan for a number of gags
dealing with gallons of mouthwash or joining
a monastery.

(Hmmm. if *Ranma-chan* were raped in the dark
consequences storyline by someone like Kuno,
would that make HIM unworthy of marrying
Akane? Soun can be pretty traditional at
times.)

oh well, spent enough time with this idea.
maybe someone else has written it?

gregg