At 01:37 AM 10/7/1999 -0600, David Johnston wrote:

Aw man, not the Rape of Nanking routine again.  Why would an Amazon care 
anything about an atrocity carried out by one group of Outsiders on 
another group of Outsiders a good 1500 miles away?  It's nothing to 
do with them.  The valley they live in is well beyond the area that
was ever controlled by the Japanese, although the Japanese might 
have sent out an expedition looking for all that magic stuff in
the vicinity.

	Dave, the invasion of China and the subsequent atrocities
were a defining point in Chinese history. Before, the Chinese had
regarded the Japanese as their inferiors, despising them. AFTER that,
they _feared_ and hated the Japanese as the Enemy.

	And the distance? Meant nothing. As far as the Japanese Imperial
High Command was concerned, a Chinese was a Chinese was a Chinese. 
They were to be subjugated, one and all. In China, at that time, it was
literally a case of "If we don't hang together, we will most assuredly
hang separately."  By the neck, from a hangman's rope.

	Try reading the fic "Quantum Destinies" sometime. The author has
a real feel for the sort of arrogance Imperial Japan had going during
the period of 1920-1942. And even before that, come to think of it.

	As far as they were concerned, if you weren't Japanese, you
weren't even human, and killing you mattered no more than killing
a pig or a chicken. Even lower class Japanese were often treated in
much the same manner.

	To this day, the common Chinese loathes Japan and the Japanese
people, with a passion that makes the hatred that the average American
Ku Klux Klan member feels for blacks to seem small and insignificant.

	The only reason we don't notice it is quite simply, that most
Chinese refuse to let hatred get in the way of what's REALLY important.
Making money and improving their family's station in life.

	This was why I wrote that portion that way. I was trying to get
at something that I believed Takahashi-sama tended to gloss over..
the fact that the Amazons honestly believe Japanese to be thugs and 
savages, which by itself tends to show just how sincerely they cling 
to the Kiss of Marriage law, and how _impressed_ Cologne is at Ranma's
sheer skill in the martial arts.

	Perhaps I overstressed things. *shrug* Well, depending on how
much commentary I get on this, I may rewrite that part.

	If I sound harsh or strident, I don't mean to. This IS the sort
of C&C I was looking for, C&C that makes me rethink what I've written
and seek to improve it.

	Thank you, David, and I hope to hear from you again soon on
the rest of the story.

	Sincerely,

	Ed Becerra

	"Dreamers may die, but the Dream is eternal.."


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