All in all, this is quite good... but I had major problems with the
treatment of Cologne. The evil, ruthless schemer that she's portrayed
as
here is very fanfic cliche and not really consistent with her treatment
in the manga. While she's shown that she will go after targets of
opportunity (the reversal jewel), she really didn't make much of an
effort at all to win Ranma over after her first couple of storylines.
Unless there's some new development, it's hard to see her doing what
she
does here.
In my story, I've tried to reason it out like this: The Amazons badly
need more people, spirited fighters, in their tribe. People like Ranma.
It is imperative that Shampoo mustn't blunder this one.
As for the reason why Cologne didn't use such drastic means until this
one, it's precisely how I explained it in Cologne's scene in WFY 8.
Because Ranma's "spirit" makes up a lot of what makes him such a great
fighter, and "breaking" him would be his undoing. and they don't want
that. Because they don't want to bring Ranma back just because the law
demands it, or because Shamps loves him, but because they *NEED* him.
They need his strength, his determination, his honor.
Look at it this way. For racehorses, you need really splendid horses,
with a lot of spirit and fire. Some horses are really wild and hard to
control, but more often they make the best racers. And note that the
owners of horses like these do not try to "break" their spirits, because
that's a big reason for why they're so good. What would you do with a
horse that is tamed and gentle? For riding for pleasure, sure, but not
for something as demanding as racing.
And Ranma's name means "Wild Horse" right? ^_^
That's how I like to think of it, of course, but you're free to form
your own opinions. But just to let it be said, I don't really dislike
Cologne... but most of the time I think of her as the ruthless,
traditional Amazon elder, not the kind, gentle grandmotherly type. And
I did already think this even before I started reading fanfics, because
there are some evidences in the manga (though admittedly not that many)
that Cologne is capable of ruthlessness (e.g. Phoenix pill).
That's the way I'm trying to explain things... that until Cologne didn't
want to use such ruthless means to get Ranma, but there always comes a
time when one's patience runs out, right? Not to mention that there
might be some pressure coming from the other members of the council...
That's just my two cents, of course, and you're all free to argue... ^_^
But that's how I wrote it and I don't think I'll be changing it, 'cause
that'll probably mean a major overhaul of a lot of chapters, and I don't
want that...
Stiffanie Flores
Get the chapters of "Waiting For You" at
http://www.angelfire.com/sd/Ranmafanfic/index.html