James Barnhill wrote:
Its just that there are *SO* many fics where Ranma ends up with Akane
through a host of different circumstances ranging from waffy to dark.
"Giddyap, you stupid horse! A little rigor mortis is GOOD for you!"
This may in itself be the reason that people have grown tired of Ranma
fics and have openly complained on the FFML. Without some veriety on
the ending all such stories with the same pairing in the end become...well......boring.
Who gets paired with whom has NOTHING to do with how interesting or
fresh a story is. There's hordes of formulaic "alternative pairing"
stories out there that pair Ranma with everyone from Ukyo to Sailor Moon
to Bess the dog. This kind of story is easy to write when you don't care
very much about the accuracy of your characterizations, and changing
Ranma's partner doesn't change the fact that it's essentially the same
story each time.
That is also what I find surprising. If Ranma were to end up with Akane
then Genma would have gotten away with every small crime and act of dishonor
virtually scot free while at the same time ensuring his own retirement.
Sure he may get the crap beaten out of him but he wont suffer any long
term effects.
Does anybody actually want that to happen? Or would they actually want
Genma to suffer for all the crimes he's committed, especially over a
longer period of time?
The desire for revenge against a fictional character is something I have
a hard time understanding. Leave Genma alone, for kami's sake. His job
is to create interesting situations for Ranma to get into, while
providing a little comic relief on the side, and he does it well.
Maybe I have become a bit too cynical. If that is indeed the case then
I appologize. I just thought that I should give voice to a potential
problem, or at least something that might bore people to death.
What bores me to death is people who keep beating the same tired, dead
horses even though the FAQ specifically tells them not to.
Gary