I noticed the formating was !@*!@*!@, when I got a copy of it.  Hope it
wasn't too painful to read.

Hiya,

Hmm, Came upon this when I should have been working.  Work can wait.^_^

Hey, so should I!  Oh well...  Mind, I've been writing too much of this
stuff... after this reply, I'll probably fade back into lurkiness where I
belong.  I hope this comes through okay, though--the formatting on your
rebutal came through all wonky.

I always say to take care of what's important first, this is only a hobby,
right?

Incidentally, I don't have a conception of him as the perfect

hero--because

he certainly isn't.  Takahashi created a heroic jerk in the manga, and
that's part of why he's interesting (and funny!)  But his actions have

gone

far beyond 'being a jerk'--more than I'd expect an awakened sexuality to
change him.

I genarally don't envision him as the perfect hero either, but I am used to
him having be of stronger character.  Part of the reason I like fanfics is
to see author's stretch what I would expect, and this story does that.  It's
one of the few 'wimpy' Ranma fics that I've enjoyed.

I think it's the 'over-the-top' that I have trouble with.  In a story
otherwise grounded in reality, I find it borders on fanservice.  <shrug>

To

each their own; I've probably belaboured the point to death.

Heh.  I'm not laughing at your point.  It just seams I've been in a  lot of
characterization 'conversations' lately where the participants fail to take
step back and accept differing view points.  It's refreshing and renews my
interest in discussing these topics, when people who I don't see eye-to-eye
with, can get their poit across elequantly, without trying to force mine to
change.  Thank you.

  She may have ruined it by her actions, but that doesn't
mean she's happy. [...] Maybe her pride
was too high, and instead of taking an overt chance at
being with Ranma she held out, hoping he would come to
her.  When she felt her actions would be fruitless, she
sought solace in another's arms.  You can say that she was
more in the wrong than Ranma, that her actions were
inappropriate and selfish, but so were Ranma's.

Maybe... but I've seen nothing in the story to suggest any of that.  With
the story being mostly from Ranma's perspective, and very few hints into
what Nabiki is thinking, I'm left with nothing for me to sympathise with.
Her apparent inability to recognize the selfishness of her actions denies
me, as the reader, the possibilty of sympathy.  Of course, as said above,

I

don't _have_ to like her; and it's to the author's credit that she remains
the most compelling character in the story.

From a writing point of view, sideline glimpses that some of what you
mentioned above is actually true, would add, I think, an extra depth to

her

character.  All I've seen so far is selfishness and nastiness.

I guess it goes to reader's interpretation because Chris hasn't shown us
much.  It could also be my soft spot for Nabs and my penchant for dating
women like the one she appears to be in this fic^_^

KP:  I generally agree with a lot of the previous few
paragraphs, especially
the question about Akane and Kasumi caring more that Nabiki
is a lesbian
than Ranma and Nabiki's betrayal.

]snip]

Did Chris blend these things
as I would have, probably not exactly, but I don't have a
problem with the
end result.

It is curious how the anger is focussed, though I can see it happening.
With her anger fully released, she might focus on the most obvious thing

in

front of her--her sister lying in bed with another woman.  In that
highly-charged emotional moment, it makes sense.  True, it could be

written

other ways, focussing on, say, the betrayal instead, but it works fine the
way it is.  However, I found it odd that in the aftermath, when things

have

calmed down somewhat, that Akane _still_ didn't show anger at Nabiki's
betrayal.  That it wasn't even mentioned!

<snip>

Um, _yeah_.  I'd be going off-the-wall ballistic!  She's already seen her
fiance make out with her sister in front of her.  She's just overheard

them

admit they fell just shy of having outright sex in the bathroom.  Ranma
admits he still wants Nabiki.  Akane's the most wronged against in that
scenario (well, except for maybe Taiyoko), and she seems to be receiving

the

harshest reprimand.

Uh, but I'm straying.  Point is, there's very little to suggest here that
Akane has feelings remaining for Ranma.  Instead of working this through

in

the father-to-daughter talk, we're given a speech on the dark side of

porn?

Gee, thanks dad.

Good point.  I forgot, well not really forgot, but was focusing on the
initial scene when Ranma was still in the Dojo when I wrote this so many
hours ago.  I would have gone off also, or at least stormed out.

KP: The thing that's not clear from these voluminous
comments is, are you critical of the

Heh, voluminous is right.  I appologize for that, and for the major

cutting

of some of your counter-arguments I did.  I'm trying to keep this down to

a

reasonable size... if the discussion continues, I'll be keeping it short.
I've probably wasted enough bandwith with my ranting already....

Voluminous in a good way.^_^   You brought up good points, and forced me to
think about things I had let slip by when I first read this chapter.

I do find some of the actions that occur hard to swallow from a story
perspective, as you put it.  These mainly concern Ranma and Akane.

Problem

is, it then becomes a characterization issue--unfortunately, a common
fanfiction problem that is nearly impossible to debate satisfactorily.

I hope I didn't sound too critical of your points.  I was genuinely curious
about your views.  While I don't agree on everything, or see some things
differently, it's nice to have a coherent conversation about a fic and
topics that usually get heated before anything of real substance is decided,
or even expressed.  Thanks for replying,  Ja.


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