On Mon, 29 Apr 2002, Christopher Angel wrote:
A very intersting (in a good way) work.
You mentioned that you weren't sure if you quite reached your goal of a
WAFF-fic. I'd say in the most simple interpreation of the aim, yes, you
failed. However, this work was highly effective in causing emotional
impact. I found myself empathising with Akane from almost the very start,
and the emotional rollercoaster you managed to put the reader through was
quite the ride.
WAFF? Well, you may have missed the bullseye on the WAF-, but you definitely
got the -F in spades.
Thanks.
I'd also like to make a couple points that I'd hope you'd consider:
1) On the "Shamps Villianization" angle, I'm forced to disagree with DB.
Yes, it appears over the edge, but I can't help but think that people are
missing a very important point. This work is done from Akane's POV. It's
not unreasonable to think that Akane has trouble thinking about Shampoo
without painting devil horns on her, especially after the V38 events. I
will agree that perhaps lumping Cologne in was a bit much, as from the
source she seems to be content to play "wise martial arts master in
background", but it's again not unreasonable to believe that Akane demonizes
Cologne in the same way she might Shampoo. While I do feel that Shampoo's
actions were somewhat over the top (more in the results and the severity of
what occured, not in the events themselves) it was not to an extent that it
was a major flaw in the work.
Since it's out in the open, I might as well get to it. I'm trying to
finish homework at the same time, so I don't know if I will get to
Sommer's post directly tonight; I at least want to make sure I'm calm
enough to write it before doing it, as it's caused at least one
misunderstanding already.
Shampoo-as-villain isn't unheard of, nor is it anywhere near
inconceivable. For one, we don't know what the punishment of Shampoo not
getting Ranma will be. With Borrowed Time, I showed a Shampoo condemned
for not killing or marrying Ranma, and choosing to die herself. In this
one, I showed a similar fate, but the opposite path. The fact of the
matter remains that the Amazons could have put heaven knows what pressures
on her to resolve the situation in a manner acceptable to the tribe. If
they'd punished her for not initially killing Ranma by dunking her in
Jusenkyo, who knows what her punishment would be for not marrying Ranma?
Like it or not, the Joketsuzoku are a tribe of extremes.
Secondly, there is the fact that this isn't objective, not by any stretch
of the imagination. This is Akane here and, all things considered, she
probably has some right to view Shampoo in an unfavorable light. After
all, the girl held a thumb to her head in a somewhat-menacing manner, and
tried to blackmail Ranma into becoming her slave. That's canon; that's
ep. 38. She's not going to think of Shampoo as some sort of saint, that's
for sure.
The rest, I think, will wait for my response to Sommer's most recent post.
2) The one thing that _did_ mar my enjoyment a little was the part mid/late
in the work where Akane talks about how she views the Art differently from
Ranma/Kaori. It felt wrong to me, almost a complete reversal of the views
she expressed in the start of the story. I will happily consent to being
convinced otherwise, but that was my initial reaction.
I guess, in this case, Kenko's influence came through, in particular a
passage in Paragon where Cologne is describing Ranma. The other martial
artists, for the most part, practice the art. Ranma, however, IS the art.
It simply came to him as though he was born to it. I blessed Kaori with a
similar gift. Akane, as good a martial artist as she is, knows when
someone else is in a different league.
Thanks, Chris.
-- Nick
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