You know, I was really going to try and stay away from all this.  Moreso
since most of what I wanted to say was already said by Brian Randall and DB
(overall I thought it was a very good fic -- the cancer part hit very close
to home -- though I did tend to skip the Shampoo scenes when reading the
first time).

Heya Nick!

Great story, stirred some good emotions, though left me a little sad. As
opposed to most people, I tend to like happy endings to my stories, but
that's just me. ^_^

*cough*The Better End*cough*

I won't add anything to the Shampoo debate, mostly because everything has
been said and I would just be rehashing old points. I will say, that
whenever one sits down to read any story, be it fanfic or published book,

a

certain amount of imagination is needed. No matter how well an author

writes

a scene, two or more people will see it slightly different. And in fact,
sometimes an author writes deliberately vague, so more imagination on the
part of the reader is required, and more points of view are created.

Now if only some readers were true to their word and reacted as such if a
fic involved Akane....

As a reader, I can use my imagination and my knowledge of Ranma Manga, to
see Shampoo doing this. Granted, at the end I can see Shampoo doing most
anything from killing everybody to befriending everybody after the end of
the manga, so it's a really simple thing on my part to see Nick's and
Akane's viewpoint here. I can also see Akane being extremely forgiving and
wanting to help, but I can also see an imperfect human being that most
likely won't forgive ALL the time. Humans can only bend so much before

they

break.

So the next time you come across something that at first seems

unbelievable,

trying expanding your imagination a bit; you'll be surprised! ^_^

BWAHAHAHAHA!

So says the guy who wrote 'The Better End' because he couldn't handle how
Zen's fic treated Akane (even if it painfully and rather unbiasedly showed
her descent to madness).

In fact, here's the link: http://fanfic.tass-anime.com/ranma.the-better-end

And here's part of what you said in the notes (for all those who don't want
to read said fic):

'With being said, If you haven't guessed by the title, this fic parodies
Zen's `The Bitter End' and others like it. I've read plenty of fics where
people make Akane out to be an abusive person who mallets Ranma all the
time, causing him so much physical and emotional pain. These people also
usually hold Ukyo up to be some sort of saint that would treat Ranma right,
and that she's the only one who deserves to be with him.'

And, honestly, from what I've seen in your ff.net comments, I don't think
your view on that has changed at all since.

So forgive me for thinking that your 'expanding one's imagination' point
comes with a few restrictions as to in what directions one's imagination can
be expanded.

One thing that did stick out to me about DB's first reply, was that I at
first assumed he meant Kodachi. Of course, later we realized it was

Shampoo

he was referring to, but I thought it was Kodachi, since she was the one

who

gave the gift of the poisoned lingerie. I could be wrong, but doesn't that
qualify as 'villianization? Couldn't that be perceived as going overboard
with her character?

You know, even as obnoxiously as it was written, you would have had a valid
point....

I'm not saying it's bad, because I don't need to stretch my imagination

much

to see this (same with Shampoo), but why pick out Shampoo and not Kodachi?

Just call me confused, and willing to be enlightened!

Except that when I looked through the fic again, I wasn't able to find
Kodachi in it at all -- making me conclude that either she wasn't in it or
had a very, VERY minuscule role.

There, you're enlightened.

We all have our biases because we're human. The more we try to deny it and
say otherwise, the more they come out subconsciously. I like all the
characters and try to portray them all in a good light (my failing as an
optimist, I know), but sometimes I say or write something that comes

across

as bashing or horribly biased, and I'll need a good kick in the pants to

get

back on track. And I also know, I can find plenty of volunteers on the

FFML

to do that for me!

A minor jab at those who replied angrily to you for 'The Better End'?

You brought that onto yourself with your comments on Zen in the original
version, the title you gave, and the _insistence_ that it was a _parody_.

So, smile and be happy!

I'm wondering, just what was the purpose of your e-mail, especially since
the Kodachi angle doesn't seem to even hold true?

Was it because you truly felt that others shouldn't react to 'canon' (damn
that word) so strictly and have more of an open mind with regard to these
things (which means that you're now more accepting of Zen's fics and those
that are similar -- and you've got a lot of convincing to do for me to
believe that)?

Or was it because you didn't like the fact that someone was *gasp* defending
Shampoo?

And again I'll say that I don't believe you would have ever sent such an
e-mail for a fic that involves Akane in such a way.

Ginrai

- Who in a short while will probably regret ever sending this

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