Ye gods... a poor half-otaku like myself, subjected to such rhetoric and
argument... my head would be spinning right now, were it not for the few
years of preparation I've had in argument and debate. But perhaps I should
explain my probably unique perspective on this whole matter before I begin
placing my own thoughts on the list.

You see, I've never read a page of manga or seen a frame of anime. *braces
for the @bap* This all started innocently enough as a search for MSTings,
which I found quite amusing as an intern last summer. And I happened across
Mike Neylon's page, the Source of All MSTings, so to speak, and was in awe
for a few weeks. Then, I happened to read Megane 6.7's series of completely
hilarious MSTings of anime fanfic and noticed one of the pieces he was
taking apart seemed to be a lot better quality than standard MSTing fare.
And I followed the link... to "Transitions". And "Thy Inward Love". And
"Roses of Shadow". And... well, you get the picture. For the past month or
so, I have combed the 'net looking for other fanfics, other universes... let
me just say WOW. To everybody and everything... I was overwhelmed. Couple a
vast body of literature with my passion for reading... let's just say sleep
hasn't figured too heavily in my life for quite a while.

But I can say, in all honesty, that I would never be even remotely
interested in even the smallest part of the massive world of anime and manga
were it not for fanfiction. And, without a TV, VCR, or comic book store for
miles, I still can't get to the originals that inspired the fan-work.

And there's the other side of the coin. As interested as I am in the
universes, I still can't (and probably won't) buy the anime and manga which
started it all. Although most if not all fanfic leans heavily against the
main continuity... I've seen enough leaning to know what can and cannot be
supported. For the most part. Of course, this probably has something to do
with me poring over gigs of fanfic in weeks of time... and this annoying
extrapolative tendency I have.

But I digress. Maybe. Or maybe I'm supporting one or both arguments with
this little tale of me. While it is true that the fanfic dragged me into the
fandom (point to Lawson), it is also sadly true that I find myself with a
distinct lack of want for the original material (point to Palmer). But then
again, I've always found that stories are much better when you can craft
your own visuals, soundtracks, and special effects. So it's a matter of
personal preference. Maybe.

This is not what I started out to write.

I was going to point out that our two honored debaters, who are arguably the
greatest Ranma fanfic writers of all time, (or at least up in the top ten)
have missed something. You can write whatever kind of Ranma (or [insert
series]) fanfic you want... original flavor, dark, warm and fuzzy, cast
parody (either to or from another show), even massive crossover with Nuku
Nuku, Kimanjure Orange Road, Urusei Yatsura, Ah! My Goddess, Tenchi Muyo,
and Sailor Moon. (Okay, so The [sur]Real World is only vaguely plausible,
but it's funny as heck.) Write it down, save it on your hard drive, engrave
it on your walls surrounded by ancient runes of power... it's your mind.
Your ideas. You decide what is plausible and implausible, intertwining "what
if?" and what is as tightly or loosely as you wish. To force people to think
otherwise is to take us to the 1984 of another dimension. (Hmm... Ranma
1984... no... must... stop... crossover... plague!)

It's when you actually POST the stuff that things start getting complicated.
Now... at least in theory... fanfic is legal. In the United States, at
least, there is a precedent. *blanches as he realizes that every fanfic ever
written... at least to this list... is based on non-US created material.*
Okay... well, fanfic would be legal under the U.S. copyright law, were the
series the fanfic written about created by or deemed to be the intellectual
property of citizens of the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, the
argument has left the building.

Anybody happen to have a copy of the Japanese copyright law handy?
Translated, of course...

--G. Falconar