MetroAnime@aol.com wrote:

well, isn't this nice? instead of a private C&C, it's a
public slam. well, then, shall i respond in kind?
why not?

Slam?  Slam?  I see no slam here, sir.  Mr. Carson was quite polite and
complimentary towards you.  On the other hand, you unloaded on him for
no apparent reason.

And it is perfectly acceptable to critique fics on the list.  That's the
point of the FFML!  Geeze, see if anyone ever dares talk about your fics
again, after this vicious reaction.

<<[FFML] Comments on recent entries in "The Bet" series
Date:   9/8/98 9:49:55 AM US Mountain Standard Time
From:   rcarson@user2.mnsinc.com (Reid Carson)
Sender: owner-ffml@ffml.fanfic.com
To:     ffml@fanfic.com
    On the whole, I've found the arc of story beginnings collectively known
as "The Bet" to be rather interesting individually (if prone to a good deal of
Akane-bashing)>>

Oh gee, wow.  He says he finds it all very interesting, with only a
reservation that you yourself admit to!

<sarcasm> How dare he say those things? </sarcasm>

       as i've said on numerous occasions, i do NOT have the full translated
manga. this is therefore the anime. Akane at the beginning of the series
is much like my sister-in-law, wife to my late brother Chris, who died of
"blunt wound trauma"- inflicted by said wife whom he refused to raise a hand

I'm very sorry to hear that.

against or leave. i AM trying to be nice to Akane despite this, for all those
who have those manga episodes that show Akane to actually be a
forgiving, even-tempered, gentle-spirited Saint.

I'm pretty sure she has her gentler moments, even in the early anime.

<< I have noticed one thing that bothers me though.>>

just one? i somehow feel i've failed...

Well excuse him for daring to say anything.

<< Although the premise is that one change is made to a particular timeline,
often many other things, seemingly unrelated to the original change, are
different as well.>>

snowball effect, chaos theory, and outright cheating in some cases.
direct your attention to this paragraph in "Changing Plans":
"Minor change? How about a push,
here." Urd rubbed her hands, how could she keep
from meddling in THIS sort of love triangle, no
make that a love _tangle_. Of course, if anybody
thought she was going to settle for just ONE
nudge.....
   remember, not all gods/demons/etc. are paragons of virtue.
all apologies to the God Of Moments, who _is_:

That certainly makes sense from an in-story perspective.  However, you
as the author told us you were going for the "one-change" style.  It's a
little disconcerting when your own characters can overrule you.

<< And what time frame does all this occur in? Shampoo showed up right after
the skating match, so why would she end up threatening Ranma's mother if he
was still at the Tendos? If he's not at the Tendos, wouldn't Ryoga have gone
after him, instead of hanging around to get involved with Akane?>>

time frame, starts in anime episode 3. the scene where the change begins
is right after the fight between Kuno and Ranma, and is the end of the
first day at Furinkan High.
Skating match is manga. This is anime. Am i going too fast here?

Hey, I was confused about the timeline too.  Things just seemed to be
happening awfully fast.  (And was the sarcasm really necessary?)

Maybe Ryouga IS looking for Ranma. Think he's gonna find him
right off? Oh, i forget in one of the manga episodes i don't have,

Well no.  But you figure if he goes to the Tendo house or the high
school and Ranma isn't there, he'll just turn around and leave.

he's shown to actually have an excellent sense of direction, is the
Archbishop of Chanticlear, and is a devout pacifist. How silly of me...

Now you _are_ getting silly.

      and OF COURSE, he has no interest in hurting Ranma by trying
to score on Akane, and has no interest in Akane himself. Tsk. How

In this reality, Ranma couldn't care less if Ryouga scores on Akane. 
(And I think Ryouga could pick up on that.)  As for his own interest in
Akane, that all depends on how much he actually ends up interacting with
her.  It wasn't _quite_ love at first sight.  She had to be nice to him
a bit first.

could i have missed that? <insert appropriate tones of dripping
sarcasm>

You don't have much to be sarcastic about.  I can't believe you're
reading all this into Mr. Carson's comments.

<<Why would Ranma end up meeting Makoto? Frankly, I have a hard time seeing
Ranma deciding to put on a mask to fight youma - why wouldn't he just take
them on the way he fights anyone else?>>

Makoto? Why not? Frankly i've some sympathy towards the girl, as
she's always trying to find someone, always failing. i can EMPATHIZE.

Hey, Makoto seems reasonable to me as a choice.

Maybe he's trying to HIDE! Maybe he doesn't like publicity. Just MAYBE it

Me, I always figured Ranma for a publicity hound.  "Who am I?  I'm Ranma
Saotome, and I just beat this youma single-handed.  Ya' hear that,
world?  Ranma Saotome is the top martial artist in this city!  And you
can quote me on that."

Sure he's trying to hide, but do you really think he'd pass up a chance
to feed his ego like that?  Besides, anyone seriously looking for him
who _doesn't_ check with Nodoka is a moron anyway.

was because everyone else is disguised and he figures this is a chance for
some really insane fights and if he plays along he can get invited to all the
really good battles....gee, ya figure!

Nah.  Remember, according to your own words, this is early-anime Ranma. 
He hasn't had a chance to get tired of all the weird stuff.  He'd just
revel in it.  No way he disguises himself.

Of course, this still plays into the story.  Just have his mother
eventually hurt in an attack on his home, and he realizes he has to
leave to avoid making her a target.

<<And then dragging Gold Digger into it...>>

So why not? The entire idea is not to write what everyone else has written,
and i haven't seen a whole lot of Gold Digger/Ranma crossovers. In fact, i

The Gold Digger element is the only reason I like the idea so much. 
Truthfully, I think you might be better off skipping the Sailor Moon
stuff and going straight from Nerima to Atlanta.  It's almost like two
separate stories.

don't think i've seen ANY. i haven't seen any Well Of Souls/Ranma crossovers
either, but while i think Nathan Brazil's reaction to the Ranma crew would be
wonderful, i don't think there are that many Chalker fans out there. Gold

Chalker would be weirdly appropriate.  In _every_ one of his books, the
protagonist (or at least a main character) changes bodies, and usually
genders.  Every one.  Check it out.  It's a major theme running through
his works, and the Jusenkyo gang would fit right in.

Though if I were going to choose a Chalker world to cross with, I'd
think the River of Dancing Gods series would be a better choice.
(On the other hand, would a Jusenkyo curse survive a Wellworld
alteration?  Ranma might end up human only in cursed form.)

<<Shampoo here doesn't seem much like the Amazon who was fully prepared to
kill Ranma after their first fight in "reality.">>

She isn't. She's the focus of the change, not Ranma for once. Surprise!

The spring incident changed her personality that much?

<< In the only case of "Amazon marriage" that we know of in the canonical
timeline, the groom objected very strongly. Why would any of the Japanese
"married" here be any more amenable?>>

they're not. most of them object very strongly.

That didn't really show in your outline, though I'm sure it's what you
intended.

<< I can't see Akane taking well to being "glomped" by some unknown boy, for
example, as was described.>>

Ah, but nobody escapes the Amazon Glomp(tm). Even the best martial artist
in Nerima (at least by his own hype) can't escape. Why should Akane?
i believe in Equal Opportunity Glomping here, i'm not sexist.

Who said she escapes?  It's just that the glomping is immediately
followed by the boy being bashed with a table.

<< And though some have argued that Ranma is in some sense married to Shampoo,
since the fight took place in the Amazon village, certainly the rest have no
validity in Japanese law. >>

Cologne would argue the point, as Amazon Law has precedence over the amazon,
no matter where the amazon is.

Cologne hasn't even successfully argued it in Ranma's case.

<<And of course, there's no chance the Japanese would deport Japanese
citizens, merely because illegal aliens claimed to be "married" to them,
against their will. Again, the whole setup seems quite contrived.>>

You are assuming that Cologne plays fair, is always honest and
aboveboard, and does not have any skills beyond martial arts, herbcraft,
and cooking ramen...

But this whole thing wasn't her idea in the first place!  Why would she
pull a Cologne Ex Machina?  (So to speak.)  The younger amazons got
themselves into the mess, let them get themselves out of it.  I see
Cologne standing on the sidelines, laughing her head off, and rendering
help only when they've absolutely, positively, tried everything else.

<<There are a couple of problems even here, though.>>

Only a couple? i am SO disappointed. Oh, wait, it's just you can't count
past two?

Now that was just plain nasty.  You owe Mr. Carson an apology.

<<Would the hospital really release Ranma so blithely, with no one there to
pick him up? He is a minor, after all. How could Ranma ask the hospital to
contact his mother, when he doesn't even know about her?>>

Tsk. No one's to pick him up. His mother is now named "no one". Funny, I
thought she was Nodoka. Must be how they spell things in your world.

So now Nodoka is there.  Cut the guy some slack, wil you?

<<How did Shampoo find out her "airen" was in the hospital? I don't imagine
the Tendos would tell her. Once again, a few elements seem contrived so as to
put Ranma in the worst situation possible.>>

How did she track him from the Tibet border to Japan? Oh, i forget, ANOTHER
of those manga issues that i don't have showed she has the IQ of a flatworm.
Gee, maybe she just got lucky, then? And just happened to have intuited
Ranma's
name along the way.

But that's not at all contrived and couldn't possibly feel "forced". 
Right.  She doesn't even speak the language!  (And weren't you the one
who just said that a serious fic should take things seriously?)

If you don't like the fics DON'T READ them! You'll feel better, i'll feel
better,

But he does like them!  He just thought maybe he could make a few
suggestions for improvement.  What gave you the idea he didn't like
them?

and the whole world will be a much nicer place, don't you think?

<< Reid Carson
rcarson@mnsinc.com>>

and yes it was another hot humid damn 10mi bike ride
to/from work...

You ought to have taken a few minutes to cool off.

-- 
Matthew Campbell 
E-mail me at mgcampb@clemson.edu

"For the engineers among us who understand that the obvious
is not always the solution, and that the facts, no matter
how implausible, are still the facts..."