At 01:38 PM 7/16/2002 -0400, you wrote:

I don't know... I have difficulties seeing Belldandy and Keiichi paired
off with anyone but each other. Especially after watching the movie. In
all AMG stories I have seen, their romantic situation is either a
non-issue (something long resolved and not central to the current story),
and, even when it isn't, it's clear that they're meant to be with each
other, with or without an Ultimate Force.

This is true enough. Sometimes, even the whims of authors must bow to a 
canon pairing that simply cannot be overcome. I myself once attempted to 
write a series where Belldandy paired off with someone else. And yet, when 
I actually started work on her explanation of why she and Keiichi weren't 
working out (she brought such chaos into his life, her presence made things 
harder for him rather than easier, etc.), I found it sounded really hollow, 
no matter how amicable or friendly I tried to make it. Finally, after 
several tries at it, I realized I just didn't have the heart to break the 
two of them up. Keiichi and Belldandy, however odd and strange it might be, 
are just right together. They fit, in a way a lot of canon pairings (like 
Ranma and Akane, or Naru and Keitaro, etc.) sometimes don't feel they do.
I think a big part of this is that they honestly and completely love each 
other, and it shows in the way they act. When Keiichi was put under a spell 
to act like he loved someone else, Belldandy was willing to leave, because 
she was more interested in Keiichi's happiness than in her own. Keiichi, 
many many times, has put up with stuff that any other person would run 
screaming from, just because it was in some way connected to Belldandy. 
*cough*Skuld*cough*Urd*ahem* And, finally, they trust one another. Even 
when she lost her memory, and Belldandy saw someone else kiss Keiichi... 
she still knew that he didn't initiate it or want it, because her heart 
told her Keiichi loved only her... so she trusted him.
I guess that's the big thing that K1 and Bell have that so many other anime 
couples have, that allow authors to pull those couples apart and put them 
back together the way WE want them... Keiichi and Belldandy have trust 
between them, and generally, the others don't trust each other as far as 
they can throw them... in most cases, much, much shorter than they can 
throw them, as has been proven.

-Rann


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