Gratifyingly, my fanfic commentary enterprise generates a considerable amount
of e-mail. Correspondence with other Ranma fanfic fanatics is at least as
enjoyable as reading and writing about excellent fics. In responding to
thoughtful e-mail, I usually try to apply the same reflection and creativity
that I put into my articles.
Recently, I was reorganizing my electronic files as part of the migration to a new computer. I took the opportunity to re-read some of the e-mail exchanges that I had archived, reminiscing about those fine conversations. I found that I remain quite pleased with some of the things that I had written for specific readers, so pleased that I have deluded myself into thinking that all my readers might want to peruse some of the best excerpts.
Here for your amusement, therefore, is a sampling of clips from responses
I've sent to correspondents over the past 3 years. I've performed a minimal
amount of surgery to clean up typos, to remove highly context-specific elements,
and to protect the confidentiality of private e-mail.
These excerpts focus on some of the issues of importance to we who put too much thought into Ranma fan fiction.
On the problems allegedly caused by authors actively competing for high
placement in fanfic polls (or in Taleswapper articles):
I also see no good reason for such competition; it's kind of like competing to be the king of nothing. But neither do I think that it's evil or even hurtful. Authors who don't care can ignore the competition; authors who worry about their competitive positioning are actively choosing to leave themselves open to disappointment.
On the "OOC" Gestapo:
You won't see the term "out of character" in anything I write about fanfics. . . I consider it wholly allowable, perhaps even preferable, for fanfic authors to reinterpret the characters if they have a worthwhile story to tell. Unless an author has clearly set out to duplicate the feel of the manga/anime and has limited himself to the characters as shallowly developed therein, "OOC," as it is most often applied, is a useless and meaningless critique.
A little moralizing, to someone who was plotting some faked posts to the FFML for April Fool's:
. . . carrying on an artificial argument is an abuse of the anonymity that e-mail can provide. On the FFML, at least, people assume that anything posted - even under a pseudonym - is a sincere reflection of the poster's opinions and creativity. Starting a phony ruckus could undermine people's faith in the veracity of FFML posts, which would hurt everyone.
To a correspondent who worried that serious and alternative fics are "eating away" at Ranma 1/2's lighthearted original flavor:
But the ideal remains: 38 volumes of manga, dozens of non-manga-based Nettouhen episodes, as well as more than a few "original flavor" fanfics. A sufficient amount of Takahashi-style Ranma 1/2 stories are available, and unless you're fluent in Japanese, you have not had the wealth of experience that can only come from absorbing a complete anime episode or manga chapter in your own language (synopses and choppy translations don't count). It's not reasonable, I think, to conclude that fanfics featuring a darker, more mature, or even totally reworked Ranma universe are somehow supplanting the source material. They merely append the original.Moreover, original-flavor fanfics are not extinct, they are merely a minority; though excellent ones are, by my accounting, rare. But the fact that two of them are among my top 7 [in the 1997 Taleswapper Awards] should be an encouraging sign. Biles is still here, as are Daigakusei no Ranma, Sailor Ranma, and not a few authors who are quite vocal (if not especially prolific) about their preference for writing lighthearted fics. I'm not trying to argue you out of your mild sense of disillusionment, but it's clear to me that even if you were to adopt an "original-flavor-only" reading policy, there'd be sufficient material to keep you hanging around.
Here are some responses to observations and criticisms I've received about
the things I've done and written.
On the exclusive nature of my fanfic appreciations:
. . . exclusion from my list of favorites does imply my judgement that other Ranma fanfics I read were not as good as the ones I mentioned. I [have] made clear my criteria and other factors that influence my judgement, so there should be no confusion as to why I picked certain works over others.
But don't go by me:
Remember, you're not writing for me. Do what feels right. If lots of people are asking for more [of a certain fanfic series I dislike], and you've got additional episodes drafted, maybe you should consider giving them what they want. Who cares what [highly regarded fanfic author] or I think? This isn't network TV; nothing bad will happen to you if know-it-all's like yours truly don't like something you wrote.
On my inability to write fanfics, and the artistic value of my commentaries:
Like anyone who hangs around this community for even a little while, I've got plenty of ideas in mind. But my creative power levels are low once you get away from the art of slapping together things that other people have done to create something new. I was never one to consider collages fine art until I started doing them at the computer keyboard.
Think I'm getting too full of myself? Wait'll you see this:
I see my Taleswapper work as an exercise in creative writing. It lacks much of the invention associated with writing fiction, but many of the other elements of literary art are present: careful word choice; deliberate staging and arrangement of ideas, with buildups, transitions, and other "special effects"; the effort to communicate complex ideas most effectively and efficiently; pride in a work well done; and pleasure when readers appreciate my work.
To a correspondent who remarked that, in my appreciations, I sometimes make connections that he thinks do not exist:
Well, they often don't until I create them. It's the age-old controversy in discourse about art: should the artist's "intention" have any kind of primacy over the "interpretation" of their work? Given that the art always outlives the artist, the critics always win.
On how I found the time to read every Ranma fanfic posted to RAAC through 1997:
It's time-consuming, but I feel it's part of the commitment I made. At night, my wife lies in bed with her paperback of [insert New York Times bestseller], turning the pages, and I lie there with my laptop, hitting the PageDown key. It's all very nineties.
To a correspondent who objected to my referring to my favorite stories as the "best" Ranma fanfics:
I make very clear throughout everything I write that I am stating my personal, subjective judgement. I even end every post with the words "In my opinion." I cannot imagine how [you could] believe that anything else were true. After all, we're talking about art, which can only be judged subjectively. There can be no objective "best" fanfic, only individual favorites. . . So, in my own private little world (to which I invite everyone through my public posts), my favorites are the "best." Keep in mind that one reason I write my posts is to elicit discussion with people whose favorites are not necessarily the same as mine.
On my subtle trolling:
I must claim some responsibility for the bruised egos of some fanfic authors because of the way I write some appreciations. A frequent construction that I use [in my articles] is to contrast the success of a favorite fic in using a specific technique or story element against past "failures" I've perceived. Naturally, this critical device has a negative impact on authors whose works I have indirectly denigrated while lauding another's.
My reaction to an e-mail so astute that I felt totally outclassed:
Give me a few months of intensive library research and soul-searching meditation to react to what you wrote about [the debate topic]. Shit; you weren't supposed to be smarter than me . . .
I've written articles laying out positions I hold concerning Ranma fan fiction.
Here are a few such positions that, as yet, have merited no more elaborate
articulation.
On trite plots elements for dark adventure fics:
I hope you do not interpert my remarks to evidence aversion to dark storylines. Because tragic or horrific plots are featured in many of my favorite Ranma fanfics. But demonic hordes and other threats-to-all-mankind are, to me, hackneyed, more appropriate to stories about teams of mutant superheroes than to best-quality Ranma fanfic.
From my C&C on a draft fic:
It was real tough to get through the early part of the first chapter because of the overused device of starting a story with a Ranma/Akane brouhaha. The same shouted insults over and over got tiresome about 100 fanfics ago.
An overly unkind passage, concerning self-inserts, which I wisely rewrote for the "Annoying New Characters" essay:
Such stories are little more than childish "play pretend" games, satisfying the author's unsophisticated fantasies about stepping into the TV to live, fight, and play with Ranma & Co; it's more masturbation than art. I assume - and pray - that all authors of such stories are relatively young and can be forgiven their lack of maturity.
Wanna guess which fic I was talking about when I wrote:
____________ may be the worst Ranma fanfic ever, apart from the ones (lemons, parodies, etc.) that made no pretense at quality. I remember when I first read it; I felt the same weird mix of disgust and sympathy that struck me when I watched Chevy Chase's horrid short-lived talk show.
On pretentious fanfic titles:
I'm always put off when authors call their own work a "saga" or an "epic"; it seems to me that history should be the judge of such things.
On the old adage "Write what you know":
"Write what you know" is logical advice for fiction writing in general. But it doesn't apply with equal force to the type of Ranma fanfic I like to read. In fact, it may not apply well to ANY type of fan fiction. How can you write what you know while using characters and situations created by someone else?
A pretty insightful remark about the quality of fanfics, to someone who fell for my 1996 April Fool's joke and thought that If Only sounded like a fascinating story:
April fool; there is no "If Only," except in my fevered imagination. Of course it sounds intriguing; coming up with a bunch of wild ideas is easy. Writing a good story around those ideas is the hard part.
Lampooners beware:
. . . parodies of dark fics, self-insertions, and contrived lemons, while not as numerous as their targets, have become nearly as tiresome.
Dialogue Writing 101:
People rarely let each other string together more than three sentences without interrupting. Even more rarely do people try to address all of the other person's points meticulously and serially, as a forensic debater does. In conversation, most people are merely waiting to talk rather than listening carefully to each other. These habits should be reflected in any realistic portrayal of conversation.
Someone needs to lighten up, and maybe it's me:
During the heyday of deathbed/graveside Ranma fics [in 1996], I grew tired of them, however well written and however successful at provoking an emotional response. Melodramatic catharsis just seems so unsophisticated and manipulative to me.
Put the katana away, already:
[I have an] irrational prejudice against fic plots that depend on Nodoka's ignorance of Ranma's curse, the seppuku pledge, etc. When Takahashi resolved that conflict with such (cop-out?) simplicity, she pretty much made that storyline unattractive for me. I can no longer get worked up over Ranma's angst about having to hide from his mother, can no longer worry about the possibility that Ranma will be forced to eat hot tanto. And so I'm never impressed and sometimes annoyed when fic authors try to build lots of drama and tension around the secret that kept Ranma and Nodoka apart.
Fight scenes can be interesting, but:
If I want lots of chi-blasting, I'll read a Dragonball Z fanfic.
To someone who asked if I could help him find more Ranma lemon fics:
I don't have anything that isn't in the archive at ftp.cs.ubc.ca. Pull up your pants, dude.
One correspondent, expressing his deep admiration for Hearts of Ice, threatened to harass me if I ignored the fic in my appreciations. My eloquent response:
Ahhh, harass THIS!
One correspondent asked what I look for in a woman:
Spatulas, baby, spatulas.
Just don't tell Mrs. Taleswapper . . .
Another one tried to fix me up with Ranma-chan, to which I replied:
Shut your mouth, Ukyou's the only one for me. Maybe Nabiki when there's a full moon.
To an author who appreciated my appreciation of his lemon fic:
Does that make me a pornographer like you?
On a very long fanfic that I don't love as much as I used to:
Familiarity breeds contempt, and reading a 1.2-megabyte fanfic for the third time breeds outright resentment.
Hey, here's a original idea:
I know! A wise-cracking exchange student who is also a martial artist, not as good as Ranma of course, that would make him TOO POWERFUL and TOO PERFECT, but if he was good enough so that he could stand out in a crowd and beat Kunou, breaking a sweat OF COURSE, and Nabiki wouldn't like him right away because she's so cold and has to learn how to get in touch with her feelings but he could help her do that, because well, he's a gaijin and she's kind of an outsider too, so at least they'd have that much in common.That's the ticket.
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