Yay!  I'm back!  Sure, I was only unsubbed for a couple days to switch my 
address, but this is the first time I've deliberately unsubbed since I 
joined!  I didn't get that "Most Addicted" Edgar for nothing...

Speaking of subbing, I notice a lot of "vet status" whatnot, so I'll just 
mention that I've now been here for a bit more than a year and a half.  
Subbed in March '98, within days of the likes of Petes, Owain, Sam, ~Akane~, 
and Newcomer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joao posts:

> Frank :
>  
>  >I'm back.

*facefault*  Cor, this is a surprise!  Wonder if I missed anything else 
nearly this interesting...  Welcome back, Frank!  Good to hear from you!


And Frank mentions:

>By the way QM, I have over 200 or so fanfics in my archive at the Library
>so if you're ever starved for fics you can always come by and check out
>some of the ones that my contributors have written.

Oh yes, I'm quite aware.  I considered submitting to your page back when I 
was actively writing fanfiction and before I even subbed to this list.  
Thanks for the note!

(FYI, I've been hosting the fanfic discussion (when I remember ^_^;;) since 
early May.  It falls on Tuesdays, sometimes weekly, sometimes bi-weekly 
(depending on the length of the 'fic).  Other people occasionally choose the 
'fic and host the discussion as well.)

>My question is: is the sheer number of Ranma 1/2 fanfiction so great to
>the point of hurting the original series and whatever flavor it came in
>from its creator, Takahashi-sensei? 

Very good question.  Back when I initially became enamoured of the series, I 
only had the first 3 Viz GNs and was impatient and hungry for more.  Somehow 
I managed to stumble onto fanfiction and I quickly sought as much as I could. 
 I was surprised that some of it was as good as it was.  It has risks though 
- I happened across some "questionable" 'fics at first.  (The second 'fic I 
half-read focused on Ranma and Ryouga.  "What the hell is a lemon," I 
wondered.)  Bitter End was another of the first few 'fics I read, and this 
actually left me brutally depressed for the better part of three days.

Anyhow, what I'm (gradually) saying, is that I think fanfiction can be 
damaging, if you have only had minimal exposure to the series.  Someone 
well-read in Ranma (and perhaps other Takahashi works) should have no problem 
taking even the more "questionable" fanfics with a large grain of salt.  I 
know that fanfiction helped fuel my "fascination" (read: obsession ^_^) with 
the series as a whole, however!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rankor:

>I have been here probably longer, but I'm probably not ranked b/c I'm
>usually in lurk w/occasional posting.
>I would like to call m'self sorta-ancient but that wouldn't be fair to
>the posters that have been posting consistently since the very
>beginning.

Ah, anyone here for more than a year certainly recognizes you, so "ancient" 
works.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

'zaiten:

>Wow, I guess my reminder actually helped!

You reminded me?

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~QuestionMark {ICQ: 22132032}
-Member of SAUCE
-Member of USURP:
"Over-Burdened Taxonomist of Tarou's Cursed Form"
-Founder and Leader of COURT
-Supporter of Cliche`d Pairs
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