[9-26-11] THE END... but come back Wednesday!

[MudFlap33]

"What if Betty Cooper became self-aware?"

Somehow, I misread this as "What if Betty Draper became self aware?" which would lead to an entirely different, but possibly interesting, story.

[Freemage]

Hm... I'm wondering if one of my favorite Ranma 1/2 fanfics would count as "revisionist" in the minds of those who don't care for such--it was a very detailed alt-verse in which ALL the events of the comics, as portrayed, actually happened. However, there were specific events that happened OFF-panel that completely changed the meaning. The biggest of these, of course, was the revelation that, during the first time Ranma carried Akane home from Dr. Tofu's office (a scene which, in the comics, just fades out as a passing tender moment, with action getting picked up the next day involving the usual hijinks), they talked, and decided they WOULD explore the possibility of a romance--but then immediately agreed that, since any sign of accepting the arrangement would have them married by noon, they would put up a front of not being interested in one another. So any time you see them fighting, it's deliberately an effort to put on a show for other people. (Note that, given how often they were being spied upon, even scenes where they were the only two people present could be interpreted as them putting on a show for presumed eavesdroppers.) One aspect of the fic's premise was that there were times when they got SO lost in the roles they were playing that they actually forgot they were supposed to be roles, resulting in genuinely hurt feelings, and so forth. (I believe this was also one of the many fics that opted to decide that Shampoo never actually gave up on her quest for vengeance against Ranma, and so remained dedicated to his destruction--all her subsequent activities that caused him grief, therefore, were literally attempts to get him maimed or killed.)

[MudFlap33]

Hm... I'm wondering if one of my favorite Ranma 1/2 fanfics would count as "revisionist" in the minds of those who don't care for such--it was a very detailed alt-verse in which ALL the events of the comics, as portrayed, actually happened. However, there were specific events that happened OFF-panel that completely changed the meaning. The biggest of these, of course, was the revelation that, during the first time Ranma carried Akane home from Dr. Tofu's office (a scene which, in the comics, just fades out as a passing tender moment, with action getting picked up the next day involving the usual hijinks), they talked, and decided they WOULD explore the possibility of a romance--but then immediately agreed that, since any sign of accepting the arrangement would have them married by noon, they would put up a front of not being interested in one another. So any time you see them fighting, it's deliberately an effort to put on a show for other people. (Note that, given how often they were being spied upon, even scenes where they were the only two people present could be interpreted as them putting on a show for presumed eavesdroppers.) One aspect of the fic's premise was that there were times when they got SO lost in the roles they were playing that they actually forgot they were supposed to be roles, resulting in genuinely hurt feelings, and so forth. (I believe this was also one of the many fics that opted to decide that Shampoo never actually gave up on her quest for vengeance against Ranma, and so remained dedicated to his destruction--all her subsequent activities that caused him grief, therefore, were literally attempts to get him maimed or killed.)

I've read quite a few fictions from many different fandoms that use this technique. Often, I prefer it more than fictions that tweak canon storylines without transition or simply start out in an alternate universe. If it is a fiction that tweaks on-screen canon storylines or introduces a completely alternate timeline, I find it helps my enjoyment of the story to start in canon, give a perspective about what theoretically could occur behind the scenes within the canon, and then take the plot elsewhere. By my own biased opinion, I wouldn't consider it revisionist.

[Goth Wolf]

Just to clarify - Is that it for the comic? Because I was kind of hoping for a more conclusive ending

[TCampbell]

Just to clarify - Is that it for the comic? Because I was kind of hoping for a more conclusive ending

Yup, sorry. I go into some of the reasons for this approach here.

[griffon8]

If you just have the premise, and some well-written characters, it's hard to have the story actually go somewhere, and then we end up with some of what we saw on Heroes and X-Files. And let's not even go into Smallville's trespasses on this ground...

One of my favorite Home On The Strange comics. Loved 'Who's Your Savior' as well.