She was the 'real deal' in a world of otaku. The Tribals had found her people shortly after coming to Earth, and many of them had embraced her people's way of life. However, there was a major difference between her, and them, and that wasn't simply a species issue. Shampoo had been born as a human, and had been the latest in the long lineage of her people, but she had something new to deal with.
The problem that had come up was simple, and yet took in a rather strange set of assumptions. Guys saw the instinctual ability of the Tribals to find mates that they'd desire, put it together with the Amazon code of conduct with outsiders, and had come up with the idea that if one could only take an Amazon for one's self, then one could 'keep' her. It was the sort of idiocy that only really found a place to be talked about in boys' locker rooms, but it did flourish among the hormonal until they learned the truth. But, in the mean time, some boys had taken the information that the 'Chinese Amazon' way of life was not a stereotype taken from kung fu flicks, and came from a real way of life, and had realized that if the law governed all Chinese Amazons, then they could get themselves some sexy human girls. The idea of collaring some exotic warrior woman did have its own appeal, especially when guys decided that this would mean that the Amazon in question would buckle down, become a dutiful companion who was submissive to her man, and would fight for him as he needed it. And their dreams of what such a vibrant and physically fit young woman would do were quite... hot and sweaty.
If there was one odd thing about dealing with groups of people, it was the fact that people would see them in their own contexts, and that led to some strange ideas. Some girls would take in images of male pop singers, and imagine that the young man in question was singing to them. Many boys would look at a woman in uniform, and fetishize them into tightly clad take charge babes. Not all people would have the same ideas, but there was a habit of looking to a sort of group of people, and romanticizing so that they would seem to be appealing. Individuals would even do it to time periods, which resulted in eras of confusion, fear, and repression being seen as a time of family dinners and tract homes.
In this case, they left out something rather important, which was... reality. Many of the guys who considered Amazons to be 'passionate bedmates just waiting to be caught' didn't really check the full picture. The truth was that Amazons tended to 'rule the roost', so to speak, and were very in control of their own lives. If they did defer, or submit to their male companions, it was because of a personal desire to do so, but their culture didn't have an 'automatically affectionate' clause in their laws on the 'losing to an Outsider' situation.
That meant that they hadn't realized that Shampoo was not about to loose her annoyance with them even if she'd been beaten. Even a Tribal didn't just fall into a relationship with anyone without a reason, as it was necessary for their to be something to base the desire to be a couple on. As it was, the marriage laws were only a guarantee of getting an Amazon into the bonds of matrimony, not a sure bet that the relationship would work out well.
Shampoo knew all about that, as she was perfectly aware of what went on with that sort of situation. It was part of her people's culture, and they had experiences both with marriages to Outsiders proving to be frustrating for both parties, and wedded bliss for the happy couple. To her, it was just really dumb for the guys to try and blindly get some stranger for a relationship that, in all likelihood, would never work out.
About the only pleasant thing about the whole deal was the fact that it had demonstrated that she had 'the goods', so that guys had liked what they'd seen when they'd went after her.
Still, she had more important things to worry about than hormonal idiots who she had to bash every few minutes. Somewhere out there was Ranma Saotome, who'd visited her village on his training journey with his father. That was a simple enough idea, as the arrival of the Tribals had opened up her homeland to outside visitation. Yet, he was different, as there was definitely a reason for her to leave the relative calm of her village for the frequently problematic 'outside world' to search for him.
Somewhere out there was that particular pigtailed boy, and she would find him. There was no other way for her to succeed, and she was not the sort of person who simple accepted failure. No matter what sort of trouble she'd have to face, she'd find him, as she had to, because:
(Posted Wed, 28 Jun 2006 11:57)
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