The following spamfic had it's origins in an RFFC discussion of the "Slap" scene in "Manatsu no Eve". Someone suggested that as an alternative to such a display, Tenchi might have "shaken her silly". Over the next day or so, the thread continued as if this were a reasonable alternative. At some point during the quoting, I decided that if no one else knew to speak up, I would. I sent a sharp post outlining the dangers of shaking, but thinking on the topic had planted an image in my mind, and I shipped this can of spam fifteen minutes later. Much to my surprise, Bob passed it on to the ML. As it turns out, we are in one accord that that abusive behavior, for examples head bopping and shaking, are entirely too common in anime, and this type of issue is worth raising. A couple of glaring problems with the original, which might get in the way of discussions, have been slightly amended, but this barely goes from a first draft to a second draft. "Message fictions" are always problematic, since the author can always make things come out his way. Recalling that Tenchi Muyo is generally drawn and acted in a more illustrative or realistic, rather than cartoony style, it is easy to point out that Tenchi wouldn't behave as he does in this spamfic. The "real" Tenchi never intentionally abuses. However, this story depicts exactly the proposed behavior. So "Tenchi's girls" are the toughest cookies in the universe. What if one of them was abused, and she broke? This is a "What If". (Some discussion follows the story) Please note that the characters and settings of this story are copyright and/or trademark AIC/Pioneer. SHAKEN: A Dark Spamfic Ryouko was raging at Mayuka, who was responding in kind. Tenchi stepped in to stop the fight, grabbing Ryouko by the shoulders. His impatience erupted and he drew back his arm to slap her, but a corner of his mind chided that people would be shocked at his loss of control; so he put his hand back on her shoulder and summoned all the strength of his anger. Afterward he could not recount the number of times he shook the Oni girl, but it couldn't have been more than a dozen. It was over in less than a second. Ryouko slumped to the floor, her formerly taut muscles twitching randomly. "Ryouko!", Washu went to her knees and cradled her head, clearing her airway with a deft finger. A tableu of silence ensued, as Ryouko's muscles continued to spasm for about a minute. A trickle of drool trailed from the corner of her mouth. Tenchi spoke, pleading; "Washu-chan, why isn't she healing?" Washu put her hand to the stricken girl's forehead. Moments later, with tears splashing down on her daughter, she answered; "Oh, she has already healed, but a large portion of her memory, language and motor skill have been wiped out." "Will she recover?" Washu shrugged, "Her body, yes". She hooked her arms under Ryouko's armpits and dragged her through the laboratory door. Moments later, Tenchi followed and tried the door. It now opened on a broom closet. Tenchi looked around for someone. Only Aeka and Sasami were still in sight, but Aeka was not looking at Tenchi, and Sasami stared past him into infinity. Tears were freely splashing at Aeka's feet. "Sasami", Aeka spoke with the voice of command. "Hai" "It's time to go" The shadow of the Tsunami ship loomed for a moment over the Masaki homestead, and the two princesses evaporated. Moments later Yousho reappeared, his head shaven, in a saffron robe, with rice-bowl in hand. "Let's go, Tenchi" "Grandpa, why are you staying by me?" "I am responsible for the training you have received. I will not abandon you." Hours later, the figures of a man and a teenage boy were seen walking out of the hills toward Osaka. Behind them, in the abandoned Masaki homestead, a gray furred, animal eared hominid stood, laughing. In the weeks to come the Japanese government would be in desperate consultations with the Americans over the possible use of Thermonuclear weapons against what came to be called "The Okayama Horror". In an unknown pocket of space, Washu was already beginning the long and tedious process of rehabilitation. She handed the woman-child a couple of wooden blocks with glyphs from Washu's native culture. The cyan haired girl turned the blocks over and smiled, after about a minute of thinking, she managed to read the glyphs. "Ryooo....Kooo..." END In the real world, shaking, if considered dangerous at all, was long thought to be a danger only to infants. Modern autopsies and the development of MRI scanning have helped us to trace the source of many otherwise mysterious cases of brain or spinal injury to shaking. Shaking a person with adult strength and anger can easily result in serious brain or other neurological injuries, or even death. The forces induced on brain tissues can exceed one hundred gravities of acceleration, and be more damaging than a pro boxer's fist. The effects are generally the same as those from stroke or concussion, but may go deeper, affecting the brain stem and hippocampus, disrupting memory, motor control, and breathing. Yeah, the Tenchi girls are tough, but as K'thardin pointed out online; humans can be very tough in some ways, and so vulnerable in others. Ryouko's self healing powers are well known. It is also assumed that her body generally works like a human body and lays down memories in coded chemical linkages. The nerve cells may recover quickly from physical damage, but what guarantee is there that the traces of memory could be so easily restored? Tenchi is the one person who can get inside Ryouko's defenses, that she will not resist; the one person to whom she is most vulnerable. Is the injury extreme? The injury envisioned would pretty much be fatal to any ordinary person. All it takes is a momentary disruption of blood flow in the brain stem. Tenchi's not a very big guy, is he? True, but he is a martial arts athlete, with a great deal of "fast twitch" muscle conditioning. This is why he is so good with staff and sword. Why the apocalypse for Tenchi? There are two answers. First, this Tenchi and his world are being punished because he acted intentionally. Second, I've been reading too much Lovecraft. Am I angry at the person who suggested shaking? No, if they hadn't suggested it, neither they, nor others, would have seen this issue raised. (I was a little peeved that discussion went on without recognition that there was a problem with it.) Asking questions and trying things is part of how we learn. Probably the last thing I would want people to do is say "Well then, shaking is no good, let's think of some other alternative". Abuse is never OK, and not only because there may be hidden dangers lurking in any particular abusive act. Why hurt the ones you love? Characters are copyright (C) and/or trademark AIC/Pioneer Text is copyright (C) 1999, Gregory W. Matteson.