On Sun, 25 Feb 1996, Chan Wei Lik wrote:

 Sometime ago, I had wanted to ask you whether this story took place 
before or after Ranma owed up to his mother about being cursed. Guess 
you just answered it. Judging by what she told Ryo, I gather the shift 
has affected her too. > 

	Yes.

Ryoga had somehow learned the Shishi Hokodan.

Hmm.... Ranma shouldn't have been too startled to see him use this 
move. Even if this Ryoga was from an alternate that didn't know it. > 

 	That line wasn't supposed to be from Ranma's POV.  It was for the 
audience, to remind them that this is a "shifted" Ryoga.

	Ranko didn't know the Moukou Takabisha. 

You'd think that Ranma would have thought her _some_ ki moves. Maybe 
he just hadn't yet.... > 

	One of the themes I wanted to get across was that knowledge alone 
doesn't confer exceptional abilities.  Ranko hasn't had a year of 
fiance/rival craziness to hone her skills, so she doesn't have Ranma's 
full power yet.

 "Ranma once mentioned a 'Tendo Dojo.'  Do you know anything about that?" 

Wouldn't it be easier to just walk over to the Dojo? It's closer to 
Ukyou's shop than Nodoka's place is (at least it should be, judging from 
the evidence in the manga). > 

	It would have been easier, but Ryo still thinks in terms of "his" 
reality.  There, the dojo is just the place where his buddy Godai Hibiki 
lives, while Nodoka's house is where he and his family spent quality time 
together.
	Remember, all Ryo has to go on is: a) this isn't the world he 
remembers, and b) this doesn't seem to be the world Ukyou remembers.  He 
decided to try the one other person he could absolutely trust before 
going to the dojo; after all, Soun and Genma aren't the world's most 
reliable sources of information.  Basically, he took a chance that 
Nodoka would know _something_.  She didn't, but it was a gamble the 
family-oriented boy couldn't help but make.

 I can't wait to see what happens next, good job, just like all your 
previous chapters. Oh, and that problem you were worried about- too many 
groups at once?- you could try joining some of them together, that would 
reduce the number of groups operating at the same time. What do you think?

	I've got five groups now; I plan to cut down to three soon, but I 
still need to get them into some sort of linear time.  Nabiki is _way_ 
ahead of everyone else chronologically, while Ryo and Tachi have killed a 
lot of time in their various travels.

	As always, thanks for the C&C.
Ross