From:        Ranma al'Thor <ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu>, 

On Wed, 27 Mar 1996, Travis Butler wrote:

    "I accept.  Your foolish boasts are as empty as your love life."

Frito: WheeeYOW! Body-SLAM! Nasty! <Grins, turns, and tries to give 
Windir a high-five. Windir stares him down coldly.>

Windir: An effective insult, yes. I do wonder just how she comes to know 
this much about our friend's romantic interests, especially since she 
goes to a separate girls' school.

She's been around Nabiki enough to get a fair impression of 
her...Besides, she could just ask her brother :)

Well... maybe. The latter is certainly a good point, assuming they even 
speak that much. ;> Say, why didn't we see her in the Kuno residence 
during the Martial-Arts Takeout episode? :)

    "What was the bet?"  Akane asked.  I wonder if he'll ever have the 
sense to stop falling into Nabiki's snares.  She's probably lurking 
somewhere getting ready to take photos of him.  A bush rustled.  Akane 
contemplated tossing a rock into it, then decided not to.  Nabiki wasn't 
used to physical punishment the way everyone else was.  This would 
require subtlety.

Frito: Hey! That ain't Akane! She don't think that much!

Like everyone else in Ranma 1/2, she's allowed to have clever plans.  
They just usually don't work too well :)

Maybe. :| She usually seems to be reacting to events, not acting. 

    "I was not!"  Akane smiled as she heard more clicks from the bush.  
Her hand quietly snaked over to the hose as Ranma-chan tentatively began 
to do her back again.  Before she was quite ready, Ranma-chan was done.  
She would need another distraction.  Hmm.

Frito: Sorry, but this just don't click with me. It don't take *that* 
long to grab a hose!

The idea is to get it without alerting Nabiki she's trying to grab it, so 
she can then catch Nabiki by surprise.

Well, yes. :) I suspect the implication just was a little too vague for 
someone of Frito's caliber...

Frito: Hey! Just what're ya insuatin'?

Ah. Please excuse me for a moment... <Grumble... having .sig characters 
is like trying to herd cats... WHACK!>

There. Much better.

Frito: <Rubbing his head> Hey! I was just tryin' ta say that this don't 
make sense! How did that "ruin the point of this exercise," if the camera 
was waterproof? If she was tryin' ta make blackmail photos, they ain't 
hurt!

She wasn't able to finish the entire roll :)

Yah. Although in the way you worded it, you had Nabiki suggesting that 
*Ranma* had ruined the exercise... another subtle hint?

serve."  Cologne smiled behind the cash register.  With Shampoo sick, 
having Ranma pitching in was quite helpful.  She owed Nabiki a few free 
meals now, but Ranma's girl form always pleased the customers, and happy 
customers ate more.  

Windir: This seems a bit... casual... for Cologne. She usually has a 
scheme, or at least an ulterior motive, and I'm a bit surprised to see 
her enter this sort of bargain without something up her sleeve.

Shampoo is sick, 

No comment. :)

and  this is cheaper than hiring help or doing it 
herself :)  Also, Ranma does bring in more customers...Even Cologne 
doesn't plot 24 hours a day :)

Nope... just 23 hours, 59 minutes and 29 seconds a day. ;>

   "ACK!"  He started to run, then fell down, unable to move.

    "This will be a lovely date!"

Frito: <Cackling and rubbing his hands> You said it, toots! I can't wait!

Windir: You'd think Ranma would be a bit more suspicious of her by this 
point; this might work a little better if he showed some reluctance, and 
she forced him to smell it.

Heh...And they should see through the silly disguises they all use, 
etc...Is genre.

Yah... I guess Windir was thinking it might have been funnier/more in 
character if she'd forced him into it: "Would you like to smell it, 
Ranma-sama?" "Er, well..." <Backing away> "Here!" <Shoves her wrist in 
Ranma's face>

Windir: This is the only one of the "arrangements" I had difficulty 
believing; though she certainly cares about Ryouga, I find it rather 
unusual that she would actually go out on a date with him.

She's done it before.  And in this case, Nabiki set it up :)

Perhaps that was her payment for making sure Nabiki's photos didn't go 
out? :) 

Yes.  Bingo.

Frito: ...was that last number B-9 or G-15? Nah, I see your card -- you 
ain't got Bingo!

Uh...oops. Sorry.



Travis Butler
(The Professor, formerly of Myth and Magick!, Lawrence, KS;
 tbutler@tfs.net, now from the Wandering Powerbook;
 <http://www.tfs.net/personal/tbutler/>;
 Mac page <http://www.tfs.net/business/tbutler/>)

..Hello. I'm afraid I'm not sapient right now. Please leave a message, 
and I'll get back to you when I reach a higher evolutionary plane. Thank 
you.