In a message dated 96-08-19 00:10:21 EDT, Richard writes:

<< Also, Ranma and Akane seemed to be particularly dense.

This is probably because my bias is showing through in my writing.  To me,
Ranma and Akane *are* dense.  They both lack a lot of common sense,
otherwise, they wouldn't get into most of the wonderfully weird situations
they're famous for.

Writing this fanfic has proved a unique challenge, since I've never written a
story using already-established characters.  Like all fanfic, the familiar
characters are forced throught the filter of the author's interpretation, as
I'm sure you know.  (BTW, I just finished reading two of your Kasumi stories,
both very enjoyable, even though they were almost opposite in tone.  Both
times, your take on the motivation for Kasumi's behavior seemed realistic --
in spite of the fact that "Appearances" completely departed from the tone of
the both the manga and the tv series. ^_^  This is not a bad thing.  I enjoy
being creeped out.)

 I thought Akane over-reacted just a little *too* much.  Yes, she's got a

violent temper, but she usually lets Ranma give her a *little* more
provocation.  It's
 easy, with the way Ranma likes to tickle his teeth with his toes, to have
Ranma give her more of a reason to go ballistic. >>

Good point.  I may go back and shove his foot further down his throat when I
polish this thing up.

When's your setting for this story?<<

I actually wanted this to be kind of a "timeless" piece, set somewhat
obscurely in the middle of the series, before Nodoka knows about Ranma.

Well, it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next part.  It's

hard to comment on the plot until we know exactly what Shampoo's up to. 
Hurry up and write it so's we can find out.<<

The next part will be posted by next Sunday, and the details of Shampoo's
plot will be made known.  Thanks for your comments!  ^_^

Krista