Hello again.  Well for all the people who were incensed at being left

in

suspense at the end of the last part, here's some relief.

Hee hee... I was one of them.

Doors Best Left Unopened
by Mark MacKinnon

Part Nine: Legacy

This was a very good episode. In fact, it's one of my favorites due to the
fact that there has been some serious advancement.

I've gotta agree with you there on the advancement issue, still an all
around good chapter.

There is only one thing that I found disturbing. Mousse has a bit too much
back-bone in his encounter with Shampoo on the roof. The rest was good...
but that part... bothered me somehow. It didn't feel right.

I would expect him to be more... I don't know... stunned at her words than
anything else. His ability to direct anger at her for more than a few
seconds just isn't like Mousse. (IMHO) He was certainly stunned when trying
to digest it all while discussing it with Ukyou.

Well....  isn't this more in keeping with Mr. Mackinnon's take on Mousse?
He's maturing more.  Take the early anime/manga version, Mousse would never
have (IMO) broken off an engagement to Shampoo.  In v38 though, he did
mention something about not using the egg to make Shampoo love him.
Something about fake love?  Anyway, like I said, he's matured a bit more.

What Shampoo had to say made PERFECT sense... and it's too bad she didn't
say something like that sooner, not that it would've made a difference to
Mousse then, but it is correct.

See previous comments, Mousse wouldn't have just taken it, he would have
argued his point, previously.

Hopefully, this will steer him away from the inevitably self-destructive
path that blind devotion can lead you to.

Blind devotion can lead you to self-destruct?  Uh-oh...  <runs for the
phone>

The relationship between Ranma and Akane is progressing well.

Yeah!

Reiko is a mysterious new character who's agenda is unknown... although she
isn't above having fun. I enjoyed there scene where she made Ukyou jealous.
<evil grin>

C'mon guys!  Wake up and smell the coffee!  You like each other!  (this
should make Ukyou/Ryouga pairing fans happy...)

I suspect that the "inner circle" will eventually include her... although
the others will be VERY wary of her since they don't know anything about
her. Keeping her mysterious ought to be fun. As she said herself, she wants
no part of all this trouble.

Won't it have to?  She knows a LOT of magic.  (or so I am led to believe.)
If she reveals herself to Kuno as who she is, then hopefully, at the very
least, she'll reinforce the wards surrounding the compound.

Haven't seen anything but the barest mention of Ranko since the end of
"Cast a long shadow." I wonder how he's doing?

I used to think his statement about "after this next story is finished, I'll
write something about Ranko" meant after the next part.  Needless to say, I
was devestated when I found out otherwise.  ^_^

Anyway, I enjoyed this immensely and I'm looking forward to the next part
(as usual).

Ditto.  I seem to be a sucker for long epics.  At least, when
they're --really-- good.  ^_^

  ___________

/ Here lies:\  Time Travel: A perfectly good way to ruin someone's
|   Andrew    |              history.
|             |
|   I think   |       Andrew Petalik {ICQ ID: 160869}
| he's hungry | Jadzia Dax    : Don't worry, I have a light touch.
|             | Julien Bashir : Not according to Worf...

-Tom
Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans: It's lovely
to be silly at the right moment.
  -- Horace, Roman poet and satirist