"Freemage ." <freemage@hotmail.com> wrote:

	Perhaps he should not have come here, he thought. Being in the
place posed the kind of danger that a drink did to a reformed 

alcoholic.

For a moment, he imagined demons lying in the shadows of the darkened
estate, ready to leap out at him during a careless moment and drag him
back to being what he once was. He dismissed the thought as the effects
of insufficient sleep, and walked toward the exit.

*Fortunately for him, this wasn't one of _those_ fics, so he didn't 
really have anything to worry about.*

He should've checked... no [Dark] tag.

	But it was not merely a matter of physical travel. Some called
Kuno Kodachi insane, but the truth was that she simply thought in
different ways than the Flatlanders, whose thinking was confined to
narrow, predictable paths.

*This is one of the best accounts of how KK/TBR views herself I've read 
yet. Kudos.*

Thanks. Everybody seemed to like this bit.

	"Ey, sista!" The Principal sat in his big desk chair, smiling
his absurdly wide smile. "I know you. You de mudda o' dat wise guy
Ranma. Name Saotome Nobaka, yeah?"

*I hope you will understand when I shamelessly steal this gag for 
virtually every fic I write from here on out, won't you?  ;)*

That'll be 100 yen royalty each time; my accountant, Ms. Tendo, will
bill you (and I myself will never see any of it). :-)

*We have a pun alert!*

In my fics, pun alerts are *always* in effect.. :)

	Of course, with Nabiki already gone. that would leave Kasumi

*Hey, a Kleppe typo!  A true rarity, folks!  Get a good look, you won't 
see many others!*

Not that uncommon a phenomenon (there's a really glaring one
immortalized on RAAC in the last chapter of "Lost") but I don't quite
see the one you're talking about here.

*"... will choose the one..."  Hmmm... if Ranma's the judge, then all he 
has to do is choose the "one" he likes best--not her cooking, right?*

Maybe, but da Principal wouldn't let him be the judge anyway.

	Akane's gaze turned. Kodachi's pen flashed out of her pocket. A
numeral that had been a three on the recipe was instantly transformed
into a nine.

*I take it this is something that could be done in kanji?  Is that even 
the right word?*

I think numerals are pretty well universal. If not, just assume she does
something equivalent in Japanese. (The puns don't translate literally
either. :-))

*Ah, so at least one of the Nerimites is not going to be part of the 
heroic drive, I take it?*

Some will be staying home, yeah; though they'll still have plenty to do.

	NEXT: Ryoga and Akari in "The Gift".

Looking forward to it!

Thanks! And thanks for your comments.


Gary Kleppe
http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics