Okay, it will come as no surprise to most of you present that my
standard operating procedure when it comes to examining the usual load of
stuff from the FFML includes the following mental subroutine:

	If fic_topic=Ranma, then
		For X=1 to (a reasonable number)
			Let Author_Names(X)=Data(X)
			If fic_author=Author_Names(X), then
				Let Check=1
		Next X
		If Check=1, then
		Keep_Fic=1, Else
	 		Keep_Fic=0
	If Keep_Fic=0, DELETE!

	And this may mean that I miss the occasional, well-written Ranma
fanfic by an author of whom I've never heard.

	Which is why I missed the original first posting of "Ranma & Akane:
A Love Story", by Eric Hallstrom, and why I am more than ready to take abuse
for having done so, because it is a *GREAT* story.  Eric Hallstrom has my
vote for best new Ranma fanfic author of the year, and I say Praise the Lord
and pass the Pepsi that Gubby left before this story began, because he'd
absolutely hate it.

	It is a rollicking ride of some of the most lyrically described
martial arts action that you will ever witness, a *brilliant* monologue in
the first chapter that I will not attempt to describe here, and easily one
of the most engaging opening scenes in fanfic history.

	I cannot wait for more.  I cannot wait to see what will have become
of the other characters in this brilliantly mapped out alternate universe,
which is the dead opposite of a certain *other* alterniverse that you may
have seen.  Here, we get a Ranma who is not only more powerful while at the
same time more stable than he was originally -- but a Ranma who is more
*fun*.  I *like* this Ranma more than I like Takahashi's.  There, you may
now call me heathen apostate at your leisure.

	I can't describe how *fun* this story is.  Read it!  Laud it!

Chris Davies.