I liked this.  It's amusing, and you handle Aeka and Ryouko
well, balancing the rivalry, tolerance, and friendship.

Thanks!

Sasami
is perhaps a trifle too smart, or too devious, but acceptably so.

If it's figuring out what happened to Tenchi with regard to his "curse",
then perhaps, although at the moment of revelation, she is the only one
not presently occupied with other 'too-distracting' thoughts. Aeka and
Ryouko are berating the strange girl, and Mihoshi has just fallen down
('nuff said). And there are sufficient environmental clues (I hope) that
someone with an ounce of gray matter might figure it out, especially
since onna-Tenchi looks suspiciously like onna-Ranma, thanks to Washuu.

Tenchi is his usual nonentity self.

Heh, yes.

Washu, though, seems to owe more to the TV Washu ("greatest mad
scientist in the universe") than the Washu of the second OAV
series, the competent mother and fairly responsible leader of
the whole group.  I can't see the OAV Washu losing a created
universe at all, and have trouble with the Jusenkyou prank
(at least, without Tenchi's prior agreement).

You have a point, but I'm not sure that there aren't sufficient
exceptions to her general characterization to allow this in the OAV
continuum, e.g., Washuu certainly doesn't mind strapping Tenchi down to
get her sample, far and away without a prior agreement. And there is
just a hint of potential problem in her experimentation since the Masu
were able to escape at all. I grant you, though, that a counter-argument
could easily be made. I'll consider your words.

If you intended to say "have trouble with the Jusenkyou prank" in the
same sense as "make trouble...", then yeah, I see your point, although
it does make it no longer a prank if she has Tenchi's prior agreement,
which is sort of central to the story idea.

Your description of Washu developing the prank was good, however:
I really had the sense that you'd thought through the design
problems.

Thanks, although I guess I have to credit the mountain of fanfics that
went before and have dealt with this problem. It just sort of
subconsciously stores up, even though one has to keep in mind what is
canonically viable and what isn't. :)

"If I read Tenchi right, just now... hmmm. My little present may
actually do some good. Could break this little amorous stalemate."

For OAV continuity, there is no amorous stalemate, except perhaps
in Tenchi's mind.  As you cite, Aeka and Sasami are from a culture
which allows co-wives (the fanfic sort-of-convention that there's
a Jurai limit of two has no basis that I know of), and Youshou,
Funaho, and Misaki seem agreed on at least four of the girls for
Tenchi at the end of episode 13.

Hmmm, I'm not sure I entirely agreement with you on that point. My take
is that Tenchi, more or less, is just looking for some piece and quiet,
and, in agreement with your statement, doesn't see a stalement so much
as an annoying situation. There *is*, I believe, a very viable stalement
between Ryouko and Aeka that they themselves acknowledge (if not openly
but in how they're always watching what the other is up to) - neither
can seem to make any serious time with their objet d'amour, and it is
terribly frustrating, I'm thinking. IMO, this attitude between the two
girls is sufficient for Washuu to think that there is a stalement.

As far as Youshou, Funahou, and Misaki are concerned, I agree; however,
the situation between Aeka and Ryouko is sufficiently volatile that
others might see it as a problem and wish to see a resolution.

Ryouko is also Washuu's daughter, and she might be more inclined to view
it as 'stalemated' since Ryouko is not making any time in her
affections, Aeka is effectively blocking her, and Tenchi is basically
non-responsive. That Tenchi's hidden feelings are coming to the fore as
a result of Washuu's prank is a side effect, one that Washuu, however,
now appears ready to capitalize. My intial thinking as far as the prank
is concerned was for Washuu to leave it in place for maybe a day
(although this wasn't explicitly stated), but the shift in Tenchi's
behavior towards Ryouko has persuaded her to wait it out and see what
happens.

Tenchi, male this time, sleepily wandered out of his room and entered
the bathroom down the hall. After taking care of certain morning
necessities, he groggily filled the wash pail with cold water and

then

sat down on the stool near the furo, facing the door. He scrubbed
himself down for a few minutes, and he then dumped the pail over his
head, rinsing the suds off.

The image I get is that the toilet, sink, and furo are in the same
room, as would be the case in the west (w/ "furo" substituted for
"shower" or "bathtub").  This is almost never done in Japan, however,
and I've never seen any sign in the Tenchi OAV's that Tenchi's house
is any different.  The practice is for toilets to be in little closets
by themselves, completely separate from washing facilities.

Even if you did not intend for "certain morning necessities" to involve
a toilet, there's no reason to believe that Tenchi's house would have
a furo on an upper floor, and every reason to believe otherwise.  It's
normally on the ground floor of Japanese houses, like the Tendo's

house.

This may seem like nitpicking, but attention to details such as this is
necessary for verisimilitude, for at least some of your readers.  On

the

plus side, this is the only such item I picked up; the rest of your
story, which included many cultural details, seemed quite authentic to
me.

Good, thanks!

Not a problem with the furo's location. That can easily be fixed. Thanks
for taking the time to point it out. :)

Thanks for writing, Bert. I appreciate the feedback.

Ja!

************************************
D.F. Roeder
Fanfiction - http://www.flash.net/~dfroeder/index.html