Here's some comments I have about the story. The following is regarding the
characterization of some of the characters, mostly Kasumi:

---

This story takes place immediately after Ranma fights Cologne on the beach
                                                                    ^^^^^
Beach? Its a winter resort with skiing and outdoor baths and stuff, not a beach
:P

in the manga it is a beach.. and that's a much better version of it also
.. imagine how good the Ranma anime could be if they left the story with
Rumiko-megami-sama...

Kasumi's face showed anger for a brief moment.  It was enough to send chills
through Genma's spine.  Kasumi spoke quietly and forcefully, "Has he not

Kasumi being angry? She's always struck me as the kind of person who remains
calm no matter what the circumstances...

this fic is being written by the manga continuity.. and in the first part you
can see the difference, none of that 'i hope he's older than me', it's
'younger men bore me'...she's much less.. ummm how would u put it..
vacant.. and more the traditional Japanese house wife (minus of course the
husband (unless you read 'The Substitute' 1 too many times))

>from the chair and left the room.  He was about to enter his and Ranma's room

when he noticed the sign written in Kasumi's elegant hand writing:
            "This room is off limits!"

It wasn't explained why Kasumi is forcing Genma to stay away from Ranma. It is
true that he didn't help in the past few days, but he didn't make it harder on
Ranma either (except maybe by staying away).

it doesn't really need to be explained... he's Genma.. there's nothing he won't
do to Ranma in the name of the arts (or his stomach)

"First, the three of us are going shopping tomorrow,  You'll need clothes for
school and everyday wear.  What you have on is fine for practice and just
lounging around home.  But you need things more appropriate to your
condition.

"Second, you'll have to get a new room.  I think it would be best if you
moved into Akane's room.  There are a number of reasons why I think this
should be done.  One, Akane can help you adjust to your new self.  I'll help,
of course, but Akane will be with you nearly all day.  That makes sharing her
room more practical."

As I read through this fic, it seems like Kasumi is forcing Ranma to dress,
live, etc. like a girl, even though it is by no means necessary. When Ranma was
cursed (in the anime series) but not stuck in female form, he did still wear
his normal clothes even when being in his girl form for long periods of time.
He is very reluctant to wear girls clothing because as he puts it "I'm a guy".
Nabiki had a hard time getting him to wear Akane's clothes that one time when
all his own clothes were in the wash and he was in female form and they didn't
want to waste money heating up the hot water kettle. Even though he is
permanently stuck in female form now, I don't see how his personality would
shift to female (and the curse has never affected the way its victims think).

this isn't Ranma who's making these decisions.. it's Kasumi.. and she's always
been trying to get Ranma to act more like a girl (yes even if he is a guy)
well at least more polite...so as Ranma would say, more like a girl...

Simply living in the body of the opposite sex does not make a person have/want
to act like their sex (this is just IMHO)...look at the example of transsexuals
for example. Many live through their childhood/adolescent years in a body of a
sex opposite to that of their mind, but that doesn't change their mental sex.

Why does Ranma have to get a new room (as Kasumi put it)? Its not like he
hasn't slept in the guest room with his father while being a girl.

Kasumi smiled.  "Not anymore.  At least, not physically.  Until we can find a
way to cure you, you are a girl.  All I ask is that you dress like one.  I
also ask that you refrain from any activities that are not appropriate to
your gender.  You'll have to wear your girls uniform and gym clothes at
school.  You'll also have to wear girls clothes in public and around guests.
Your outward appearance must be that of a girl.

Uhh....this is starting to sound more and more like forced feminization...
Let's go back to the Ranma 1/2 series for a moment here. Specifically, when
Nodoka was visiting the Tendos and Ranma was posing as "Ranko Tendo". True, she
did try to get him to dress/act more feminine, but it was nowhere near as
extreme as Kasumi is doing now. And just what activities does Ranma usually do
that are not appropriate for a girl (other than going in the men's bathroom?
:P) "Your outward appearance must be that of a girl." Hrm....if I didn't know
better I'd say Kasumi has finally flipped. *grin*

what Kasumi is doing is preparing Ranma for the worst.. so that if he does 
evntually get cured he'll see it as the boon it is.. not as something that 
HAS to happen.. this way he'll be prepared if he has to stay a girl his entire
life.. and of course there's the problem (as seen in 'Her') that Ranma may
become 
more used to the female body and lose his masculine identity.. since you can't 
really say that Ranma has a firm hold on his gender.. if he did he wouldn't
be so
macho about everything.. he'd just realise the curse is physical and treat it as
such.. but being brought up with such a black and white view of the sexes he
can't
be firmly anchored in his own gender...you have to know your enemy to know 
yourself...

Ranma looked at Kasumi grimly, "How long do I have before I have to accept
any of this?"

With a heavy sigh, Kasumi spoke, "The sooner the better.  But that's only
for the dressing and public behavior.  As for accepting BEING a girl, that
all depends on if a cure can be found.  I'm not trying to hurt you or give
up on you.  I want to help.  This is the best I can do.  I'm sorry, Ranma,
truly I am."

The best she can do? I don't think so. Kasumi is making Ranma change his whole
lifestyle, just because he is stuck as a girl now. And she's not just making
him act as a girl, she's making him act like a GIRL girl...I mean many girls
(including Nabiki) wear pants lots of the time, so why is Kasumi making Ranma
buy all these dresses, etc.?

it's less to do with making him act like a girl thne making him deal with the
problem which otherwise he would try to ignore.. and let me tell you that
sticking your head in the sand isn't always the best defence against your
problems
if he was allowed to dress in less feminine clothing than he wouldn't have
to deal
with the fact that he can't change back for awhile.. and it's better to have to 
cope with it now than bottle it up just to have it all come rushing out later

Hrm, there's an interesting question. If Ranma remained in female form long
enough, would she menstruate? Has this ever been determined in the series or is
it open for interpretation, anyone know?

i beleive it was best said by Takhashi-sama herself (although this was about
pregnancy it is a related topic),"i don't want to think about it, and neither
should you."

Space was being made in some of the drawers.  Ranma had very little need for
the drawer space, but Kasumi said it was important to start with.

At this point I feel I should say this: It looks like Kasumi is taking HER view
of what a girl should be (a somewhat old-fashioned view...) and forcing it on
Ranma.

again with my point from before.. he has to go with the worst case scenario 
in order to avoid dissapointment... hmmm.. Kasumi is a fatalist... scary...
always thought of her as the eternal optimist (read idiot)

It is a bit strange, that Nabiki is not protesting to the cost of all these
clothes etc., especially when they are by no means necessary.

Nabiki, wel that depends... there's two versions of her in FanFiction...
there's the ruthless (+heartless) bitch who doesn't care about anything but 
money; and also the one who's out to make a quick buck, but also looks out for
her family ( a popular belief is that Nabiki pays the Dojo's bills)

The principal looked at the two students a moment.  "Are you prepared to
participate in class as a girl, Ranma?"

"Yes.  There is a class that boys take that I'm signed up for.  Do I go ahead
and take it?"

"I think we can make an exception for you, this time.  The rest of your
student career will have to be as a girl, though."

I thought Tatewaki Kuno's father was the principal? The guy who talks with the
weird Hawaiiyan accents and laces his words with English speech?

Is the Japanese school system that gender-segregated? I.e. some classes that
only boys can take, some that only girls can take?

"The one that will unlock my curse was destroyed.  The one that will cure me
of my curse is currently out of reach."

"How is it out of your reach?"

"It's in China, somewhere.  I don't have the money to look for it."

Can't Ranma swim to China to go to Jushenkyo, if its that important to him? It
wouldn't cost him anything, just like the first time he went there.

there wouldn't be a series if he bothered to do that.. look at episodes 1
and 18 
of the first series... both times he wanted to go to China.. but both times
he was
guilt tripped out of it.. going to jusenkyo is a cop out that authors don't
want to 
use.. how are you supposed to get character developement if there's always
an easy 
solution? i can hardly think of a fic where juseknyo actually did help anyone..
and if it did, then that was in the story background.. not actually a main plot 
point

Anyway in summary, I think Kasumi is a bit too forceful for her character in
this fiction, even with the circumstances. Ranma is going along with her
attempt to feminize him too easily. Nabiki threatening Ranma just because he
made Kasumi cry (and it looked like it was Kasumi's fault), especially as
strongly as she did might have seemed a bit overdoing it...

a manga Kasumi is a pretty forceful Kasumi ( think of it like akido or tai-chi,
she get's her way through yeilding in the right direction and offering the path 
she wants others to take.. but whne it comes to a situation where she must act
she does what it takes)...hmmm.. i seem to be defending Kasumi.. weird.. she's
my third least favorite character..

Where was Ukyou during all of this? She wasn't mentioned once in all these
chapters. She should be trying to comfort Ranma, being the good friend (and
best cooking/looking/cutest/kindest fiancee he has :). 

ukyo hasn't appeared yet.. although it would be interesting for her to appear 
soon while Ranma's still stuck as a girl..

A brief scene with Kodachi might be nice also.

NO SCENE WITH KODACHI IS NICE!!!!

For future chapters, how about including some scenes from Genma and/or Soun's
point of view? Maybe Genma really IS looking for a cure, by swimming to China
to try to get Nannichuan? He DOES care about Ranma after all, it would be
plausible that he is trying to help Ranma by looking for a cure, even given
Genma's irresponsible personality...then again maybe he is just hiding and
hoping the whole thing will blow over.

this is Genma... he's not hiding.. he's running.. give him a few months to stop
running and then he'll be hiding..

Another interesting point is this, regarding the cat-toungue. This was never
explained in the anime. My logical reasoning is this: To feel that the water is
too hot, Ranma has to touch it. But if he has touched it, wouldn't he have
changed back already? Anyone have a logical explanation for why Ranma did not
change back even when he jumped into the tub of hot water (and promptly
screamed in pain from the heat)?

there is no logical explanation for it..it shouldn't do anything.. but..
it dones't matter cause what's done is done..

BTW i'm prolly gonna be writing lotsa C&C of fics and C&C over ythe next few
days... i came down with pharyngitis (that how ya spell it?) so i'm gonna be
round
the house fer how long.. i guess i should work on some of my fics..i think
it's upto
16 the number i have in production..
i'll be trying to Of Honor Won and Time Lost part 3 (i think i'm at 3) done
2night..
possibly another 10-20k on Illusions don't kill.. actually get into stuff from 
Perfect Blue... possible starts on any number of my other fics, which for
the most part
are mostly in the outline stage.. i'm almost glad i'm sick.. gives me a
chance to get 
all this done.. for thelast three weeks with work (40hrs plus about 7 hrs
overtime) 
and school i've spent all my time at home sleeping so i should (if the
creative juices 
aren't clogged up like my sinuses) be able to get some writing done..