graysont@rigroup.net (RIG NET- Grayson Towler) wrote:

"You want more, Yoiko?"

Is this evidence that Ryouga has developed a sense of humor about
himself and his past?  Cute touch.

Yep.

"'Kay, Daddy. Can we watch Barney dubs now?"

God help us all.

My nieces are to be held responsible for any and all Barney references
in my fics. :)

A pity that Ryouga has lost his tendency towards vendettas by this
point.  "Aarrgh!  Everywhere I go, I hear that accursed song!  Damn
you, Barney, for making my life a living hell!  I swear I'll hunt you down
and make you pay!"  

I can dream, can't I?

Heh. But how can he hurt Barney when dear little Yoiko likes him so
much? Double aaarrgh!!

You probably saw the version of this conversation Alan Harnum did in the
latest "Waters," also.  I like the way you both thought this one through.
It works well within the Tendou Soun mentality.

Yeah, I had to explain this somehow, since both Soun and Genma have seen
Ryoga change. An alternative explanation, of course, would be that Soun
and Genma are idiots. :)

Ever wonder how both his parents ended up with this lousy sense of 
direction?

That IS a very good question -- as is how they still managed to marry
and have a child.

 I have a story idea in mind for an explanation...

Cool, I'll be interested in seeing it.

For some reason, I loved this moment - the way Ranma takes a 
superhuman energy blast, shrugs it off, and continues with the 
conversation... and NEITHER of them find anything odd about it.

Heh. Ranma gets beat on so often by everybody, he just doesn't worry
about it much anymore....

The pig puns are flying fast and furious here.  An amusing take on the
sort of repulsive diaolgue in which young people in love are prone to
engage.  With some effort, I managed to keep from throwing up.

Well, given that this is an Akari story, and that *I* wrote it, ya gotta
expect loads of pig puns.... :)

At least he knew one thing, that Akari wasn't really Ranma in
disguise. He could just imagine Akari taking off a wig and revealing his
nemesis. *Ha! You thought there was someone who loved you? You dope!* He
had been fooled that way too many times.

Ha!  I love it.

Of course, if it had been true, he'd never have guessed it....

I'd need to do a little research to find out if there's any way to
remove your friend's Jusenkyo curse."

	"NO! Er, I'm sorry, but that's not what I mean."

This is a welcome touch.  It's a hint that Akari isn't as saintly as she's so frequently
portrayed in fanfics which use her as Ryouga's love interest.  Part of the reason
she comes across as dull most of the time is because she's presented as being
so ultra-perfect.  

I agree.

"I didn't know you knew any ancient Greek mythology, Akari."

	"Well, I don't know too much. But that story's one I always
liked. Pig-malion."

In the Old West, men were shot dead in the street for making puns
like that.

Just one more reason I'm glad I don't live in the old west... :)

The homing beacon is a very nice idea... but how do you account for
Ryouga's multiple bandannas trick?  Or does that simply get chalked
up to the general Takahashi "pulling stuff out of thin air" business?

My theory about that is that his bandanna was a one-use magical thingy
that he picked up in China. After that one fight with Ranma, it became
an ordinary bandanna. (Note that Azusa was able to take it off him with
no trouble.)

(You know, the real mystery is why anybody thinks that Mousse's 
technique is any big deal at all, given the way that everybody ELSE
does pretty much the same thing at one time or another.)

Heh. You've got a point there....

Was this her way of getting rid of him? Maybe she really didn't want to
marry him at all, and everything she did had just been a joke.

I thought this was a good moment.  Ryouga is still qutie a fatalist, and it
would take him many years to learn to have faith in himself and in Akari.

True. His kind of depression makes it that very difficult.

Kaede the priestess is (sort of) based on a character of the
same name from Inu-Yasha. We'll get to know her better as this series
progresses.

For a moment there, I was worried that she'd "cure" Ryouga's sense of
direction, which would have been rather too convenient.  I should have
known better.  I get the impression that in Takahashi's somewhat wicked
universe, Ryouga would have a real problem holding on to that enchanted
bandanna... but what the hell, the guy has to catch a break SOMEtime.

Yeah. I had to do something to at least partially solve his problem in
order for him to have any sort of family life. I don't see Ryoga
settling down to get married if he knows he'll have to spend most of his
time wandering the countryside. I wanted to do it in a way that
increased the possibilities for future stories instead of diminishing
them.

And perhaps that will be a problem Ryouga encounters in his adventures
during the story?  Who can say?  Well... you can say.  We just have to
wait for you to do so.

Yep, just wait and see.

Looking forward to more...

Thanks for your comments!


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