The concern about the nature of Bell's wish being quite predictable is well taken. But Bell has two wishes.  There seems to be little I could do to 'bury' her childbearing wish further, so it is not so predictable. What I was considering was to really examine the issue of how Bell and K1 could have a child despite the many potential issues of miscegenation. I could 'dummy plot' it with a miracle of Goddess power, but that would be facile...and doubtlessly irritating to a reader like yourself. Or I could combine the two wishes as a vehicle to create a positive result.

Doesn't TBT ignore the maturation that 30 years in feudal Japan, one that would force itself on K1 and crew, especially Cevn? A person with the psychological issues that he has would either buckle under and fall into madness, or grow up and come to terms with the ephemeral state of life and death that we live in and see that in the greater scheme of things, there are atrocities that can happen to people that far outweigh his own, and gain the inner strength to conquer his own fears.  It's  very surprising that you chose to ignore that eventuality. I mean in that time period, there would be very little tolerance of the kinds of foibles that the character exhibits, and for him to actually survive those 30 years would mean he'd have had to be able to overcome his fears and stop hiding under the covers, both literally and figuratively speaking that is.

But there is a major plot device at work that I have deliberately employed to offset the impact of the time travel experience experienced by all three teams. After putting away Isilblius, every character had their memory mindwiped. This means that all traces of Isilblius and his actions have been eliminated from the TBT continuity as it stands, from chapter 56 on. After Ch 56, no one knows about Isilblius, nor can they explain the outcomes of Cevn's conflict with Isilblius (Keiichi's ring, Skuld's advance in age, Mara's new Demon office assignment). This extends to the time-travel episode...as you probably have noted, it is not ever mentioned again by any of the characters. All awareness of the feudal Japan episode has been wiped away in K1 and the others, because Isilblius was the instigator of that crisis and he no longer "exists" in the current storyframe. Thus, the 'ignorance' that you identify is actually deliberately contained in plot, at least from Chapter 56 on.

On one level, TBT examines the gradual shedding of some of the psychological issues of the main characters. In fact, I received an email yesterday from a reader whose opinion was that Cevn's character development was much more believable because it was a process, rather than an event, which is quite common in the plethora of anime fanfics (i.e., Ranma meets Akane...after a couple of conversations with her, they're at the alter ready to take the plunge). 

However, upon rereading and reflecting on your comments, I'm definitely inclined to reconsider the possibility of restructuring the narrative to give greater weight to the impact of the time travel episodes on the characters.  However, duration doesn't necessarily outstrip depth: it is conceivable that Megumi and Sayoko might be far more impacted by their short stay in 2046 than Keiichi and the gang during their 13 years in Ashikaga Japan.

As to the maturation that 13 years in feudal Japan would cause.. K1 is the main one I'd see it altering, he's so passive and shy , the men of the time would do everything they could to break him of it, embarrassing the living daylights out of him in typical rough and tumble male bonding... Cevn can be excused in a few ways, he was gaijin and less likely to have his character differences questioned, but K1 would be expected to fit into the times by other Japanese, that means that even if he was totally faithful to Bell, he'd still be assailed on all sides by people amused by his reticence.  As such, I'd expect a more forceful, brave Keiichi, someone that gained the strength of personality to withstand the crudity of the time.  I'd almost expected that when he saw Bell again after all that time, if he'd been in any condition to, he'd have seized her then and there.. and accosted her for all he was worth.. heh..much to her enjoyment and Skuld's annoyance. I'm actually expecting that sort of reaction when they meet back up again later... but that's just me.

The maturation process is profound for Keiichi, which is something I tried to bring out. One possibility would be to extend the feudal episode in order to provide a canvass for a more explicit character development. Keiichi and Genji have become warriors, Tomohisa is the Lord's "adopted son", and Cevn is less gripped by his neuroses. As for the accosting, I should highlight it...but from Bell's perspective. How would she react to a Keiichi with much more bravado?

I wonder if your distaste for a lack of character maturation during the feudal Japan episode is akin what I term the Coyote Ugly Syndrome. During Coyote Ugly, I got fed up with the storyline...by the time the movie was halfway done, my friends and I were grumbling "If she says she can't sing in front of an audience one more time...I'll fricken scream!" In a similar perspective, Cevn's continued waffling in his fears can be easily become irritating (even as the author, I sometimes find myself grumbling "here we go again" with some of the repetitious character stuff, such as Cevn's sexual fears, Skuld's brattiness, Keiichi's struggle to be confident in his relationship with Belldandy). The "bad taste" you mention may be caused by the "avatar's" remaining mired in his own issues for so long in the story...

He'd have to have learn how to behave in court.  He'd also have had to learn to accept and appreciate the way things worked in that time.  If he didn't.. I could easily have imagined the scandal.  Imagine someone being passed judgment on by K1's lord.. and K1 showing a look of distaste on his face.  He'd be earmarked as a "weak link" in the power structure and a possible, or potential traitor by the court.  The lord would have to make an example of him to maintain his power and show that HE is really in control of his people. Of course, part of all that is being made to understand exactly why things are done the way they are at court.. and that's something K1 would have to be taught.

I really like your idea of K1 being 'trained' by Lord Mori, in an almost military sort of way. In the continuity, he becomes the daimyo's military advisor, so he mustneeds have had experienced the Ashikaga Era version of boot camp. Great idea! The play off against Skuld would add some charm/humor to the 'new Keiichi', at least up to Chap 56. But he returns in Chap 45, so there's plenty of time for that.

Your comments are well met.  In the rewrite of the Time Travel story arc, I have beefed up Keiichi's 'bushido' attitude significantly, and in the following arc, I have forewritten the tension this causes K1, Tomohisa and Cevn when suddenly thrust back into modern Japan.  Reconciling the 14th century and the 21st century deserves more treatment than I have given it.  And yes, it would have been quite fun to have Keiichi react to seeing Bell again for the first time in 13 years...with a burst!  Imagine all the pent-up passions, sexual frustrations (which I noted in the rewrites) and such he must feel.  If he wasn't so weakened from the war of encroachment, he would certainly carry Belldandy off to his bedroom and rip her clothes off a moment later (if he can beat her own efforts to quickly undress...I would imagine in such a situation, Bell would simply 'wish' her clothes away.  Imagine the body heat from that encounter!  And the resultant mega-fit Skuld would have!  The only way I could do this and not tear up the story plot too significantly would be in a dream sequence or in Keiichi's mind (having him envision what he wants to do but can't because of his physical weakness).

To effect the changes that would make TBT more responsive to your criticisms about the impact of the time travel episodes on several characters, I would need to do one of several possible major edits. One edit would involve a strengthening of the emphasis on the personal evolution of the characters as they are in the 14th C. In other words, do a lot of work on character development there...and then continue on with it. Another type of edit would require me to come up with a novel plot vehicle to offset the personal growth gained during the 13 years in the past, so that Cevn's ongoing fears in later chapters can be justified (note: this would mean undoing the 'mindwipe' plotline that already accomplishes this) . Or I could simply background Cevn's fears for the remainder of the story. And if I trim the fears back (after K1 and the gang return to the present) and present Cevn in the state where he's conquered his own fears, then a significant issue arises. In essence, if I were to do this, I would run the risk of creating a 'static' character...not to mention that I would be shedding much of the basis for the internal struggle that allows readers to remain invested in the character.

Again, I am walking a tightrope here...would such a change be too extreme?

As to the Urd spin, well.. that' tricky.. but I'd do something similar....having the characters find out that the Ultimate Force was taking a less direct manifestation in affecting Cevn's mind instead of just putting up force fields to keep Urd and them apart. It was affecting their minds subtly to drive them apart. 

The Urd spin will be totally different than what has been predicted by you and other commentators, should be interesting. One of my writing techniques is to create an obvious bit of foreshadowing, using the obvious bit misdirection. The Bell's baby wish will bring in all sorts of consequences, but I just couldn't treat the issue of progeny as moot, or be mean and have Keiichi marry Bell knowing that she can't have kids (which I might do anyway).

The split between physicality and identity is an important one, from the standpoint that, if K1 and Bell issue offspring, then they are 'technically' K1, since Bell is non-corporeal to a degree. Birth can be interpreted along the lines of cloning...

Consider this, what if the Ultimate Force is what keeps forcing Cevn's fears and insecurities to the surface, while in Feudal Japan.. he was fine.. and it didn't need to cause him grief.. so it left him alone.. and he was fine.. but now, back near Urd...in an effort to keep him and Urd apart, the Ultimate Force starts playing with him neurochemically and mentally. It may also be partly responsible for altering his brain chemistry during the date with Mara to make him more malleable.. sort of like a mystical equivalent of slipping him a mickey... taking away his inhibitions and will to resist, artificially.  That would also explain why Urd is suddenly so ambivalent about it all.. and unwilling to charge in and do something rash to save him (which is actually more in character for her than what she is currently doing)

There is something else altering Cevn's brain chemistry, it's not the UF...but as for the rest of your idea, it's dead on.

This brings us to Bell's wish, and some of the points you raised about the "here we go again factor". There are a couple things to consider about the 3 sisters. Skuld's brattiness may not just be something that she outgrows... perhaps its something that's part of her as a Norn, just like Bell's calmness, or Urd's vivaciousness I surmise that its part of WHAT they are, not who they are. Consider, If they are avatars of aspects of time, perhaps its hardwired into them as to what they are, far more than a person is hardwired to be the way they are neurochemically.

They are created to be aspects of reality, hence it would be not unexpected to assume that the Ultimate Force would obliquely affect them in less than obvious ways to cause them to maintain the status quo in their behavior patterns. Nature tending to seek to achieve equilibrium as it does. Perhaps their individual character traits are an aspect of what they are, just as much as who they are.

As far as your notions for TBT, the Norns traits are fixed, if one goes by the myth. In the Norse tradition, Skuld is the frustrator of Urd and Verdandi, always trying to mess up their woven webworks. I definitely see their traits as hardwired, and I have treated this numerous times in TBT to explain their natures, their interests, etc. And I agree with all you said about them being aspects of reality, which has been my intent for characterization from the start.

Okay, now, how to make Bell's baby wish less obvious... you can't... its just too obvious.. but you can make its effect unexpected. Now, the second wish... which is obviously for Urd to be able to find love, or forgive the Cevn character, or something along those lines. (I anticipate it'd be the dropping of the barrier that keeps her from being able to love someone) same thing there too. But that doesn't mean that you can't do it without having unexpected fun with it.

What if there is a cost for Bell's wish for a child.. for example.. the loss of her Godhead. Now thats something that would make her pause and really take stock of the situation. She gets pregnant.. goodbye goddess powers forever.. or at least so she thinks or assumes.

What happens is that her Goddess powers disappear for that time.. unknown to both her and K1 .. since she is unable to fill the role it falls to her life partner to fill in for her.. and her powers have been transfered to him.. someone totally untrained and without any idea how to use them, and she gets to be the mortal for a while, and also her internal character changes a tad here and there. Of course this is almost a homage to the plotline of Miss Keiichi returns.. but hey.. I loved that.

Of course afterwards, (after delivering the child) her divine status and powers return... but for a while she learns about sacrifice and pain... and even confronts maybe her own selfishness.. as she longs for her powers back...learning that love isn't all sakura petals on the breeze and sweetness and light... and that sometimes its about hard work, and sacrifice for each other.

Bell's second wish has nothing to do with Urd; it is necessary to moderate Bell's first baby wish. So I'm relieved that it isn't as obvious as the first (thank God), which will hopefully add "spin" to Bell's first wish... Yes, there is a possibility that she loses her powers, but in a different way than you mentioned (and yes, I dug Miss Keiichi Returns, so why try and improve on an excellent fanfic plot device?). The lessons I hope she learns are indeed along the lines of what you mentioned.

Oh yes, and as to the aging issue for K1.. remember the wording of the wish. The translation from the Manga is for her to be able to stay with him always.. or forever..

Obviously, like any fanfiction, TBT requires one to suspend their sense of realism. There are subtle juxtapositions in some of the characters (Skuld's ongoing pendulum of liking/disliking Keiichi, for one). A lot of people haven't caught on to the significant impact of the "cleansing" of everyone's memories regarding the Isilblius Incident. A number of the storyarcs are completely implausible (Keiichi winning the Le Mans has been picked on by several readers as being Disneyesque in it's degree of unbeleivability)...but my defense is that TBT needs "rah-rah-rah" sometimes, in keeping with Fujishima's AMS canon. Cevn's stint during his conflict with Isilblius is a stretch...how could a character who experience billions of years of life-experience battling the Ultimate Demon wind up with anything less than omniscience...(which sorta forced the mindwipe plot device in the next chapter). Finally, I struggle most often with "when to make Belldandy a mortal and when to make her a Goddess". As a Goddess, Belldandy could practically do anything...yet I have to render her capable of a full range of emotions and reactions...which often requires her to experience powerlessness over certain situations; a powerlessness that would be more believable if she was a full mortal. Another problem is that I plotted TBT to finish in 50 chapters...but it looks like 80 chapters will be the finished length (I have one more story arc and an epilogist arc in the works).