[If your reply is beneath another's, it's a reply to that comment directly above.]
Is that why this system sometimes includes a quote and other times doesn't?  I didn't know that was the logic involved.  That's one of the reasons why I almost always include a direct quote or some indicator (like "Kon") of who I'm replying to.
Usually I also rely on email notifications that someone is replying to one of my comments but I accidentally turned it off (hit unsubscribe in an email).  I thought I turned them back on but I guess the settings linked in the email is different from the settings linked to the profile.