At 09:57 PM 2/16/99 PST, Ridgewolfe . wrote:

On one hand, that's good, becuase I want to see what's going to happen
and I get to read it and stuff. I like that. That makes me happy. Well,
keeps me happy, at any rate, because I'm a very happy kinda guy. Always
laughing and giggling and stuff, even around knives and chainsaws 

and...

yes, well, at any rate I'm not one to suffer bouts of depression, 

suffice

it to say.

No, we can clearly see that it's not depression that you are suffering 
from... ;)

Well, at least I enjoy my dementia, and that's the important thing,
right? ^_^

On the other hand though, once it ends, what then? No more parts to 

read,

that's what! It's done, finish, kaput, khattam-shud! I like reading
Hearts of Ice. I like seeing each new part coming out and reading them.
I think that it is a good thing, doing that. Now once HoI is done, I 

won't

be able to do that. I don't like that. It is not something which will
keep me happy. 

Do you see my dilemma? ^_^

Oh yes, most definately... To be honest, I agree That this is one of the 
best series out there on the net.  But in all fairness to Krista-Chan, I 
have to say it's something of a surprise as well that it has gone for so 
long.  Now before that gets taken the wrong way let me explain.  
Thoughtout the series She has done a wonderful job of keeping the story 
moving in a concise manner, with detail to how the characters have 
reacted and pertraying them in a entertaining manner that shows their 
development.  Congradulations on doing so.

However, that type of creative effort is Very draining, as many of you 
know.  This is one of the reasons (As I have to hear from my brother) 
that artists and writers for the big comic book companies are always 
jumping around.  They loose their creative energy for a series and need 
to do something hifferent, in order to recharge themselves.  I admit, 
I'm as antious as the next fan-boy to see how this turns out. Will Ranma 
come back to life?  Will Colonge get her clock cleaned? this and many 
other questions come to mind.  but this has Got to be a project that 
when it's finished will cause Krista-chan to fall back in a chair and 
breath a big sigh of releif.  

I know exactly what that is like. Usually I can't work on anything
for a little while after I release something, a bit of a refractory
period or something, I suppose. Larger things would most likely
require a longer rest period. An epic (and HoI truly does fit in the
definitions of an epic in more than just length) would be a very
draining thing, I would think. I would not know from personal
experience though-- I have not written an epic. That particular
form does not call to me; I have no desire to write one. Read?
that's a different story, but then I often enjoy stories and
story-types that I myself do not feel the need to write. There
are themes and characterisations not really used or explored
in my stories and yet I find I am absolutely fascinated by and
cannot get enough of. But I don't write them, do I? Strange, eh?
	I wonder now if I could do it, write an epic or mock epic.
In my hubris, I'm starting to think that I could potentially
imitate another's style (ah, Philip K. Dick, you spirit must
be guiding me-- now if only you'd lend me your talent as well)....
I'll stop this line of thought before I refuse to move from where
I am so that the ideas stop getting broadcast to me from VALIS....
	I wonder how many others find this happening to them.
(just remember if you're going to reply to just this little bit,
saying "Oh yes, I do" or "Nah, just you, ya looney S.O.B." that
it really is not necessary to litter the List with it and could
quite easily and more efficiently be sent to myself, who could 
tabulate the results and keep an eye on those who respond....)

However, Think of this:  if she can create a series such as Hearts of 
Ice, and if I'm not mistaken, wasn't it like her first attempt at a 
fanfic?  then what else shall she be able to create?  and, with all the 
changes that she had created, mightit not be possible that there will be 
a look at how a 23 year old Akane will fit in to Nerima now?  can we say 
culture shock?  can we say displacement disorder?  can we say... say... 
SEQUEL???? ;)

Hmmm, sequel? Some things... a sequel might ruin them, do you not think?
I usually don't plan a sequel, or even plan for a sequel-- one might
happen if I get a suitable idea, if there was something I do not think
I fully addressed, but otherwise? not really. 

My point, the spirit of my message, was that a) HoI=splendiferous series.
Me likes it, you betcha (yes, I really like writing Wicked Tribe dialogue,
how'd you guess?) ^_^ and b) that there will be a mixture of joy and
sadness when it is done, _because_ it is done. Don't you find that many
of the best stories are like that? The end gives you this nigh indescribable
and uncontainable feeling which you can't quite figure out? Somewhere
between flying and falling, something so sweet and so tasty it is almost
unbearable? They leave you wondering what is going to happen afterwards, but
end it well enough that they do not need a sequel-- indeed a sequel would
ruin that feeling. 
	That's what I'm talking about, but not quite. I am inconcise and
vague and am not quite conveying what I mean properly except perhaps to
those others who have felt the same feeling before.

Matthew Lewis is:
	Matt on IRC
	Sojiro_Seta on Kawaiimuck
	maybeso@ican.net
	a casualty of causality
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	"Khattam-Shud," he said slowly, "is the Arch-Enemy
of all Stories, even of Language itself. He is the Prince of
Silence and the Foe of Speech. And because everything ends,
because dreams end, stories end, life ends, at the finish
of everything we use his name. 'It's finished,' we tell one
another, 'it's over. Khattam-Shud: The End.'"

	-excerpted from Haroun and the Sea of Stories,
		by Salman Rushdie
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