At 10:41 PM 2/15/99 -0800, Krista Perry wrote:
<Oh, come on, you've read it by now, and if you haven't, why not?
What would the point of reading this message if you haven't?>

 Actually, for some reason, my stupid mail program stopped about 
halfway in the middle of the story, so I think it's time to make a trip 
to the web site. 

I ought to make one too.

<waves>  Hi again, Krista-san!  

 And I haven't read it for the same reason I don't read a lot of other 
fics-- time (although I suppose getting past the first chapter would be 
a nice thing to do first, as it didn't grab me, but you know that 
already, don't you?). 

Never stop with the first chapter of a series.  At least the first five 
is usually safe. 
<shrug>  I really didn't like the first three chapters of WuE-as Alan 
Harnum could most certainly tell you-but now I'm as huge a fan of the 
series as anyone.

And now, I would like to address a little problem, to note a little
quandry I am in. You see, Hearts of Ice is coming to an end, right?
I don't know whether I should be happy or not.

 Be happy. 

In a way, yes, for therein will be the final sense of completeness...and 
a good excuse to go back and reread it all. ;p

(Of course, you ARE making the assumption that Krista is EVER going to 
finish it, as opposed to pumping out cliffhanger after cliffhanger for 
all eternity. ;p)

Let me explain, let me explain.

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.

 Pain lets us know we're alive. It's worse to suffer alone (watch as I 
go into a life rant-- probably been watching Saber Marionette J too 
much). 

Tarou could tell you about that. ;p

On the other hand though, once it ends, what then? 

 This is the exact same thing that happened at the end of Babylon 5, 
and SHOULD happen for EVERY good story: you have to ask, "NOW what?" 
 If you get there, then it's a job well done (IMO, of course)-- it 
means you care enough about the story and the characters to wonder what 
happens to them afterward, etc. 

Naturally...which, for many people, HoI has achieved.  Hell, I even care 
about what happens to RANMA...and that's not easy to do.

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. 

 Happiness is finding a pencil, sausage on pizza.... *SWAP!* 
 I might be utterly selfish by saying this, but I'll be HAPPY when 

it's 

over. Why? It's getting high time to pass the torch, I think, for the 
next great story (I won't be selfish to say that it's mine, but it's 

I kinda see what you're saying here...but I don't think it works that 
smoothly, really.  WuE is about as big as HoI was, and the two of them 
have overlapped.  And I agree, HaM also seems to be shaping to be 
popular and influential.  But, OTOH, DnR retains a high popularity, so 
it's not so much sucession as adding to the richness of fanfic (not to 
mention the number of acronyms ^^;;;).

more likely Gary Kleppe's, which is only JUST starting, but already 
people are making a big deal about it-- you can tell me my prediction 

is 

wrong after the story's over, but not before). Everyone and their 
third-removed cousins probably know of Hearts of Ice by name. But, it's 

Methinks the man doth exaggerate just a tad. ;p

not the ONLY story there is. Everyone has a story to tell, a tale to 

And it has not remained so.  HoI has never stopped any other fanfic from 
gaining popularity, nor has it become the standard by which other 
fanfics are judged.

pass. Just because Tolkien stopped writing in Middle Earth doesn't mean 
it's all over-- the impact of the great story is obvious as it 
influences its successors (even Babylon 5, itself a great story). All 
good things must come to an end. 

Quite.  Altho not necessarily anytime soon.

 (I say all this fully knowing that I've never read Hearts of Ice in 
its entirety (just chapters 1 and 20... odd, no? Which must make me a 
real moron), any of Tolkien's stories, or Hearts and Minds-- but impact 
is there.)

This is true.  HoI definitely had an impact, an influence, about the way 
people looked at certain characters and certain genre of fanfic...a 
larger one than most. But it was a POSITIVE impact, entirely.

 The wheel continues to spin, the pendulum swings. And time flows like 
a river. 

Do you see my dilemma? ^_^

 Fear of change? The end of an era? 

			--Waiting for part 22, Krista, but don't rush, never rush.
				Rushing won't make it better, and a bit of a wait
				just makes the next part all the more delectable. ^_^

 Delectable? 

Darn straight.  Deeeeeeeelectable. ;p



Blade
********
World's #1 Fanboy of Ukyou Kuonji, Pantyhose Tarou, Kiima, Toguro Ani, 
Alys Brangwin, Ibuki Yagami, Vega, Mian Toris, Sessho-maru, Brad 
Kilsten, and that psycho soldier with the glasses in Windaria. ;p

"All I wanted to do was kill a few people, maybe a little torture on the 
side!  Was that too much to ask?"-Toguro Ani


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