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Game Over. Play Again?

> "Hey," said Ranma, and she felt one of his hands reach up and gently
> stroke her hair, almost timidly. "I promised, and I always keep my
> promises."
>
> She smiled. "With such proof as this, how could I ever doubt you again?"

Fanfic authors: Easily?

:P

> Akane burst out laughing, tears streaming down her face. The laughter
> felt glorious, cleansing, and Akane felt the fears and worries of the
> last five years sloughing from her like an old skin. She felt as new and
> renewed as Ranma was in physical reality.

It almost reminds me of the manga ending, except instead of Akane
rehydrating herself through water, Ranma's resurrecting himself
through fire. What a nice coincidence.

> She turned and looked at her friends. Ryoga, Ukyo and Shampoo were

Suggest: Ukyo and --> Ukyo, and

> stoic in the face of what had just happened before his eyes. Nabiki...
> she was grinning like a little kid on Santa Day.

(scratches head) That's what they call Christmas in Japan? Santa Day?

> But Ryoga just shook his head, looked at Akane, then gave him a half
> smile. "You came back from the dead for her, Ranma. What more is there
> to say?"

Hmm. I wonder if he's depressed enough to create another Grand Canyon...

> Kuno soberly gazed at him. "My congratulations on your successful return
> from the dead, Saotome," he said, then bowed. "At this time, I would
> like to offer my deepest apologies for my...."
>
> There was a lot more that Kuno said after that, in extreme flowery
> language, but Ranma was too stunned to process it properly. When Kuno
> finished, Ranma blinked, and said, "Yeah, okay.... thanks. No problem."

That seems like the most IC Kuno could possibly get given the
circumstances he went through and the change that happened to him. I'm
not sure where this parody of "The Stoic" will go from here, but at
least he's conceivably acting like himself. Sorta.

> "I, uh, kinda need to get dressed."
>
> Akane snorted a laugh, and released his hand. "Go. Get dressed," she
> said. "But hurry back."

(briefly wonders if Akane has turned Kikyo-like in appearance). Hmmm.
Now that's something.

> And Ranma hurried out of the clearing and dressed, marveling at the
> change in Akane, and the change in himself. He thought about the day he
> first met Akane. How she had walked in on him in the bath, and all the
> chaos that had ensued. Had it only been a little over a year ago?

It's been forever considering that the hottest seiyuu on the planet
today--Aya Hirano--was born on the year that Ranma 1/2 debuted.

> Far longer for Akane, he realized.

Far longer for other people as well. :P

> Akane smiled. "Yes, Ranma?"
>
> He took a deep breath. "I... really want to kiss you."

Well, that's an un-Japanese thing to say. Thought you'd go for
something more subtle.

> Akane kissed him back quite thoroughly. It was a kiss with tears mingled
> with smiles, awkward starts and re-starts, but then they both quickly
> started getting the hang of it.
>
> "Woo-hoo!" shouted Nabiki, somewhere off in the distance. "Go Akane!"

(insert groan here)

> "About time, Saotome!" yelled Ryoga.

...as he charges up a Shishi Hoku Dan that will end the world.

> After, Ranma rested his forehead against hers. "I waited too long," he
> said. "I should have done this a long time ago."

On the bright side, it was you who died instead of Akane almost dying
to get this scenario to happen. That's because you're so proactive and
all, Ranma.

> Akane shook her head, reaching up to wipe the tears from his face and
> her own. "Let's not regret, Ranma. I spent too much time the past five
> years wishing I could have done things differently. But now here we are.
> Let's just go from here."
>
> "I love you, Akane," said Ranma.
>
> Akane choked out a laugh that was half sob. "I thought I'd never hear
> you say those words to me."
>
> "Then I'll say it again," said Ranma. He had faced and defeated demons,
> gods, and his own worst nightmares, all for this. "I love you. And I
> promise you this, Akane. I will love you forever."
>
> Akane believed him.

So there's their happy ending. It doesn't have the same impact as an
"I don't give a damn," speech, but it's the ending the legions of HoI
readers have been clamoring for. No point in making this a pointless
"Shooting the Shaggy Dog" story, after all.

> Next:
> Epilogue: In which some loose ends are tied up, and the rest is left to
> the imagination.

As things should be, as illustrated by how Grayson Towler ended his
own epic "Relentless" (Kimagure Orange Ryoga, was it? :P) Wow, I'm
loving the current precedent of authors finally giving endings to
their fics. Congratulations, Ms. Krista Fisk nee Perry! Your fic's not
a Dead fic (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadFic)
anymore! ^_^

...Well, how about it, Mr. Louis-Philippe Giroux? Will Lines of
Destiny finally get the ending it deserves? (actually, considering
that it was left in the middle of writing, I'd much rather see it
continued more than anything else; it'd be interesting to see how
Phoenix gives a new twist to the fanon cliches his fic helped bring
about in Anime Xover fandom :D)

More likely, Sailor Moon 4200 will be next fic to end soon, provided
that a decade's time is considered "soon". ^^; I kid, I kid. Good luck
with the next few chapters of SM 4200, Mr. Angus MacSpon. I for one
would like to see the classic "Self-Extraction" improfanfic finally
get done. You just can't get any better meta than Self-Extraction,
IMO. ^.^

At any rate, Broken Grammar Rules, yo!

Grammar Rule #21: Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary.
Parenthetical words, however, should be enclosed in commas.
Grammar Rule #84: When comparing a one-syllable adjective, add "-er"
or "-est" to the end of it. Do not use "more" or "most", which is
reserved for two-syllable adjectives.

...That's about right. It was well-written up to the grammar fixes.
Well done on this regard, even though there were quite a lot of
hitches when it came to commas.

> Author's note:
> Honestly, what is there to say at this point? No clue. I'm brain-fried.

Well, I do have something to say about this. Lots, in fact. :P

First off, this is the brief review I gave you in your fanfiction.net accou=
nt:

"For me, the end is kind of anti-climactic, but then again it's really
hard the middle and near end portions of this epic. I'll wait for the
epilogue and see what you've got planned from here on end.

"Like many other reviewers here, HoI was what got me into fan fiction
and even the FFML. Like them, I'll be looking forward to your next
works.

"Was it worth the wait? Sure. Was it the best ending ever? No. Was the
end cathartic? Yeah. Is Hearts of Ice one of the best fanfics ever
made? Hell yeah."

My review sounds kind of jerkass-y, right? Well, let me clarify my
position before I look any more like I'm part of an unpleasable
fanbase. (ahem) I'll give this chapter the benefit of the doubt
because you were only giving the fans what they've been asking for,
begging, rudely demanding, and whatnot for a decade: Closure.

Fans: Finish Hearts of Ice!

Krista: (busy with "life"-type stuff)

A decade later...

Krista: (writes final chapter)

Some fans: Didn't you kind of rush things? That ending didn't live up
to the rest of the series etc.

Other fans: Greatest thing ever, OMG!

On one hand, I'm kind of glad it's over and it wasn't done in, like,
ten chapters or so to finish. I mean, did everyone see what happened
to Inuyasha or Dragonball? I mean, sure, they both made a ton of money
for those two uber-rich mangaka, but it was at the cost of story
cohesion, filler-like episodes _in the manga_, and plot points that
drag on, and on, and on. So yeah, I'm sort of glad you didn't take the
drag-on ball zzzzzz route to finishing your epic fic. On the other
hand...


***


(WARNING: Soapbox that could get me flamed or cajoled into Internet
debates the HoI Fanatics ahead. Feel free to skip, especially if you
read the first few lines and think that the criticism here is
unwarranted and too opinionated to be used positively)

Okay, here's the reason why I'm not quite satisfied with this ending.
I sort of skimmed Joseph Palmer's feedback of this chapter, and it had
me thinking. Overall, even without this cathartic ending, HoI remains
a masterpiece among fanfics. Then again, the way it handled Ranma's
eventual resurrection, I'm sorry to say, is quite deux ex machina-ish.
How so? Well, it seemed (not necessarily true, but it did _seem_) that
the crazy phoenix/suzaku with the pillar of fire and everything was a
painfully obvious plot device specifically created to bring Ranma back
to life, and nothing more. The God machine that easily fixes your
problems, death included.

I can't help but ponder whether or not this easy death and
resurrection (okay, not that easy, but it seems that Ranma got one
free "You get your life back" card for killing the Shadowcat) thing
was necessary to the plot. It left a dramatic imprint and a wonderful
cliffhanger some ten years or so ago, but afterwards, they got a
phoenix and had him resurrected.

Um, what? So what this fic is basically saying is that only spirits
with beastly qualities to their soul (a la Wolverine or Sabretooth)
have a chance at resurrection? Oh, and they have to please an
irritable phoenix to boot by killing some cat too. It's like the
circumstances that lead to Ranma's death has a convenient undo button
attached to them, which is kind of the very definition of a deux ex
machina in the first place. It also feels like the pasted on
resurrection of Optimus Prime in the final episodes of Transformers.
Or a Disney movie where characters who aren't the fathers or mothers
of the protagonist die. I kind of expected better from HoI, especially
considering the cliches that it has subverted in the past.

It also begs the question, was the death even necessary if it could be
undone in two chapters or so? Yeah, the chapters took about a decade
to write, but the way the chapter zipped through Ranma's death kind of
cheapens its initial impact (the same way most Disney deaths usually
does).

I mean, if a mere few hours or so of traipsing across the afterlife
was all Ranma got after dying, then wouldn't that be too convenient
for him? He already went through hell before getting into hell,
granted, but the unfortunate implications of this fic's treatment of
Ranma's resurrection (you can go back to life if you want it bad
enough and it's for the sake of a loved one) leaves me feeling
unsatisfied for some reason.

IMO, being able to explore what it is in Ranma and Akane that lets
them defy fate, destiny, and even death in order to be together would
have made this ending infinitely better.

(/Soapbox)


***


Now that I got my nitpicking fanboy rants out of my chest, let me say
this. The latter part of my FFN Review states that the ending was
worth the wait, and the end was cathartic. And okay ending or no,
Hearts of Ice remains one of the best, if not the best Ranma fanfic
ever made. Few can even compare to it, and now it has the added
advantage of actually being finished. That's certainly worth
celebrating about.

The fleshing out of common archetypal characters like Cologne and
Shampoo, the interesting twists and turns in the plot that left
readers begging for more (the part where everyone forgot who Akane is
and the further development of the Takahashi plot bunny of Nekoken
care of the Shadowcat are among the highlights), your mastery of
showing the action in all its visual glory in the mind's eye of the
readers without being to tell-y about it, and the genuinely touching
moments like Kuno whistling, Nabiki being the only person Ranma could
count on during the time Cologne and Shampoo were gaining headway upon
the situation were all a pleasure to read about.

Now granted, the seeming focus that the fic had over Yuki-onna
eventually "melted away" as the Ranma "Save Akane Quest" went
underway, but Akane's development and improvement as a martial artist
was also quite a great read. The use of Japanese mythologies as a
backdrop for the fic was wonderful, and the many tropes you've
subverted (the amount of "It's impossible!" rants--or lack
thereof--from Shadowcat when Ranma was able to fight off his influence
was a particularly good "Hell yeah!" moment for both the unflappable
villain and the protagonist with an unstoppable heroic resolve). There
are many other wonderful "Crowning Moments of Awesome" in this fic
that I've either missed or don't consider as awesome but many others
do. Bottom line, it's a great fanfic recommendation for anyone.

It's a well-developed read, and a great blueprint of a fanfic that has
lived up to its utmost potential. It shows just how good a fanfic
(which was mainly viewed as wish fulfillment pieces with zero
originality) can possibly be, and what it become overall is indeed
quite amazing. I really can't say anything more about HoI as a fanfic
that hasn't already been said before in the height of this series'
popularity and even during its nadir when there was nary an update for
it. It's simply the best a fanfic could ever hope to be, and that's
saying a lot considering all the other fanfic masterpieces (the 1% not
covered by Sturgeon's Law) out there. So even though readers didn't
get an epic ending a la Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann or the Flame of
Recca manga, I will still say this: Well done, Mrs. Fisk. Well done.
I'm looking forward to the epilogue as well as to your other
unfinished fics like the Detective Conan one, the Dream Eater one, and
finally the Snow Raven one. All of them are intriguing in their own
right.

Keep on writing,
Abdiel

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