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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Karl Low <kwil@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: The Last Train Home
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 09:32:02 -0700
Ditto what K.D. said.

I'd also like to add, "Say it ain't so!"

I *like* Haze. No offense intended to anybody else, but Haze always struck me
as one of the most "real" characters posted onto Tk, including my own. Maybe
it's that we get to see inside his head, maybe it's that -- for all his
strength -- there's some telling vulnerabilities inside. Who knows, maybe it's
just that I've got a soft-spot for bad-asses that don't have it all under
control.

The point is, I really like Haze, and always look forward to Frank's posts.
I'm hoping that, even if Haze truly is gone, we'll still get to see more of
Frank's writing on here.

But Haze dead?
Gone?
Even if it was an awesome exit scene...
"Say it ain't so!"

-Karl
Message no. 2
From: Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: The Last Train Home
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 21:29:07 -0800
On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, Karl Low wrote:

>
> I *like* Haze. No offense intended to anybody else, but Haze always
> struck me as one of the most "real" characters posted onto Tk, including
> my own. Maybe it's that we get to see inside his head, maybe it's that
> -- for all his strength -- there's some telling vulnerabilities inside.

<<SNIP>>

> But Haze dead?
> Gone?
> Even if it was an awesome exit scene...
> "Say it ain't so!"

On the contrary, actually, I'll have a lot more respect for Frank and his
character Haze if Haze does stay on the other side of the great beyond.
Haze has already cheated Death once, twice and you start hearing echoes of
that infamous phrase "Dead as a Marvel mutant." Character death is
something that happens and _should_ happen. Shadowrunning is supposed to
be a dangerous business. Hopefully it happens for some purpose, it seems
to do so here: Haze was living on borrowed time as it was, and was
burning his candle at both ends--as well as the middle.

For him to survive much longer would do a disservice to the character (I'm
kinda surprised he made it _this_ far). You can't have a "real" character
that isn't vulnerable, and you can't have a vulnerable character without
them getting hurt. It is a tribute to a well-conceived character that
other writers are upset that they are gone, but just the same, I'll throw
my voice in with those that appreciate a good ending as much as, if not
more than, a good beginning. And for a good ending that respected the
character, _all_ of that character, good and bad, my hat's off to ya
Frank.

--My two yen

Jeff
Message no. 3
From: Karl Low <kwil@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: The Last Train Home
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 10:09:28 -0700
I said:
>> But Haze dead?
>> Gone?
>> Even if it was an awesome exit scene...
>> "Say it ain't so!"


Mach said: ...

>Character death is something that happens and _should_ happen. ...
>Hopefully it happens for some purpose, it seems
>to do so here: Haze was living on borrowed time as it was, and was
>burning his candle at both ends--as well as the middle.
>
>For him to survive much longer would do a disservice to the character ...
>You can't have a "real" character that isn't vulnerable, and you can't
>have a vulnerable character without them getting hurt. It is a tribute to
>a well-conceived character that other writers are upset that they are
>gone ...
> Jeff


Actually, I can't help but agree with you, Jeff. Character death probably
doesn't happen near as often as it "should" given some of the situations that
we see them get into. But I simply had to voice my feelings on seeing one of
my favorite characters go.

Of course, then Paul mentioned "Children of Haze" which got me thinking..
but I don't think I have the available time, nor the ability, to do such a
thing justice.

Karl

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about The Last Train Home, you may also be interested in:

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Thwap!