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Every Heart: Notes for Chapter 23
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Link to FF.net
This is quite the exciting chapter to post -- finally, we have reached the end of the story! Wow! I can hardly believe I'm here...
I've been thinking about this chapter since I released the last one. I knew the basic plot elements, but again I struggled with the order in which I wanted to present them. I'm still not totally satisfied with the battle -- I wish I could've utilized all of the characters I've spent the entire length of the story developing -- but, I fear, this is my major shortcoming. I just suck at planning battles! I'm much better with the internal emotional/psychological struggle than with the down and dirty action.
But, it's the effort that counts, right?
So, in this chapter, the battle is finally fought in earnest, and it ends with a few surprises. If you read my Author's Notes for Chapter 21, you should've seen that 'death' coming from a mile away! Why did I pick on Miroku? Because, technically, he's the weakest of them all now, without the curse of the wind tunnel. He can hold his own, but I think he'd be the first to fall in battle, simply because I doesn't have extraordinary powers or skills anyrmore.
Having Sesshoumaru revive him -- besides being one of those WTF acts that Sesshy does every so often -- was also a way of wrapping up the Sesshoumaru/Sango tension, when she almost killed Rin during the battle with Naraku. That was his reasoning, besides the absolute world-weariness he expresses following the final explosion of youki power.
Him giving Snegura the mokomoko is also significant, in that it is the same action as Inuyasha giving Kagome his robe -- to brand her as his. It was Sesshoumaru's way of accepting her as his mate, his equal. This will be an important part in the sequel (if I ever get around to plotting that one!).
Let's see...what else? Kagome's sealing power is finally used (yay!), though it may have been overused, considering it shattered the jewel. That was also in the original plan; hopefully it doesn't seem too cliche, especially considering it survived Naraku's destruction. But, the whole point of this story is that the jewel still had something to give to Kagome, a power that is exclusive to true mikos -- that of the seal. Now that she has learned everything she needs to, the jewel ceases to exist: she has the same sorts of powers that Midoriko had, even if she can't use them to their full extent quite yet.
There will be one more chapter of this story, more of an epilogue of sorts, to tie up the loose ends and introduce one of the dilemmas I hope to explore in the sequel to this piece.
I just can't believe I've (almost) completely finished a story, and one on this scale! I'm quite proud of myself!! I can certainly understand why some authors just keep extending their stories until they have 50, 70, almost 100 chapters...it's addicting! Writing a multi-chapter fic is so different from writing a oneshot or standalone short piece. There are so many directions you can take a multi-faceted plot, and it's so tempting to finish one storyline and immediately dovetail another one into it. I am resisting this urge as best I can; my original 'outline' for this story is complete, and thus its time to say goodbye to it. I still have this universe to play in, but I think 24 chapters will be quite enough to contain this extraordinary story :)
So -- a preemptive thanks to all my readers & reviewers. There will be a special something in the last chapter just for you guys :)
Link to FF.net
This is quite the exciting chapter to post -- finally, we have reached the end of the story! Wow! I can hardly believe I'm here...
I've been thinking about this chapter since I released the last one. I knew the basic plot elements, but again I struggled with the order in which I wanted to present them. I'm still not totally satisfied with the battle -- I wish I could've utilized all of the characters I've spent the entire length of the story developing -- but, I fear, this is my major shortcoming. I just suck at planning battles! I'm much better with the internal emotional/psychological struggle than with the down and dirty action.
But, it's the effort that counts, right?
So, in this chapter, the battle is finally fought in earnest, and it ends with a few surprises. If you read my Author's Notes for Chapter 21, you should've seen that 'death' coming from a mile away! Why did I pick on Miroku? Because, technically, he's the weakest of them all now, without the curse of the wind tunnel. He can hold his own, but I think he'd be the first to fall in battle, simply because I doesn't have extraordinary powers or skills anyrmore.
Having Sesshoumaru revive him -- besides being one of those WTF acts that Sesshy does every so often -- was also a way of wrapping up the Sesshoumaru/Sango tension, when she almost killed Rin during the battle with Naraku. That was his reasoning, besides the absolute world-weariness he expresses following the final explosion of youki power.
Him giving Snegura the mokomoko is also significant, in that it is the same action as Inuyasha giving Kagome his robe -- to brand her as his. It was Sesshoumaru's way of accepting her as his mate, his equal. This will be an important part in the sequel (if I ever get around to plotting that one!).
Let's see...what else? Kagome's sealing power is finally used (yay!), though it may have been overused, considering it shattered the jewel. That was also in the original plan; hopefully it doesn't seem too cliche, especially considering it survived Naraku's destruction. But, the whole point of this story is that the jewel still had something to give to Kagome, a power that is exclusive to true mikos -- that of the seal. Now that she has learned everything she needs to, the jewel ceases to exist: she has the same sorts of powers that Midoriko had, even if she can't use them to their full extent quite yet.
There will be one more chapter of this story, more of an epilogue of sorts, to tie up the loose ends and introduce one of the dilemmas I hope to explore in the sequel to this piece.
I just can't believe I've (almost) completely finished a story, and one on this scale! I'm quite proud of myself!! I can certainly understand why some authors just keep extending their stories until they have 50, 70, almost 100 chapters...it's addicting! Writing a multi-chapter fic is so different from writing a oneshot or standalone short piece. There are so many directions you can take a multi-faceted plot, and it's so tempting to finish one storyline and immediately dovetail another one into it. I am resisting this urge as best I can; my original 'outline' for this story is complete, and thus its time to say goodbye to it. I still have this universe to play in, but I think 24 chapters will be quite enough to contain this extraordinary story :)
So -- a preemptive thanks to all my readers & reviewers. There will be a special something in the last chapter just for you guys :)
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All the best,
Langus
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I'm actually not as devoted to this story as I have been to some of the others I've left unfinished in my past -- those (originals) are with characters I could never say goodbye to. I was shocked, in my own mind, at how attached to them I'd become...but then, I labored on that project for something like five years. That's when it's definitely tough to part ways!
With this, though, I guess because I can feel a plotline of the sequel, I'm not really saying goodbye to this universe forever, so its a bit easier to take :) I'm not sure how many readers will follow me after Every Heart is completed (and I'll miss that, consistent reviewers!), but there's nothing I can do to control that except continue to write and hope for the best, haha.
This is definitely the first story in a long while that I've finished, so I'm definitely taking some pride in that. It's been a bumpy road, but it's been a lot of fun. There's something about seeing a piece through to the end that's reward in and of itself :) Having it nominated for an IYFG award was so much icing on the cake!!
As for the fight scene...I'm pretty proud of it, actually, considering how complicated it could've been. You can only write from one perspective at a time, but hopefully the threads are clear enough to follow. I'm not anticipating any battles in the sequel, but I'm sure its not the last scene I'll ever write in this vein.