XXII – And Here We Are [The End] · 11:41pm Dec 14th, 2023
Some of you may have seen this coming, some of you may be surprised, some of you may have seen the edited author's note at the end (which I edited months ago and would have given this all away), but this is the end of Chromatic Aberration. (I'm still gonna be writing tho don't let the "The End" scare you)
This decision was not made lightly. I'm not lying when I say I went through two dozen or so drafts before I finally reached this conclusion. And by the time I had actually come to this conclusion, I still wasn't totally willing to accept it. But I'm not going to let this hit a year without an update, and I think closure from this point would be a lot better than a second part that can't measure up to the first.
This wasn't how it was supposed to end. I had a lot more in store—at least two more arcs, in fact. But after months of trying and trying, I just couldn't seem to fit anything on top of what I'd already built. Everything I've tried to follow it up with just doesn't match up to what's established, and it's getting to the point where thinking about how to continue this story is getting in the way of me writing other things. So, I think it's time to call it.
Honestly, personally, I've grown to be pretty okay with it ending this way. Regardless of how it panned out, I'm still really proud of CA. I still think it's better than my last story, and even if lands with some loose ends, I think it's for the best.
While that might mark the end of the story, it does not mean that's the end of that overall narrative arc. The ideas I've had for the next parts of remained pretty consistent from the beginning, but I feel like the ideas I have for what comes next would fit much better in their own story than stacked on top of what's already there.
If you read any of my other progress blogs, you'll know I intended for chapter 8 to be relatively short so that I could segue into the next parts of the story. That didn't end up working out—I ended up writing up the longest chapter for anything I've ever written in my life, to the point where I had to split it down the middle to keep it from ballooning to an unreasonable 25k word single chapter.
I'm still so proud of that ending, but it was also part of the issue. I'll be totally real: I don't think I could write another climax that would be able to top that one in the same story. No amount of set up would make it all hit as hard as that one. If I had stuck to the plan, I probably would have been able to continue. But I do think it works out better this way. The next part of the arc will have its own room to breathe.
It's not all bad news, though! The epilogue, the first four chapters, and the intermission have all received facelifts along with the new update, so if you wanted to go reread it, there's some better flowing bits here and there in it. Also some amazing fanart at the end of chapter eight part two!
Huge thanks are due to—you guessed it—EileenSaysHi and Nudistsquid for essentially carrying this story. Eileen worked with me from the start, and their editing and suggestions helped immensely in making this story as good as I think it is. NudistSquid started editing for me halfway in, but her contributions cannot be understated. Without either of them, I couldn't have done this.
They are the bestest forever 
And thanks to everyone who read, tracked, fav'd, rated and commented on my story. It still blows me away how much positive reception it's gotten both on here and ao3. Halfway into this story, I made a folder on my hard drive dedicated to storing my favorite comments I received. They've done a lot to motivate me, and to remind me that my brain is lying when it says I'm bad at writing.
I'll drop another blog going over what else I'm up to at a later date, but for now, I think I'll call it here. Thanks again, everyone.
PS: I don't usually reveal this kind of stuff, but the last two chapters are heavily based on a song. This one in particular. You can tell from the lyrics where I got both titles lol
To be honest, I was a little saddened by this announcement, but after some thinking, it does make sense for things to end this way. I know for sure that you have to cut some things out in our stories, or end things there if nothing's motivating it to continue. So I respectfully support your statement. And to say a goodbye to this amazing story:
I understand your reasoning for ending the story in the way you did. Better to end a story on a good night than to stretch it too thin for its own good.
"Glares at The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, and MLP: Friendship is Magic"
Good thing fanfics are not beholden to corporate overlords and/or shareholders.
I completely get the decision you made. Making sacrifices with writing can be hard as I did one myself weeks ago when I went through the first 3 chapters of the book I'm writing. (But that's a completely different subject) Still, I enjoyed the story as it would've fit perfectly in the eqg series. Whatever comes next, I'll be waiting to see it and read it myself.