#i don't think oafc's ending is as set up as i want because it is so long and i figured out and changed some things in the writing

[aparticularbandit]

I think

If I finish the chapter I'm in

That might be the last chapter?

And then the epilogue

And the Nagito chapters?

Maybe?

Maybe?????

[aparticularbandit]

i'm. overwhelmed is not the right word, but it's close to it, maybe.

because oaei is not short. i'm not going to pretend that it is.

but when i started oafc, the idea was for it to be roughly the same size. for them to be two halves of one whole.

and i'm nearly 55k in and it's nowhere near to. i'm eighteen chapters (and a prologue) in and it's nowhere near to.

there are so many more memories ryoko has and should recover.

she has more time to spend with the remnants as a group (she hasn't even met all of them yet, which is probably fine).

i haven't even gotten to junko meeting them in her memories or how she got them on her side or any of the things she did for that.

i still have the yasuke reveal (which is its own arc).

i still need to get back to kyoko.

intimidated is the word i was trying to think of.

there's just so much, y'all, and there's so much left to go, and i want to write it, and i'm excited to write it, and i know my end point and i'm writing towards that end point, and i know to let the story be as long as it needs to be to say what it wants to say.

but i think for me the rough part is constantly comparing it to oaei.

which is supposed to be the first half.

and is. not. half. of this story.

and i don't want what oaei is or sets up to get swallowed by what oafc is turning out to be.

because oaei is a very intentionally crafted enogiri fic.

and oafc is not that.

oafc is a okay, now it's time to talk about junko fic. and i feel like oaei sets the duology up as an enogiri series, and it's not.

the thin line duology is a junko duology. it is about junko. the enogiri is developed in oaei because it serves a purpose, because it is necessary to what junko is doing, and while it is the bulk of oaei, it's not the bulk of the duology.

the duology is about. junko.

and in that sense, they are two halves, even if one is longer than the other.

i just.

oafc was going to be the ryoko/mikan fic and i got here and it's actually so much more than that.

and that's not bad.

...i'm just running into the same issue of the later installment(s) is so much bigger than the earlier installment(s).

this happened with the soulmate timer au (yes, i have the fourth fic roughed out; yes, it's been roughed out for literal years at this point; yes, the fourth fic is just as if not longer than the other three fics put together, and each of those fics just got longer) and it happened with finding family (literally almost half of the chapters of that fic are in part five alone), and like.

idk.

it's overwhelming and it is intimidating and i hope that it's worth it to y'all to read through the whole thing when it's done - and i enjoy writing it! - but also like wow this is so much longer than i thought it was going to be and my brain still wants oafc to be as tight and compact as oaei is.

and then it's not and i start thinking about how much longer it might be and i just. a little. not panicked, that's not the right word either, but like.

there's just so much already and so much left and i feel a little anxious about it, actually.

[aparticularbandit]

The real question is how much do I need him for [spoilers] in OALH.

I originally didn't include him in the Horrors count (he, Mikan, and Izuru being elsewhere for Junko's great becoming), but I know he was involved (roughly) in its set up (as part of Junko's message to him, which I've mostly figured out but don't need specifics).

At one point, I had a very specific role I wanted him to fulfill in [spoilers], but I'm questioning whether within this context that's strictly necessary. He's still technically fulfill the role, but I don't think he needs to be there with the others to do so.

Or.

Or.

Luck as a way to ensure his death. Nagito knowingly using his luck to ensure his death, like in DR2, because intentional parallels, with a different outcome.

Also continuing the through thread of yes, Nagito is important to Junko's plan and is playing his own game throughout all three books, his part doesn't end in OAFC, but he can still die in OALH and have that etc.

So...yes to Nagito dying, no to OAFC, yes to OALH.

Got it.

Debating whether Nagito should die at the end of OAFC. (Or let him have final lines at the beginning of OALH and die there. I don't think Mikan would save him; I'm not sure she could.)

Because the thing about Nagito's luck is that his good luck is always preceded by bad luck. Always.

And Junko needs his good luck to do something tremendous. Big enough that his bad luck might cost him his life. Which - he's always said he wants to be used as a stepping stone for hope. Even if it costs him his life, even if he's supposed to be murdered, he will help them plan it the best. Who better to take advantage of that than Junko?

And in a Game where it isn't about getting away with murder but about something else entirely, it is possible that...he dies here. It would make poetic sense for Nagito specifically.

So.

The debate.