#aftersnow02

@ Anon - Thank you! The Epilogue is quite short and... epilogue-ish, so definitely nowhere as intense as ch20. There’s still a ch21 before that, and as the last chapter, it’s also not ... intense either. That YoshiRiko scene is also my personal favorite as well, especially since I haven’t written a scene between them since ch11 which was...  August 31, 2017, gosh, so long ago XD;;; the nostalgia was very strong. The Yoshiko&Yohane conversation was outlined million years ago so I was very pleased to finally, finally get to this point.

@narrator2705 - thank you ;A; (while I tend to respond on twitter the same day, I still see comments from tumblr as well but the responses will be delayed here XD;;;; ) OwO !! I look forward to your take on the last scene! And good luck on your finals!! (maybe you’re already done with them by this point)

@aethurankr - thanks! Ch20 is actually the second chapter to have its title decided. Ch21, the last chapter, was the first chapter I titled during the outlining/planning stage. Hope you’ll look forward to that!

@aftersnow02 - ch20... or rather, ch18-20 happen back to back within the span of hours so it was quite an emotional roller coaster ride even for me as the writer. The girls are who they are today exactly because of everything that has happened in the story so far. I meant for the end to be sad but also bittersweet with the sense of closure/peace, just as how Yoshiko herself felt. Hope you’ll look forward to ch21, the Epilogue and maybe also the prequel as well!

@aq0ursbo - took me a bit to figure out who you are but only one person from twitter so far calls me Bunlord of Angst so hahaha Dumbles is correct, there are many instances in this story that I use the spell ‘Lumos’ - for example, when Riko was trying to cheer up Yoshiko back in ch11. Here, Lumos was the first spell that Yohane used when showing off how she could use other people’s wands. Those were my attempt at symbolism :’D I try to present this chapter as it is, the climax, the conclusion, but also not the end of the story either. Of course Yoshiko doesn’t want to die but, at the same time, she doesn’t have any regrets/unfinished business either. Yes I do have a collection of readers’ tears but also my own lolololol and I’m never sure about anything bahaha that’s life

@softoxidation - I’m honestly shocked that I finished ch20 within a week... that’s probably the fastest update ever??? Anyway, ahem, thank you for you feedback, I always enjoy long comments :DDDDDD As I have... quite a few other AUs and unfinished stories/on hiatus, I’m definitely super proud that I’ve actually reached this point. Truth be told, I thought this story would die off after ch12~13 or so, maybe due to writer’s block, loss of motivation or whatever. Yet, here we are, nearing the actual end of this story! \0/

I won’t lie, during the planning stage of this story million nearly two years ago, I did think about killing off Ruby. Not because I’m sadistic of anything, but because of how fatal her injuries were XD;;; Thankfully, I found a way around it that actually makes sense and adds more to the story as well.

Dia, poor thing, I kept giving all the difficult situations to her XD; She had to choose between stopping Yoshiko, or keeping Ruby, Hanamaru and everyone else save. In the end, through Yoshiko’s determined and pleading gaze, Dia remained where she was.

The Yoshiko&Yohane scene was much needed - it’s like a conversation with yourself. My intention was to have it mirror the situations we have in real life, when we criticize ourselves for the mistakes we’ve made, the things we did or did not do, and so on, and also how you reach peace/truce. At the end of the day, you should not be enemies with yourself. You accept and embrace yourself, even the parts you consider bad. Of course, this scene is meant to have the titular character and antagonist reconcile and accept what’s happening to them. 

As for Riko, no she’s not Yoshiko’s blood sister or anything. Yoshiko calls Riko ‘sister’ because, that’s how she sees Riko. Everyone else are sisterly towards her too and are her friends but, Riko is special =)