It's strange, this being finally over.

All three sequels of The Boy With The Blank Stare finally finished.

Hallelujah.

First off, WOW I FEEL OLD NOW. No seriously, I'm in the prime of my life and half the comments make me feel old when you guys share your age.

Also don't so that, this is the internet.

But for context, The Boy With The Blank Stare was my 3rd Oumasai fanfiction! Older than Dear Saihara! And yet now years later I still find myself shocked it's taken so long to get the sequels out.

But my bio doesn't lie, no schedules here people.

But while I'm so HAPPY to not have to go back to the drawing board for another sequel another part of me is also very nostalgic. Seeing the old works showed a past self I often don't want to see as often. I don't respect some of their creative decisions (pantas ending, what the heck self?) Along with how I tackled the plot of the original.

But part of how I've adapted these loose pieces and story with my growing writing style also is what makes this nightmare of alternate universes so endearing to me? It's like I'm looking back at my younger self, and finally answering the questions they wanted to know.

The questions they didn't ask, but now I can begin to attempt answering them. It's a nice feeling.

And Futures developmental disaster surely was a sour taste to have with that sweet sweet nostalgia.

It's strange, but when I first started planning these I thought Future would be my favorite, my younger self was excited to try and write a psychological thriller and exploring what would happen if Ouma truly went off the rail...and then my writing style changed which made this story a lot harder to write, as I had to break away from my norm. Back then I cared less about the reasoning behind sad endings, instead, I used my sadder endings to just get a reaction out of my readers. With The Boy With the Blank Stare being such a young fanfiction at the time, I guess it makes sense why it also shared those problems. I aim for bittersweet endings, more fleshed out and realistic conflicts, and not an endless train of suffering. Future now contradicted in its values EVERYTHING I aim for in my writing now.

So now it's my least favorite.

Funny how those things work, huh? Maybe because as I've worked on improving my writing and the craft that is angst, the more the story of Future contradicted those same writing styles and practices. But even though I have mixed feelings, I hope you guys enjoyed the story. Unlike last time, I would take a long break before returning to work this time, maybe two weeks instead of one.

But yeah, happy reading am I right?

Ignores cries of readers

Well, Ouma and Saihara survived at least, give me credit.

(Also the order of my favorites for those who care)

1) The Promise
2) OG Boy With Blank Stare
3) Punishment Time
4) Future

But before I officially close off the chapter of this work, I do want to offer a sincere apology. At the beginning of The Boy with The Blank Stare, I was a young high school student, now I'm in college, one who had barely come to terms with their own mental health problems at the time or having a greater understanding of mental health.

Because of that, I feel like the younger of the two works, including the original, had problems with depicting mental health. The same I feel can still apply to the more recent two fanfictions as well, this story was not meant to disrespect those who are struggling with mental illness, so if it feels as though I have I can only offer my sincere apologies, as I work to improve on this aspect in my upcoming works rather than using those problems for inherent shock power which I regretfully admit to having used in the past.

Thanks to all those who put up with those shortcomings, I hope I have better represent mental health struggles, although I would never use Future as an example.

Going to admit it here, but in terms of fanfiction I'm actually not that inspired to write more these days. That drive I had back in 2018 just isn't there anymore, and I want to keep writing but my own original things.

I want to create my own worlds and characters, and I'm thankful for everyone who did finish to the end because the amount of support I recieved is immeasurable. You guys are the reason why Future exists for as flawed as it is.

So while this isn't the end, I'm taking a break.

Because I Remember has to many chapters why do I do this to myself-