ways_back_room | (no subject)

So, with this, I'm finishing up a plotline that started nineteen months (and two weeks) ago on a whim, when I got bored on Christmas Eve 2007 and decided I would bring Susannah back after a RL-gap of more than a year and an IC gap of 20 years.

I never expected it to blow up like this; I certainly never expected one NPC to take on so much life and steal center stage of the plot. It has been a lot of fun, though. I'm not sure what comes next; in a month I'll have been playing at Milliways for five years. Time, I guess, to take stock. I do know I want to get away from posting so many OOMs featuring out-of-game characters to the bar--further apologies on that subject below--but if I do decide to tell more stories about Rose somewhere, I'll make sure to let people who are interested know where to look. And I do have some lingering thoughts about Susannah's backstory I'd like to explore. But five years is a long time.

At any rate, they'll continue to exist as background characters important to other active characters, and while Charlie McGee and Roland Deschain are still kicking around, the shadow of the Dark Tower will still fall on Milliways, I have no doubt.

On to the thank yous--

Thanks to my various partners in crime throughout--the muns behind Kaylee and Roland and Buffy and X-23 and Bela and Charlie and Charles Wallace and Elle and Jamie and Crowley and Moiraine and everyone else who touched this story or was touched by the repercussions--and to

sotto_voice and

batyatoon by jumping in to help develop and play NPCs, which is daunting. This extends way beyond people Susannah or Rose have ever interacted with--there's nothing I love more than seeing aftereffects of things from something I did ripple into other conversations and plots. Special mention also to folks in

mixed_muses who helped me develop Rose's character and potential futures and try out things before they came into the main narrative.

Enormous thanks also to

rymenhild,

varadia,

shati,

silveraspen,

batyatoon and

agonistes, all of whom proofed and concrit'ed posts and helped me bounce ideas and worry out plot complications; special mention goes to

innerbrat, who made a well-timed post about 'arrows' in fiction that brought me up short just in time to make some pivotal chances to the end of prom-plot.

And thanks to everyone who has read and enjoyed or even just tolerated the seemingly-endless OOMs over the last year and a half. I know that this kind of massive NPC stuff and OOMery is not really what Milliways is all about; this has been a sort of embroidery on the side that got alarmingly huge, and I thank everyone for their tolerance of my stretching the rules and the point in this way. It could never have existed without Milliways, though--without the four years of Millicanon that came before it, and the critical interactions with Milliways characters along the way.

I know I could have--some may say should have--written a giant fanfic, but it wouldn't have been as fun, and it certainly wouldn't have been as good. It's always better with you guys.

Always better with you.

EDIT: Reading back over this, I feel like there's one thing I didn't emphasize enough--I want to double and redouble my thanks to Lynne (

varadia for so, so many great threads and moments between Susannah and Rose and X-23. It's been a privilege.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

*applauds*

Its been a joy to read along and be helpful in any way at all over in

mixed_muses.

I adore your embroidery.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

It's been the best, John. And I hope it's not over for good.

John, it's been a delight to read as the journey progressed. Thank you so much for letting me join in the fun when I could.

It's definitely been a privilege, John, to write and to read.

Thank you.

It's been lovely to read. Thanks for taking us along.

I have really enjoyed following your plot, and came to like Rose as a character immensely. And I am damn hard to sell on OCs. You did good work, and I got a lot of fun out of reading it. Thank you for that.

The seals forgive you.

I am proud to have contributed, especially about the contribution that was insisting for like three hours that Rose and Dawn Summers had a baby.

And I am proud that that baby has her own livejournal.

There are things wrong with us, maybe.

I've said this before and yes I am a lurker and not an RPer, but THANK YOU so much for all that work and OOMery. I can't even tell you how awesome it is, and how in depth it is, and how amazingly unique.

...thanks!

I'm another one who adores the embroidery. Thank you for taking us along for the ride, and I really hope it's not entirely over.

It was awesome to read, and it was awesome getting to play in your sandbox for a little bit, and overall I feel the whole thing can be summed up as FABULOUS.