All Comments on 'Vale Ch. 06: Loose Ends'

I for one would like to know how the story went from chapter 5 to chapter 6, how John became a robot.

How about more stories about Zo.

This one lost me completely. The flashbacks and time jumps and the brutality of this chapter was just a completely different story to the previous chapter and I didn't understand the ending at all. How was Vale her father? What happened to John that he got changed? Were his half twin sisters robots too? If not how did they escape that fate? So many questions and no answers and this story was so unsexy.

Polly & Cassie never get bitten so never become fembots. Vale hires them to use John's fortune to establish the college in the dome, which eventually becomes an arc for humanity. John's passion for Vale leads him to risk consummating their relationship, but Vale (like Zo) cannot deny her own vampiric nature (that, ironically, was John's own wish). Vale bites John, he becomes a fembot, but because Vale loves him he remains essentially John. Vale gives John's mother her wish to be pregnant, but Zo is Vale’s child and inherits Vale’s vampiric nature with its transformative consequences. When the time comes, Vale uses Zo's wish - but also the wishes of the thousands in the dome - to reach back millions of years to change reality and Earth's fate; but chooses to stay with John in the abandoned timeline, leaving humanity's future to Zo and the dome's inhabitants...

Great work Alina! It was incredible seeing you work through what was a truly chaotic collection of tropes to produce a story that has genuine emotional impact while also embracing that chaos. You wouldn’t have been able to hit every note without some truly epic twists and in the end it all came together beautifully!

Guess I am the only person to ask Alina for intermediate chapters, ever in the public comments section or by private feedback.

I still stand by my comment that Zo should have her own series of stories even if it is no longer possible for Vale and / or John to be part of them.

Zo and the New Earth could make for some interesting stories. I may explore that at some point, but real life is keeping me busy for the next month or two. Thank you for your support, however! :-)

The reasons for me wanting intermediate chapters primarily revolve around tying up loose ends.

These include what happened to Carla, Carla's mom and Tiffany. From the stories I believe Tiffany still has two wishes.

Maybe expand on Polly and Caddie becoming employed.

Carla's father and the cop from chapter 3 are optional.

You don't have to write the chapter, I'm asking more to satisfy my curiosity for what happened to the characters.

Vale doesn't go round granting people three wishes; that's just a fairytale fancy that amuses her. But she does have some ability to make fantasy real, and she experiences time differently to us.

I imagine Carla to be like Reese Witherspoon in Pleasantville, happier with her new reality. Tiffany and Sam hook up and live happily ever after, with a very open relationship. Polly and Cassie thrive as directors of the Foundation, jetting around the world doing charitable work and establishing opportunities for education (and no doubt having plenty of sex). Carla’s mum... not sure, but certainly happier.

I see there is still no Zo stories. Guess real life has kept you too busy.

I think about Zo from time to time, and how Earth might have turned out without humans evolving. Life is definitely busy at the moment, though, so I'm unlikely to write much in the near future. Still, who knows.

Given the number of stories you have posted since I suggested the Zo story spin-off I can only assume you have no interest or intention of writing it.

I hereby reclaim my rights to write the story as the person who came up with the original idea.

Be my guest. However:

1. Interest in the Vale series was high at the beginning but tailed off rapidly, and Ch. 06 has the lowest rating by a long way, so there's no urgency to continue the story on its own merits.

2. Vale herself has now parted ways, as indeed have John and indeed the Earth as we know it, so any continuation really is starting from scratch and in need of world building.

3. Off-topic, and at the risk of sounding defensive, of the stories I've published in the interim, four were written years ago, one was a 750-word special, and another four were The Maze series, which...

4. ... is another unfinished series, and one that fits well (unintentionally) into Zar's world. Now, I'm not usually a fan of merging different series into a single universe, but Zar, the Maze, Vale and future-Zo could form an interesting quartet.

5. So no, not abandoned, but marinating and percolating...

Of Vale we only whisper this

For fear of her most deadly kiss

Her sorcery makes dreams come true

And with them come the nightmares too

She woke the dragons from their sleep

And called the kraken from the deep

The satyrs sing her name with joy

From eldest lech to virgin boy

She's Queen of Mischief, Queen of Night

Never acting out of spite

But never say her name in bed

You may wake up to all you dread

I see no reason for the list.

A simple declaration of intent, or lack of, would have been sufficient.

You owe the readers nothing . Your stories are a gift of your talents . And I am sure are more appreciated than what you think are declined ratings . Readers are selfish asses . Constantly expecting more . Taylored to their personal needs . Quickly clicking for the next chapter . With no regards for actual ratings .

Like I said . You do you . Ignore any negativity as it is most likely just angered entitlement . Not constructive and not a reflection of truth .

Truth is you are an amazing writer .

Thank you - for all your comments. :-)

Sorry to ask, as I probably won't like the answer... But, what the hell was that all about? Once again, 3 Stars, because this chapter fits nowhere in the beginning storyline.

Okay, so Chapters 1-5 were a zany but fairly complete concept incorporating a mix of common tropes. Chapter 6 picks up a number of threads that I felt offered a way to explore Vale's alien origin and the consequences of wishes. Chapter 7 picks up on Chapter 6 but also provided a way for me to tie together a trio of fantasy series.

So, I don't know. From one perspective it all seems chaotic and unnecessary to tie all these stories together, but there's still a chapter or two to be written once I figure out what the hell the ending is.