Hello everyone, how are you dealing with quarantine? I feel like I must have watched everything there is to see online… that's how bored I am here. As well as the whole 5.3 patch is being delayed…? I mean, I get it. I understand and it can't be helped, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I wasn't disappointed in that because I've just been so looking forward to how they planned on ending 5.0 and then setting everything up for 6.0. Well, I guess this gives me time to finish getting all the special new weapons and tools till then. And I do hope that they are still able to at least update little tidbits here and there about what we can be expecting about the next patch.

But enough of that, I'm sure that you are all wondering why there isn't a chapter here today. Well, don't worry, I'm not discontinuing this story. It's a bad habit of mine but once I finish a project, I do plan on seeing it through till the very end. But I had given this a lot of thought and I felt that I needed to say it here and now… so here it goes:

This is going to be the last story for my Azure Skies and Crimson Squall series. Yes, sad as I am to say it, I simply do not think that I will have any other stories like these babies in me by the end of it. Like I said, I will continue on until I finish this story and give you all a solid ending that will tie up any lose ends with Claire and her story even though it will not be ending since she still has a lot of work to do. But once I am done with Shadowbringers completely, either writing up to the end of 5.3 which is the end of the Shadowbringers storyline or if I keep going until the very end to patch 5.5 and stop once 6.0 comes out, I can't say. That all depends on how the storyline with 5.3 will end and if the ending I have in plan for them can be match up here. I will definitely be including the parts where the Scions are returning home to the Source, but after that, I do believe the ending I planned will give everyone a satisfactory conclusion.

If you're asking why I decided this now of all times, well, for several reasons. Before I give them all though, for those of you who have enjoyed my series and all my other stories, first of all, I want to thank you all so much for your kind words and support over these last few years. They mean the world to me to know that someone has enjoyed the scenarios that I came up with, and it always brought a smile to my face to see the kind reviews. Now, I may still write smaller stories involving Claire and the others as part of side stories or even alternate stories later on, like with my Royals and Vampires scene—which I think I might have secretly been on something without my knowledge to come up with XD—but all jokes aside, once Shadowbringers is finished I'll go back to ARR and finish that up and giving a proper closing to this series.

For the rest of you who haven't been so 'nice', let me just say that I've been getting a lot of complaints that this story hasn't been as good as the previous ones I wrote, and I can kinda understand why since it does feel like it's dragging on at this point. I even had one review tell me that the story has just been getting progressively worse since Heavensward and I really don't need that kind of negativity.

I'm sorry to hear you had such a frustrating experience, but I really appreciate you bringing this issue to my attention. Though I suspect that if you really, truly hated the story as much as you say how bad it was, you would have stopped reading it at the first chapter. But the fact that you went through and read each chapter tells me that you felt that it was worth your attention and that you were just looking for someone to vent how awesome it was. So your angry notes were really just you having to admit that you did enjoy my story and were probably so taken aback that you didn't know how to deal with it. Would you like to add anything more than what was critical or negative? Thank you once again for reminding me why I love writing so much and I have some new ideas to any future stories.

On the off chance that I misunderstood though… if you don't like it, then don't read it. Simple fix.

Either way, if you were supportive of me or not, I want thank you so much. And remember, before you judge me, I was born to be awesome… not perfect.

But just for future reference, just so that those of you out there who have been sending me messages about how 'bad' my stories have become, I had it planned out like this for a reason. Eyes Ever Heavensward was all about Alphinaud's point of view on his ever growing feelings for the Warrior of Light, the war in Ishgard, and coming to some major character development from these life altering changes happening all at once. It is told almost entirely from Alphinaud's POV and so I had to cut out a lot of parts from the MSQ, so that's probably why it seems to flow so much easier.

Hells Open, Heavens Weep, was more about the difficulties of trying to maintain friendships and relationships during war. Especially when the one you love is at the very center of a literal hell on earth. The two were separated for a long time after that and so it's about trying to keep your head above the water when you feel like the world is slowly going mad around you.

I also have the sort of prequel to the series with Rebirth of a Realm, which is something that I will devote more time to finishing up once Shadowbringers is over, but that will be a story of new beginnings and watching how a young, naïve adventurer must quickly grow up and face the harsh realities of the world at a very fast rate.

The main point that I decided on for Bringer of Shadows however is mostly on accepting that everyone has a dark side and a light side and that one must learn to accept both if they are ever to find a sense of stability in their life. Claire is a stranger in a strange land that she knows nothing about. On the Source, she is a hero with so many titles that she struggles to even walk under the weight of it. Here, however, she is no one. A nothing. And she saviors that but must accept that she must become a different kind of hero here—almost like she's starting all over again from the beginning. Sure, she has companions to help her, but how can she truly trust them when they send her off to bed and exclude her from plans, or even keeping huge secrets about her 'condition'. Sure, they do it because they're concerned for her well-being when they send her off to bed, but they don't really sit around and talk to her or ask if there's something they can do to make it easier for her. And up until this point, she didn't fully realize that by battling the Lightwardens and absorbing her light could be harmful for her in a long run. But not only does she realize that some members of her team not only knew… they purposely kept it secret.

She does trust them in battle, no doubt about that. And she will willingly fight to the death to protect them. But with the struggles that she's going through, she has a hard time trusting others because they really can't fully comprehend what she's going through. She's so used to carrying the struggles of the world on her shoulders for so long now that she really doesn't know how to ask for help with her own inner thoughts. Slowly she is being stripped away of everything she thought she was, and the full truth of, not only with Hydealyn being revealed to her after all she went through, but what is slowly happening to her, is the very core of the story. Sure, her relationship with Alphinaud is still important, but how can she truly plan for her future if the problems in her head won't give her any peace?

Norvrandt isn't Eorzea and the light is becoming painful for her to even look at as a new darkness is seeping into her strained soul. She must find a sense of balance in this world and herswelf or else she will be destroyed from the inside out. I always believed that our own worst enemies are ourselves and in Claire's case, that most certainly is. That is why her and Alphinaud's relationship is kinda at a standstill for so long but now that we are reaching some of the juicer parts of the story that will change.

I started writing because I had an idea in my head and I just had to put it down for the rest of you who read it. For those who have enjoyed my work and have looked forward to each and every chapter, words can't ever express how much that means to me.

So what can you be expecting before the end? The scions returning to the Source for one thing, as well as the end to the ShB storyline including both Emet-Selch's end and Ardbert's tale, and most importantly the conclusion for Claire/Alphinaud and their relationship. The conclusion to Emet-Selch's story has been especially important for me to get right and I have the outline finished up to there.

Once again, don't worry that I'm discontinuing the story when it's only halfway done. I will certainly finish up this one and tie up any lose ends. The next chapter, which is the battle against the sin eaters before heading off to slay their fourth warden, will be up by next Friday. I would warn you of spoilers, but let's face it, if you have read up to this point, you don't really care about that, right?

Anyway, thank you all again for your support and I hope that you can all understand and will continue to lend your support or even just drop in with a kind word or two once in a while. That has helped me a lot.

Also, I won't be giving up writing all together even once I'm done with this, but if I do post any other stories from the world of FF14, they will not be as long as these ones. Even if 6.0 turns out to be so mind-blowingly good that I have to write something, I will only be doing side stories or companion stories after this like with The Spiraling Crystal or The Way of the Samurai. If you hadn't read them, then you can check them out… I'm really proud of how they turned out.

I am also working on another book myself, and this story is all mine, no fanfic or anything like that. But an original story all my own because it is my dream to be a real author someday. I started writing fanfic to improve my writing skills and find out what works and what doesn't for me. Now that I have a better grasp on the kind of stories that I like to write, I fell that I am finally ready to begin that long road.

Talk to you all again, stay safe and find ways to keep yourselves sane during these hard time in quarantine. Hopefully, this nightmare will be over soon and we can move on with our lives when the Corona blows over. And if any of you are on line running through FF14, drop me a line on the Lamia server! Would love to talk! Until next time everyone…