End Notes.

I don't know what came over me, but I totally forgot to do this. Only in a recent conversation with Gipper 40 did I realize that I had promised to put an addendum on this story and address all of you. I decided that I should rectify this error, however late it was. I hope that I have not breached some kind of FFnet etiquette by updating this story such a long time after it was finished, but I felt it was necessary. In order to assuage my guilt I am also updating my new story at the same time. Maybe that'll make me look like less of an ass. :p

Anyway, it's been months since I finished this story and, ironically, almost exactly one year since I began it. I think that this time off, actually, has given me a better perspective on the whole thing. But the main reason I'm writing this now is for this:

I never properly thanked all of you who read this massive story. You all were fantastic, and you deserve my mention here. I owe tremendous debts to those reviewers who stuck with this monstrosity, gave their opinions, and helped me out. Gipper 40 and the Outlander always provided the densest and most insightful (and longest!) comments, and for that I am in your debt. I always looked forward to your reviews and comments. I have to thank Lord Europe for reading through that whole thing, even though he really didn't seem to like what direction I took Revan. :p

I am especially in debt to that certain trio of reviewers who kept up with my story and reviewed it during the doldrums when no one else was. Captin Azza and TEN10X are two, andyou both deserve my extreme gratitude for that. And lastly, Jen DeClan, who I'm certain reviewed this story more than any other person. I am tremendously thankful for all your thoughts and opinions and comments. It was a great relief to know that, even when it seemed like no one was reading this story at all, that at least one person out there was. And that made a huge difference. So I really thank you.

There are too many of you to name, but I am deeply grateful to all of you—Denizen47, runwild2012, havoc-legionnaire, everyone. I know I'm probably forgetting some of you and I hope you'll forgive me.

And, of course, I have to thank Lord Valentai, who beta'd this monster. Without him, this story quite simply wouldn't have existed. So hats off!

All right, that's enough of that, and I don't want this to sound like a yearbook entry. While this was the whole purpose of this update, but I figured maybe some of you'd like to hear a little about the background of the story, just for kicks. I hope you'll indulge my vanity, and if you don't want to, please hit me with a shovel (I'm sure I deserve it)!

I began this thing with the intent of wrapping up a story that I feel has been unfairly neglected (and now whored out by Bioware) and wanted to do it in a meaningful, character-focused way. Maybe it worked, maybe it was too dark for it's own good at parts, but I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. For me, the characters became the driving force for the story, and it was them that helped me keep writing it.

Caius Lucullus was the name of the character that I played in the game, so I thought it was perfect just to port him over and make him the central character. I tried to make him as neutral as possible, like I felt the Exile in the game was, and essentially let him act as the straight man for all the eccentricities of the other characters. I based his personality, somewhat muddle-headed inability to recognize the best course of action in chaotic situations, and dry, sarcastic humor mostly off of myself, figuring that I'd probably act like that too. Maybe. :p But in spite of all the interesting eccentricities of the characters, Caius is the one I identify with the most, and he remains a very special character for me because of that.

Bastila was also intended to be in the story from the get go, and they were the only two characters who I had planned on having from beginning to end. She was the hardest to write because she's the only canon character that I took on the voyage into the unknown worlds. But she's integral to the story, and I really enjoyed her in the game and in this story. It was really difficult to write her death at the end, but I felt that that was the best course of action. Revan, I believed, needed to go out at the end. Lord Valenai and I both thought that he, as a character, would have run his course. The chaos of that era would end with him, so he needed to go. I had originally thought that he'd die and leave Bastila behind, and while that might have worked, it would leave their romance unfinished, and I didn't want to do that. So I decided to send them out together. It was a very risky decision, and I hope that you all thought it was the right one. But that was still the hardest thing I ever wrote in my (incredibly brief) writing "career."

Atton and Elliott are both very similar characters. The reason I decided not to have Atton go with them was because, from a male!Exile perspective, his character arc was finished. The Exile trains him as a Jedi and finds out about his past, and that is it. There is no "romance" there, like for the Fem!Exile that would sustain his plot. So I decided to replace him with a new, even more irritating and obnoxious character. Most of you, I get the feeling, didn't like him, but he was really fun to write. :p I named him after Elliott Smith, as I was listening to his music a lot at the time, so that's why he has a very "earthy" name.

I feel guilty about Dustil. I brought him along as a stand-in for Carth, but he never really got his moment like the other characters did, I think. He sort of fell into the background. I regret that, but I just wasn't sure what to do with him after a while. I tried to give him some moments, so hopefully he was more than a "wall" character. :/

Nantaris, actually, is not my character at all! He's Lord Valentai's, but I thought it would make the story more interesting for my beta if his favorite drunken Scotsman was involved. I hope it did! He was also very fun to write.

Xristos is my own OC, and I really liked him. It was hard to write him out, too, but I knew that he would fit into the whole "mentor" role that most SW movies have, who usually die early on. His philosophical musings were tremendously fun to write. Essentially, if CS Lewis were a Jedi, he would be Xristos Karianis. :P He got to be the vehicle for all the thoughts and ideas that I could feebly try to incorporate into the story. I probably went overboard with his analysis on love, so I hope you'll all forgive me for that.

Lastly, there is Allie—the most accidental of all characters! I love Allie. She might have been my favorite because I just really enjoyed her simple-hearted goodness. She didn't have all these mighty emotional struggles that everyone else did, and was essentially just a good-hearted normal person who got mixed up into the story. But, in actuality, she wasn't supposed to be in the story at all. I had not planned on her existing, being a major character, or anything at all. Originally, the main romantic plot of the story was going to be an awkward romantic love triangle between Caius, Bastila, and Revan (if you look early enough, there are hints at this in the first four or five chapters), and Caius was eventually going to steel his nerves and lose her to Revan and whatever fate awaited them. But then Allie, despite her meek character, intruded upon the scene very brazenly.

I was writing the part where Bastila gets the Hawk's navicomputer checked out by a hacker when she forced her way into the story. I initially had Dustil come up to Bastila and say, "The hacker is here—he wants to get started right away." But then I thought, all of my random NPCs seem to be men. I'll make this one a woman. So then it was "she wants to get started right away." Then there was a short scene where Bastila tries to get out of this anonymous woman what to do to fix the navicomputer. I wanted to have them go to Korriban in the story, so this woman mechanic gave some lengthy explanation for why she couldn't fix it immediately. The conversation dragged on, so I went back and gave the character a name: Allesandra Marlowe. Then I realized that if I followed through with this plotline, then they would have to come back and have her fix it again. Then Bastila surprised me and dropped the bomb, and asked, "Why don't you come with us?" And that's how Allie got into the story.

I find this terribly funny, but maybe I'm just being a verbose idiot. I just always reflect back on that development and laugh. Allie wasn't supposed to exist. And she most certainly was not supposed to fall in love with Caius (and vice versa). It is almost like it was out of my control. But it caused me no end of grief, because writing that subplot was the hardest part of the story. I, also, hope that that turned out well. But I really do favor Allie a lot. Anyway, that's why she exists. And honestly, her forcing her way into the narrative is one of the reasons I think I like her so much.

_ That was a lot devoted to one character.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story, and I hope I didn't offend you with this long-winded rant that comes seemingly from left field. This story is very special to me because it's my first one, and I'll always remember it, so I really wanted to share these stories. I do miss the story and especially these characters. And sometimes, for some reason, I'm randomly reminded of them by random things. This story was very musically influenced, and a lot of time music reminds me of the characters. Whenever I hear Better to Be by Liam Finn I think of Allie and her dress on the Hasan planet (which was my favorite part of the story). Pilot by Mayday reminds me of Elliott. Mother Superior by Coheed and Cambria makes me think of Bastila's death at the hands of Ardashir. Hurt by Johnny Cash really reminds me of Revan. And, even though I'm somewhat ashamed to admit it, the whole Coldplay album Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends brings back vivid images of the dead planet Samarkand. That album came out right when I was writing that part, and I listened to it a lot while writing two of the major chapters there. So now it always reminds me of it, even though Coldplay is somewhat of a guilty pleasure. :p

That was a lot of random crap. I hope I didn't forget anything. Once again, I thank all of you who read this thing and are stomaching this shameless "credits" that I'm writing now. I do really appreciate everything you've all done. You just rock. And, if any of you are interested, I'm currently working another long story. I'll end the shameless plug there, but if you're interested, you can find it through my profile. Who knows, maybe that'll increase its traffic. :p

Anywho, that's it. Thanks again, you're all awesome. And that, finally, concludes the saga that is The Weight of Glory. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

Thanks, and God bless, my friends.