124 Afterword

First and foremost, thank you for having read this, for commenting, reviewing and eagerly anticipating the next chapter. Of course, a special thank you to all my Patrons. I really appreciate it and can't thank you enough. 

Sometimes, I was a bit surprised that this novel was so well received. It even had my other novel, "Broly the Saiyan of Legend!", beat in terms of statistics. This novel was also the first that I cross-posted on other sites and I really didn't expect to have it go off like that on there as well, going as far as being ranked number 1 on a few categories for Scribble Hub. Truly, seeing that so many enjoyed this story fills me with joy, even if some of y'all are wild at times. I guess, I should have expected nothing less from those that enjoyed this journey with me.

It has been two years already. I still feel like I started it only last year or half a year ago. Truly, time flies by.

Unfortunately, everything needs to end. There is some interpretation room for you whether he met the brother of his past life or not since both would have been valid. Initially, I didn't want him to meet him as it would make it clear that he had left that life behind, and that his obsession was resolved, but it didn't feel right to leave it at that.

I wanted him to be able to let go but not need to. He was fully prepared to live the rest of his life in the DC reality, but with his current powers, he didn't need to give it all up. I wanted him to come back, to right the wrongs, and to reunite with his family again without having to give up his new life.

There are a few things I regret about this book. Ideas that weren't fully fleshed out and events I had thought about since I started writing this, but plans changed. Not everything came to fruition and some things I wrote weren't something I liked a few chapters later. 

"You could have changed it!", Yeah, I could've, but I want these stories to be little snapshots of my capabilities, ideas, and mood. Moments of who I was in some shape or form, captured underneath a story with all its mistakes and flaws. It's also why I usually don't correct grammatical mistakes or misspellings if they aren't influencing the clarity of what I am trying to convey.

To be honest, there was more I could've written about. An interesting aspect would be his overwhelming strength without any opponents to go against. Him dealing with street-level criminals. There was also the entire thing with his city becoming crime-free, which I touched upon slightly. The interactions with the Justice League and normal people would've been good intermissions between big fights as well. 

There is much more I had thought about, but I didn't find an opportunity to insert them and make everything flow together.

In the end, I had already mentally clocked out for a while and the story needed to end, so I left most things out of the story. To be honest, I think this novel peaked at the first fight with Darkseid on Apokolips. Personally, I liked the fight against Trigon in his realm as well, but anything afterward didn't quite reach the same level in my opinion. Of course, I have a different opinion since the criteria for me liking a chapter is how hyped I was during writing.

I was pumped when I wrote the fight against the Furies and Darkseid and how excited I was to release it for all of you mfs to be duked by the clone bit. You know I was punching air when I read your comments.

There were a few more highlights that had me pumped and my heart beating like crazy when I wrote these chapters. It's also the reason why I wanted to end it now. These moments when I stood up in my chair and started shadow boxing or doing push-ups to get the build-up energy out are almost non-existent nowadays. I don't get excited when writing this anymore and I feel like we had come to the point that the only option was to end it.

Let's be honest. Although this story was about the DC and only introduced some characters from Dragon Ball, it's more of a Dragon Ball fanfic with the next big bad coming around the corner every 5 chapters. Now, the biggest bad guy from DC and arguably the biggest bad in DB as well were beaten. We reached the stage of the highest powers. Obviously, there could be more I could've come up with, but the greater the power, the less conceivable it is.

Bending time, and space, ripping tears into reality. Next up would be to destroy entire realities and fight some enemies that would be so far beyond anything that it makes it difficult to write and relate to it. I am not capable of going that high up and making the fight interesting for you or for me.

I like it when the stakes are understandable and the force can be felt. The powers had grown too big too fast and I just don't think it will be better the stronger he becomes. Obviously, I could nerf him by having him enter another reality, but that sucks as well. So, from a story perspective, I think it's best to leave it there. He already reached the top with only the capital Gs of other realities being able to contend with him.

Besides the story, I just don't have the time anymore. I truly underestimated how much effort it is to release two 4k chapters a week when I am working 40 hours, trying to work out, learn new things, and have a social life. Should have known with my slow ass writing speed. Don't get me wrong, I still think most chapters I put out were decent despite only finishing them at the last possible second.

Of course, I could take a pause and hope the passion reignites. I did for a week at times, but there is no way I would ever consider taking a break longer than a week. Let's be real. How many authors who had gone on a longer hiatus come back? Too many stories are dropped instead and that is something I had always loathed. When I love a story, I at least want it to end.

I'm not the best or the fastest writer, but I try my best to be as consistent as I can possibly be. That is all I can offer, consistency and my word. For this novel, it was enough for 580k~ words.

So, here we are. This will be the end of Just Saiyan. Ending something that I love is always difficult, but it is what it is. I am not sure whether I will write another DB fanfic. Even though I have some ideas and I love this franchise to death, I think I need a break from it for now. I had been dissatisfied with where Toriyama is taking my beloved series, but I still hope for the best. Perhaps, when a new season starts I will be back with another DB fic as well. Who knows?

Either way, it had been an honor. See you around. (Hopefully, on my future novels)

Yours sincerely, Draugzel.