𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 || 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨!𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙭 𝙛!𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

[a/n] - end

hello my most epicest of epic readers. i'm sure some of u skipped to the end, but thats ok, i'd do that too.

so. how does it feel. you've made it to the end of a various genshin fic? pat urself on the back for reading so much!!

now, abt willow. honestly? willow was one of the first fics i spent so much time on. before when i wrote fanfictions, i used to rely so heavily on my readers' feedbacks. (obviously it didn't go so well). but w willow, what motivated me was my genuine love for the love interests (lol) and genshin in general.

willow was hard. not cuz i had a hard time writing it, but just cuz i was experimenting w my writing styles at the time. in the first few chapters, u'll notice a difference from my recent ones. i especially had a '—' phase a lot in the early chapters too lol so mb!

now. i nvr expected willow to get so big. on quotev, the biggest fic of the genshin game was electric love by inumaki simp (i think that was their user). so i was honestly expecting it to plateau at 1k hearts.

and then it got 2k.

and now its nearing 3k.

AND I WAS SO SHOCKED? before when i began writing willow, i was super insecure about my writing. i used to compare myself to her and him and them and everyone just because i needed to find a way to put myself down? but the endless support i got from both wattpad and quotev readers was so much and i remembered tearing up once i got dms and messages from people talking about willow??

so thank u. thank u so much for reading this plop of words and thank u for taking the time out of ur day to mssg/comment/vote/heart/read/everything.

now. about willow. i have this notebook (irl) that i wrote stuff in every single night before i went to sleep. sometimes, i woke up at like 2am with an idea and i used the light of my alarm clock to write it down. interactions like when zhongli called mc "my dove" for the first time was all prewritten in my notebook and i was SO excited to put it down and publish.

and this a/n. i have been contemplating this a/n for a long time.

honestly it all feels so surreal. i remember talking to tea (one of my friends, ily bae) and she told me "girl just publish willow" and i DID. and now we're here, marking this story as complete.

willow is about an immortal reader who does not want to be immortal. i hope you noticed mc's change in personality and the way she grew. love u, mc. ur a cutie. this story was predominantly about mc having a confusion about what was home? what was her answer and why was she cursed with this body? but in the end she accepted it and trusted fate cuz fate is da way baby!

now. onto xiao, venti, and zhongli.

i had a lot of easter eggs with all 3 of them, but im going to keep it short.

one thing i added was the different reactions they all incorporated when mc 'leaves'. xiao willingly lets mc go, 'happy' that she has a fate better than he. but venti latches on and follows mc, even to a land so unknown. zhongli reluctantly lets her go, which he admits to being selfish and keeping mc in his ranks for so long.

bennett was honestly an accident involving me, the author. i didn't know who to add as the fourth party member, so i automatically added bennett cuz ykw. what could go wrong?

everything. everything went wrong.

only until chapter 8 did i realize how much of a mistake i made because bennett literally has like 2 lines. and he walks off a cliff. that was it. but somehow, i managed to involve bennett's insecurities and tie it all up w a little bow at the end. next time, i won't add a character who has the same vision as the mc.

fun fact: razor was supposed to be a part of mc's harem. another fun fact: mc was supposed to be psychotic like osamu dazai from bsd.

fun fact #3: xiao was supposed to hate mc for being so happy at first. i removed this cuz i didnt want enemies to lovers (cuz i personally love xiao sm so i couldnt do that)

NOW, A BIG THANK U TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS WHO I BOTHERED WHILE WRITING WILLOW:

teateateagan/tea/coffee: my beta reader who i forced to become my beta reader. i sent you so many mf chapters at like 11pm and u read them and commented on them ALL. thank u sm for being my catalyst to publishing and helping me while i was trying to improve my writing. you also listened to so many of my ideas and gave me feedback on them all. i think if we had a time for how many hours overall we spent talking abt willow, it'd be like 6 hours. ilysm /p

riri: my 2nd beta reader who i also forced to become my beta reader. i too sent you so many chapters and you read them and gave me such good feedback on them all. literally, everytime i ask u say YES. so tysm for being here reeree ily

zeph: my brainstormer and my idea-hub. i tell u everything about my ideas and i thank u so much for listening to me ramble about some stupid shit i came up with at like 2am. to think that my one idea of "adeptus mc that can resurrect" would turn into this. this thing. thank u sm!!

miso: my writer friend who i just befriended recently! ur so funny and i love ur works and how chill u r. i can't wait to see what more genshin oneshots you'll write and idk. some like. CHONGYUN FLUFF?!

shiro, jules, nya, sel: thank you for being my back up beta readers when i had no one else. i love u all and even though some of u don't even play genshin, u still sat thru my shitty work

crim and goldie: u made such BEAUTIFUL ART?! NOT FOR WILLOW, BUT IN GENERAL!? thank u for giving me permission to use them as chapter images <3

now. for my super hot sexy cool cute readers:

WATTPAD:

yall r either outta pocket asf or super sweet. i think the most sweet dms and comments i got were from u. every single day u comment and every day i wake up and read them. im lying if i said i read them all, but i make sure to at least check them out. ur one of my biggest supports while writing willow (cuz even i needed a bit of validation). THOUGH WHY DO YOU COMMENT ON THE UNIMPORTANT STUFF AND STAY SILENT WHEN A CUTE MOMENT IS HAPPENING?!

QUOTEV:

yall the cutest ones. u comment the most curt and succinct "i love this fic!" and ykw i love u too. muah. thank u for commenting and adding this fic to ur library, ur also soooo fast to comment. literally 2 seconds after i update one of yall end up here and im like hot damn wow

thank u for crying so much in those comments. i think the biggest contrast between u and wattpad readers were that yall were just sobbing ur hearts out while wp was like "AYO ZHONGLI GTFO WHERES XIAO!?"

anyways. this a/n is getting too long. thanks for reading willow and this a/n! if u have any questions, ill answer them. but for now, i'll be going off the map for a lil to get sucked into the manhwa hole again. i think i'll definitely miss willow, bc writing it became like a reflex for me (every time i played genshin, i was like wow i should write willow). but i'm excited to expand my writing into newer topics!

anywhooo~ see you soon, ily! thank you!

[willow: end]

"you do not have to return to me, my dove."

"just please don't forget the memories we've made, the laughs we've shared, the tears we've shed—"

"i pinkie swear that i won't forget them!"