THE END

I can't believe I got to this point.
The epilogue keeps getting longer, though.

So, thoughts? I know the end was pretty... abrupt.

The End! Wow. I knew it was coming today, but I've been reading this comic for a long time and I guess I can't get used to the idea that it's (almost) over.

If there was no epilogue coming our way, I'd be really pissed at the ending to be honest. Mainly because of the sugary sweetness and abruptness of it considering what's been happening this last chapter. It would have felt very out of place. I'm not one of those people who need all questions answered but this, for me, wouldn't have made sense/wouldn't have provided any sort of closure/would have left me being like WTF??? COP OUT!!!! lol No offense, because this is an amazing comic that makes me re-read and re-read all the time. I'd hate to see it end like this without some sort of solid ending.

(But to be honest again, Lia/Fiona makes me cringe at this point =( I feel so bad for saying that but it's true T_T)

So yay for an EPILOGUE!!!! And great job!!!

Hahahaha. So the ending is Fiona and Lia kissing while in the background a mother cradles her dead child.

It doesn't matter to me that you murdered an innocent child before my eyes because I... I love you. *tears gleam* *sparkle* *kiss*

I love it. Nice.

It was a nice and sweet (but, as you said, abrupt) ending.

To be honest, I thought the ending would be Fiona killing Lia, making Don the boss, and leaving Dream World to pursue a real life.

Can't wait to start reading the Epilogue...

...

...

...

Man, I can't believe that is all over now. What a shame. But all good things come to an end.

Congrats, Ms. Rose. You made an amazing comic. Let's just hope Hollywood doesn't make it into a crappy movie like the 4 X-Men movies or Superman Returns or Ang Lee's Hulk (Just to make others sure that I'm not targeting Singer).

I'm trailing here... Any ways, Congrats! I will continue to read your other works, as they are also fun to read.

I'm going to be honest. It really needs that epilogue. It doesn't feel much like an ending at all.

My first reaction after reading the final page was (after staring at the screen for a while) "What??"

I mean... this totally needs the epilogue. I get that the story's ending on a 'triumphant' note for the mains (Fiona and Lia), but the ending is quite abrupt and I'd like to know more.

I'll just consider this to be the end of the climax. We've just had it confirmed that Lia may be salvageable. How Fiona deals with this, less immediate responsibilities and the possibility of waking up will be the complete ending and aftermath. We'll get our loose ends piece by piece, which is probably a good idea. We have a few big ones, and if this had merely ended with Fiona waking up suddenly or Lia's conscience getting slaughtered, I wouldn't have wanted to read the epilogue.
(Actually, anyone except Lia getting killed would have put me off, there would be no complexity. We're all sad and there's no possible greater good. If Lia had killed herself or been executed out of necessity, Fi's thoughts going to protecting Nod and her subsequent decisions would have been interesting to read)
I'm glad for the epilogue, because it means no one would have been forgotten. I'm guessing there may be funerals or ceremonies for those who have no bodies to bury. There may be trials. There might even be rehab (I sure hope so, Lia needs help) or hilarious compassionate punishments. Some part of me hopes Don will get himself a boat that he'll call Don's Wayward Liberal Floatation (Apologies, I'm pretty sentimental about memorials) make it the subject of a song (And I like corny jokes. Sorry). Either way, I'm looking forward.

dolorien wrote:I'll just consider this to be the end of the climax.

That is pretty much why I "ended" the story there. The main conflict is over. Most everything after this point is explanation/resolution. There are no new conflicts.

After seeing this 'ending', I can't stop thinking about that mother and her child. It just seems like in the chaos that was happening, this sugar and rainbows ending seems REALLY out of place. Fiona was mortified just a few moments ago at what Lia had done. Lia had said so herself that she would probably kill herself when she came to. Sure, her conscience gave her a pat on the back and said everything would be okay- but she didn't even look sad to be back to her normal self. Not a tear or anything or even more than a hint of remorse.

I also kind of agree with the girl/guy up there saying s/he cringed at Lia/Fiona now. When you were doing the side chapters, I felt that the story itself got away from Fiona and Lia (aside from the one about Lia which made me like her a little less... but everyone has their flaws, of course, I can accept that). Even reading them all in one go, I had to step back and remember that there was a main story here.

I don't know. I've been a fan for a while (not much of a vocal fan though as I just joined the forum today). When I first discovered the comic, I read it all the way through until the most recent update. Admittedly, the change between Fiona's dream and what was actually happening completely threw me for a loop and kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, but I continued to read because at that time I was hooked. I wanted Fiona to get a happy ending with Lia. Now that she has it, I'm not so sure anymore. The chain of events leading up to it, it just doesn't seem right.

I hope you don't take all of this the wrong way. I think you did a good job and you can't please everyone, but I hope that the epilogue will make things seem at least a bit more justified and explain things a bit more. About Don, about how Lia is taking to being back to her old self after killing a child even though she has *love*, about Fiona being the new queen. I could have sworn Don said Fiona would end up leaving (page 451).

I have to say though, I can't wait for the ending that feels like a true ending.

Redipop wrote:After seeing this 'ending', I can't stop thinking about that mother and her child. It just seems like in the chaos that was happening, this sugar and rainbows ending seems REALLY out of place.

Complete agreement. I've been following this comic for about two years now, and have always been rather fond of it.

But look, this last page? What the hell? It's completely nonsensical to have all that dramatic buildup and then.. nothing. The epilogue is not gonna fix the fact that you basically solved all the conflicts by waving your magic author wand rather than, you know, solving them.

From a character point of view, Lia needs a LOT to be redeemed. A lot. I think you said somewhere your concept of Lia losing her conscience was like Angel losing his soul? Remember the end of season two? Angel had to go to hell to redeem himself for relapsing! If that season had ended with him getting his soul back and then frolicking in the meadows hand in hand with Buffy while birds sang and they said I love you, that would have been terrible.

I'm still going to read the epilogue because I'm curious to see what you'll do with it, but to be honest, I really don't think I can take this story seriously anymore.

I'm thinking that this ending point isn't 'solving' anything though. It seems to only show that there is hope for Lia, which is important, it just hasn't solved other problems yet. This seems to be a glimmer of hope that all the tragedy that's happened in this comic may be able to be overcome one day. Not 'fixed' as the little girl can't live again (which is sad because Fiona being able to resurrect would have been awesome), not forgotten either as her poor mother will never forget, but that future lives can be happier. I wouldn't be surprised that soon after the touching scene, everyone will turn to the grieving mother and a lot of emotional weight will rest upon them.
Sadly enough, I'm thinking that maybe having that poor little goblin girl die will be necessary for Fiona to see that Lia has serious problems that can't be glossed over with love and that this will lead to some trying times for Fi in the epilogue. She has to see shades of grey, try to forgive others, trust them again and protect the people of Nod while she has the responsibility. She might end up hurt so many times in Lia's recovery that they may not be able to be together, even if they have happy separate lives.
The offer they gave was that if Lia chose to face up to her actions, then she will be given another chance for recovery and earning Fi's love. The Mara can't love.(Then again, Sadako didn't exactly give Lia a chance for redemption, so 'another chance' may be pushing it) This isn't a fix-up, this is a chance. While this chance is here, Fi knows she can try to protect both the people of Nod and the girl she loves and all this pain was worth it.

What a disappointing ending for such an amazing story. My reaction, after staring at the screen in bewilderment, was "Are you serious? That's it?". I really hope the epilogue does this story justice.

I vaguely remember something in Megan's tumblr about poop cookies and shrimp cookies and chocolate cookies and the ending of YU+ME. Like, that the ending was a cookie and people would either think it was a chocolate cookie (awesome), a shrimp cookie (out of place but not bad) or a poop cookie (terrible).

I don't think the ending is a poop cookie, but I'm not sure how I'd classify it. I'm not a Fiona/Lia shipper anymore, so I don't think my reaction was the intended one... but if I still DID ship them, I think I'd like it a lot. I liked the other parts of the story better, but they'll get dealt with in the epilogue. So maybe it's like... dark chocolate? Which is good, technically, and good in cookies, but just not something I like to eat that much. So when I get a cookie, I don't eat the chocolate chips, I just kind of nibble around them. But I still enjoy the cookie and I still remember it as a good cookie and I would go to the bakery again if I had money and wanted cookies. But it's the same for shrimp in cookies, so it's kind of hard to tell the difference.

My verdict is dark chocolate mostly with a few shrimp sticking out. Not really what I wanted to see for the ending, but good overall, and I'm still going to read Meaty Yogurt when it comes out.

Definitely not poop.

My first reaction was, "What the....what?" But after thinking about it for a minute, considering the way the story's been going, it's about the only way this thing could end, really.

Fi and Lia's love made Lia forget about The Mara once, and given time it can do it again. For a chance at real love you can look past almost anything.

I've really loved this comic up until the last week or so... I guess at this point I couldn't really see why Fiona would even want to be with Lia anymore. It seems like after being lied to, being stabbed through the chest, and witnessing your 'love' murder a child in front of you, that it would be time to let that relationship go. I was hoping Fiona would come to the conclusion that she deserved better than that. But, I'm looking forward to seeing where the epilogue goes!

It's kind of sad, I started reading YU+ME a week ago,and now its all over, I'll miss Fi and everybody.

If all this Sadako stuff was a dream and all the story since the prom to this end was just a dream while she was sleeping with Lia?

I've read the forums for a long time but only joined to say that I was totally disappointed with this ending. I want to read the epilogue in hopes that it will make more sense and be less anti-climactic than these last pages have been, though I'm afraid that it won't change my current feelings for the ending.

All I can imagine when reading this page are the sobs and screams of a mother cradling her dead child in the background while a teenager plants one on this 900 year old killer/torturer (of thousands and thousands of people, no less) and two consciences looks on smiling like everything is super cool with the scene.

Edited to add: I don't want to make it sound like a really evil reaction, I just really really love this comic and have been reading it for so long.

Acornlauren wrote:I've read the forums for a long time but only joined to say that I was totally disappointed with this ending. I want to read the epilogue in hopes that it will make more sense and be less anti-climactic than these last pages have been, though I'm afraid that it won't change my current feelings for the ending.

All I can imagine when reading this page are the sobs and screams of a mother cradling her dead child in the background while a teenager plants one on this 900 year old killer/torturer (of thousands and thousands of people, no less) and two consciences looks on smiling like everything is super cool with the scene.

Edited to add: I don't want to make it sound like a really evil reaction, I just really really love this comic and have been reading it for so long.

Yeah I agree, this was a very creepy ending scene for me too. The more I think about it the more I really hope the epilogue does it justice...but even just the thought of this happening on its own really makes me go

So, I think I'm going to reread before I can do a critique of the entire series now that it's all done, but I have issues with Lia/Fiona ending up with each other/saving Lia with love. Lia is a genocidal maniac without her conscious, and has killed so many people. How can anyone love a person who has that deep inside themselves? It's like saying that some dictator only needs love and their conscious to become a good person again. It sits unwell with me. Also, I don't know why Fiona would stay with Lia since their last meeting was basically "admission of love, sex, Lia's history, oh yeah I'm a trap for Sadako". Isn't that something you say in the beginning of things? I dunno. I just can't agree with the ending respecting to Fiona and Lia. It's like one of those romance novels/movies where two people fall in a superficial type of love and then are separated, and then spend forever trying to find each other... when there's really not a good reason for them to be in love in the first place. It's more like they're in love with love.

Just a thought for the future, I recommend not ending next time immediately upon the release of the conflict. Usually people need to be eased into an ending by leading to the settling of a conclusion and its affect on the characters. I understand you intend to do that with the epilogue, but why make it an epilogue and not simply a part of the ending?

Secondly, I feel rather cheated with the ending and how Lia and Fiona decided to magically fix this issue. So will Fiona simply allow Lia to get by with murdering hundreds of people? I suppose since she's now the ruler she could, but it seems like she's just become another Sadako then by selfishly allowing whatever makes her feel better and not what's good for the people. Maybe this will all be explained in the epilogue.

As far as the climax itself, one thing to keep in mind with an ending of the story is that the main characters usually need to experience a change in themselves. Fiona did a good job of this, but Lia has not changed in the least. It would have been great if perhaps she overcame her evil tendencies with her own strength or because she loved Fiona so much that she didn't want to upset her any further. Even Sadako was capable of love and affection without her conscience. It seems in this sense that honestly, Lia does not love Fiona, which completely defeats the message of this wonderful story.

I don't want you to feel as if I'm ragging on you, you've accomplished quite a feat in finishing a very immersive, artistic, and interesting story, I just feel sort of let down with the sudden ending that feels rather last minute in its execution.

I'm going to echo the others in saying the ending was very disappointing and abrupt, but I'm going to expand and say this storytelling over the past few months was also rather abrupt and often choppy and difficult to get emotionally invested in.

I feel kind of like I was going to tour a beautiful city but I was stuck on a bullet train for the majority of the time, so I was rushed from place to place. That isn't to say that it was necessarily bad, but it could've been spaced out some...a lot, actually. Lia's entire...Mara plot should have really been cushioned with more storytelling -- that bit, I think, is particularly what makes this ending feel so lackluster and out of place. The emotional dissonance of the two main characters kissing as their consciences look on in admiration, while a mother grieves her dead child in the background is really, really jarring and almost unnervingly cheery and optimistic. I hope the epilogue will tie up some of these loose ends.

It had a lot of potential but...ffs. I really don't mean to sound like I'm bashing, but I was just so thrown by the ending that I had to say something. I've been following the comic for a long time and the forums as well, and...I don't know.

I didn't really care for this ending, but then again I haven't really cared for Lia in the past few pages. I know it was the Mara that did that, but she is still a dark part of Lia. That isn't to say that I don't think she can be redeemed, I think she can. I just can't feel sorry for her. However, I am very excited for the epilogue so that I can see what happens to everyone. Especially the best character ever, Don!

I hate go criticize, but if an epilogue is necessary, can it really be called an epilogue?

I still can't believe that it's over. I'm still in a bit of denial, at least there's still the epilog to look forward to, hopefully answer some lingering questions I've got. I'm just sorry I disappeared from the boards for so long, I really wish I had been more active. yu+me has been one of my favorite webcomics ever since I started reading it I don't even remember how long ago.

It's been a great ride Megan, you're an amazing artist and storyteller, keep up the good work. I know you're going to go far.

Re: "I've really loved this comic up until the last week or so... I guess at this point I couldn't really see why Fiona would even want to be with Lia anymore. It seems like after being lied to, being stabbed through the chest, and witnessing your 'love' murder a child in front of you, that it would be time to let that relationship go."

Remember that Lia was separated from her conscience through no fault of her own, and thus cannot be held accountable for anything she did when this happened. Also, had Sadako done away with Fiona's conscience, Fiona would have become the Terrible Mara only ten times stronger and far more destructive.

This is a standard theme in mythology and legends, and is the foundation of the ying/yang concept. In "The Dark Crystal," the Skeksis (dark side) are evil until they are reunited with the Ur-ru (light side) whereupon they become whole creatures who could not be blamed for what they did when they were split into two. See also http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68670.html

"When a space animal is beamed aboard the starship and splits into two entities; one tame and one vicious, it is discovered that the same thing has happened to Kirk. While one Kirk is good and honorable, the other is evil and runs amok on his ship, committing violent acts, including the attempted assault of Yeoman Janice Rand. ...As time passes, the "good" Kirk is weakening, losing his ability to make decisions, while his "evil" half is dying. Neither Kirk can survive without his other half." Captain Kirk was not held accountable for what his bad half did when it was separated from his good half, and Megan apparently did the same thing with Lia and her conscience.

In Ursela Le Guin's "A Wizard of Earthsea," the hero inadvertantly releases what turns out to be his dark half, and it goes on a killing spree until the hero can reuinite it with himself. Unlike Captain Kirk and the Ur-Ru, howevewer, he does not lose his ability to make decisions because of the absence of his dark side.