How Journeys End Wrap-Up Party

We’ve reached the end of How Journeys End by Pineapple! It’s the first wrap party for Pineapple and we’re so excited! Thank you all for journeying with us. Let’s grab some of our favorite drinks, snacks, and take a look at how far we’ve come!

*Please note that this will contain spoilers for the How Journeys End series.

---

First impressions of the story vs impressions now?

Pineapple

This story started out as, like, a drabble, back when the JAAM Fam was doing drabbles as writing challenges for fun. I continued the storyline of a princess and her (female) knight through a couple different prompts we did. It was a lot of fun at the time! When I was getting ready to finish Stream of Consciousness, I was trying to figure out what I’d do next. So I looked at some old things and ended up settling on expanding this concept and these characters into a full story.

NOW though… it was a lot of trouble. Originally, the story was kind of split into two different parts. The first part focused on Camellia’s character arc, and the second focused on Siana’s. I ended up scrapping the second half pretty much entirely as the story just ended up being mostly about Siana anyway.

This story was fun, but it became a lot messier and longer than I’d thought it would be.

Apple

From the get-go I was freaking out! Pineapple sent this short scene with Siana, Camellia, and Via, and it had everything. A princess, a female knight, magic, the bodyguard trope, one of my favorite kpop songs listed as inspiration—it was basically my birthday. The giddiness I felt when she officially decided to make it a JAAM project and added the “Fantasy Lesbians Outline” to our shared drive was unparalleled. Looking at the story now, I’m so impressed with the way Pineapple built up the world around these characters. From the war-trodden kingdoms to the magic system, this webnovel never shied away from the hard questions or the messiness. And yet Pineapple still managed to give my faves a happy ending! (That second to the last chapter had me stressed!)

Raspberry

I was stanning this story from the BEGINNING!!! Reading the outline alone had me squealing and begging for the full story ASAP. Honestly, now I want a sequel. Yes, I want them to live happily and stress-free, but also I’m not ready to say goodbye!!!

Who’s your favorite character?

Pineapple

My favorite character… it’s probably Chrysan or Day. Chrysan was someone I hadn’t really planned for and he became a favorite pretty immediately as I wrote him. His story pretty much wrote itself, too.

Day was originally gonna be an older general type, similar but opposite to Helianthus. He was also supposed to die but I really liked him too much, ha ha.

Apple

Nothing but love for my favorite trio: Siana, Camellia, and Tara! Good fam, great fighters, fire powers—what more could I ask for? Siana and Tara grew up a bit spoiled, but Cam doesn’t hesitate to get them asking the important questions. In return, I think Siana and Tara help Camellia be soft in a way she hadn’t really gotten to before. I also love all the little moments of Camellia being jealous while she was still realizing her feelings for Siana. And lastly, I have to mention the queen for spreading magic knowledge beyond the upper class. Her influence continued long after she was gone, and three kingdoms were better for it.

Raspberry

Oh that’s hard!! I feel like I have to say Camellia though, because she’s smart and a great fighter and a knight. Like, when I say “knight in shining armor” I mean HER.

Favorite moments or scenes?

Pineapple

Maybe… the beginning and the ending. The beginnings I always try to nail really hard so that I can establish setting and characters and tone for the entire story. I think I did a good job and I’m proud of how the first chapter turned out. The ending… I just like it. I feel satisfied with the whole climax, the final battles, and the last chapter.

If I try to think of specific scenes… there’s a lot. It’s nostalgic to think about them now. When I think about it, I think of Siana’s conversation with the rebels, and then her subsequent conversation with Camellia in the dark hotel in Chapter Five. Helianthus’ death and Via hugging Camellia is a good one, along with the reveal of Chrysan as Mile.

Apple

That whole arc where Siana gets kidnapped and rescued and escorted home by Camellia and Tara was my absolute favorite. We got the death of the young rebels, which really brought home how unjust the war was. We also got a bunch of fluffy moments, like Siana stealing Camellia’s knife and Tara braiding Siana’s hair! This arc just had all the feels.

Raspberry

Every moment with my ship? If I had to narrow it down… when Camellia was recovering and wakes up and sees Siana, who’s very obviously not left her side!!! Like, this is definitely one of my favorite tropes, and my heart melted!

Are there any fun behind the scenes moments you’d like to share?

Pineapple

I’ve already mentioned the whack-a-mole plan… 

The title from the story comes from the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night. The line “journeys end in lovers meeting.” The art is also inspired by the promo photos for the performance that Anne Hathaway, Audra McDonald, and Raul Esparza did. (If you haven’t seen the photo of it… whew, you’re missing out!) I think I mentioned that somewhere before.

If you didn’t see it on my other socials, you might not know that a lot of the story was also inspired by the kpop band Dreamcatcher and their music video “Deja Vu”!

I think I’ve mentioned how everyone is named after plants, and Siana being named after a hybrid petunia… but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that she was almost named Hyacinth.

Apple also had to continually correct my royal etiquette and addresses. Shout out to her because I would have been a mess without her guidance!

Apple

I might have fake cried in meetings when certain characters were killed. Like, oh no. (I’m laughing.) I’m so sad. (I’m not.) General Helianthus, Lady Via, and the king will not be missed, at least not by me. It sounds a little cruel, but hear me out: I didn’t tell Pineapple to kill them; I just celebrated afterward.

Raspberry

Definitely Apple and I celebrating character deaths like *rings a bell* “Lost another!” *Cheers* 

Let’s just say, they have it coming most of the time, and that’s what we call Karma 😉 

---

Thanks for joining us!

Let us know YOUR favorite characters and moments down in the comments or @jaamwriting on twitter! Pineapple would love to hear it all!