User blog comment:Promestein/Starcross - Birthday/@comment-28644276-20190302062404/@comment-27123758-20190302064104

Yeah, all this ending was my favorite part of it to write. I mentioned before that I worked hard to show the seeds of her future behavior and destructive mindset, and here I was able to do that more obviously. None of what Alice wants or dreams of here is bad or anything, but... she takes it further, and further. And that was intentional!

The transition was fun, too. My friend actually convinced me to make it so fluid; before there was a line break between the dream and reality, but by removing it, it makes it a lot more striking and confusing, forcing you into Alice's mindset. For a paragraph or two, you're just as lost as she is.

And, yeah... I have a lot of really bad nightmares like that. So I channeled a lot of those feelings here. It's too bad the full version is spoilery, because I'd have loved to share it. The later half acts to contrast the first half, showing the differences in how Alice thinks and sees the world now that she's gotten the power and influence she wants.