Can you tell us the original ending you planned for chain of thorns?
I can tell you part of it was older James on his deathbed, and as he lay dying seeing all of his friends who had died so horribly so long ago waiting for him on the other side, and thinking how he had never had friends again like the ones he had when he was young.
(Certainly an ending that would have wiped out any possibility of future TLH projects or stories with those characters in them.)
[TEXT ID: / july didn't even say goodbye. the years don't kiss you goodnight anymore. they just leave behind this empty space, a phantom pain. and still i ache, i ache, i ache! / END ID]
god it's like nobody even cares that [problem i've taken great pains to make sure nobody will acknowledge] looks like i have no choice but to make it worse in isolation for reasons i can't articulate and don't understand
being aware that your behavior is shaped by childhood experiences is so cringe every time i notice it im like ooo look at her can't even get over what someone told him when she was 7. grow up