This is the end of the line, folks. The story is over, or at least this telling is. If you'd like to write a sequel or write something inspired by this story, you have my full blessing—and recognition is always nice, as well. Just please don't straight up repost the exact chapters I've written. Only villains do that. But on a more serious note, while I have a variety of people and groups I want to recognize, I want to first discuss why I have made this choice. If you'd rather only read the recognitions, go to the line skip.

When I made the decision to plan out the final batch of chapters for Headstart, I had foreseen at least a couple more after what is now the final one. But now, instead of continuing through with that, I decided to stop where I had reached because I had realized whatever drive and interest in this narrative I had was gone, replaced by a misguided fixation upon finishing what I had started. (Ironic, given I am no stranger to dropping and canning stories) Part of this comes from my decline in interest concerning this particular fandom, or at least a shift. Looking back, I realize that when I brought this back following a hiatus and performed some rather surface-level edits, my focus on this story was more of due to the mass appeal of the story and the reading numbers it drew in, not a creative, intrinsic interest to know what this story was and how it would end. More so, my approach to writing and posting fan fiction has changed in the years since I began this project.

To anyone who's been following me since early 2019 has likely noticed, with the exception of this story, I only post when a story is basically complete and beta read. I've found that I have grown as a writer in these past few years that the traditional approach of serialization—write a chapter, edit, post, repeat—is something that doesn't work with my approach. One of my WIPs has seen at least seven rewrites of an early chapter, and some have had new scenes added as the story and fandom knowledge has grown and changed.

So, as I said, this is the end of Headstart. Will I return to Hero Aca in the future? Yes, though likely in a manner akin to my most recent story, Invincible. Frankly, if there's any story in the past year or more I'm proud of, it may just be that one. Or perhaps it will come more as character studies, likely focused on those I actually have an interest in.

For those who like my style, I will do my best to keep my list of WIPs current and updated upon my (FFnet) profile, so you can either have something to look forward to, something to PM me about, or even request being a beta for. I happen to have a Hunger Games one-shot (and wow, I feel old mentioning that fandom) that needs a beta, mostly because I've been distracted by other writing projects and haven't troubled myself with seeking one out.

And so, as I promised earlier, there are many I feel I need to recognize.

First and most importantly, my beta, kylekatarn77. You've stuck with me throughout this wild mess of a process, and while I apologize for being poor about contact and not having you take one last gander at the final chapter, I know I needed to recognize you first, especially given your wonderful tendency to have chapters back to me so bloody quickly.

The following four paragraphs are for my numerous FFnet readers and that community. For all of y'all on AO3, feel free to skip them.

I want to highlight and name the sixteen communities that have this story listed among the rest included in their lists of stories. They Who Read Between The Lines; My All Time Favourite; Everything I Like; A Bunch of Awesome FanFics; Ranma ,Digimon ,Dragonball Z and Anything else I Think of; Scroll of Fanfictions; Liz-Blizz's Fic list; Dandanjr's Favorites; ravenxrobin or any robin blackfire or jinx of any good fic welcome; EdwardGrave's Cave of Fanfiction; Chaotic Disorder; favorite fabfics; Alkard's stash; Enjoyable Stories Made Easy to find; Rae's Interests; Favorites of Tantalus Complex. While I have no way to prove it, I personally believe communities like the ones I listed help drive discoverability for stories and can get ones like this to rise through the chaff of a fandom.

To the rather absurd number of people who have added this story to their list of favorites, you have my absolute thanks. There's nothing quite like going to the profile of a writer you like, scrolling through their favorites, and finding a new story or writer to become engrossed in. Thank you to all 3,013 of you.

Speaking from experience, I don't think there's one stat more telling about a story in progress that highlights popularity more than followers. While reviews are the way readers interact and express their feelings and opinions with writers, by merely following a story, they make it clear that they have an interest, great or small, in seeing where the story continues. Thanks to all 3,517 of you.

Of course, one cannot forget to mention the reviewers, the real champions of fan fiction. I still cannot believe I received almost 600 of these in a single story. Just hitting the 100 mark is a dream for many writers out there. There is nothing in writing fan fiction that compares to the anxious curiosity of receiving a review. Whether full of praise, scorn, or something in between, nothing quite captures the mood of an audience like direct feedback. So, whether you left only one or twenty (pretty sure MIKE202303 has left that many), thank you. Even if the sole purpose of the review was to express every way Headstart annoyed, bothered, and troubled you. Feedback is probably the closest thing to lifeblood for a writing community.

To my AO3 readers, I cannot forget you as well. Headstart may not be as popular here as on that other site, yet it's still my most popular here and I want to include all of you. So to the 86 comment threads, the 210 bookmarks/recs, to all 301 subscribers and all 578 of you who left kudos, thank you so much.

And finally, to every reader, though mostly those past. Over the three-plus years this story has been around, it has garnered over 840,000 hits across two websites (as of writing this) from over 150 countries, if not more. I have learned more about the island nations of the Caribbean and the Pacific thanks to fan fiction. This sort of draw, regardless of how positive or negative it may have been for you the reader, was part of what kept this story around for so long.

So whether you read one chapter or all of them, if you just went through once or for some reason come back every once and a while to refresh and reread, and regardless of whichever website you prefer to read this story on, thank you for reading, for giving it some of your time, and I would be honored if you decide to read more of my work, whether now or in the future.

Kamil the Awesome

14 May 2020