1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

I wanted to explore dr3 chiakis character as well as junkos character.

2: What scene did you first put down?

Junko and chiaki talking to the remnants

5: What part was hardest to write?

The second half of the story was a slow burn for me but it was worth it.

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

It's the one I'm proudest of and it's probably the best written.

7: Where did the title come from?

I already believed Chiaki was ultimate hope and I figured her leadership skills and attitude were like a queens, therefore I combined it to get "the queen of hope"

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

Nope

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

It was originally going to be shorter but I decided to continue writing till there was full closure.

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

I was going to make it more shippy but I wanted the focus to stay on Chiaki and her character growth. Ever since I started writing I always wanted to explore chiakis relation to Junko because they're so polar opposite yet similar in a few ways. Of course I included chiakis bond with Chisa, because Chisa is very important to chiakis character growth.

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I really like the way I handled the characters and I loved giving Chiaki the best ending possible.

12: What do you like least about this fic?

There were a few times where I felt it could have been longer or shorter. Other times I felt I had too many climaxes.

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn't listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

Yurikuma arashi full OST

14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

I want them to see the brilliance of dr3s chiakis character and to understand that she is her own fleshed out character. I love sdr2 Chiaki but I wouldn't trade either Chiaki for the other because they are both precious to me for different reasons.

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

I learned a lot about junkos character and dr3s chiakis character.

The idea

When I had the initial idea for "The Queen of Hope" it was just going to be another drabble, but then I tried writing it. As I was trying to find a good stopping point for the Drabble I realized I couldn't find one. So I slept on the idea. During this time I was recovering from surgery and my sleep schedule had become abnormal. As I tried to fall asleep, I thought more about the idea. After an hour or two of trying to fall asleep and thinking about the idea I just decided to make it a full length story.

The writing process

I wasn't a new comer to writing full stories, but I wasn't super good either. To me, my stories were strong when it came to character interaction but the endings were always rushed. However when I wrote this story I had more confidence and passion to make it the best it could be. It really helped that I was super happy at the time and I had a bunch of full days to write. Most of all, I started with the end in mind.

From the beginning and for almost every single chapter I listened to the "yurikuma" soundtrack. Depending on certain important scenes, I would listen to a particular song to help me recognize and understand the feeling I wanted to capture. For example, the scene where Chisa wakes up from surgery and talks to chiaki, I was listening to "Nagisa" from 'Clannad'. I find it's easier for me to write when I'm passionate about the story and characters and this has probably been the most passionate I've been for a full length story.

While i love writing, I tend to loose passion for a story overtime. That's why I write a lot of drabbles in hopes that someone will take an idea from one of my drabbles and write their own take on the idea. You can see, how I got increasing writers block,from the growing gaps between chapter releases. However I'm very glad that I was able to End this story. Not only that, but this is probably the best ending I've written considering my writing history.

Still as much as I'm proud of and love the story I wrote, I know that it still had some flaws as everything does. For example, I worried that the final climax lost some of its power due to previous scenes having more weight and closure. Also, I'm not sure if anyone else noticed, but I think I had three major tone shifts throughout the whole story and I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not. Of course my biggest concern was the possibility of making the main character a Mary Sue. If I could get some critique from you guys I think it will really help me in future writings.

Why Chiaki and Junko?

Most of my stories are centered around the characters and how they interact. For a long time, I've been intrigued with the comparisons between Chiaki and Junko. Many can easily see that they're polar opposites, but in some ways they are connected. Both of them have so much power and influence over people, yet they use this power for different goals. I really wanted to explore this relationship above all others, in hopes it would get people thinking about it more and possibly inspire them to explore it in their own stories. Still I understand why their relationship isn't commonly explored since it can easily become one sided or abusive. The important thing is that they don't get along until they understand and respect each other.

Why Chiaki and Chisa?

It's no secret that I love Chisa and chiakis mother/daughter bond. While it didn't show up that much in the first half, I'm proud with how it developed in the second half. If I planned it better or if I had more time, I would have loved to try to do more with despair Chisa, but I'm sure I can explore and write her in another story. Fortunately, it seems my efforts to expand this idea through my writings has already started to spread and inspire other writers, so I'm pretty happy with that.

Chiaki Nanami and her character.

The biggest goal of this story was to explore and develop human chiakis character. While I understand her character didn't seem to get much development in the anime, I personally don't choose to see it that way. Loneliness is not an easy thing to overcome and it can lead you to become blind to people's nature, I should know because I have felt intense loneliness before. To me, human chiaki is a lonely person who found friends and now all she wants to do is make them happy because without them she'd be alone again. As I mentioned before, loneliness can lead people to be blind to people's true nature and that can easy come to punish them later.

Anyway, aside from relating to loneliness, I also really love what a great leader she is. She's like a queen in that she understands her friends strengths and weaknesses to better utilize them. However despite her position, she never sees her self above them and works to care and show her gratitude for them.

Usually when I write about Chiaki I tend to write her in a relationship with someone *cough* Hajime and Izuru* cough*, but I felt the story would be better if I focused more on character growth than romantic growth. However that still didn't stop me from sneaking in a tiny bit of romance.

Conclusion.

Overall I love the story I wrote and I hope it can inspire others to write. Maybe I'll look back on this in a few years and see the flaws, but it was still important for my growth as a writer. As always I want to thank my wonderful readers and the kind people who left reviews and gave me tips on how to improve my writing. It was such a pleasure to write this story, so thank you. Love Love. ❤❤