A prelude to Chapter 26 & a message to all of you.

Some possible spoilers below, so I have taken the necessary precautions. Read at your own risk.

So... I'm writing Chapter 26 right now. Just finished it, actually. It's going to be a bit shorter than the last one, but I didn't want to bloat it out with any unnecessary padding or attempts at humor. It picks up right where 25 left off, and I keep that tone throughout. But that's not why I'm writing this here blog entry.

I'm writing this blog entry because I don't think I've ever gotten this emotional while writing anything before. I feel like I could start crying at any moment now, I'm that shaken up.

Not just because of the subject matter within the upcoming chapter itself, either. I'm this shaken up because of the things I'm building up to. I'm building up to a plot twist that has been eating away at me since day one of this story's existence, well before Chapter 1 was published. A plot twist that will, hopefully, explain many of Twilight's behaviors and thoughts throughout the story thus far. An aspect of the story that I've realized has unintentionally come from a very real and personal place deep inside me.

I'm not going to elude any more than that. I don't want what's coming to be spoiled for anyone, and I don't want to drop any more hints then I already have. And if you feel the need to guess where I'm going, I ask that you put it in a private message and send it to me if you absolutely must vocalize it. I don't want a public comment going up here— or on the story proper— that just points out what the big reveal is several chapters in advance.

But that's not why I'm writing this blog. I'm writing this, in my very emotional state, to thank all of you.

When I first started publishing this series, I didn't think it would gain any traction or popularity. This was something for me to do in my spare time and nothing more, if a few people ended up liking it, then that'd be a nice bonus. But that didn't happen. And, seemingly overnight, this story just took off. It's not the biggest on the site, not by a long shot, but more than I ever thought I'd get.

Every time I publish a new chapter, I get a good few notifications telling me that people have added this story to their tracking lists, or their favorites, or whatever other bookshelves they have. I get a number of comments ranging from actual and honest praise, to constructive criticism, to point out my spelling errors (always appreciated, mind you, never stop), and sometimes even paragraphs of analysis and feedback. I don't respond to every comment I get, but I do read them all. And I appreciate every single one.

When a new chapter goes live, I will sit there and just watch the Live-Reader Count for who knows how long. It's usually only six or seven people at a time, but there's just something magical about knowing that there are other people just taking the time to read the words I've written.

Every time that like-counter ticks up is just this mesmerizing moment of accomplishment. Heck, even the dislikes going up has never really bothered me, some people just don't like this kind of story and that's ok. But the fact that there's currently 241 likes and only 4 dislikes blows my mind. Hell, it's even been featured a couple of times. I know it's an automated system based on viewer traffic, but that only means I've gotten enough traffic to be considered front-page material, at least for a few short hours at a time.

I just can't put into words how much it means to me that all of you people, you real-life human beings, actually like this story I've managed to put together. And I just wanted to take the time to thank you all for giving me the time of day. Even if you didn't like it. The fact that my writing is just acknowledged means the absolute world to me. You are all the major reason I keep writing this.

Thank you. All of you.