Has it really been this long?

I know that nobody will probably read this. But I feel the need to do it, maybe to have some closure to this old thing. Even if I cringe really, reeeeeeally hard when I look at it, this thing has actually put me on the road to happiness.

Let me explain.

Back in 2008, when this fic was first published, it was noted on a forum on . I might have mentioned it once or twice before in the fic, I dunno. But that's where a fan of mine contacted me. Several, actually. We made a big RP group. We had a lot of fun, back in those days. Those days are long, long gone now, but they still mean quite a lot to me.

One of those people was a woman called Mazeyelle. You might be familiar with her if you follow her on dA, or maybe some other forum, I dunno. But, it's so weird, but so wonderful, to say that almost ten years (a whole fucking decade!) after I posted the first chapter, Mazeyelle and I are engaged, and I now live with her in Washington state. She's asleep right now in the other room with our German Sheperd.

But let me tell you... it was really, really hard. Not because of her, man, not at all, but because I was so sick.

You guys remember that when I was pretty young, I had a myrad of health issues. This all culimnated right after I tried to remake this damn fic. That's right; I got cancer. Bone cancer, to be precise, one of the rarer forms of cancer. I won the shittiest lottery known to man, amirite?

It took a long time to get better. I'm crippled for life thanks to it. But I lived. And I am here. And all of it, legit all of it, links back to this silly little fic that I wrote when I was 11 years old.

It's so cringy, now that I look back on it. Downright insulting in some parts, to real life history. But I've learned. I've learned a lot, and I'm actually on my way to becoming a real novelist now. This fic, as silly as it is now, honestly put me on the right path to life. I started writing this when I was down on my luck, and outright depressed; I attempted suicide at 12, while this was ongoing. This fic was like therapy for me; a way to expunge my trauma.

I know nobody can see this. It's fine. I just wanted to leave some closure behind.

This is the power of fiction, and of writing, guys. It honestly is. I hope that everybody that this story brought joy to is still alive and well, and that you're all happy. I truly wish that.

Godspeed, you crazy motherfuckers! I love you.

With love and hope for the future,

~Anna.