Hi Everyone,

Firstly thank you to one and all for the overwhelming response to Part 11. 

Honestly, I was very nervous, as it has been a really long time and I was not at all sure how you all would receive the story.

But reading your comments on the story, and some of the DMs I have received I am just humbled, grateful and thankful for your support. I will reply to each one individually soon, but want you to know I have read and seen them all. 

I know it has been a while since I first started the story, so I feel it is important at this point to remind you why I am writing this story. 

This screenshot is from the very first post I made, even before I started writing the story. Back then I just had an outline in my head.  I had clearly mentioned that I will have to at first stick to the basic storyline. If I do not do that, then how will I turn the table to prove my point.

Basically, this is in answer to everyone who is expecting things to not go bad and swiftly get better. No, that is not going to happen in this story. Even though I do not endorse certain aspects, certain behaviours, they will have to feature in the story. If truth be told, writing those parts is so hard for me. I have to really do a lot of research to find examples that I can use for the negative aspect of certain characters. I have no experience to draw from in my personal life, when it comes to such behaviour and I do not even know of people who have been treated like this. Even the many fictional and non-fictional books I have read, seldom have characters with such traits. It is hard but I am trying. 

You cannot even imagine, the kind of research I have had to do. Just to give an example, I have recently been reading research on the varying perception people have of women who are infertile and still become parents through adoption. It is mind-boggling what kind of shallow standards society has for such women. Actually in general the standards to which adoptive mothers are measured against in general is baffling. I have also been reading on bipolar disorder, Thanatophobia, qualitative study of abuse and similar topics. So when I write things that are a bit difficult to swallow, please know I do not write anything lightly. Even though I personally, absolutely do not endorse 99.99% of the negative things my characters say or act out, it is important to know that such behaviour and attitude actually does exist and it is a lot more common than one might think. When I first started working on my storyboard it was honestly very blank when it came to character sketches, but then as I did more research I have been able to add more layers to the characters: they might seem one-dimensional for now but the harsh reality is people with such traits exist. 

However, let me also tell you, I know what the turning point of the story is, but it will take some time to get there and until then the story will be hard to write and perhaps hard to read also for all of you. Basically the journey over the next few updates( I do not know how many yet, as I only have outlines written and not whole texts), is going to be a roller coaster ride. 

So brace yourself, and thank you once again for all your support! 

Also stay tuned, the next update should be coming up next week, provided I can stop crying long enough to finish writing it! ( yes spoiler alert...)

Until then, stay safe and healthy! 

Love and Hugs,

A.S.