Hi, hello dear reader.
Honestly, I have been thinking about what to write in the Acknowledgment chapter ever since I made it my goal to finish "We are Stray Kids" and that was some time ago. I have come up with so many things that I wanted to say, to mention, to acknowledge, and now as I am typing this my brain is just empty, barren desert. So bear with me for this.
With "We are Stray Kids" I have finished my first ever book and it is my no means a short book.
According to my page doc it has 432.419 words and 615 pages. That makes it a hella long book, considering most fiction books have around 300 pages (at least in my experience). The doc was created on the 20th of June in 2019 at 9:09 pm (or 21:09), but I cannot recall if I had a note doc before that (it is very possible), though, I feel like it's accurate that I spend a bit more than two years working on this book.
Now, this may bore some people, but I always wanted to explain as to why I started writing "We are Stray Kids" in the first place, so here I go. I am a big lover of the genre of fantasy and I love supernatural creatures, so on one fateful I started to think about what type of supernatural creature would fit to each member of Stray Kids (this thought process was also fueled by other SKZ ff with a similar concept). It was a rather easy mind game for me. Chan instantly became a wolf hybrid, Jeongin a kitsune, Changbin a vampire, Minho a cat hybrid, Seungmin a demon. Hyunjin became a siren for the swallow reason of his handsomeness. Felix was rather tricky, but he ended up as a cat hybrid because I decided to just make him Minho's brother.
So, with all of that in mind I started writing "We are Stray Kids" on an account that now lies dormant in the depth of Wattpad. Back then I even asked another ff writer (CreatureChanLixQueen ), who I admired a lot, for a bit of advice. I was unsure how to handle the amount of ideas I had and needed a little nudge. And I got that much needed nudge because I was told to write with the ending in mind. So I wrote and wrote, knowing I wanted to end the book with one line that also became the title. "We are Stray Kids".
This book are been on my side for more than two years. I began when I was still in school, in my final year. I wrote feverishly through the first summer to the point where my fingers itched when they didn't tap on the screen of my iPad to bring my ideas onto a virtual page. And yes, I started with writing on an iPad screen and I cannot tell you how often my parents asked me if I was comfortable folded into a camping chair with an iPad carefully balanced on one thigh (because god forbid I sat normally on a table nonono).
I started off with just writing for the joy of it and I am glad to say that this mindset remained throughout the entirety of the two year journey. I never paid attention to the numbers and only became aware of them when my sister and family friends began to wonder what I was doing. My sister figured out I was writing a SKZ ff. At the time I was so embarrassed I made a new account, this one, to separate my fan stuff from original writing. Of course, my sister also found my new account, but by that I didn't care anymore. My friends are banned from reading though, because non of them are into Stray Kids and then it just makes no sense for them to read it (also I fear the judgement of my friends).
When I changed account I was amazed by just how many followed the ff and despite not being able to name the readers I know some of you are still here and kept up with the story till the end! That was so amazing to me I almost couldn't believe it!
This ff has been through a lot. Even within the STAY fandom. It witness the loss of a member and the controversy surrounding said ex-member first hand along with a lot of other fics. It experienced the corona pandemic full force. It helped me through some tough times in my personal life.
I used to preach how I wrote to cope with stress, how I was an addict in that sense. That was true for a long time. I think it was around the time of the controversy surrounding the ex-member when I lost the momentum of updating once a week, maybe a bit before? I don't have a solid time-line in my head. I only know that I took a break from weekly updates when I had to study for my finals and was stressed about the corona pandemic and when I reworked the book to implement Byungho. After that I never really got back into that weekly rhythm, which annoyed me endlessly. I don't know why but with that I also kinda entered a phase where I didn't write generally. I put almost every project I had at the time on hold and it took me a while to reconnect with writing. I still have no clue why, because writing really does bring me a lot of joy. One of my best friends once called me passionate because of my dedication to a project of mine. I never saw myself as passionate and I still don't, for reasons I really cannot name.
Anyway, to the important things: you dear reader. This story may have been born in my mind, but you raised it. "We are Stray Kids" would not have finished without your support. I wrote for the sake of writing, but every comment, every vote, every silent reader has just fueled my resolve to finish this book.
I cannot put into words how much joy each comment, vote or just silent support has brought me. I love answering questions or just reacting to comments. Just the interaction alone was so fulfilling I cannot thank every commentator enough for it.
So to put this in bold letters: I love each and everyone reading this. Thank you so much for your support, your patience, your love for the story. Thank you so much for reading to the end. I wish there was a stronger way to say 'Thank you' and express gratitude. I could use that right now.
So to conclude this. Thank you, again and again for reading. I love you, take care of yourself, stay hydrated, stay safe.
With lots of love and endless gratitude,
Akeminii