Date: 07/10/2023
Hello there! It's been a while since my last update/author's note.
I hope you're all doing well and I'm sorry if I haven't updated any chapters lately. Just got back from my hometown and I was sick for a week so I wasn't able to update.
But I feel all better and I'm back with updating and editing the story since I'm starting school really soon. So I really want to finish updating and editing everything from top to bottom.
Anyways, as you can tell by the title, I'm just gonna leave another author's note and I just need to clarify some things/details in the story. I'm also gonna talk about my possible plans for this story and I would also like to address something that caught my attention and it's been upsetting me lately.
So I hope you'll take the time to read this.
I've read some of your comments and I still think I wasn't clear enough on some details.
#1 - The thing about Steven who is still in high school.
Note: I know and understand that it's weird that Steven is still in high school. The reason why Steven is still in high school is because he is under Grade Retention.
Grade Retention is the process of a student repeating a grade due to failing the previous year.
So he's repeating a grade cause he didn't meet the required benchmarks. And also because of his bad deportment in school.
I hope that explains a lot.
If not, his backstory will be fully explained in the prequel, which is currently ON HOLD since I'm busy editing and updating this story. I don't know when I'll update the prequel but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to update much of it since I don't have anything planned for the prequel yet.
#2 - Comments saying about this story being mistaken as a dark romance story.
Note: I get that a lot of you like dark romance stories. Personally, for me, it really depends on the story.
I would just like to make it clear that this is NOT a dark romance story from the very beginning.
The Stepbrother is a horror/psychological-thriller story.
I don't like romanticizing abuse/ I don't like stories that romanticize abuse or any other heavy topics that could trigger someone. It is never okay. That's my perspective so I hope you understand.
And please read the trigger warnings carefully and thoroughly before starting to read the story. And you could always skip a chapter or stop reading the story entirely, cause it's okay with me.
It's not worth triggering yourself.
#3 - A lot of missing chapters.
Note: I finished this story around 2020 and I'm not satisfied with my writing back then. My writing was all over the place so I decided to edit everything from top to bottom, start to finish.
I unpublished all of the chapters from middle to end so I can edit them and publish them again and everything is updated and finalized from start to finish.
The last chapter I updated was Chapter 21 and the rest of the chapters are unpublished so I can edit and update them thoroughly.
So again, all of the other chapters are unpublished right now and I'll publish them again after editing and updating everything.
I hope you understand and I hope the chapters will be worth the wait.
#4 - Steven's age
Note: I understand that Steven's age can be very confusing but it was being explained by Miss Victoria in Chapter 21.
And yes, Steven is 23 years old and he lied by saying that he's "almost twenty".
Also, years ago, I wrote that detail out of the blue just to add a twist to the story but it didn't execute very well. I don't know what I was thinking of adding that but I decided to write it and leave the detail in the story.
Also, also - since Steven and Stefan are twins, I just want to confirm that both of them were born on the same day and they're only a few minutes apart.
#5 - Steven and Stefan's backstory + details about their mother
Note: Did you know that Stefan wasn't supposed to be in the story?
Well, years ago during the writing process of the story, Steven was supposed to be the only one. But I decided to create Stefan and include him in the story to add another twist to the story.
And I know their backstory seems to be brief or not fully explained in the story but everything will be explained in the prequel.
The prequel is still ON HOLD though.
Also, about their mother... I'm still working on a backstory for her.
But if I could remember correctly, Aurora mentioned that their mother seems to be sad or something like that... I honestly don't remember the other details to be honest. I'll get to that part really soon.
However, let's just say that their mother seems to be depressed or something like that.
Again, I'm still working on her backstory and everything else as I continue editing, updating, and writing along the way.
We'll just have to wait and see.
#6 - A lot of missing/confusing details mentioned in the comment section.
Note: Again, I finished this story around 2020 and I'm not satisfied with my writing back then. My writing was all over the place so I decided to edit everything from top to bottom, start to finish.
And I read some comments and some of you were confused about some details mentioned in the comments years ago.
I deleted some details that were not necessary in the story and fix some parts here and there so I hope you understand that I'm just making the story less confusing and less all over the place.
I guess those are just the things that I need to explain/clarify so I really hope you'll take the time to read and I hope you understand and I'm so sorry for the confusion.
Let's move on to the next thing that I would like to discuss.
I have some plans for the story and the plans are mainly finishing and updating and editing and writing this story from start to finish.
Once everything is updated and all of the chapters are published again, I will finally put this story to rest and start editing/updating the sequel from start to finish.
And once I'm done with editing the sequel, I'll start to continue writing/updating other stories, including the prequel.
I hope the chapters will be worth the wait.
And finally, I would like to address something that caught my attention. And honestly, if you could allow me to say something and express my feelings, it's quite upsetting to me.
But before that, I would just like to say that I'm not gonna mention anyone or point any fingers but you know who you are. And also, please don't mention anyone or point any fingers as well.
Also TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of abortion, victim blaming, themes of sexual abuse and rape that may be upsetting for some readers.
I check Wattpad every day and lately, there have been a lot of upsetting comments on the last chapter of the story, especially when it comes to the part where Aurora aborted the baby. I read some comments here and there and some really caught my attention and I'm still upset about it and I have mentioned this before.
I know everyone has their own opinion on this topic but some comments are very upsetting. Again, everyone has their own opinion but there are just some instances where it's better to keep things to yourself and not type it down.
Abortion can be a very difficult topic to talk about and abortion can also be a difficult process to go through, including the aftermath of getting an abortion.
I would just like to remind you that Aurora is 16 and she's not ready to have a child because she is still a child as well. She went through a lot. She was raped, being sexually harassed multiple times, and threatened by Steven, and yet she's fully aware that she wants to say something but she can't cause she scared.
And of course, after all of that, she would obviously abort the baby cause she is still a child herself and she doesn't even want one in the first place. She has a choice and I believe she did the right thing for herself.
Yes, she has the chance to tell someone but it is not easy for her. It is not easy for someone who went through a lot of things and if only, people could put themselves in their shoes cause if you do put yourself in their shoes, you would react the same way. Again, it is not easy.
There are also comments about victim blaming and that is upsetting as well.
And that's already one of the reasons why Aurora is scared to tell someone - mainly because of victim blaming.
Starting now, when I have extra time on my hands, I'm sorry but some comments will be deleted, especially the very upsetting/awful comments. I would leave them be as usual but it's honestly getting out of hand and again, some comments are very upsetting, not just to me but to other readers as well.
So again, I will start deleting some comments especially comments that are very upsetting/awful comments and I'm sorry if your comment is included in that category but it honestly shouldn't be typed in the first place.
Again, I'm sorry but this needs to be addressed and some comments will be deleted.
I hope I'll see less of those kinds of comments.
I hope you understand.
I believe that's all I want to say in this author's note. I'll continue updating and editing on my own time. And thank you for taking the time to read this.
That's all and take care!
- emopastelgirl