"Somewhere I lost a piece of me,
Smoking cigarettes on balconies."
[Jason Todd]
[Started: 12/10/2020]
[Completed: 02/06/2023]
Cover made by @Purplemist14
We have finally reached the end of Crushed Cigarettes | J. Todd. I must admit, I took a really long time to complete this story because there were major issues of writer's block and lack of inspiration.
First of all, I would like to say my special thanks to the following readers because their votes and comments always made my day and motivated me to keep writing:
And all those who I couldn't mention here, I am extremely thankful to you as well for reading this story. I am glad I got your support and feel blessed to have such supportive readers.
This story might have faced a lot of On Hold phases but I am so glad that it has finally come to completion. You know what they say, everything has a time fixed for it and perhaps if I had finished this story earlier, it might not have turned out this way so I am glad things happen on their assigned time.
I think this was the first story of mine in which I used the childhood best friends to lovers trope and though I was skeptical that it might become cringey, I hope I have managed to make it unique in its own way.
Jay and Lydia are just like precious little babies to me and I can't bear to let them get hurt. So I wrapped up all that Two Face drama the soonest I could because my little darlings have already gone through a lot due to that whole episode with Neal Hastings.
When I started writing Crushed Cigarettes, it was a lot different from how the story has now turned out to be. I was initially planning to write a cute little romance between Jay and Lydia but of course, it wouldn't be my story if there's no angst involved.
So I used this story not only to explore Jay and Lydia's characters but also put some focus on Neal, Rose, and others who had been mentioned briefly in Sugarcoated Chillies | B. Gordon. Because this book took all those characters into account as well while trying to keep the focus on the main couple, things got somewhat hard for me to manage so perhaps that was why I had to put this on hold so many times.
But I am very thankful that you all stayed by me and read this story to the very end and I hope you all enjoyed it.
Along with angst, there's one more element that I try to incorporate into my stories. And that element is a small message that I want to spread using my characters. Just like the preceding book gave the message of not judging people on appearances alone.
For this story, there's not just one message I've tried to convey so I will briefly explain in the following paragraphs what I wanted you guys to pick from Lydia and Jay's story.
First and foremost, the very important message this book gives is on the value of friendships that are close enough to be deemed as family. Not all people are lucky to have a family as we saw in Neal, Lydia, Elliot and Andrew's case. But there are some friendships that are so precious that they become your family. Always value these sincere friends because they are a gift and will stand by you just like your family would in times of need.
Secondly, no matter how tough things get, if you are determined to move on and make the best out of it, you will succeed. In Lydia's case, she had been through some very trialing times thrice in her life; first when she lost Amara, then when she lost Neal and then when she was held hostage by Two Face I wanted to show that even though all three of these times were hard for her, she was able to make it through from her own will and determination.
Similarly, if you ever experience a tough scenario, give yourself hope that you are a true fighter and you will make it out of it alive. It is very important to believe in yourself because that's what helps you gain more confidence and determination. If you believe in yourself, there's no power that can hold you down.
And last but definitely not least, don't smoke. It's not cool and it damages your lungs as well as the people who are sharing the same air as yours. By writing a character who was addicted to smoking, I in no way promote this habit and by the end of the story, I have stressed the fact that Lydia eventually quit smoking, realizing how bad it could be for her.
If you do smoke then I am not calling you out for smoking but it's just a little warning that we got to take care of our bodies ourselves and inhaling tobacco smoke intentionally goes against that.
Anyways, enough of the pep talk, I am sure you guys have a lot of other fantastic stories to read so I won't take more of your time.
There is one more book that's somewhat connected to these characters as it focuses on Rose Gibson and I don't really know when I will be posting it but if you guys want to read more about Jay and Lydia, you will find them in that story.
Fleeting Pleasures | R. Gibson focuses on Rose and the time she spends in Metropolis and the main theme of this story is moving on and embracing life after losing a loved one.
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