Another Wave of You ✓

Author's Note

T H A N K   Y O U

Another Wave of You is over.

Thank you from the bottom of my fuckin' heart.

I know this story isn't perfect. There are still some aspects I wanted to dive in further; some issues that were brought up and backstories I wanted to flesh out more. I've always wanted depth in my characters and I felt like I could've done more. Alas, I'm still proud.

When I posted the first chapters, I had thought most people wouldn't make it through halfway. That, somehow, they'd lose interest or think the story/themes were too heavy for them. That is was too character-oriented and had more dialogue than action. So thank you for sticking around until the end — you don't know how much that means to me. That you finally met me at their ending, too.

Writing this story was a pain, but you know what they say: great art comes from great pain, folks.

Thank you thank you thank you. 

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C R E D I T S

The quotes/annotations I would leave before each chapter comes from a variety of sources. Most are works of Atticus & Beau Taplin (you can find them on Instagram.) Others are quotes I had saved online, but unfortunately I couldn't find all of their sources (other than Tumblr.)

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P A R T S

Not so important, but you can classify the story into three parts:

Part I, Theo's Story: Chapter 1 - 17

Part II, Eleanor's Story: Chapter 18 - 33

Part III, El & Theo's Story: Chapter 34 - 45

I didn't put this in the beginning because their stories were connected, but this was the general scheme. I thought of deleting Theo's story altogether and only focusing on El's, but you'll see why I didn't.

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C O N F E S S I O N S

#1: I am half Eleanor.

Frankly, her character was a mix. I got her optimistic energy, charisma and kindness from one of my best friends. But her flaws and the whole weight of the world scenario, trying to save everyone like some altruistic obsession... I've been there, mate, and it ain't pretty.

#2: Theo portrays the men in my life.

I don't know why this was a recurring trend, but I've met multiple guys who had the same inner conflicts that Theo had. Low-esteem issues, haunting mistakes, self-deprecating attitude (and not the funny kind, but rather toxic sometimes.) I didn't want this to be overlooked.

#3: Chase wasn't originally autistic.

I had a lot of drafts before the final one — and in all of them, Chase wasn't autistic. I wanted him to be the younger, male version of El: optimistic, cheery, confident. I'm not really sure why I changed him. Maybe because a good friend of mine also has Asperger's syndrome.

#4: The anchor necklace is real.

I bought myself a gold-chain necklace with an anchor charm nearly five years ago at a random Bershka store. Not knowing I'd wear it for the majority of my teenage years (until now) and that an anchor would become an important symbol/metaphor of my life. It's so important that I now have an anchor tattoo on the side of my wrist.

#5: This was emotionally-draining to write.

I'm happy that I finally got to write it and I'm satisfied that I got to finish it (because we all know a writer's dilemma.) But it took an emotional toll on me. A lot of topics were re-visited. But I'm still grateful this story exists — in a way, it was just all my deepest thoughts and fears/desires put into artistic form. And that itself is something to prize.

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Q & A

If there's any more questions you want to ask, feel free. Whether it's about the story, personal stuff, or about the characters — I'm all down. There's a lot to unpack from AWOU, if you paid attention well enough. ;)