Black Magic

Author's Note

This author's note was originally written and published on July 16, 2018.

It took me approximately 4 years to write and publish this story. And honestly, I spent a good year or two before that just sitting around thinking about this story. It was already in my mind well before I even knew what an EXO was. So altogether, this story is the result of a 6 year idea that has sat in my mind and grown.

But seriously, from then until now, this thing has become a crazy story that is absolutely nothing like the original story I had planned. Trust me, this version turned out 100 times better than what I had plotted out 4 years ago. And I can only attribute that sort of change to the world itself and the characters involved. Yes, they are based off of the EXO members, but I think somewhere along the way they kind of diverged from their real-world counterparts and really became their own dynamic people, with their own quirks and faults. At least for me.

Let me tell you this, it was really hard to finish this story. Some of that was writer's block, some of it was me just not wanting to let go. I've been absorbed in this world and these characters now for so long, that I just... don't know how to not be.

Another reason this last chapter has taken so long to come out is a little more personal. My father recently had a life-changing emergency medical situation, and he is still in rehabilitation to recover from it. But the shock of almost losing him really crushed my desire to write. My entire family has been going through a lot, and stress and grief is just a combination that makes a person numb.

But honestly, it was the people who left comments to let me know their thoughts on the story, it was the people who clicked upvote, the people that just checked in to just see how things were going that got me writing again. I needed to finish this story, and I needed to write, and I think a lot of my feelings from the past few months are reflected in that last chapter. It felt so good to get them out, to really turn them over in my mind and put them into words. So really, thank you guys for encouraging me to keep going, to finish this off. You helped me get through a dark time when I really needed it.

It is my greastest wish to one day write a story and have it professionally published. If I could walk into a bookstore and see my story on a shelf, available for the world to read, I would literally burst into happy tears. I love to share these stories, I love even more that people seem to enjoy reading them. You guys are the best.

ANYWAYS... I hope you guys enjoyed the story and all its twisty-turny glory. If you're a new reader, I hope everything flowed smoothly and made sense, if you've been with me through the years, I hope you don't have any lingering questions about the plot. But if you do, let me know!

Here are some random Fun Facts...

1). The author of the book Dragons: A History of Mixed Blood and Magic, Written in the year 611 A.C. is the girl in the purple cloak. Did anyone pick up on that? Lol

2). The name School of Magic was a play on S.M. .....super original, I know.

3). This story was obviously heavily influenced by Avatar: The Last Airbender. I grew up on that show, and I honestly think it's the reason I am a fantasy fanatic today.

WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL?

I love this world I have created, and to be honest, I've already been plotting a new story in the same universe. But the characters will be different. I'm thinking of delving into the Earth Faction a bit and exploring what's been going on over there for the last few years leading up to the Earth Heartstone being stolen back by Kyungsoo and Kai. This means the EXO characters will probably pop up (especially Minseok, since that's where he's headed), but they won't be the main characters.

I'm thinking my main cast is going to be the BTS boys. (Especially with their latest MV, so many elemental vibes ughghh). I really want to start this story immediately, because I've already come up with some fun ideas, but I'm going to try and also write the story in a way that wouldn't necessarily require you to have read Black Magic, which will be a challenge. So. It will be a Sort-of-Sequel to Black Magic.

If you don't care who the main characters are, and just love this universe and want to read more about dragons, and crazy-plot-lines, and intense action scenes, and tangled love-connections then it'll be right up your alley.

Honestly, I'll probably post it here, on AO3, and AsianFanfics as well. So, if you want to Follow my stories on my profile page so you get that update notification, go ahead!

Yay!

Okay. Thanks you guys. It's been great, it really has. Thanks for sticking around for this journey. I'll see you in the next one!

<3

-RedThreads