Hello to anyone reading this. I deleted my account a while ago, I think back in 2018? I just found out in the last few hours that Wattpad resurrected it and my story without my knowledge, back in 2020 it seems? So hi :D The reason I had deleted my account is because a friend pointed out my story was problematic and I agreed. I had a lot on my plate at that time, and didn't really go on Wattpad anymore. Although a rewrite has always been on my to do list, I didn't have the time or energy to do so, and was more focused on other writing projects. It seemed for the best that I just delete my account and the story, I honestly didn't think anybody would miss it and I'm touched to see that some did. With that being said, Dude Looks Like a Lady was written by a 16-year-old closeted bisexual experiencing gender euphoria in a time where we really didn't talk about those feelings or gender identity. (Just to clarify, I am cis, however, I was bullied into conforming to an idea of "feminine" and found I could express myself better in male acting roles at that time.) I was struggling with a lot more, but that's another story. The point is, every theme in DLLAL was an issue I was experiencing irl at the time, explored by almost every character, and while that was therapeutic, it ended up being a time capsule of my 16-year-old self's tangled emotions, ignorance and inexperience. There's a lot in it that I'm proud of, and a lot that I'm not. While the essence of the story would stay the same, if I were to write it today, it would play out very differently and the ending would be completely changed. I would also edit each chapter before I uploaded it, because I didn't do that at all xD How anyone was able to read it through the sea of typos and grammatical errors is beyond me, but I'm glad to see that the good parts of it meant something to anyone :') I've decided to keep it up but will give it a quick edit when I have time. Thanks to anyone who enjoyed it x
