You guysssssss.

When I first came up with the idea of The weight of a decision, it was the first urge I'd had to write fanfiction in five years. I had no idea how well it might be received, I didn't think it would go well, and as you can probably tell by the quality of the first chapter, I'd not written anything creatively in several years. Most importantly, this is the first thing I've written that I've actually managed to complete. But, a year and two months and 62,000 words later, it's finished! Not going to lie, when I typed the last sentence of the epilogue and realised that it was done, it didn't feel quite real. I'd been working on it for so long that for a while it didn't feel like it would ever end.

From the get go, I knew it would never become as popular as a lot of stories on here become, simply due to the fact that it isn't focussed on romantic/ual relationships. It was, when I came up with the idea, meant to be lighthearted and simply Seungri making an idiot of himself when placed in an alternative universe. I had no clue what the plot might be, or anything beyond that. The subplot of Taemin's crush on Seunghyun was simply one small idea like the others that would cause Seungri some embarrassment. I never intended for it to become a major subplot, or for you guys - or me - to start shipping it.

I realised when I was about two thirds through writing it that I'd completely forgotten about the existence of the MADE tour (since this fic is set in 2015). I really couldn't be bothered to go back and rewrite it for that - although I admit that it could have led to some hilarity, such as waking up in another time zone. I hope that you will understand my laziness - although if anyone thinks it's enough of an issue, let me know and I suppose I could work it in.

I hope that, in creating this alternative universe, you see that I have attempted to go further than many other 'what if X member wasn't in the group' stories do. The impact that Seungri being accepted into SM entertainment caused was to disrupt the formation of Bigbang as we know it. I tried to think through the implications that this MIGHT have for everyone, although I'm unsure as to what extent my concept of what happened when in 2005/6 would have allowed for this to happen. For clarity, as I'm not certain how well it came across in the story, and for anyone who's curious, in my alternate universe it went like this:

YG never had enough trainees to consider debuting a full blown idol group rather than what had initially been planned for Jiyong and Youngbae. Seungri had never been on tv for Hyunsuk to find, and Jiyong never convinced TOP to audition. This meant that Jiyong and Youngbae were free to debut as gdyb in 2006, and Daesung and Hyunseung to debut two years later as a ballad-type duo. Seunghyun remained a rapper underground, and had no contact with his old friend Jiyong until Seungri came along. Hyunseung was able to remain under YG entertainment since there was no need to get rid of a trainee at any point. The two groups have distinctly different sounds, and due to the fact that the idea of an idol group wasn't considered, Youngbae never became a singer, only a rapper, leading to SHINee's confusion in chapter 15.

I gave Daesung the stage name Seungri mainly because I thought it'd be funny af to have Seungri (our Seungri, that is) being so confused about having to call another idol his stage name. I also named Daesung and Hyunseung's group Starshine for the fact that idol groups have the most ridiculous, positive names - and it took me a good few weeks to come up with something that I felt fitted that mould. On the note of Hyunseung, the reason I didn't include him in the story is simply for the fact that my only experience with him has been watching 'Bigbang the beginning', and I felt that it would be unfair to include him when I know nothing of him. I hope any fans of his that were confused or disappointed that I didn't write anything about him will understand.

I will also include the timeline of the story that I created for myself, initially - I didn't even realise just how much more time had passed in the alternate universe until I went through it all and added everything up.

This alternate universe has been my baby for the past year, and I'm truly grateful for all of you who have read it and enjoyed it as much as I have. I'll say it here - I'm not totally done with this universe. The first of my spinoffs will have been posted at the same time as this, and I hope you enjoy it. I'd also like to know if you have any suggestions for any extras you might like, provided it works with the existing timescale (although I make no promises).

Once again, thank you for reading my story. I promise I'll be back with more fics soon that I hope you'll enjoy just as much.