A/N...

I just want to state that I won't be posting a prologue to my sequel here because, guess what! I already have the first chapter written and ready to upload! :) So for my last upload to Wrecking Limits, I will be posting all of my 'thank you's, as well as give you guys an idea of exactly why I started writing this story, if any of you are interested. Just to shed some light on how this story sort of came to be.

I want to say an ultimate thank you to my family, especially my sisters. They are very different from myself, and through this journey, not once have they judged me or called me weird (to my face) :P - how they rallied around me and support my whacky ideas and encouraged my stories and drawings. I love my two sisters with ALL of my heart and I would be lost without them.

I want to say thank you to Mikey. Our relationship crumbled, but you taught me how to love to myself, and though you did it indirectly and without doing anything, you still taught me very valuable life lessons. You taught me to guard my heart. It's unfortunate I had to guard it against you.

I want to say thank you to the loyal reviewers and fans that have stuck through this thick and thin. Dixie Darling, Arcade Lackey, Regulardude, N1kk1 Starlet, Wolvenlights, Nintonic, LordOfDaemon, Witch Knight Daisy, SargeTJCalhoun64, IgnitionFive0 as well as everyone on deviantART who has support all my crazy artwork - I'm so sorry if I'm missing anyone! There are way too many of you to keep up with but I am always floored to see your guys' names pop up in my email inbox! Waking up to all your reviews has been the best way to start my days xD I am so thankful for your loyalty.

I want to say a HUGE thank you to my best friend Michaela - Once you told me you'd cosplay Taffyta with me for comic-con, I nearly flipped my shit! You have been such an awesome sisterly companion to me. You've always supported my crazy ideas and set me straight if things became wonky. I am so thankful for your friendship and our sisterhood, your sassy attitude, hilarious remarks and witty comments ALWAYS brighten my day. I know you're not surprised whenever I say that my inspiration for all of Taffyta's snarky remarks and quick dialog was inspired by YOU! You are one of few people on this planet that can make me laugh as hard as I have. I WOULD TAKE A BOXSPRING TO THE KNEE FOR YOU, BITCH! I love you, sis! I promise you can tear the sprinkles out of my hair after con, ok? Do they really bug you that badly? Get a hobby!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to my awesome friend Jake, who will be cosplaying Rancis with us this year. It is freaky how much you resemble Rancis in my story, and even freakier that I didn't know you when I started writing Wrecking Limits xD and even freakier that you LOOK like him too, you even have the correct HAIR CURL STOP JAKE STOP YOU'RE SCARING ME. I'm so thankful you've decided to tag along with our crazy cosplay ideas and have also supported my whacky schemes. Now please do us all a favor and tell Michaela you love her and get it over with already…! Don't make us shove you two into a dark room during con! We WILL leave you there! xD

And lastly, but certainly not least, I want to say one massive thank you to my wonderful wrecker of a boyfriend Cory. The guy who wrecked my heart (in a good way) - the guy who swept me off my feet with his goofy charm and understanding demeanor. You have been nothing but a massive blessing through this whole mess that I call Wrecking Limits. I am so thankful for your ideas and your encouragement through my struggles, and your undying support and positivity.

I am thankful for the little things you do. When you would come up behind me and peck my head behind my ear as I wrote Wrecking Limits. The way you make me nearly pee my pants laughing. The way you urge me to draw and chase my dreams, no matter the challenge. The way your bear hugs suffocate me, but I keep coming back for more. I am SO GLAD we both get our wish and we get to cosplay together this year and for all the years to come. You were the Ralph I was writing for. You were the idea I had in my head. I wrote cause I knew somehow, there has to be SOMEONE out there like the Ralph I was writing for xD I never lost hope that someday, some guy would wreck the walls around my heart and make me feel special again. I couldn't imagine my life without you. I hope we cosplay together when we're 80 and even more annoying than we are.

I hope our last cosplay together, when we're old and decrepit, is Ralph and Vanellope. ALL THE FEELS?! I love you, stink brain.

The amount of 'thank you's I actually want to say to you guys isn't even fathomable. I can't tell you how grateful I am for ALL of the fabulous love and support I've gotten from each and every single one of you guys, all on Fanfiction, deviantART, Youtube, Instagram and Facebook. Every day I get emails and notes stating just how much my story has inspired people, changed people's lives, excited people, made people cry, motivated people to write their very own fan fictions, or brought them out of depression. At least half the time I read any one of these notes, my eyes get teary and I just sit and think about how small and insignificant I am against the true value of happiness and love and laughs I have supplied people around the GLOBE. Every day I am baffled at just how outreached everything has become. People in Thailand message me in broken English just to thank me for deciding to post my story. I also occasionally get people that notice me at my job and thank me in person.

Thank ME? For doing something I love? It just seems backwards, in a humbling way. Every day I am floored by just how appreciated I feel, and for that, I try my very hardest to give back ten fold.

Winter of 2012, I saw Wreck It Ralph in theaters about 4 or 5 times. That is probably the most times I've ever seen a movie while it was still in theaters xD I was so hooked, not to mention it was Disney. It wasn't until I saw an ad of Facebook stating that Wreck It Ralph was coming to digital download in early February of 2013. I was like YES I'm so going to pre-order! So, I did. What I did after that sort of changed the way I view fanfiction, to be honest.

I immediately, after pre-ordering, went to deviantART and searched for Wreck It Ralph drawings to comment and favorite. I saw one that made me jump clear out of my seat. It was Ralph and an older version of Vanellope kissing. In PURE disgust, I clicked away and pretty much was like, the fuck did I just look at? Vanellope's little, that's so awkward.

But for some reason, that idea sort of haunted me for days after that. To get it off my mind and to just sort of explore all of my emotions, both good and bad, I drew a picture of similar nature; Ralph and Vanellope about to kiss (it's on my deviantART BTW hahaha) - In complete stunned confusion, I bit my tongue and stubbornly admitted to myself that I think I kinda like this pairing. So, with nothing to do and nowhere to go, I opened my dinky notepad on my macbook, and away I wrote.

I had the idea of just a simple upgrade, but I also enjoyed the idea of someone trying to keep Vanellope and Ralph away from each other. Every day I continued writing. All through February, I blindly wrote in the same, open ended notepad. No rhyme or reason to it. No individual notepad files for each chapter. I just WROTE. Sooner or later, I noticed the file size for the notepad titled 'Wrecking Limits' on my desktop was becoming fairly huge for just a simple notepad document xD After (nervously) posting a few RalphxVanellope drawings to deviantART, all while sort of teasing everyone with the idea of this secret fan fiction I was harboring, I finally was confronted by a few of my followers on deviantART. 'If you don't post this fan fiction of yours somewhere, I'm going to gouge my eyes out.'

So, bravely, I posted it. Whose going to possibly enjoy my psycho fangirling about this weird couple I sort of stumbled upon and thought would cause interesting conflict to write about for eons? Surely no one… It wasn't until I finally posted the first four or five chapters that I realized that I needed to break the whole thing down into chapters.

I found that I had written over 70 chapters from February to May 7th of 2013, when I posted it. Much to my surprise, it took off. I couldn't stop half way through. I couldn't do what I did with my other ATLA trilogy and forget about it, and become unmotivated. I knew motivation wasn't the problem, so I proudly carried on, all while being stunned that you guys liked it so much. Here I thought my jottings and derping at 4AM would surely bore you all to tears.

It wasn't until about the end of May/beginning of June of 2013 that I started to become depressed/anxious. I was in the midsts of applying to my dream school and I had just gotten finished with cosplaying at Phoenix comicon (yes, I went as Vanellope) - My relationship with my now ex boyfriend sort of hit stormy seas. I would often ask him to read my story and see what he thought of it. He read about 50 chapters before it ever saw the light of the internet, but, I knew he was unenthused. I knew that every time I asked him to read it, I was certain he skimmed it and clicked away. We became distant, and I became extremely unhappy with how our relationship was progressing. We had little to nothing in common anymore. Not only did I write the story to feel happiness, I needed it's comfort. I wasn't getting it from anywhere else.

About half way through July, I looked back at my story and realized I was most definitely writing Ralph for someone who I sort of pictured as an ideal guy. No, I'm not in love with a cartoon character xD I just wrote for Ralph as a guy that I would potentially be interested in. I knew my relationship was struggling, but somehow, I pretended as if everything was okay. I sort of lived vicariously through Vanellope, throughout my story, and somehow, it made me feel happy. It filled a void I wasn't getting from my now ex boyfriend. He lived 1500 miles away and never made efforts to visit or had any hopes of one day living close to me. We had been dating for over half a decade and he still hulled away in his mom's house with no job. I grew concerned, and with my aspiring dreams to be a Disney animator and a hard worker, we clashed.

We fought often, he dropped my story once I started uploading it, and never really motivated me, to be ME. He hardly showed interest in the fact that Wrecking Limits took off. Any artwork I would do, he would act as if it didn't surprise him, my talent had become old news to him. Even if the drawing looks like crap, I wish he would at least act like I was doing a good job for doing what I enjoy. So, with no friends nearby and a crumbling relationship, I poured my whole entire heart into Wrecking Limits. A lot of these chapters were written with tears streaming down my face. Even the happy ones. I cried so much during this journey, both out of happiness and sadness. I was so happy I had a drive to focus on, but I was also so lonely. Even with all of my fans crowding around me and telling me what a wonderful job I was doing, somehow I felt as if I was forever destined to be my own best friend.

Last May, at Phoenix comic con, I met a wonderful Ralph cosplayer named Cory. If some of you recall, I offered a small meet and greet with anyone that was going to Phoenix con. I met a few of you (HI!) which was awesome. I only got to briefly chat with Cory because he was on his way through, (headed back to Florida from Cali) but, we exchanged skypes and sought to stay in touch. I thought, what an awesome friend I just gained, like the few that I met at con that day.

We didn't talk much through the summer because we were busy and had our own lives, but, somehow, every single time Cory would comment or review, it would make me mad. He'd say something sweet, tag me in a post on Instagram complimenting Tessa or saying something funny about Ralph or my story. He was always so kind, but somehow he bugged me. I didn't know what it was. His profile picture in his flawless Ralph cosplay. It just peeved me. Stop throwing me off and making me think, dude, you THREW OFF MY GROOVE.

It wasn't until after my trip to see my ex-boyfriend last September did I come home feeling absolutely weird. I felt used, and for the first time in our relationship, I felt as if I was just purely an object… I knew my value and self worth. I knew a change had to be made, but somehow I lacked the courage to do anything about it. My writing became more sporadic and I just felt so confused and lost. It wasn't really until one night after staring at my open, blank text document did I see Cory sign in to Skype. Something told me to reach out to him immediately, and so I did. I messaged him and basically, if I were in the room with him, I grabbed him by the shoulders and basically yelled ' I NEED SOMEONE TO LISTEN TO MY PROBLEMS ' - and boy did he! xD

I unloaded all of my worries and troubles onto the poor dude, after harboring it for so long. I knew it wasn't fair. He was someone I had only met briefly, and though we had a few laughs and a lot in common, I knew the poor dude, who was 3 hours ahead of me, didn't deserve that… and yet, he stayed and helped me problem solve through all my worries. He made me feel welcomed, and not once mentioned that he had to be elsewhere or suggested I was burdening him. I went to sleep that night feeling different. I felt happy. I felt like someone had held my hand, for the first time in forever, looked me in the eye and said 'you're not alone'

For the month after that, Cory and I grew close. I bounced my story's ideas off of him every now and then, and I always thought how cute it was how he'd get so excited over it. I would often show him snippets of future chapters that hadn't been released yet. He eagerly kept up with me, and I kept up with him. We each sort of leaned on each other. It was only then I realized that I wasn't the issue in my crumbling relationship. I knew I had to have the courage to stand up for myself. And on one fateful night, I finally ended what I thought I would be with for forever. I shut myself out from everyone. Scared and nervous, I fell asleep that night in tears, wondering if I had dumped someone that I would greatly regret losing. I had never had the courage to do something so bold or tear people from my life that weren't good for me. I am very much a loyal person, so disregarding my loyalty and sort of ending it made me feel completely out of my skin.

About a month and a half after I left my ex, Cory and I remained friends and talked often. He'd often call me or FaceTime me. We dreamed of attending Phoenix con 2014 together and we would cosplay together. We thought it'd be cool to one day meet up again, but alas… He was over 2,000 miles away from me, and in this mix up of nervous and giddy emotions, I finally allowed myself to open up and feel love again. My little crush I had developed for Cory steadily grew, even though I sort of cursed myself not to let it happen again. After all, I WAS jumping out of the frying pan and straight into the fire.

Half way through October, him and his now ex-girlfriend came to the mutual agreement that they should split up. They lived together, so he knew he would have to find a new place to be relatively soon. Though, with unfortunate findings, Cory found out half way through November that through the course of their 2 year relationship, she had cheated on him with 3 other guys.

If you want a 'Well THAT escalated quickly' moment, here's this : Not even two weeks later, after many phone calls to me with him saying 'I'm so done with this place ' - at around 10PM my time, he sends me a screenshot of his GPS. He's half way through Texas? To ME? Florida to Arizona drive say WHAT?

I had made Cory a deal once we were single, on a cool winter night when we admitted our feelings for each other. I promised him that if he were ever to live on the West coast, I would give him one shining opportunity to 'figure this little thing called love' out together. I thought, with his simple 'understood' that he was turned off by the idea and simply wasn't interested… But boy was I wrong. Extremely surprised, I called him. YOU'RE HALFWAY THROUGH TEXAS? WTF are you doing?

'You said you'd give me a chance, didn't you? Well this is me, taking that chance.'

In under a day, he had managed to cross the continent with only his truck, the money in his pocket and the clothes on his back to start anew. I could hardly believe my luck. Yes, stroke of luck. I consider myself the luckiest girl on the planet to have someone you care so much about suddenly just up from his crumbling life to start fresh with you. I am proud to say that this big lug of a southern gentleman is now the man I call my own. The bumbling Ralph cosplayer from across the nation. The one that kindly complimented me, who pushed me to 'look out for number one', the one that dropped everything to jump at the open chance I gave him. For his astounding show of loyalty, I'd do anything for that kid. In less than two months, he had accomplished what my ex really should have been accomplishing in the span of 6 long and tiring years. He fought to make us a legitimate THING. And not a day goes by where I don't hold him close, kiss him on the forehead and tell him JUST how grateful I am for him.

I wrote my story out of sadness. Though, during last year, I look back and I wonder, how was I so happy through such a difficult time in my life? It was my story.

My story may make you guys happy and such, but, you guys would not believe how much happiness and how much company it has brought me. It's helped me improve on my art, my confidence and etc. It allowed me to spend time with myself and discover myself, and with that, I opened my arms wide for whatever the universe was going to bless me with. I let EVERYTHING of mine go and just kept my mind open to opportunity. You wouldn't believe how much I gained just by simply being myself and wondering what I need to do in order to heal.

This story has been my medicine for my soul, as cheesy as that sounds. As soon as I just focused on my emotional needs, everything in my life sort of began to fall into place. It was almost as if I erased the path in front of me and just let my feet guide me wherever.

Not saying to not have a plan, but sometimes letting go of everything you've ever known will get you to places you never thought you'd be in.

And now I don't have to live vicariously through Vanellope. I AM Vanellope xD I have my own Ralph now. And, in discovering that I don't have to live vicariously through my characters, I've discovered a true WANT to write. Not a need. I used to cling to my story like a security blanket, and somehow, I would feel scared of the end of it. But now that I'm here, sitting on the edge of my saga, and looking onwards to it's proper sequel, I feel as if the drive in me has changed. I have learned to love myself through this journey of mine. I wrote and wrote and wrote myself silly to the point of where I had to fake my confidence. And one day I was surprised to feel it become legit.

So now I sit here, a warm feeling in my heart, a full stomach (I was near having an eating disorder through last year) Cory's belongings meshed with mine around my room. Though I still have my sad moments and am still human, I am quite possibly the happiest I've ever been. I'm floored to know that in just the room over hangs all of our nearly finished cosplays for Phoenix comic con next month, of Older Vanellpe, older Taffyta and older Rancis - something I thought I would never see come to life like how it has. I never thought I'd ever cosplay these characters of mine, let alone have a core group to cosplay them with who accurately portray my characters. It's weird how life just falls into place once you let go of what you can't control.

It's weird to see an open, 100% blank and fresh new notepad opened on my desktop, with a brand new title and a brand new plot, waiting or me to write some more. I feel thrilled that I can now write because I want to, and not because I need to in order to feel happiness. I am so thrilled for my sequel, and I really hope you all will love it just the same.

So now, it is not with a heavy heart that I conclude this amazing journey, but I close this book with pride and honor. I am thrilled to have this sense of accomplishment. I finished a whole story! And though it wasn't all original ( it IS fan fiction after all ) I still somehow feel I have the right to call it mine. I hope to one day get Wrecking Limits properly bound into a series of maybe 4 or 5 books just so I can have a hardcopy for myself, to remind myself what I went through to accomplish this. To remind myself that you must first love yourself before you can love others.

To remind myself to let go, be free-minded, and as an absolute must…

WRECK THE LIMITS!

-VYN

The story continues on in my sequel *Defying Code*

make sure to visit my bio to find it and read on! The story continues from there!~