I apologize for the Author's Note, but honestly it was either this or deleting the entire story because I'm that livid right now.

I do not take kindly to being accused of a racist, especially off of bullshit claims over the usage of one noun and two adjectives.

So for the coward who choose to hide behind the anon name rather than let me contact you directly, this message is for you.

"Charlotte figured out that South America was the heart of a different, perhaps darker magic than America and Europeans were used to." Yes, I know my geography and I meant this statement exactly as it was written, so take your condescending laugh elsewhere. First of all, this sentence is coming from Charlotte's thought process, as it should be obvious from the first word. The modern day usage of "America" does typically refer to the United States, especially when used by people of other countries. I really shouldn't even have to point this one out. Hell, I just spent three months in a non-English speaking country where more people identified from my English the word "American" rather than "United States" or "USA". Secondly, I know exactly where Brazil is, are you fucking kidding me? This statement she's comparing the magic of South America – which is going to be explained even further in other chapters, but I already started to in this chapter – that uses darker traditional methods including vodou, human sacrifice and other things. All things which were frowned upon and not used in North America (MF/NOLA) – (Ex. Remember the societal reaction to Bonnie using Expression?).

Now the term "gypsy" – again, another term that I am fully aware of what it is, thank you very much. Yes the modern day usage does refer to Romani travelers, many of which immigrated to North America. The party in this story obviously implied it was a gathering of both foreign (Kol/Charlotte, Haitians, Mayans, Cubans, etc.) and native (Brazilians, duh) people, which is why the presence of the traveler was also included. (Never mind the fact according to Season 5 of TVD, Travelers also practice magic) However, the way I used the term is not derogatory.

"Kol wondered if she knew she was dancing with a gypsy and a werewolf."

This statement in no way reflects any of his personal feelings towards gypsies or werewolves, positive or negative.

However, I will point out to you, that section of the chapter was written from Kol's perspective, not mine as an author. Kol – who has just spent the last one hundred years locked up in a box. During that time period, only in the second half of the 20th century did gypsy became considered a racial slur, prior to that is widely used and accepted as far back as the 16th century. To him, he was woken up with the same societal issues and perceptions of a hundred years ago – which yes includes racial and gender inequality (I already touched on the gender inequality comments earlier). And ever since he's woken up, he's been trying to catch up with everything he's missed. Now, having woken up in the United States, two of the most obvious things that would come up with his research of the last century is the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements, so that's why we don't see him throwing around more derogatory comments towards women or PoC, whether intentionally or not. But, the proper term of gypsy and traveler is quite frankly not a popular issue and therefore he would be less likely to come across it right away. And thus, he would more likely to inadvertently use what is considered a derogatory term (even though there is no context for it to be taken as such in this example) without even realizing it. All and all, yes if the writers of the show were being realistic, Kol would definitely be a little bit of a racist and sexist, likely not intentionally, due to being a product of his environment a hundred years ago as a wealthy, privileged European. But also with being immortal, I'm sure he would recognize that perceptions change over time and he has to adapt with them, so I doubt these ideals are ingrained into his soul. What is does create is someone a little behind on the modern day age, especially with challenging obstacles like slang and the whole concept of being "political correction".

Now to address the last issue, which is quite frankly the one that pissed me off the most, is the grandiose assumption you made off of my description of Lucy written from Charlotte's perspective. (Do I seriously need to remind readers that the perspectives of fictional characters are NOT reflective of the author? Honestly, that's Reading 101).

Yes, in one sentence, I described Lucy as having a "dark enticing exotic look to her." If I wanted to say she looked mythical, I would say mythical. If I wanted to say PoCs are not human beings and only exist for their skin color, then that's exactly what I would say. But I did not say any of those things, so don't try to twist my words and stuff those statements into places where it doesn't exist.

Now, the usage of "dark" and "exotic" had two specific reasons.

In the context of this point in the chapter, Charlotte saw a beautiful woman with suggestive body language towards Kol and it made her feel insecure. So like what many women do, she compared physical appearances.

"Dark" – Yes… I think it should be obvious why I used dark. Lucy's skin tone IS dark. ESPECIALLY compared to Anglo-Saxon Charlotte, and Charlotte was comparing herself to Lucy in this situation.

Now the usage of "exotic" – which is probably the one you're more upset over – yes, early European explorers did use this term in what is considered a derogatory manner TODAY, but at the time it was considered normal in describing people of a foreign land or species. That is still true today, UNLESS negative connotations are added to it, which I really don't see in this instance. I used the term "exotic" because of the irony of the situation. As mentioned before, Charlotte feels insecure over the fact she doesn't blend in Brazilian society culturally and especially when it comes to language and appearance. Where she grew up in the United States, the term exotic would be appropriate for Africans, Latin Americans and South Americans that did not ethnically come from the United States – which is what Lucy Bennett is in this case. And Charlotte is a little envious of her beauty, which is an image that she doesn't have a prayer of a chance at ever mimicking because of their significant differences in appearance. In actuality, Charlotte is the exotic individual in this social situation as one of the few white Europeans amongst the native and South American attendants at the party. Now I recognize that exotic can be used with manner of describing an inferior race, species or people in an effort to dehumanize them, BUT that is not the way it was used in this situation. It is quite obvious Charlotte was comparing physical beauty and admiring something that she personally believes that she can't have. In no way did Charlotte make any comments about being better than Lucy nor did she put her down, so I'm going to have to disagree with you – that was not a racist remark.

It's a shame you've wasted my time with this when this could have been a new chapter update, but now I'm just angry and it's going to take longer for the next one.

I've spoken my piece, the next time you come into my story with nothing else to say other than looking for problems that are not there and trying to twist my words into making me sound like a racist – I would like to kindly as you to go fuck yourself.

I do recognize there are more positive and supportive reviews/comments than negative, so I'm not going to let one bad apple ruin everything. Your comments and questions will be addressed when I post the next chapter in hopefully a better mood.