A Bulldog's Legacy (USS Oregon in Azur Lane)

10k Reads: Author Special

10k reads came in time for both Christmas and the new year! I feel relieved and happy that so many people found and liked my story!

Remember: don't be afraid to leave a comment! I love reading what you have to say and I'll always try to reply as soon as possible!

Because the Christmas chapter/special took me so long to make, I feel a bit obliged to explain why it took forever.

I first wanted to establish that it was winter and Christmas was approaching, leading to the beginning of the chapter describing all that.

Since Oregon has depression, I felt it would be nice if he was able to escape from everything, even if only for a little while. A walk in a snowy forest seemed like the best option for such relief. Certainly helps me chill (heh).

And because Oregon loves nature, what if he just so happened to be able to understand wildlife-speech?

The Christmas ball was most of the trouble for me to create. Who would attend? What would they be doing?

Working Oregon into this already complicated scenario just added more confusion. How would he interact with the shipgirls in such a setting? What would he do?

I even had trouble deciding how his entrance would be.

My first main idea was that Abercrombie and Albacore would have set a trap consisting of a heavy metal bucket filled with water above the main entrance, hoping to catch and dunk some of their friends. Instead they get Oregon.

Here are several possibilities I thought of that could have occurred:

1) Oregon turns around and leaves after getting soaked, not saying a single word. Few shipgirls know who sprung the trap until later, except for the wannabe trappers.

2) Oregon gets literally dunked on by the bucket, being both soaked and bruised by it, leading him to snarl "You low-down scoundrel" to nobody in particular, hinting at his long-repressed anger;

3) He gets flat out K.O.ed and soaked by the bucket;

4) Same as 3, except he also gets a cracked skull because the bucket was so heavy and hit him just right. Not sure if this would have affected his mind;

5) Oregon barely dodges the water bucket but becomes suspicious of everyone until the culprits are found.

I couldn't make any of these possibilities work well enough to go farther. But perhaps you as the readers can.

Challenge: Create a comment chain on each numbered option to make a possible storyline for each. I will leave a prologue comment setting up the scene for each, and then you readers can work out the storylines from there in the replies. Just keep Oregon in character. Other than that, you have my permission to do whatever you want.

Another main idea I had would have had a little group of capital ships from each major faction talking about Oregon, only to discover he was behind them and listening. This was the perfect opportunity to have Oregon spout a direct Gaster reference ("Don't you know it's rude to talk about someone who's watching?") but the story would have been rather weird beyond that.

Eventually I decided to accept my unimaginativeness and have Oregon skip the ball altogether, content to quietly observe from a distance, alone in the snow. To him, at least the others can have a good time even if he can't.

And because the world's deity Eve had promised to get Oregon upgrades, I decided that this would be the right time to have that done, plus a little get-better-soon gift from Hornet. Potential relationship? Who knows?

*******

To be honest, I'm kinda anxious to hear your advice and opinions. I'm giving you the chance now to freely express your full opinions you might be concerned about sharing. Anything from advice to specific things you like/dislike is welcome.

Use this sentence to share your comments. Keep any criticism constructive and polite.

*******

Regarding future plans for this story, I already have rough ideas for the final battle and ending. I just need to first create and then build my way to those points, which may take me quite a while, especially when working with such a complicated character like Oregon.

I've also been considering music choices that fit the character of Oregon, especially in regard to his depression.

Here are some choices I've found. Some you might have heard before, but try to reimagine them in the context of Oregon's character. Let me know what you personally think of each. All are sourced from Youtube and their owners.

FNaF: Sister Location - Forbidden Nocturne (high volume recommended)

Bookworm Adventures Vol. 1: Book 3 - Chapter Theme

Horrortale - To Forgive (Ruins theme)

If you know any other sad/depressing songs, preferably from video games (no lyrics), leave links to them in a comment and I'll check them out.

Now! (Claps hands together) Quiz time! These are questions I'm curious to know your opinions about. No wrong answers here!

1. Who do you think might be a good partner for Oregon? (He'll likely have one someday)

2. What references have you noticed so far in this story (mostly from video games)?

3. Are you finding this story slow, boring, or tedious to read in any way? If so, please let me know what I can do to improve future chapters.

On a final note, I have plans for some other stories. Currently they are:

-Revenants (TF2 Mercs x Azur Lane)

-Desentrylized (TF2 Engineer and Buildings x Azur Lane)

-Terminal (DDLC Fanfic) - MC is suffering from a terminal variant of tuberculosis

-Memorials of Wood and Steel - Originally was going to have USS Oregon, Constitution, and Nautilus as the three MCs, but Nautilus was added to Azur Lane and I decided to give Oregon his own story. Might scrap this one almost completely and make it just about Constitution.

-A story (not even begun yet) where the ships of Taffy 3 are brought to Azur Lane. Celebrities like Johnston and Samuel B. Roberts would be present.

These stories (if I'm ever able to get even the beginnings published) would be mostly side projects to help keep me occupied whenever I'm not working this book. Would you even want to see such stories?

Anyway, that's enough for this chapter. Gotta keep moving that gear up, y'know? That cart ain't gonna move itself. And I swore to myself that I wouldn't leave you hanging.

Until we meet again, sayo-nara, my friends.