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I'm trying my best I swear-
Hi guys.
Um, I know it's been a very long time since I've talked to you- *looks at the update chapter from April 2022*
My writing streak has been dry too. If we don't count in the massive backlog clearing I did in March, then I have not written anything on this account for nearly a year now.
For a while, I couldn't figure out why I can't find the motivation to continue working on the AU, despite the fact that the plot for the first two seasons have been solidified for months. And I have finally realized that the main issue is that I do not know how to handle my AU's season 3 based on the canon episodes.
I know, it sounds silly. Before you all hit me with the "But it's your AU, do whatever you want", I just want to let you know that I aim to follow the canonic storyline to the best of my ability. Of course, balancing the motivation, setting in the context of my AU is difficult. But unless it absolutely can not be done after rearranging the timeline and changing little bits, I will try not to cut anything out.
I mainly stopped planning because the later half of Season 3 introduced more complex events and I wanted to see where it was going before I try and integrate them, just in case that the integration requires rewriting massive chunks of my AU (looking at you, Nightmares and Poison). Now, with the entire season 3 completed, I can finally look back on this chunk of the canonic lore and see what I have to work on. Yes, I have decided to show you guys what I plan to do in my AU because there's a chance the AU will never be published at this point-
Honestly, the first four episodes were not that hard to implement. Nothing a little rearranging and tweaking won't fix. Aside from the fact that Eternal doesn't really exist in my AU and Clear Skies focuses on a completely different side of AU Rain's backstory, they all fit.
Back Into Darkness is where things started to go downhill for my AU planning. It came across as an episode that spans a bigger timeframe than the previous four, which meant that there are gaps that I needed to fill. With no idea what's going to happen next, I put the planning on hold and focused on school. Little did I know how long the break is going to last. The episode was not completely fruitless though, it introduced the Nether Dragon, which I have plans to be the final boss in AU Season 4.
The next episode is Already Dead. Now, canonic lore wise, this is a interesting turn of events to see the crystal getting destroyed. I loved the involvement of the Netherbane members in this episode and a glimpse into Kane and Ciara's past. In my AU, however, this episode was a pain to write as AU Netherbane might have uh- disbanded after Nightmares- But I made it work. Did it take some big brain moments in the shower? Yes. Was it worth it? Heck yes-
However, the idea that crystals can be destroyed is concerning for my AU because I never planned for this to happen. And in the canon lore, crystals can not be crafted which puts my plan to let the Crusaders liberate Dragonspire in a rocky boat. Without knowing how the canon handles this turn of events, I was hesitant to continue planning and decided to continue watching how things go. This brings us to Preach to the Choir.
I love Preach to the Choir. Probably one of my favorite episodes in the entire series. They finally addressed the issue I've seen since the end of season 2: The Ender Greatsword doesn't suit Dragon Tamer. His speedy fighting style doesn't benefit from a heavy weapon. In fact, since he got the big boi sword he's only been hindered by it. The canon handled it in a complete different way I did, which made me insanely happy knowing that I was right for doing so. Stella finally got a moment to shine. I liked Nostra as a character. The Wardens are a scary presence in this world. Not sure how I will integrate them into my AU yet but we'll figure it out-
-----Spoilers for the Newest Rainimator Episode below-----
So-
I have watched the new episode-
I'm not sure how to feel about it.
Don't get me wrong, the most part of the episode was interesting. The introduction of the Saltbourne faction was intriguing. Having this episode bring the Wither Angels back into the story was fantastic. I liked Kaia as an antagonist. Shame she died in one episode. Her motivation being based on the events of Wings of Salvation was smart writing. And Azura was a badass, as always.
It's just the ending that I have mixed feelings for. Really? Bring Abigail back into the story after she's been dead for well over 5 years? Right after Clear Skies just declared that Dragon Tamer is moving on with his life? It feels very forced to say the least. The biggest reason being that Abi's arcs have all come to an end already, with Clear Skies being the final send off to her. What is she gonna do now that she's been revived? Intriguing but also very problematic. It feels like Rainimator revived Abigail for the memes and did not think about how the lore is going to unfold from this point forward.
It is entirely possible that Season 4 will break Abigail's character quite a bit because, well, she didn't really have too much characterization before she died. And, let's be real here, the war between Ralla shippers and Rainigail shippers is coming. I doubt the canon will take the time to address the love triangle because Rainimator himself said that he wants to focus on the action side of things. I trust the writers in Production Team know what they are doing but this new slice of lore pie makes me worry.
Now, will I revive Abigail in my AU? For the moment, no. Abigail's death was the reason this series grabbed my attention, and one of the biggest things in my AU is the lack of revival of characters, especially those that got tossed into lava. However, that does pose the issue of AU season 4 looking completely different from the canon, and I'm ok with that. I do have the major plot points and how I want the story to end planned out, it's just a matter of how I'm getting there. Something I also did differently is that there are six crystals in the Overworld instead of four, so there's going to be additional story in AU season 3. How the canon handles the consequences of destroyed crystals will impact my story greatly. I do think it spices things up having crystals destroyed, but if the canon takes the approach of ignoring the Crusaders' pov from now on, there will be some issues as both season 3 and 4 rely heavily on their pov in my AU.
For now, I am still watching how things go in the canon. But my courage to write has returned so hopefully you guys will see some stuff soon. Thank you for sticking with me while I took a break, I will try not to leave you guys on read this time-
