Hello everyone, I started writing this on Thursday April 2nd, the same day Ninjago Dragons Rising season 4 part 1 released. I don't know when I'll upload this, but I'm sharing when I started writing this to show you how long it may have taken me to finish.
After some time of not working on this story, and reading other stories, I've come to find how cobbled together the beginning chapters of my first two books are. I've decided to rework this story, but it doesn't mean I'll abandon this one, I promised myself I wouldn't do that. I suppose the conclusion came after finishing s4 of DR, or maybe it came after the severe headache I had this morning (it felt like something was trying to claw its way through my skull) or maybe it's a combination of the two.
Akira's design will remain unchanged, well... mostly. Her Draconian design will be different, looking closer to her dragon form in the art Moonie made. I want the story to be more thought out and not something that was cobbled together before taking shape. There will be no multiversal shenanigans this time, not unless Ninjago itself has some in the future. The mirror realm plot was a rushed thought that only came to be when I only wanted one version of Akira, where if she had an appearance in someone else's story, it would be cannon to mine eventually. Not anymore, though there may be references to them through similar looking characters.
I will admit that I'm forgetting what I'm wanting to talk about as I type, which is why I don't know when I'll upload this. I want this to be as clear and understandable as possible.
I can already feel it happening, the urge to get this done and over with, to share my thoughts and hear/read yours.
I feel the spark, my inspiration if you will, coming back to me in the form of my thoughts as words. The way my brain rushes these thoughts when they were so complex moments ago. The way I'm starting to write at the times I shouldn't be, like as of this moment.
I want Akira's story to be... wait, I already said that. ...hmm. I want to actually fulfill a promise of having multiple chapters ready before uploading the story, to not have to have that small hint of worry about completing a chapter on time. And I feel like one of the reasons I couldn't do it before was the want... the need to hear readers thoughts, opinions and suggestions for the chapter, to find the errors I missed so that they may be corrected. I feel like it's something I can do now with the help of beta readers. There are a few people who I trust to do so, if they accept/don't mind of course.
those being; Moonie, Peculiar, and FoulEncoder. Though I don't know if Peculiar likes Ninjago. I may or may not except more possible beta readers, but I don't fully know. This should (hopefully) help me work on chapters longer without the earlier mentioned worry, as I'll be able to get feedback from multiple people (again, hopefully)
I want Akira to spend more time in the First Realm, or at least, allow the reader to read her experiences in her Birthplace unlike this story. I also want to show her time during the beginning of Ninjago, before the stone wars. I still want her to have some connection to the serpentine, though this time I will be forgoing her serpentine form, not permanently but as something she uses as a disguise. I also don't want her to be all powerful, not at the start at least, I want her power to grow naturally throughout the story, for you to see it grow, to see her struggle with her power and emotions. I know how at times she may seem bipolar, though that is usually in response to my current emotional state when I'm writing.
I don't completely know if she'll still be a source dragon, most likely, but it may change. Maybe she could become the Source Dragon of Chaos, until Thunderfang who failed to become such. This would be in response to the elemental powers that have no source dragon to truly connect to, mainly the powers that Thunderfang created.
I also don't want her to meet Lloyd and the other ninja as soon as she did. Do I still want her to have some connection to Lloyd? Yea but I don't want it to be as rushed as it was just because they were both Dragon and Oni hybrids. I want it to feel more natural, like the older, caring sister and her reckless younger brother.
This reworked version will also be more of a slow burn similarly to my new httyd fic, as I want to hopefully finish rtte before it gets removed from Netflix.
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This part is specifically being added 2 hours after the rest. I'm thinking about having her meet the ninja (at least personally and officially) in season 4 during the tournament of elements. She would still have some encounters with the ninja, but they wouldn't get to know each other personally until then. With Akira being... I fucking forgot how I was just about to explain this. She would be more interested in the fact that Lloyd's a hybrid like herself, and eventually bonding with the Green Ninja and possibly joining the ninja later.
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1 hour later
I just realized I am technically nerfing her. In a way, but I just want her growth to be... "visible". Akira will still have access to all of the elements and essences, but I want to limit that to when she's in her most powerful state, like how Lloyd probably would have had access to almost every elemental power if they had planned for more elemental powers in the first place.
So she'll have elements like L.I.F.E (Lightning, Ice, Fire, Earth) and Life/Energy, plasma, the Chaos/Forbidden Fives elements (Fear, Brute Force, decay etc.) and the opposite of those elements, which would be based on an image I saw made before the it was confirmed what elements go to what source dragons. (Fortune, "Bravery?", Healing?, precision?/flexibility? Etc)
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Idk? Maybe 3 hours after what I previously wrote.
I just realized how long this was. 1k words. To be honest. I think this was all I really wanted to say, I don't think there's anything else I need to add. Though if I didn't mention it already, actually no I did mention focusing on my httyd fic. I was originally going to do a poll (on Wattpad since it has the option) on when you guys would prefer Akira to properly join the ninja, but I think I'll stick with season 4. And readers on WebNovel and Fanfiction.net wouldn't really be able to participate as easily. I don't know if Quotev has a poll option.
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You know, I find this funny in a sad way. This year I actually made some friends, but my eyes are in the worst state they've ever been in, and I can only hold on to the slightest hope that they'll get better and not get to the point where I'll essentially be unable to do anything without assistance.
I'm just going to upload this now, whilst I'd appreciate some comments of your thoughts on this, I don't expect them since this isn't a real chapter.