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Hi guys.
Sorry this is not going to be another chapter like you might have hoped.
I wanted to add this note to the fic like this, although I don't really like adding "status updates" as chapters on AOx3, so I usually just add story and updates in the notes of the story (since I think it kinda looks stupid otherwise). This is a little bit different though, so I wanted to leave a note.
I won't be continuing Shadowlings anymore, so the fanfiction is effectively cancelled. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, the fic hasn't been that popular. I suspect this is mainly because I'm writing it well after Legend of Korra has ended and so the buzz around the show was already dying before I even started. I don't really know if it has anything to do with how much the fic deviates from the canon of the show, since it mostly centers on Shadowbenders which don't exist in the whole of the Nickelodeon Avatar universe, but it's entirely possible.
Secondly - and this is the main reason - in between posting chapters, the Shadowlings universe and characters evolved in my mind so fast that they outgrew their connection to the show. Mako's character, for example, or "Black Rabbit" as he'd become know as later in the story, grew as a unique personality to the point that the only connection between "Black Rabbit" and "Mako of the Fire Ferrets" was that I was still imagining Black as having an appearance identical to Mako, since the only thing I hadn't done was give Black his own original aesthetic. The "Four Nations" too, crumbled and regrew into a unique world in my mind that had nothing in common with LOK.
Most of all, it wasn't focussed on the Avatar - the story became entirely about the 'Rabbits' and their connection to 'Shadowbending.' The Avatar was present as Korra's aesthetic only, with a personality nothing like the show's protagonist and with circumstances that were more referencing the show rather than being from the show.
And so I'm actually re-writing "Shadowlings" as an original story called "Rabbits". If you're still interested in the story, you can read a synopsis and (later) an excerpt HERE.
Because I've made the choice to turn Shadowlings into an original story, I don't see a reason to continue with the fanfiction. For me, what the story needs now is to lose the last remnants of connection to the copyrighted entity that is Legend of Korra in order to completely become its own story. Continuing with it in fanfiction form would just be letting it stay in the comfort-zone of established character aesthetics and not letting it evolve beyond that stage into something completely its own. So I'm dropping Shadowlings and focussing on Rabbits now.
There were a couple of other reasons that played into my choice, including that I'd thought so far ahead in the story to more exciting things that I was starting to be bored with this beginning portion which was lagging so far behind, but they're mostly minor details.
So I wanted to let you guys know.
Mostly because I see so many good fics around on other sites too, which I read and personally love that just end in the middle. And just as I'm excitedly wondering when the writer might post the next chapter, I check and notice that the last post was made years ago, and realize quietly and unhappily that the fic will probably never again see continuation. I didn't want to leave Shadowlings with that kind of emptiness at the end. That little internal question of, "Dead? Not quite dead? Light at the end of the tunnel? Or just a freight train headed my way?" Mainly because I'm the kind of person that actually does sometimes leave a project for a year or five and then does continue it.
So no, as of right now, Shadowlings won't continue in the foreseeable future.
I'm planning on publishing Rabbits after I finish working on it. If you'd like me to link to the place you can read it once that day comes, please leave a comment.
It won't necessarily be years away - I'm actually aiming on having it done sometime in the next year (mid- to late 2017). If there's someone who likes the story so far, or the character development or...something else maybe, and wants to see the end of this story, then I wouldn't want to deny anyone that.
So that's going to take my attention now.
But if there are fans who honestly like this story, and would like me to continue the fanfiction in the future just to complete it in its original form, please leave a comment. I doubt it's really that popular, but I'm not going to take it down. So if you're reading this years from when I made the last post and want to see more, it's cool just comment. It'll reach me.
Anyway, that's the long and the short of it. This is where the fic stands as of now.
I am still continuing work on my Undertale fic, Angel V Angel, so if you're a fan of Sans x Frisk, you're welcome to check it out.
To everyone who read and enjoyed Shadowlings, thank you!
~Dragonsphinx / She Who Walks Alone