Hello there! Alright, time to get back on the saddle, so to speak. This is the introduction for the first of my (hopefully many) The Walking Dead fan-fics that I'll be posting on here. Reading this introduction is in no way mandatory for you to be able to enjoy the upcoming story (so you can skip it if you want to), but it will give you a little info about the history of the fic, and also what you can expect to encounter heading into it, which will then allow you to determine whether it's likely to be up your alley or not. I'm usually pretty honest when it comes to the strengths and weaknesses of my own work, so you can rest assured I'll be telling no tales here. (See what I did there? Telltale? ... Heh.)
Anyway, this was the first story that I ever worked on for The Walking Dead Game by Telltale Games, and it's also probably one of my best. I think I first started the original version sometime after Episode 2 of Season 1 was released, so it's a project that is well on its way to reaching its third birthday now. I never actually got around to finishing it on my first attempt (for more information on what happened, see my bio … or just PM me for additional information, if you're of the curious variety), so I'll be looking forward to the chance of potentially tying it all up this time around. I did, however, get at least … mmm … I wanna say about 70% of the way through the story before losing it all (maybe 75% at a push), so I'm not going to pretend that typing all that stuff up for a second time isn't going to be a chore. Hopefully my immense patience will hold firm and I won't lose interest halfway through or something. That'd be a bit shit, wouldn't it?
In regards to the story itself, it starts out by carrying on from the closing scenes of Episode 1 from Season 1 of the game and goes from there. To begin with, events play out largely as they would have in-canon (or at least, my ad-libbed version of it), but then a few certain plot twists cause the story to veer off in a completely different direction, about a week or so into the apocalypse. Obviously, everything that occurs from the end of Episode 1 to the beginning of Episode 2 is left largely unexplored in the game itself, and so you've got a lot of leeway (hehe - Leeway) when it comes to writing about what actually happened during that period. There are, however, numerous hints that are dropped throughout Episode 2 about what happened during that time skip, which you would normally have to abide by when writing fan-fiction about it, but … I'll be taking a few liberties with this story. There will already be a few crucial differences from the main canon right from the outset (some of these will be rather obvious, others … less so), which will definitely have a slight impact on the way that things play out further down the road.
One thing is for sure - this isn't going to be another fan-fic that leeches off of the main canon storyline that we all know and love (no offence to the authors who do this, but it's honestly a tired tradition at this stage). This is going to be a totally different, and hopefully a largely unique adventure for you all to enjoy.
The cast of the story is primarily going to be the original drugstore group that we meet in Macon, so: Lee, Clementine, Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, Carley, Doug, Lilly and Larry, with … one other canon cast member thrown in along the way. I won't spoil who right now, even though it may be blatantly obvious for some of you. So, if you don't like these people (and you'd be nothing short of a monster if you hate 'em all), then I'll tell you right now that this fic isn't going to be for you, as those nine characters are going to be the focus of nearly all of the major plot points that will play out as the story progresses.
I should also warn you that there will be character deaths throughout (as well as a lot of disturbing concepts and events), so if that kind of thing is a turn off for you, then I suggest you scarper while you still can. Of course, if you're allergic to character deaths (as well as general unpleasantness) and yet are a fan of The Walking Dead franchise, then I'd probably have to question your sanity, but … we'll save that for another day, shall we? Rest assured, however, that if your favourite character rests among those nine names above, then you can expect to see a fair amount of exposure (and hopefully a whole host of entertaining moments) from them before they kick the bucket. So, even though I can't promise that your favourite will survive (this is The Walking Dead, people), I can promise that you'll get plenty of enjoyment out of them nonetheless. Every single one of them will have a part to play in the story at one point or another, although some will understandably have a longer-lasting impact than others.
Here are some of the amazing (?) things that you can expect from this fan-fiction:
* Characters who aren't named Lee having conversations and developing actual bonds with each other over the course of the story. (Fear not though, Lee fans, as he's still considered the main character, and so will obviously have a major say in how many of the crucial events play out.)
* Carley & Doug (who will both be surviving Episode 1 for this fic - details to come in the early chapters) actually having a unique influence on the plot, rather than merely acting as some kind of bizarre doppelgangers of one another, as they did in the game.
* Kenny and Lilly actually getting along! … Kinda … for a little while at least. (Spoilers - it doesn't last.)
And that's just in the first handful of chapters. You can look forward to a lot of dramatic twists and turns as the story unfolds.
As for the negatives, well … this story does, sadly, have its drawbacks (as do most stories, in fairness). Put simply, it's a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee - *sharp intake of breath* - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally slow burner. This one certainly takes a while to get into its stride, which may prove discouraging for some of you heading into it. If you've got a short attention span then this may not be the ideal story for you. That's not to say that it's boring, necessarily, but it does take a while for the action to truly get going. The first three chapters (which will be split into multiple parts, since my "chapters" are so damn long) are mainly devoted to character development and not much else, so if you're a real action junky then you may be left twiddling your thumbs for a little while. However, I will say that, despite the slow pacing of this story (particularly in the early stages), your patience will be rewarded if you stick around, as things get pretty damn exciting later on (dare I use the word "epic"?), meaning that you'll be thoroughly compensated for your loyalty. So, yeah, don't head into this expecting there to be explosive action and gut-wrenching emotional scenes right off the bat, but you can certainly look forward to all that fun stuff later on in the story, I promise you.
Ideally, this may not have been the best choice of story to start with (since some of my other ones have far better pacing than this one), but … as this was my first (as well as one of my greatest), I feel obligated to lead off with it again this time, despite it not being the most sensible choice. Ah, well. We'll see how it goes. Maybe you guys will love it anyway, right?
In regards to the overall length, I can safely say that, by the time you've finished reading (assuming that I even make it to the end), this will probably be one of the longest stories that you've ever read on this site. Back when I lost the original version of this, I already had 40-50 chapters typed up (I can't remember the exact number), and keep in mind that I was only ¾ of the way through the story at that point. And to put into perspective just how lengthy that is in reality, many of my "chapters" exceed 10,000 words (often 15,000).
…Yeah, that's the kind of marathon that we're talking about here. So, you better strap yourself in if you're planning on reading this one, as you're probably gonna be here for the long haul.
However, I will be splitting the chapters into multiple parts, for ease of reading (at least to begin with), so you won't be forced to read an essay-length chapter every time. Of course, that will then cause the number of overall chapters to multiply several fold, so … if I keep segregating them long term, then we're easily looking at a 150-200 chapter-long story right here. Oh, boy…
This story will also be including Skits at the end of each chapter. What are Skits? Check my bio for more information. Not only that, but I'll also be continuing my time-honoured tradition of responding to the reviews of you, the readers, with a number of brief Skits at the start of each new chapter. I'll start by responding to as many as possible (all of them, if I can), but may have to start narrowing it down to the best ones if the story starts to become too popular for me to manage them all (that's not likely to become a problem around here though, let's be honest). So, keep in mind that the more detailed and creative reviews will be the ones which stand the best chance of receiving an author + character response. And in the case of some of you desiring a reaction from a particular character, I'll give you a hint - the more often you mention a character's name in your review, the more likely that character is to respond to you. If not, the character will be selected at random.
I shall be including my "Soonian Analysis" section as well, where I'll be pointing out an observation about the game which has led me to one (or more) of the characterisation decisions that I've made in the current chapter. You'll find that I'm very in-depth and precise when it comes to accurately portraying the characters, but if you spot something that you feel is an error (or just straight up out-of-character) then don't hesitate to point it out in your review, as I'll be sure to explain my reasoning at the start of the next chapter (perhaps even accompanied by the character in question, hehe). Be warned though, that there is almost always a method to my madness, so ... bear that in mind when you're attempting to correct me on something, won't you?
And that … concludes this rather lengthy introduction. Yeah, if you thought that this was long-winded, just wait for the damn chapters! Hopefully you have found it an entertaining read, at any rate, and I can inform you that the first part of Chapter 1 of Salvation Lost ("The First Night") will be up shortly. Thank you for your time.
Now … Onward, to battle!