I just reread everything I have written and posted for the much-loved "Dead or Alive?" …I'm not really sure why it was so loved.

I like my idea. I like my plot. I think it's possible that the Temujai'i would use poisons unknown to the Rangers.

John Flanagan's Rangers tend to feel a little too overpowered, if you catch my drift. Regardless of their information-gathering skills, they're not defined as spies (right?). Instead, Rangers are defenders of the kingdom, from internal affairs, mainly. They are the most senior member in a fife and report directly to their Commandant, who in turn directs directly to the King. One could even say they are internal spies… Big Brother, maybe?

I digress. My point being that it's not unlikely for the Temujai'i to use a poison that renders their enemies entirely defenseless in the midst of battle, but not dead.

But then our Rangers aren't aware of this type of warfare. When Will gets hit and shows no obvious signs of life, there's only one solution… a funeral. With the bodies piling up (and the ground still solid from the recent winter), a typical Skandian funeral is reasonable. True warriors get sent to Valhalla via burning ships, food for their journeys, weapons they once carried, and a proper farewell.

In Araluen, we're never told how bodies are disposed, but I'm assuming they're buried (or placed in tombs for important people). In Halt, Horace & Cassandra's minds, burning a body is only intended for one's enemies and to do so to a former comrade (family) would be incredibly dishonorable.

Subsequently, they come to the agreement to send him off, without the fiery bit.

And so the story begins.

So much potential!

I don't like how I executed it. :/

Granted, I started writing "Dead or Alive?" in 2011… so I was 14. In 2018 I rewrote the prologue, and got no further (the writing is noticeably different between the new prologue and ch. 1).

I'm about to turn 26, in 20 days, actually. I'd like to think my writing has since improved.

Honestly? I couldn't tell you how I planned to finish this fic. Though I have thought about it quite a lot in passing, these last few years.

In either 2018 or 2019, I wrote a new chapter for the fanfic, well, rewrote one I'd written sometime earlier in a notebook. That new chapter is the last one I will post: Chapter Twelve.

Simply put, eleven years later, I can't stand how I wrote this plotline. I hate Will's new name "Panthera". I hate that I made him into a Mary Sue, he's OP, has a giant black panther as a companion… which is 100% lifted from R.A. Salvatore's Legend of Drizzt series. So, there's a blatant crossover. I hate how bad I was (still am) at naming characters…

I've tried editing, continuing it, altering it… but I get filled with so much cringe and then throw it back on the shelf and ignore it for another year.

But I keep coming back because I don't like when I find a plotline, fic, author that I love, and then they don't complete their works!

Because of this, I am marking "Dead or Alive?" as COMPLETE. It's over, it's done.

I'm not content with the ending. Ideally, I'd rewrite the entire story. I won't delete this one, regardless of my feelings.

I think, ultimately, it's important to keep all of your writings for a few reasons:

1. 2011 was when I started writing, legitimately. Without DoA, I wouldn't have 11 years of writing under my belt.
2. It's important to know where I started at, to be able to compare myself to my past, to see my development.
3. I believe every author is allowed to decide whether they want to delete their content or not. But I also think it's important to consider the reviewers, and according to DoA's stats:

...a) There are 81 followers
...b) Since 2011 over 27,400 people have viewed it
...c) It has 175 reviews, which amounts to 41% of my account's total reviews
...d) It's my longest fic at 38,000+ words
...e) 58 people have favorited it

These stats prove to me, that at some point, my reader-base has appreciated this fic, therefore it will stay available

Thank you to anyone and everyone who is still around. Thank you to any new readers who stop by in the future.

I wish everyone the best.

-Kangarooney-