The Fallen
Update 1.3 is here!
JustMC: Greetings once more, dear reader! You probably know how this is going to play out, so instead of tiring you with my ceaseless rambling, I'll get straight to the chase, starting with the most important changes and/or additions.
Major changes:
[Altered the prophecy slightly. (Chapter 5 – 1)
The prophecy now references the Ender dragon directly.
+Added the villagers' perspective on their animosity with the illagers. (Chapter 6)
I know that the more recent chapters made the villagers look like the bad guys, but the truth isn't black and white.
[Rana is now more hesitant to talk to Steve when they first meet. (Chapter 8, Chapter 9)
In addition, she acts slightly more withdrawn towards him in the beginning. It didn't make sense for her to open up so quickly.
[The Council's meeting now has altered dialogue. (Chapter 8)
Originally, Johnathan dismissed Sebastian's warnings for more sentimental reasons, whereas now, they offer more pragmatic arguments. Also, yeah, the beginning scene was about the Council. You probably figured it out, but I just wanted to be clear.
+Gave the deceased iron golem a name. (Chapter 9)
[Josef was the name of the second iron golem, which served Cornelia alongside Talos. I named it after the Golem of Prague, an interesting bit of folklore narrative. I recommend you check it out if you'd like. It shares some commonalities with Talos' myth.
+Added a scene regarding the second iron golem's absence. (Chapter 9)
In addition, Rana and Sebastian now have a small discord during that scene.
[Rana now goes into more detail about her backstory and relationship with Earth and the Minecraft world. (Chapter 10, Chapter 18)
Funny thing about this is that I had a decent idea of how I wanted her backstory to be around the time I was working on Update 1.2. However, I decided just recently to actually incorporate it into the story.
-Removed the promise of Steve and Rana to always have each other's back.
This was originally meant to play a bigger part in the storyline, but it just felt a little unnatural and forced. Instead, Rana simply asks Steve to be her friend.
+The Wither now makes an appearance in Steve's third dream.
As I was writing Chapter 28, I already knew that the Wither came out of nowhere, so some build-up was greatly needed. To put it bluntly, I wasn't even certain if I wanted to include the Wither in this story. And yet, as I thought about it, the more sense it'd make.
+Added a fight between Rana and Catherine. (Bonus Chapter)
This was mostly done to showcase the way Catherine views themself and the people around them, but in a way, it also added to Rana's character.
[The totem of undying is now linked to the allays. (Chapter 20 – 2, Chapter 29)
'An eye for an eye', as the saying goes.
[Changed the way bleeding works & Steve now bleeds after his execution. (Chapter 20 – 2)
This needs a more thorough explanation, I feel. At first, much like the Wither, I was torn on whether I should include bleeding when a character gets hurt. On one hand, it'd be realistic, but on the other, you don't bleed in Minecraft, and if you did, you'd basically die the moment a skeleton shot you. To circumvent that, I came up with the following:
At first, the idea was that the only way a man could bleed in this world was if he were hurt by another human being. (As for a woman, I wasn't sure... I still don't know if menstruation is a thing or not in this story, and I'm the one writing it!)
This was going to come into play near the end of the story, where a specific fight would take place. In a way that not even I could've predicted, the story has gone down a path where it's basically impossible for that fight to actually happen anymore.
With some time, an idea on what to do with blood dawned on me anyway. In the current version, humans will bleed when their health meter depletes fully, assuming that the reason it did so was an injury that would make them bleed in real life.
This way, the curse is actually more of a double-edged sword. On one hand, an individual will die if their health meter goes empty, but on the other, they are protected from internal and external bleeding.
And now, is about time we head to some rather minor changes.
Minor changes:
[Fixed some minor spelling/grammar errors.
At least there weren't as many as last time...
[Changed Steve's one-liners. (Chapter 2, Chapter 3)
Some of the things Steve used to think/say, beared more resemblance to some kid playing a survival horror game, rather than someone whose actual life was at stake.
[Replaced the potions given by Emily. (Chapter 16)
In the previous version, Emily gave the two humans a splash potion of fire resistance (which was never actually put into use), and a splash bottle of water. Now, they give two regular potions of fire resistance, and a splash water bottle.
+Added the "fire resistance" effect. (Chapter 16)
This slightly alters the way the main characters approach the Nether.
[Changed Rana's reaction to Steve saying he wanted to protect her. (Chapter 18)
Rana was more flattered by the sentiment before. Now she gets somewhat angry.
[Elongated the would-be confession. (Chapter 19)
[Rana's treatment after the raid is now more detailed. (Chapter 20 – 2)
Rana is now bandaged in various part of her body, instead of just her head. In order for that to be possible, she now wears less clothes, while lying unconscious.
[Alex now apologizes to Steve for what she had made him go through. (Chapter 25)
Not much else to say about this one.
[Altered the description of the Wither's left skull. (Chapter 28)
In addition, it dishes out more taunts than before.
[Various other minor changes.
And, that's it. I hope these updates aren't too frustrating, but hey, I never said I was a professional; this only my first fanfiction. In a way, it's also accurate to the game. Don't worry though, once the story gets completed, there won't be any more updates.
I also feel obligated to note that the previous update notes not only are going to remain up, but they're also going to stay unaltered. I feel like they're a neat little time capsule.
I should probably also note that they aren't going to be posted in AO3. As of the day I'm writing this update note, I have created an account in AO3 under the same name, and I'm going to be posting this story there, too – given some time, at least.
To be honest, I was hesitant to join that site. I don't like it very much, and the idea of being associated with it didn't exactly sound all that enticing. However, in due time, I decided to bite the bullet and do it.
It's a more stable service, and it's also got a wider user base. If the price of making this story more accessible is having to put up with a weird tagging system, a lack of a pm system, and some...questionable works, so be it. Like I said earlier, the notes for updates 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, will not be included in the AO3 publication.
Okay, that should be it for now. The upcoming volume should be the final one, so I'll make this story go out with a bang! Once again, I would like to thank you getting this far. I probably say this too much, but I'm seriously grateful that you take the time and read my fic. Man, now I kinda sound like Steve.
Steve: What's that supposed to mean!?
JustMC: Until next time, stay safe!
-28/10/2022
