EDIT: Yes, Fathom Depths IS getting a much-needed rewrite, but you probably won't see it for a long time. Game making is my #1 priority, and if I were to write a new book rewrite first, it would be Journey to Hope: The Journey Begins. Anyone remember that pirate story I was working on based on Jake and The Never Land Pirates? The AU where Lord Fathom was a demigod released from his prison, killed Captain Hook and Mister Smee, leaving both Bones and Sharky in charge of the Jolly Rodger, forcing the usually villainous cast to get along and fight a bigger, more threatening villain? Yeah... I barely remember much about it myself. It was a hard time in my life. All I remember is how much I used to get bullied because of it, and how gross people were about the thirteen year old protagonist... I went back and looked at some of my old work for this AU, and what I found was astonishing. An old, detailed map about the fictional Neverworld dimension, species charts on all the neverelves, etc. Apparently, the Disney fairies were going to be involved at some point. It was GOING to be more interesting, but never got there because FD had too much filler. I don't remember a lot of the lore, either. Just people telling me how stupid it was. How "Jake should've been captain" and how "Bones is a man-child" and stuff. (1: Jake's got his own crew to worry about and 2. Bones is a bit of a cuckoo-head, have we watched the same piece of media?) I really, really wanna do a rewrite. Start over from Scratch. Redesign everything, come up with more clear ideas for where I want the story to go, and make sure every main character is treated like... a main character. I didn't explore Lydia's character or Penny's character as much as I wanted to. Lydia's a half sea monster who transforms in the sea... that's really cool in my opinion! I didn't really know much about Penny... I need more ideas for her. I also didn't write a lot about the actual Journey... nor can I find the rewrite that generally did a better job at fixing some of these problems. I think my storage deleted it :( let me know if you can find it! Also BTW any (kind) feedback for the new book is appreciated!
The new Fathom Depths needs these fixes: -Incorporate Penny and Lydia into the main story more. -HOW Bones becomes Captain shouldn't matter as much. I made a whole chapter on it when in reality, it was just them bantering back and fourth where I could've just saved space for something more exciting. Literally they went "eeny meeny miny you." Not joking, go and read it. -People were saying I needed more of Jake and his crew. In reality, I needed less. This story isn't about them. The kids we're focusing on are Nolan, Zack, Lydia and Penny. -I want to change the protagonist's personalities. No, really. I want to make Bones more comically mischievous, and Sharky more easily irritated/short-tempered. I also want to explore their different ways of grieving (dwelling, emotional & open VS. suppressed, optimistic and stressed). They were both way too soft I think... especially for characters on the villainous side, even if that villainous side was more comic villainy than malicious. They still have their caring moments though. (Nolan hasn't changed. He's still a pile of teenage grump.) -The point of Fathom Depths is to "remove the sugarcoating of Disney," and I want to do to right without being too edgy or too soft. This story is about pirates. They thieve, they rob, they smoke, they drink, and the real evil ones? they kill. (Fathom Depths is not for young audiences, especially the new one I want to write... like IIR) AND they curse like sailors sometimes. Especially Sharky lol. He just prefers not to swear in front of the kids. But on the other hand, Fathom Depths is also (will also be) a story about healing from grief, found family, and finding yourself. The old FD was a little bit of both. -There's a lot here I gotta change, but I have to actually go back and read the book, because I forgot a majority of what happened in it lol... If I do end up doing a rewrite it will be a lot different. Okay! Off to do concept art!
