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APOSTLE'S CREED - a zombie story

Re: THE MOON HAS WINGS - a zombie story

AMIS said:
With all due apologies to TheAverageFan , the monsters in this were almost an add-on. The building of relationships between some of the characters, most notably the soldiers and Thomas and Brooke, made me curious as to how they would (or would not) survive. The other relationship I was hoping to see more of was Reed and his father. But that would been real tough to include.

Hmm, so it seems that my own concerns of having too much in addition to the zombies is actually a boon to readers like yourself. The undead only represent 1/3rd of the external threats of the story, after all. But to you that's a good thing. Interesting :ponder:

As for Reed and his father, and any other unresolved or underdeveloped things, perhaps more will come of this project one day

~TAF
 
Re: THE MOON HAS WINGS - a zombie story

AMIS said:
With all due apologies to TheAverageFan , the monsters in this were almost an add-on. The building of relationships between some of the characters, most notably the soldiers and Thomas and Brooke, made me curious as to how they would (or would not) survive. The other relationship I was hoping to see more of was Reed and his father. But that would been real tough to include.

Hmm, so it seems that my own concerns of having too much in addition to the zombies is actually a boon to readers like yourself. The undead only represent 1/3rd of the external threats of the story, after all. But to you that's a good thing. Interesting :ponder:

As for Reed and his father, and any other unresolved or underdeveloped things, perhaps more will come of this project one day

~TAF
I'd agree with AMIS on this one. Billing any story as a zombie story automatically means people go into it expecting zombies. For those who like zombie action, you've got to deliver on that expectation.

But beyond that, it's really the normal conflicts of any story which make the tale stick. Zombies only go so far as a primary conflict. They supply urgency and can be a great plot device for moving your heroes places/into unfortunate situations, but it's going to be the internal group dynamics which really keep interest up.

As long as those group dynamics don't lead to stupid decisions just to get more zombie action, they generally out-perform the zombies every time. At least in my experience. Zombies have immediate tension, but group dynamics tend to have depth, which zombie tension never will.

~TGRF, also agreeing that the balance of zombies to group dynamics was very well handled.
 
the_apostle_s_creed_title.png


INTRODUCTION

Hello! Happy Friday and welcome to the much-overdue release of Apostle’s Creed! Although I enjoyed writing The Moon Has Wings and enjoyed having folks finally read it, it always felt terribly incomplete without the sequel that really follows up on the events and finally begins to peel open some of the mystery. Finally the reader can get a small sense of what the hell is going on in any of this. And just in time for the atmospheric chill of October too :]

Just looking at the base events imagined beforehand in the overall outline of the story as a whole, I’ve always enjoyed Apostle’s Creed more than The Moon Has Wings—they’ve always existed side-by-side even if one was posted so much earlier—but actually putting it all down on paper proved to be a much tougher challenge. That, coupled with the lack of a reception to the initial posting of the first entry, helped make this a terribly long entry to write: nearly seven years. But I think it’s been worth it now that I’ve finally conquered it. At almost exactly 400 pages, this really feels like the first actual novel I’ve ever written, possessing both the length and complexity of other “real” books I’ve read in my time. As if that weren’t enough it’s also one of those books I feel like you have to reread as soon as you’re done so you can pick up on all the elements that aren’t apparent on a first go-through. How torturous! I can only hope it has quality to match, perhaps.

The story does still have some issues to me. The length is problematic in itself, given TGRF’s request to make things tighter when the opposite has occurred here. This is a book. As per his suggestions, I’ve at least broken up each chapter into two segments (i and ii), so there’s a given stopping point should you need to stop your progress mid-chapter. They are lengthy after all. There’s also a strange lack of zombies in this entry—I’ve noted this before in early drafts but it hasn’t changed much since then. I suppose AMIS won’t mind at least. The story is also extremely dialog-heavy, if that's something that bothers some readers? Lastly despite my efforts of redoing it and redoing it across the entire development, I still kind of hate the beginning of this story. I won’t say why I hate it (I'd rather you read it and maybe say “It doesn’t seem bad to me” than subconsciously parrot my own reasoning in advance and thus have it ruined for you too) but I just do; the parts making up this monster are just too complex for the beginning to be fully fixed it seems. It just can’t be helped I suppose—I never did fix the parts of The Moon Has Wings that bother me the most and sure enough none of my readers ever mentioned those parts whatsoever in their critiques so maybe it’s just a me thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, lastly I’ve included a recap of The Moon Has Wings below. It was a long time ago so I can understand most if not all the details escaping readers, and although I’d prefer you just read through that again for a more complete retelling that’s a big ask. Apostle’s Creed takes place immediately after the closing events of the previous entry, so it’d be best if you were caught up on at-least most of the important events.

Anyway enjoy! Well, as much as a story such as this can be enjoyed. Don't forget to listen to music as you read, if that helps. TAF's personal recommendation of the day is A Fistful of Silence by The Glitch Mob.



_____________________________________________________________________​


TMHW Recap:

Below is a play-by-play covering the events of The Moon Has Wings, chapter by chapter. It is relatively lengthy, covering a 260-page book, but otherwise this should retell all the events of relative importance in a few pages. Just don’t be surprised if I miss a thing or two, particularly tiny details that might become important or the nuances that make the characters compelling.

Spoiler Alert!




RATING & COPYRIGHT​

This story contains mature content and is only recommended for readers 18 and up. Or those who think they can handle content for those 18 and up. Read at your own discretion.

Apostle's Creed contains Violence, Blood, Gore, Strong Language, Disturbing Imagery, Drugs and Alcohol, Sexual Content, and stuff like that.


_____________________________________________________________________

- Obligatory Copyright Statement (ironically still plagiarized from TGRF's Version) -

This is TheAverageFan's story, intended solely for the purpose of being released on heroscapers.com.
Any copying of the text within this fan fiction will be in violation of the copyright laws of heroscapers.com.

Text copyright © 2023 by heroscapers.com user TheAverageFan
Apostle's Creed Title copyright © 2023 by heroscapers.com user TheAverageFan

You may not copy any part or portion of this fan fiction without the express permission of the original creator. You bastards.


Now on with the show! Enjoy!

~TAF
 
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Prologue

As before, we must start with a Prologue:

Spoiler Alert!


So we begin anew...

~TAF
 
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Chapter 1

Moving on to Chapter 1:

Spoiler Alert!


I'll likely post a new chapter every two days or so. Don't forget you can always check details in the OP if you are fully caught up, and be sure to let me know what you think (with spoilers in spoilers if possible). :up:

~TAF
 
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:woot:

It's finally here. It's finally begun. Looking forward to reading this, TAF. 400 pages is something even my mastery of the long-winded can't attain (although this post gives it a good shot, given I haven't actually read anything yet), and with a self-proclaimed lack of zombies, I'm interested to see just how much change/development our characters will go through. I don't recall exactly how long TMHW took to post, but if it was *only* 260 pages, I feel like we'll still be reading this one by the time summer rolls around. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - always good to have something of quality to read.

I'll mention what I'd like to see, because you usually do that on my fan fictions, almost always leading to me internally saying 'ah crap, I should have thought of that.' So time to return the favor. ;)
Spoiler Alert!

As always, I will be brutally honest. I'll review as I go, but if I don't have a ton to say about a chapter, I'll probably wait until I've read more to post. Until then... on with the zombies.

~TGRF.
 
Introduction (Yes the critiques start here):
Spoiler Alert!

Recap:
Spoiler Alert!

Prologue:
Spoiler Alert!

~TGRF.
 
Spoiler Alert!


Thanks for your comments. I've corrected the grammatical mistakes mentioned and will continue to closely monitor your feedback.

~TAF
 
I've corrected the grammatical mistakes mentioned and will continue to closely monitor your feedback.

~TAF
:runaway:

As far as lie/lay goes, it's common to mix them up. I blame English. In case you are interested though, here's the breakdown as straightforward as I can put it:
Spoiler Alert!

~TGRF.
 
Chapter 2

On with the next chapter:

Spoiler Alert!


As always let me know your thoughts

~TAF
 
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Chapter 1:
Spoiler Alert!

~TGRF, taking his time in reading to ensure plentiful chapters when the urge for more zombies strikes.
 
Spoiler Alert!


Glad you're liking it so far :)

~TAF
 
Chapter 2:
Spoiler Alert!

~TGRF.
 
Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Spoiler Alert!


~TAF
 
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Chapter 4

We move on to the next chapter:

Spoiler Alert!


The game has changed; where will it lead?

~TAF
 
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I am still here. Due to the long nature of the chapters, I'm only reading when I have a decent-sized chunk of time, which with my schedule tends to vary a lot. Planning to get to chapter 3 soon.

Your comment on chapter four that 'the game has changed' has piqued my interest. I feel like so far (admittedly only two chapters in), things aren't too different from TMHW - dodging zombies and terrorists as the group attempts to reach VACC. A 'game-changing' is sure to mix things up.

~TGRF.
 
Chapter 3:
Spoiler Alert!

~TGRF.
 
Spoiler Alert!


I will likely post another chapter tonight, but I may slow the progress from there to permit more time to be fully caught up :)

~TAF
 
I will likely post another chapter tonight, but I may slow the progress from there to permit more time to be fully caught up :)

~TAF
No need to slow posting progress. I'm intentionally staying a chapter or two behind. I don't want to find myself with time to read, and nothing to actually read.

~TGRF.
 
Chapter 5

Very well, if you say so. But don't forget you then can't check the Details tab in the OP without risk of spoilers! :headshake:

Here is Chapter 5:

Spoiler Alert!


Up and down and up and down! It is longer than the other chapters, feels like!

~TAF
 
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Chapter 4:
Spoiler Alert!

~TGRF.
 
Chapter 6

Spoiler Alert!


Chapter 6, apologies for the delay

Spoiler Alert!


We are at the point where developments will continue to occur each chapter. It'll make it feel like a brisker read, I hope :lol:

Thank you for reading

~TAF
 
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Sorry for the delay, I was under the weather for a few days. On with the reading:

Chapter 5:
Spoiler Alert!

~TGRF.
 
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