User blog:Cokedragon/These Befallen - Update 0

You sit down sometimes, trying to force out the best thing imaginable and just... can't. Maybe you just can't think of that perfect ending, maybe you can't even come up with something perfect to begin with. We're all doing that, right? I take a look around BTFF and see a lot of what makes every place where fanon runs rampant: a lack of passion. For many, writing fan fiction here can (and probably should) just be a hobby, something you do on the side to pass the time. It doesn't need to be perfect, just passable... but if that's the standard, why show it to anybody? You haven't created the best thing you're capable of, you haven't topped any record times — even those set by yourself —, you've just thrown together whatever you can into a massive wall of text.

And for probably all of us here, that is the case. We come here, bring a great idea to the table and put it out. Over time, you gather a bunch of fans wanting to see more so you do exactly what the networks we're always complaining about do... push, at best, *crap*. You don't care much for past achievements, just that people are moderately entertained. You don't care about the opportunity to learn to become a better writer, you just care that you've written something and can claim that fact. But what have we really done?

Take a look at your most recent work, whether it be a series or movie as a whole or an episode or part of the former pair. Then, take a look at either whatever you're working on now or a piece you put together beforehand. Does it seem like a consistent effort to be better than before; does it look like you even tried your best? I know, this isn't school; no one's going to beat you down for not doing your absolute best. But think for a minute: shouldn't you? This is something you're putting your name on — or at least some online moniker you go by — and that your real self can say is yours. Are you proud of it? If someone were to be hiring people to become real TV writers (irregardless of whether you want this to be your future or not), would your best here make a decent portfolio in your eyes?

As I said, we've all committed this crime. I think we all get bored of being perfectly creative, and we ignore the fact we're grabbing at clichés and throwing them into our stories. I want you to imagine for a second what this wiki could be like if we all put together our best stories. With every letter we typed out, it was something smarter than the last; with every scene compiled, we created something none other has done or executed something possibly common in a way no one else has. Imagine for a second that this wiki wasn't just a place for things we wrote, but for things we poured passion into. Be honest with yourself — not me: if you're not writing to better yourself, you're writing to entertain or for attention; which of the two is what you're after?

So at this point, I'd like to change to the topic of consistency in series. I don't read many of the shows around; it's not a problem of quality, no, no, just the fact I hate reading :P I find it wasted time, but that's not the point. Consistency! Specifically, the topic of self-awareness and self-esteem. No, I'm not talking about those properties for you, but for the things you write. When you write your show, you have access to these two and can choose to totally ignore them or adhere to them like your life depends on it — because either way, your show's sure does! So what are these two in the scheme of a show?

Self-awareness: Your show knows what it's doing and knows what it is. It knows its genre, it knows its characters, its world, its universe, etc. You may even get a reference to things in the world that may not play an important part until later on. Things may just drop in with importance to come later (not in deus-ex machina fashion, however). Whatever happens, your show knows who it is. It's not going to go from a comedy to a drama or vice-versa; it's not going to be all about real-world problems then suddenly introduce aliens when it doesn't make any sense for them to exist; it's not going to just have things that solve entire episodes' conflicts appear out of nowhere without ever having been mentioned when they would have been important on numerous occasions prior. Self-awareness is the key to a sci-fi universe, and it must be mastered in such a way that not only can your show live with itself, but so can all the aliens' species such that there's no alien that can just solve all problems or destroy everything — unless the plot demands it... but let's not get into that :P

Self-esteem! That's basically self-awareness but with a slight deviation in that your show will never retcon. You won't introduce something, no longer like it, and throw it out. No events will disappear, no objects will disappear. When you throw something into your universe, you have to be aware of how it can affect things so that the self-esteem remains. And before anyone says something, yes, this is a problem with canon — not *just* Omniverse (though that's a big proponent, no argument there), but the whole franchise. When I see reboots on the wiki, it rather excites me because there's one really big reason to do reboots: because you realize the problem and want to fix it.

When we dive into *These Befallen* in the coming months, I want you to know everything I've said here is being taken to heart. Anyone who read *Back in Action* will know there were horrible times, and at best, decent times. It wasn't a show I particularly look back on as a glimmer; I want to improve, make *These Befallen* so much better. Not just better actually, but the best I can possibly. For the past 5 months, I've poured so much detail into it that the side notes alone comprise enough pages to go through over 200 pages *in a textbook*. From a self-aware universe that will require you to be on your toes to understand everything, to the retcon-free lifestyle it will live, this show will be my best thing. Characters from canon may not serve the same purpose — I know people like Eon (whose current reboot rename is Aegis!) won't. Arcs from canon definitely won't be the same — I know the Time War's won't (spoiler: the Time War is an arc that, kinda like Omniverse, spans the entire time span of everything in existence; when the series ends, I will compile the complete story on the wiki page and possibly in video form). Villains from canon will never be looked at in the same way — especially not Cash, my current favorite.

Expect some more updates regarding *These Befallen* (that unlike this one will actually be focused on the show alone) in the future. An announcement about an upcoming blog post will always be made on the thread, so head on over there and add it to your watch list so you're made aware of that!

Did you know?: The reboot universe features a very different family tree from canon. For example, Max Tennyson is Ben and Gwen's great-grandfather, Ben has an older brother, and Gwen has two older sisters. Maybe these characters will appear in the show!