User blog:JERealize/Progress Bar: Issue 022

Warning! Read the listed sections of this blog or you will die, even if you just read the first bit...

As you can see, this is just a noted parody of the many chain letters issued today involving that little-girl-that-died-a-gruesome-death-and-you-have-to-send-this-to-however-many-people-you-know-or-her-ghost-will-creep-up-on-you-while-you-sleep-tonight-and-kill-you kind of thing. It still helps to read this, since your life may or may not be on the line, so just bear with me...

(September 23, 2013)

State of the Arc
I don't know if this will be a regular thing, but so far, the story I'm working on hasn't been progressing much lately. Here's a stated segment I posted on my userpage: I haven't included the specifics for parts of a chapter, but as this far, I'm still at the beginning of Episode 9, Part 2. Now, this is ridiculous. I had hoped on finishing the series before September 30 of this year (because few stories take more than one year to write), but due to the nature of the story, mainly how long it is, combined with how few things have been planned out at this stage (but more has been planned for near the end) and the fact that I have a life, deter true progress. Scratch the the September 30 expected deadline and even the Spring 2015 predicted finishing date due to current trends, because now that this info is accumulated, it would probably take about 2017 for this story to actually meet the end.

2017. According to the story arc I have planned, my sixth and final story of the arc would take place in 2017, and feature (get ready for a Homestuck reference) all the canon and arc characters. All of them. Besides that, it would feature two out-of-game warring factions, an out-of-game search for answers, potentially the darkest elimination ceremony ever envisioned, and an incredibly game-breaking ending twist that would lead to a non-TD spinoff story. Well, I'm kind of going off a bit, but I guess a little more wouldn't hurt for me just yet.

(keep in mind that these stories will include Total Drama at the beginning of the title followed by a colon, but I decided just to do this)

(20??) - set in this year However, I can't exactly start on these without finishing my current season first, and seeing the recent trend, this is a major problem. I still have a lot planned, but I don't know how I can continue on this story. I know the major plot points for Episode 9, but not how to tie them all together, and this is really irritating me. Maybe I've reached that point that I've reached with every previous story I've tried to write, and I should just give up and leave the wiki. I hate to do this, but unless I can figure out what to do, I don't really know if I can continue.
 * Second Season: Return To Canada (2014)
 * Basically, it's just that: the show returns to Canada, but not to Wawanakwa. The camp's located on British Columbia's Pacific coastline, and again, 24 campers take part in it, with many new personalities not as inspired by canon as the previous season's campers were. A new co-host comes into the picture, and as far as I know, some strange plot twists seem to come out of nowhere. As for this and future stories, I haven't fleshed out the details, so give it time.
 * Third Season: Sore Losers' Reunion (2015)
 * Cartoon Network and Teletoon pooled in their efforts together on this one, and the camp is on Isle Royale, in the Great Lakes. Now, this story is the most endangered one of the arc due to the events of All-Stars; should Courtney, Lindsay, Sierra, Mike, Zoey, Jo, Scott, and/or Sam make it to the finals, they would not participate in SLR (and yes, I know who was already eliminated in All-Stars, but I hate to give out spoilers), and as far as I know, a good Mike subplot was essentially aborted due to the events of All-Stars. I had originally planned for this story to have 32 contestants, but since a canon S6 is in the works, this roster may be bumped up to 40. Also, someone will die. Since hardly anyone reads this, it can't be that much of a spoiler.
 * Fourth Season: The Next Billionaire (2016)
 * One billion in currency... but which currency should it be? Beyond that, this is only for the finalists, so expect an uneven gender ratio. We already know who won the first four canon seasons, and I have a good assumption on who would win the first two TDJER seasons, so 8+4+2(SLR)+4(All-Stars and TDPI)+2(assumed S7)=20 finalists... sounds rather short. I don't know what to do for this yet...
 * Fifth Season: Do or Die (2016)
 * The neat thing is that TDJER S4 and S5 will be released at the same time, giving the average wikian a choice on which one to follow. This one, though, is more planned out, with 24 campers, some having similarities with other pop culture characters (but not TD characters, fortunately), and with some of those having a good deal of info on. The Sling of Shame will also be in use, but don't expect anyone dead. Oh, almost forgot: This series takes place entirely in Europe, with European characters. Don't worry; everything will be inscribed in English.
 * Sixth Season: World In Progress (2017)
 * As I said: All the campers, major storylines, massive plot twists.
 * Seventh Season (2017?)
 * Okay, this is asking for too much. The events of TDJER S6 triggered this, but it's not really TD-related, though it has a TDJER fanon character in it, so expect it to be on another wiki.

But until I make the final choice, I'll stick around, pondering...

Questioning Reality, Part 2
(you can just skip this, if you want)

Another major issue is this following: What kind of world do we live in, and how should we live? Mostly, I was concerned about society itself, but now I'm concerned about religion.

If you don't know by now, I'm Catholic. That doesn't mean I'm evil, but instead that this Christian sect was the original. I would explain about the prosecution that befalls us and how unjust it is, but that's for another time. The problem is, the 21st Century is far too different from the days of the Roman Empire to match up, and society has changed a lot since then. We had the fall of Rome, then the Dark Ages, which was met with strong belief in one God. After a while in the Feudal era, the Renaissance and Enlightenment started to question Catholicism, and that resulted in pressing issues between the religious and non-religious.

At this point, this issue has risen to even worse conditions, as the advents of science test the Ten Commandments at every level. So far, the Papacy conceded on some issues well-known for centuries, such as the fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun. This is where we have to wonder, which of the two common beliefs hold the most truth? We Catholics believe that as long as we follow the laws provided by the Trinity, we can ascend to inner happiness. However, many scientific branches have proposed that the Bible is a fictional novel, that humanity only invented religion to relieve the fear of death, and that people can find happiness without relying on faith. (I don't ever plan on fitting in with the Scientology crowd, so relax a bit.)

As I was saying, this is the point in someone's life where they wonder about their existence. I know you may not wish to read this part of Progress Bar, as it is indeed a pressing issue, but I just want to get some stuff off of my chest, kind of how people would make rant blogs or rage blogs sometimes. Maybe it's normal at age 19 to feel insecure about your background. I don't know. I may spend some time asking these questions little by little, wondering what to do.

Also, though, I can't just dump Catholicism outright without finding the true answer. Latin America grew up on these beliefs. My parents grew up on them. My uncle/godfather indulged in them. However, North America gets you into a shroud of strange information, and most people are submissive about what they learn. But me? I can't just rest, not until I figure out what this world is like, and what I should expect from it, and if there is an issue, how to address it...

Anything else?
Just the fact that if you don't reference this blog post, you may die tonight... Of course, this could all be just a joke... unless it's not...

Warning! Read the above message or you will die, even if you just read the first bit... (Talk | Blogs | Contributions) 04:28, September 24, 2013 (UTC)