User blog:TDIwriter/3rd Anniversary

Hey, guys. So, as of today, I've been on this darn wiki for three freakin' years. Somehow, I've managed not to get banned, permabanned, or kickbanned, even once. -Throws confetti-

Okay, so, basically, this blog will talk about what I have planned for the future, as well as some stuff about the past. Sprink suggested I rank my own characters, so I guess I'll do that as well.

Ranking the Return to Total Drama Characters
This was my first cast of characters, and boy did I milk them for all they were worth! I dragged these guys through two stories back-to-back, and almost dragged them through two more. The reason the second two were cancelled was because I didn't want to be known for just one cast of characters, I was losing interest in these characters (even though I loves them), and I realized that most of the users who had read the first series was either inactive or had moved on, with most of the newer users not knowing about Return to Total Drama Island/Action. So, here go the rankings:

22 - Laura. Laura is really the only character I feel I've "failed". She made it very far, but didn't have any plot, really. I do, however, think I improved her in the Aftermath episodes of season two. What, with her Tofu in a Can sports drink.

21 - Wendy. Oh my goodness, what did I do to this chick? She was so nice in season one, and then...she basically became a witch with a capital B in season two. Well, what I was going for was to show that even nice people make really bad choices, lie, stuff like that. I think I could have written it better, but, oh well.

20 - Hannah. She didn't do anything in season one, really. I remember that surprised Sprink; he thought she'd have a big storyline. Haha, oh, you. In season two, she became a 'kinda villain', but felt that her actions were justified. That was an interesting thing to take on, and I think I handled it fairly well.

19 - Kevin. Oh, Kevin. I think I liked writing for him more when he was just a generic pain magnet. Then I had to go and make him developed. Don't get me wrong, I love Kevin and everyone beneath him. I just feel like he changed for the worse, in the second season.

18 - Francine. She was plenty dramatic, but I don't feel as though I ever quite wrote her the way I intended. She was very useful, plot-wise, though.

17 - Gerald. He was actually my favorite to write for, at some point. Then I eliminated him and other characters moved up. Since he was based on Ezekiel (image-wise, as well as being out first), I think I handled his second season a lot better than the writers handled Ezekiel's second season. Since Gerald's came first, I kind of wish they had ripped me off, just so none of us had to go through Zombekiel.

16 - Reese. Did I just break your heart, Sprink? He may be kind of low on the list, but I really love Reese as a character. I think he's probably my most used character, and for a while, he was my most popular. He was so fun to write for, in season one. He was way higher, then. The reason he's lower now, is that I cut him early in season two, and that gave me the chance to write for other characters. I just ended up liking them more than Reese, as opposed to disliking Reese.

15 - Jessica. She was interesting to write for, in season one. She was a pretty minor character, despite doing okayish. In season two, she got a lot more focus, and even graduated from placing 'okayish' to placing 'okay'. Shoot for the stars, honey!

14 - Kinda Really Ugly David. The lines concerning his name were my favorite to write, from that season. Hahaha, oh, David. He was probably my least important character, ever. But, I love him so much! He's one of the few characters of mine who got hit with the "Stu" label. Not that I can really argue against that, in this case.

13 - Quinn. Another that I loved writing for in season one. I kind of TDA'd her, in season two...I didn't ever really get the chance to fix that, but, oh well. Thinking about it, she's probably one of my best players, even though she isn't particularly strategic. (ignores how badly she played the game in season two).

12 - Nicole. She's the closest I've ever come to just having Katie Couric in a story. She was hyperhappy in season one, and that was interesting to write for. I especially enjoyed her epic face-off with Edward, in one challenge. None of you remember that, most likely, but I do. In season two, she basically became a somewhat sadistic Katie Couric, which is just awesome on so many levels.

11/10 - Andrew. Andrew and Tristan, I feel, were my first two really kind of complex characters. Certainly not in season one; Andrew was really shallow as a character. In season two, however, he was pretty deep, I think. Even if TAU hates him and everything to do with him. He's also one of only a few of my peeps to get slapped with a "Stu" label. In season one, anyway...which I'm sure he was. It was my first fanfiction, afterall.

11/10 - Tristan. It was hard deciding who I liked better; Tristan or Andrew. So, I decided to rank them together. Tristan was probably the only character in season one who had any kind of complexity behind his character. Even then, it was very small. In the second season, however, he became one of the most complex, from this cast. Also, he's Jewish. Was he the first confirmed Jew on here? If not, he has to be one of the first. (For you newer users...Yes, he predates Zach and Michaiah.) Tristan was a fan-favorite, for whatever reason. I never really got why, even though I myself really enjoyed him. Also, when Sprink first drew this cast for me, I gave him almost 100% free range. However, I specifically requested the '26' on Tristan's shirt.

9 - Morgan. Morgan was just...awesome. I love this guy, so much. I wanted him in the final three, but I just couldn't make it work. I wanted him in season two, but I just couldn't swing it. That's basically why he got to be an Aftermath co-host. If he had gotten to compete, he'd probably be even higher on this list. He was, however, suppose to compete in the long cancelled Return to Total Drama World Tour. He got like, 14th, I think.

8 - Rachael. Hahaha, she was such a weak villain. That's why I love her so much. She was soooo terrible at being a villain, that it was just really fun to write for her. Truth is, at first, I really intended her to be a serious villain. After a few chapters, once I saw how ineffective she was, I decided to write her just like that-ineffective. That's why Charlie pretty much took her place, once the merge came.

7 - Edward. Okay, I hated writing for Edward in season one. I really did. I have no idea why I brought him back for season two instead of Morgan, but I'm glad I did. I love me some Edward, now. One of the things I was really looking forward to about Return to World Tour was writing the friction that time created between his friendship with Morgan. They'd have grown really distant, struggling with guilt and failing to patch things up.

6 - Victoria. Even though she was incredibly unimportant in season one, I loved her then, too. She was hilarious, to me. In season two, she was less hilarious, but actually got some kind of role in the story. She also has the honor of being the last character voted off in season two, as well as the only character who actually got to appear in my cancelled Where Are They Now? story.

5 - Charlie. He's my favorite villain, from this cast. Even though before the merge and in season two, he wasn't a villain at all. Only during the merge. Guess the pressure got to him, huh? Personally, out of this cast, I think he's probably the strongest player. His merge elimination was pretty much a fluke.

4 - Zuma. Zuma: the pre-Wheeler. Well, sort of. I wanted to do more with the musician aspect of her personality, so instead of having her in a third story, I created Wheeler. Even though she wasn't the most important character, she was a fairly big fan-fav in season one. I always wanted Debbie Zuma and Yancy Steven to become a couple. However, I never got around to it. Instead, I gave them a close friendship that may or may not imply romantic feelings.

3 - Parker. Parker, my first gay character. It wasn't revealed until chapter 15, but yeah, he's gay. Also, I think it only came up like, two more times, that season. It did become a little more prominent in season two, because of the whole Tristan feeling weird around him, thing. I never did write Parker being attracted to a male, but I always felt like he had a crush on Reese. But, I never got around to it. Instead, I gave them a close friendship that may or may not imply Parker having romantic feelings for his straight friend.

2 - Shannon. Shannon is adorable and I wuv her.

1 - Steven. Yancy Steven Weirzbowski is probably my most iconic and popular character. At least, he was back in the day. With his t-vest blazing in the sun, Steven conquered the wiki kinda sorta. I have to admit...he really sucked pre-merge. He was boring, straight up. However, he became the greatest thing ever once the merge hit. I think once I eliminated Kevin, Steven became the new pain magnet. For those of you who don't know who Steven is, imagine Trent and Tyler rolled into one. I remember a fair few were really surprised that he wasn't in season two. The main reason he wasn't, was because I didn't want to Owen him.

So there you have it, my feelings towards my first cast. No doubt most of you skipped over this part, so let's move on. Oh, I was going to rank the Pacific Island ones too, but I figured that if a character was ranked high on the list, people might assume they go far and vice versa. Honestly, some of my favorites do go far, so it might spoil too much to post a rankings right now. Maybe I'll do one once the story reaches the merge.

The Future
So, I'm actually really not sure how much longer I'll be on this wiki. I don't plan to leave anytime soon, but I am moving out in roughly four months and moving across the country. I have no idea if I'll have internet in my apartment, but hopefully I will. So, prepare for a hiatus in four months or so. I do have another story planned, after Pacific Island, and I'm really excited about it. I don't want to say what it is, because it's a freakin' cool idea and I don't want any of you Communists to steal it.

The Present
I don't think I've really established myself as well as I've wanted to, here. I think a lot of users either don't know who I am, or consider me to be something like, a poor man's Sprink/Gideon/Goldenshane. I think my biggest downfall was having an irregular update schedule. Really, that's what killed this thing. That's a shame, because TFC was a really cool idea and had a lot of support. Though, honestly, it was a little discouraging that Sprink got the majority of the support, before it started. I don't think people even saw that I was involved with the project. He really was the Megatron to my Starscream, at that point.

The thing is, I really can't keep a schedule. I've tried, obviously, but I just think I'm the kind of person who needs freedom to write. As of now, my schedule is updating about once a month, which I feel is pretty good. It's way better than the incredible gaps between Return chapters. That's good, right? Well, it's a start, at least.

Wiki Timeline and Proposals
I'm still working on the timeline, but I haven't finished it yet. Sorry about that. Maybe I'll have it done by the time I leave this shack. Anyway, I wanted to throw a question out there to you users...what events do you specifically want to see marked on the timeline?

I have a proposal I would like to make. I think the list of Featured Users could use a renovation. I propose that we turn it into a Hall of Fame type deal, with brief descriptions of each user's accomplishments (not too wordy, just a few sentences giving a brief synopsis of what they're known for. Basically, the same as what shows up on the front page when someone become FU), and a marker that says when they were active. For "MIA" users, it would be from the time they joined to the time of their last edit. For still active users, it would be like, Feb. 19, 2009 - Present, to show that they are still active. Featured Character/Story/Quote can stay the way they are, but I really feel as though the Featured Users deserve this kind of honoring. So, yeah, tell me what you think, bros and girl-bros.

Thank Ya's
I'd personally like to thank all my great friends and her. (She know's I'm kidding.) I'd also like to thank the follow people:

Axl Rose, for being my personal hero and inspiration.

Starscream, for being my first man-crush, as well as the greatest Transformer ever.

Jesus, for all his work in Soungarden.

Chris Hansen, for being the greatest journalist ever.

Ving Rhames, for being Ving Rhames.

"Macho Man" Randy Savage, for sacrificing himself to stop the Rapture.

Micky D., for keepin' it realz.

Regular Jesus, for all his non-Soundgarden work.

Illanna Rose Merriam, for all her continued support and tolerance of my existence.

Mom, for not trading me in for a girl, like she said she would.

Jonathan Fischler, for being my bro.

and finally, Brandon Hall. Without him, truly all of this would not be possible. I love you, man.