User blog:ShonenChicoBoy/Thanksgiving and the Other Turkey in the Room

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Even if you aren't in the U.S. of A., at least you can be thankful for the glories that America has brought to the world. Such as the internet, masking tape, Twinkies, and.... hmm, yeah, we'll stop there. But happy Thanksgiving anyway.

Also, according to a very reliable source (*Google*, *cough cough*), it looks as though there might be a live action Bleach movie coming out in 2018.



Yes, I can see that your enthusiasm is practically spilling over. Please, try to contain yourselves. (>___>).

Alright, but minor (and relatively unexciting) Bleach news aside, it's now on to the real issue at hand. A.k.a., "The Other Turkey in the Room."

(And trust me, this one ain't how grandma cooks it).

It seems the FC has come to another halt.

Granted, progress has been moving at a snail's pace over the last few months, and there are fewer users on BFF then there have been in the past. But still, I know the people who signed up for it are in fact committed to the project. We said we would write, and we will continue to write (at least I hope). We have a lot invested here, after all.

But the problem seems to be a lack of actual interest. Sure, we've got a plot and our litany of characters, but there seems to be a lot of motion without much action, if that makes sense. Busyness without meaning. At least to me, the FC up to this point has not felt... substantive. The stakes seem to be there, but really there is so little set-up, and so little actual character interaction outside of throwing spells/attacks at each other, that I feel disconnected from the story.

Not sure where the underlying problem is though. It could be that we've been treating our characters as puppets, not persons, in a story sense. It could be that the goal of both the "protagonists" and "antagonists" is, in actuality, rather vague. Not to mention the excess clutter which is lumped in even though it doesn't really seem relevant to the theme, just because it "looks cool." (Aren't we all guilty of that?) Or it could also be from the fact that our FC barely seems to resemble anything "Bleach" at all.

You guys may not realize it, but several people from outside this wiki, both former members and those who were interested in joining but never made the connection, have made that comment. And I have noticed it as well. I think one of the reasons, if not the main reason, why writing for the FC lately has been so difficult is because it doesn't feel "Bleach" enough.

But then of course we have to ask what is "Bleach enough?" It doesn't hurt to go back to basics. To define those things which originally drew us towards the series and write towards that. It might sound anachronistic or naively-nostalgic, but I know I fell in love with Bleach because of its first arc. The slowly unravelling conspiracy, the ultimatum of Rukia's execution, the tension that managed to build even on top of that, and the collision of two worlds: Human and Shinigami. Mortal and Immortal. New and Old. There was something that resonated there, unlike much of the series later on, which I think most fans would agree with.

While it might not be practical at this stage to try and "go back to the way things were," I know that one thing the original Bleach arc(s) had was an underlying simplicity. There were complexities, of course, and the plot gradually advanced in depth. But underneath it there was a 15-year-old Substitute Shinigami and his friends trying to save someone they cared about. Isn't that what made Bleach great to begin with?

In contrast, the FC seems to be overly-weighted towards, how should I put it, "showing off." The characters themselves are all drastically beefed up power-wise, to nigh-ridiculous levels. But if we take a step back, it might benefit us to ask... well, why? You don't need insanely powerful characters to create a suspenseful plot. What you need is... well, a suspenseful plot. A crippled 80-year-old can launch a nuke and start a world war (no offense to crippled 80-year-olds). You don't need to call in Superman for that. Likewise, the protagonists don't all have to be Kenpachi. That's why Ichigo went in with a group to the Soul Society. He may have fought the final battle against Byakuya alone, but he never would have made it without the support of Yoruichi, Kisuke, Uryuu (and yes Chad, Ganjuu and Orihime). At the risk of sounding sappy, a hero needs his friends. Especially in the FC, with so many participants. It's not a one-man show. I don't think this is as much of a problem for us right now, but my point here is that neither the antagonists nor the protagonists need to be over-powered war machines who can flatten a city by clapping their hands.

But I know, I know. I've heard all about the "theory of series power evolution" (or slippery slope in this case). And if this was say, a DBZ wiki, it might not be that much of an issue. But this is Bleach. While the last manga arc was over-the-top power-wise, is that something we really, truly want to emulate here? Seems to me that we're being rather double-minded to criticize something that seemed excessive and even goofy in the canon series itself... and then go and write those same kinds of things ourselves.

I know that what I'm suggesting isn't likely to gain a lot of traction here. Once you've gone all-out, it's hard if not impossible to curb that back to a "beginning of series" level of power. But I feel that something needs to change. Going back to the basics, to me, seems to be a better, if not the best possible solution. And keep in mind this is just in the context of the FC. If it's a "Grandmaster of Kidou vs. a Grandmaster of Zanpakutou" type RP, that's alright and good. It's individual and is battle-oriented. But is that same level necessary for the FC? I know that a common complaint is that "well if we don't have higher-tiered characters then the RP isn't exciting for us." In that case, let me suggest something to you, and I am going to state this harshly, so be forewarned: Maybe it's a personal problem. (An issue of perspective). This is RPing, not video gaming. There are more elements involved than landing the most hits or evading damage. Character is involved, and not just a first-person avatar or a pre-made type selected from a trope menu. How much do you actually care about your characters? Are they their own, unique personalities or are they simply a vessel for an interesting power or concept that you came up with? What is their function in the story? Do they have a function even? What makes them interesting, unique, likable even? Personally, I have no interest in RPing a machine. While video games can have stunningly executed narratives, writing is more concerned with exposition. Namely, character development. If you have a full-blown dual-bankai-wielding Grandmaster of Two Arts strut out on the stage then... where does that leave you? Where do you have to go after the introduction and initial battle? Even if you're able to fight on a high-tier, if the character isn't growing... won't you just end up bored anyway?

To sum up, the issue of our FC lacking intensity might be due to the characters having too much power. But more probable is that the FC is lacking intensity because no one is invested in the characters (which might or might not be a result of them having too much power). Anyway.

[END PERSONAL VENT]

I don't just want to lambast the current state of the FC without offering any suggestions for how we can improve things. So perhaps more concretely, I would like to propose three things:

1. We make the central plot smaller, hypothetically. By "smaller" I mean defining something that everyone can work towards. The Soul Fragments involve three groups: the Coven, who wants them, the humans, who have them, and the Soul Society, for some marginal reason. No one else is really invested here, and we're pretty spread out. I think a narrower goal might be of benefit to us here. To be specific, even if it might seem repetitive of the Aizen arc, what about everyone going after the Masked Man? The Soul Fragments could be eventual MacGuffins, but I feel like something more needs to be happening here then, "extract le Soul Fragment," "retreat to le evil lair," "build le super weapon," while everyone else runs around like chickens turkeys with their heads cut off. Chaos ≠ Suspense. The threat of world annihilation is not yet tangible, but it needs to be. There needs to be something personal involved on the part of each character (which so far has been limited to the Coven and Xstence). On the other hand, no offense, but planning each individual step leads to a very large level of predictability. Simplifying would, I believe, allow the writers to make more individual, and thus more unforeseen actions, because you need to supply more individual character-oriented details in that case.

2. Open the FC up to different groups. If we simplified the plot, we could also open up to more options outside of the main plotline. And to be honest, I sort of value the diversity of the different groups. E.g., I for one would like to know what the hell the Espada are up to, but I have to sit around for literal months if not years before I'll ever see them in action. For someone with an Espada character, this kills interest faster than a fly on an electric fly swatter. Still, with all these Soul Fragments running around, with the Soul Society, the Coven, Xstence, the Stunde, the Espada, etc. etc. etc., UNITY IS CRUCIAL. But we can't exactly reach "unity" when the things we are supposed to be unifying don't even exist yet. And I know the point made is that, "side-RPs split the interest from the main FC," which is true. But uh... days, if not weeks can go by between posts on the FC. In the meantime, the people who aren't directly involved just sort of have to sit on their respective asses and wait. And it's a long wait. And I think many users have lost interest in BFF entirely as a result.

3. Focus on character interaction. As I was trying to say in more words earlier, I think the biggest problem of the FC currently is that no one seems to be invested in their characters much. But, to be honest, they haven't exactly had a whole lot of time to invest. It's just been a battle so far, but character interaction has been relatively minimal. The result is a hit-and-reciprocate style of RP that, well... has lost its punch, to be brutally honest. But what makes a battle exciting to begin with? Being cornered by a superior opponent for sure is suspenseful... up to a certain point. Brilliantly executed moves are flashy and interesting to read... most of the time. But what really makes a battle engaging is when we actually care about the characters involved. Granted, most people don't want their characters to DIE, but isn't that more of an issue of author's pride? What I mean by "care about" is that we are seeking ways to interact with and further develop our characters in an RP format. This has happened in the past. And when it has happened, the RP tends to be more successful, from what I have observed. Heck, take a look at some of the (albeit older) longest-running RP's on this site. They might be packed with battles: but between isn't there a running dialogue among the characters? There is feedback, taunts, insults, philosophies and fears expressed throughout the fights themselves.

(In other words, they look more like Bleach battles.)

But I've rambled long enough.

What do you guys think? What are your suggestions? Is your diagnostic of the currently-stalled FC the same, or is there another problem at hand here? Most importantly, is there a way we can fix this, and get back on track? Can we make Bleach Great Again? *I can't believe I said that. Kill me now please.*