Dead Awakened/Project RE:DA

This is it, y'all. Third time's the mother%$#@ing charm.

Project RE:DA is my last attempt at re-doing this series because I have done it one too many times already.

I made this page to both talk to myself and anyone reading this about why this story is being rebooted more often than continued. There's some insight here I've long ignored and I'd like to bring it to the forefront.

ATTEMPT UNO
Now, I'm not counting the story from 2013, started by one "TheWalkingDeadFan156", co-written by yours truly. First and foremost, why I wanted to co-write it with a dude like him in the first place: we both share a passion for the genre of crime fiction, and I've always wanted to incorporate undead to it at that time. Enter this story. I decided to just hit two birds with one stone and help him out on writing it.

Turns out, TheFlyingD--I mean "TheWalkingDeadFan156" was still suffering from "pre-story page preparation" syndrome and seldom did collaboration. That, and... well, I thought I could write my own without having to wait on him. He ended up giving me the story itself (at this point all I inherited is the name), as expected. Might as well make do with what's already there, right?

I was excited with this story. Apart from finally fusing two of my favorite genres, I could also take this chance to use actors. Actors! I thought, "this shit cool as fuark". So I wrote it. Made my own characters. Took up hella char submissions from users all 'round. Wrote it some more.

I thought I was happy with it... until I reached issue 3. I wasn't happy with the pace, and it also felt too rushed. Around this time I was aiming for a high quantity of issues, so I seldom looked back at what I did. Now that I had actors, I wanted this to be... more of a television show. I gotta say, Eden Rising played a big influence in making me go to the TV route. I knew I couldn't do the short-paced issue stuff anymore. I needed to quit while it was early. I needed to clear. Ehrm, I mean I needed to reboot.

TV GUIDE NEWS: UFSW Network's show cancelled at sixth episode despite goals for whole season
Reboot numero dos. Uh oh.

I've gotta say, I really thought I was going to continue with this to the end. But the more I think about it, the more I knew I couldn't.

Let's go back to my new goal: Dead Awakened becoming a new hit television show. I really wanted to model it after a primetime, one-hour time block series. I visualized it so. I wrote the story like it. With actors, I knew I had to start writing it like it was a moving picture show.

I was damn happy with the first few episodes. Oh, yeah--I started calling them episodes. I've never done anything like it before, so I made plenty of room for improvement. Come Episode 3, this story started to expand on its own. Episode 3 was when I decided to push my word count boundaries, start looking at how complete the episode is instead. It was also around this time I started looking to more critically acclaimed TV serials for inspiration. The 1-hour blocs of HBO shows were the real deal; so I took after them the most.

I tried to make Episode 3 as lengthy as possible. Each character scene is extended, and I tried to cover all the things they go through for a whole day until all they needed to do (in that day) was go to bed. I was happy about this achievement. Had no idea I could do it. Looking back now, Episode 3 had some really dragged scenes.

I kept trying to improve, and improve, and improve each episode. Episode 4 was lengthy. Episode 5 was lengthy. Episode 6, the last of this reboot, is the lengthiest of them all. Each time I went on, I made adjustments to the story. The characters. The story some more. The pace.

Adjustments, adjustments, adjustments. The more I tried to improve the story in this current run, the more I saw my problems.

I've feared my character count from the very start. I kept all of the user-created characters I got and decided to double that amount with a supporting cast. I also wanted to give each and every one of them some kind of purpose. I wanted to avoid plot devices.

The more I detailed each character, the more it got overwhelming. I was already dealing with this extended episode length. I pretty much bit more than I can chew. I choked on that piece of table I was eating. Ugcchghh.

Near the half of Episode 7, I realized; I couldn't keep going like this if I was going to keep the cast. The focus, at that point, will always get jumbled to numerous characters and it'll be overwhelming trying to keep up with each. I really thought I could create not a group of unique characters, but a whole community of them. I've always been comfortable with a handful of characters as a focal point. I knew I was getting into something I couldn't handle.

The storyline, too, kept expanding. The more it changed, the more other roles became unnecessary. I knew I could easily combine some of them together, make it easier for myself. I can keep on trying to set each of them apart, but I'll always be clashing with the character count.

Contract disputes? No problem!
Here's a list of characters that I've decided to cut. As it turns out, RDJ is too busy with his schedule to stick to a series. Same thing for Chris Evans. Same thing for Nina Dobrev. The others just left cos I be slackin'.

On a serious note, these are the characters that made my cast list intimidating. While some have supporting roles, and some are just there for funsies, most of them do not have much of a place in the main storyline anymore. Most of them have really short arcs; when they've finished it, they'll just... be there. I won't have much use for them, and I refuse to just make them vanish for plot's sake. Like I stated earlier, many other characters can easily take their place and continue to exist, if needed.

Now, I wouldn't have realized this if I hadn't kept making adjustments to the storyline. I'm still in that process, but for the most part it's looking solid right now. Hence, why I'm here.

Alex Brennan
Alex Brennan. Nina Dobrev. A main character I really wanted to write about but messed up on. I felt like, very early on, she was just there as this civ who won a lottery and therefore has to have the same spotlight as others with a denser storyline. For the plan I've had in line, this trend was going to continue on at around the eighth episode. Five episodes of her offering about 3% to the main plot's progression. I couldn't have it.

Vaasco Ramirez
Ohhh, no.... Vaasco. A leftover from TheWalkingDeadFan156's soul still lingering in this story.

Aight, no sense in hiding it (but I'm pretty sure you know it by now Glenn); I kept him for Michael Mando. That's it, mayne. Other than that, I tried to give him what storyline I could, so in the end, all Glenn owns is the name.

Yasmin Marie Collins
KuT's child. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Yasmin has actually evolved on her own under KuT's raidar ever since I made her a main character. She's succeeded under a new surname, and it's pretty much my way of adopting her from KuT, who has long abandoned the wiki. She still plays quite a sizeable role in the story, but I've realized it's not worthy of a main character. Time will tell, though.

The rest...
You were main, James Sully, but your arc is too short. Arthur Rocco's role could be easily spread among other characters. Leina too. Shawn, you're too handsome for your own good I've always had disputes over keeping you around ever since your conception so I'm acting on it now. Annberlin, I'll see you in another life. Echo, your dreams are no longer over. Sleep, my sweet bearded prince. Zach, what... what were you gonna do again?

And here I say adieu to Reboot #2, and hello to #3. I promise that those episodes I've already written will not be forgotten.

And here we are...
Reboot #3. I've done it 2 times already. I can't fail it now. Dammit, no. I can't.

Project RE:DA is something I can't mess up on like the last two reboots. I've already learned a bunch of things from them. And if I mess up again, I really can't get another re-do anymore. 3 times is one too many for me.

Tired of reading? HAVE A LIST, BIY#TCH:
 * I need to stay true to my inspirations more.
 * Length per episode must expand, but I will reach a minimum eventually. FEED YER LAWN. FEED ET!
 * I can't drag plotlines no more.
 * I really, really want to get to my favored plotlines sooner.
 * The pace has to be steady, solid, and well-worth a following.
 * I must refrain from introducing too many characters.
 * Did you know there was going to be a third criminal entity in the story (when I haven't even introduced #2 yet)? It was gonna involve some badass Asian ladies
 * Did you know I was going to introduce undead at some point?

Project RE:DA is here to address as much problems as I can from my last two reboots. If you've stuck this long, then you must know how grateful I am. Readers are a big part of my story, but since we don't really get much out of that here in the wiki, it's a motivation I don't prioritize on. Story always comes first for me.

Project RE:DA will not have an unrecognizable overhaul; in fact, episodes 1-4 will mostly be the trimmed and improved versions of old 1-6. I've stuck to the storyline I've been developing since my ownership of this story and will continue to do so until it is finally told in words.

Updates will come. Episode 1 will also come soon. Excited, I am.

Star Wars.

I mean, thanks for reading.