Thread:Brandon Rhea/@comment-13055710-20151206152353/@comment-31421-20151208224119

Gather around, and I will you of the story of Brandon Rhea.

Once upon a time, in 2006, nearly 10 years ago, a young man by the name of Brandon Rhea came to Star Wars Fanon brimming with excitement and enthusiasm. His articles spanned countless pages of written material, hundreds of images, and his ambition was well-nigh boundless, reflected in doses of exuberant ego archetypal among the young and headstrong. At his pinnacle, he was the recognized authority on this wiki, and among one of its best writers. There was scarcely an institution on SWF that Brandon wasn't involved with or the head of. he branched out to other wikis like Wookieepedia and Darthipedia and SWFanpedia and eventually Wikia itself. Not that it was all work or responsibility either. On a hidden layer of the site, known as its IRC channel, a group of merry miscreants spent countless hours amusing each other, largely through teasing, trolling, and sardonic commentary on the rest of the site and other sites (cough Halopedia cough).

Yet Brandon could never be satisfied, even as he spearheaded initiatives to increase the overall quality of the site that ironically decreased its participation. Once faced with criticism, his own work seemed so flawed. His vision for what his work should be shifted as he matured and encountered more viewpoints. Rewrite after planned rewrite failed to adequately capture what was in his mind, and as he became more involved with the operations of greater Wikia, the time and energy he wanted to spend among his own fanon creations waned. Furthermore, SWF itself--partially through his actions, partially through general shifts beyond his control--had decreased in numbers and partnership. Once-active names like Solus, JM76, CurrentBigThing, Squishy Vic, Arav, Fiolli, MPK, Trak Nar, and a handsome, devilish rogue who went by "Ataru" became a rarity, and then a scarcity and then a non-entity on IRC and the site in general. While there were users that Brandon hadn't liked in the past, the new crop of users weren't as funny. The camaraderie was gone, and as Brandon matured and the site changed, the part of him that was willing to spend countless hours investing into a story nobody would read on a community that didn't care while in a chat room populated by other ridiculous young adults diminished. His imagination decreased or found other outlets. His propensity for grandiosity and need to impress decreased as he became more secure in who he was, without needing the adulation of a group of anonymous netizens who shared a love of Star Wars.

And so now that brings us to our current SWF twilight, and the reasons for your question about Brandon Rhea, whose career here is a monument to his ambition, and his sins. So hear ye, all who hear my tale of Brandon Rhea, the Bac of yesteryears, the once-glorious leader&mdash;no matter how involved or excited you get about this website, it's nothing without people you enjoy to do it alongside. And no matter how grand your ambition, how much you desire to write a Star Wars fan magnum opus, eventually, other things will come into your life that supersede it. As it happened to Brandon Rhea, it will happen to you. So learn, all ye who read this, and keep in mind the perspective that your forbears learned--that interests change and priorities shift, even for the most committed and invested users. Also, if you're on here for too many years, it's a sign to move out of your mom's basement.

QED. *drops mic*