The FanFiction Forum E-zine
August 2009
Prepare for Trouble… Make It Double…
mistysakura
Nah, why would there be trouble in the peaceful realm of Fanfic? But in June and July, Fanfic has definitely geared up for some serious competition. The beginning of June saw the results of the 3rd Biannual Fanfiction Hall of Fame, which was won by the lovely PancaKe. PancaKe has been an outstanding member of Fanfic, not just as a writer, but also as an active reader and a smiley member in general. So, congratulations to the founder of Smiley Town for this deserved award! Since the last e-zine, we’ve also debuted the Great Fic-Swap Contest, for which we impatiently await the entries, which are sure to cause much laughter and enjoyment. Last but not least, nominations for the 2009 Silver Pencils have opened! This time round, we see an even greater focus on member awards, acknowledging both our members’ contributions to TPM, and their unique, wacky qualities which make TPM such an interesting place. Nominations close soon, so hurry to get your ballots in by August 4th!
This issue of the E-zine brings you:
Take a Quiz! Read a Fic!
mistysakura
How to get back to work after a hiatus (In three easy steps!)
Houndoom_Lover
I Am Not Ashamed, Anymore!
PancaKe
Enjoy!
Take a Quiz! Read a Fic!
mistysakura
Every day, hundreds of new fanfics are posted on the web. With so many fics, where does one begin? There are exceptionally dedicated readers who peep into every fic and give it a go, but for the rest of us who struggle for quality fanfiction time, choosing what to read is quite a task. After all, titles do no justice to the immense possibilities within a fanfic. It’s like judging a book by its... oh never mind.
So, for this month’s issue, I’ve picked several fics which have made their debut since the last e-zine, and created a little quiz for them. Hopefully the results will lead you to a fic you like!
1. If you had to write a fanfic, what fandom would it be? (Note: the fanfics in this article are not necessarily from these fandoms, but I’ve chosen similar fandoms which should be familiar to most.)
A: I’m on a Pokemon message board… ‘nuff said!
B: Battle Royale! Gotta kill them all!
C: Alice in Wonderland… because I feel like falling down a rabbit hole and ending up in Australia.
D: Wicked. We evil people need a hug too sometimes, you know.
2. If you were magically transported to a new world, who would you want to meet?
A: I’m not fussed, really. The first human I set my eyes on. I just want a travelling partner, someone to be with while I find my family again.
B: Is that an alien of the opposite sex I see? She even wields a laser gun… all the better!
C: Where am I??? I WANT MY MOMMY!!!
D: Who needs companions anyway? I can achiever world domination all by myself, thank you very much!
3. In this new world, you see a mirage. Wow, it’s a miracle! You’ve never been so overjoyed in your life. What do you see?
A: My long-lost brother, emerging unscathed from the forces of evil.
B: A vending machine. Look, it’s even got a coin lying next to it! Mmm, I’m hungry…
C: A shiny car with cushiony seats. Take me away somewhere, anywhere but here!
D: A T.V. so huge it would make the ruler of this world drool. Who cares what the outside world’s like when I can entertain myself to my heart’s content?
4. Unfortunately, this new world seems to be rather against you. The mirage fades away, leaving only dust and the insurmountable sense that the world is laughing at you. Isn't it ironic?
Originally Posted by
Alanis Morissette
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures
What is your definition of irony?
A. I was a secret agent leading the anti-Team Rocket taskforce. Since I left, I’ve been looking forward to peace and quiet… but no, because my new travelling partner happens to be Ash Ketchum's son with a more desirable Pikachu than ever!
B: Since I'm fighting for my life in this new world, you'd think I'd want to have the best weapons possible. The weapon I've got is formidable all right... but I can barely lift it!
C: When you're on an adventure, every step takes you closer to your goal, right? So I take five steps forward... into the path of a moving car. Not so good.
D: I miss the way life used to be... the only thing reminding me of my old lifestyle is a gift my parents sent me. But this present happens to be a box of squash. I'm allergic to squash.
If you got mostly As:
As the dust cleared, Blood was recharging her power, and was vulnerable.
"Now hit it with extreme speed into a Bolt Tackle!" Posei shouted, his Pikachu rushing like a bolt of Lightning at Blood, hitting her then setting itself ablaze with electricity and finishing off Blood with the Bolt Tackle. Blood hit the ground hard, wincing in pain and passing out.
Three years ago, the leaders of the Anti-Rocket Task Force, brothers Agent Dark Rose and Agent Black Mew, mysteriously disappeared. Now, Agent Dark Rose prefers to be known only as Thorne, and is quietly rebuilding his life by working as a gym leader. But when Posei Ketchum challenges him at his gym, the past catches up with him, and he sets off on an adventure to find his brother…
If you got mostly Bs:
My eyes suddenly shot open. The air was thick and musty, and it only seemed to make the spinning inside my head worse as I groggily pulled my torso up to sit, feeling every muscle in my body ache. What the hell happened? I was driving home from a friend's place in the countryside and then- And then I'm here, sitting in this dark, dank, and stuffy room.
"Good morning, Earthling," a static, robotic voice suddenly rang out into the air. I was suddenly aware of a large metal band encasing my left forearm, mounted with a small speaker and what looked to be like a screen. "You have been chosen to participate in the 27th annual Deathmatch games," the voice from the speaker continued.
Deathmatch wastes no time on preliminaries. From the first word, you are thrown into a battle for your life on a strange planet. Armed only with an Uzi, a revolver, a fire axe and three grenades, you must eliminate all 49 other contestants to gain your freedom.
If you got mostly Cs:
Finnegan Larkos leaves home “with nothing but a full stomach and wild anticipation”, to venture into the wide world. Soon, however, he gets lost, and manages to step into the path of an oncoming car… Luckily, the driver of the car seems benign and offers him a lift. But what is this “Squirtle” the driver speaks of? And why is Finnegan being taken to a lab? This doesn’t sound good…
His mother, stern and serious, had warned him to realise that before long, he would reach a point from which he could not return, even if he wanted to. At the time, Finnegan had thought this to be an allegorical point: the loss of his innocence or the blinding sting of pride driving him onward.
In actuality, it had turned out to be a particularly steep hill he had tumbled down not two hours after leaving home. Hit with a dose of reality and with a particularly nasty bruise on his head, he had attempted to scale back up the hill, but to no avail. Home was well and truly out of his reach.
If you got mostly Ds:
Ivo gave her fishy friend a hard glare, “And I’ll show them, that they can’t just change the way things work- you know why Claud?”
Claud’s murky eyes looked up and met hers for a moment, “Because you’re an evil master mind and everyone in Malaria will tremble at your feet?” He said this dryly, as though he had heard it time and time again.
“That’s right!” Ivo stormed out of the room, shaking her fist in the air as though angry at some unknown deity of bad fortune.
All her life, Ivo has studied to become the top evil scientist in the land. But as a fresh graduate, all her dreams topple as the evil king is overthrown and sunlight is restored to the land. Now, farms flourish and gardens bloom, but all Ivo has is an obsolete lab, a fishy man-dog for a pet and a massive student debt… what will Ivo do?
Happy reading!
From the factory of Doctor WAR, you have before you today…
How to get back to work after a hiatus (In three easy steps!)
Houndoom_Lover
Step one: First things firsts, you have to want to get back to work. And remember, this really applied towards anything, be it artistical or practical, or practically artistical. But since this is in the E-zine, I’ll focus on writing…fanfiction in particular. If you don’t want to do it, every moment will be a painful nightmare. But you say, Doctor WAR, I want to get back to work, but I just can’t seem to.
Well, I’ll say to you, this is good. Oddly as it seems this is the step right before getting back to work. You have to shake of the shell by diving right in, which brings up to…
Step two is becoming amerced. If you don’t think you can dive right in, stick your toes in and test the water by doing what you did when you first started whatever you stopped. Reread the novel you read, play the video game, watch the shows, and stuff like that. But sometimes that just won’t do it. You’ll feel the squirming, but that shell of hiatus just won’t slip off.
So the next step in step two is to look at other fan work. Be it fan art or fanfictions, look up stuff similar to you. Nothing like a little competition to get the blood boiling. But you can’t stop there, once you’re good and shaken up, its time to open up those old files. Reread them, retype them, whatever. Just get acquainted with your story again. Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little bit either- if you keep it fresh and new, it’ll always be fun to write. And sooner or later, a word will follow after your last one. Keep going until a chapter is done…
And Voila! You’re back from your hiatus.
Step three is the easiest, but the hardest. And it is to just keep going. Start a daily schedule plan, an hourly word count, whatever floats your boat. Make sure your goals are easily do-able. As you get back up to par, create tougher goals, like two chapters a day, work for four hours instead of three. Soon, your story will be finished and you can throw a smashing party!
I Am Not Ashamed, Anymore!
PancaKe
Following my article in the last e-zine (I Am Not Ashamed) talking about the way in which some of us can feel weird, shy or even a bit silly admitting to writing fanfiction, I decided to admit to one of my best friends my secret hobby.
It was a phone call, late in the evening. I was cold and snuggled up beside the heater with my blanket, the phone, and my laptop, complaining to him about publishing laws and other various things. I sighed, and said in a defeated tone, "I guess I'll just have to stick to fanfiction then."
"Fanfiction?" he asked. "What kind of fanfiction do you write?"
I could feel myself blushing, and my throat felt as though it was closing up. "Um... I write pokemon fanfiction," I admitted quickly, in a small voice. I was somehow deluding myself into thinking that if I said it quietly and fast, he wouldn't notice what I had said, nor make a big deal of it.
The silence that followed seemed like a lifetime.
Really, it was only a brief moment. Then he laughed. But it wasn't a mean, cruel, insulting laugh. Instead, it was a light laugh, the kind of laugh that a person might make at a baby who has just done something delightful. "That's so cute!" he said.
Cute?
I thought fanfiction was a range of things, from nerdy to silly, but I had never once perceived it to be cute. But, it made me feel a lot better. In fact, I would be quite happy to show him my fanfics now. I guess in front of this particular person, I'm not ashamed anymore.
The Fanfiction Forum E-zine ~ August 2009!
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