Editorial: Fanfic Inspirations - Reality and
Fanfiction.net
This editorial was originally supposed to be released on November
21st, 2005. In actuality, this wasn't written and posted until January
26th, 2007! Yikes! Because this is an editorial regarding fanfics
based on reality shows that had tons of series and characters
represented, I'll just give the old blanket copyright since you don't
all want to be sitting here for paragraphs. So... all series and
characters mentioned below are property of their respective companies
in the United States and Japan.
This is the third in a series of four bimonthly, or rather, were
originally supposed to be bimonthly, editorials that look back on the
writers that inspired me to become and continue to work as a fanfiction
story writer, as well as the writers that may have been inspired by me.
The topics:
Already Out - Part 1: In the Beginning
Ditto - Part 2: The Pokémon Masters
Today - Part 3: Reality and Fanfiction.Net
Jan. '06... I mean, Eventually - Part 4: Passing on the Torch
I think I had stumbled upon Fanfiction.net once or twice before actually
beginning to look through it at the end of April of 2001. It didn't take
me long to get hooked at the multitude of stories there. Plus, having a
bigger potential audience there than on the Pokémon Fan Fiction Mailing
List and my previous websites combined was a big draw. It only took a
few weeks for me to not only sign up as a member, but to actively use it
as my primary release source.
In those few weeks, I was inspired to not only starting writing fanfics
about anime other than "Pokémon," such as for "Digimon" and, later on,
"Cardcaptor Sakura," but I also discovered there a new genre. Fanfics
based on reality shows, with characters from anime series as the
contestants.
Some of my all-time favorites at FF.net came after I joined. One that
comes with my highest recommendation is 'Educating Mr. Motomiya,'
a "Digimon" fanfic written by Seinaru Kibou no Tenshi. In it, Takeru
and Hikari sign up to represent the school in the Brainbuster
Challenge. But a team requires three people, and it's no surprise
Daisuke volunteers to be the third. Because Takeru and Hikari
actually want to win and not have Daisuke tarnish their reputations,
they go to great lengths to prep him for. Very... great lengths.
Funny and heart-warming, you'd be surprised to find out this isn't a
bashing fic. And it's all the better for it.
Another story I remember fondly is The Create Card's 'Digimon: The
College Years.' Just as it sounds, it was a crossover between the 02
Digidestined and the Tamers, and them attending the same college.
All of the trials and tribulations of university life, combined with
the adventure of the Digimon series. Too bad it was never finished...
as the fanfic only got to 37 episodes.
But the big rage at the time seemed to be reality style fics. To be
honest, I believe the first one I read was 'Anime Survivor 2,' which
was penned by Survivor Globie. But I feel it would be inappropriate
to talk about the sequel before praising the original. 'Anime
Survivor: Digimon vs. Pokémon,' done by Star Otaku, was the pioneer,
just like the actual reality show that inspired it. At the time, the
Digimon-Pokémon rivalry was near its peak, and what better way to
have the shows duke it out on neutral territory? Okay, well, File
Island wasn't neutral, but that didn't matter much in the game overall.
Anyway, you'd think having two of the three most popular anime on TV
at the time (the excluded series being "Dragonball Z") and the growing
popularity of "Survivor" in its debut season would be enough. But
Star gave the genre another feather in its cap by enabling author and
reader participation in the series, via the 'Anime Survivor Side
Stories.' The interactive portion helped the genre blast-off, and
many series to come relied on it in many different forms.
Star Otaku then passed the series to her friend, Survivor Globie,
whom I actually knew from the PFFML. He would go on to create and
produce four more editions of 'Anime Survivor,' with the audience,
shows being represented, and complete zaniness increasing with each
new season!
Chromus was another one of my old friends who got into the genre,
and one of his earliest and best-known works was 'AniMole.' Sixteen
anime characters from nine different shows competed in a series based
off the highly-acclaimed yet seldom watched "The Mole." In addition
to pulling many first-time players into the series, it also had one
heck of a crazy anime character host with Yukino Mizayawa of "Kare
Kano" calling the shots... and not exactly liking everything the
contestants did, either.
Another must-read has got to be 'The Anime-zing Race,' by Arpulver.
As you might think, it's a port of "The Amazing Race." That show is,
by far, the hardest to base a fanfic on, thanks to all of the logistics
involved with travel times and such. Luckily, it's helped by a smart
decision to have the racers trek through various anime, rather than
to random world countries. That also opened up the door for the
anime-of-the-leg's cast to be the co-hosts and guides along the way.
The fanfic and its sequels are highly recommended by yours truly.
Coincidentally, 'Anime Survivor,' 'AniMole,' and 'The Anime-zing Race'
would all end up inspiring my three reality series entries, 'Roomies,'
'Mystery Solvers,' and 'The Animated Amazing Race,' respectively.
The boom was weakening as the number of ports, and in turn, overall
quality of the genre, went down. But it could've easily lasted a few
years longer. If not for the great Fanfiction.net script-format purge
in 2004 that ticked off a lot of writers and fans, that is. It seemed
that with no central station for the genre, it would eventually die
out.
It didn't.
Though no longer on the 'main stage,' so to speak, there are still
many new projects being released that still evoke the quality we came
to expect from the earlier days of the fandom.
Meanwhile, I had drifted away from not only that particular genre,
but from fanfiction as a whole around that time. And suddenly, with
numerous projects in production or in development, I was seriously in
danger of scrapping them all and calling in my retirement.
So... would you believe the demise of scripts on Fanfiction.net
actually led to an attempt at a career revival?
Well, yes. Yes it did.
- Freedom Fighter
Want to read any of the fics I mentioned in this editorial? Well,
you can find 'Educating Mr. Motimiya' at
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/487756/1/. 'Digimon: The College Years'
is also at FF.net, at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/670760/1/. As for
'Anime Survivor: Digimon vs. Pokémon,' 'AniMole,' and 'The Anime-zing
Race,' you can find all of those at 'First Agent Productions,' run by
Arpulver himself. The link is http://www.firstagent.net. Go to the
'Anime Reality' section to find them and countless other reality gems!
Look for Part 4, the finale, of this editorial series, "Passing on the
Torch," sometime... eventually. Watch the front page... I'll tell you
when!
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