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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Fan Fiction Newsletter, Edition 4, October 2003

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Jane Jinn, Oct 28, 2003.

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  1. Jane Jinn

    Jane Jinn Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 12, 2000
    PAGE I

    Story Reviews

    Before the Saga

    The Path of Redemption by Jedi Hood, started 21.9.

    Era: 3000 years before TPM
    Status: in progress
    Summary: After the murder of his wife and child, Jedi Knight Talion Voss goes on the rampage; a story about fall and redemption.

    Reviewer 1:

    Rating: very good!

    Comments: Very interesting and well written original characters! Writing style is very clear and powerful.

    Quote:

    "The way back from the darkness is through the light, and he can find the way-but he must do it on his own."

    =====

    Reviewer 2:

    Rating: Good

    Comments: This is an interesting parallel to the story of Anakin Skywalker, but different enough to be interesting. The descriptions are nicely done, and the emotions are wonderfully portrayed.

    Quote:

    Had he not defied and disobeyed the council, or ignored the advice of his master, in all likelihood he would not be sitting here in this cell. He would not be considered such a danger by the council that they might just execute him, or exile him from the Republic permanently. He would not have betrayed his Master's faith in him. He would not have become an avenger, a bringer of illegitimate justice......a murderer.

    I would not have fallen to the dark side.

    *****

    The Cost of Honor by Ty-gon Jinn,

    Era: pre-TPM
    Status: in progress
    Summary: a Queen of Naboo fic, 100 years before TPM, original characters

    Reviewer 1:

    Rating: good

    Comments Very original storyline.

    Quote

    "Their names all match their monarch's. Perhaps if these cadres catch on, this could become tradition."

    =====

    Reviewer 2:

    Rating: Very Good

    Comments: An interesting look into the history and politics of Naboo - hopefully the author will give us more in that regard. The physical descriptions were excellent, and the author has a good feel for mood. The author is evidently planning on introducing quite a few characters, which could prove to be confusing. Hopefully, the author won't sacrifice the story to feed the characters.

    Quote:

    ?I?m sure he means to,? the older man said, ?but nothing will ever come of it. Not only would he lose, but I am fairly sure no one would support his candidacy. None of the other clans have any objections to your taking your father?s crown. The Nada clan in particular seemed relieved; they were never? overtly fond of your younger brother.?

    +++++

    The Saga

    Soul of Love and Bravery by GunraysLawyer,

    Era: time of AOTC
    Status: in progress
    Summary: A prequel to "To Absent Friends", an AU in, around and parallel to AOTC, with some moderate changes to canon, and a look into another romance

    Reviewer 1:

    Rating: Very good

    Comments: This is an excellant combination of AU and cannon facts. I could almost watch the scenes come to life through his well written descriptions and accurate character portrayals. Lots of intrigue and the budding romance between Ivo and Dorme is wonderfully written. And the Kalinadian Commonwealth lead by ex-Jedi Ge-Haraza Arzhan will cause many to debate which side is correct.

    Quote:

    Obi-wan had just stared at Windu at that point. First, they had to protect and baby-sit a politician, and now they had to deal with Kisavalivo Arzhan. Kisavalivo Arzhan annoyed Obi-Wan to no end. He was flippant, arrogant, an adventure seeker and glory hound. He was worldly, and a deep believer in a theological and pantheistic view of the Force. Beyond all of this, he was a powerful Force user and well trained. All of this was an annoyance to Kenobi, but what was worse was that Anakin had befriended this man. On Arcainia, it had seemed that Obi-Wan had spent as much time trying to prevent
     
  2. Jane Jinn

    Jane Jinn Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 12, 2000
    PAGE II

    Vignette Reviews:
    by Amidala_Skywalker

    Smoke by obaona

    Era: Before the Saga, about 10 years pre-TPM
    Status: Vignette, complete
    Summary: A moment between Qui-Gon and Tahl

    Comments: Instead of launching into an elegant first sentence describing the beauty of this thoughtful respite between two rarely written characters, I think I should pluck a feather from the writer?s hat. Since this vignette was simple and striking, it is only fitting that the review should mirror that format. If you haven?t read this piece, I am not going to jab you in the ribs and hope that you realise you have been missing out on something. I am, however, going to make sure you remember one word: smoke. It seems to be on everyone?s tongues. What is it about smoke? Personally, I?m not going to sky-drive into pyromania, but evidently the author is just equally fascinated by the grey wisp in the air as I am.

    If you dismiss the enchanting dialogue and the sprinkling of Jedi romance (yes, the kind where no one ends up with the girl), the author?s perception of smoke is absolutely true. I like to look past the obvious and see what the author has buried within the words. I had to drag a vacuum cleaner down with me, but I think I resurfaced with an answer. It?s not about smoke, it?s about life. Life grows and changes, just as love does. Jedi are taught to be passionate, and in a round-about-way, to be lovers. To love life and the gifts they have been given.

    The author portrays this feeling very well under the disguise of ?smoke?. It isn?t something you would expect a discussion to circle around in GFFA, but then again, we can?t always dwell on the Dark Side. After reading this piece, the first thing that hit me was the love of love flowing throughout the piece. I?m almost certain that I sound like a broken record in a nightclub, but there is nothing like enjoying a good love story. Nothing like it ? except smoke.

    Rating: A sublime, yet juicy 8 out of 10.

    ====

    From Hell by Mar17swgirl

    Era: The Saga, Episodi III
    Status: Vignette, complete
    Summary: Anakin becomes Vader.

    Comments: After reading this vignette, I had to ask myself a vital question. Do reviews require babbling first reactions? I could pass off a few mismatched sentences as ?having a bad hair day?, but I?m not going to ruin this author?s prose. Actually, I?m not even going to gate-crash Anakin?s coming of Vader party. In this story, our sparkling blue-eyed ?new age guy? is turned into the revolutionised Big Bad. Throughout the transformation, flashbacks are shown of his fateful duel with Obi-Wan. I have to comment on how well the integration of such scenes is pulled off. Along with the streamlined dialogue, I really felt myself embracing the birth of Vader.

    The most remarkable feature of this vignette is the way Anakin?s emotions are represented. Simple, yet surprising. I never expected Anakin to feel proud of what he had become ? though, my opinions were drawn from the Vader we first saw in the OT. Readers can definitely identify with the difference. This Vader seems refreshed, and as energetic as a bat out of hell. The OT Vader is tired. Tired of yearning for revenge. After all, Obi-Wan, Padme, and the Jedi Order are long gone. In that respect, I believe that the author captures the essence of the emerging Vader.

    The most intriguing section of the vignette is, without a doubt, the conversations between Palpatine and Anakin. You can detect the link between them, but at the same time, you know they are not friends. They need each other more than they are ready to admit. By that same token, it also seems like they?re weaker than they would care to admit.

    Rating A handsome 7/10 for this story.

    =====

    Nowhere by Deneveon

    Era: NJO
    Status: Vignette, complete
    Summary: A short vignett
     
  3. Jane Jinn

    Jane Jinn Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 12, 2000
    PAGE III

    Grammar Tip of the Month


    Make plurals simply by adding an ?s? to the end of the word.

    Example:

    Blaster -- blasters, ship ? ships, lightsaber -- lightsabers.

    NEVER EVER ADD AN APOSTROPHE! Even if you see it in common usage, it is wrong. Learn to shudder at words like blaster?s, ship?s, and lightsaber?s.

    Words ending in ?y?: Remove that ?y? and add ?ies?:

    Story ? stories, baby ? babies.

    Jedi and Sith are the same in singular and plural.

    One Jedi, two Jedi, one Sith, two Sith.

    +++++

    Writing Tip of the Month


    Commonly misspelled words in SW Fan Fiction:
    By Wilhelmina

    Here?s a list of some characters, creatures, locations, species, etc. whose names are commonly misspelled in fanfic and discussion. It?s heavy on Saga terms?those EU terms that appear are courtesy of Sache8 and Sebulba2179.

    Characters

    1. Anakin Skywalker (Two ?a?s? and one ?i? in that order.)
    2. Padmé Naberrie
    3. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Note the hyphen and the fact that both Obi and Wan are capitalized)
    4. Qui-Gon Jinn (Again, note the hyphen and the fact that both Qui and Gon are capitalized.)
    5. C-3PO or See-Threepio
    6. R2-D2 or Artoo-Detoo
    7. Jar Jar Binks (No hyphen here.)
    8. Wedge Antilles
    9. Jaina Solo (It?s ?i? before ?n?, not after it.)
    10. Zam Wesell (One ?s?, two ?l?s?.)
    11. Lando Calrissian
    12. Chewbacca
    13. Cliegg Lars
    14. Shmi Skywalker (Look, mom, no ?c?!)

    Creatures

    1. kouhun
    2. massiff
    3. Sarlacc
    4. tauntaun
    5. ysalamiri

    Locations

    1. Alderaan
    2. Corellia
    3. Coruscant
    4. Dagobah
    5. Geonosis
    6. Jundland Wastes
    7. Kashyyyk
    8. Kessel
    9. Neimoidia
    10. Obroa-skai
    11. Otoh Gunga
    12. Tatooine

    Species

    1. Gamorrean
    2. Geonosian
    3. Kaminoan
    4. Mon Calamari
    5. Neimoidian
    6. Tusken Raider
    7. Twi?lek
    8. Wookiee (Two ?e?s? here.)
    9. Yuuzhan Vong

    Miscellaneous

    1. Millennium Falcon
    2. comlink
    3. lightsaber (One word, not two!)
    4. sabacc
    5. Rogue Squadron (Not Rouge ? that?s what women put on their cheeks to make them more red.)

    +++++

    Feedback Tip of the Month

    Here comes the interactive part of the newsletter. If you have a feedback tip, please post it in a reply. Thanks!

    +++++

    Humour

    Read the caption!

    "After the destruction from the war we only had 1970's leather couches to make our clothes from. I am in fact wearing a Lay-Z-Boy recliner."

    See the picture!

    +++++

    Article of the Month

    PAIN WITH PURPOSE: ESCAPING THE BONDS OF BAD ANGST
    By DarthIshtar

    We've all seen it before. Without naming names, we can summon the basic plotline from the annals of fanfiction history without much effort.

    Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon (being the most handsome pair of Jedi to ever grace the silver screen) are called to head a seemingly harmless diplomatic mission in the Outer Rim. They arrive, make friends, and are model Jedi as they should be.

    Then, a building blows up.

    The speeder gets wrecked and the last thing either remembers is seeing the man that was supposed to be their friend who has now betrayed them.

    They awake strung up by their wrists and shirtless at the very least. (Sometimes, they'll be risque and have them wearing even less!) And they will hold the secret that only they can reveal.

    Qui-Gon refuses to speak, so they go after Obi-Wan to make him more cooperative. Blasters, knives, lightsabers, blow-torches, electric prods, and a tickling feather later, Obi-Wan is nearly dead, Qui-Gon is ready to tell them anything they need to know...

    And then the Jedi or some other unlikely rescue party burst in and save the day, leaving us with a mushy medwing ending and a high probability of a nightmare-filled sequel.

    And through it all, we, the audience, sit and weep and groan and wish we could help poor, half-naked Obi-Wan.

    Now granted, this is a heart-breaking, sometimes heart-warming story and it's generally an entertaining read.

    C
     
  4. obi_ew

    obi_ew Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2002
    Excellent job putting this together Jane! I especially enjoyed the writing and grammar tips. :D
     
  5. Daughter_of_Yubyub

    Daughter_of_Yubyub Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2002
    Great job. I know I've found at least one new story from this. :D

    YubYub and TG- Protecting fangirls from hormonally gifted fanboys since 2002
     
  6. AlrikFassbauer

    AlrikFassbauer Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 2, 2003
    I'm impressed ! Excellent work ! *thumbs up*
     
  7. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    This was so cool! Except for that rotten article by that hack DarthIshtar. ;)
     
  8. dianethx

    dianethx Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2002
    Loved the whole thing. Very professionally done and it gave me lots of new stories to look at. I especially liked the spelling heads-up and the grammar tips!!!

    Wonderful.

    If you need another reviewer, I'm back and willing to help...although it doesn't seem that you need any! Great job.
     
  9. obaona

    obaona Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 2002
    Very interesting, I'll have to go back and read it more thoroughly when I'm looking for something to read. ;)
     
  10. Wilhelmina

    Wilhelmina Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 4, 2002
    Excellent newsletter, everybody! *tosses roses and chocolate to Jane & Co.* I'm definitely going to check out some of those story links, and I especially liked Ish's article on angst. :)
     
  11. Darth_Leia_6669

    Darth_Leia_6669 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2003
    Nice job! Thank you Jane for organizing this so nicely!

    --later--
    6669 [face_devil]
     
  12. kristeh

    kristeh Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 24, 2003
    I enjoyed reading the newsletter. Thank you to everyone who put it together.

     
  13. Nazgul_Hood

    Nazgul_Hood Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 25, 2003
    Very good. One suggestion, though - fire that reviewer, Jedi_Hood. He sucks - worst reviews I ever read.



    ;)
     
  14. DarthBreezy

    DarthBreezy Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 4, 2002
    Don't you mean....The Scarlet PUMPERNICKLE????



    Sorry, bad joke... Computer crashes that sent the PC to the shop msake one cranky.
     
  15. _Derisa_Ollamhin_

    _Derisa_Ollamhin_ Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2000
    I'm part of Jane and Co! :D That's so cool!

    Newsletter looks awesome, Jane, and fellow Co. members. :) Great plot bunnies, (I even drew up a silly cartoon when I was thinking about the newsletter). :)

    Loved the article by Ish, and the viggie reviews by Ams: she's a good reviewer!

    Keep up the good work, peeps! :)


    *Derisa*



     
  16. Amidala_Skywalker

    Amidala_Skywalker Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 4, 2001
    What can I say? I?m astounded by the work put into this newsletter! There is such quality :).

    Am [face_love]
     
  17. Haqqy_Hoddit_Pabawan

    Haqqy_Hoddit_Pabawan Jedi Master

    Registered:
    Oct 22, 2003
    Glad to see the newsletter back. :) And I was somewhat surprised to see my name in there, I had almost forgotten obi_ew had interviewed me! 8-}

    Loved the articles, and the grammar and spelling tip's 8-}. I also liked that it was split into different 'pages'; makes it easier to read through somehow. :)

    BOO!

    HHP [face_devil]
     
  18. Mar17swgirl

    Mar17swgirl Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Dec 26, 2000
    Great job, everyone! :)

    And a VERY good article, Ish! ;)
     
  19. dianethx

    dianethx Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2002
    Jane, were the mods going to try and get a little advert of the newsletter put onto the front page? It was so well-done that I think others would appreciate it. Just a thought.
     
  20. LuvEwan

    LuvEwan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 24, 2002
    Wonderful job. ;)
     
  21. Sara_Kenobi

    Sara_Kenobi Jedi Grand Master star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 21, 2000
    It's good to see this back. Great effort. An impressive issue.
     
  22. Fate

    Fate Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2003
    This was very good. [face_mischief]

    I especially liked the verification of how some of the 'harder' planets and their natives are spelled. ;)

    It's very obvious that a great deal of time and effort went into this, and I'd like to commend everyone involved for a fabulous job. :cool:
     
  23. Xaara

    Xaara Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2002
    What a wonderful way to expose a range of fanfic as well as address a number of the more common errors we all make. I truly enjoyed reading this newsletter and will be sure to return whenever I am in search of something to read (or something to spell correctly.) Great job, all of you!
     
  24. Jane Jinn

    Jane Jinn Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 12, 2000
    Thank you, everybody, for the very positive feedback!

    And a very big thank you to everybody who helped with the newsletter; doing reviews, articles, and other features. :)

    In answer to dianethx's question; we are always in need of reviewers and other contributors to the newsletter.

    As for a little advert to the newsletter on the front page of TFN -- I thought that we might advertise it on the Miscellaneous page, which is where the new stories from the Archive are detailed. The TFN staff are willing to do this for the next issue, so let's all work together to make the November issue just as good as, or even better, than this one.

    Thanks again, everybody! :)
     
  25. Knight-Ander

    Knight-Ander Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2002
    Nicely done. :)
     
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