Tuesday, July 31, 2012

"The Secret Rule" Chapter 8: A Deal with the Death God

Death Note fanfiction. Rated T


Okay, I want to talk about the future for a moment.

I had a poll on my FF.net profile, asking the readers which story you wanted me to work on after "The Secret Rule" was finished. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that I had already promised my South Park readers that my next story would be "It Began with a Question," which is my Mysterion origin story. So that poll has been taken down (not many people had actually voted on it anyway).

Additionally, the two stories after that will be Episode 1 of my "Star Trek: Renegade" series (because the sooner I get that series started the better I'll be able to space the remaining episodes out), and my Percy Jackson story "One of Them" (because it will introduce my OC, who may appear in later stories, as I see fit).

So, the new poll is which story do you all want me to work on after THAT. Repeat, after "The Secret Rule" (now at 8 chapters, projected to be between 15 and 20 chapters), "It Began with a Question" (will be 9 chapters), "Star Trek: Renegade, Episode 1" (about 5 chapters), and "One of Them" (about 5 chapters as well) are all finished. The choices include:

  • Josh (South Park), a parody of a certain 2001 movie (big South Park fans could probably figure it out if they really thought about it).
  • To Be the Best (Death Note), chronicling the events of Mello's life after he leaves Wammy's House.
  • The Love of the Gods (Percy Jackson), chronicling Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth on their original journey to Camp Half Blood.

So please vote for whichever of these stories you want to see the most (although, as I said, it will still be a while). I'm giving my readers on this site priority, so speak up here if you really want to be heard.

And now, back to Taro and Ryuk...

Thursday, July 26, 2012

"The Secret Rule" Chapter 7: Plan B


Death Note fanfiction. Rated T

The next week was one of the hardest in Taro's life. He contacted the Yagami family every day, asking if any information had come in about Sayu. Even after Sayu began answering the phone, either Light or Mr. Yagami would jump in and say she couldn't talk to anyone. From the tiny bits of information he was able to glean from the daily phone calls, it seemed like Sayu Yagami had been held for ransom for a few days, and had fortunately been returned to her family safely.

A kidnapping? In broad daylight? It was practically unheard of in this period, where crime was more dangerous than ever.

On October 18, Mrs. Yagami called and told him that Sayu was asking for him. He went straight to her house from work, and arrived to see that she was in pretty bad shape. She was constantly shaking, and her eyes were red and puffy; it clear that she had been through a terrible ordeal. And as much as Taro desperately wanted to know what had happened, he knew he couldn't bring it up. Whatever it was, it was the last thing she needed to be thinking about right now.

"Sayu...are you all right?" Immediately after saying this, he mentally kicked himself. What was that about? Of course she's not alright!

However, Sayu didn't seem to mind. "I'm feeling much better," she whispered, smiling weakly.

A Marsh Family Thanksgiving "Chapter Three: Nobody Actually Watches The Parade"



Category: South Park
Authors: John-SP150 as Kenny and NoseBridgePinch as Stan
Fan Art: John-SP150
Rated T for swearing, violence, perversion on Kenny's part and underage drinking on Stan's part.
Synopsis: The Marsh family is having a reunion for the holiday. Stan's realitives are causing him a great deal of worry. In additon to dealing with his parents, sister, grandfather, Uncle Jimbo and Ned, Stan must also deal with his Uncle Dean, Aunt Joanne and cousin Stephanie. Hopefully Kenny can help ease things, right?
Announcement: After a bout of crippling cynicism from John (see Stan in You're Getting Old) and a crippling bout of depression from me (see Kyle in Cartmanland) We're going to pick up working on the last chapter tomorrow if all goes as planned. We had quite a bit done already, unsure if it'll be posted to FanFiction.net but will definitely be posted here.

Monday, July 23, 2012

A Marsh Family Thanksgiving "Chapter Two: Meet The Kimbles"


Category: South Park
Authors: John-SP150 as Kenny and NoseBridgePinch as Stan 
Fan Art: John-SP150
Rated T for swearing, violence, perversion on Kenny's part and underage drinking on Stan's part.
Synopsis: The Marsh family is having a reunion for the holiday. Stan's realitives are causing him a great deal of worry. In additon to dealing with his parents, sister, grandfather, Uncle Jimbo and Ned, Stan must also deal with his Uncle Dean, Aunt Joanne and cousin Stephanie. Hopefully Kenny can help ease things, right?



Sunday, July 22, 2012

"The Secret Rule" Chapter 6: A New World


Death Note fanfiction. Rated T

I recently just finished reading Ohba and Obata's other manga, Bakuman, and for a manga about two kids who write manga, it is seriously awesome. Really. It may be the best manga of any I've ever read, INCLUDING Death Note!

Okay, blasphemous statement over :P Enjoy Chapter 6


Later that evening, Taro began the ride home from the police station.

Of course they hadn't believed him when he told them he had seen Kira. After all, it wasn't like he had any way to prove it; his story was so far-fetched to begin with, and he would have no way to back it up since the eraser was useless without the Death Note. They were convinced he had just made the whole thing up after causing a ruckus in town, and had threatened to lock him up for the night before his dad arrived and paid the fine.

Now he was at home. Sitting in front of his parents, feeling like he was on trial.

"Taro, what's gotten into you?" his father demanded. "Creating a disturbance? Saying that you were looking for Kira? In fact, all of your behavior these past few months has been really strange, and I think we have the right to know why."

And so, Taro told the truth. The whole truth. About how he had picked up the Death Note, kept it in his possession for a few days, and then eventually brought back all the people he had killed, and gave the Death Note back to Ryuk, which was possibly the worst mistake he had ever made. He also told them how he had been trying to correct his mistake by finding that Death Note again, and if he could, undoing the damage Kira had done.

After he finished, there was a long moment of silence. His father looked like he was about to yell at him, say he didn't believe a word of it, and to stop telling ridiculous lies that would get him killed. But before he could say a word, Taro's mother said, "I believe you, Taro."

Taken aback, Father said, "But even if he is telling the truth, that just makes it worse. Searching for Kira? Who has made it quite clear that anyone who tries to find him will be killed?"

Friday, July 20, 2012

A Marsh Family Thanksgiving "Prologue: Marvin's Arrival"


Category: South Park
Authors: John-SP150 as Kenny and NoseBridgePinch as Stan (though we overlapped as the story went on)
Fan Art: John-SP150
Rated T for swearing, violence, perversion on Kenny's part and underage drinking on Stan's part.
Synopsis: The Marsh family is having a reunion for the holiday. Stan's realitives are causing him a great deal of worry. In additon to dealing with his parents, sister, grandfather, Uncle Jimbo and Ned, Stan must also deal with his Uncle Dean, Aunt Joanne and cousin Stephanie. Hopefully Kenny can help ease things, right?



Wednesday, July 18, 2012

"Reflection"


South Park fanfiction. Rated T for language.

Here's a story that's been brewing in my head for awhile, and it FINALLY turned into this one-shot. I really have no idea if this is any good, so please review and let me know.
 
Eric Cartman had combed his hair, put on his best shoes, and tightened his belt to try and look slimmer. It didn't do that much good, but hopefully it would be enough.

Today was the day. All or nothing. He had finally worked up the courage to ask Wendy out.

As they waited at the bus stop, he asked the other boys how they thought he looked, just to get their opinion. Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski just laughed at him like they always did, Kenny McCormick really did try to look like he cared, but he involuntarily turned up his nose at Cartman's getup. Cartman sighed.

Why do I hang out with these guys? he thought. He tried so hard to be their friend, and they did nothing but ridicule him. Kenny at least had social status as an excuse, but Stan and Kyle just did it to be mean. But even though they all made fun of him, they insisted on keeping him around, like he was their bitch or something.

The bus pulled up, and the boys got on. Ms. Crabtree greeted them warmly, and they all took their seats. Cartman ended up sitting next to Clyde Donovan, if only to get away from Stan and Kyle for a few minutes. Then again, Clyde wasn't much better.

"Hey, fat boy! Want to see a cool trick?" Clyde asked.

It was pretty rich for Clyde to call Cartman fat, since Clyde wasn't exactly skinny himself. But Cartman decided not to bring that up. "Sure, Clyde?"

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

"The Green Eyed Monster" Chapter Three: A Satirically Sweet Dessert



Category: South Park
Author: NoseBridgePinch
Fan Art: John-Sp150
Rated T for swearing and immature fourth grade humor
Synopsis Wendy gets kicked out of the girl's table for being preachy, she decides to sit with Stan and his friends. Hilarity ensues. 



Monday, July 16, 2012

"The Secret Rule" Chapter 5: The Meeting in Aoyama

Death Note fanfiction
Rated T for mature themes related to the Death Note manga

Okay, I know most of you don't exactly care that much, but I do feel I should point out an error. I had originally dated Light picking up the Death Note (the beginning of Kira's reign, in Chapter 1) as being in October, 2003, when it's actually on November 23, 2003, according to the timeline on the Death Note Wiki. I went back and fixed it, and now that I have the timeline at my disposal, all new dates should be "correct."
 

It turned out that Mr. Kagami's boss, Hitoshi Demegawa, had chosen to broadcast the tape from Kira without the permission of the network executives, placing his employees in danger to get higher ratings. In an indignant rage, Mr. Kagami had quit his job at Sakura TV, and was promptly hired by NHN, who were disgusted with Sakura TV's actions but impressed with Mr. Kagami's courage while on the air.

NHN weren't the only ones who were angry about the broadcast. Many of Japan's citizens were outraged that Kira had gone so far as to kill people who had merely criticized him. A lot of people who had previously supported Kira now claimed that he had gone too far, and began to see him for the murderer that he was.

So when it was announced that there was another message from Kira, which the police had given the TV station permission to air, many people were much less receptive to the idea. But when the broadcast started, the calligraphy was smoother and more flowing, and Taro could tell that the voice was more authoritative than the previous broadcast. As much as he hated to admit it, this one did feel much more like a god speaking to his people, and less like a terrorist.

"I am Kira. The person who sent in the tapes a few days ago is nothing more than an impersonator."

Taro gulped. An impostor? But he had definitely killed people, which meant that he was no ordinary impostor. That must mean that there were now two Kiras, which meant that there were two Death Notes in the human world. At least. Had reigning death upon Earth now become a popular sport among the shinigami?

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Holidays of Future's Past.

  This fanfic is based off the television show, "The Simpsons", which is own by (I think.) Matt Groening. This fanfic is rated T for Teen; so if you're twelve or under, go away. I do own "The Simpsons". But if I did, that would be sweet. Read and Review if you like. But remember, if you don't, Nelson will get you.







  Lisa was happy that her daughter Zia looked up to her, and was just as intelligent as she was at her age. She was worried that she would become a total party girl, and become hooked to the web. Christmas was over, it was passed midnight, and she walked to her car with her husband. They waved to her parents and brother; Bart decided to stay the night. The three of them drove off and headed for home, Lisa driving, Milhouse in the seat next to her, and Zia in the back.
  Halfway there, the car began to have trouble. Lisa turned to see Milhouse asleep, his head leaning on the window. She looked back at Zia; she had fallen asleep on the back seats. Lisa pulled the car to the side of the road and got out of the car. She opened her hood and tried to find the problem with the car. She knew it wasn't gas; the car had been filled yesterday. Lisa inspected the engine, trying to remember what Nelson had taught her. She pulled on a long clear thing, and it broke in her hand.
  "D'oh!" Lisa said. "If only Nelson were here. He'd know what to do." Nelson had become a mechanic, once again making a business where he "pimped out"  other people's vehicles. " Maybe I should call him. "
  Lisa went back to the car and got her purse. She went to her phone memory and selected "Mechanic"; Lisa had had an affair with Nelson, several in fact, cheating on her husband Milhouse. She only married him because she had gotten drunk, slept with him, and found out that she was pregnant. It was her twenty first birthday party, and it was the first time she had gotten drunk. What were the chances?
  Lisa waited for Nelson to answer, which took only a few seconds. "Lis'?" She could hear hope in his voice; he must've that she wanted to get together.

  "Hi Nelson." Lisa felt bad for calling; she didn't want to get his hopes up about leaving Milhouse. The only reason she really married with him was because he had gotten her pregnant; she was only twenty one at the time, and raising a baby alone at such a young age would have disastrous.
  "Listen, about earlier," Nelson began, "I'm sorry if I sounded inconsiderate. It's just-"
  "Nelson," Lisa cut him off. "I'm sorry, but my car broke down, and I don't know how to fix it. Can you come by?"
  "Oh." Lisa could hear Nelson's voice crack a little. "Yeah. Sure. Where are you?"
  "I'm by Professor Frink's old place." Lisa remebered her old dates with Nelson, back they were kids, and back when she was seeing him behind Milhouses back. So he knew where it was by heart.
  "Okay. I'll be there in about thirty minutes." Lisa hung up the phone and sighed; she really did love Nelson, but she couldn't risk hurting her daughter, no matter how much she loved him. She went back to the car, and put her hands in front of the heat. She looked at Professor Frinks; she wondered what had happened to him after the clone wars, when everyone in Springfield had been cloned by the aliens Kang and Kodos. Frink had disappeared, before the war, and never heard from again.



   Lisa felt her hands being cold again, and saw that her fuel gauge was empty. "Oh no." She tried to start the car, to at least have some warmth, but it wouldn't start. They couldn't wait thirty minutes in the freezing cold. She looked at Frink's house. 'I suppose we could go in there.'.
  "Milhouse wake up!" She shook her husband, trying to wake him up. He opened his eyes.
  "Are we home?" he said groggily.
  "No." Lisa brought her arm to Zia. "Zia! Wake up!"
  "What?"
  "We need to get out of the car." Lisa opened her door and got out. She put her head back in and took a pen and paper out of her purse, writing down they would be in Frink's old house. "The car broke down. We need to go into Professor Frink's house. Nelson's going to to pick us up."
  "What? Nelson?!!?" Milhouse was still scared of his old bully. "Why call him? Why not Bart?"
  "Because Nelson's a mechanic, and he can fix the car. Now hurry up!" The three of them walked to Frinks house. Lisa opened the door, and the three of them went in. "Nelson said he be here in half an hour. So don't complain!"
  "I'm gonna lie down." Milhouse held his coat shut, and kept on shivering. "I need to get some sleep." Milhouse went upstairs, and disappeared from Lisa's sight.
  Lisa and Zia sat down on an old couch, which was covered in dust. When they sat, dust flew into the air. "So," Lisa said, "what do you wanna talk about."
  "Nothing." Zia pulled out her ear phones, but was stopped by her mother before she could put them in, who grabbed them and put them in her pocket book. "Hey! I was gonna listen to music."
  "No! No music. It's rude to listen to music when someone's talking." Lisa closed her bag. Zia sat back on the couch, ignoring her mother's attempts at communication. They waited in silence for fifteen minutes when Zia finally got tired of it.
 "So what did Professor Frink invent anyway?" She had looked him up on the internet, and all she could find was that he disappeared a few years before she was born. "And what happened to him?"
  Lisa avoided the last question; everyone in Springfield had to stay quiet about what happened. Plus she really didn't know what happened to him.h
  Lisa thought of the things he built. She could only think of one in particular. "He built a time window. He showed me and your Uncle."
  "A what window?"
  "A time window." Lisa repeated. "It would lets person see into the future; it would predict what would most likely happen to that person. It also showed the past."
  "Where is it now?"
  "It's probably still in the basement." Lisa wondered if it was still operational. She would love to see her future again. "Let's go check. We can see who you marry in the future!" Lisa ran for the basement, followed closely by Zia.
  "Mom!" Zia yelled. "Wait for me!"


Mysterion is Born.

   This fanfic is based off the television show "South Park". I got the idea when I saw the episode "The Poor Kid". South Park is the property of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Who rule. I mean really rule. They rock. Read and Review if you like. If you don't, you'll be haunted by The Death God Cthulhu. Oh, and I'll make you eat your parents.






  Nine year old Kenny McCormick lay in his bed, listening to his parents fighting once again. This happened at least once a week; he got used to it after a while, just like his older brother, Kevin, did. 'You get used to it.' Kenny thought. He was dressed only in his underwear, leaving his orange parka in his closet.
  Kenny turned around, trying to get into a comfortable position. He could always sleep easier when his parents for some reason. He didn't know why; maybe it was because it gave him a reason to run away into his dreams, to fall asleep and leave his alcoholic parents behind, even if it was for eight short hours. But he couldn't tonight.
  Kenny always wanted to run away from his home, go to another home, live in the forest, anywhere, as long as he wasn't with his parents. But he couldn't even if he wanted to. Not for long anyway; Kenny could run away, but he would just be back in his bed before the week was over. Kenny was an Immortal; whenever he died, he would wake up in his bed, wearing his same old clothes. He didn't know how he did it, why it happened to him, but he stopped asking.
  Even if he could leave, he wouldn't, for one reason and one reason only; Karen. His little sister. He couldn't just leave her to fend for herself in this family; she was too small and fragile to survive in this family by herself. Kenny would try and cheer her up, but nothing he did worked.
  He bought her doll a few months back with the money he made when he was doing crazy things; his parents had claimed the rest of the money not long after, which quickly disappeared. He told her that if she was sad, to hold the doll and talk to it. But it didn't help much; he could still hear her crying from behind the thin walls, all because of his parents. This is why he can't sleep tonight; his little sister is crying.
  Kenny got up from bed. He couldn't think of anything to help his sister. He leaned against the wall, trying to listen to Karen. He could hear her talking to her doll. He couldn't make out what she was saying. He closed his eyes and concentrated on her voice. He could hear her voice. "Please God, send me a Guardian Angel. Please God, send me a Guardian. Please God, send me a Guardian Angel."
  Kenny slowly opened his eyes. He wished God for that, too, when he was her age. But no one came. Kenny stood up, wishing he could do something for his little sister; she was only five years old, she shouldn't be wishing for this.
  Kenny got on his knees and started to pray. "Please God," he whispered. "Send my little sister a guardian angel. She needs it. Please." He began to cry at the last word. He needed to protect, but how? Kenny heard a squeek from his closet. A mouse. He got up and went to stop it from biting holes into his clothes again.
  Kenny opened the closet and saw a lone mouse standing on his dresser. He expected it to be hiding. He was about to hit it, when he noticed it looked down to it's right. He felt as if he should follow it's gaze, and so he looked as well. He saw a garbage bag that hadn't been there before. He picked it up and brought it to his bed. A small note was clipped on it. He read it aloud, "For Kenny."
  Kenny opened  the bag and poured the contents out onto his bed. A dark purple cloak, a pair of grey sweats, dark grey gloves, and a pair of brown boots. Kenny looked at the clothes, trying to figure out who sent them, and why. He recalled his begging God for Karen. He felt as if this was God's doing. But how could this help Karen? Kenny picked up the clothes and knew what he was meant to do with them. He put the clothes on and jumped out the window.
  Kenny walked to Karen's window and opened it quietly. He climbed onto windowsill, getting down on one knee. He looked at Karen as she cried quietly into her pillow. He steeled himself. "Don't cry Karen." Kenny spoke with a raspy voice to avoid her identifying him.
  Karen bolted up when she heard him speak. She looked at him with fear, not knowing where he came from or why he was there. "W-W-Where did you c-come from?" She couldn't help but stutter.
  Kenny didn't know how to answer her. He said what she was wishing for, and what he truly believed. "I was sent here for you, Karen." Kenny paused. "Your wish came true."
  Karen looked at Kenny with an awed expression. "It did?" Karen asked. "You're a Guardian Angel?"
  Kenny looked her in the eyes. "No, Karen. I'm your Guardian Angel. I will protect you no matter what. No matter where you are, no matter what you do, I will always protect you. I will always be there."
  "Really?" Karen eyes were wide and she had a large smile on her face.
  "Yes, Karen." Kenny noticed that their parents had stopped fighting. "Now I want you to get some sleep. You have school tomorrow." With that, Kenny jumped back outside, closing the window as he did so. He ran as fast as he could to his window and jumped in. He heard Karen open her window, trying to find him, but she was too late.
  Kenny got undressed, putting his new outfit in his dresser drawer inside his closet, and went back to bed. He found that he fell asleep very easily, with the knowledge that he helped his sister, and could help her from now on. Kenny tried to think of a good name for his alter ego, but couldn't come up with one.


  Kenny woke up to his sister jumping on his bed. She told him all about her Guardian Angel appearing out of nowhere and telling her not to cry, and about how cool and mysterious he was.
  While Karen played in her room, telling her doll everything about her Guardian Angel, saying how perfect he was, Kenny worked on his costume. He wanted to put his own touch to it. Why should he stop with just protecting Karen; he could protect the whole town. He never liked standing by and watching as people got away with the horrible things that they did. He could do something about it and not fear for his life or that of his families.
  He took a spring from an old bb gun and glued a green question mark to it. He then attached the spring to the hood of his cloak. He cut out a green 'M' from an old shirt he got from the salvation army, and sewed it to his sweatshirt. He had finally come up with a name, too. Ironically, he got the name from Karen.
  Mysterion.


Friday, July 13, 2012

"The Green Eyed Monster" Chapter Two: A Salty Entree





Category: South Park
Author: NoseBridgePinch
Fan Art: John-SP150
Rated T for swearing and immature fourth grade humor
Synopsis: Wendy gets kicked out of the girl's lunch table for being preachy, she decides to sit with Stan and his friends. Hilarity ensues.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Our Forces are Growing!

Congratulations to The Fanfic Skeptic's first new writer, Ama Marie, who writes some great South Park fics over on FF.net! Hopefully, more of her work will soon be available here as well.

In addition, it is only fitting that we support those who write good fanfiction who are not members of this site. This list will no doubt expand, but for now, please welcome our newest friends, whose work will be found under the "See Also" list on the right.

South Park Unleashed is a series of South Park stories that form their own continuity, and are some of the most solid SP works that I've seen on FF.net, using clever references and constructing high quality stories in a way that any true fan of the show just has to enjoy. The head writer of SPU, John-SP150 (or simply John) recently left FF.net to post his stories on his own site, having gotten fed up with the general stupidity of the SP fandom in general. And even though I've decided to stay and fight on FF.net itself, I really can't blame him. John is a personal friend of Ama, and definitely an inspiration for me. he deserves our continued support and the knowledge that he is not alone.

Chuck Sonnenburg, more well known as SF Debris, is a snarky internet reveiwer who covers general science fiction shows and movies in The Opinionated Guides. If you're a fan of Star Trek, his reviews are some of the best stuff you'll find on the web; both hilarious and intellectual. Chuck, however, has also written a fanfiction story called The Unity Saga, which is THE best Star Trek/Star Wars crossover you will ever see! It is epic! And at 240 chapters, there is plenty of it! Now, Chuck is much more famous than me, and certainly doesn't need my help to advertise his site. Still, in this time of war, defenders of good fanfiction need to support each other.

The time has come! Rise up, writers, and take back our fandoms from the slash writers!

"The Green Eyed Monster" Chapter One: A Bitter Appetizer


Category: South Park
Author: NoseBridgePinch
Fan Art: John-SP150
Rated T for swearing and immature fourth grade humor
Synopsis: Wendy gets kicked out of the girl's lunch table for being preachy, she decides to sit with Stan and his friends. Hilarity ensues.


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

"The Secret Rule" Chapter 4: Kira Strikes Back



Death Note fanfiction
Rated T for mature themes associated with the Death Note manga


After several days and a lot of thought, Taro had come up with an explanation.

Most likely, the Man had been working under Kira's orders. He was writing names on pages from the Death Note, while Kira was holding the Note itself. The first possibility was that he was deliberately laying a false trail for people who were trying to track Kira down, like Taro and L. Kira, who was also on the subway, might have noticed that his agent was being followed, and killed the Man to prevent being traced back to him. The only problem with that theory was that, if Kira was deliberately setting false trails, he would have eliminated Taro, not the man beings used as bait.

Good, thought Taro, because otherwise I would be in real trouble.

Wait...who am I kidding? I'm definitely in real trouble. Unless L somehow discovers the Death Note, I technically know more about Kira than anyone, and that makes me his biggest threat, for all the good I can do. And for L to find the Death Note from scratch...well, he'd have to be like a super-genius or something.

Unfortunately, the second possibility was even more frightening. The Man could have been one of many agents Kira had placed all around the city (or the country, or even the world!) to be his eyes and ears and do his dirty work. That way, even if one of the agents somehow got caught, he would still be safe, like a spider in the center of his web. In which case, Kira would have killed the Man because (again) he saw that his agent was being followed. In which case, Taro was not dead either because Kira just didn't know his name, or because the agent was just that expendable.

Of course, that would make Kira practically untouchable, even if he were in the area. No matter what, he needed to be more careful. If Kira had even gotten a glimpse of his face, he might be able to track him down. And that was the last thing Taro wanted to happen.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Rules and Guidelines

Updated August 26, 2012

This is the official list of rules and guidelines for the site, especially if you're interested in becoming one of our writers.
Writers, please note that these guidelines may be altered at any time. The date at the top of the post will change each time these guidelines are updated, so be sure to check back often.

Joining
  1. If you want to submit a story to be featured on the site, send me a message at thefanficskeptic@gmail.com containing the story, or a link to the story on a fanfiction site, such as FanFiction.net, as well as the username you would like it to be credited to. It MUST be a story that YOU wrote; no story will be put on this site without the author's permission. The story will be featured under "Guest Stories."
  2. If you want to become a regular writer for this site, send me your email address, so I can add you as an author. After you do this, you'll probably have to create a Blogger account if you don't have one already. If I don't know you from FanFiction.net, I'll probably ask to see a sample of your work, just so I can get an idea of how well you write (don't worry; I'm fairly generous, and I always try to give good advice when asked).
  3. Regular writers have much more freedom than guests. As of right now, I will handle organizing the posts and filing them under the author's usernames, so you don't even have to do that (if that becomes too difficult for me, I will set up guidelines for that). Regular writers will receive very little moderation from me (assuming they follow the posting and content guidelines below), while guest stories must be fully read and approved by me or another author before they will be posted.
Posting

When posting your story, follow these suggestions to make it most convenient for your fans.
  1. Make the title of your blog entry the name of the story (I like to set it in quotation marks). If your story is part of a multi-chapter, add the chapter number and and chapter name (if there is one) afterwards. So Chapter 1's title would be "Story Title" Chapter 1: Chapter Name, and so forth.
  2. Say what fandom the story is for at the top of the post. Also, either put the story's rating (K, K+, T, or M: see this site for more details. MA stories are currently not allowed) or some disclaimer if the story contains any mature content.
  3. Any fan art or picture for your story may also be included in your post. I usually put it at the top.
  4. Be sure to distinguish the story's content from any author's notes you may include. I usually put the author's note in bold, center alignment, and the story content in normal, left alignment.
  5. I find that putting a space in between paragraphs makes it easier to read in this format.
  6. Place a jump break somewhere near the beginning the of the story, so that your story doesn't take up so much space on the front page.
  7. Go to the left side of the page to the edit Labels section. You need to add at least 3 Labels to your post. 1: The name of the story (if it's a multi-chapter, be sure to reuse the same label for each post). 2: Your author name. 3: The fandom your story belongs to (if your story is a crossover, include each fandom involved).
  8. If your story is a multi-chapter, then whenever you post a new chapter, be sure to go back and edit the previous chapter by placing a link to the new chapter at the bottom of the post. That way, at the end of Chapter 1, the reader can simply click the link to Chapter 2, and so forth.
  9. Always proofread and check your story for any unintentional spelling mistakes.
NOTE: I have had some technical difficulties when copying stories in Google Chrome. More details to come, but until I figure out the problem, I recommend using either Internet Explorer or Firefox to copy your story from FF.net or other sites.

Content

I don't want to put too much here, as I'm not trying to stifle anyone's creativity. However, given that this site is at least partially an attempt to get away from the smut seen on regular fanfiction sites and produce higher quality work, I do have to make a few rules.
  1. (I may regret saying this, but...) No fandom is excluded from this site (the books, movies, and TV shows featured in the logo are simply ones that I enjoy, and the logo is always subject to change). Every fandom deserves the chance to have good fanfiction, and the whole point of having more than one author is to cover more ground (franchise-wise) than I can alone. So, I'd even be willing to give Twilight stories a chance (IF they're good).
  2. As stated above, stories must be rated K, K+, T, or M, under standard FictionRating rules. MA stories are not (currently) allowed.
  3. OC's may be used, but take care to not elevate the OC to the point he/she overshadows the real characters or becomes a Mary Sue. 
  4. Slash pairings are pretty much not allowed. By slash pairings, I specifically mean between characters who are not canonically gay (this includes Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, and Butters from South Park, Light and L from Death Note, and Kirk and Spock from Star Trek, for most egregious examples). If two characters are explicitly gay...I'll be more lenient.
The biggest problem with Fanfiction today is...PAIRINGS. And as such, pairings and romance in general must be approached with care and caution. Please note that I'm not banning romance altogether; romance isn't really my thing, but I'm not qualified to speak for everyone. However, please bear the following in mind.
  • Romance always works better when it's serving the plot or working to develop the characters, not the other way around. If it's done for its own sake, it usually falls into pairing territory, where many of the bad fanfiction stories lie.
  • Romance is the most obvious way to cover up bad storytelling. Don't use it for this purpose.
  • Pairings used for humorous or satirical purposes are typically more well-thought out than they are for romantic purposes.
If you absolutely must use pairings as a romance, please keep in mind that not everyone's taste is the same as yours. For example, I enjoy pairing Cartman and Wendy from South Park (but again, only as an attempt to develop one or both of them as characters). However, I always try to recognize that not everyone likes this pairing, so whenever I use it, I try to do it in such a way so as not to shove it in people's faces. In short, pairings are not the end-all-be-all of fanfiction, so don't act like they are. Or, to put it another way, if anyone starts yelling "NamexName Forever," it's probably time to GTFO. Sorry to be so blunt, but this is war. War on bad fanfiction everywhere.

So basically, this site is primarily for gen fics.

Lastly, please promote this blog. We can only fight this war if our work is seen by fanfiction readers. If you have already have a profile on FanFiction.net or another site, tell your readers about this one as well. Tell any of your friends who are interested in fanfiction. That way, we can gain both more writers and more readers.

That's all for now. Again, these guidelines may be updated at any time, so be sure to check back from time to time.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

"A Voice Crying Out in the Darkness"

Death Note fanfiction. 
Rated T for...just being kind of creepy

Hello, Death Note fans! I now present to you my first Death Note one-shot.
This one-shot may contain some spoilers for the Death Note novel, Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases


"The prisoner is ready to see you, ma'am," the officer stated gruffly.
"Thank you," replied Naomi Misora. The officer stepped through the door, as if ready to accompany her, but Naomi held up her hand. "No, thank you, I know the way."

"As you wish ma'am."

Naomi walked down the long corridor to the high security cells. Why do I keep doing this, she thought. It must be curiosity, of a very persistent nature. The man was crazy; the last dozen trips she had made here to speak to him had proven that. There was no reason to think he would suddenly open up and confess his motives just because she had come a thirteenth time.

Still, she just had to know why Beyond Birthday had killed those three people. She hated that last piece of the mystery being left unanswered.

She arrived in front of Birthday's cell, and looked at the man. Man, though, was a fairly loose description of Birthday in Naomi's opinion. He was always hunched over like an ape, and his heavy makeup and eye shadow (which he somehow retained even in this jail) gave him the appearance of a corpse. His diet, as she had previously observed, was far too sugary for even Raye, who was probably the biggest sweet tooth Naomi knew. But the worst part was his eyes; Naomi had no idea how she had not noticed them properly when she was working with him. His eyes resembled that of a devil.

So, an ape, a zombie, and a demon. And also, somehow, a man. Everything about Beyond Birthday was a mystery.

Birthday looked up at Naomi from his menacing crouch. "Ah, Miss Naomi. I'm glad you decided to pay me a visit." He licked his lips wickedly as he spoke.