We're Baaaaaack!

Hello Fellow Fanficaholics! It feels like forever since we posted. Did you miss us!

As you can see, the site has undergone a pretty extensive overhaul (thank you very much to the amazing Ninette Kelly of RedMoonDesign).We think it's pretty spiffy...and we hope you think so too.


We've got posts by some amazing writers who we've been lucky enough to force...um, I mean, persuade to join our staff. And here's what else is new:
* Story Recommendations - now by Fandom!
   We've got some great rec'd stories but we'd love more so drop us a line if you've got a fic to rec
* Writer's Toolkit
   We're working to add info and resources for new and veteran fan fic writers. Stay tuned!
* You Write What News?!
   Stay up to date on what we're doing and what's coming down the pike 

We've got tons of new content and features that we hope (*cough* know *cough*) you're gonna enjoy! So take a look around and tell us what you think!


And if you haven't subscribed yet...DO IT....DO IT NOW!

You were bored without us...admit it!

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Tricky Raven August Raven's Read w/ Review

Prey by Esther

http://trickyraven.ning.com/group/prey

Pairing: Paul/Bella

Rated: M

Genre: Romance/Drama/Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Paul is not a man to settle.  What he wants is Bella Swan and he is tired of waiting.

Review Submitted by Dragonfly76

Prey may be Esther's first foray into the world of writing Twilight based fan-fiction, but is certainly not evidenced by the tangled web of emotion she displays in her craft.  Prey takes you on an emotional roller-coaster, causing you to scream and feel the butterflies with each emotional dip and sway.  This Paul will make your heart beat a little faster with every single chapter.

Prey takes us on a journey both through the minds and hearts of Bella Swan and Paul Lahote, each seemingly trying to overcome what they are to become who they must become.  Paul has never been sexier than he is in this story.  Seemingly self-destructive, you find that there is more to him.  Chasing after Bella is more than just a game to him.  It is an instinctual need that you can feel is leading to something big.  

Issues abound in this story, mainly comprised of what it is that has shifted within the pack.   You can almost feel them becoming more primal as the story flows.  This isn't just about possession, but a way of life.  

Read the prologue.  I dare you not to wish that it is you and not Bella, who is Paul's Prey.

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A Fandom Mourns: Remembering Gisela

It all started with a dream – quite literally.

When Stephenie Meyer’s debut novel Twilight hit shelves in 2005, nobody could have predicted the impact it would have on millions of individuals around the globe. By the time the first film was released in December of 2008, the story had a large following, and fan sites for the saga and the actors began popping up on the internet, serving not only as sources of news and information, but also as places for fans to meet, get to know one another, and share their adoration for the epic love story.

Twilight Conventions, Comic-Con gatherings, and red and black carpet premieres brought fans from around the world together. Friendships were formed, traditions were made, and a fandom unlike any other was built from the ground up.

Throughout the years the Twilight fandom has banded together, not only in support of many charitable causes (the annual Fandom Gives Back fan fiction compilation, for example), but also to support members of its own in times of need. On July 10, 2012, the fandom banded together again to mourn the loss of Gisela “Twi-fan G” Gagliardi.

Gisela traveled all the way from New York to join friends and fellow Twilight fans at Comic-Con in San Diego, CA. Like many other fans, Gisela was waiting in line for Thursday’s Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 panel. While attempting to cross the street, Gisela was hit by a car, and later passed away at the hospital.

Within hours of learning about the news, members from all corners of the fandom were speaking up, remembering their own experiences with Gisela, offering condolences for her friends, families, and fellow fans, and banding together to raise money for Gisela’s family. A Twibbon was created, as well as the hash tag “RIPTwihardG,” to honor Gisela via Twitter, and the saga’s creator wore a black ribbon in honor of Gisela during the panel in Hall H. Twilight stars even took to Twitter themselves, offering their condolences and support:

@AshleyMGreene: “I’m so sorry to hear the deviatingnews about Gisella G. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.:(“

@JacksonRathbone: “#RIPTwihardG All our love andrespect, and all our prayers.”

@NikkiReed_I_AM: “This is horrible. So sad. I’mspeechless.”

Through the fundraiser “Mad4Hugh Memorial Fund,” the fandom was able to raise $8,998, surpassing the initial goal of $5,000 by almost $4,000. In addition to the Twilight fandom showing its support and generosity, Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment donated $1,000 to the fund on July 11, 2012, and left the following message: “On behalf of the entire company, our thoughts and prayers are with Gisela’s family, wishing them peace and harmony during this difficult time.”

The fan fiction community also got involved in remembering Gisela. The Fandom4 Twi-fan G compilation was established, and over 50 authors signed up to contribute their work.

As friends, family members, Twilight cast members, and fellow fans continue to remember Gisela G, we also have a chance to once again be reminded of just how strong and amazing this fandom is. Through thick and thin, moments of unrest and solitude, the members of this fandom have stuck together, offering up a shoulder to cry on, words of comfort and condolence, and an international support network for those in need. We’ve laughed together, cried together, hemmed and hawed together, fought with one another, and spent hours in lines, streets, tents, and crowded movie theaters together. But most important of all, we’ve formed a family that will continue to live on even when the lights go down on the final film installment.

I did not know Gisela personally, but over the past several weeks I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about her through her friends on both Facebook and Twitter. Through their stories and the memories they’ve chosen to share, it’s become clear to me that Gisela was a beautiful person inside and out, with a heart of gold and a smile that could light up the entire room. Gisela’s life was something that touched the heart of dozens of people in the fandom.

The comfort for those who were close to Gisela comes in knowing that even though she has left us, her memory will forever live on, and they will always have the love and support of fellow fandom members to count on. Not only is the Twilight fandom a large, close-knit one, but it’s also one that always pays tribute to and forever shines light on the legacy of members that we’ve lost.

Rest in peace, Twi-fan G.


Author: Nikki Storebo, Guest Blogger

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The Purge

“I am sorry to say that I have decided to take my work elsewhere . . .”

Or

“If you ever can’t find my work then I have been deleted, but you can also find me at . . .”

How many times have you seen lines such as these at the bottom or your favorite author’s profile or work over the last couple of months? Ever wonder why? Well that would be thanks to FanFiction.net’s decision to purge thousands of “M” rated fics from their site.

FanFiction.net is one of the leading sites for fanfiction writers. The site was created in 1998 to house the original transformative works of amateur writers who based their stories on popular literature, television shows, movies, books, video games, and comic and cartoon characters. The writers post their work to the site, allowing other fans to read and review. Each story must have a rating according to the guideline set by the site, and each writer must agree to specific terms and conditions, in order to continue to add stories to their collection.

The change in minimum age requirement to join the site was Fanfiction.net’s supposed reason the purge was initiated. When the site was created, the registration age was 18 years. In 2002, the age requirement was changed to only 13 years old. When the age requirement decreased, the ability to publish MA (Mature Adults) or NC-17 rated content was banned from the site. This change in minimum age requirement caused the rating systems to be adjusted to avoid lawsuits from the parents of minors, who could claim the site corrupted their children [1]. The rating system is [3]:

K	Content suitable for most ages (5+)
K+	Some content may not be suitable for young children (9+)
T	Contains content not suitable for children (13+)
M	Contains content suitable for mature teens and older (16+)

The slightly ambiguous definition of each rating causes writers to choose the incorrect, or possibly the most extreme rating to avoid what inevitably took place in June 2012. Ten years after the age requirement was decreased, after years of loosely enforced ratings, the site decided to act on the general guidelines.

Thousands of fics were “purged” from the site, often with no warning or notification to the author. The site administrators claimed that the purged stories did not meet the general guidelines set forth, including inappropriate material for its selected rating. Many authors opposed the action, claiming that while the ratings had been in place for years, they had never been enforced and the authors had never been told that their stories were outside of guidelines.

Despite the backlash, the site purged what has been estimated to be 62,000 fics without the knowledge of the writer[1]. According to a statistic published by ffdotnetrant, a LiveJournal blog dedicated to complaints about the popular fanfiction site, 1,497 Twilight stories were purged (along with other popular fandoms such as Harry Potter, Naurto, Yu-Gi-Oh, and more)[2].It is safe to assume other stories have since met the same fate. Countless authors, including myself, scrambled to the site to check the presence of their own mature content Twilight stories.

Authors began to question what was defined as M or mature content. The Twilight fandom is riddled with alternate pairings, many including gay (slash) and lesbian (femslash) couples, which are not a part of the original story line. Does this story alternative fall into the allowable M rating, or is this theme for Mature Adults (MA) only? There seemed to be no rhyme or reason behind the stories that were chosen to be deleted and those that weren’t. While one story with M/MA content would be deleted, another with the same or similar content would be left standing.

This cryptic rating system and sudden removal of vast number of fics caused Twilight fandom readers (as well as other fandoms) to blame the hidden Fanfiction Nazis—a team devoted solely to the purpose of scouring the site for works they feel are not worthy of the site, reporting them to FanFiction.net’s abuse team. Though the presence of such site bullying is annoying it is welcomed by the site administration and many of the stories that were purged met their fate due to having been reported. As the site states, Fanfiction.net “rely[s] on its users to report stories that are inappropriately rated [1].”

The purge of thousands of story has caused writers to migrate to other sites with less rating restrictions. Fanfiction.net’s decision to purge so many stories forced writers to submit works to other sites including, but not limited to Twilighted, Archive of Our Own, TwiWrite, and others. Some authors still take the chance of posting their questionable “M” ratings to the FanFiction.net site. The announcement of the purge caused writers and readers to band together and boycott Fanfiction.net for one weekend in June 2012. Despite the readers losing many favorite stories, and thousands of writers feeling violated from the purge, there has been no reported loss of traffic to what still seems to be the leading fanfiction site [2].

This may not be the only purge users of FF.net will see. Just this year, the site began to allow users to create covers for their stories. The new image feature allows authors the ability to create and submit a design for their work to attract more readers. Twilight enthusiasts are no stranger to “banners” -- picture edits created to advertise stories, collections, and contest. The new image manager has its own set of criteria, including the creator having the rights to use the images being utilized as a cover [3]. Many of the Twilight story covers include copyrighted photos of the actors of the Twilight Saga. Professional photos of the Twilight gang are being edited and word shopped to create the covers and banners now on Fanfiction.net. Unless these users are close friends with K. Stew, R. Pat, Taylor Lautner, and the reaming Twilight collection, then there are hundreds of images in violation of copy right and permission guidelines on the site. According to the terms and guidelines these violators can be removed without notification, same as the case with the thousands of deleted fanfics removed earlier this summer[3].

Being a low key writer seems to be the only aversion to finding your M rated fics missing from the site. If the Fanfiction Nazi never tags your work, than you will remain unnoticed by the site administrator who can’t possibly keep track of the millions of stories in the various categories, including crossovers. But as a precaution to all writers, no matter your fandom or rating of choice, back up your work! Save it to your computer, a flash drive, a free email account only for your fanfiction writing, or in some high tech cloud. Using multiple sites for your fiction is a plus, exposing your stories to different readers as well as fandom specific readers (which is what you get when you post to sites such as TwiWrite or Twilighted, and other specialty fiction sites).

Hopefully the days of looking over our shoulders before submitting our M rated fics are over . . . but I doubt it.


Author: Challa Fletcher, Staff Blogger

Reference

[1] FanFiction.net – Wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanfiction.net

[2] FanFiction.net Adult Content Purge http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/FanFiction.Net_adult_content_purge_felt_across_fandom_two_weeks_on

[3]Fanfiction.net Terms of Service -- http://www.fanfiction.net/tos/

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A Cliche By Any Other Name

Somewhere, someday, some person sat down at their computer, utterly disgusted with something in Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight series.

Somewhere, someday, some person sat down at their computer, utterly disgusted with something in Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight series.

As they tested the waters, weaving their own perfect little rendition of the story while temporarily borrowing her characters, they threw a few unique, original ideas in there just to make it their own and mixed it with some canon favorites just for good measure.

Well, then some reader of said story sat down someday, somewhere at their own computer and thought, “You know what? I really liked that idea! I’m gonna use it in my story, too!”

And then some reader of theirs somewhere, someday...

You get the picture.

And that is the birth of what we like to call clichés. What once started out as a good idea, an original concept, was well-received by the first 20 or so authors who dipped their toes in the same creative waters, but had us yawning and running the other direction by the time the 543,567th author gave it a whirl.

I’ve read A LOT of fics, yet still by no means consider myself an expert. So when I volunteered to write this, I enlisted the help of my fellow Wolf girls (ICYMI, that’s my disclosure right there — in other words, these clichés will lean heavy toward the wolf side since I don’t tend to read fics with vamp pairings...like, at all) at a couple sites I post my work on. I thought I’d get a few responses — just enough to put my finger on the pulse of some overused plot lines/adjectives/ideas in the world of Twilight fanfic.

Yeah — I was wrong. 

I guess when you write for a fandom that’s given birth to hundreds of thousands of fics, there’s bound to be more than 10 ideas that have long since reached their expiration date. Yet, we still keep seeing them. 

So only the top 10? I love a challenge, so here goes... (warning: if you can’t pick up on the sarcasm and fun of this, turn back now...I do these, you do these, we all do these and it’s all good.)

1) Bella Swan — The Walking Cliché

Good ol’ B herself seems to be that one thing us Twi-writers can never find a middle ground on. Either we’re constantly reminding readers that she is incessantly canon both in personality (clutsy, selfish, wishy-washy) and appearance (chestnut hair, milky-white skin, petite, smells like strawberries) or we automatically fly to the opposite end of the spectrum in order to make peace with our ever-present grudge we hold against canon Bella by making her a sexy siren full of so much strength and independence, you may have just created your own original character without realizing it.

It’s okay for B to have flaws, but it’s also good to branch out when exploring the development of the heroine with which we all seem to have a love-hate relationship. Just use a thesaurus when you do.

2) Be Careful or Your Face Will Get Stuck That Way

Bella blushed as she bit her lip, eyeing Jacob from across the room.

Jacob smirked, giving Bella a crooked smile as he automatically felt something awaken in his pants.

Apparently a lot of Twi-fic readers have a problem with these kinds of facial expressions, because I guess they’re used a lot and it seems lip-biting leads to instant erections (who knew?) and if you look real close, all the guys are walking around with perma-smirks and their own patented brand of crooked smile while they comment on the particular shade of pink embedded in Bella’s cheeks at that exact moment in time.

Sounds plausible.

3) Emily and Her Magical Muffins

“Do wolves really like muffins?  Aren't they sick of them by now?  Quick!  Someone take away Emily's Kitchen-Aid and hide the blueberries!” ~ Dragonfly76

Right? I must have missed that episode of Running With The Wolves. Seems Emily is always pedaling her muffins in wolf fics these days. On the other hand, show me a fic where Emily’s muffins serve an epic purpose like — oh, I don’t know — possessing the cure for vampirism and I will definitely read that. They could explode, too. Exploding is always a good thing.

4) Glittery and Abhorrable?

Okay, let’s be honest — most of us wolf girls do this a lot because we have some kind of issue with Edward’s character and his personality. At the same time, do we really have to take it to such extremes? Edward was a tad on the manipulative side, but he wasn’t vulgar and vindictive. 

5) The Clueless and Helpless Cop

“Why the hell is everyone so willing to believe Charlie can't boil water?  Eating out all the time is expensive.  If a man can break down and clean a gun, then put it back together, he can fry an egg and toast a piece of bread.” ~ShadowPast620

Good question. Just once I’d like to see Charlie cook dinner for Bella. I bet he makes a mean Kraft macaroni and cheese. It would also be fun to see those cop skills stick around after he takes off the uniform. Surely Forks wouldn’t appoint a police chief who couldn’t find his own butt with a map.

6) Bitchy, Bitter She-Wolf

Then there’s Leah. She’s perpetually angry and bitter and vindictive. She’s hard to be around and no one likes her. She’s the last one picked for the Pack’s game of Super Soccer. She’s going to die alone, and it will be closed-casket funeral because there was no amount of makeup that could hide the perma-sneer attached to her lips.

As my friend ShadowPast put this one, “At some point you get tired of being sad and angry all the time and give yourself permission to be happy. SM didn't imprint all the wolves. Embry's not busy.”

7) Imprinting

What was once a canon-created “rarity” has spread like wildfire throughout the wolf-side of this fandom. Who wouldn’t love it? Imprinting is like the cure-all for everything. Got a lonely wolf you feel like fixing up? Imprint! Need to get rid of a pesky third wheel? Imprint! Need a nice, easy HEA? Imprint! Need a date to prom? You guessed it.

Meh...choices are overrated.

8) Perfect Sexual Encounters

“Everyone has orgasms every single time, AND they happen at the same time.  Hardly anyone ever premature ejaculates either.” ~Obsessedtwibrarian

Well, OTB, when two young people (read: Bella and Jacob, or even Edward) love each other very much, there is no trial and error when it comes to sex. It is always mind-blowing. It is always perfect. There is always confidence. Bella feels no pain and they both have synchronized, world-altering orgasms...usually more than once. Later, we learn Bella and Insert-Other-Half-Of-OTP-Here were both virgins and he learned it through mind-reading or wolf telepathy. That’s pretty freaking cool, right?

But then again, who wants to read bad sex? *Sigh*

9) The "Meat"

Speaking of sex, it’s no wonder Bella’s able to have 43,567 orgasms considering what those guys are always packing in their pants. How come it always has to be “massive” and “thick” and “engorged”? How come it’s never just average? And why do we always have to reminded every third word just how well-endowed these guys are? I get it - I now have penis envy of a fictional character on behalf of my hubby. Thanks for that.

10) Fertile Myrtle

So what do you get when you add perfect sexual encounters with a big ol’ slice of wolf or vamp meat? That’s right — puppies (or Nessies!) And Bella was born to breed, right? No? Coulda fooled me.

**

So once the vamps left Forks after trying to emotionally terrorize Bella into going with them, everyone walked around with crooked grins, smirking at Bella’s blush when they realized why she didn’t leave. They knew about the perfect sex she had last night where Jacob’s massive member made her, ahem, finish at least three times. She tripped over a rock just thinking about. Leah bitched about her clumsiness, but not before she smacked Embry for laughing, who was chewing thoughtfully on a muffin, and the physical contact caused him to suddenly imprint on her. 

And Charlie was still scratching his head in confusion.

The end.


Author: Meliz875, Guest Blogger

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Smut U: Get Your Lemon On!

Most have heard about it.  Some are curious and follow what’s being said.  Some want to participate but are too shy to give it a go.  Only a handful actually do participate.

What is it?

Each year the well-known Beta Service website, Project Team Beta hosts Smut University, also known as SmutU.  And each year a handful of writers come together to read lessons by other well-known fandom writers over a couple month span.  After a lesson is posted to their blog a homework assignment is put out and students have four days to complete each to be critiqued and shown how it could be improved.

How can it help you?

Are you a first time lemon writer?  Ready to learn something you wouldn’t normally think of?  Are you a Veteran lemon writer who’d like to figure out what’s missing from your lemon or how to make it even more explosive?  This is where you want to come (quite possibly in the literal sense as well!).  SmutU offers a variety of different aspects to make your lemon scene better by learning different techniques, making your brain think of reality instead of fantasy to offer your readers high quality work, and offers encouragement by your fellow students and Professors to succeed!

How do you join in?

Visit the Project Team Beta website for all the latest information about signups, scheduling, and important dates.  Right now the semester is half over, but feel free to check out the blog and read what’s been taught so far this semester and to see if it would be something you’d like to participate in next semester!


Author: CeeCee Picanzo, Promotions Coordinator

http://projectteambeta.com  ||  http://projectteambeta.com/smut-university

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