Putting the 'fan' in fanfiction since 2010.

So, I woke up and decided to randomly post a retrospective on all my stories on my profile- as you do. IF you don't enjoy pointless waffling, I recommend bypassing this, but if you're interested in my personal thoughts on my career over the years on this site... well, here y'are.

Story I: Bowser's Funeral (Mario series, March 2010) (Status: One-shot)

My very first story, and for that, it'll always hold a special place in my heart, even if, as a consequence, it's not exactly amazing. There was no deep plan behind this one, as there would be for later stories, it was literally written entirely to celebrate my account being started in the first place. I was still in middle school at the time, and... it shows. It was pretty basic humor, but nothing awful, either, I feel. the only thing that really makes me cringe is my demand in my end-notes for any readers to, quote, 'Tell me how good it was.' What a cocky little smeghead, amiri-

Story II: Super Smash Bros. Randomness (Super Smash Bros., March 2010) (Status: One-shot)

Ah, the good ol' days, when I valued quantity over quality, and thus posted two stories in one day. I shouldn't be too hard on myself, I was still starting out, but this one is just messy. Essentially two back-to-back shorts that were little more than transcripts of imaginary scenarios I'd envisioned with my best friend of the day, GandoraDarkness. Most notable for being the first story to include my current sign-in and sign-out formats, which have changed very little over the years. Also my first sarcastic disclaimer, though it wasn't anything too special- again, fourteen. The most baffling things to me are the lack of any capitalization in the title or description, something I'd never done before or since. Also, why a T rating? I must have been really sensitive at the time to think this story deserved anything higher than a K. Hilariously, I once toyed with the idea of further one-shots in this vein. Going back and actually doing that now might be one of the dumbest possibilities before me, so excuse me while I go do exactly that.

Story III: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Novelization (Super Smash Bros., March 2010- January 2011) (Status: Dead)

Well, there goes what I said, right out the smegging window- this one doesn't have any capitalization either. I don't know what was wrong with me at this point. This story had a lot of firsts for me- my first attempt at serious storytelling, my first multi-chapter story, my first serious constructive criticism in the early chapters (which, make no mistake, was exactly the kind of stuff I needed to hear at the time.) It also happens to be the first story that I dropped halfway through. My first novelization, a format that has become very familiar to those who frequent my profile, though compared to the Alternate Universe Adaptations (AUAs, if you will) that I've mostly made a name for myself writing, this one was a straight-up novelization of The Subspace Emissary. Most notably, this was the first story where I toyed with adding my own lore and backstory to the universes I cover- if there's anything I can say I'm proud of, it's the story I created as the background for SE's events, even if the actual telling of that backstory was less than perfect. This also marks the first appearance of my first OC, Taebus, who was just as well-written a character as you might expect from a fourteen-year old writing his first fanfictions. More on him later- he didn't really do anything in this story other than lurk in the background like a creeper. Not a great story, but a very important stepping stone towards things that would come later.

Story IV: Smash Bros. Puppet Pals (Super Smash Bros., April 2010- November 2010) (Status: Complete)

My first genuine AUA, and my first one-shot collection, adapting the original Potter Puppet Pals saga with Smash Bros. characters. True, I toyed with the idea of adapting new episodes when they started appearing, but ultimately, I feel it was the better decision to leave it as it was. The finale was fine. In terms of AUAs, it was rather Mad Libs-esque, with very little in the way of original content, but that wasn't something at the forefront of my mind at the time: I just wanted to see my favorite video game characters acting out some funny sketches. Notably, even the idea of adapting the PPP shorts wasn't necessarily new- off the top of my head, I know people were doing it for the Percy Jackson series- but to my knowledge, this story was the only one to cover the entire original saga. This story could also be considered the precursor to arguably my most popular series, Mario Mario- we'll get to that. For now, suffice to say that a lot of ideas used in this story would later be reused for that series- perhaps most notably several casting decisions, such as Wolf O'Donnell as Severus Snape and Zelda Hyrule as Hermione Granger. Nothing special nowadays, but if you're interested in seeing Mario Mario Zero, feel free to check it out.

Story V: Super Smash Warriors (Super Smash Bros. X Warrior Cats, May 2010- January 2011) (Status: Dead)

Hooooooh, boy, do I have some stuff to say about this one. My first original long-form story, my first story to include characters not originally from a video game, my first crossover, my first story to include boatloads of references to various facets of pop culture (most definitely a Gamer4 trademark by now,) my first story dealing outright with the idea of multiple worlds, and my first major success- by review count, at least. Warriors was one of my favorite book series in mid-to-high school, and still holds a special place in my heart today. How to show this love? Have two of its main characters make a jump into the world of Super Smash Bros.!... And that's as far as I planned. I had some vague ideas about where I wanted this story to go, ranging from serious to downright comical- intentionally or otherwise- but as you can tell from the status, they never really went anywhere. The story's peak was essentially one long arc of Firestar and Graystripe being taken on a tour of the Smash Mansion, very much the model of Smash Bros. storytelling I subscribe to the most, and meeting the various characters, getting caught up in random hijinks. For that period, I'd say this story was good- perhaps even among my better work in general. The problems arose when that arc ended and I started wondering what sort of actual story I wanted to tell. This is the story that properly introduced Taebus- my first OC, who was alluded to in the Smash Bros. novelization, but never actually did anything. This story put him iin the spotlight, in all his blatant-ripoff-of-Gandalf-Dumbledore-Merlin etc. glory, showing just how unoriginal this allegeldy original character really was. Fortunately, he's undergone a total overhaul in recent years- if he ever appears again, I'm sure he'll barely be recognizable to anyone still around from these early days. My biggest misstep in this story, the one thing that makes me cringe whenever I remember it, and may well havve contributed to its cancellation, is the heavy-handed Christian propaganda in the later chapters. I was at the height of my time in the Christian faith at the time, well before my entire worldview was completely shaken up by exposure to the Xeno series, and I had yet to learn the most fundamental rule of religion as it relates to storytelling- if it's present, it must be for the good of the story, not the religion itself. If you only plan on including it for the purposes of preaching, leave it out. As I said, my views have shifted very radically since then, primarily due to the influence of the Xeno series, which I find handles such topics with far more grace than a stupid fourteen-year-old who thinks he has all the answers to life, the universe and everything, and if I do include religion in my stories nowadays, it's with the interests of good storytelling in mind first and foremost. As for this story, I'd recommend sticking to the first arc- things started going severely downhill once the tour ended.

Story VI: Murder by Smashing (Super Smash Bros., August 2010- April 2014) (Status: Dead, ironically enough)

Lots of smashing in my early stories, I'm starting to notice. Also, what in the blue hell caused that timespan? I was all set to cite Dungeon of Secrets as my first story to experience major schedule slip, and yet... here we are. Anyways, another AUA, this one taking Murder by Death, an old parody of classic whodunnits, and applying the situation to the characters present in Smash Bros. Brawl. There was some inspiration from another story, SneakyKitty's Clue at the Crazy Hand Mansion, which was a very similar premise, but based of Clue: The Movie. Funny enough, she actually dropped a review essentially giving the story her blessing, which was nice. I consider this story the opposite of Smash Warriors, which started off strong, but ran out of steam- this story started off at a horrendous crawl, depicting each of the thirty-odd characters coming to the mansion with much rehash of dialogue- some had unique lines, but mostly, there were several very same-y segments. It wasn't until the party started that things really started picking up, giving several moments I look back on with genuine fondness- only to fart out when this story, too, ended before its time. There's no Religion-in-Smash-Warriors reasoning for this, it just... didn't pan out. That said, this story is one I'd like to revisit sometime- not as it is, as so many jokes and plotlines I had in mind relied on things about Smash Bros. that no longer hold true. Perhaps not even with Smash Bros. at all- but Murder by Death is a genuinely good parody and satire of those classic murder mysteries, which I'm also a fan of, so perhaps we'll see this story's basic premise resurface in another form, another time.

Story VII: The Wizard of Odd (Super Smash Bros., October 2010-January 2011) (Status: Dead)

I was just dropping stories left and right my first year, wasn't I? Maybe if I knew the definition of 'restraint,' I wouldn't have so many dead fics. Then again, not like I've learned that lesson even today... This story's one I don't have much to say about, not because it was particularly bad- if anything, I think it's one of my better early works- but because even I don't fully understand why it died off so quickly. Sure, it was a little half-baked, and used a couple blindingly obvious gags, but that's nothing I'm particularly averse to, even today, and especially not back then. The oddest thing about it was the high regard in which it seemed to hold Pikachu, when it's a running gag between me and my friends that I hate that little yellow rat. I guess this must have been before that joke really got started. Too bad I never really finished this one, I'm sure it would have at least been better than the Tom and Jerry crossover...

Story VIII: Framed (Warrior Cats, November 2010-January 2011) (Status: Dead)

Oh, boy... no wonder this one fizzled out as fast as it did. Going off half-cocked with only the vaguest idea of what you actually want is a recipe for disaster... usually. My first story to have nothing whatsoever to do with video games, bringing the narrative of the 1993 film The Fugitive into the world of Warriors. The problem is, I had absolutely no plans for this. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision that I really should have sat on for longer than five seconds before typing out the first chapter. The writing was incredibly flimsy, sometimes because I wasn't thinking straight about the implications of the things I was writing, and sometimes because I was trying to adapt a far-reaching crime drama into a story about cats living in the woods... without thinking about the implications of what I was writing. I swear I have good Warriors stories under my belt, it just so happens that all my worst stories happen to be in this fandom too... Okay, this wasn't exactly bad bad, at least for the few chapters it lasted, but it clearly had no idea where it was going or how it would accomplish the things it set out to accomplish. Had it gone on, things would undoubtedly have gotten much... much... worse. Hmm... I feel like we'll see something like that later...

Story IX: Warriors: The Twelve Pains of Christmas (Warrior Cats, November 2010) (Status: One-shot)

I feel my best stories in regards to Warriors tend to be one-shots. Maybe because there's less time for me to smeg it up. Of course, as a comedy, this one wasn't meant to be taken particularly serious in the first place. An adaptation of the parody song, Twelve Pains of Christmas, forcing the forest clans to go through with such pains. One of my more popular stories for the fandom, especially considering its one-shot nature. Obviously not trying to weave a deep, meaningful tale, just some good, holiday fun, and I think a lot of people can appreciate that.

Story X: Warriors: Alone (Warrior Cats, November 2010) (Status: One-shot)

Lots of Warriors one-shots as my first year came to an end, I'm noticing. This one was based off a Garfield comic arc in which he awoke and found himself entirely alone in an abandoned house, and struggled to cope with having everything suddenly taken from him. One of my earliest exposures to psychological horror, and from a smegging Garfield comic, of all places. I think this story was a way for me to cope with what I'd seen, especially considering the rather goofy ending. I don't consider it among my better work, for Warriors or otherwise, but others seemed to enjoy it, and who am I to tell them otherwise?

Story XI: The New Chosen Ones (Harry Potter X Legend of Zelda, November 2010-July 2012) (Status: Dead)

The first story that I'd say was simply too ambitious for its own good, especially given my writing skill at the time. The premise? Simple: Voldemort discovers the Triforce, which breaks itself apart to avoid falling into his grasp, as it is wont to do. Harry, Ron, and Hermione receive a piece each, and... that's as far as I planned. I feel bad about this story, primarily because, despite its brief runtime, it was pretty popular compared to a lot of my other stuff- I guess other people saw the potential in such a crossover as well as I did. The problem was, I had no idea how to follow through on it- even within the first few chapters, problems are becoming evident, as the Golden Trio hardly react to waking up with these sick new tattoos on their hands. I'll get more into this later, but there seems to be an ironic block between me and the Harry Potter series- despite being among my favorites even today, and one of my biggest inspirations to start writing in the first place, I can't actually write for those characters to save my life. The codeword of the day is 'wasted potential.' Maybe someday, someone will do a story similar to this with the actual skill it deserves. Maybe it's already happened- it's not like I'm omniscient, after all. I hope someone does... or has. This concept deserves far better than I was able to give it.

Story XII: Metroid: Iron Woman (Metroid, December 2010) (Status: One-shot)

I don't know what it was with me and one-shots and the end of this year... Anyways, I know what you're thinking- nothing to do with the Marvel movie, Iron Man. Everything to do with the Black Sabbath song, Iron Man- as far as I can tell, the only connection between the two is that the latter played in the end credits of the former. Funny enough, the Black Sabbath song was also heavily alluded to in Wizard of Odd, foreshadowing Snake's future role as the Tin Man- or Iron Man, as you no doubt guessed. You may notice I've not brought up the story- well, there's not much to say. It's a little clunky, as I struggled to fit the lyrics of the song in with Samus's backstory. a decent job, if a little clunky if you try to imagine the characters actually singing it. As far as songfics go, I think you're better off sticking to Twelve Pains. Y'know, I've never really gone back to writing Metroid stories, though Samus has been a semi-major character in my Smash Bros. stories pretty much from day one. Given how this story pans out, maybe she's grateful that I've largely left her home world alone.

Story XIII: A Warrior's Christmas Carol (Warrior Cats, December 2010) (Status: Complete)

Of all the stories to be a serious attempt at longer-form storytelling that actually finished, it's yet another Christmas Carol adaptation. I guess every other IP in existence has a Christmas Carol episode, why not give one to Warriors, too? All things considered, this is actually one of my better Warriors stories, and as far as I can tell, about as faithful to Dickens's original text as one could get using a series about intelligent cats. Despite the unoriginality of the idea, it was decently well-received, which I find satisfying enough. It was miraculously finished in the same month it was started, right on Christmas Eve, no less. All that said, as far as Warriors Christmas specials go, I still prefer Twelve Pains.

Story XIV: Mario Mario and the Hylian Stone (Super Smash Bros., February 2011- February 2014... Kinda.) (Status: Complete)

Oh. Boy. Here we go. Everything before was petty stuff- here comes the story that really jumpstarted my career- the first story in the Mario Mario series, a saga adapting the Harry Potter novels into the world of Smash Bros., and, as things escalated, the world of video games in general. There's a bit of discrepancy with the timeline here- it says it was last updated in February 2014, and it was, but that was essentially an extended author's note letting longtime readers know about the state of the series at large- the first sequel was entirely complete by then, so you can bet Hylian Stone's actual date of completion was way earlier- it's just, I unfortunately have no way of determining when it actually was. As for the story itself, I obviously look back on it with some fondness, as it kickstarted so much of what would come to define my fanfic-writing career, but in the grand scheme of things, it's more important as a jumping off point than as a good story in and of itself. It was early days, the AUA aspects were very Mad-Libs-Esque, the references and fourth-wall breaks were far more clunky and on-the-nose than later installments, and a lot of the things I feel are associated with that series- snarky Mario, extended universe taking advantage of the video game elements, and a general sense of self-awareness are all absent. There's only one major deviation, plot-wise, and while it was a good one- at least in my opinion- it was, again, more notable for what it was paving the way for than anything else. It may not have been the best story, but it was the start of something wonderful- wouldn't trade it for the world.

Story XV: Super Smash Bros. Truth or Dare (Super Smash Bros., March 2011) (Status: Dead)

Another failure in capitalization... Probably should have taken that as a sign. My own take on the incredibly popular Truth or Dare trend of the day, in which authors inserted themselves into the story, forcing the characters into a reader- driven event, forced to answer any question or perform any feat levied against them. Most of these were in script format, but my goal with this one was to maintain the classic narrative format, while keeping everything else more or less classic. Marks the first time I appeared in my own stories as a character, something that's happened occasionally since, but with decent rarity- mostly only as one-off gags. Rather unfortunately, this only lasted for one chapter after the introduction- I was never able to find it in myself to continue past that. I guess, as far as this universe is concerned, Ness and Lucas really did end up killing everyone else. I recommend sealing off this timeline, though at least we got some laughs while it lasted.

Story XVI: Clanbound (Warrior Cats, December 2011- July, 2013) (Status: Dead)

The first of a planned trilogy adapting the Earthbound / Mother games to the world of Warriors... at least until this one fizzled out six chapters in. Honestly, I don't believe this concept was doomed from the start- both I and a few reviewers saw the potential such an idea had. The sequel would have striven to draw more connections between itself and the original than even the actual games did, and the third would, ideally, expose people to that final story in the way it was meant to be experienced... that is, not spoiled to hell and back by Smash Bros. What went wrong, I can't entirely say. One day, inspiration just... burned out, and I've not picked it up since. It would take years for me to attempt another Earthbound AUA, passing over Earthbound Zero / Beginnings altogether, but that's a story for another time...

Story XVII: Mario Mario and the Dungeon of Secrets (Super Smash Bros., January 2012- February 2014) (Status: Complete)

The follow-up to Mario Mario and the Hylian Stone, and, in my own opinion, a marked improvement, introducing several things that would become series mainstays, including a snarkier Mario, characters in general taking on some more life, more effort in general to break away from the main story in even minute ways, and more emphasis on self-aware fourth wall breaks, insofar as the characters themselves are aware they're living a parody of a pre-existing story. This is where the series really started coming into its own, though I think we can agree there was still some work to do in making the series exactly what it stands as now. Also notable for being the story I was writing when I discovered the Xeno series, which becomes rather obvious as several references to it manifested. This is the story that gave us the image of Mario wielding the Monado, after all. Most notable, however, for being the first installment of the series to experience some severe schedule slippage, which, rather unfortunately, has become as much a Gamer4 mainstay as copious references and complete disregard for the fourth wall.

Story XVIII: There Will be Claws (Warrior Cats, April 2012- May 2012) (Status: Complete, but in desperate need of euthanization)

My worst story. No contest. The standard by which I judge any other story of mine as crap. An effort to adapt the hit web series There Will be Brawl into the world of Warriors, primarily for the benefit of my sister. She gave me some pity likes, which is far more than this abomination ever deserved. Hardly any effort was taken to ensure that the story made any sense whatsoever in its new context, the dialogue was clunky, comparisons nonsensical, and a crappy ending done only because that was how the original series did it- albeit far better. All the witty jabs at the Smash Bros. universe prominent in the original were transplanted to the Warriors series with no concern for how they'd actually fit. Any rain that fell in the year of 2012 must have been God's tears. From this godforsaken story was born the Ultimate Despair. And holy smeg, was it bad.

Story XVIII.5: Unnamed Warriors-Metal Gear AUA (Warrior Cats, ???-???) (Status: Dear God, Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy)

Another story written for my sister, in much the same vein as There will be Claws, except even worse. By some divine miracle, the files were destroyed before they could cause any more damage. Never posted to this site. Consider that. There Will be Claws? Okay to post on fanfiction. Other crap I've written? Not even that good. God is dead, and my writing killed him.

Story XIX: Legend of the Warriors: Mapleshade's Mask (Warrior Cats, July 2012) (Status: Dead)

I really wish this was the story I'd completed, instead of the Unnameable up there. I feel it actually got a strong start, before falling flat on its face and dying two chapters in. There was something going for it, taking a character from the canon Warriors timeline and throwing him into an alternate version of his world where everything is different. The perfect excuse for the many characters to be acting somewhat OOC- technically, they're not the same characters. Four clans, four corners of the map, four giants, based on my second favorite Zelda game, one of my favorite games of all time... I regret ever having the idea to write There Will be Claws and its mutated hellspawn sibling at all, and I really regret that the effort that went to writing those couldn't have gone to seeing this story thorugh to the end.

Story XX: TOWER of Leaves (Teen Titans, April 2014-July 2014) (Status: Complete)

I want to relate a story. In high school, I picked up a book entitled House of Leaves, and was immediately entranced. Even today, it is a contender for my favorite book, period. The things the author, Mark Z. Danielewski was able to do to screw with his reader's heads impacted my imagination in a way only done by Hideo Kojima games up to that point. During my final year of high school, I decided to adapt one of the many stories it tells into a Teen Titans story. I'll admit that this isn't exactly my most popular story, and it's pretty clunky at times (I'm struggling to recall a single time Aqualad spoke, despite ostensibly being a main character,) but in the end, I feel this is one I can be proud of. I channeled all my stress and existential dread at the time into a horror story based on a book that expressed those things better than almost anything else I'd ever experienced, and in the long run, despite the occasional clunkiness, I feel it paid off. It may not have the most favorites or follows, but it did encourage some people to read the original book, and by me, that's good enough.

Story XXI: Beyond a Joke (Xenoblade, June 2014) (Status: One-shot)

My first Xenoblade story, and the only to be both complete and worth anything whatsoever. Inspired by a Red Dwarf episode of the same name, a post-game Melia discovers some uncomfortable truths about her race, and faces them with the help of her friend. The ending is the weakest part, as far as I'm concerned- I wasn't sure how to end it at all- but overall, I consider it a fine tribute to what rapidly became my favorite game of all time.

Story XXII: Mario Mario and the Prisoner of Subspace (Super Smash Bros., June 2014- March 2015) (Status: Complete)

The third Mario Mario installment, bringing in more references, more fourth-wall-breaks, and yet another series innovation, the Random Quickie, in which the story itself takes a break to go off on a random comedic tangent with no relation to the main plot. I consider this to be the point where the series started getting really good, but ironically, this is where my beta reader, GeorgeKYST, stopped reading the series altogether. Y'see, by sheer chance, he was a reader of my content years before we actually met, and he jumped ship around this story's time period due to, as he has repeatedly informed me, being unimpressed by the numerous fourth-wall breaks. While I and several others disagree with him on that count, he has stood firm on that one. In terms of story, this one went out of its way to have a twist from the original source material, practically becoming a joke in its own right, just how far I was willing to go there.

Story XXIII: Faron (Legend of Zelda, August 2014) (Status: Dead)

The ultimate example of being too ambitious for its own good, this story's premise was to have the worlds of all the Zelda games collide in one grand battle over the future of Hyrule. The first chapter set up such a thing with much aplomb... only for the second to arrive and show, pretty clearly, that I had no idea whatsoever how to follow through on such a promise. Fortunately, this is something that was foreseen by plenty of readers- only one or two people actually seemed to place faith in me to pull something like this off, but I feel bad for letting them down nonetheless. Zelda seems to be another series along the lines of Harry Potter- for all my love of the source material, I have no skill when it actually comes to writing those characters.

Story XXIV: Xenoblade Novelization (Xenoblade, January 2015) (Status: Dead)

With all the love I've given Xenoblade pretty much since I found it, it only seemed natural I'd try something like this. Unfortunately, I started it at a really inopportune, turbulent time in my life, leading to the abandonment of the project before it was rightly begun. Amusingly, the first time I tried uploading the prologue, I accidentally uploaded a chapter of Prisoner of Subspace- perhaps an early sign that this story simply was not meant to be. That said, I have started a second attempt, in a way... you'll see later on.

Story XXV: Live Alive (Multi-fandom, March 2015-February 2016) (Status: Complete)

A mini-series attempting to adapt Live A Live, a SNES-era RPG that I consider to be criminally underknown, probably due to only getting a fan translation stateside, albeit one of the best fan translations this side of Mother 3. In the past, I'd attempted to write a similar mult-crossover story, which I'll get to later, only for it to fail- largely because it's very difficult to even find such stories. To this end, I took advantage of Live A Live's chapter system to have several different stories, each in their own universe, so that anyone wishing to see them finally come together could do so when the final story dropped. Unfortunately, these individual stories... weren't always the best. Let's take a look:

Story XXV.1: Link's Story: Rescue (Legend of Zelda, March 2015) (Status: Complete)

An incredibly average start to the mini-series, and, like any time I try writing for the Zelda series directly, the definition of wasted potential. The idea of an alliance between Vaati and an outside force, and Zelda more or less manipulating Link from the shadows to ensure he could take them both down all had potential- but in execution, it was incredibly clumsy. It got across the bare basics of Live A Live's ninja chapter, and was just barely above what I'd call flat-out bad. Not my worst memory from this mini-series, but far from the best.

Story XXV.2: Ness's Story: The Scouring of Onette (Earthbound, March 2015) (Status: Complete)

More inspired by than based on Live A Live's cowboy chapter, Ness returns to Onette after his journey to find a brutal street gang has taken over, and begins laying plans to take back his town. My personal favorite story in the mini-series, fitting snugly into its canon in a way that several others simply don't. The title is a take-off on Lord of the Ring's Scouring of the Shire, and that's how it feels, as a very natural epilogue to Ness's long journey that happens to have some ties in to the overall Live Alive plot. The characters feel truer to themselves here than in several of the other stories, and Ness himself is one of my favorite characters to write. Of all Live Alive, this is the story I have the best memories with.

Story XXV.3: Shinji's Story: The Mysterious Child (Neon Genesis Evangelion, March 2015) (Status: Complete)

My first time writing for Evangelion, and it shows. This episode has only the barest understanding of the Evangelion universe and how it functions. Add in some clumsily-written plot, heavy-handed dialogue, and only a bare connection to Live A Live's Mech chapter, and you likely understand why this isn't my fondest memory from the series. Admittedly, it's not terrible, but it's a far cry from what I'd call 'good' as well.

Story XXV.4: Akane's Story: The Wild Gang (Ranma 1/2, March 2015) (Status, Complete)

My first, and thus far only, time writing for Ranma. This one is strange- it felt right when I was actually writing it, but every time I look it over again, it seems to decrease in quality. I still feel it has some good ideas, I'd never call it outright bad, but... just read Ganheim's review, he summed up all the issues better than I ever could. At the very least, I feel, it is recognizable as this series's stand-in for Live A Live's Kung Fu chapter.

Story XXV.5: Fireheart's Story: The Singing Cave (Warrior Cats, March 2015) (Status: Complete)

My last time writing for Warriors, and if I never write another Warriors story, I can at least say I left the fandom on a high note, because this is one of the stronger stories in the Live Alive mini-series, right up there with Scouring of Onette. Something about it seems to slip naturally right into the early seasons of the Warriors series, to the point that, if I'd presented it as a standalone story with no connection to anything else, nobody would have batted an eye. It holds itself together far better than some of the other entries, and is almost enough to make me forget those other abominations I wrote for the same fandom. Personally, I consider it fine way to adapt Live A Live's caveman chapter.

Story XXV.6: KOS-MOS's Story: Ghost in the Machine (Xenosaga, March 2015) (Status: Complete)

From the mini-series second-best story, right into its worst. My first, and thus far only time writing for Xenosaga, and after the disgrace that was this story, I don't know if I can ever touch 'saga in good conscience again. Live A Live's Sci-Fi chapter was one of the best, incorporating the best elements of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Alien series... and I managed to capture none of that in my adaptation. If that weren't enough, I also managed to butcher the characters and lore of Xenosaga itself, something I doubt I'll ever forgive myself for. Throw in horrendous pacing, dialogue, build-up and payoffs, and I don't blame anyone who found themselves wishing this site had some sort of downvote mechanic. This story was my profile's equivalent of a Netflix adaptation.

Story XXV.7: Harry's Story: True Magic (Harry Potter, March 2015) (Status: Complete)

From the worst installment to probably the second-worst, this is a poor effort to adapt Live A Live's Wrestler chapter. Harry participates in a dueling tournament in an effort to raise awareness for the DA, finds someone murdering the contestants, and eventually finds himself up against the murderer in question. It sounds like it could have been a good idea, but throw in an astounding lack of character, no rhyme or reason to pretty much anything that happens, and Harry himself barely reacting to anything that happens, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Geez, for someone who built a career AUA-ing the Harry Potter series, I really cannot write the Harry Potter universe if it's not through the lens of video games.

Story XXV.8: Raven's Story: Skyfall (Teen Titans, March 2015) (Status: Complete)

The Knight chapter of Live A Live is the chapter of the grand reveal, as the player finally begins to understand what's been going on throughout the game up to this point. Raven's story was built to reflect that, and in some ways, it succeeded. In others, not so much. This isn't a bad installment- it's freaking godly next to KOS-MOS and Harry's episodes- but I have trouble saying it meets the expectations of the original chapter in any meaningful way. The Knight chapter was a convincing story of tragedy, heartbreak, and ultimately, revenge that is meant to leave the player themself wondering if they would be able to hold themselves together in Oerstead's position, and I just feel I didn't quite get that across in this episode. I'm not sure I myself buy just how quickly everything falls apart for our dear anti-hero, and some of the characters- Beastboy in particular- have to be acting rather out-of-character for this story to work at all. That said, it did accomplish what it set out to do, becoming the Live Alive miniseries's penultimate installment.

Story XXV.9: Time Crash (Legend of Zelda X Earthbound X Neon Genesis Evangelion X Ranma 1/2 X Warrior Cats X Xenosaga X Harry Potter X Teen Titans, March 2015- February 2016) (Status: Complete)

It's a miracle this story was ever finished at all. Many a time, I felt like just throwing in the towel, but in the end, I'm glad I persisted. Not because the final product was any sort of masterpiece, but because I really needed the closure. In the final act of the Live Alive mini-series, the protagonists from the first seven stories find themselves in Jump City for one final confrontation with the mastermind behind all their suffering- if you've been paying attention, you likely already know who it is. The grand story, I feel, was a mess with little rhyme or reason to anything happening, but there was something salvageable in the little moments- in Ness using his psychic powers so that the others could hear Fireheart speak, in Link and Harry exchanging life stories on top of a building, in Ness developing an almost brotherly relationship with Shinji, which, I think we can agree, the poor kid needs. In the end, everyone gets their chance to shine, clunky as it may be, and it ends on what I'd consider a satisfying note. Amusingly, this story includes an epilogue hinting at a sequel, and at times, I have considered writing a pseudo-sequel along the lines of Chrono Trigger, which is, in many ways, Live A Live's spiritual successor. However, I think it's safe to say that won't be coming to light- not now. Once more, perhaps, another place, another time.

Story XXVI: Mario Mario and the Bottle of Lightning (Super Smash Bros., March 2015- March 2016) (Status: Complete)

Technically, this story's first chapter went up before Time Crash, but I didn't want to break Live Alive's flow. Anyways, this is my personal favorite installment in the Mario Mario series- as far as I'm concerned, what the series was truly meant to be. Oddball hijinks, random quickies, pop culture references for days, nothing but disdain for the fourth wall (Sorry, Georgie,) and even new characters and plotlines introduced that had nothing to do with characters and plotlines from the original text. In fact, the impetus for the entire series was a scene that didn't get to be written until this very story. This may well be in the running for my favorite story that I've written, period- practically every memory it gave me was a good one, and coming off of the somewhat disappointing Live Alive miniseries, as well as the turbulent times my life was still going through, that's something I desperately needed. It's no accident I almost finished this one before Time Crash, despite a nearly forty-chapter difference in length.

Story XXVII: Once Upon an Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion, April 2015) (Status: One-shot)

My first return to Evangelion after Live Alive, and agruably a far better story than what that mini-series provided, despite- or perhaps because- it was a comedy bit that just included the characters goofing around. Based on Once Upon an Ed, one of my favorite episodes from one of my favorite cartoons, Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, this story finds Shinji, Asuka, and Rei stuck in Misato's wall, and struggling to explain to the drunk woman how they came to be there, each putting their own fantastic spin on the story. A simple premise, one that didn't try to be anything more than a comedic one-shot, and probably came out better for it. Throw in some Pen-Pen action, and you've got a recipe for great things.

Story XXVIII: Merry Christmas, Baka (Neon Genesis Evangelion, April 2015) (Status: One-shot)

Yup, a Christmas one-shot... in April. It's things like this that make people think I'm on drugs. Anyways, this story actually shares many similarities with Beyond a Joke, being primarily a more heartfelt story loosely based on an episode of British programming, before the BBC went to hell. In this case, a small scene from the second season of Sherlock, extended into a short story for Evangelion, as Shinji fails to confess his love to Asuka, who in turn learns to appreciate what she has. Honestly, I don't consider it one of my better works, but a surprising number of people seem to really like it- and, as I always say, who am I to stop them?

Story XXIX: Mario Mario and the Unexpected Drama (Super Smash Bros., August 2015- October 2015) (Status: Complete)

Unexpected is right- I doubt a single reader was expecting this one. In a spin-off from Bottle of Lightning, Mario and co. find themselves putting on a stage play adaptation of Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, one of my personal favorites. The play itself was nothing particularly special- it was rather Mad-Libs esque again, primarily because I couldn't bring myself to alter the masterful dialogue that Tarantino films are known for, but the circumstances going on behind the scenes make the story, as the actors discover a dark(?) conspiracy behind it all. All in all, a fun little diversion from the main Mario Mario series, which gives us the chance to imagine Mario and Link dressed as Jules and Vincent.

Story XXX: The Tome (Multi-crossover, November 2015) (Dead)

My least popular story, and technically, a reupload. Based on Eternal Darkness, one of my favorite horror games, my first attempt at adapting this story came pretty early on, before Live Alive at least. Problem was, nobody read it, so I deleted it and sought to rectify the problems inherent in multi-crossovers with Live Alive- we've already been over that. However, in Live Alive's wake, I was approached by someone who wanted to know whatever became of this story, and ultimately, I promised to restart it, which I did in November of 2015... and nobody read it. I'm keeping it up this time, in case someone stumbles upon it and finds it an interesting idea, but barring a miracle on par with Eternal Darkness getting a sequel, this one's likely to remain as dormant as the dark tome itself.

Story XXXI: Mario Mario and the Order of Philanthropy (Super Smash Bros., April 2016- Present) (Status: Hibernating)

Yup, this story has the worst schedule slip of them all. It's gone literal years without an update, but make no mistake, I intend to return one day and finish the task I set myself. Even I'm not sure exactly what's caused this extreme lapse. Something to do with the more political nature of the source material, and how it ties into a large number of things deeply affecting me personally, causing a struggle between handling those things with tact and having a repeat of the downfall of Super Smash Warriors, back in the day? Probably something like that. Mario Mario was once the shining light of this channel, but everything changed when the RWBY nation attacked. Mario Mario himself was the only one who could stand against the tide, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. Some believe he is gone forever, but I have faith that, just like the phoenix, he will rise from the ashes once again.

Story XXXII: The Faunus in the High Castle (RWBY, December 2016-Present) (Status: Hibernating)

My first RWBY story, way back when I held this series in esteem. An adaptation of Ico, one of my favorite games, and I feel a pretty decent one. A couple things don't make total sense, but on the whole, I still believe this story has potential, and, like Philanthropy, fully intend to make a comeback at some point in the future.

Story XXXIII: RWBY County (RWBY, January 2017- January 2018) (Status: Unclear)

A series of humorous RWBY one-shots, still in the era when I had nothing but love for the series and its creators. A great deal has happened since then, but most importantly, I've started up not one, but two separate RWBY stories that could easily replace this one. Perhaps this one will rise again, in some distant future- I'm not ready to call it dead yet, but I'm not confident enough to say it's in hibernation either. As far as this story goes, I can only say- there will be water if God wills it.

Story XXXIV: The Ice Cream Lady (RWBY, July 2018- March 2019) (Status: Complete)

One of my prouder stories in recent years, an adaptation of Stephen King's It, incorporating what I viewed as the best elements from the book, mini-series, and first movie- the story was complete before the second released. I look back on this one rather fondly for several reasons, including being my first real collaborative effort in writing- my friend Breenut helped provide some art which, creatively used, added an extra layer of intrigue to the story's later acts. This has the honor of being the first story to receive beta reading from GeorgeKYST, albeit only in the last act, but that last act would not be what it is without his input. It's not perfect, obviously, but I can't help considering it one of my better efforts in recent years.

Story XXXV: Masks of our Hearts (RWBY, April 2019- May 2019) (Status: In all likelihood, dead)

A return to my 'too-ambitious-for-my-own-good' mindset, this was meant to be the first in an entire series, adapting each installment of the Persona franchise, introducing a new universe every time. RWBY drew the first stick, and got to be the universe for Persona: Revelations, which went... well, you can probably tell. I still think the idea had some merit, but there comes a time when a man's gotta know his limits, and if I can't even write this first story, I have no business continuing on towards the entire franchise. At least I got another awesome drawing from Breenut, though.

Story XXXVI: The Rose-Xiao Long Show (RWBY, May 2019- December 2019) (Status: Unclear)

The RWBY one-shot series that unseated RWBY county, continuing the idea of a series of comedic 'episodes,' but this time with the skit-com sensibilities of the Red Green Show, one of my fondest memories from my youth. This one, not gonna lie, was pretty darn popular, and fun to write- but in light of all the stuff I've got right now, if it does come back, it's not likely to be for a while.

Story XXXVII: The Watcher in the Darkness (Danganronpa, November 2019) (Status: Probably dead)

My first story for Danganronpa, which, as of now, has the potential to take over from RWBY as my golden series, especially since I've become so disenchanted with the latter in recent times. If so, though, it probably won't be with this story, which is almost a return to those early days of frivolously creating new stories without any clear idea of how I could possibly follow up on them. This story would have been part of my own private movement- the Make Slender Man Scary Again movement, intended to remind people why this character once inspired such fear before he got memed into oblivion- and Sony happened. Unfortunately, I pretty clearly had no idea how to write Danganronpa characters at the time, and while I like to think I've improved in the meantime, I don't think I'll be returning to this particular title any time soon.

Story XXXVIII: Vale (RWBY, November 2019- April 2020) (Status: Complete)

I started writing this one after becoming disenchanted with the RWBY series, and particularly Rooster Teeth, the company behind it. This story was more or less a response to that disenchantment, channeling my feelings on the matter into the narrative of Twin Peaks, my current favorite television show. As things in Twin Peaks grew wrong once Lynch left the show, Vale strove to make it clear that something is no longer right with RWBY- something in the world has gone fundamentally wrong, and there's no changing it unless we can face it first. My former favorite show with my current, one on a broken pedestal, and the other still standing high. This story was far from flawless, but it was one I needed to write, I feel. And... it's not entirely done yet.

Story XXXIX: Yet Another Multiverse (RWBY, November 2019- Present) (Status: Ongoing)

Unquestionably my most popular story, with over six hundred favorites , seven hundred followers, and two hundred reviews, something that the me still writing Smash Bros. Truth or Dare could only dream of. Like that story, this is my take on an already-existing trend- the 'let's take the characters of a story and have them watch their own fanfictions' concept. Again, I try to put my own spin on it, focusing on some lesser known IPs, including a retry of Earthbound and Live A Live, no less. Maybe one day, I'll break down the universes included in this story in a little addendum section under all this- keep an eye down there, I guess, if you're interested. My relationship with this one became rather rocky as my disenchantment with the show and Rooster Teeth only grew and grew, but I've come to terms with that- somewhat. The characters in this story come from before their corruption, and the wraparound plot is, in no small part, a battle to keep them from becoming cruel mockeries of themselves. One of my favorite stories to write, as both of my friends, GeorgeKYST and StevenRipfist act as beta readers for it, and extras in the story itself. George has even begun work on his own episodes for it, and I couldn't be more grateful. This story's going strong, and likely will stay that way for a while. Hmm... Yeah, I'll probably throw a summary of the many universes in after all the other stories, later on, when I have the time and inclination.

Story XL: Vale, Le Morte D'Arc (RWBY, April 2020- August 2020) (Status: Complete)

A prequel to Vale, based upon Fire Walk With Me, the prequel film to Twin Peaks. This story has its highs and lows for me- the highs are really high, the lows really low. It redoubles that sense of something being fundamentally wrong with the world of RWBY, and gives a little more insight as to what that might be. Not as popular as the main series, much as Fire Walk with Me wasn't originally as popular as the tv show it was based on. For some reason, though, I just couldn't let the world go.

Story XLI: Return to Vale: Yellow Trailer (Persona, August 2020) (Status: One-shot)

Yup, all this RWBY, and a Persona story comes right the smeg out of nowhere. In the latter chapters of Vale, due to an increasing number of character roles to cover and not enough RWBY characters to cover them, I ended up incorporating some characters from Persona. By the time of Return to Vale, a follow-up to the original story, and for which this story is a preview, it's become a full crossover- a risky move, I understand, but it was never going to work any other way. In a way, I thought, it helped emphasize the overall theme of wrongness in the world, as the Inaba Investigation Team finds themselves forced to sell their souls for a lead on the latest criminal mastermind, all set to Red Like Roses, of all songs.

Story XLII: Return to Vale: White Trailer (RWBY, August 2020) (Status: One-shot)

The only trailer for Return to Vale that actually uses RWBY characters- in this case, Weiss, following up, in a vague way, on her fate from the original Vale storyline. It's still rather ambiguous, and in a lot of ways, is almost a direct remake of the original White Trailer for RWBY, down to the use of Mirror Mirror. I'm sure anyone following the preview was glad to see an actual RWBY character taking center stage.

Story XLIII: Return to Vale: Black Trailer (Persona, August 2020) (Status: One-shot)

Another Persona-centered trailer, in which Akira (Joker) Kurusu finds himself caught up in the events of the Vale saga. Set to 'From Shadows,' he finds himself recruited by a law enforcement agency to hunt down a rising criminal mastermind. He would later become a major player in Return to Vale proper.

Story XLIV: Return to Vale: Red Trailer (Neon Genesis Evangelion, August 2020) (Status: One-shot)

Yup, Evangelion. Just as you were trying to wrap your head around Persona being in some way canon with a RWBY story, Evangelion kicks down the door. Ultimately, Shinji and Askua are minor characters in Return to Vale proper (at first,) but for this near-verbatim reenactment of RWBY's Yellow Trailer, they (Asuka in particular) get to be stars. Ironically the most popular of the trailers, with as many favorites and more followers than the other three combined. I guess people really like the idea of Asuka standing up for Shinji for a change. I get it, Advice and Trust is on my favorites list, after all.

Story XLV: Return to Vale (RWBY X Persona, August 2020- Present) (Status: Hibernating)

The final installment of the Vale saga, following the third and final season of Twin Peaks. Picking up 25 years after the events of the original, the people must look up and see the world falling apart around them, or let it decay while they do nothing. Unupdated since September due to many personal upheavals, but make no mistake, this story isn't over 'til the fat lady sings.

Story XLVI: The Mind of a Thief (RWBY, September 2020- Present) (Status: Hibernating)

An adaptation of the Henry Stickmin collection starring Jaune Arc, and featuring a character based off my own brother Aramis. Really the story where I started toying with the ideas of all my stories being set in a vast multiverse, alongside Ice Cream Lady and Yet Another Multiverse, but I suppose that would include There Will Be Claws... Anyways, while it's been a while since this one got any attention, I definitely intend to go back and finish it at some point in the future.

Story XLVII: Fragments of Hope (Danganronpa, December 2020- Present) (Status: Ongoing)

My first Danganronpa story to be any good, with the intent of adapting Stephen King's The Stand using every possible character from across the Danganronpa series. My timing could probably use a little work, I understand, but this wasn't one I wanted to push to the back-shelf. As of now, it stands at the end of its first act, and I fully intend to finish it before it can go on any years-long hiatuses as some of my other stories have.

Story XLVIII: My Next Life as the Ultimate Despair (Danganronpa, January 2021- Present) (Status: Ongoing)

Finally, my most recent story, and hopefully, the last one I'll start until I start getting things back under control. A crossover between Danganronpa and some of my own OCs from my personal project, Solaris. It has long been my dream to write my own original content, and Solaris is where those efforts are heading. The purpose of My Next Life is twofold- to create a fun story about Danganronpa's supervillain suddenly going good due to a new set of memories, and to practice writing Jack Baker, one of Solaris's key characters, and some other characters as well. As of now, I am delighted to say that it is going strong. I'm sure if the me of eleven years ago could see where he is now, he'd probably have a heart attack, only to be resuscitated via his favorite Mountain Dew.