Da Rules

I’m sorry that I have to keep taking up space with these announcements, but this will be the last one for a while. I swear.

First off, surely you have noticed some of the drama taking place on the official site blogs and the PLB website. It’s all very unfortunate, but I do not wish to bring the controversy over here. As such, there will be a few policy changes to ensure as little controversy as possible. And unfortunately, some rules. Most of these are common sense, and I don’t think we will ever have to worry about one of our members breaking them. However, I hope to make everything clear from the start, especially for the off-site visitors who wish to comment.

1) “Stay on target!”
This site is for any kind of fiction that you wish to post. It will most likely be Star Wars fanfiction that we will see, but any other fanfiction or even original fiction is certainly welcome. I will try to keep these official announcements to a minimum. That being said, don’t make frivolous off-topic posts. We come here to read fiction, so we expect to see fiction on the page.

2) “You came to the training house looking for a fight."
The point of having a site such as this is to improve our writing. You are welcome to criticize a story, but attacking the author or bashing the story is not allowed. If you’re looking for a fight, move right along. Antagonistic comments will either be deleted or ridiculed.

3) "Everybody not talking about sex, in here. Everyone else, out there."
Ratings, ratings, ratings. Every Star Wars movie is rated PG, except Revenge of the Sith, which is rated PG-13. So a good rule of thumb is the following: if it can’t go in a Star Wars movie, it can’t go on this site. I’m talking about explicit sex scenes, graphic violence, excessive swearing, etc.

Filmratings.com defines PG-13 as the following: "Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. This signifies that the film rated may be inappropriate for pre-teens. Parents should be especially careful about letting their younger children attend. Rough or persistent violence is absent; sexually-oriented nudity is generally absent; some scenes of drug use may be seen; one use of the harsher sexually derived words may be heard."

The official policy here is the following: any story posted must rated PG-13 (or lower, of course). If it’s not appropriate for a Star Wars movie, it’s not appropriate here. That is to say that sci-fi/fantasy violence is fine, as long as it isn’t disgustingly descriptive. References to sex and sexuality are acceptable, so long as they are used sparingly and done with a certain amount of tact. As for swearing, do what EU or science fiction authors do -- make up a word or an expression, rather than dropping the f-bomb constantly. And here I'm referring to the "f-word" we use here on earth. "Farkled," "festering," "fierfek," "flaming," "frag," "frell," "frotz," and of course, "frak" (or "frack") are very welcome here. Oh, where would I be without "frak?"

Any inappropriate stories will be deleted. Dong ma?

4) "Oh God! I can't know that!"
If there are any spoilers for the Star Wars expanded universe or non-Star Wars universes in your stories, please say so at the beginning out of respect for readers.

5) Gah! I ran out of good quotes!
This site is meant to be accessible and open to anyone’s participation. “Non-members” (those who are not on the contributor list) are welcome to comment, provided they do so in a respectful manner. Also, if you happen to stumble upon this site and wish to submit a story, let me (Marvolo) know. I can either make you a member if you intend to be a regular contributor, or I can simply post the story for you if you email it to me. My email address can be found in my profile, so shoot me an email or post a comment on this site announcing your intentions.

This site will be open to those who wish to participate in it, but I won’t be broadcasting its existence all over the internet. I don’t want it to get too unwieldy.

6) “I don't know, should I tell you how funny you are, or post links that have nothing to do with the blog? Decisions.”
You may promote the stories you post on this site by linking to them from other sites, but don’t be obnoxious about it. Or else I’ll be forced to hand out a few Rush Limbaugh Gratuitous Self-Promotion Awards.

7) “I will make it legal!”
Disclaimer: All fanfiction stories on this site use characters, worlds, and fictional universes that do not belong to us. We are not making any profit from their use.


Those are the rules. Any questions or clarifications needed? Post ‘em here.

Also, we need a new name for this site. Something that doesn’t have OPLBFC in it. Any suggestions?

And finally, how is everyone’s entry for the challenge going? Any queries? Post 'em here.

The Hit by D525.

It was morning. A soft, silvery rain had come and passed and the dense woods seemed to permanently trap the moisture in the air, as if the tiny droplets were forever caught in suspension between rain and fog. Occasionally rays of sunlight pierced the tree canopy and sliced down thru the woodland depths, highlighting the swirling mists. Everything glistened wet.

Vaquero sat motionless aboard his parked speeder, contemplating his next move. He had followed them here to this remote site and it suited his needs perfectly, it was time to complete the contract.

The contract called for the elimination of a Chieftain known as Yurrlan, and the elimination of a Wookiee Chieftain was certainly not an act that Vaquero took lightly. Clan wars on Kashyyyk did not typically present bounties that he would consider, but this one was very different, and just too juicy to pass up. The client was wealthy, extremely so, had paid nearly half up front, and for whatever reasons wished this particular clan to be dealt a serious hit. So here he was, sitting in a damp forest calculating the best possible method to accomplish that goal.

He cycled the display in his helmet thru ambient light filters, to ultraviolet, to electromagnetic, and then finally to infra-red, which was really the only filter that offered much help sighting thru the heavy mists. The Wookiees had started a fire at their site, that much was certain, and that made it difficult to positively identify exactly how many were up and moving about. It appeared that there were four distinct figures milling about on the near side of the fire, relatively close to Vaquero's position. They were four very large figures at that, four adult males.

Naturally, as with any unusual contract, there were alarm bells going off inside his head. Why in the galaxy would a wealthy individual take any interest in the inner workings of a clan on Kashyyyk? Vaquero had recently executed a very lucrative contract with this particular client, and that had boosted his confidence in the client's stability, but this was still quite unusual. Even more unusual was the fact that the group Vaquero's target was traveling with didn't seem all that concerned with being attacked. They had journeyed to this remote site, which offered modest protection at best, and really they weren't outfitted for defending themselves.

He hadn't yet made visual confirmation that Yurrlan was here, but this was the group the Chieftain had left the tree city of Itaska with, and there had been no splintering or defections from the main group. Point of fact, they had been fairly simple to track. Vaquero hated to assume things, but then again there was never any certainty in this line of work. You had to trust your instincts and skills to get you thru.

Close enough to his target that he could proceed on foot, Vaquero made straight for the sentries milling about just ahead. A verpine rifle with a suppressor could eliminate them without a notion of commotion or a bit of noise, but he needed to verify that they weren't visible to anyone from the camp. He clicked back to ambient light, but they still weren't visible to him thru the mists and tree trunks and vegetation. Back to IR. Three smaller figures had suddenly joined the four sentries. Their sizes were that of adolescents, large compared to a human, but Wookiee children nonetheless. Vaquero paused mid-step then slowly sank down onto his haunches, crouching, watching the IR display of his helmet very intently.

The worst happened. The three smaller figures eagerly left the sentry group, and as if life would have it any other way, the children headed straight towards his position. They playfully pushed one another and wrestled momentarily, but sure enough their course was dead on toward where Vaquero crouched. He quickly checked visible conditions once more, and saw that he was camouflaged quite well, blending in with the giant fern leaves and undergrowth that crowded so thickly around the enormous tree trunks. Sealed within the bodysuit of his armor he did not emit any scent at all.

Back to IR again. The trio were still closing on him, rapidly, and quite directly. He brought the verp up about as fast as a flower blooms, carefully sighting on the lead child, safety off. The young Wookiee had his head turned and was conversing with Wookiee number two in line behind him. They were thirty feet from him and closing.

Vaquero's finger settled easily onto the trigger, and he slowed his breathing. Crosshairs on the lead Wookiee's turned head. Number three abruptly slugged the leader in the arm and raced off to the right. The lead two howled something after him, then gave chase.

Vaquero exhaled softly, lifting his finger and lowering the verp.

The roar was ground-shaking and it bellowed from directly behind him, so close that he could actually feel the power of it, and before he had the chance to turn, he was slammed flat to the ground by a blow so forceful that he nearly went unconscious, even with armor on. Dazed, he tried desperately to roll, to get clear of his attacker, but powerful hands grabbed a hold of him, lifting him high into the air.

He could hear and feel another roar. The sensation of being thrown, of being weightless in flight, his field of vision was senseless, everything a blur in the IR filter. The end came abruptly.

There was only darkness.

So be it…blogger.com

This is version 2.0 of a post that I’ve already lost trying to submit to this infernal site. That’s why you type it up in word first, kids.

*Straps on mod cap*

First of all, we now have a logo! And by that I mean: I took Rive’s logo and did a crude job of replacing “fan” with “fanfic” in photoshop. D’you think he’ll notice?

I’ve sent out invites to everyone, and the new members are steadily trickling in. If you’re reading this and you haven’t received an invite for some reason, post a comment here or send me an email.

Next, this is an announcement for some of our newer OPLBFC members. Back in mid-May, Kenobi-fan posted his very first attempt at fanfiction -- and I will not be the first, nor the last to say that it was a mighty impressive one. So if you haven’t read it yet, I’ve provided the link here. And if you have read it before, I’m making it easy to find, because this fanfic definitely merits a re-read.

Impressions of the Force

On a related note, I’ve been editing the posted fic to put a line in between each paragraph. In my opinion, this makes it a lot easier to read (ie. the entire thing doesn’t look like a giant block of text). I’ve done the first little bit, but let me know what you think. Do you prefer the old way? If so, I can change it back.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (the official site, that is), Dark Spork has posted a blog entry with a bit of advice for those who are new at writing fanfiction. True, it’s all pretty basic stuff, and she thinks blogger.com is a less than ideal place to post fanfiction, but there are some good links in there.

The Official Rules for the Fanficolicious Challenge

The goal with this fanfiction challenge is to set a deadline, and to have participants submit a work of Star Wars fanfiction before that deadline and post it here for their fellow bloggers to read, and inevitably, to rip apart (not to scare anyone off or anything!) We're all writers here, and some of us have tried our hand at fiction before. This could offer us the opportunity to critique each other in a non-threatening environment, and improve our writing. For some of us (myself included), it will be an opportunity to expand our horizons. And for others, (I am definitely speaking of myself here), it will provide a much needed kick in the rear to actually finish said work of fanfiction. I know that all of you have at least one good story in you! It's time to put it on the page!

By popular request, I will grant participants the freedom to write about whatever they want. You can choose any era, any characters, or anything in the Star Wars universe to explore. There will be as few restrictions as possible to inhibit our imaginations.

The only parameters for the story itself are that:
1) The story must be set primarily within the Star Wars universe (obviously).
2) It must strive to be in-continuity. Don't worry too much about this. Obviously I'm not asking you to do hours of research or read every single EU book. Simply ask yourself if what's going on in your story makes sense and doesn't mess up anything going on in the movies. For example, you can't have Han running around on Alderaan if you're writing a story set in between TESB and RotJ. And as Luuke put it, "if you haven't read the EU? So what. If it fits in with movie continuity but messes with a book, I say good enough."
3) It must contain a duck in some way, shape, or form.

Deadline & submission information:
The deadline will be July 15th. Submission will work in the following way: Starting on July 12th, participants may submit their completed stories by posting them on this site. This submission period will end on July 15th. If you are absent and unable to post your story during that time, email your story to me, and I will post it. On July 16th, I will post a list with links to every story. That way we will have an easy way to access the stories even as they disappear off the first page. After the submission period has ended, all perticipants are highly encouraged to comment on these stories and provide feedback. You can take your time with it -- that's why the list is there.

Other stuff
We still need to decide on a required story length, and I would like some feedback on this. I would like to say that participants can make the story as long as they want, but I'm not so sure that I want to read a five hundred page epic. My thoughts are that the story should be at least 2,000 words.

Participation in this challenge is not mandatory, but is highly recommended (maybe only by me, but recommended nevertheless). 2,000 words can be pounded out in an afternoon with sufficient motivation, and I don't care how terrible it is. This is a challenge, after all. You may even surprise yourself.

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Any questions can be posed here. Also, let me know if I forgot anything.

Fanfic For Bloggers

Welcome to the Official PLB Fanfiction website!

This blog was created as a sister site to the blog of the Official PLB Fan Club. Unnecessary, you say? Perhaps. But frankly, I was tired breaking my mouse from having to scroll through all of that fanfiction. And really, who doesn't want to extend the life of their mouse? So the idea (thanks to Oboe-Wan, by the way) behind this site is to move all fanfiction over here. Invites to all OPLBFC members will be forthcoming. We all love Star Wars, so I assume that we will be mostly posting Star Wars fanfiction, but I don't want to limit you to that. Crossovers, non-Star Wars fanfic, and even original fiction are also welcome. Feel free to post any fiction or fanfiction here to share with rest of the OPLBFC. Sure, we're a critical bunch, but don't be intimidated. The idea is to improve everyone's writing by offering contructive criticism.

Most importantly, this blog will play host to the Official OPLBFC Fanficolicious Challenge, the rules for which may be found here. The rules will also be posted in this blog after I've gotten everything up and running.