Awkward Geek Confession: Fan Fiction
I was inspired by Mick’s brave, honest confession about his childhood cartoon crushes, and I’ll admit that while I also had a little crush on Misty, I was more of a Hermione fan myself. But that’s not what I’m here to confess. I’m here to confess my love for fan fiction.
Growing up, I was an introverted, geeky kid with a wild imagination. I would play Pokemon on my Game Boy Color, then run outside and be a Pokemon trainer. Reading Harry Potter was great--but so was pretending to be a wizard (remember, I have a huge crush on Hermione). Did I love watching Power Rangers? Of course, but not half as much as I loved imagining that I was one.
I was the kid who, all throughout elementary school, wrote “Video Game Designer” as my dream job. Every recess and afterschool playdate was another opportunity to act out some sort of video game/book/tv-fueled fantasy. I soon realized that while I had what I considered a creative mind, everything it came up with was derivative. Every brilliant idea I had was an adaptation of whatever I was playing, reading, or watching at the time.
Then I “grew up,” and not much changed. I still love geeky things, and I still daydream about living in imaginary worlds. The only difference is that now I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), and actually try to write some of these daydreams down. The result is my rudimentary attempt at fan fiction. It’s awkward and geeky, but it’s something that lets me exercise my creativity and explore the ol’ mind palace as I sit, bored, at my day job.
To truly understand the gravity of this Awkward Geek Confession, let me introduce to you the three fanfics that I’ve been brainstorming and writing.
1. Power Rangers Origin
This one came from a pretty simple question I had as I was watching the old Power Rangers movie. “What’s the deal with Zordon?” I wondered. “Where does he come from? And what’s his beef with Rita and Zedd?” This story goes back thousands of years, where I imagine a young, idealistic Zordon (as the original White Power Ranger) trying to unite his friends into the first team of Power Rangers. But--SPOILERS!--he is betrayed by Rita.
2. More Power Rangers...and a whole bunch of other goodness
Okay, so I love me some Power Rangers. In this little fanfic of mine, I follow the story of a group of young Pokemon Trainers who find themselves chosen to be the next generation of Power Rangers. Yes, this means a Megazord made of Pokemon Zords. I know, I know, it’s pretty awesome. Why are these Poke-Rangers needed, you ask? Because an evil group of mutants from the Marvelverse is using an alien symbiote to infect Pokemon in order to take over the galaxy. And before you ask, yes, of course this means that the Pokemon Megazord will fight Sentinels. I’m tellin’ ya, this is intense stuff. This is some Patton Oswalt-level crossover here.
3. League of Extraordinary Avengers
I love the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the graphic novel, obviously, not the movie). It’s Victorian crossover fanfic in and of itself. The third fanfic I’m working on is a combined effort with a friend (and our new writer, Alisha). Her idea is that the LXG is actually a forerunner to the Avengers, and Dr. Jekyll’s potion is a predecessor of the Super Soldier serum. My job is to handle the 1920s incarnation of the team, founded by a Jay Gatsby who faked his death. Also on the team are Houdini and King Tut, obviously.
So that’s my Awkward Geek Confession. I love fan fiction. I love reading it. I love writing it. There it is. It’s out.