An Evening With Me and My Muse (& Her 2x4)

So I'm sitting here in front of my rotten piece of ju... er, computer... taking a break from my latest fanfic. Having gotten sick of Solitaire after 5,000 hands, I've decided to live up to my title as RangerBlog Columnist and write another column. I'm going with a lighter subject this time: what goes through the mind of a writer when he (or she; I'm not biased) is writing? I've had a few people ask me "what were you thinking when you came up with that", so I guess this is what they meant... *innocent look*

Ahem, anyway...

The one thing that holds true for the creative process of every writer is this: no one thing holds true for the creative process of every writer. Different people have different ways of approaching a story. Some may come up with a rough idea and flesh it out, while others may come up with one or two (or more) detailed scenes and expand on them. A perfect example of the latter in my own case is "Challenge of the Heart", which was originally only meant to consist of the first scene (back when a few fanfic writers were challenging each other on the Acorn Cafe Story Board) and turned into a full story (mostly one long flashback explaining the first scene) by request. Most often, the same writer will use different approaches to different stories, depending on the idea that sparked it in the first place.

So where do these great (and sometimes not-so-great) ideas come from? I can't really give you a definitive answer on that, either; I can only use myself as an example. Now and then, while I'm watching TV or a movie or doing something else (in the case of song parodies, listening to a song), an idea will just pop in there. To use my standard metaphor, my muse gets out her 2x4 and whacks me in the back of the head. Sometimes, the idea will fade after a time; others, it'll keep bouncing around in my head until I sit down with my word processor and play with it. It's this latter case that fanfics (as well as some other things I've written) are born from.

As always, these are my opinions; take 'em as you will... oh, and if a faerie appears on your shoulder brandishing a 2x4, let her swing; who knows what may come of it?

Neal Wolf

An update from the Webmaster!

Greetings, all you who may read the RangerBlog! Charlie here, with an update on some things that have been going on within the small world of this site, and this blog. We've taken on new staff a RescueRangersHQ.com since the last update...our number now includes Mr. Spumoni of Rangerillion fame, and Boxina Starheart, better known as Boc42 or 'Boxy' to the Acorn Cafe.

We're hoping to begin making the RangerBlog a more integral part of the site again...to give all you Rangerphiles a place to read our thoughts and get a handle on the people who make up this fandom. Myself, I'm a writer...it's what I do. There's been a bit of a block going on the past few months, but it seems to be ending, and I'll be updating some unfinished stories, as well as working on my newest Rescue Rangers tale, "Treachery at Eton", which is now on the Story Board of the Cafe.

Have any suggestions for us? Comments, questions, rants? Give us an email. One of us is always around. You can reach me at rangerready@rescuerangershq.com, and the site has a full listing of all the other departments' emails. Thanks for sticking with us (over 2100 hits so far at RRHQ!), and supporting this little project. See you at the Cafe!

Pro, Anti, and the Difference Between Neutral & Undecided

It is an arguement that has been going on as long as the fandom has existed. It has on more than one occasion created an immeasurable rift among the Rangerphiles. Though currently under an "agree to disagree" cease fire, the rumblings of war still can be heard between the two biggest factions.

Are you Pro or Anti?

Seems like such a silly question to be causing such a fuss, doesn't it? Nevertheless, it has caused quite a problem among the CDRR fandom over the years. This simple question has spawned everything from good-natured ribbing to all-out war, believe it or not... all over the romantic preference of a fictional character.

Now, I didn't come here to argue one side or the other, despite being a Pro myself; instead, I came to talk about a third faction rising among The Question: Neutrals. Unlike those who are undecided, Neutrals have already made up their minds. The decision they have reached is, quite simply, they're indifferent. It doesn't matter to them who our esteemed Gadget ends up with, if anybody.

Now, I'm as much of a fan of arguing your points as the next guy, but if someone has made a decision, then no one really has any right to try to change it. Neutrals have just as much right to be allowed their choice and the matter be left at that as Pros and Antis do, and should be left in peace.

As always, these are my opinions; take 'em as you will.

Neal Wolf

The Benefits of Taking a Step Back

If you're reading this, you're most likely a fairly hardcore Rangerphile, whether or not you condone the use of that particular suffix. You probably post at the Acorn Cafe or Chip and Dale Online multiple times a week (or day), you have some sort of Ranger memorabilia decorating some aspect of your personal space, and the Rangers slip into and out of your thoughts about as frequently as your loved ones. In short, you are devoted.

Let's focus on the community aspect of things for a bit. As said previously, you most likely are actively involved in some sort of Ranger community. When rambling off a list of your closest friends, obviously-online pseudonyms are intermixed with a person you've met in person here and there. The trials and tribulations of those who post online become as real to you as a family crisis, as do their triumphs. Keeping up with posts on your internet message board of choice soon comes to take precedence over social functions happening right around you.

When this happens, do us all a favour and take a step back. We love having you in the community with us, and we don't even particularly want you to go; that said, close your browser window, grab a jacket, and go outside. Go see that friend of yours you've been neglecting. Watch that TV show you haven't gotten to watch because you've been finding more errors for Tanka's website. Go talk to that girl you've been waffling about in the Acorn Chat for a month now. Take a step back, and take a look at life.

You may be thinking that I'm going too far, that I'm acting like community involvement is a bad or unhealthy thing. Well, I guess I am. People you know on the Internet automatically occupy a rung below the people you (supposedly) deal with on a daily basis, and they miss you. Besides, by taking a break from CDRR for a short while, you can focus on so many other things you've been neglecting. And then, when you do re-immerse yourself in the fandom, it'll all seem that much more fresh to you. You'll have new viewpoints from which to consider this character foible and that plot twist.

Take a step back. You'll thank me for it later.

- Campisi

From the fandom archives: How a fish changed the fandom forever

It has been four years now—four years and almost two days to be precise, I was unable to get online in time, so this may be a bit belated.

So, some of you may ask what happened on that day four years and almost two days ago? Well, join me on a little trip into the past of the Ranger fandom, and you'll find out.

January 12, 2003. It was evening in New York City when one of its citizens took his first step into the Acorn Café and placed his first posting—a posting with an impact rarely seen in the history of the fandom even looking back from today. The newbie called himself Mayhem, today he is known as Fish, and his posting contained a link to his website which in turn contains the world-famous graphic novel Of Mice and Mayhem, widely known even far beyond the Ranger fandom. Nobody had ever created something like this or has since then. The drawings can easily keep up with the best RRt, and the story has been voted onto the same level as Michael Demcio's Rhyme and Reason which is being used as a fan fiction reference since 1996.

This one thread grew up to four pages within a short time. It took the Rangerphiles a while to realize what had been created and linked to there. But when they did, discussions started among the patrons who had just brought the 2002 Golden Acorn Awards behind themselves. Some suggested another special 2002 award for Fish, but more patrons were concerned about the 2003 awards. They expected Fish and OMAM to snag every award they would be eligible for. And some not even dared to declare their works done since October 2002 and to be done in 2003 eligible as they wouldn't have the slightest chance anyway. The writers had believed that it would be an easy year since the J.A.M. had finished Death of a Comedian in time for the 2002 awards, but they had to reconsider.

Still they managed to gain enough confidence to take part in the 2003 awards—although they were right, Fish won 23 awards, 16 of them directly for OMAM, and among them were Best Story, Best Fan Art, and all four not website-related All-Time awards.

Since that day, Fish's one-of-a-kind creation made countless people Rangerphile, one could assume it's more than the show itself did.


Midnight Man, RangerBlog columnist

New Year's Speech

For most of us, the old year 2006 is about to end in a few hours, and for some of us, it is already over. So I'd like to take some time and look back on the past 365 days.

I remember having read something from not so long ago, saying that the Rescue Ranger fandom was decreasing. If it was, well, this phase is most certainly over. The fandom has probably never seen as much growth as in 2006. This was shown clearly at the Acorn Café which has almost made it through its first complete year as a BB message board. Lots of new patrons have joined it, and I was one of them almost ten months ago. And many of those who have been newbies this year have contributed to the fandom in a significant way, be it fan fiction, be it fan art, or be it influence on the House of Mouse, something I'll pick up again later.

But not only plenty of newbies could be spotted at the Café and at the three message boards that have opened their gates this year, one of them, Chip 'n Dale Online, being remarkably successful. No, many of those whom we refer to as Learned Elders have returned, too, and many of them have been away for so long that they weren't even registered. Candy "Kandei-chan" Goldstein, for example, has increased her activity dramatically again, probably so much that even her husband Paltiel was dragged back into the Café. Kat, famous for creations like the Tales from the Message Boards, is back, and so is the RRtist Rebekah Henderson who unfortunately isn't that active now. And there are many more who have been quiet for a while but returned to a certain activity, or who simply show up every once in a while. Rangerphiles like Blackadder, Dave Junker, Rachel Gloess, "The Enduring Man-Child" Roy Neal Grissom or Chris "Dale" Birkett have stayed faithful to the fandom.

Both newbies and elders have brought creations to the fandom this year that are more than just worth mentioning. Here, I think of contributions of outstanding RRt from elders like Winston and the ever-improving Toni; from newbies like Master Munkart, the King of RRt himself who not only delivers an outstanding quality but, given the possibility to bring it on, a breath-taking quantity, or Rye, our first Chinese Rangerphile who never ceases to amaze us with her paintings (a rare technique, no less); and of course from the many talented artists from the former Soviet Union such as DeLTa or Integrator, just to mention a few from each group. The amount of fan art even encouraged the Acorn Café management to open up a separate RRt board. Writers have been busy this year, too. Brand-new talents have demonstrated that there will always be new writers in the fandom, and they have given us incredibly good pieces of fan fiction as proof. And more experienced members of the fandom from last year's Best Writer Stainless Steel Rat to the fandom legend Dr. Indy have contributed to the ever growing library of fan fiction in amazing ways. But one of the most amazing written works news in this year, something that was almost too hard to believe, was that Loneheart has finally completed his epic Gadget in Chains, with 400,000 words the longest Ranger fanfic ever.

Many older websites have been worked on within the past twelve months, and some new ones have been launched. One of them is a project which not only proved successful but even spawned at least one similar site in another fandom, and that is the Ranger Wiki. This Wikipedia-like website is meant to contain as much information about the Rangers and their fandom as can and will be entered, from episodes to canonical characters to aspects of the fandom to even fan-made stories and their characters. Working on the Wiki shows how vast the fandom of an 18-year-old Disney cartoon show has grown.

Increased activity has been demonstrated by Disney, too. What Julie Bihn always dreamed of and founded R.O.A.R. for has come true: The Rescue Rangers are being released on DVD. The first two sets are already available in Region 1, the third is certainly being worked on, and the first set has been announced for Region 2 to be released in one month and a half. Many Rangerphiles, especially in the USA, have been given the opportunity to see CDRR episodes for the first time since the early 90s, or for the first time ever. Beside this, a petition has been started to release new merchandise.

Looking back at 2006, I can say that there's a lot to anticipate in the new year. The old one was great, but I'm sure it was no climax.

Midnight Man, RangerBlog columnist

A New Era?

Over the past month or so, there's been a trend developing in the community of the Acorn Cafe. Namely, the return of many of the Ranger Fandom's elder statesmen (and stateswomen). We at the Cafe have been looking at this with a very happy feeling, knowing that this corner of the web has not been forgotten. Far from it, the AC has grown immensely just in the nearly-a-year that I've been there. Now, with so many of the old guard returning, the question must be asked.

Is this the beginning of a new era for the CDRR Fandom?

It could be. Just the other day, I saw someone make the comment, "Hey, what if Plotecher and Nowak come back?". What if, indeed. I believe we'd see a resurgence of creativity beyond even the bright and starry condition that our board enjoys now. It would be a sense of...completion, in a way. A little something to say that this community has what it takes to endure.

And as for me, I'm just proud to be a part of it.

Charlie Price, RRHQ Webmaster