Pavan's Fan Fiction reviews

Entourage is an American drama/comedy which documents the ascent of Vincent Chase, an A-List movie star and his childhood friends from Queens Boulevard as they make their way through the rugged and unfamiliar terrain of Hollywood. What fascinates me about the show besides the Hollywood high-life setting is the constantly recurring theme of male camaraderie. However, the fan-fiction entitled ‘New Shawty on the Block’ introduces a new character Peyton, a budding actress who gets the opportunity to be Vince’s co-star in a big budget film. I feel that introducing a new character adds an element of surprise to the show but Peyton snatches the limelight from the rest of the characters as there is not a slightest mention of the other three characters namely Eric Murphy, Turtle and Johnny Drama. This takes away the essence of the story as it conflicts with a major theme. Although the fiction has been written with vivid detail, the episode’s focus shifts from the action-packed life of Vincent Chase and his entourage to a monotonous conversation between the former and Peyton on the set of their new film. Overall, I feel this is a grave mistake on behalf of the author as he has altered the essence of the show





How I Met Your Mother is an American situation based comedy wherein the main character, Ted Mosby recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to him meeting their mother. This explains the title and allows for narration in the past tense. The creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas were inspired by the idea of writing about his friends and the stupid things they did together in New York. The character Ted is based on Bays and that of Marshall and Lily is loosely based on Thomas and his wife. In this fan fiction, Ted tricks his friend Barney who is a compulsive womanizer and sex addict into taking a trip from New York to Colorado in search of Annie’s Boobs which is actually a monkey from a fictional television show called The Community. This is not particularly a masterpiece but definitely has the essence of the original show along which could be attributed to a vivid description of the characters’ antics. Although the plot of this episode may seem corny, the writer has played his cards right by keeping the essence of the original characters and their reactions to the corresponding situation intact. For example, Robin who is not the brightest of the lot in the tv show takes a while in this fan fiction to understand Ted’s joke about Annie’s Boobs. Overall, I feel that the writer has done a good job but there is definitely scope for improvement.

SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron is an animated television series produced by Hanna Barbera Productions and aired between the years 1993 and 1995. Chance “T-Bone” Furlong and Jake “Razor” Clawson were paramilitary law enforcement officers turned vigilante justice heroes who lived in a salvage yard they had been exiled to for disobeying their commander’s orders. Rebellious yet righteous by nature, the duo fought crime and protected the innocent in the metropolis of Megakat City, which was populated entirely by felines, known as Kats. This fan fiction is about the death of ‘Razor’ after being infected by Dr. Viper’s biochemical substances. It is an interesting take albeit a sad one, on the grim death of a near superhero status of one of the greatest fictional co-pilots to have ever lived. I was deeply saddened by this fan fiction as SWAT Kats was my favourite television show as a child and Razor was my beloved of the two.

That 70’s Show is an American sitcom that revolves around the lives of a group of teenage friends and two neighbouring families living in the suburb of Point Place Wisconsin from May 17^th 1976 to December 31^st 1979. This fan fiction consists of Eric missing his plane to Africa, where he was meant to become a teacher and earn enough money so he could go to college along with his high school sweetheart, Donna. It is an alternate ending to season 7 wherein Eric actually goes to Africa. Eric’s annoying, self-centered friend Jackie is going away to Chicago and wants to see her friend off so she turns up at the airport only to realize the former has missed his flight and had his trip cancelled. Eventually she convinces him to go to Chicago with her as her assistant/cameraman. Although this is against his best judgment it seems to be a better idea than going home. This is an interesting plot twist and has scope in reality as it sticks to the characteristics of the characters. Jackie is manipulative and Eric is easily influenced in the show as well. So in my opinion this fan fiction works very well and turned out to be a more interesting read than I had expected.

Zombieland (2009) is an American comedy film in which the main characters are the sole survivors of a zombie post-apocalypse. Their search for a sanctuary free of zombies has been set as the plot for the film. Set in post apocalyptic America, two months after mad cow disease mutated into mad person disease which in turn mutated into mad zombie disease.  This fan fiction entitled Zombieland :  Survival, picks up from where the film left off. It is a narrative from Columbus’s perspective. The former is a timid, geeky college boy who stumbled across one of the first zombies in his dorm room. The other characters are Tallahassee – the “badass” lumberjack wearing snakeskin boots who was the ultimate zombie killer, Wichita—a really beautiful girl, and Little Rock — the latter’s sister. The four of them are supposedly on their way to Canada because Tallahassee figured that Twinkies last longer in the cold and zombies probably mutate slower there because of the cold. This fan fiction plot works well and was possibly my favourite as it is a conversation between the protagonists and has been written well explicitly stating the thoughts of the narrator along with speech. The transitions from thought to speech really brought the story to life and almost seemed as if it were the original screenplay for Zombieland : The Sequel.

South Park is an animated American sitcom, the plot of which revolves around four children namely, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick and Eric Cartman and their bizarre adventures around the fictitious Colorado town (South Park). Due to its crude, sardonic, dark and topical humour, frequent depiction of taboo matter, disregard of decency standards, portrayal of religion for comical benefits, general toilet humour and coarse language South Park is intended for mature audiences and is generating controversy over the course of its run. This fan fiction entitled ‘For Daws to Peck at’ depicts the boys as teenagers meeting up at a Cartman’s place to drink beer and play Xbox. This appears to be the author’s take on South Park wherein the characters have grown into their teens and start learning that life isn’t always easy. It appears as if he may have written it out of his own experiences. This is the first chapter so it is almost as if the author is providing some background information on the children’s life as teenagers. Apart from the usual crass language, there is no sense of conflict, or drama or that notorious humour that South Park is infamous for. I believe this chapter has a lot more scope, but from the way it is at the moment, I feel that it is boring, and quite a waste of time as not much was established in the plot except for the boys hanging out, drinking beer, talking about Wendy Testaburger and why she spends so much time with Kenny.

Californication is an American drama/comedy television show which revolves around the protagonist Hank Moody (David Duchovny) a troubled novelist who moves to California which coupled with his writer’s block complicates his relationship with his long time girlfriend Karen and daughter Becca. This show appeals to me and has me anxiously awaiting a new episode each week because I see a little bit of myself in Hank. It is inspirational to see how he goes on writing in spite of all the tribulations life seems to throw his way. This fan fiction entitled ‘Tangled up in Blue and Other Misdemeanours’ is one of the best pieces of work I have come across so far. It is clear that the author watches the show religiously as he has retained the original feel of the script, the mannerisms of the characters and they way they act with each other. Although the fan fiction is short, it makes perfect sense and would make a great episode if incorporated into the show’s script.

Weeds is an American drama television series which revolves around Nancy Botwin a newly-widowed mother of two who turns to selling Marijuana to sustain her family after the sudden death of her husband. The title is a slang term for marijuana which is familiar to Americans. The first three seasons involve Nancy distributing locally but seasons four to six show her smuggling contraband from Mexico into the United States. This fan fiction entitled ‘The Tower’ is about a DEA Agent, William Morgan, who stumbles across a startling piece of evidence against Silas, the eldest of the Botwins, enough to put him behind bars for at least fifty years. After being kidnapped by Silas, William is brought to the Botwin residence where he is threatened first, and then is convinced by the Botwins that they are doing more good than bad by selling pot and that if he cooperates by destroying the evidence, he will be allowed to go scot-free. As I had anticipated, he cooperates and returns home to his family. A few years after William’s death by car-accident, his wife receives money on a weekly basis from an anonymous person who obviously is Nancy Botwin. I feel this fan fiction works very well and would make an interesting plot for the upcoming season.

God of War is an action adventure RPG (Role Playing Game) for the Playstation 2 and 3. It is based on Greek Mythology and focused mainly on Kratos a warrior who serves the Greek Gods of Olympus. After seeing his impending doom at the hands of a barbarian king, Kratos cuts a deal with Ares the Greek God of War to slay his enemies in return for the former’s soul. After being tricked by Ares, Kratos kills his wife and child unknowingly. Enraged by this treachery, Kratos makes it his personal mission to kill Ares and in eventually doing so becomes the God of War.  In this fan fiction, Kratos has been damned to the year 2010 and is dazed and confused because he is unfamiliar to this environment. Quite humourous and at the same time action-packed with flying ketchup and mustard this fan fiction makes an interesting read. Although it is not a viable candidate for a film, it would be great as a short web based episode or a parody on the game.

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is an action adventure role playing video game that allows the player to take up the role of a criminal who roams the streets freely completing missions such as bank robberies, assassinations, kidnapping, bombing and most importantly, grand theft auto. This fan fiction entitled ‘Lucky’ revolves around an undercover cop named Lance who works for LCPD (Liberty City Police Department) which is loosely based on one of the GTA series titled ‘Liberty City Stories’ Lance strives to keep his cover and at the same time roam the streets of Liberty City in search of the famous mafia don, Salvatore Leone who had recently resurfaced after a decade long sabbatical. I feel that the writer has brought the character to life with his immaculate descriptions of his (Lance) history and the surrounding areas. This story definitely has scope and I would love to see it becoming a part of the plot for one of the games in the near future.