I understand that we have bonded over our obession of Twilight, but I can't help if there is more...

What I mean is that, what is your real life (non-tv or movie) obession (and I don't mean in forms of Beyonce's movie either).  I'm a horrible pack rat and a paranoid person. Due to the lack of pictures of us kids growing up, I take tons of pics of my daughter and family when I can.  I keep all of her holiday cards, I keep books I've read with no intentions of reading them again, clothes that I no longer fit but hope that I can if only I can lose weight, odd recipts for no reason, movies that I believe are no longer being made (like vhs), video game consoles even though they've disappeared (like the nintendo 64), and so on.  How do you part with them (if you can)?

Thanks and in parting, here are some pics I found on the net....

Approved the the great G.A.W.

Can someone please help me change my avatar to a GIF?

Preferably this one...

Hola campers! I've had an idea to make a monthly birthday campfire for all of us. A way to include everyone and to get everyone a birthday shoutout. It'll be a monthly thing, I'll keep a spreadsheet and at the beginning of the month I'll put out a campfire with all the birthdays so that everyone can send love to all our birthday campers. This is in no way a campfire to take away from individual day birthday wishes, it's just a way to include everyone, for those of us that are lurkers and loudmouths alike. 

So I got together with Emibella and Jandco and put this plan in motion, trying to make this thing work and spread some much deserved love and happy to the forest and fandom. But I still need your guys' help too! Since the first step is collecting birthdays. 

Come in here and tell me your birthday!

You don't have to add your year, just the month and date.

Also, do you have a friend, a beta, a ficwife, or just someone AWESOME in the fandom that you think should be on this birthday love list? Just leave their name and birthday too. Please help me make this great and all-inclusive! 

"Believing hear, what you deserve to hear:

Your birthday as my own to me is dear...

But yours gives most; for mine did only lend.

Me to the world; yours gave to me a friend." --Martial

DO YOU MAKE FAN VIDEOS?

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE YOU WANT TO SHARE?

POST THEM ALL HERE!

MY WEEKLY RECS:

"edward's painful kiss" by lovex3simplicity <- an oldie but definitely a goodie.  this actually puts some emotion into the CHEESE of the movies.  (no offense or anything... lol)

and

"One...take control of me? - The Vampire Diaries" by karolinka0000  <-  LOVE IT.

POST AWAY CAMPERS (and happy early st. patty's day!)

I came across this post where someone is defending the legitimacy of fanfiction. http://bit.ly/ceVJhd

Thought you guys might find it interesting, too!

The writer of the post is addressing those who rag on fanfiction, especially authors who have beef with people writing fanfiction of their work (a la Anne Rice). S/he argues that dismissing fanfiction "as criminal, immoral, and unimaginative" is equivalent to dismissing a SLEW of Pulitzer Prize-winning and other important works.

Check inside for the list of "fanfics"

What do you think? Would you consider these works fanfics?

See Robert Pattinson in Playgirl!

Hey ladies, check out Robert Pattinson in the UK edition of Playgirl Magazine. . . fully clothed.

While most men who cover the sexy mag strip down to their birthday suits, the Twilight star, 24, wears a tuxedo in the pics.

"His youthful good looks have earned him top spot as world's sexiest male, highest paid [British] actor, and even a slot in Time Magazine's '100 Most Influential People in the World,'" writes Playgirl's Andy Bright.

And those wanting to catch the Water for Elephants babe in the buff need not worry. Pattinson assures that his upcoming flick, Bel Ami, will deliver the goods.

"I think there's quite a bit of nudity," Pattinson told MTV of his role as womanizing Georges Duroy in 1890s Paris. "I think there's a lot of my crack in it!"

-From US Magazine story

who do YOU wanna see in Playgirl????

This list has been made on behalf of a signed petition, instituted by a Camper in Good Standing, who has also supported my personal efforts in my district so they get special benefits.

We're looking for accounts of a man of charisma, intelligence and ambition.  And his goal is to lead.  

He is

POLITICIANWARD.

President Cullen?

Senator Cullen?

State Representative Edward Anthony Masen Cullen?

Congressman Cullen?

Have you seen him?  Do you have a press pass?

If you HAVE seen this man, please bring all evidence to the fire.

Place he was sighted

Who sighted him

And a brief press release.

And you know what? FOR THIS LIST ONLY, please feel free to present photographic evidence. (Yes, pics of POLITICIANWARD.) I mean, you know, if they're NOT INCRIMINATING.

[Clearly LJ Summers has taken her Dowager Countess Grantham avatar far too seriously.]

Thank you for sharing your favorite Politicianward fics around the fire!

I GOT THE JOB

LET'S MAKE THIS AN ALL CAPS POST IN CELEBRATION

WHY IS YOUR DAY GOOD

WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT

ANYTHING, AS LONG AS IT'S ALL CAPSED

omg i need to go buy new shoes now

Rob and Kristen together with some of the Cullens are filming on location in Squamish for the next couple of weeks.

Last night they decided to have a movie date apparently...some fans caught up with them at the cinema after a screening for Red Riding Hood

Let's play "Spot Kristen" in this picture:

I've got [lmtd] access to ADF [loads SUPER slow] and I can go on to FF.net [for a bit, anyhow].

PLEASE just rec funny, lemony [even DOMish] Edwards...anything and everything w/ summary in this thread...the other one won't load b/c it's long and has gifs....

[Don't hate me if this needs to be deleted, I really don't want to waste ADF space or w/e...I just need to get my mind off this damn waiting to see how things will go...]

ETA: I'm assuming the error messages I'm getting when I load ADF is cause of the govt slowing internet down, if it's happening for everyone - sorry, I'm an idiot...

...Also, twitter is working fine, so I'm there if anyone wants to rec me there...same as my campername.

LOVE YOU GUYS!

Today I finally finished my new tattoo!! It took 4 sessions over the course of almost 2 months, a total of 10 hours, but it's finally done and I'm so excited and happy with the way it turned out! And I just felt the need to share it...

What do you think of the end result?

(Mind you, the flowers may look a little swollen and/or blotchy, but that's because I just had them colored today and this pic was takenright after I cleaned them a little while later.)

I figured, since the text on the banner is actually a quote from Twilight, it conforms to the Forest rules. If not, just PM me and I'll extinguish the fire.

That being said, this is not a Twilight tattoo, per se. True, the quote is pretty obvious for those who are familiar with the books, but I didn't get it as a statement of my fangirl status or something along those lines. This one sentence just spoke to me from the first time I read it and for me, it can be interpreted according to my own life and feelings. To me, it signifies keeping my heart protected from too much pain, while also being open to love. If that makes sense.

My cousin made the preliminary design, then the tattoo artist came up with this.

To make this interactive:

- do you have any tattoos and what do they mean to you?

- do you have any particular bits and pieces from Twilight (books and/or movies) or fic that have taken on a special meaning for you, seperate from their 'original' meaning?

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6324189/1/bWithout_b_bintention_b

Somtimes things just happen. Things you never thought yourself capable of doing. Bella knows this from the minute Edward Cullen enters her life, changing everything she knew about her life and herself. sometimes things just happen... without intention.

Just posted the Epilogue last night! This story is now a completed fic.Super sad to see it go, but happy, too.

Thanks to everyone at the forest who rec'd this and told me to keep going. Also those who read it :)

And if you haven't.... well, here ya go <3

I notice there is a LACK of Damon in this forest...

Damon is not amused.

POST ALL THINGS DAMON HERE!!

(P.S.  I haven't been on lately b/c I'm sick and I can't take off from work, so it's making everything worse. :(  Leave me some pretty to look at tomorrow morning.  I'm out for the night, campers! xoxo)

FYT:

Have a fic request?

Forget the name of a fic?

Have questions about a certain fic or author?

Here is the place to ask and answer camper inquiries!

so. paul wesley -- aka, stefan salvatore -- got a twitter last night.

it was confirmed by pretty much everyone in the TVD cast, so it's legit. and i know we all love damon/ian, but Pauly Teeth doesn't get NEARLY enough love in the forest! so...

i propose a paul wesley/stefan salvatore/TVD appreciation post! and also, have a twitter? post it in the comments! :)

ps rangers - this is allowed, right, since it's tvd related? <3

Ranger Edit: Vampire Diaries and its vampire hotties characters can be posted without ranger approval. We love vampires! Great post! ~E

purple ranger edit:

tVD is encouraged in the forest
 

eta:
1. thanks, rangers :) 
2. www.twitter.com/paulwesley

Is it common for authors to leave defensive replies to any sort of review criticizing their story?  I reviewed one of my favorite stories and stated that I didn't agree with everything in the chapter.  I then received a strange reply from her that was, in my opinion, very immature.  Isn't part of being an author and posting your work that not everyone will agree with you all the time?  It just really surprised me and to be honest, irritated me that she would respond that way to a review that wasn't disrespectful or malicious, just in disagreement.

Sorry - I forgot the subject line.

This was approved by TOR - thanks!

Yet another campfire from the technically confused.

I use my Ipod Touch (8 GB) for EVERYTHIING- especially reading fan fics.

Even though I don't save fics on this device, except for what I'm currently reading saved in the Read It Later app, I'm almost at full capacity so I don't want to overload my iTunes account. (I have tons of music.)

My lucky husband got an IPhone4 (16 GB) yesterday. He wants to download all sorts of new guy stuff into our ITunes account, but I'm concerned there isn't enough space since I only have 8 GB.

I think he has to have his own ITunes account on our computer, but he thinks we can share the same account.

Please help us. : )

(Brown IS Warm.)

I recently read a story by a beloved author - she's universally loved and appreciated in the fandom - and although I enjoyed the story (enjoyed it immensely in fact), I realized by the end that her Edward didn't resemble the Edward at all. (I won't disclose who but I will say it's not MOTU's author).

Sure - many, many Edwards in fanfiction aren't like Meyer's Edward. I know that and for the most part, I like that. BUT, a lot of them still retain something - even if it's just one trait - from the original canon.

This story had an Edward that, imho, seemed to be based largely on the author's personal experience (in an author interview, she actually mentioned that the story had many elements from personal experience). This is not criticism on the author, but just an observation by me and, based on the interview, somewhat of an admission by the author herself.

I've read 4 or 5 of her stories and thought the same about all of her Edward characterizations. As an Edward fan (he's the only reason I  read fanfic) it left me feeling a bit disappointed. While reading the story, I kept shaking my head and muttering to myself, "That's not Edward. That's not him at all". I could name 100 canon personality traits and in my mind, none of them shined through. Same for her Bellas - which I adored - still frustrated me in the same way.

I still continue reading her stories because the writing is absolutely fabulous and the author is, by all accounts, lovely. I've never seen a single bad word said about her or her stories and because of her skill, the quality of her writing, and for her kindness in sharing her talent with the readers, I think the praise is well deserved.

Despite all that, I can't help but feel somewhat disappointed everytime I read her stories - kind of like I go into it to read a great Edward/Bella story and end up reading a great David/Sarah story with the names changed to E/B. I know that's my perception, and it probably sounds somewhat entitled, but even after I debated over posting this campfire, my curiosity won out...

I'm curious if other campers have felt the same about some stories and what your thoughts are after reading them? I'm not talking about controversial stories - like rape, taboo, or fetish fics - but rather thoughtful, inspired, engaging stories that you appreciate in and of themselves, but seem to take the fan out out of the term fan fiction. Do you come across stories like this? Do you appreciate them as imaginative interpretations of E&B or does it bother you in any way?

No need to name names of fics or authors and I'm honestly not looking to stir the pot. I'm genuinely interested about reader and author expectations when it comes to reading and writing fan fiction for the fans. Authors, do you feel any obligation to the readers (fans) about your characterizations given Meyer's framework? Or do you stay true to your own vision/plot bunny and why? 

Please weigh in if you're inclined. I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

RANGER EDIT: TEMPORARILY MADE THIS LITTLER SO I COULD STICKY IT.

 Do you write fan fiction?

Give us a little peek!

Post excerpts from your upcoming chapters here!

~ Don't forget to include a link to your story! ~