Fanart, fanmusic, or fanfiction?

EarthBound fanfics.

Why? Because, in a fanfic you can explore a new adventure in a world you've grown to love. See Ness go on another quest, read someone's thoughts on the origin of Giegue/Giygas, or see things that they think could have happened. To look into someone else's imagination is something incredible. Fanmusic, whilst it can create a small tune in your head, cannot in massive detail set you down in Onett, make you almost feel the air, see the sights. Fanart can take you there in greater detail than a fanfic can, yes, but art cannot give you the pleasure of imagining the things for yourself. Painting your own picture in your mind is part of the pleasure of fanfics, so while fanart may be nice, it does not truly take you there in the sense of a well written fanfic.

That is why. The detail, the ability to imagine for yourself, to take yourself on a journey into distant worlds. That is the appeal of fanfics. That is the appeal of reading itself. While what we see on television may be awesome, your imagination can make the events and the special effects in a movie look subpar.

Thank you and good night.

--Magnus



Congrats on winning the Letter of the Week!
And the gentleman wins the rock of Gibraltar! YOU WIN! Yes, you sir, are the winner! Thou art winner! A winner is you! Excellent letter. I can really see where you’re coming from. You have allowed me to take another look at fanfics. They truly open the door to a new twist on and old world…a world all in its own. You’ve really convinced me to go read a fanfic. However, I believe after I read over all of the excellent letters tonight, I had only one conclusion. The best is…a fanfic illustrated with fanart with some embedded appropriate fanmusic! Now that would just be awesome.

--GuyInSummers

Hey GiS,

I prefer fanart, I believe.

Fanart is easy to access. You don't have to download fanart like you do with some fan music. You pretty much have to read most of a fanfic to get the jist(sp?) of it, but with Fanart, all you have to do is glance at it and you know immediately if you like it or not.

Fanfics are fun, but I really don't read that many of them. *waits for SimonBob to come and destroy her computer* I'm an avid reader, so you'd think that Fanfics would be my favorite but too much reading off the computer screen hurts my eyes.

Anyway, my favorite artist is Jonk. I've had a sketch of his as my background for a couple of months now. My favorite musician is probably Sephy. I was humming "SLing Shady" at work all day. My favorite fanfic writer would have to be my good buddy Nessdude15. Rock on Man!

--PappyCat



A lot of people seem to like the efficiency of fanart. Conclusion? They’re lazy.

^_^ Just kidding. Good letter, PappyCat. Thank you for your undying support for Mailbag. And don’t worry, SimonBob doesn’t destroy computers. He uses evil mind tricks to make you destroy your own computer. Have a nice day!

~GiS

Hello GiS,
This is my first time submiting to the mailbag. Thought you ought to know. I like the EB fanfics best. I don't really have a favorite author, though. However, there were some that were simply...stupid. Others have what it takes to become serious authors and/or playwrites.
That is all.

--Bobo_The_Hobo



Yay, a new Mailbagger. Those always fill me with happy. One must admit, in every category, there are going to be entries that are stupid. Really, though, stupid art and stupid music are practice. Personally, I think if you write stupid fanfics, you’re doomed to always write stupid fanfics. Or at least that’s what I’ve noticed among people I know.

~GiS

First off I would like to say that I believe that all three of these categories are a huge help to this web page. Personally, I like fanart the best. I think these great artist bring out the greatest parts of this game through new perspectives. I think these new perspectives rock. There are many great examples of this. These examples are from two great artist on starmen.net. These two artists are my favorite artist here.

I believe that artemis251 and skyday both do an excellent job on bringing old EB memories, and giving them a great new perspective.

Artemis251 has my second and third favorite great pictures, all of which make me happy to see a scene from EB in a new way. Here are the links.
#3 Master Barf revisited
http://starmen.net/fanart/a/artemis251/poorescue.JPG
#2 Rat of Doom
http://starmen.net/fanart/a/artemis251/pratodoom.JPG
Just amazing! Keep up the good work Artemis!

Finally my favorite EB picture comes from Skyday. This picture is from the Blue-Blue Cult and Paula. You can find it only on the fan forum, but I will list a link to the image. I must say that it is by far my favorite picture of all. I think it really brings out some of the great thing we all know and love about Earthbound. Any ways check it out.

#1 Paula Captured
http://skyday.lardpirates.com/paulacaptured.jpg
Skyday you have a great talent. Keep up the great work!

So there you have it the reasons I like Fanart the best is because I think it brings old EB scenes new perspectives, and I just don't get as excited about fanmusic and fanfic as much. Artemis251 and Skyday are my favorite artists, because I think they do the best job of bring Earthbound back to the fans. Keep up the good work you two.

--carryabigbat



I have to say, I agree. Fanart has always been my favorite category of art here at Starmen.net. It really allows someone to express their way of looking at the EarthBound world. I also am quite fond of the other categories though, particularly fanmusic. The irony here is that I’m terrible at fanart and fanmusic, but known for my writing talent. Interesting. In other news, my favorite artists are Skyday and all the other starmen.net artists. But definitely Skyday. And Meeellla. And emillio’s pretty dang incredible too, just like Jonk. And the way Soupaboy’s getting really good at that art is quite impressive. And (insert ten more minutes of rant)

~GiS

I like music; today's youth (that'd be me) are addicted to all things music. Recently I've noticed that they have an entire television channel devoted to music! Music Television! What a concept!

My favorite musician? Uh, I'm not hip with the EB scene, really. That guy with a keyboard is tight, though. Word.

Sidenote: I missed the 100th letter dealie by just a bit. I demand satisfaction!

--KoW



Satisfaction? Fine. Here’s a pie. Actually, you didn’t miss it by one. After I got all my Mailbag entries, I deleted the ones I wouldn’t be using. I then looked at the list (in order of least recently received) and went down to the tenth one. I then put the Letter of the Week at the top of the list, and arranged all the other entries in the most interesting way, making sure to keep letter 100 in the proper slot to avoid confusion. So, actually, you were off by about 6. I want my pie back.

By the way, that guy with a keyboard isn’t nearly as tight as the dude with the guitar; and those with satellite TV would probably enjoy telling you about their 300 channels of music.

~GiS

I've always liked music, mainly because it was something that I could do reasonably well. It is my favorite form of expression, and it has something that just can't be found in text or graphics. Of course, it all depends on the artist. I generally don't like fanfics or fanart, but occasionally I'll come across something in one of those categories that makes me stop and say, "Wow, that was cool!" Likewise, sometimes I'll come across a horrible piece of music that makes me want to vomit (true story, unfortunately). Generally speaking, though, I find fan music to be the most pleasing overall.

My favorite musician (aside from myself, of course, I have to keep my self-esteem high or I'll lose my musical ability even if I don't think it's the best) is Cromkayer. I like his stuff mostly because he actually plays it live on real instruments as much as possible, and there's just something about his work that I like a lot more than most other people's work I've heard. Hats off to Cromkayer.

--LousySpy



Yay Crom! There were some quite high-quality Cromkayer originals playing on Starmen.net radio this evening. I suppose, now that I think of it, that whether I prefer fanart or fanmusic really depends on the situation. Right now, while I’m busy doing Mailbag, a piece of fanart wouldn’t really help me that much.

~GiS

Yay, I got letter of the week :D ::Dances::

I would have to say that fanart is one of the most astounding aspects of Starmen.Net, simply because there's so much of it. And so much of it is great. I just love seeing the takes people have on the characters and environments. Jonk's work is just amazing, especially the way he does landscapes and cityscapes and that sort of thing. Some other artists I really admire are Skyday, emilio, Saturn Storm, Artemis251, and of course Meeellla.. and the list goes on..

But I think my favorite art-related thing on the site is the music. There is nothing I love better than being able to hear awesome EarthBound music played and remixed by awesome artists. The reason I appreciate people like Sephy and LousySpy and all the other great music people is that I cannot play any kind of instrument for my life. I can sing though.. uh.. yay.. go me..

I haven't gotten around to reading a whole lot of fanart, but what I've seen is great.

Basically, I am amazed by every genre of art I see on this site. There's just so much talent compacted into one place..

--Pancake



I’m amazed by ALL of the high-quality fan work here. It’s unbelievable that such gifted people would spend their valuable talents here for the happiness and appreciation of little ol’ Starmen.net when they could be auctioning it, publishing it, or selling it on a CD.

I forgot to mention Artemis251 and Saturn Storm! Now I feel bad. Especially with SS leaving! I’ll miss you, Saturn. You were the hardest working mod here. And stuff. “Interrupting the TXT War” is greater than all of you.

~GiS

I like SimonBob and his fanfics the most because um... well... err... Alright! He bribed me! He payed me to say that. So anyways, SimonBob is cool and all of that. *takes payment of $1*

--Dash



One? I would have haggled with SimonBob for at least $50. Well, easy come, easy go.

~GiS

Art! I love to see how people portray EB characters in their minds eye. Some people see people like Ness or Paula as wacky Anime characters with eyes so large they must drag along the floor. Some people tend to do real life images, like Lis Vender who is my favourite artist! (who already knows) Sometimes the art spoils how you might think EB characters/scenery look like ( kinda like seeing the film of the book, I hate HARRY POTTER!). I like to submit comics even if they haven't been updated :( and looking at strips that wander away from the game plot, but still involve the characters and such. People's originality counts. You can be a crappy drawer, but you can always come up with good ideas and win FAN ART OF THE WEEK. I think i deserve a gallery for myself for being sooo interesting.

--Hawianshirts



Dang, and Lis Vender! There are too many supertalented people here! I can’t even remember them all!

It’s really interesting to see how people envision things like Ness and Paula, and just the EarthBound world in generally. Though personally, I think anime style fits the Chosen Four best. …actually, the best I’ve ever seen the Chosen 4 look has to be the way emilio drew them. Anybody who can look at that and not say “Awww!” … needs to say “Awww!” more.

~GiS

Ahhh, fanstuff! Submissions are truly what keep this site alive. Personally, I like the Fanfics the best. (Surprised?) But I've thought about this time and again, and I think that the 'fics are actually the least popular aspect of the three you mentioned. Let's analyze them separately:

Fanfics

Pros: Nice, easy-to-load text based medium is good for people with dial-up modems. Fairly regular submissions (sometimes only one or two a week, sometimes five or six, but it's been almost a year since the last time I had nothing at all to update with.)
Cons: Usually on the longish side, especially on the part of the prolific writers who seem to favour the serial approach. Not really stunning at first glance ("Woah, look at how long this is! ... Yeah.")

Fanmusic

Pros: Fairly quick to listen to, since most submissions clock in around 2 or 3 minutes. Can be listened to while reading Fanfics or looking at Fanart. Once they're downloaded, they can be heard without going online again - a plus for people with limited time online.
Cons: Take a little while to download, even for high-speed people. (More than ten seconds is still longer than it takes to load most Fanart.) Might also need to d/l other peripherals (WinAmp, .it mod, etc.) Relatively low level of submissions.

Fanart

Pros: Fast and easy to take in with a sweeping glance. Often more debated and complimented than other stuff, showing that the public likes its art fix. Fairly high rate of submission, not counting the stuff that goes up on the forums.
Cons: Can take a little while to download on dial-up.

Note that I didn't comment on the quality of any given section. The quality is there in all three.

So what does it boil down to? Looking at patterns of conversation, it seems that Fanart is more popular than the other two. This presumably means that people like stuff they can look at quickly, and they don't mind a little bit of download time to get it. It probably also has something to do with the fact that we have more artists than writers or songmakers.

Personally, I don't care. As long as people submit something they're okay in my book.

--SimonBob



I see SimonBob has also reached the conclusion that people are lazy. Excellent letter, SimonBob. I also have to say that you were quite the celebrity this week. Seems like you get mentioned in Mailbag a lot. Yay for you. I suppose there have been enough letters to state the fact – Fanart is the most famous and appreciated form of art here. However, I think we’d all be very sad if we lost our fanmusic or fics. These works really do keep the site alive.

~GiS

There is only one way to convey a certain way someone feels about a situation in a short and to the point type of way-fanart.
I love fanart, not just because Im an artist but because it suites me well. I can look at an artist's work and see where he was coming from and I can see the story he or she was trying to compel to the viewer.
I dont have the attention span to sit for an hour or two and read those massive fanfics that are usually, in my opinion not very good and very long winded. I also dont have the time or the bandwidth to download songs that are mostly just variations of the songs Ive heard just by playing Eb.
Fanart is short and to the point. I can tell right away what is going on, and if I dont like the piece I can realize that right away instead of having to read a page or two of a fanfic or listen to a few minutes of a fanmusic. Lis vendor is awesome.

--Psionic Brawler



Yay, more praise for Lis. All those artists are definitely going to be successful in the future. And all you YOU are going to be very big couch potatoes in the future. …hey, don’t be mad. I’ll be joining you, of course.

~GiS

Fanfics. Definitely. I love writing, but haven't got the integrity to finish one, even if I would love to. Every fanfic I have read is great (although I enjoyed Anthadd's Nephew of the Forgotten One) and wouldn't think of putting anything down. Everyone else has got the guts to get down and type or write a fanfic revolving around Earthbound, and it makes me wish I could do that. Maybe I will...some day. Soon, perhaps. Anyway, Fanfics are the best, the art of them is just fascinating. It's inspiring.

--Ness's Cousin



Heh. Starting something and actually finishing…is definitely something I could use work on as well. Be inspired. Live long and prosper. We’re near the end of the bad now, and I’m about ready to fall flat on the desk asleep.

~GiS

I personally like Fanart the best. This is simply because fanfics are really long and really boring (sorry :|) because I don't really like reading long stories like that, and I've never even looked at fanmusic :)

My favorite artist at SM.net is EB_Girl, because she's... a good artist! :P

(PS Hi GiS :( )

--Shy



Hi. I got your letter late Saturday night. I have no pets. I had steak for dinner. Whee, I’m losing it. I really need sleep now.

~GiS

I am an old fart, therefore I feel that my sole comrade in arms is fanfarts. My favorite artist is Pokey, but Buddy Holly has the hips to make grandma leave house and dance on coke can yes but don't forget that sometimes in dark cat can uv light on house



Uh-huh. Yep. That was Grampa again, the poor old man who has long grown senile. Send him your wishes and ignore the face that at the end of that letter he went terribly loco.

~GiS

I’m actually writing this conclusion on Sunday morning. I wrote a conclusion last night, but it looked like this: “Hi um no I don’t how many times yeah don’t worry you all can I have no.” I read my conclusion and realized, “Forget it. I can’t stay awake long enough to update Mailbag.” However, let me say, I wasn’t very motivated to do Mailbag. The number of entries I got was pathetic. PATHETIC. I won’t even say it; I’d be too embarrassed. Let’s just say that if I got ten bucks for every Mailbag letter I got, I wouldn’t even have enough to pay somebody for passing Go. However, I must admit that I got some really excellent letters this week, so I can’t be that mad at you. I’d like to spend this moment to give my sincere thanks to constant Mailbaggers, like carryabigbat, PappyCat, Psionic Brawler, even Grampa. You know who you are. Peace out everybody. Live long and prosper. Be excellent to each other. And go submit to Mailbag.