User:Gideoncrawle

How providential when you find The face an index to the mind, And evil men compelled to call Themselves by names like Gideon Crawle!


 * --W.S. Gilbert, Ruddigore

I am the "evil man" who calls himself Gideoncrawle, although I will answer to any reasonable permutation thereof.

I recently completed my first year on the wiki. Check out my First Anniversary blog post if you want to know more, or if you'd like a glimpse of my plans for the coming year..

My Stories
Alphabetically within each section

Completed
Courtney and the Violin of Despair


 * March 2011 Featured Story


 * A kinder, gentler "Courtney bashing" story, featuring a series of embarrasing musical incidents based on true stories. The purpose of this story is to demonstrate that even character-bashing stories can be tasteful, quality work, and that you don't have to be mean to give your favorite punching bag a lot of grief.

Fake Souls anthology (contributor)


 * &quot;Rise of the Dragon Queen&quot; (Chapter 22) featuring Heather


 * &quot;Desperate Measures&quot; (Chapter 31) featuring Izzy. This story is very unusual in that it depicts Izzy as a tragic character, even a pitiable one.

Legacy


 * June 2010 Featured Story


 * My first published fanfic. Five residents of the Featured User gallery have suggested that it is professional-quality work.


 * As part of Legacy's anniversary (8 February), I posted my plot sketch of the abandoned 6th chapter on my blog page, as part of a special joint blog with Sunshine. Sunshine's contribution was a beautifully detailed fanart that she has also nominated for Featured Image (hint, hint).

In Progress
No Boundaries: A Wikia Pokemon Story (collaboration)


 * I'm a part of the team, led by DJ Spenstar, that is writing this Pokemon story. No Boundaries is full of wiki original characters and user avatars, and also includes certain TDI characters and references.


 * Because my knowledge of the Pokemon universe is limited, I won't be writing actual chapters. Instead, I will be working behind the scenes as a sort of "copy editor", suggesting ways to improve things like phrasing, word choice and descriptive color without changing the essential character of my teammates' writing. I have also contributed certain ideas for working in TDI characters and references.


 * Chapter 3 is posted. This story does not currently have a regular update schedule.

G&amp;S Playlist for Life After Lies (abbreviated LAL-G&S)


 * I collected some Gilbert & Sullivan songs, most of which also appear in TDI-G&S (see below) into a playlist to honor the enshrinement of Gigi's story Life After Lies in the Featured Story gallery (April 2010). I have since added to it as Gigi posts new LAL chapters. The playlist is now three times its original size, with a playing time comparable to a typical feature film. The playlist currently resides on my blog page, although I may move it to an article page one of these days.


 * On 9 September (10 September UTC) this playlist had the honor of being the very first recipient of Gigi's Official Fadingsilverstar16 Sparkly Rainbow Seal of Approval.

Total Drama Island, by Gilbert and Sullivan (abbreviated TDI-G&S, pronounced "Tiddigus")


 * What if Gilbert & Sullivan had written TDI? The canon story arc retold with 8,300 lines of G&S verse--that's almost 3/4 of the total verse in the 14 G&S plays--and an average of 33 verse references per episode. A 400-page (8.5x11 equivalent) magnum opus 18 months in the making. Includes verses for Mr. Coconut, Sasquatchanakwa, The Escaped Psycho Killer With a Chainsaw and a Hook, and more.


 * The wiki version has all of the episodes posted. Supplemental work on the character pages will probably continue for several weeks.


 * The PDF version is finished, and is available for download on a website run by a friend of mine (because the wiki is not set up to support downloading).

Coming Soon
The Legend of Total Drama Island


 * Coming Summer 2011


 * A TDI reimagining patterned after one of the world's great literary classics. I have posted the Prologue to reserve the story title.


 * Because the launch date is distant, I will be previewing scenes every couple of months on my blog page.
 * Current previews reside on:


 * My &quot;1,000th Edit&quot; blog post (a scene from the talent show challenge)
 * My Halloween-themed &quot;2,000th Edit&quot; blog post (Gwen's arrival and a scene from the phobia challenge)
 * My New Year's blog post (a "pause that refreshes" scene from an undisclosed episode. I can't reveal which episode because it would be a spoiler.)
 * An unscheduled preview selected and posted on very short notice for its "ripped from the wiki headlines" topicality.
 * The Valentine's Day special: Three short, hot 'n' steamy scenes with three levels of steam heat. How hot do you like it? (This preview also has a couple of polls, and your input is much appreciated.)
 * The next preview will be around the end of April.
 * The next preview will be around the end of April.

In Development
It's too early to tell whether these stories will ever see the light of day, but I have started work on them. The titles are subject to change.

"Before a Fall"


 * In this "scenes we'd like to see" vignette (that's Old School for "one-shot"), Courtney's and her lawyers' attempts to tamper with the TDA competition don't work out quite the way she expected.

A Fake Souls chapter featuring Katie and Sadie

"The Neverending Drama"


 * The original campers, now 40 or 50 years old, are STILL competing because Chris won't release them from their contracts. Currently shaping up as a long one-shot.

Why am I here?
Regarding who I am and what I'm about, let's start with the proverbial elephant in the room: I am vastly older than most of the folks on this wiki. We're talking decades older. Some of the tweens on this wiki are young enough to be my grandchildren.

So, what is a middle-aged man doing on a wiki for a kid's show like Total Drama? That's a good question, and here's a good answer: if it's well-written, what does it matter if it's (allegedly) a kid's show? Somehow, TDI captured my imagination in a way that only one other TV show (Sci-fi Channel's elimination game, Who Wants to be a Superhero?) has done in the last 10 years. (TDA was okay, but I liked TDI better, mainly because TDA largely lacked its predecessor's sense of discovery and TDA's characterizations weren't as good. I thought TDWT was better than TDA, but not as good as TDI.)

In addition, my darling wife and I are longtime animation fans. We like TD's sister series, 6Teen, for the same reasons that we like TD itself.

Furthermore, my main hobby is sports photography (mostly volleyball and girls' basketball) at my former high school, so I spend a lot of time around teens, whom I have never been inclined to treat as anything but equals.

If I had been on TDI
The TDI characters I most closely resembled at that age are Cody and Noah. Allowing for the quirks of the drawing style, I even looked rather like Cody. Like Cody, I was a science geek, playing up a year (e.g. taking junior-level classes as a sophomore) in my math and science classes. Like Noah, I spent most of my formative years with a book in my hands, e.g. reading Sacagawea when I was all of 6 years old.

I differed from Cody mainly in that I never considered myself one of the "cool" kids, nor cared. I differed from Noah mainly in that people generally considered me a more pleasant person to be around, and I had no particular aversion to athletics (although I typically approached them with more enthusiasm than talent).

What makes me different
In several ways, I am different from most of the users on this wiki. Here are a few:

Age: 51

Occupation: Accountant

Education: Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering; Bachelor's degree in Accounting

Favorite music genre: Classical

Favorite literature genre: Mythology & related things (including epic poetry, Icelandic sagas, etc.)

Favorite TV franchise: Star Trek

Favorite cartoon series: Mighty Mouse (original), ''The Tick. (Total Drama'' is my favorite recent series.)

Favorite comic strip: Prince Valiant

Organizational memberships: Mensa (the largest and best-known of the many high-IQ societies out there)

Need more evidence that I'm a little different? Check out my Featured User interview in the September 2010 newsletter.

WRITER'S WORKSHOP OPEN FOR BUSINESS
The success of my short story, Legacy led to several people asking me for tips on writing style. In response to these requests, the first Writer's Workshop got underway on my blog page on 17 April. Those who missed the initial flurry are still welcome to post questions or comments, as I (and others, in all probability) will be monitoring the page indefinitely. Those who did participate are, of course, also welcome to post additional questions or comments as circumstances warrant.

Participants who don't write or who aren't comfortable advising others on how to write can still contribute. In addition to asking questions, nonwriters or uncertain writers can tell us what they like to see as readers. That's also valuable for writers to know.

The Workshop was so successful that it spawned additional Workshops, with different hosts and focusing on different aspects of writing. My own Workshop includes links to these. In addition, the Writer's Workshop series has been collected into a sidebar menu, under the "Community" section.

I, for one, think it would be great to have an ongoing series of these Workshops, hosted by various people according to their areas of expertise.

Milestones
I won't call these "goals", because I haven't been actively pursuing most of them. An "x" denotes a milestone achieved:

[x] 100 edits - voting eligibility for Featured Story/User/Image/Character

[x] 500 edits - more or less the threshold to be taken seriously as a Featured User candidate

[x] 1,000 edits (I threw a serious bash for this one)

[x] 2,000 edits (I pulled out all the stops for this one, too)

[x] Top Authors listing (achieved 6 June 2010. It might prove temporary, but I can honestly say I've done it.)

[xx] Have one of my stories Featured (Legacy in June 2010; Courtney and the Violin of Despair in March 2011)

[x] Have one of my stories on the Library menus (Legacy is now a "Modern Classic")

[x] Have one of my stories in the Front Page sampler (Legacy, of course. What else would it be?)

[x] Have a story page with 500 views, not including my own support work (TDI-G&amp;S and Legacy)

[x] Have a story with 1,000 views, not including my own support work


 * (the visit counter wasn't working from mid-August to early December, but TDI-G&S has surely hit this mark by now)

[ ] Have a story with 2,000 views, not including my own support work


 * (LTDI is my best bet for this)

[x] Be a Featured User (July 2010)

[x] Have a quote from one of my stories Featured (December 1-15, 2010)


 * (The first truly serious quote to be Featured, no less, and the first purely narrative passage to be Featured. From Legacy, naturally)

[x] Achieve something that no one else here has done before


 * (First author to have two noncompetition stories Featured - Legacy and Courtney and the Violin of Despair)

[ ] Live a blameless life and die beloved and regretted by all who knew me

Friends List

 * Always as a young man
 * I traveled alone,
 * And I would lose my way;
 * I felt I was rich
 * If I made a friend--
 * No man by himself is happy.


 * --from The Elder Edda (a collection of Viking poetry)

OK, let's see if there's anyone out there who's willing to be seen with "The Old Man of the Wiki".


 * 1) I usually dont care where my user name's seen. You Rock Gideon! -- ♚ Prince Reddude the FIRST ♚   Slicing the enemy  'til the night falls short... 23:53, February 28, 2010 (UTC) [the first to offer me "friend" status - GC]
 * Eh, nobody really mocks each other here, so props to a great author! Tdirm- Semi-Legendary  Mockery!   NIRVANA EVERYWHERE!  20:54, March 1, 2010 (UTC) [an early champion of my work - GC]
 * 1) Your writing style is one of a kind, at least here. Besides, I already know that age boundaries are meaningless here. -- ☆ HERE'S SPENNY!!   Oh wait, I gotta go!   Cya(n)!  21:23, March 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * 2) I really like your writing, and you're also very nice! -- I sing the song of the fading  silver star...  21:31, March 7, 2010 (UTC) [perhaps the best writer of her age class I have ever encountered - GC]
 * 3) You're an awesome writer, and you're very nice. Goldenshane 22:52, March 7, 2010 (UTC) [another early champion of my work - GC]
 * 4) You are an awesome writer and are a rising star-- Ken zen   Elev  en!  16:58, March 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * 5) We haven't had a lot of interactions, but I enjoy your writing. Sprinklemist Cyan is the new green. 17:00, March 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * 6) You're cool. Boring sig. 19:45, March 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * 7) I'm pretty much everyone's friend on the wiki. Awesome writer! Fanfiction2010 ☆Legendary   Unison buddies!!!   BUNDLES OF ODDNESS EVERYWHERE!  14:51, March 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * 8) We just met recently, but you're cool! -- Koops is here!   Let's sit down and talk!   What I do here!   Let's blog! 
 * 9) I feel your writing is above the standards of mine. I understand how your such a succesful writer on this wikia. You show your best skills in writing and I especially think you are a role model to many writers. I just recently met you and I just recently read Legacy. I will definitley use your writing skills to write my fanfictions.-- OMG! May First is my birthday! 21:41, May 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * 10) To be unique and not continue the whole 'you're a great author and very nice' trend, you're like Santa Claus. You're older than a lot of people on the site, and you seem like a jolly person. And for some reason, I can't get the great white bushy beard out of my head... :)...just kidding! UltimateTORINOR 23:09, May 12, 2010 (UTC)
 * 11) You're a pretty good writer, and you've really helped me out! IK
 * 12) You are an amazing author, you have amazing advice for others, you are well respected by me and many others, so why wouldn't you be my friend? I appreciate what you do for everyone on this wiki, and you are an incredible person. I hope you are proud of the life you are living my friend. :) BocaJ is Here!  I decided to ditch the month signatures...Because I did! 02:06, August 13, 2010 (UTC)
 * 13) You rock rule, man! You balance out the average age on the wiki, and your seriously original and awesome reimaginings of Total Drama are great. Plus, you show a lot of respect and are really nice to us wiki children. XD Dark clouds all  around, lightning rain is  pouring down!  04:15, September 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * 14) Definitely. You have possibly the most unique story on the wiki, and I always spot your feedback on talkpages, including my own. I have no idea why I didn't sign this earlier.
 * 15) I enjoy your feedback. You have given a new light to the wiki and I am thankful for it.--THIS IS Intrudgero98! You Thought I Was Gonna Say SPARTA Did&#39;nt You? 11:32, November 13, 2010 (UTC)
 * 16) Thank you for the advice on random Tdi, and you are a really good and devoted writer Teamnoah123
 * 17) Since you made me leap from an invisible IP to the maybe-soon-to-be-ledgendary CrystalNeonSummerSnow, I wouldn't even think of a reason not to be your friend. &quot; You&#39;re 30% arrogant, 30% ignorant, and 40% idiot!&quot; &quot; Yep, she soo has a crush on me.&quot; Nickelodeon has the best lines. XD 04:20, December 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * 18) I've been lucky enough to retain friendly correspondence with you- our famed "wiki elder"- since early on, and I must say your unique, richly descriptive style of writing inspires me to improve my own in hopes that I will one day match you in skill. I'm proud to call such inspiration a friend (and at #20, one of my favorite numbers, to boot!) -- Sunshineandravioli- Legendary  Pixie!   RAVIOLI EVERYWHERE!  21:46, December 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * 19) You introduced me to advertising my first story! XD Awesome guy! Gotta get pants! Go get your pants! Button, fly! 23:18, February 4, 2011 (UTC)
 * 20) You've been helping me out a lot lately. It would be selfish not to sign this. My name is Jkl   and you don't know   who I am...  16:03, April 17, 2011 (UTC)
 * 21) Thank you for all the help you've given me and for just being super nice. Your awesome. Hiding Oreos in her bra. 20:19, April 23, 2011 (UTC)