What's My Plotline

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The “What’s My Plotline?” Contest is an annual event in the Rescue Ranger Fan Community that was created and is run by legendary Rangerphile Jeff Pierce. It takes the form of a writing challenge that spans several weeks. The contest ends with the selection of the best entries to win prizes, though like everything in the Rangerphile community it is mostly conducted for fun and to grow the abilities of its participants.

Synopsis

The “What’s My Plotline” Contest was established by Mr. Pierce as a way to encourage Rangerphiles to think creatively and explore new ideas in crafting new Rescue Ranger related fan fictions.

Taking on the guise of a hypothetical fourth season of the original Rescue Rangers television program, the Rangerphiles who participate must come up with an original plot idea that alludes to an episode title provided by Mr. Pierce.

Contest Rules

There are only a handful of rules to the contest:

  • The plot description must not exceed 300 words.
  • The plot description must be set in canon, meaning that only situations found in the original series are allowed (i.e. none of the Rangers are married, Tammy and Foxglove are not full members of the team, etc…). Also Good Times, Bat Times is considered the last episode of the series and the state from which the first week's entries begin.
  • No ideas or characters presented in any other fan fictions are allowed.
  • Referencing other fan works is not allowed, but participants are free to reference previous weeks' winning entries.
  • The plot summaries must fit with the parameters of the rules of the Acorn Café where the contest is hosted each year.

Additionally, in the second year of the contest, the idea of adding an addition scene description was added as an option for each submitter. This scene description has its own rules:

  • It must contain no more than 200 words.
  • It must follow all of the other rules concerning content as the plot description.

Voting

The winners for each individual week of the contest are decided by a public poll in the related thread. Any member of the Acorn Café is welcome to vote for an entry. The entrant with the most votes for their idea is the winner. In ties any and all entries with the equal number of high votes are considered wins and advance to the final.

The voting for the finals is conducted by secret ballot on a points system.

Entries

2005

The initial 2005 contest was announced on July 12, 2005.

Week 1: “Fits Like a Foxglove” Announced: July 14, 2005 Participants:

Winner: Dr. Indy and Ronnie Rabbit


Week 2: “When the Chips are Down” Announced: July 25, 2005 Participants:

Winner: Ronnie Rabbit


Week 3: “Diamonds are a Squirrel's Best Friend” Announced: August 1, 2005 Participants:

Winner: The Shadow Nose


Week 4: “I’m No Fool” Announced: August 8, 2005 Participants:

Winner: Dr. Indy and Nicholas


Week 5: “A Star of Stage and Scream” Announced: August 15, 2005 Participants:

Winner: Rachel


Week 6: “You Must Remember This…” Announced: August 22, 2005 Participants:

Winner: Stainless Steel Rat


Week 7: “Gadget Goes to Rome” Announced: August 29, 2005 Participants:

Winner: Stainless Steel Rat


Week 8: “A Blunder Down Under” Announced: September 6, 2005 Participants:

  • Stainless Steel Rat

Winner: Stainless Steel Rat


Week 9: “The Return of Double-Oh Dale” Announced: September 20, 2005 Participants:

Winner: FleaBot


Week 10: “A Case Too Big, A Case Too Small” Announced: September 27, 2005 Participants:

  • Ronnie Rabbit
  • Toni
  • FleaBot

Winner: FleaBot


2006

The 2006 contest was announced on August 14, 2006 and began the same day. A few new elements were added this year to draw more entries. These elements included the ability for the writers to include a small scene and a final contest to determine prize winners.

Week 1: “If I Could Change Your Mind” Announced: August 14, 2006 Participants:

Winner: Mr. Spumoni


Week 2: “The Fly Who Came In From The Cold” Announced: August 21, 2006 Participants:

  • Mr. Spumoni
  • pupspals
  • Dr. Indy

Winner: Dr. Indy and pupspals


Week 3: “Making Movies” Announced: August 28, 2006 Participants:”

Winner: Obi-Wan Maplewood


Week 4: “Two Chips and a Missile” Announced: September 5, 2006 Participants:

Winner: Stainless Steel Rat


Week 5: “Time Waits For No Mouse” Announced: September 11, 2006 Participants:

Winner: Mr. Spumoni


Week 6: “Country Mouse, City Louse” Announced: September 25, 2006 Participants:

  • Mr. Spumoni
  • FleaBot

Winner: FleaBot


Week 7: “Swiss Misadventure” Announced: October 3, 2006 Participants:

  • Stainless Steel Rat
  • Mr. Spumoni

Winner: Stainless Steel Rat and Mr. Spumoni


Week 8: “Chinatown Chips” Announced: October 10, 2006 Participants:

  • Loneheart
  • Mr. Spumoni

Winner: Mr. Spumoni


Week 9: “The Comic Book Caper” Announced: October 17, 2006 Participants:

Winner: Midnight Man


Week 10: “The Lizard of Odds” Announced: October 23, 2006 Participants:

  • Stainless Steel Rat
  • Mr. Spumoni
  • FleaBot
  • Bluewolf-Z

Winner: Stainless Steel Rat


Contest 2 Winners Announced: December 2, 2006 Third Place: Dr. Indy for “The Fly Who Came In From The Cold” Second Place: FleaBot for “Country Mouse, City Louse” First Place: Obi-Wan Maplewood for “Making Movies”


2007

The third contest was announced with much anticipation in the Rangerphile community. The growth of the fandom was evident in the many new names that threw their hats into the ring for the new contest.

Week 1: “A Stranger Ranger” Announced: September 10, 2007 Participants:

Winner: Bluewolf-Z


Week 2: “All In a Mouse’s Night” Announced: September 17, 2007 Participants:

Winner: Lilacstarprint


Week 3: “The Case of the Cellar Dwellers” Announced: September 24, 2007 Participants:

  • Mr. Spumoni
  • Dr. Indy
  • RangerReady23
  • Mayhem
  • Lilacstarprint
  • Bluewolf-Z

Winner: Mayhem


Week 4: “Conventional Wisdom” Announced: October 2, 2007 Participants:

Winner: Abel DuSable


Week 5: “A Midsummer Night’s Scheme” Announced: October 8, 2007 Participants:

  • Mayhem
  • Lilacstarprint
  • Midnight Man
  • Sinclair
  • Abel DuSable

Winner: Mayhem and Abel DuSable


Week 6: “A Case of Blackmail” Announced: October 15, 2007 Participants:

  • Abel DuSable
  • Mayhem
  • Mr. Spumoni
  • Lilacstarprint
  • Sinclair

Winner: Abel DuSable and Mayhem


Week 7: “Little Trouble in Big China” Announced: October 22, 2007 Participants:

  • Abel DuSable
  • Sinclair
  • Mayhem
  • Lilacstarprint

Winner: Abel DuSable


Week 8: “Fright Club” Announced:” October 30, 2007 Participants:

  • Mr. Spumoni
  • Mayhem
  • Abel DuSable
  • Lilacstarprint
  • Bluewolf-Z

Winner: Abel DuSable


Week 9: “Mystery on the Mississippi” Announced: November 6, 2007 Participants:

  • Mr. Spumoni
  • Abel DuSable
  • Mayhem
  • Lilacstarprint

Winner: Mr. Spumoni


Week 10: “You Want Flies With That?” Announced: November 12, 2007 Participants:”

  • Abel DuSable
  • Mayhem
  • Lilacstarprint

Winner: Mayhem


Season 3 Winners: Third Place: Mr. Spumoni for “Mystery on the Mississippi” Second Place: Mayhem for “You Want Flies With That?” First Place: Lilacstarprint for “All In A Mouse’s Night”


Prizes

The prizes awarded for taking the top three spots in the final judging are usually related to the actual contest. Having a scene from a winning entry written up or even illustrated by Rangerphile artists like Chris Fischer are typical rewards for a winning finalist.

In 2007, overall winner Lilacstarprint was rewarded with a special gift. Mr. Pierce supplied her with a Rescue Rangers Press Kit!

Trivia

  • Mr. Pierce has used several different sources as inspiration for the weekly entry titles. The titles are often plays on movie or song titles, or have even come from Shakespearean sources.