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| Tribute to Fanfiction by Zeigelzeig |
Hello ladies and gentlemammals! Today we’ve got something very exciting to share with you: the results of the 2017 National Zootopia Writing Month (or NaZoWriMo for short)! For those of you who missed it, this last November we challenged everyone in the fandom to see if they could write a novel-length story in exactly one month. As a bonus incentive, we offered to get a physical copy made of whatever stories cross the 50,000 word threshold. To make sure we didn’t make the same mistakes we made last year, we brought on some temporary pre-readers for this occasion so that we could make sure all the stories got read and reviewed before Christmas.
Well, I’m pleased to announce that we’ve reached all of those goals, and that two of the stories submitted to us this year passed the 50k mark! Congratulations to TorturedArtist745 and J Shute Norway for reaching that goal! A lot of work went into it, but your dedication to the craft shows! Special shout-out to Lucario389 for organizing and coordinating this event– we couldn’t have done it without you!
The entries, in order of final word length
A Lead Role in a Cage by J Shute Norway – 51,448 words
No Bats Allowed by TorturedArtist745 – 50,109 words
Bound By Steel by D3ath ops – 24,732 words
Thank you so much for participating! That’s not all we have, though- check out after the break for our in-depth reviews of all these stories, and why reading them is definitely worth your time! In the meantime, we’re looking forward to another wonderful year of Zootopia, full of even more fun events like this one!
A Lead Role in a Cage by J Shute Norway – 51,448 words
“A Lead Role In A Cage” is a TAME collar AU. Set up by the first 15 chapters of “Zootopia: The Original plot” this AU Takes a dark turn. Nick is imprisoned for his Wilde Times amusement park, and the journey takes us through the physical, mental, and emotional abuse of Nick in jail, while the TAME collar conspiracy is unraveled by Judy alone. This fic is dark, grisly, and not for the faint of heart. However it is extremely well written, filling readers with indignation and anger at how Nick is treated. It is highly recommended that you read “Zootopia: The Original Plot”, before jumping into this fic.
Reviewed by Calidian and Gorgancoffee
No Bats Allowed by TorturedArtist745 – 50,109 words
Tortured Artist’s ‘No Bats Allowed’ offers a unique take on the endeavors that Nick and Judy undertake through their careers as officers of the law, as well as addressing some underserved and marginalized mammals beyond just the predator/prey issues. The harrowing missions and looming threat of mystery, danger, and failure keeps readers on their toes, itching for more; for Nick and Judy have never faced a foe so elusive and tricky before. Politics, kidnapping, poison, romance, relationships, death and bats all figure in this story. Insightful moments of character development and background lore surrounding the world of Zootopia add some nice color to what would otherwise be a drabber experience of cat-and-mouse storytelling. Intriguing characters laced throughout the story offer good clearance for lovers of OC’s and manage to put some interesting twists on canon characters as well, yet Tortured Artist never fails to keep the witty intellect of Nick Wilde and fervid determination of Judy Hopps on full display for all to enjoy. Overall, ‘No Bats Allowed’ stands as a welcome addition to the Zootopia archive, and a well-rounded read for any fans of classic crime-adventure genres, and tense political drama paired with fun moments in between.
Reviewed by Stubat and Upplet
Bound By Steel by D3ath ops – 24,732 words
D3ath0ps’ Bound by Steel is a fantastic crossover piece that blends the world of Zootopia with the widely-known and popular anime series, Sword Art Online. Trapped inside a virtual reality world by the creator of the headpiece called NerveGear that allows the user to dive inside a game with full consciousness, our characters must fight for their lives to survive in this MMORPG game, as death in the game means death in real life. The story is executed almost impeccably; the characters, which mainly consists of OCs are likable, the plot is intriguing enough that leaves you hanging for more despite it only being five chapters long currently, and the action/adventure scenes are marvelous to read, of course along with good character and world building. A combination of suspense and light humor with good pacing make this story an overall great piece and recommendable to anyone who is fans of both Zootopia and Sword Art Online.
Reviewed by KoxFox and KeyToTruth12
Awesome!