You Can Make It Up: The Kate Gosselin Halloween Costume Fan Fiction Contest
Gabe loves fan fiction. You Can Make It Up features his own personal alternate adventures starring some of our favorite characters.
Well, the search for Falcon Heene continues, but there is little that we can do about it from our offices and monster caves. So we must move forward. I know that it is hard to celebrate anything when something nuts and sad and terrifying is going on, but we do have something important to celebrate: we have a winner in our Kate Gosselin Halloween Costume Fan Fiction Contest! I have to tell you, I was really surprised at how many people entered and at the quality of the entries, and if I had things my way, there would be no Internet and the faucets would run with Mountain Dew Code Black! But also, once that was taken care of, if I had things my way there would be free Kate Gosselin wigs for everyone! You are all winners! Sort of! Only one of you is really a winner in the sense that he or she won and is going to get a prize, which is a reward reserved for genuine winners. But you're all winners in my mind. My worthless, wig-free mind.
Tomorrow, I am going to post all of the entries so that we can enjoy the many Fabulous Alternative Adventures of Kate Gosselin together. But for today there can be only one. And it is after the jump.
Untitled Submission, by Dafs
Nala looked up towards the sun. Had it moved closer?
The heat itself was nothing new. At this time every year, the lionesses tried to spend as much time as possible by the waterhole. But ever since Simba and the king were killed by that stampede, the water seemed to have disappeared, taking the grasses and the grazers with it.
Food had become increasingly scarce, and the shortage had been magnified by Scar's mandate that they also hunt for his beloved hyenas. They couldn't be counted on to contribute. Much like their leader, they would spend most of the daylight asleep.
Like most of the pride, she had done her hunting early, and as expected, come up with nothing but scraps. So when she looked off into the distance and saw an unfamiliar shape coming towards her, she immediately discounted it to her own hunger. But when the other lionesses began whispering to each other, she realized that this strange two-legged creature was real.
At first glance, the creature was tall, but this was likely due only to it walking upright. It did not bear any immediate resemblance to any creature they had ever seen before. Though its hands and expressions were similar to those of Rafiki, the creature possessed no tail, instead having a layer of tan and purple fur covering most of its pale pink body. Most puzzling was the ornate head crest: a layer of gold that lay flat in front, but spiked and spread outward at the back of its head like a bird's. But this was no bird.
Nala took a deep breath and stepped forward. "What are you?"
The creature smiled. "I'm Kate Gosselin. I have a show on TLC."
Nala looked back at the other lionesses, but was met with only confused looks. She tried again. "What kind of animal are you?"
"I'm a single mother," was Kate's reply, as she brushed some dust off of her jacket. For some reason, she had expected Africa to be less dirty.
Deciding that the current line of questioning was going nowhere, Nala decided to take the conversation in a different direction. "What happened to your mate?" She backed off as the woman made an unnatural sound and ran her hands through the crest.
"Ugh, don't get me started," Kate groaned. "We have eight kids together, get this television show that becomes one of the biggest things on television, and then I turn around and he's hooked up with a girl half his age and started wearing Ed Hardy shirts. So now we're screaming at each other on national television, and while its pretty obviously all his fault, there's a lot of people out there blaming me. Life is just tough sometimes, you know what I mean?"
Nala looked around at the once verdant Pridelands, now laid desolate by famine and pestilence, and nodded.
Kate continued, "Just last week I was doing this comedy sketch for Jay Leno, and once it was all over, I thought that maybe I needed to take some time away from it all. Visit some place far away from the gossip photographers, where people don't know who I am. Or maybe get away from people altogether. So now that you've heard my story, I'd like to join up with you girls and be a part of your pride!"
The other lionesses circled Nala and began speaking to each other in hushed tones. Occasionally, one would look in her direction, but the look betrayed no hint of how the conversation was going. Presumably they were discussing how to handle her fame. After what seemed like twenty minutes, Nala stepped out of the circle.
"We have decided to eat you."
And so Kate Gosselin was taken down and quickly divided up into equal portions. The meal was less than adequate, as Kate was not a large creature, and the lionesses quickly found her multicolored adornments to be completely inedible. The meat itself was stringy, but helped stave off hunger pains for the rest of the day. The only part they refused to touch was the golden head crest, which one of the hyenas found the next day and gave to her cubs as a toy. The cub played with it until one of his younger siblings urinated on it, leaving a smell that could not be washed out.
The end.
[Ed. note: CONGRATULATIONS, DAFS! Please send your mailing address to gabe@videogum.com.]
Posted by Gabe at 5:45 PM in You Can Make It Up
Tags: Fan Art | Fan Fiction | Jon And Kate Plus 8 | Jon Gosselin | Kate Gosselin | Kate Plus 8
Congrats Daffs! I hope when you open your box with the Kate Gosselin wig you'll be as giddy as my avatar.
Score = 15
Woohoo! Congratulations, Dafs! Enjoy that wig. You earned it. Can't wait to read everyone else's tomorrow.
Score = 5
Wait why wasn't there a song?
There should have been a song.
Score = 8
Feel good story of the year.
Congrats, Dafs! You deserve that wig!
Score = 4
Are there any producers waiting for an instant hit out there? Nice work Dafs!
Score = 3
A+
Score = 4
The circle of life, indeed.
Score = 16
Great work Dafs! Mr. Disney's frozen head itself would be proud.
Sidenote: Gabe, you should have offered the prize on the condition that the winner submit a picture of them wearing it, if only to serve as proof that he/she won't just give it to his/her pet as a toy.
Score = 10
Yeah, if I had to guess, Dafs' cat will be urinating on this wig in no time.
Score = 5
Score = 32
god bless you.
Score = 20
DAFs has to poke a picture of herself wearing the wig for our enjoyment
Score = 9
jinx
Score = 3
Dafs is a dude. A 20-something dude from Myrtle Beach. (We're e-bros. I got to peer-edit this paper.)
Score = 4
Interesting. I always assumed it was short for Daphne. Now that I know Dafs is a man, I take back my exclamation point and wish my congratulations with a masculine period following them.
Score = 17
A masculine period? Someone needs some remedial sex ed!
Score = 34
I would upvote this silly joke forever if I could
Score = 6
Mazel Tov to the winner! Please post a pic of you wearing the wig...
Score = 2
Woo, Falcon was found, and now I can officially say I LotsOfLoved this.
Let's paint, excercise and enjoy fanfiction!
Score = 5
That was so good. Now we can all refer to that haircut as an "ornate headcrest". You've made your own inside joke, Dafs, which is all a 'gummer can hope for.
Score = 21
dammit I did it AGAIN. Upvote, UPvote!
Score = 3
Of course I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone, but for our fictional Kate, it seems like a fitting demise.
Two thumbs up! Fine holiday fun. What holiday? I don't know, wasn't it just Canadian Thanksgiving?
Score = 7
:D
Score = 17
And fear not, gentle readers. You will see me wear it.
Score = 21
This had the happiest ending of all.
Score = 2
Congrats, Dafs!
Wish I had entered. Stupid contest being held amidst midterms. THANKS, GABE.
Score = 6
and Canadian Thanksgiving. No time for internet family whilst hanging out with real family.
Score = 5
The writing, irregardless [haha I'm aynrandian!] of Kate Gosselin, was really good! Mazel Tov :D
Score = -1
Hm, clever concept but I didn't laugh. Congratulations though.
Score = -11
The comedy isn't in the LAFFS. The comedy is in the thinly veiled (not so thinly veiled) symbolism that corresponds so completely pop culture as to be a comment on the ridiculousness of it. I mean- BRAV-fucking OH! Not only is it delightfully absurd, but it's damn smart.
(If you can't write "you can make it up," become Professor You Can Make it Up)
Score = 9
*with
Score = 0
WTG, Dafs. I'm glad it was you. I'm glad it was you...
Score = 2
"...I have a show on TLC." gave me many lolz. For this, I humbly thank you. Congrats on the win.
Score = 1
Here's what I like about dafs' story.
1. It isn't larded with tons of in-jokes. You don't have to be a daily videogum reader to get it.
Â
2. It's topical without being too dated. Eg, no Roman Polanski gags.
3. It's gotta a subtle point about narcissism and frivolousness without getting heavy-handed.
4. Â It's actually well-written, craftwise. It reminds me a lot of Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt."
5. It avoids the setup-punchline rhythym that seems like the obvious approach.
6. It isn't lazy or halfassed.
It's basically the exact opposite of my entry.
Good job dafs. Â Â
Score = 16
That minor in English wasn't gonna earn itself! For all of you interested in pursuing this line of education, here's a handy primer:
Essay comparing the destruction of the lodge in Beowulf to September 11 --> Character analysis of Iago in Shakespeare's Othello --> Deconstruction of TS Eliot's "The Waste Land" --> Lion King/Kate Gosselin crossover fanfiction
Score = 15
Very well put! And I don't mean to take away from dafs moment (I'm sure this day is on par with graduating (from high school, college, and superhero college (apparently))), but in a small way it's a testament to Mr. Potter.. oh, I mean GABE's talent. Guy does this stuff all the time, and it's great, and I get used to it. HOWEVER, it was nice to see a new voice with the same great sense of humor, timing, and love for wigs. SAY CHEESY..
Score = 6
Oh, God. You just tore my YCMIU a new one... : (
Score = 1
Yours and mine both, if that makes you feel better. :-/
Score = 1
I'm sure lots of peeps. I'll just have to Stuart Smalley myself harder today.
Score = 2
Yo Dafs. I'm real happy for you and Imma let you finish. But Seth Grahame-Smith has one of the best YCMIU of all time! Of all time!
Don't worry. I'll show myself out.
Score = 4
So funny! "We have decided to eat you" Hilarious! Congrats!
Score = 2
Great job, Dafs! Was the Lion King crossover inspired by the fact that one of the Gosselins' dogs (that they used to have before they gave them back to the breeder) was named Nala? Should I be embarrassed to admit I know the names of the Gosselins' (former) dogs? Either way, I enjoyed Nala's revenge.
Score = 1