Arletta Asbury

Fan
Name:	Arletta Asbury
Alias(es):	Arletta Martian/laneybell Martian (Second Life)
Type:	fan writer, faction leader, warleader
Fandoms:	Forever Knight
Communities:	FORKNI-L, Light Cousins FK faction, Second Life
Other:
URL:	Arletta's Fan Fiction
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Arletta Asbury was a Forever Knight fan. Although she originally considered herself a Nick and NatPacker, Urchin, and FoSiL, her heart lay with the Light Cousins, whom she led for many years.

Like many other FK fans, Arletta was driven to write by her intense dislike of the series finale, "Last Knight". Indeed, she quickly wrote several different alternative endings. Of these, her second story, "Another Ending" (in which Natalie wakes up in hospital) was elaborated into her Fourth Season series, which takes the protagonists to new lives in Paris. This early fanfic betrays all the faults of apprentice work. However, Arletta then discovered her forte with several short comic pieces, most particularly the brief skit, "A Potential Donor??".

It is not surprising, therefore, that Arletta's principal contribution as an author came in the Forever Knight Wars. She was a prolific war scribe, often plotting/writing with Cousin Shelley. She led the Light Cousins while they were a viable war faction, and subsequently played with the Cousins. She and Cousin Shelley were co-leaders in War Thirteen.

Arletta died on 22 August 2016.

In Memoriam

I have received word, from a mutual friend on Second Life, of Arletta's passing.

"Hello all. I am sad to say that Arletta Martian/laneybell Martian passed away Monday, August 22, 2016 at 12:15pm SLT. She went into the hospital a few weeks ago to fix a surgery that was botched some time ago. Complications arose and her body could not compensate for it."

The last time I spoke to Arletta, she'd mentioned the botched surgery to me and said they were going to fix things. I'd just been thinking of her recently and wondering how things had gone. I guess I have my answer now. Arletta was my friend, my co-conspirator in times of War, and she introduced me to Second Life. I'll miss you, my friend. It won't be the same without you.

— Cousin Tok on FORKNI-L, 22 August 2016

I'm in complete shock. We haven't spoken for a while, but she has been my writing partner since war 8. She will be sorely missed. I still can't believe it.

— Cousin Shelley on FORKNI-L, 23 August 2016

I remember. You put the Vampbear (Nicolas de Bearbant) in a child seat in the car, then dumped him off in a Salvation Army lost teddy bears drop box.

I met Arletta in person at Syndicon and again at G3. I remember she had some issues with her real name and photos of her being used in fandom -- which made for some creative placement of fannish pins across her event IDs. IIRC, her fan name came from a combination of names from romance novels, and the name she wished her (eventual professional) novels would be published under.

>She will be sorely missed. I still can't believe it.

Agreed.

— Brenda F. Bell on FORKNI-L, 23 August 2016

Rest in peace, Arletta. She was always a delightful person on and off list, a kind and fun woman. A Cousin's Cousin, one of the the best mates you could ask for in Wartime. It's a shame that health care failed her twice.

— Bonnie Rutledge on FORKNI-L, 24 August 2016

Fan Fiction

The stories are listed in chronological order by the date they were posted.

• "An Alternate Ending"[1] (1996)
• Fourth Season
  • "Another Ending"[2][3] (2 June 1996)
  • "Transitions"[4][5] (5 June 1996)
  • "The End or Not?"[6][7][8] (9 June 1996)
  • "The Apartment and What Happens Next"[9][10] (22 June 1996)
  • "A Reunion, Sort Of"[11]
  • "Another Reunion"[12]
  • "An Unusual Conversation Among Friends"[13][14][15] (29 November 1996) - postscript, crossover with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• "A Different Ending"[16][17] (15 June 1996)
• "Quid Pro Quo"[18] (1996)
• "A Better Ending"[19][20][21] (19 July 1996)
• "A Note from jreese"[22][23][24] (27 January 1997)
• "A Potential Donor??"[25][26][27] (12 April 1997)
• "A Christmas Dream"[28][29] (25 December 1998)
• "Challenge: A dark and stormy rat????"[30] (n.d.)

War Stories

Arletta took part in subsequent Wars as well; but these are the posts collected on her website:

• Arletta's Fiction War 7 Postings
• Arletta's Fiction War 8 Experiences
• Arletta's Fiction War 9 Experiences leading a team of Light Cousins

Websites

Arletta's original website was at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/4523/. However, she moved her fiction to a new site, Arletta's Fan Fiction (at http://www.charm.net/~g4akl/index.html) when Yahoo! purchased GeoCities and altered the terms of service. (She continued to use the first site for fiction writing resources that she believed might be useful.) In 2014 her webhost disappeared, and her fan fiction site was transferred to the Forever Knight Website Archive.

See also

• Arletta's Fan Fiction (FK Website Archive copy)
• Arletta's Home Page (Wayback Machine copy)
• Arletta's first site (Reocities copy) - as it appeared after the fiction was moved