Kielle

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Fan
Name: Kielle
Alias(es): Kelly Eileen O'Guinn, Kelly Newcomb, Kielle, Lady Scribe, Redpanda
Type: moderator, fanwriter, archivist, filker, icon maker
Fandoms: Lord of the Rings, X-Men, The Common People
Communities: CFAN, Subreality Cafe, ACFF, RACMX, OTL, HennethAnnun among many others
Other: Subreality.com
URL: About Kielle (Wayback);

Kielle@Livejournal
Redpanda@Livejournal;
Kiellicons@livejournal
Camelot (Wayback);
Fanfiction.net

Kielle2.gif
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Kielle was born October 22, 1972 and passed away on September 22nd, 2005 of cancer.[1] She leaves behind her an enduring legacy among her fandoms, not the least of which is her ability to turn a group of random internet geeks into close-knit communities whose bonds still exist today.

Kelly Newcomb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

aka Kielle, the Scribe

Stuff on ACFF: Another Man's Shoes, It Can Happen, Skeleton In The Closet, The Date; 88 Lines About 44 Muties, Le Coquin Malchanceux (The Unlucky Rogue)

Plus lots of other stuff, most of it unfinished and not up on the Net -- hey, gimme a chance, I've just barely discovered fanficdom and most of my good work isn't mainstream enough to post. Feeling pretty intimidated here... :)

Some children should NOT be taught how to read. I was one of those children. I discovered ~BOOKS~ when I was three and I never rejoined society since. My myriad fandoms include the Marvel X-Comics (well duh), Star Trek, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Gargoyles, Blackadder, Magic: The Gathering, anything by Donna Barr or Terry Pratchett or Peter David, and the Wild Cards series. The local comic shop knows me by name and can recognize my voice over the phone.

As Kielle, I dance the wildways between genres and generally stick my nose in where it bloody well doesn't belong. I have lots of ideas but very few of them carry through onto paper, I'm afraid -- most of my writing experience comes from stories spun as gifts for friends or for my own amusement. My real forte is editing and proofreading. Hmmm, lessee...I'm 23, I recently married a very funny guy, I'm an avid roleplayer, I host an ever-shifting roster of small pets, I'm an amateur Renaissance Faire wench, my Mundane family thinks I'm an unseelie changeling, and I'm the official writer/editor for ** ** in Irvine, California. And though I'm basically a VERY shy person, I've gotten in trouble for my brassy online persona. ;) [2]

Kielle was a high-profile X-Men and Lord of the Rings fan, best known in the former for creating the hubsite CFAN which served as a central gathering point for the comics fan-fiction community, creating Subreality and the Common People Warehouse and for creating the CBFFAs. She was also known in the LOTR fandom for founding metaquotes and for writing Nine Men and a Little Lady, a parody of the Tenth Walker variety of Mary Sue fic. She was both a prolific writer and a builder of fannish infrastructure; at the time of her death she was moderating fourteen communities, and assisting in the administration of several more.[3] [4] She was dearly loved in all her communities.

Older fen, who remember her from the Alt.comics.fanfiction days, knew her as the creator and maintainer of CFAN (Comic-Book FanFic Author's Network), the maintainer of the subreality.com hubsite which housed CFAN, The Common People Warehouse, The Mary Sue Appreciation Society, Subreality Central, Blood in the Gutter and The Comic Book Fan Fic Awards, among others.

She was an active member of X-Men fandom, with a particular interest in villains the Marauders.[5] In the words of her fellow fanficcers:

KIELLE: Honestly anyone who doesn't have Kielle in their list is smoking crack. Kielle's invention of CFAN was *the* primary tool in the creation of a comic book fanfic community once Hawk's archive went defunct and then people stopped posting to acff. As soon as the fandom started to splinter into multiple archives, Kielle came to the rescue. Her CFAN is still the best model for how a fandom can function on a decentralized archive model, and I wish Trek and Farscape would learn from it. (Farscape does have a fanfic archive index, but it is nowhere near the hubsite CFAN is.)


In addition, Kielle created the Scratching Post, which popularized the idea that we should all communicate with each other about our real lives, rant about X-Men, or talk about our comic fanfic ideas, without interfering with the function of the newsgroups/mailing lists that bring us our daily fanfic. Also, she created the TCP and Subreality genres, and helped to popularize the Marauders, still *the* prime choice for fanfic bad guys who are really really bad, despite the existence of many other canonical candidates. Kielle also created the CBFFA's, which, love 'em or hate 'em, have a strong impact on our community. [6]

In 1998, she was interviewed for an Entertainment Weekly article on fanfiction fandom, sharing her thoughts on community:

[Publisher John] Ordover may be missing the point, though: As with so much about the Net, fanfic is about community. Jacque Whitworth, a student at Ball State University, describes the people who write the stories for her Tommy Lee Jones Fan Fiction website (www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/5841/fanfic.html) as "the most creative, hardworking, intelligent, and friendly bunch of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with." Over at The X-Men-obsessed Subreality Café (shifting-sands.la.ca.us/ darqstar/scafe/subrc.htm), members use a chat room for 24-hour support in times of personal crises. Site creator Kelly Newcomb testifies to the notion that "for some, fanficdom can become almost a surrogate family." Now, why can't someone in Hollywood make a TV series about that?

 [7]

In 2003 Kielle shifted out of comics fandom, closing CFAN to updates and establishing herself in the The Lord of the Rings fandom. As she had in comics fandom, she became known for building communities, creating a number of LiveJournal communities including metaquotes, as well as the Middle Earth Sock Puppet Theatre roleplaying community.

Comments By Other Fans

After her death, many reflected on her contribution to fandom:

One of the dearest members of the fanfiction community has passed away. Years ago, when I was a freshman in college and first dabbling in my little X-Men stories – and later, my own fanfic archive – I met Kielle through the online fic community and found a woman who was spunky and sassy and funny as hell, and who was as passionate about fandom and good storytelling as any bright star of the written world. She was a bright star – still is – and will be missed. And here, other words. And here and here and here and here. All short and blunt, but right now, that’s all any of us are good for.

 [8]

In losing [Kielle], the fanfic community at large has lost a cornerstone, but more than that, many, many people have lost a friend. Her family have lost a daughter and sister and wife. And it's them I think of now.

Fuck, this is so bloody unfair. She was younger than me. She had so much to do that she hadn't done yet. A whole new life starting.

A lot of people will remember Kielle for her amazing writing, her incredible energy, the way she'd take an idea and run with it and make it into something everyone could share. A wonder[ful] sense of humour and ability to make people feel welcome. Hell, she shepherded about eighty percent of the comics ficcers into the community, if the posts people are making in her journal are anything to go by. She was fundamental in taking a bunch of geeks interested in comics and writing and making them into a community, a community whose bonds still remain. She gave us a place to meet, boards to chat and abuse each other on, an archive, new genres to write in like The Common People...

I'll remember a friend. Someone who I wrote with and shared jokes with and who didn't mind me stealing her avatar for Subreality stories and RRs. Someone who was human, and had her flaws - taking on too much and getting majorly burned out with comics fandom, for one - but who was still someone I was very proud to know. Someone I let slip over the years, as I have so many others, and I regret that now more than I can say. But Phil is always telling me, true friends are the ones you can come back to after several years of not being in touch, and it's like nothing's changed. I like to think that maybe Ki was one of those.

 [9]

I didn't really know Kielle. We exchanged a couple of feedback e-mails somewhere between five and ten years ago and that's about it. So my ability to mourn is somewhat abstract.

Nonetheless, I do mourn her loss. Because, from everyone that knew her as I didn't, she was smart and funny and kind and irascible and eccentric and all those things that seem to fit the people we meet on the net and take to our hearts. The loss of someone who is all those things is always something to grieve over.

But most of all, Kielle was someone who drew people together. My knowledge of Kielle was mostly based around CFAN, her wonderful archive, and Subreality and The Common People and so many playgrounds that she brought alive and pulled us into and let us play in (and always, always encouraged the newbies in). I never knew until the last couple of days that she created metaquotes, but somehow it doesn't surprise me - it was so very Kielle to create a central point for meeting and greeting and making lifelong heartfelt friends.

To all who knew her well and loved her, my deepest and most heartfelt sympathies on your loss.

And for Kielle - I'm going to get in touch with an old friend I haven't spoken to for a couple of years. Because that's what Kielle did - bring people together. It's too easy to let them slip, because you think you have time to make up the loss. Kielle is the reminder of that most perfect Zen quote: The problem is - you think you have time.

So, to everyone who Kielle touched - I think as the most perfect memoriam you could have to honour her memory - get in touch with an old friend. Say hi. Reconnect. Make sure you don't let time steal away the chance to be part of each other's lives.

Vale Kielle.

 [10]

...This is not really a look back at the life of Kielle through the eyes of someone who knew her. I've seen people talking about attending her wedding, meeting her at ficmeets, exchanging fanfic, and so on. Those people have lost far more than I have. I knew Kielle mainly as someone I aspired to equal, a benchmark always out of reach and inspiring me to try harder. In a way I associate her with both my ambition and my frustration, so she did touch my life even if it wasn't in a more personal manner. In the last 24 hours I've found myself thinking about all of these things, and wanting to recapture them. I want CFAN back, or something like it. I want to feel like I'm in a community of people writing good comics fanfic. I want the eye of the tiger back--honing my writing if for no other reason than to say I'm as good as my peers. And with that in mind, I think Kielle's lasting effect on me will be for the better.

 [11]

Most people will remember her most, I think, for her relentless involvement in online communities -- founding, modding, befriending along the way. Kielle's sense of community is hard to describe -- she had a magical way of fostering community in disparate and inherently different people united by their one common thread. She was unspeakably smart and funny and crafted what I still consider to be one of the five greatest things ever written in the English language, "X-MST3K," which is notable as being the first three of only four Google returns for the phrases "Do not lick" and "It's on fire." It has never failed to make me laugh, aloud, in even my darkest days. What greater gift can a friend give you? I said this elsewhere but it's worth repeating here as I'm about out of words -- we go way back, back to our first days on these here Internets. I feel so bad for her family and her husband for bearing the weight of this unknowable loss -- but if you never got to know her, either in person or in her multitude of online forums, then it's for you that today I'll truly mourn. Good night, brave Libra firefox. You had not long enough.

 [12]

Oh my God ...

I just reviewed a couple of her stories at the MEFA site! I had no idea ... It's been a long time since I corresponded with her, but I remember her as a dear and immensely talented soul. I belonged to her Rohirrim Yahoo group, "Riddermark" for a time, before I decided I needed to thin out some of my group memberships. Occasionally we talked about writing and our mutual love for all things Rohirrim, and I remember adoring her AU Boromir-and-Eomer stories, "Singing In The Sun" and "Chasing the Moon". I had wished she would carry that arc a little farther. Her stories are all here, I believe: http://www.subreality.com/ring12/main.htm

This shocks me more than I can understand, maybe because I realise I let a lovely woman slip from reach, and now she is forever gone. Most of all, we have lost a beautiful voice. Please, do yourselves a favor - take time to read her stories. She writes with such rare skill and infuses her characters with such vibrancy and life.

We have lost, the fandom has lost, and I mourn the silence Kielle leaves behind. May you fare well beyond the cirles of the world, Kielle, for you leave too much behind.

 [13]

One thing that is missed is the number of people Kielle pretty much catapulted into the third wave of comic fandom. The first had the oldest of the old school, with Hawk, Lori MacDonald and the like dominating. Second wave was Kielle, and yourself, and all of the real DINOs to follow; Abyss, RubyLis, Laersyn, Jelpy, etc. But the third wave, which includes myself, basically all came in through C-FAN. Kielle created the conduit through which the next, say, eight years of comic fandom worked through.

 [14]


Even almost two decades after her death, Kielle is still remembered:

'Blood In The Gutter' was an X-Men fanfiction website created by Kelly 'Kielle' Newcomb (10/22/1972--9/22/2005), a prominant [sic] fanfic writer. The site was dedicated almost entirely to the Marauders, a villain group introduced in 1986 and created by comic book legends Chris Claremont, John Romita Jr., and Dan Green. The team is most fondly remembered for their roll in the Mutant Massacre storyline. They are mainly associated with the likes of Mister Sinister and Gambit. As a young X-Men fan since around 2014 with a weird fascination for these characters, I felt an instant connection when I first discovered Kielle and her work. Recently, I thought it would be fun to start a blog which highlighted the Marauders, as well as the works of Kielle and others associated with the BITG site. Here, you will find images, thoughts, and links to various Marauder-related sources, as well as some general appreciation for this underrated bunch of baddies.

 [15]

I also wanted to do the CFAA specifically because one of the first online fan communities I ever became a part of was Kielle’s CFAN and Subreality. And beyond wanting to build another archive (and having the server already paid for), I wanted to build one specifically for comic book and comic animation fandoms as an homage to her, as well; we lost her in 2005. She was still very young and it broke a lot of hearts. So, partly for her, too.

 [16]

Tribute Links

Notable Works

Awards

CBFFAs

1998

1999

X-Day Awards

1999

Maggie Awards

1999

  • "Resolutions" and "Denouement" - Ultraviolet Award

Mithril Awards

2003

  • "Chasing the Moon" - finalist, Story Focusing on Men
  • "Nine Men and a Little Lady" - finalist, Humour or Parody
  • "Chasing the Moon" - runner up (tie), Best Gen (Voted)

Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards

2004

2005

  • Author Winners
    • Drama
      • 2nd place - General (aka The Frodo Baggins Award)
    • Humour
      • 1st place - General (aka The Tom Bombadil Award)
    • Races Category
      • Gondor - 1st place - General (aka The Minas Tirith Award)
      • Rohan - Honourable Mention
  • Story Winners
    • Drama
      • "Grey and Pale Gold" - 1st place - General (aka The Turin Turambar Award)
      • "High Places" - 2nd place - Elves (aka The Frodo Baggins Award)
    • Humour
      • "Blood and Warm Blankets" - 1st place - Metafic (aka The Tom Bombadil Award)
    • Gondor
      • "Refraction" - 1st place - Denethor and Finduilas (aka The Minas Tirith Award)
      • "Cat's Cradle' - 1st place - Historical (aka The Minas Tirith Award)
      • "Inheritance" - 2nd place - Historical (aka The Osgiliath Award)
      • "Wereguild" - 3rd place - Historical (aka The Dol Amroth Award)
      • "Green Seas" - 3rd place - Vignette (aka The Dol Amroth Award)
    • Rohan
      • "Rekindled" - 1st place - Vignette (aka The Edoras Award)
    • Times
      • "Wreath of Steel and Silver" - 1st place - Fëanor and Sons (The Ainulindale Award)

Pro Awards (Website Design)[18]

Interviews

Reviews and Recommendations

Archives/Zines/Collections

Archives Created/Moderated by Kielle

Meta Fandom

Comics Fandom

Lord of the Rings

Multifandom

Archived At

Zines

Mailing Lists

(as owner)

Livejournal Communities

(founded by Kielle - not full list)

  • mathoms
  • braintrauma
  • medusld
  • bansquad
  • drabbles
  • livequotes
  • mespt_quotes
  • metaquotes
  • rpgquotes
  • oh_brothers
  • shardsofarda
  • silmfics
  • suequotes
  • stickies
  • iconaddicts
  • marysues
  • mespt_daycare
  • minas_tirith
  • ontheset
  • trollbans
  • twotwelve
  • moodmakers

References

  1. ^ The world is darker than it has ever been Kielle's Livejournal, September 22, 2005
  2. ^ TheIC Livejournal tIC bios, take 2 October 27, 2005
  3. ^ "Here at the end of all things," accessed 04 November 2008 [Wayback Dec 15/22]
  4. ^ In Memory Shared (Sep 22, 2006) accessed September 28, 2018
  5. ^ "Spotlight on Kielle with special guest Laersyn" accessed 10 October 2009
  6. ^ "Never let it be said..." Alara Rogers on Livejournal, Oct 24, 2022
  7. ^ Out Of Character: Online Fan Fiction Lets Devotees of Movies and TV Shows Boldly Go where Hollywood Fears to Tread, by Elissa Klotz and Zack Stentz, Entertainment Weekly, December 4, 1998
  8. ^ "Subreality" by Marjorie Liu, at marjorieliu.com, September 24, 2005 (Wayback Apr 21/24)
  9. ^ "And I think it's over." by Rossi at deathpixie.dreamwidth.org, September 23, 2005 (exported from Livejournal) (Wayback Nov 29/24)
  10. ^ "Untitled" by Amanda Sichter at [email protected], September 24, 2005. (Wayback Nov 29/24)
  11. ^ Excerpt from "Untitled" by Jim Smith at jim-smith.livejournal.com, September 24, 2005 (Wayback Nov 29/24)
  12. ^ "Good night, old friend" by sigma7 at [email protected] (imported from Livejournal), September 23, 2005 (Wayback Nov 29/24)
  13. ^ comment by Erin to: "Sad news: Kielle/Red Panda" at Henneth Annûn Yahoo Group, September 23, 2005 (Wayback Nov 29/24)
  14. ^ "In Memory Shared" comment by Dex, September 23, 2006 at martha.net (Wayback Feb 24/24)
  15. ^ "About - Blood in the Gutter" at blood in the cutter @ tumblr, created August 2023 (Wayback, Nopv 29/24)
  16. ^ "Comic Fanfiction Authors Archive" by SLWalker at "AO3 Comment of the Day" Tumblr. Jul 19, 2024 Wayback Nov 29/24)
  17. ^ The Date (a Short X-Factor Tale) - ACFF googlegroup, March 21, 1996
  18. ^ CFAN Awards page
  19. ^ Fortune City November Winners, 1998
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