The Fairy

Bonus - Writing A Fanfiction

Faithfulness To The Show
For me, fanfiction is a two way genre; you can either keep the writing within the boundaries of the original universe or you can expand it to unexplored possibilities. Whatever the case, neither is canon. This unofficial "Gumball Expanded Universe" can be easily caught in the middle or grey area here.

When I first started writing fanfictions of this series, I initially wanted to keep it within the possibilities and concepts of the show, which is probably the side I'm most comfortable with. This includes the presence of an alien spaceship in a strange world like Elmore and a military-like force portrayed as the fandom.

Expanding The Concept
The part that was truly beyond my comfort zone was adding new material because I didn't want to diverge from the show's formula and style. OCs we're definitely the best example of this. I had various idea for who Dennis could be, such as an alien.

Placing it after existing episodes from season 5 and existing episodes from season 6 was also difficult as I didn't want to break from the show's continuity. I know it's fanfiction and it's (like I said) a two way genre, but I wanted to keep it true to the show as I'm such a fan of it. So that was the struggle.

Character Development
The biggest problem for me was keeping the characters developed. Penny's arc can be broken down into three; there are moments where she kicks butt and takes names, moments where you find her romantic relationship with Gumball charming and adorable, and moments where you just wanna hug her and soothe her venomous anxiety.

Gumball, meanwhile, is meant to be the moron-who-means-well type where he causes problems and isn't the brightest lightbulb in thinking yet means to protect Penny while improving at this in the climax. Think of it as a way of reassuring those who make mistakes that they shouldn't need to worry about their flaws, particularly personality-wise.

I will admit I regret ignoring Rob while developing him. The only reason I added him in the story was because I felt that any Gumball story with a villain wouldn't be complete without him. I know a previous fanfiction I wrote, The Fine, had more OCs in his place, but this was because that story was set during the first season, two seasons Rob became the main antagonist. I guess you can interpret that his arc is about being careful what you wish for or what choice you wanna make.

Dennis, being an OC is not properly written and lacks depth. I really wanted to add more characterisation and backstory, but I felt that it would take away any focus from Penny and Gumball. So, while I will say it wasn't the best decision, it can sort of be understandable. If you want a backstory, I could write a spin-off prequel dedicated to him.

The scenes with Nicole Watterson and Patrick Fitzgerald are also meant to suggest that some of the key elements of Gumball and Penny's romantic drama is tied with their parents; Patrick's overprotective nature indirectly fuelling Penny's negative emotions and Nicole's concern for both of them leading to a little feud with Patrick. It might seem pointless at first, but I wanted to show how the love between Gumball and Penny would affect their parents, especially in an episode like this.