From A Tiny Acorn To A Mighty Oak, The Story Of The Clan Short Universe

On October 22, 2002, a giant of a universe was created from a tiny seed, a Short Story or what was only supposed to be a single chapter story. Chapter One of Memories by ACFan resonated deeply with its readers. AC gratefully gave in to the continuing demands of his readers and began writing more chapters and then more chapters. As the months and years progressed AC wrote more chapters and the readership continued to grow. However, this story may never have been born if it wasn't for Comicality. Comicality gave AC the confidence and impetus to write the story and to continue writing the story. Thanks to Comicality's influence and support, AC kept writing and soon other authors joined him, some just writing sections of his chapters and then writing their own stories in what had now become The Clan Short Universe©. Let's take a step back in time and learn what exactly happened in those first few chapters.

In Chapter One we first met Cory Short, a mild-mannered young teen that had been separated from his family due to a very traumatic incident in his young life. This trauma caused him to block the incident from his memory. He didn't remember why his last name was the same as the family that he was visiting in hope that he could live there and leave the hellhole Home that he was living in. He gradually recovered his memory and returned to his real home.

As the story unfolds, Cory and Sean's family began to expand as children in need were added as they were rescued. Cory, Sean, and JJ swore an oath to protect and always be there for their brothers, now and in the future. That simple act would have repercussions in the future that will resonate across galaxies. By now Sean and Cory's family consisted of five brothers in spirit and love. Teri had already begun referring to the family as a Tribe. The family grew exponentially when Cory and Kyle's, Psychologist/Psychiatrist Dr. Richardson was reunited with his blood family. Justin Dodds aka Justy, son of Chip and Step-son of JC, decided to swear the oath of brotherhood with the members of the tribe, blissfully unaware of the repercussions and legality of such a simple act. Owing to the fact that Justy was a member of a very powerful Clan and Family on Vulcan. Justy's simple act of swearing the oath inadvertently caused the formation of Clan Short of Vulcan, a Clan of the Family of Sarek of the House of Surak. From those two simple acts of swearing brotherhood, the Clan Short Universe was born.

Once the Clan was formed other authors joined in and began co-authoring chapters of Memories or began writing stories of their own that either tied into memories or crossed over into it. By now things had begun to get confusing and hard to follow with all of the authors and stories and the single Clan Short Archivist became overwhelmed. Because of that, an Archivist Team was formed. However, we need to take a step back and review some of the earlier issues that cropped up during the formation of the Universe. Due to the speed at which the early chapters of Memories were written several issues began to appear, mostly the misspelling of Teri. That issue was resolved by the addition of a ghost editor to assist the existing editor. However, at the same time, a very interesting problem arose, while the Safe Haven Act was in use and being quoted many times it didn't really exist. The problem was that some of the articles of the Safe Haven act were being used several times with different properties. So, TSL with the assistance of ACFan sat down in front of his computer and created the actual Safe Haven Act as a reference for both the authors and the readers. As more authors and their stories joined the CSU, it soon became apparent that ACFan needed help with continuity and guidelines for the Universe. Since TSL kept bugging him about errors and other minutiae, he was given the job kicking and screaming, so the office of Clan Short Archivist was begun.

By now more and more authors had joined the Universe and along with their stories, they brought along their characters. If that wasn't bad enough, Memories was adding characters in leaps and bounds. It was becoming a huge problem trying to keep track of the characters and their characteristics. In an effort to make the project manageable, Akeentia developed the "Clan Short Roster Database". With this program, authors could add their characters and their characteristics and share them with the other authors as well as the Universe Creator ACFan. Eventually, Akeentia also created an online version that is still in use today.

The CSU had now become a juggernaut and like a snowball rolling downhill became self-sustaining and continued to grow without support. Readers began to question where the stories fit into the timeline, so a reader named Tanner created the first official Timeline, and well it is slightly out of date, it is still available and helpful.

As the tribe continued to grow by the kids continuing to rescue other kids, more authors joined the Universe with new stories, in fact, readers began writing Fan Fiction and two subsidiary Universes were created to accommodate some of the stories. Since some of the stories didn't quite fit into the main CSU Universe, CSU: Alternate Universes were created. These Alternate Universes gave authors that wanted to write CSU based stories but didn't want to write around the main storyline or join the collaboration a place for their stories. The CSU: Fan Fiction Universe was created and now those authors had a place for their stories as well.

By now the CSU had become a very huge collaborative effort, full of ups and downs and yes, a few headaches and problems along the way. The Archivist Team, with the help of a few authors and the Universe Creator, were able to resolve most of those issues. Occasionally some issues weren't able to be resolved or a story couldn't be altered enough to fit into the main CSU. Those stories now had a home in the CSU: Alternative Universes. Throughout all the turmoil with real life interfering and some authors leaving and new ones joining, ACFan kept on writing and kept the CSU moving forward. The CSU was the seed that created several spinoffs including a universe hosted on another site. The fact that real life was affecting authors across the web was becoming more and more apparent as authors stopped writing, dropped out of site and in the case of D of D&B passed on to a better life. However, in spite of whatever life could throw at the CSU, a core group of stories continued their steady progress carrying on the mission of youth saving youth. In some of the stories Clan Short faded from prominence, however, the pendulum has swung back and Clan Short has resumed its rightful place in the universe. The CSU has grown to include so many stories and so many authors that to name and or mention any of them other than the original Memories, would take up more pages and words than I have space or time for. I also don't want to leave anyone or their stories inadvertently out. It still boggles my mind that a simple Short Story could grow into the behemoth that it has, not only that, the fact that it is still around and still growing is not only amazing it is phenomenal. Throughout all of the stories in addition to kids rescuing kids is the fact that love especially unconditional love can heal many things. The fact that someone loves and cares for who you are can be a powerful healing medicine. Throughout all of its trials and tribulations, the CSU Stories have always stayed true to the idea of youth saving youth. I believe that it was Dr. Dan Richardson that stated, and I am paraphrasing, "They can accomplish the impossible, because they don't know that they can't." Another reoccurring theme is Timmy's statement of his dad's "That sometimes bad things gotta happen, so good things can." In addition to being the impetus for spin-off stories and universes, the CSU has been the reason behind the creation of several poems based on happenings in the stories or quotes by some of the characters. Additionally, some of the characters have been known to author a few Short Stories and Poems themselves. I know of no other single story that has spawned as many stories and or universes as Memories, that is an amazing fact all in itself. I believe that all of the stories, poems and universes can be summed up in these few words from the title of Book Three of Memories,

And A Child Shall Lead Them

The End of this but not The End of The CSU!

Author's Notes:

ACFan, thanks for the Memories and may they continue forever!

Thank you also for allowing me to contribute along the way.

The Story Lover, Clan Short Archivist.

Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated at The Story Lover

Editor's Notes:

Sitting here, now I can think back to a conversation I had with an author whom I had become close to over the years, who told me I needed to read this cool story called Memories. I had just recently joined a chat group (IRC) hosted by Comicality, and there, too I was told that I needed to read Memories.

I still remember fondly our discussions of ongoing issues and what might be done to help others.  As the CSU grew, many real-life issues found their way into the main plotline, and also sparked other offshoots, and I still believe we have made a difference.

I know for a fact that we saved at least one life, and I feel wonderful that I was able to talk to that person on the phone, though I didn't know it at the time, he had the phone in one hand and a gun pointed at his head in the other.

That story is not mine to tell, but Clan short saved a real life, so it is not all fiction.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher