User:Shaftman
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Shaftman is a member of the NetRaptor.org forums, which is dedicated to a number of topics ranging from everyday life, to entertainment, to the most bizaare. Shaftman joined NetRaptor.org in March of 1999, under the username Shaft Hedgehog. He had picked the name of Shaft after seeing the Shaft remake starring Samuel L. Jackson, and liked the movie so much that he gave himself the name of the title character.
After a while, he shortened his name to Shaft H, which eventually went down to just Shaft. His alias stayed this way for some time, until just recently, when he added the suffix "-man" to the end of his name. He's is quoted to saying "it just looks better this way". Dispite his alias, his peers just resort to calling him by his actual name, Jeff.
[edit] Personal Background
Shaftman is Jeff Reid, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Born in 1987, as of January 2005, he is currently 18 years of age. As a child, Jeff was given an interest in Sonic the Hedgehog at the age of seven, when his father bought for him the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book, issue 15, when the newsstand didn't have his favorite superhero, Iron Man. This facination grew as he received the Sega Genesis, which is the earliest Christmas present in his memory (and for good reason). This obsession with the blue blur grew until he got his first home computer, and his first internet service. He spent his free time looking up Sonic the Hedgehog websites on the internet, until he stumbled upon NetRaptor.org. The rest, is history.
As of today, Jeff has grown significantly out of the Sonic fandom, though he still holds respect for him as his earliest childhood idol. Right now, Jeff enjoys his other hobbies, such as playing his bass guitar, watching his favorite downloaded TV shows (as because he doesn't have cable in his bedroom), and listening to his favorite music.
Jeff's family hails from Germany, which he takes great pride in. He's currently learning German from the internet, and is planning on taking German language courses in college. Afterwards, he dreams of owning a house on the German countryside, where he'll spend the rest of his days.
[edit] Beginnings
Shaftman began life at NetRaptor.org like any other newbie. He typed horribly, didn't know anyone at all, didn't fit in, and wasn't very well spoken for. His very first post was a poll, to help decide his username, which eventually became Shaft Hedgehog. He adjusted to online life well enough. NetRaptor.org was his first venture into the world of the internet, since he had just discovered the internet the previous December. People became friends with him fast, and he soon learned how to type properly and use the internet in an orderly fashion. As the years passed, friends came and gone, but Shaftman remained a staple pillar in the NetRaptor.org foundation.
[edit] Writings
Besides being an active member of the NetRaptor.org forums, Shaftman was once a writer of Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction. His works can still be viewed from the NetRaptor.org fanfiction archives. His first attempt at writing was titled "The Revenge of Mecha Sonic", which according to him was "a semi-original story, semi-adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog 3".
After great reviews, Shaftman began his second piece of fiction. This story was a complete adaptation of ADV Films' "Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie", with some elements from the videogame "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" incorporated into the story. This story was a prequel to his first work, "The Revenge of Mecha Sonic", and was titled "A Tale of Two Sonics". This story received critical acclaim from many people, even winning an award in the NetRaptor.org Field of Story Excellence.
Much to the dismay of his fans, Shaftman stopped writing in the summer of 2001, when he gave up on his third piece of fanfiction. It's working title was "Assault From Hell", and was the author's first attempt at a crossover story, fusing the monsters from "Aliens" with the universe of Sonic the Hedgehog. Fans rejoiced when he would release a new spoiler from his story every couple of months, but eventually, he had simply given up on it due to writer's block. "It's just too hard," Shaftman told his peers, "To write these two universes together and make it work, it takes a level of writing genius that surpasses my own, if there's a level even out there."
Fans of Shaftman's work are in for a surprise however. The former author has recently announced he will be returning to the world of fanfiction after four years of hiatus. He will still be writing fanfiction based off of Sonic the Hedgehog, but will also be writing a number of other fanfiction based off of other properties, including Dragonball Z, Final Fantasy, and the zombie genre. Several communities are preparing for his first work of fiction, already going as far as to call it "the most anticipated day in history since D Day."
