Cool article re: fanfic

[dreamflower]

Interesting article, link courtesy of fanthropology.

"Archontic". I like that word.

Comments

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Glad to read that tip about the guy who is proud of posting GoT spoilers days ahead of episodes, good to know who to avoid!

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I've never had a problem with spoilers - I'm one of those people who often read the end of a book and then return to the page I originally was on, reading the book through to the end to find out how the author got there.

But I also don't read a lot of fan-fiction anymore because it seems almost too formulaic in many areas - a Chinese restaurant menu of choose one from column A, one from column B, add a location and a common trope, mix well, and put it onto a page. There absolutely are exceptional works of fan-fiction out there, and thank goodness they usually float to the top. I merely allow them to develop their water wings before reading them.

I like the term "archontic". It conveys an excellent description of something that is difficult to pin down. Good article and fun to read. Thanks for the link!

- Erulisse (one L)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

An interesting article.

[dreamflower]

I don't get people like that. They are just another type of troll, doing nasty things just because they can.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

I really hate spoilers, even in shows that have been out forever but I'm taking my sweet time watching! ;D For example, I've sorely learned my lesson about googling ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING about a show before I'm done watching it. Because spoilers for significant things WILL end up being found in the search. I've spoiled myself on so many things that way.

[dreamflower]

My DH always reads the end first. If he doesn't like the end he won't read the rest.

Thing is, most fiction nowadays is formulaic, whether traditional or fanfic. There are some things that break the mold, but darn few. But fanfic has a lot of other things going for it: it's free, so if you decide it's not for you, you can backbutton out without losing anything but a little time; it's about characters, places and situations you already enjoy; finally, and to me most important, is the love of the fandom that drives most all fanfic gives the stories.

I really like that word a lot. I can see it on a tee shirt: "Some people call it fanfiction. I call it archontic literature." :-D

[dreamflower]

Very much so.

[ramblin_rosie]

I hate to be a wet blanket, but "archontic" is way, way too Gnostic for me. Still, it's better than "textual poaching." (I'd go for "sub-sub-creation" or "Tertiary Worlds" myself.)

[engarian.livejournal.com]

I agree. I do love a lot of fanfiction, and write it when I feel moved to do so (hopefully with a bit of depth and original viewpoints). I also agree that fanfiction demonstrates a love of the world that few other fictions are able to demonstrate.

I think that t-shirt would be awesome. I would buy it. I spent a while looking up the definition of archontic and archon and while I'm still trying to wrap my head around the full definition of archontic, the usage in the article is beautiful and I like it.

Storylines and plots tend to be used and reused and probably have been since the time of small fires in caves and oral tales. The major themes of love or conflict pull down into types, situations, characters, and plot twists. It's literature and it's fun.

What makes it fabulous and worth reading isn't the fact that the princess is combing her hair while thinking about her prince. What makes it worth reading is the evil sorcerer who plots to gather the shed hair to cast a spell on the princess. Or maybe her prince is being imprisoned in the palace dungeon while she dreams. Or perhaps, the prince is actually in disguise as a scullery boy and she has yet to meet him. Same characters but with slight plot twists.

It's the twists that make a story worth reading and in the hands of an excellent author, I'll read the story of Goldilocks with as much of a held breath as I did when I was a small child.

I read hundreds of books in an average year, so I guess I do get jaded now and again. Good writing and plot development, though, will always pull me in.

- Erulisse (one L)

[dreamflower]

If something is new and ongoing and has a quick turnaround, I do try to avoid spoilers if I can. (For example, if I did not get to watch my recorded Dancing with the Stars on Monday night when I get home from knitting circle at the library, I don't watch Good Morning, America and be spoiled for who's been booted off.)

But if something's been around a while, I don't feel that it's worthwhile to try to avoid the spoilers. They're everywhere.

[dreamflower]

Yes, when I googled the literary meaning, I came across the Gnostic heresy.

Sounded to me like a summary of a modern fantasy novel. Or maybe Scientology, though it makes a little more sense than L Ron Hubbard's fantasy. (I have a deep dislike for that particular cult due to a cousin of mine who got sucked in.)

At any rate, I do like the literary definition of it. ;-)