On bumperstickers and fanfiction

[rubyredrose]

So I was driving home, and the car in front of me had this bumper sticker: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem". And, having just finished listening to someone read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" it got me thinking. Pray for the peace...of...Jerusalem? Last I checked, Jerusalem, and indeed all of Israel, isn't that peaceful a place. So what is the sticker asking me to do...hope that the violence spreads? Even as a biblical setting, it was the location of oppression, large scale culling of first borns, and other fun such, if memory serves. I'm hoping it was just poor grammar, and the person who placed this on their bumper, as well as the person who MASS PRODUCED IT meant to say "Pray for peace FOR Jerusalem". Which would at the very least indicate a desire for an end to bloodshed. But I have this nagging doubt - that's not it. <=^\

- - -

And while I'm being all stream of consciousness, I thought I'd explain why I like to read fanfiction. Those that know me well all think I'm crazy for doing so, but I don't know that they actually understand my reasoning. So. Story time.

When some fool (thanks, ot_atma) first introduced me to anime, I was also introduced to a series known as The Slayers. Of which I will not expound upon other than to recommend it if you haven't seen it. As a direct result of this, I discovered a site known as http://www.fanfiction.net - they have a folder for Slayers fanfiction. As with much fan-produced efforts, it is largely trash. Disturbing. And largely not related to the source material in any way save names of the supposed characters that exist in said efforts. At all. A few are very very good, some because they avoid falling into the two previous categories. And one or two...because they fall into them. But before coming to the realization that most fan fiction is both ego and social masturbation, I read a LOT of it. Well over 1,000-2,000 fics, some of which are 500,000+ word epics. And I wasn't particularly picky about genres, pairings, or quality, since at the time my goal was to read every Slayers fic IN EXISTANCE (I've since given that up...I like the source material far too much to subject myself to that). And I began noticing...not just trends in fiction, pairings, and genres. But also the kind of people who both read and write them.

I'm not sure I can explain this without giving actual examples, but I'll try. Most authors will write either: a) only one genre, b) only off of certain prompts, or c) only one pairing. When looking at comments, and going into what a person who leaves comments reads (and either likes or dislikes) there is frequently a lot of the same patterns. But sometimes, there are exceptions. And that's where the interest lies. There are certainly a LOT of appalling things in fandom, including WRONG pairings, poorly written sexual fantasies, and plain old poor story telling (plot/character development, grammar, concept, clarity are all included in this.) What I find intriguing is HOW this is done, trends, the reactions to this. In other words, it's an odd form of people watching. On the internet. I also am fascinated by how flame wars start and end (the actual war itself is pretty derivative.) But am always wanting to step in and try to play peacemaker (sometimes in the Farscape sense of the word. >D ) ...with fanfiction, I don't have that problem. And after determining that if I'm reading for a series I don't like, the bastardization of it doesn't bother me (something I have a problem with when reading Slayers fanfics), I really enjoy it.

Reading over that...perhaps it's a bit odd. But I enjoy it. n_n

Comments

[pjade.livejournal.com]

Although it may seem like a very elementary theory, perhaps the old quote that I remember some the senior editors saying about fanfics way back on RPGamer in the late 90's is still true today:

"They're only as good as the people who write them."