« [w] And when we run out of plot / what will we say / na na na na / na na na hey hey | Main | The Evolutionary Shuffle. »
Eric: When Fan Fiction is Good Fiction: Special
There is something about the words fan fiction that people react to intensely. A good number of people seem to feel that fan fiction, by definition, is uncreative. That somehow writing fiction set in someone else's world is somehow less than other writing.
Obviously, Mary Sueism, slashficcing and the like has contributed to this. As with the furry subculture, people fixate on the pornographic when they discuss it. I'm guilty of it myself, even though I know a good number of fanfiction writers. Heck, I write In Nomine fiction myself, and that's certainly fan fiction. And once upon a time I wrote Legion of Super Heroes stories... because... well, dude. It was the Legion.
But there's nothing innately wrong with fan fiction. It all comes back to the basics -- does it tell a good story. Does it build believable characters. Does it create a response in the reader. Who cares if it's in Hogwarts or elsewhere, when you're reading it?
And sometimes, you come across fan fiction that takes the trappings of fan fiction -- the familiar -- and uses them as tools to tell a very different, very unexpected, and very poignant story.
And that brings me to Special: The Genesis of Cyclops -- a novel length X-Men novel with almost no mutant powers, almost no fight scenes... and a rawness of emotion you only rarely see in any fiction.
The novel is written by "Minisinoo," which is a pseudonym (well, duh) for a woman (she says) who is a published novelist (she says). And I believe her on both counts. Special is a series of interconnected, evolutionary short stories bound into one novel (though only sort of in the novel form) that shows expert levels of character development, pacing and revelation. It's the story of a version of Scott Summers -- somewhere between the movie version (and there are photomanips of James Marsden throughout) and some of the various backstory, but taken much darker. In the Comic Book universe (at least, back when I was reading X-Men), Scott Summers had lost his parents in an airplane crash (well, not counting the Starjammers thing) and ended up in Foster Care and then hustling pool to survive. Minisinoo brings that into a modern light -- 16 year old Scott Summers is hustling to survive, but it's not pool. The story is less how the X-Men formed, and more how a young man with a desperately injured soul manages to -- mostly -- heal over the course of years. It shows the evolution of friendships and romances (and not in the directions you might expect) cast through the eyes of a survivor who's been given the world -- but can't trust it and isn't sure he deserves it.
The X-Men have always been about being different, and being outcast. Scott's journey takes that to a different level. If there were no mutant powers in this story at all, it would be almost as effective -- but Scott's powers (and the handicaps they force on someone already barely able to cope) fairly shatter his newly found equilibrium (particularly in the way they're unleashed for the first time). More than that, however, you see a man wrestling with himself, with horrors... with pain.
This is not a pretty story, in a lot of ways. There is next to no sex in it, though it does come up here and there -- and given the connotations of Scott's past, this is definitely a story for mature readers. There is homosexuality, but it's not exactly what most people think of when they think "slashfic" or "fanfic." (Indeed, the true derivation of 'slashfic' -- the pairing of two characters with a slash between their names -- wouldn't apply to Special). But it is beautifully written, and in the end I think this is a story with hope.
I'm weird, in my own way. I've always liked Cyclops the best of the X-Men anyhow. More than Wolverine or Nightcrawler or Rogue or Storm. The hero of the bunch. The leader. The man with the shotgun, to use my friend Matt's vernacular. And yet, even though the confused and abused young man of Special hasn't found those qualities in himself yet, I can see the seeds of them. No matter how much darker this work is than the comics I read, I can see the kinship. And yet, this is not a story I'd want to see in those comics. I want the X-Men, rendered in four colors, to be something any 9 year old can pick up and enjoy.
But I'm glad I read this novel.
If you don't like the X-Men, you might still like this. If you do like the X-Men, you might still like this. If you don't see the point to the X-Men without Wolverine, don't bother -- he's not in it. This is Scott's story, with a hearty helping of Jean, Warren, Hank and Charles. If you don't know those names... this still might be worth your time, to be honest. If you hate all Fanfic, you might want to give this a try anyway. There is more of Sean Stewart and J.D. Salinger in these stories than Stan Lee or Chris Claremont.
I don't know who Minisinoo is, but if I find out, I'm buying her books. But this four hundred page novel is free. And, if you can cope with the painful subject matter, it's worth at least having a look at.
Posted by Eric Burns-White at May 3, 2005 2:02 AM
Comments
Comment from: gwalla posted at May 3, 2005 2:43 AM
I've read a pornographic X-Men fanfic that was actually pretty good. Better than the official storyline it substituted for (Age of Apocalypse), at any rate.
Comment from: Arachnid posted at May 3, 2005 3:07 AM
A novel length novel? Who would've thought?
Comment from: LurkerWithout posted at May 3, 2005 6:22 AM
Can't be any worse than the Ultimate X-Men. At least when that Xavier turns into Onslaught its not gonna be a surprise or anything. He's such an insano...
Comment from: MrPerson posted at May 3, 2005 7:39 AM
This sounds more like something that'd fit in with the New X-men stories. They are, basically, X-men without very many limits to what one can or can't write stories about. The whole series starts off with the entire population of Magneto's island nation being exterminated. Several millions mutants dead and burned to ashes, including Magneto himself.
Though you might not like that they've turned Cyclops into a bit of a psychological study.
Comment from: Christopher B. Wright posted at May 3, 2005 10:46 AM
Some fanfic is really very good. Some of it... isn't. That's just the way it goes.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at May 3, 2005 10:51 AM
Christopher -- can't that be said about... well, all fiction, really? Or all art? Some of it is really good... and some of it is Unfettered by Talent.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at May 3, 2005 10:56 AM
Arachnid -- that's what comes of writing a review at two in the morning. ;)
Comment from: quentin mcalmott posted at May 3, 2005 11:09 AM
aw, no Bobby?
;)
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at May 3, 2005 11:15 AM
It's a hybrid of comic continuity and movie continuity, Quentin. In the movies, Bobby joins up long after, say, Ororo.
Comment from: Christopher B. Wright posted at May 3, 2005 11:17 AM
Christopher -- can't that be said about... well, all fiction, really? Or all art? Some of it is really good... and some of it is Unfettered by Talent.
Well, yeah, it can. But the standard reaction to fanfic tends to be binary -- either people enjoy it, including the bad stuff, or people reject it out of hand, including the good stuff.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at May 3, 2005 11:38 AM
Sad but true. Sad but true.
Comment from: Christopher B. Wright posted at May 3, 2005 11:48 AM
What do you call fanfic that doesn't feature popular characters, but is set in a popular universe? Is that a sub-genre of fanfic or just a cousin of sorts?
Comment from: MrPerson posted at May 3, 2005 12:17 PM
Methinks anything that's set in a particular popular universe without being written by "approved" writers, would be fanfic. Because it's Fiction that's written by a Fan.
Comment from: Tangent posted at May 3, 2005 12:50 PM
Speaking as a Fanficcer... the best fanfics are those written with respect and love for the characters. If you can remain true to the characters and true to the creator of said characters... then you're halfway there. I have written one or two fanfics that in my opinion are fairly decent. *chuckle* In fact, the first of those I turned around and replaced with my own characters and turned into its own novel, which I'm in the process of editing.
Fanfics have an important place for writers. They help us hone our skills and improve (through practice) our writing abilities. Indeed, if not for the dozen or so fanfics I've written (for Homeworld, CRfH, CotC, It's Walky, and others), then I'd not be half the writer I am today. (Which, considering I'm not published yet, isn't saying a lot, but still.)
The problem is, of course, finding the good fanfics and seperating them from the dross. I know I don't read most fanfics because I don't like seeing the characters turned into caricatures of themselves... and I had to stop writing one fanfic (which I now plan on turning into a novel with my own characters) because the main character of it changed drastically in the comic... and I was writing about the old character... it just didn't work anymore.
Basically... if you're writing a fanfic, think to yourself: could I imagine something like this happening in the comic? If so... it's probably a good idea to write on. If it's stretching things... it will probably still be interesting and fun. But if you realize the characters are doing things they wouldn't in a million years... then maybe you should write up the story with your own characters instead and not call it a fanfic.
Take care!
Robert A. Howard
Comment from: arscott posted at May 3, 2005 3:15 PM
[i]What do you call fanfic that doesn't feature popular characters, but is set in a popular universe? Is that a sub-genre of fanfic or just a cousin of sorts?[/i]
I think it sorta depends on the ration of ripoff to homage. And also, whether or not the setting was in the public domain.
Comment from: Tim Tylor posted at May 3, 2005 7:16 PM
One of my favorite online comics is a fanfic of "Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers", well-written and beautifully illustrated. It comes to 230-odd pages, and is good enough not to feel one page too long. I'd link to it except that I've a terror of seeing the author ripped apart by the Mouse's lawyers. :/
Comment from: Ozhra posted at May 4, 2005 11:36 AM
Wow. I have to admit that I've never liked Cyclops--he was never really developed enough to seem human to me, until recently. But this is pretty impressive. I almost feel like this Scott Summers is an entirely different character. Good stuff.
Comment from: Phy posted at May 4, 2005 2:50 PM
I've thought a lot about what life might be like if I hit it big as a creative writer. I'd pretty much decided that I want to take a swing as writing under my pseudonym, Phy, and call it a day. I'm gratified to see other people starting to do the same thing (for whatever reason).
Comment from: Wistful Dreamer posted at May 7, 2005 1:08 PM
" I have to admit that I've never liked Cyclops--he was never really developed enough to seem human to me, until recently."
I have to disagree. Cyclops has been the put-upon weak leader for a long time. No one on the team respects his leadership (mostly because Charles is always around to be the bigger leader), He may win versus Logan in the Jean based love triangle but Logan gets to be the sexually magnetic bad boy the girl doesn't leave the straight edge for. Cyclops always has the indignified role of being the guy that has to be the adult in the midst of a rather childish team of superheroes, which is a neat role.
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)