At 09:44 PM 1/20/97 +0200, Jussi Nikander wrote:
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O h dear, you've been reading BGC _fanfics_? <shudder>
I cringe to admit it, but yeah. <grin>
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A shudder? O_o Hmm. I'm really curious to know which fanfic(s) illicited
that physical response.
I don't think it's that hard to guess. Otakufics of course. <shudder>
Hmm. I've been on this list long enough to know that this subject has been
debated several times over and the outcome is always the same: some folks
don't care for the self-insertion fic, claiming the author has been
self-indulgent, while some folks like them alot, claiming that the author
has provided an original tangent that fulfills the reader's desire for a
completed series to live on. Like any enduring debate, there really is no
clear winner.
But let's consider for a moment the original series itself. How much of the
original series (BGC for example) was the result of the producers, artists,
writers and scriptwriters (etc.) being self-indulgent? Does the fact that
AIC snuck their logo into various signs and logos throughout BGC constitute
self-indulgence, or a unique sense of humour? What about all the
"second-glance" text on Nene's or Sylias computers listing off names of
movie stars when it should be listing data that was supposedly hard to come
by? And even closer to the debate, how do we know that the writer(s) didn't
insert some of their own personalities or desires into the series? In the
case of a series like BGC, it's pretty clear with all the DYN scenes that
*someone* behind the scenes felt that their own personal ideas were clever
enough to insert among the basic story elements.
And maybe that's the key to differentiating *good* insertion fics and *bad*
insertion fics; *integration*. How well has the author integrated his or her
own ideas into the ideas that the series originally presents/presented? Are
they obtrusive and distracting, with little or no ties to the original
series, or do they maintain the basic foundation while exploring new avenues
of plot that are engrossing and creative? Maybe it's time to identify that
skill *is* required to write good insertion fics, and remember that any
original anime series is written by women and men with unique personalities
and ideas that inevitably combine into what we hail as "canon".
Panda
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"BG Cross", "Dark Traveler", "The Dragon's Tower"
http://execulink.com/~askuse/bgcross/
Raven's Garage:
http://execulink.com/~askuse/ravengar.html