redbrunja: (arrow | pink)
redbrunja ([personal profile] redbrunja) wrote2013-07-09 10:34 pm

Allow Me To Cannibalize A Comment Into A Post. Because That's How I Roll.

There was a conversation (on a locked post, so) about fanfic authors having Felicity Smoak (of Arrow) be a fan of various Big Fandoms (Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, etc) and while I think it works better with Felicity* than a lot of other characters, I think it's a ballsier move than most fanficcers realize.

The thing is, name-dropping fandoms (especially a fandom that author loves or that is super-popular currently) is one of the easiest ways to throw a reader out of the story, because you have to deal with the reader's opinion about what that character would like** AND their feelings about the property in question.

I mean, when it works***, it really works, but I think that most writers don't realize what they're risking on what is often not a very important detail.

*I bet Felicity is watching Game of Thrones. But I also suspect she liked the books better.

**Sidebar, playing 'what other media would fictional character X love' is super-fun, imho.

***that time Tony Stark thought about his mother singing Simon & Garfunkle's "America" as a lullaby  and how he thought it was referencing Captain America ALL THE FEELINGS MY GOD.


[+] Finally, based on the conversation that inspired this post, now I’m imagining that Felicity is a total arthouse film and History Channel geek, instead of the more common sci-fi/fantasy nerd.

[+] There is a whole other post regarding writing canonically well-read characters like Rory Gilmore, Blair Waldorf, and Dan Humphrey.

[identity profile] phemyscira.livejournal.com 2013-07-12 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooh, are we sharing horror stories?

I once saw fanart where Katara genuinely wanted to go watch Twilight at the movies.

I don't think I need to tell you why that's horrifying.

[identity profile] redbrunja.livejournal.com 2013-09-14 09:26 am (UTC)(link)
I feel this fanart says everything that needs to be said (http://redbrunja.deviantart.com/art/Can-we-Kill-it-Crossover-193615352).

[identity profile] phemyscira.livejournal.com 2013-09-15 03:19 pm (UTC)(link)
This reminds me of a fanart where Eva (from the movie Wall-E) points her ray gun in Bella's face. It goes without saying it was awesome.