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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 07:29:07 AM

Poll
Question: What's the best piece of fanfiction
Option 1: Paradise Lost votes: 1
Option 2: Dante's Inferno votes: 6
Option 3: The Aeneid votes: 2
Option 4: Romeo & Juliet votes: 0
Option 5: Othello votes: 1
Option 6: The Once and Future King votes: 0
Option 7: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court votes: 1
Option 8: The Three Musketeers votes: 0
Option 9: The Call of the Wild votes: 0
Option 10: Lord of the Flies votes: 0
Title: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 07:29:07 AM
The Aeneid is the best
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Eddie Teach on April 23, 2020, 08:48:30 AM
I was going to say Wicked but you went broader.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 08:54:00 AM
Quote from: Eddie Teach on April 23, 2020, 08:48:30 AM
I was going to say Wicked but you went broader.
Oh, that's a good option. I was thinking mainly the classics, but it definitely deserves a spot on the list.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Darth Wagtaros on April 23, 2020, 08:59:52 AM
50 Shades.

It made money. Lot's of money.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: celedhring on April 23, 2020, 09:00:57 AM
I kinda get the others being fanfic, but not Lord of the Flies. Is it because of it being a name for the devil? It's mostly a tangential allegory in the story. One of my favorite books, incidentally.

But given the list, I've to go with Dante's Inferno. Too many juicy cameos to ignore.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Josquius on April 23, 2020, 10:33:10 AM
If we're being smart arses then surely practically everything since the dawn of ever is fanfiction?
The bible for instance  took from earlier mythologies.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Barrister on April 23, 2020, 10:46:32 AM
I don't get how Call of the Wild is "fanfiction".  It was inspired by Jack London's time spent in the Yukon during the gold rush but was an original story.

Edit: Jack London was actually there in the gold rush.  I've been to his cabin in Dawson City (it was moved there some time later after London became famous).   Are you trying to say that author's can't be inspired by their own personal experiences?
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Sheilbh on April 23, 2020, 10:51:06 AM
Yeah I'm kind of interested in what fan fiction is based on that list? Where's the difference between it and "inspired by" or "adapted from"? Especially when you're dealing with I'd say definitely pre-Romantic texts where there's a very different concept of authoriship and what the writer is and does. Interesting poll.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: celedhring on April 23, 2020, 10:57:09 AM
I think fanfic is borrowing somebody else's popular characters and create a new story with them. I love he put in the Aeneid because a lot of Classical epics/drama/history are essentially fanfics. These were presented orally so having somebody famous show up in your story and do some kickass shit was a sure way to draw in a live audience.

The difference with a straight adaptation of somebody else's work, imho, is that the story should essentially be a new one.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Syt on April 23, 2020, 11:03:11 AM
I'll go with fanfic in a more modern sense: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Savonarola on April 23, 2020, 04:10:47 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 07:29:07 AM
The Aeneid is the best

I'm curious why you picked that one.  The second half of the work, I thought, was mostly forgettable.  Turnus isn't much of an antagonist and Lavinia's big scene is when her hair catches fire.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Caliga on April 23, 2020, 04:12:12 PM
I like the ones where Kirk bangs Spock.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Savonarola on April 23, 2020, 04:12:59 PM
Anyhow I'd pick Tennyson's Ulysses; as I grow older I find myself identifying with the ageing Ulysses.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Tonitrus on April 23, 2020, 04:38:19 PM
Quote from: Caliga on April 23, 2020, 04:12:12 PM
I like the ones where Kirk bangs Spock.

You know the Bones-Spock ones would have better dramatic tension.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: The Minsky Moment on April 23, 2020, 07:28:10 PM
Quote from: Savonarola on April 23, 2020, 04:10:47 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 07:29:07 AM
The Aeneid is the best
. . . Lavinia's big scene is when her hair catches fire.

You don't see that much anymore.  It's pretty much all pants on fire these days.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 09:31:36 PM
Quote from: celedhring on April 23, 2020, 09:00:57 AM
I kinda get the others being fanfic, but not Lord of the Flies. Is it because of it being a name for the devil? It's mostly a tangential allegory in the story. One of my favorite books, incidentally.

But given the list, I've to go with Dante's Inferno. Too many juicy cameos to ignore.
I saw it on this list.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/159041-11-classics-that-are-secretly-fanfiction

QuoteYou could argue that Lord of the Flies is not so much fanfiction as parody, but there's no question that William Golding used the book The Coral Island as a starting point for Lord of the Flies. The Coral Island is a jolly children's book about three English boys marooned on an island, who have a wonderful time and defeat the evil natives with their superior Christian values. Golding disagreed with that simplistic, colonialist angle. He lifted several of the characters and wrote Lord of the Flies as a counterpoint: what if the evil the children encountered was not external, but internal?
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 09:32:27 PM
Quote from: Barrister on April 23, 2020, 10:46:32 AM
I don't get how Call of the Wild is "fanfiction".  It was inspired by Jack London's time spent in the Yukon during the gold rush but was an original story.

Edit: Jack London was actually there in the gold rush.  I've been to his cabin in Dawson City (it was moved there some time later after London became famous).   Are you trying to say that author's can't be inspired by their own personal experiences?
https://www.bustle.com/articles/159041-11-classics-that-are-secretly-fanfiction
QuoteWhen you think of famous authors who wrote about dogs in the Yukon in the early 1900s, the name Egerton R. Young usually doesn't spring to mind. But Jack London was accused of plagiarizing much of The Call of the Wild from Young's My Dogs in the Northlands. What makes it fanfic instead of out-and-out stealing? Well, when accused of copying the other book, Jack London agreed that he did steal a lot—and he also changed and added a lot, because all fiction steals to some degree (it's a bit of a shady argument, but you get the idea). If only Jack London had lived long enough to go on a Twitter rant about why fanfiction is legit.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 09:33:33 PM
Quote from: celedhring on April 23, 2020, 10:57:09 AM
I think fanfic is borrowing somebody else's popular characters and create a new story with them. I love he put in the Aeneid because a lot of Classical epics/drama/history are essentially fanfics. These were presented orally so having somebody famous show up in your story and do some kickass shit was a sure way to draw in a live audience.

The difference with a straight adaptation of somebody else's work, imho, is that the story should essentially be a new one.

I basically stole the list from one I saw on the internet. :o
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Barrister on April 23, 2020, 10:17:57 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 09:32:27 PM
Quote from: Barrister on April 23, 2020, 10:46:32 AM
I don't get how Call of the Wild is "fanfiction".  It was inspired by Jack London's time spent in the Yukon during the gold rush but was an original story.

Edit: Jack London was actually there in the gold rush.  I've been to his cabin in Dawson City (it was moved there some time later after London became famous).   Are you trying to say that author's can't be inspired by their own personal experiences?
https://www.bustle.com/articles/159041-11-classics-that-are-secretly-fanfiction
QuoteWhen you think of famous authors who wrote about dogs in the Yukon in the early 1900s, the name Egerton R. Young usually doesn't spring to mind. But Jack London was accused of plagiarizing much of The Call of the Wild from Young's My Dogs in the Northlands. What makes it fanfic instead of out-and-out stealing? Well, when accused of copying the other book, Jack London agreed that he did steal a lot—and he also changed and added a lot, because all fiction steals to some degree (it's a bit of a shady argument, but you get the idea). If only Jack London had lived long enough to go on a Twitter rant about why fanfiction is legit.

So the source for "Jack London was accused of plagiarizing much of The Call of the Wild" is a single link, which takes us to a Google Books link in Finnish.  Where (I think, I don't know Finnish) the actual book itself isn't actually available.

:yeahright:
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: garbon on April 24, 2020, 01:21:33 AM
And BB?

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zQJbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA196&lpg=PA196&dq=my+dogs+in+the+north+lands+jack+london&source=bl&ots=gm-N6Wh2lw&sig=ACfU3U35cQjNvDGbnDyl4Kt02KodCv-9YQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUg6rEtYDpAhU_VRUIHcvQD54Q6AEwBnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=my%20dogs%20in%20the%20north%20lands%20jack%20london&f=false
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Syt on April 24, 2020, 01:23:04 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 09:31:36 PM
Quote from: celedhring on April 23, 2020, 09:00:57 AM
I kinda get the others being fanfic, but not Lord of the Flies. Is it because of it being a name for the devil? It's mostly a tangential allegory in the story. One of my favorite books, incidentally.

But given the list, I've to go with Dante's Inferno. Too many juicy cameos to ignore.
I saw it on this list.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/159041-11-classics-that-are-secretly-fanfiction

QuoteYou could argue that Lord of the Flies is not so much fanfiction as parody, but there's no question that William Golding used the book The Coral Island as a starting point for Lord of the Flies. The Coral Island is a jolly children's book about three English boys marooned on an island, who have a wonderful time and defeat the evil natives with their superior Christian values. Golding disagreed with that simplistic, colonialist angle. He lifted several of the characters and wrote Lord of the Flies as a counterpoint: what if the evil the children encountered was not external, but internal?

By that measure Rio Bravo is a High Noon fan film.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Savonarola on April 24, 2020, 06:37:25 AM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on April 23, 2020, 07:28:10 PM
Quote from: Savonarola on April 23, 2020, 04:10:47 PM
. . . Lavinia's big scene is when her hair catches fire.

You don't see that much anymore.

Michael Jackson is a hard act to follow.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Savonarola on April 24, 2020, 06:37:59 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 09:33:33 PM
Quote from: celedhring on April 23, 2020, 10:57:09 AM
I think fanfic is borrowing somebody else's popular characters and create a new story with them. I love he put in the Aeneid because a lot of Classical epics/drama/history are essentially fanfics. These were presented orally so having somebody famous show up in your story and do some kickass shit was a sure way to draw in a live audience.

The difference with a straight adaptation of somebody else's work, imho, is that the story should essentially be a new one.

I basically stole the list from one I saw on the internet. :o

So your poll is a work of fan fiction. ;)
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Savonarola on April 24, 2020, 06:44:15 AM
Quote from: Savonarola on April 23, 2020, 04:12:59 PM
Anyhow I'd pick Tennyson's Ulysses; as I grow older I find myself identifying with the ageing Ulysses.

Although if you follow the Samuel Butler (among others) line that the Odyssey is a later work written by a different author than the Iliad; than the Odyssey itself would also be a work of fan fiction.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Sheilbh on April 24, 2020, 07:02:08 AM
Quote from: celedhring on April 23, 2020, 10:57:09 AM
I think fanfic is borrowing somebody else's popular characters and create a new story with them. I love he put in the Aeneid because a lot of Classical epics/drama/history are essentially fanfics. These were presented orally so having somebody famous show up in your story and do some kickass shit was a sure way to draw in a live audience.

The difference with a straight adaptation of somebody else's work, imho, is that the story should essentially be a new one.
Yeah I quite like that.

I think I'd go for Paradise Lost - in terms of taking someone else's characters and running with it.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 29, 2020, 05:23:24 AM
Quote from: Savonarola on April 23, 2020, 04:10:47 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 23, 2020, 07:29:07 AM
The Aeneid is the best

I'm curious why you picked that one.  The second half of the work, I thought, was mostly forgettable.  Turnus isn't much of an antagonist and Lavinia's big scene is when her hair catches fire.

Well, I love Roman history and I've just always really enjoyed it when I've read it. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's because the Trojans were always objectively the good guys and it's nice to see them finally come out on top.
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: MadImmortalMan on April 29, 2020, 05:32:18 AM
Oh there's lots more reasons. Making Dido a leader in Civ is one.  :lol:


Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 29, 2020, 05:37:51 AM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 29, 2020, 05:32:18 AM
Oh there's lots more reasons. Making Dido a leader in Civ is one.  :lol:

Does she automatically hate the Romans?
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Savonarola on April 29, 2020, 04:20:56 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 29, 2020, 05:32:18 AM
Oh there's lots more reasons. Making Dido a leader in Civ is one.  :lol:

It also supplies the theme of Purcell's greatest opera "Dido and Aenes" which, in my opinion, the only English language opera masterpiece before Gilbert and Sullivan.  I do really like the first six books, (the arrival at Carthage until the Katabasis); it's the second six books that I think are dull (arrival in the mainland of Italy to the final duel.)  (I have only read it in translation, though.)
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 29, 2020, 08:42:25 PM
Check your messages Sav
Title: Re: Best Fan-Fiction
Post by: Savonarola on April 30, 2020, 12:23:54 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 29, 2020, 08:42:25 PM
Check your messages Sav

Heh, thanks, Tim.