lettered | FIC: The Chuck Writes Story

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FIC: The Chuck Writes Story - Afterword 5

Title: The Chuck Writes Story: Afterword 5
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: gen. Chuck, Becky
Rating: PG-13 for themes
Length: Total fic: 30,000. This part: 100
Summary: Fandom has a new god.
A/N: Please see notes here.
Previous parts: The Chuck Writes Story | Afterword | Afterword 2 | Afterword 3 | Afterword 4

6:15 pm Thursday, September 23, 2011
Afterword 5

REPENT, FOR CASTIEL LIVES AND SHALL SMITE YOU.

Fans claim that the mass murderer walking around in a trench-coat and killing, murdering and maiming people in the news is in fact the character Castiel from Supernatural.

LOL fandom, never change.

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Hee hee. Yeah, once you open the can of meta-worms, it's hard to put that lid back on again . . . .

How I would react depends heavily on the fandom, and other factors, too. It's like the question of whether you'd want to travel to/live in the world of a story: well, who would I be in that world? Can I be a dragonrider in Pern, or will I be some random holder whose crops get eaten by Thread? If I go to Valdemar, do I get my very own telepathic Companion, or do I end up waiting tables in a tavern somewhere? (Nevermind the question of whether I'd even survive in those worlds, if somebody stepped on my glasses.) I definitely wouldn't want Supernatural to be real; you probably won't have magic, if you do it won't be a good thing, and (based on what I've seen through S5), things are always about to get a whole lot worse.

AO3: Yeah, I'm pleased by the subscriptions option. I really want somebody to create a site that would do the same thing for online magazines, scraping titles and author info to alert you when your favorite writer has a new story somewhere.

The metaphysical implications of any of my fandoms being real would totally blow my mind before I ever had a chance to consider if I would like it or not. I mean, basically it means reality as you've lived it for your whole life was all a lie. I'd never get over that. Maybe it's because almost all my fandoms are sci fi or fantasy, though I rather think not.

Anyway, as cool as being a dragonrider or having a Companion would be, just think of all the complications. Your sex life, for one. When dragons and Companions get randy . . . I do sorta love the meta beginning of Arrows of the Queen, with Talia being all, "I want to be part of a story!" It's cheap, and yet it still works on me. It was one of the first things I ever wrote fanfic for. Huh. I never actually considered all the similarities between Pern and Valdemar before; thanks for that.

a site that would do the same thing for online magazines

That'd be seriously cool.

I mean, basically it means reality as you've lived it for your whole life was all a lie. I'd never get over that. Maybe it's because almost all my fandoms are sci fi or fantasy, though I rather think not.

Hmmm -- most of what I watch/read is SF and fantasy, too, but I don't know if I'd have the "what I believed is a lie" reaction or not. I think I would have trouble with the writer-impulse in my brain, though; I'd probably start to think about myself as if I were a character in the story, which is the inverse of what I really ought to be doing. (That would probably last until the first time I tried to do something heroic and nearly got killed. Then I go run and hide in a hole.)

Anyway, as cool as being a dragonrider or having a Companion would be, just think of all the complications. Your sex life, for one. When dragons and Companions get randy . . .

Are you aware of A Companion to Wolves, by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette? It takes on exactly that issue, the whole motif of telepathic animal companions and their human partners getting it on when the companions mate, and has a field day romping through the actual problems that would result. In fact, it's specifically a response to the "green rider problem" of Pern -- riders mate when their dragons do + green dragons let themselves get caught over and over again during their mating flights + green riders, unlike queen riders, are men = a whole lotta homosexual rape. Which McCaffrey kind of swept under the rug. And having it telepathically forced upon both human participants by their companions doesn't make it okay, whether it's straight or gay.

(Er, you maybe shouldn't read the novel if you want to retain any love for scenes that play the companion-sex dynamic as unproblematically fun. Like Lessa and F'lar.)

I do sorta love the meta beginning of Arrows of the Queen, with Talia being all, "I want to be part of a story!" It's cheap, and yet it still works on me.

I'm convinced Mercedes Lackey somehow has a pipeline straight into the twelve-year-old girl id. Because my god, Valdemar, it is crack.

Er, but how would you explain the being-transported-to-another-universe phenomenon, in the case of Pern? I mean, I guess it depends on what you believe. But even if you subscribe to the idea of infinite universes (and thus the idea that all fictional universes must be true), for me it would be more well, world-shaking than joy-making. And if something like Supernatural is true, than you already know you're not a dragonrider, you know? You're one of the peons who didn't know, just like all the extras Dean and Sam save.

Though I guess this is a problem I have with say, the Fionavar Tapestry type books, or even Harry Potter. I want a lot more existential angst than immediate adventure; I suppose that's just how I am?

Sounds like a cool book! Thanks for the rec! I loved that first epic Lessa/F'lar scene when I first read it (7th grade? I think), but later years have thought of it and been a little squicked. But in general, I can separate my "that's hot!" response from my "that would not actually be hot irl" response. The green rider problem had definitely occurred to me, yes.

I'm convinced Mercedes Lackey somehow has a pipeline straight into the twelve-year-old girl id.

I only ever read the Arrows of the Queen trilogy. I mean, I tried Winds of Change, or whichever those were called, and they weren't my cuppa. I've heard I should try the Vanyel ones?

Er, but how would you explain the being-transported-to-another-universe phenomenon, in the case of Pern?

I was thinking more of this-world narratives, where it's possible I live alongside that stuff and don't know it. Where secondary worlds are concerned (and yeah, I consider Pern secondary, even if it's technically a futuristic space-exploration scenario), if I found out one of those really existed, the metaphysical implications would distract me from pretty much everything else. :-)

Though I guess this is a problem I have with say, the Fionavar Tapestry type books, or even Harry Potter. I want a lot more existential angst than immediate adventure; I suppose that's just how I am?

Yeah, with stories like that, the worst-case scenario (for me) is the token "omg magic is real!" scene that's forgotten three pages later. I either want a lot more trauma over the revelation, or a Buffy-style "actually, that explains a lot" reaction. The former is more realistic, and the latter at least has the virtue of not making me sit through yet another iteration of the standard-issue response.

(It gave me great joy, when writing my Elizabethan faerie novel, to realize that the human protagonist's reaction would not be "omg faeries are real!," but rather "omg faeries are underneath London!" I didn't much want to write the former.)

But in general, I can separate my "that's hot!" response from my "that would not actually be hot irl" response.

Yeah, I can enjoy in narrative all kinds of things that aren't actually good in real life. Mostly I'm bugged by the sense that the author thinks what they're writing is genuinely romantic, to be hoped for in real life. Exhibit A: Twilight.

I've heard I should try the Vanyel ones?

Yeah, Vanyel and Talia are the two really id-tastic series. They're pure "my family doesn't understand me, but a magical friend will come and SAVE ME and stand by me through HORRIBLE ANGST" indulgence, much more than Elspeth or the others.

I either want a lot more trauma over the revelation, or a Buffy-style "actually, that explains a lot" reaction.

Exactly.

my Elizabethan faerie novel

Is that With Fate Conspire? That's an interesting reaction (re: the protagonist)--I look forward to reading it. :o)

by the sense that the author thinks what they're writing is genuinely romantic,

Oh yes, I have that feeling too. What's so interesting about it is I don't care about authorial intent, not really, and yet--to use your example--the feeling you get when reading Twilight, that the author intends it all to be romantic, is repulsive to me (well, and also highly amusing and really really sad and possibly symptomatic of what's wrong with society today). I guess maybe intent doesn't matter, but our perceptions of it matter to us? Or something. I may be talking about the uber!SPN again; I just never know.

"my family doesn't understand me, but a magical friend will come and SAVE ME and stand by me through HORRIBLE ANGST"

That sounds perfect. I'm so cheap.

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FIC: The Chuck Writes Story - Afterword 5

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