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I never read fan fiction for a few reasons: (1) for most of my favorite series, such as Buffy, Star Wars, Torchwood, etc., there's enough authorized fiction to keep me busy for years; (2) sorting through the reams of crap fan fiction to find the one or two nuggets of decent story-telling seems like too much work (especially since I like to finish what I start); (3) I like stories that are in continuity--I generally don't even read authorized non-canon material (such as Star Wars Infinities or Marvel What If? stories).
However, future-wife Kelly loves fan-fiction and has challenged me to give it a fair chance. Thus, this is the first in a three-part series where I read what she has selected as a great example of Buffy fan fiction: "The Giles and Spike Collection" by someone named Lori: http://www.myarseisnotpansy.co.uk/lori/gscol/gs0.html
Kelly tells me to start with Going Underground and I'm thrust into an alternate end-of-Season-Six story where (I'm not sure why) Spike has come to London to hang out with Giles, and the pair are (I'm not sure why) busking (i.e., playing music and collecting coins from passerby) in the subway. Quentin Travers and his assistant come across Spike & Giles and then the foursome are attacked by a Shrod demon. A pretty decent action scene takes place, as Spike & Giles work together to kill demon on a moving subway train. Then, a concussed Giles is taken to Spike's apartment where the two share a heart-to-heart about Spike's love for Buffy and Giles' growing love for Anya. See, the author had me moderately interested up until this scene, but I just can't buy a sympathetic and thoughtful Spike comforting Giles and so forth--I just can't imagine this scene going on with what I know of the characters, and it takes me out of the story. So far, the fan-fiction seems written by someone who is far more interested in romance than plot and dialogue--but I have accepted the challenge, and we'll see if Part II gets any better.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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1 comment:
For the record, the idea is that Spike went to Africa to get his soul back, and with soul in tow, feels unable to "steal" his way back to America. He is thus, busking in London Underground when he runs into Giles.
The central precept of this story for Giles, is that he had feelings for Anya, thus, when she and Xander were getting married, he went to London so as not to be around.
I happen to be a fan of romance in general, Spike/Buffy & Giles/Anya specifically, which is what attracted me to this story. The reasons that I love the series are that a) the characters come across very true to me and b) the stories are really well written. (AND romantic AND funny)
I enjoy fan fiction, but often, it is like finding a needle in a haystack to find stories that are a ) well writeen b) not about some kind of Mary-Sueish type or c)true to the characters personalities.
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