mini meta fest: aliens in fanfic
Jan. 29th, 2012 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wishfulclickingWhen Aliens are in the canon:
If the canon contains aliens then I expect aliens in fanfic to follow the rules of the source. If a person is creating another race within a canon that already possesses aliens, then they need to have minimal overlap with the aliens already present and should fit within the spirit of the rules of the universe unless their difference is the point. Ex: if I'm working in a canon where the aliens are more comedic, having a race of bloodthirsty conquerors would take work, especially if I'm treating them seriously. But this could easily fall into creating fanfic that vastly differs in tone from the source.
When they aren't in canon:
This is a scenario I have not come across often, but usually when I do find a fic that has a canon character be revealed as an alien, the character's alien nature is used to partially explain the character's canon odd ways. Ex: Gerard and Mikey Way as aliens in a bandom RPF fic; Brittany from Glee. I've also read Arthur from Inception being an alien, but that had more to do with JGL's past role in 3rd Rock from The Sun.
What I'd like to see is more characters who fit to social norms and excel be written as aliens playing a role to the best of their ability. Like instead of having Mark from TSN be an alien, write Eduardo as one trying to figure out human relationship and bonds and failing miserably but learning in the end.
(---a point that could apply to both scenarios)
+ There's a real opportunity to explore breaking conventions and having that be the norm when writing alien characters; most aliens in canon are not the main pov so in writing fic from their pov, one can delve into how they would view things coming from another place/galaxy/species. There are so many assumptions woven into the routine of living that can be disrupted without someone rebelling if the person/being is not from this planet. I'd love to see more fic dealing with a truly alien being, and not a being that feels like a human with an extra limb or another shade of skin.
If the canon contains aliens then I expect aliens in fanfic to follow the rules of the source. If a person is creating another race within a canon that already possesses aliens, then they need to have minimal overlap with the aliens already present and should fit within the spirit of the rules of the universe unless their difference is the point. Ex: if I'm working in a canon where the aliens are more comedic, having a race of bloodthirsty conquerors would take work, especially if I'm treating them seriously. But this could easily fall into creating fanfic that vastly differs in tone from the source.
When they aren't in canon:
This is a scenario I have not come across often, but usually when I do find a fic that has a canon character be revealed as an alien, the character's alien nature is used to partially explain the character's canon odd ways. Ex: Gerard and Mikey Way as aliens in a bandom RPF fic; Brittany from Glee. I've also read Arthur from Inception being an alien, but that had more to do with JGL's past role in 3rd Rock from The Sun.
What I'd like to see is more characters who fit to social norms and excel be written as aliens playing a role to the best of their ability. Like instead of having Mark from TSN be an alien, write Eduardo as one trying to figure out human relationship and bonds and failing miserably but learning in the end.
(---a point that could apply to both scenarios)
+ There's a real opportunity to explore breaking conventions and having that be the norm when writing alien characters; most aliens in canon are not the main pov so in writing fic from their pov, one can delve into how they would view things coming from another place/galaxy/species. There are so many assumptions woven into the routine of living that can be disrupted without someone rebelling if the person/being is not from this planet. I'd love to see more fic dealing with a truly alien being, and not a being that feels like a human with an extra limb or another shade of skin.
