Five fics in which characters read fanfiction about themselves

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is a post-modernist show. "Dawn's in trouble - must be Tuesday", Buffy says in "Once More With Feeling", referring to the BtVS time slot. Canonical post-modernism echoes in fanfiction, where the fourth wall is even more blurry.

Ipso Facto by Jenny
NC-17. Spike and Angel discover joys of slash fanfiction.


Some Smut, Some Angst and a Huge Pile of Bodies by SpikeLover
PG-13. To convince Buffy to have sex with him, Spike gives her a leather-bound copy of 50 naughtiest fanfics...

Spike and Buffy, Lost in Cyberspace by Anne Rose
R. In season 6 Spike opens Willow's laptop and thanks to magic connects to the real-world-Internet full of fanfiction, spoilers and shipper wars.

Ships that Pass Into Type by HonorH
PG-13, Buffy, Xander, Spike, Cordelia, and Angel read and discuss shipper fics.

Loose Lips, Sinking 'Ships by HonorH
PG-13. Angel, Cordelia, Connor, Fred, Gunn, Wesley, and Lilah read fanfiction about themselves. (Fred is scribbling notes as she reads.)

Comments

[katekat]

oh my god i LOVE the premise of this top five list!!! great idea.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Hope you'll like the stories - they're very funny and, at the same time, have great insights into characters as well as into fandom.

[yourlibrarian]

Ha! Great list idea. I've only read the first, fourth and fifth ones. I think I recced one that fits your list a while ago. I went to check and see if it's still around:
Behind the Scenes at Shipper Central by Cyberwulf

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Oh. Thanks for a rec - I can't stop giggling!

Giles (sighs tiredly): Me , Buffy , waffles , syrup , butter , and no plates . (He rubs his jaw .) My teeth still hurt . That’s how people gain weight , you know .

Heeee!

[yourlibrarian]

The things we have them get up to -- tsk, tsk ;)

[deird1]

Heh. How fun...

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

:)

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

This is just... neat.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I wanted to come up with something that hasn't been done before. Actually, it was pretty hard to compile this list; apparently, I know only a small fraction of the fics with such premise.

[debris4spike]

I have read and loved #3 - so thanks for the other recs!

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

"Spike and Buffy, Lost in Cyberspace" is one of my favs. Hope you'll like the rest.

[shapinglight]

What a novel idea for a list, Moscow. Have read some of those and looking forward to reading the others.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

If you haven't read "Spike and Buffy, Lost in Cyberspace", you should. It's differs from the other fics that it has an actual plot. Back in 2002 it even had links to actual Yahoo! spoiler groups and posts. :)

[shapinglight]

Oh, I'll definitely give it a read.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

You have been recommending the best B/S fanfics that I've read. The first was unbridled brunette's and now, Spike and Buffy Lost in Cyberspace - which is rather amusing.

There's another interesting fanfic out there by HonorH about a fanfic writing academy, with Spike, and two other people as judges - it's sort of like American Idol meets Hogwarts for fanfic writers. But I can't remember the name of it.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

*blushes* To me, Anne Rose's story, the way it had been posted back in 2002, with links to actual places and people, spoiler-whoring online, was like a breakthrough in another culturological dimension.

There's another interesting fanfic out there by HonorH about a fanfic writing academy, with Spike, and two other people as judges - it's sort of like American Idol meets Hogwarts for fanfic writers. But I can't remember the name of it.

The Official Buffy and Angel Fan Fiction University. Wonderful fic. Pity she had to take it down after a kerkuffle over interactive fanfiction. (http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/798290.html) I still curse myself for not saving OBAFU on my PC.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Haven't read it all yet, just first two or three chapters and already it is impressing me with its creativity, and how it comments on both fandom and the series. It also plays with an idea that I've been playing with for a long time myself - and was a bit disappointed that the writers did not play with when given the opportunity in Normal Again - which is the Pirandella idea of what happens when the characters in a story discover they are characters in a story? Created by an external source? And their god is the writer of the story. And the prophecies are a bunch of spoilerwhores? Supernatural does actually go there - in an interesting way. And Star Trek the Next Generation sort of did once.

Then on top of that, she plays with what would happen if Buffy and Spike knew what we the audience knew about them? What the spoilerwhores knew? What if Buffy knew that Spike was a bloody awful poet, and Spike knew that the chip would stop working and he'd try to rape her and hurt her? How would that change them and what happens next?

I did not know that OBAFU was taken down or why. How horrible. And how insane. That kerfuffle pretty much adds the "fanatic" to fan. Why would anyone in their right mind be against an interactive fanfic? Isn't fanfic by its very nature interaction with the series? Sigh.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

You know, the concept of "Cyberspace" eerily reminds me of The Circular Ruins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circular_Ruins) by Borges. Apparently it's a fascinating theme that attracts those who write. Come to think of it, I flirted with it myself. In one of my fics, Drusilla feeds on Dawn and starts seeing "worlds beyond the wall": "There are countless hells and every one of them has its own Spike. In some hells he's a sex slave of my Daddy who courageously protects him from evil Slayer clutches. In some of them he's with a handsome boy who calls himself his "nummy treat". There are hells where poor Spike is the best basketball player in the Oxford team, or a shy virginal rebel without a cause or a pregnant he-housewife (very kinky!) I even saw a hell where he explains humanity to a blue creature with tentacles. But in the majority of hells he's with the Slayer and they have sex."

:)

I did not know that OBAFU was taken down or why. How horrible. And how insane. That kerfuffle pretty much adds the "fanatic" to fan. Why would anyone in their right mind be against an interactive fanfic? Isn't fanfic by its very nature interaction with the series? Sigh

*sighs in unison*

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I haven't read that particular Borges story, need to do so. Thank you for the rec. Also the summary regarding Dru feeding on Dawn and Spike being in each of her hells, was rather amusing and a rather good insight into how Drusilla views Spike and Buffy and Angel.

What fascinates me about the Cyberspace fic and fics of this sort is it plays with the role of God and the degree to which God can actually predetermine our fate. To what degree do we have control and free agency? The concept of free will and how that is possible with a God? As a writer, I sort of think it is, because often my characters take over, the story forms from them, and I think to an extent the same thing happened to Whedon - he planned on killing Spike off in S2. The initial plan had been for Angelus to stake Spike and take over, then they'd kill Angel off permanently at the end of the season.
But the characters in a way had different ideas and the story went in a different direction.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

What fascinates me about the Cyberspace fic and fics of this sort is it plays with the role of God and the degree to which God can actually predetermine our fate. To what degree do we have control and free agency? The concept of free will and how that is possible with a God? As a writer, I sort of think it is, because often my characters take over, the story forms from them, and I think to an extent the same thing happened to Whedon - he planned on killing Spike off in S2. The initial plan had been for Angelus to stake Spike and take over, then they'd kill Angel off permanently at the end of the season.

Heh. Joss loves playing with the traditional perception of God: his Goddesses are vain, cruel, often psychopatic females. Also, on Dollhouse Topher is playing God - and, at the same time, he is playing a dark version of Joss himself.

Actually, I think that Dollhouse is, in a way, Joss' attempt to explore how a character (a doll) can run away from his creator and to start acting on his own. Joss is one of those rare showrunners who allow hisself the luxury to follow his characters as long as they inspire him - and, apparently, he is fascinated with the whole process.

And we follow him. :)

[cordykitten]

I don't know all of them (just "Cyberspace"), have to take a look. Thanks!

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

"Cyberspace" is one of my faves - because it's unabashedly Spuffy, because it has an actual plot and because back in 2002 it really existed in a hypertext form, with real links to real places and people.

The other four are also interesting. :)

[riccadonna.livejournal.com]

Your links are legendary! This post--with its comments--is a keeper.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

*blushes and curtsies* Thank you, honey!

[clawofcat.livejournal.com]

What an inventive idea for a top 5 list! I'm not majorly into silly fics, but I'll definately have a peek at one or two to see what the fuss is about.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

I hope you'll enjoy them. They're not as silly as they look at the first sight. Anne Rose's "Cyberspace" is particularly fascinating. I won't delve into the analysis, because upthread shadowcat67 did it much better - I only want to add that, to me, reading "Cyberspace" was like opening a regular door in a relular building and discovering a whole new world behind it.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I just read Spike and Buffy, Lost in Cyberspace by Anne Rose, which was entirely new to me. It has an inventive playfulness which reminds me of your work. That's a good thing. Big fun. Thaks for the recs.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you've discovered this particular story. Not only it provides a rare glimpse into our fandom the way it was back in 2001-2002, but it also ponders on characters' ability to change their destiny - which echoes eternal "Man vs Destiny" moral dilemmas.

[ladycallie.livejournal.com]

Ships that Pass Into Type is one of my hands down favorite funny fics. I've got it printed even. Glad to see old stuff isn't always lost into the net.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

I agree - it's an unforgettable fun. The rest of the fics are also outstanding - I particularly love Spike and Buffy, Lost in Cyberspace, because when I had read it for the first time, it was a truly interactive fic with working links to all the mentioned places.