Sleepy ramblings about fanfic combined with vague requests for suggestions
So I'm reading this somewhat older Xander fanfic right now. It's a multi-crossover fic and it's one that is surprisingly not mentioned too often, given how big it is. I won't name names mostly because of what I have to say about it.
Firstly, I'm reading it because it was one of the first fics I ever read. I specifically read it like two days after 9/11, and I have to admit I credit it for helping me to forget the awfulness of those first few days. It was very long and provided me with many hours of somewhat mindless reading.
So I'm reading it again because I just want to veg out with an old Xander-Power story.
The problem is that even as surprisingly-decently written as it is, there are just so many issues that nag at me the whole time I'm reading. Little stuff like the characters talking in odd ways I can kind of get past, but the thing that really bugs me is there this overall sense of "Buffy's just a Slayer" all throughout.
I notice this in a lot of Xander-Power stories, and it may be why the genre has such a bad rap. I really hate how writing a story in which Xander gets a power is almost automatically classified as stupid or sub-par. If someone were to write a "Cordelia-Power" or "Gunn-Power" story, I don't think you'd get the same kind of response.
Now that may be because Xander-Power stories tend to be very wish-fulfillment kind of stories. In this particular story Xander is a dark-clothes wearing, sunglasses-clad uber-powered badass who scoffs at Buffy's abilities in comparison to his own. He scoffs in a nice way, which is more than can be said for many similar fics, but he's still scoffing. Buffy is just a Slayer, and Xander is now King Badass of Awesomeonia.
I read a story like this and I get so disappointed. The basic story ideas, even many of the characters and plots are pretty good. The hook for the tale, Xander's powers, and the overall mythos is actually pretty engaging, and it's what I read the story for, because you can't read the story for the characterization or the basic love of the characters. Xander isn't really Xander, although in this tale you eventually learn why he acts differently, so I don't begrudge it for that, but most of the other characters are off too.
But again, I come back to the belittling of Buffy, even in a relatively subtle way. It's what bothers me the most about these kinds of stories. For me, when I read a story about Xander getting a power, I want to read about how Buffy is STILL his hero. I want to read about how even when he's stronger, faster, more skilled, or otherwise more powerful than Buffy, that he's still in awe of who she is and what she's done. I don't think Xander-Power stories have to be automatically stupid, but the problem seems to be that most of them don't seem to even want Xander to be Xander anymore.
Now I know none of what I'm saying is anything new. I've said similar things before and many others have said it better than me as well (especially considering how little sleep I've gotten in the last 48 hours. I don't know how coherent I am right now), but it just bugs me.
I read a story like this and it makes me want to write a fanfiction of that fanfiction. Like I'd like to take the whole premise and write it myself, with the characters staying to what I believe is closer to their actual selves. I'm not talking about a parody kind of thing like I mentioned a few months ago, right around when I wrote The Many Lives of Xander Harris, but honestly like a fanfiction of a fanfiction. It'd be a serious story based off of the same basic premise as these other tales, but written where Xander doesn't look down on Buffy, where Buffy can still be a major hero and a major player despite how powerful Xander gets, and where the characters just general act like themselves.
For some stories, like the one I'm reading now, I feel like I would really enjoy doing that, mostly because I don't dislike the story because of its faults. They bother me, but I don't get the sense that the author actually hates Buffy or any of the characters, it's more that they just want to mould Xander into this tragic badass character. And hey, there's nothing wrong with doing that. Change Xander all you like, particularly if you do have the backstory to explain why he's changed, but I feel like that change becomes so much less interesting when the other characters are all "kinda off" in their reactions to him.
Just a heads up, folks: Buffy's never going to call a vampire a "motherfucker."
So what's my point? (See, when I know I'm rambling incoherently I have to ask that so that I can clarify what the hell it is I'm trying to say.)
Well I guess I have several points. First, I wish that there wasn't a stigma attached to writing a story in which Xander gets a power. He's the only character I know of that gets that kind of response from readers. "Oh, another Xander-Power story. That's gotta suck."
And my second point is that one of the main reasons that stigma exists is because of how the other characters are treated in such stories, and how much more I would enjoy these tales if the characters were actually closer to themselves.
And lastly, that I have the sick desire to rewrite these stories from my own fic-POV.
With secret bonus point: Turns out the need for sleep is all a cleverly designed hoax, like the Loch Ness Monster, the Moon Landing, or Communism.
Hey, while I'm at this, lemme ask you guys what you think would be a good "Xander gets a power" fic for me to read. I have the feeling I'll get a lot of responses for stories I already know about, but I haven't read much new fanfic in the last, jeez, two years or so now, and maybe it's time I got back into it. I'd be happy with something fairly long, and while the angsty "Xander gets a power but it's a crappy power" stories can be good, I'm looking for stuff more along the lines of "Xander's an Immortal/Superman/Jedi/Cyborg/Whatever" kind of stuff.
Just remember that I'm looking for stories in which everyone stays in character, no character bashing, and bonus points if Buffy isn't shuffled off to the sidelines to act as wide-eyed cheerleader who just stares in awe of Xander's amazing wonderfulness.
So let me know if you've got any suggestions. If you suggest one that I've already read, I may or may not tell you what I think about it. I'm not sure if I want to start explaining why I don't like individual stories.
Firstly, I'm reading it because it was one of the first fics I ever read. I specifically read it like two days after 9/11, and I have to admit I credit it for helping me to forget the awfulness of those first few days. It was very long and provided me with many hours of somewhat mindless reading.
So I'm reading it again because I just want to veg out with an old Xander-Power story.
The problem is that even as surprisingly-decently written as it is, there are just so many issues that nag at me the whole time I'm reading. Little stuff like the characters talking in odd ways I can kind of get past, but the thing that really bugs me is there this overall sense of "Buffy's just a Slayer" all throughout.
I notice this in a lot of Xander-Power stories, and it may be why the genre has such a bad rap. I really hate how writing a story in which Xander gets a power is almost automatically classified as stupid or sub-par. If someone were to write a "Cordelia-Power" or "Gunn-Power" story, I don't think you'd get the same kind of response.
Now that may be because Xander-Power stories tend to be very wish-fulfillment kind of stories. In this particular story Xander is a dark-clothes wearing, sunglasses-clad uber-powered badass who scoffs at Buffy's abilities in comparison to his own. He scoffs in a nice way, which is more than can be said for many similar fics, but he's still scoffing. Buffy is just a Slayer, and Xander is now King Badass of Awesomeonia.
I read a story like this and I get so disappointed. The basic story ideas, even many of the characters and plots are pretty good. The hook for the tale, Xander's powers, and the overall mythos is actually pretty engaging, and it's what I read the story for, because you can't read the story for the characterization or the basic love of the characters. Xander isn't really Xander, although in this tale you eventually learn why he acts differently, so I don't begrudge it for that, but most of the other characters are off too.
But again, I come back to the belittling of Buffy, even in a relatively subtle way. It's what bothers me the most about these kinds of stories. For me, when I read a story about Xander getting a power, I want to read about how Buffy is STILL his hero. I want to read about how even when he's stronger, faster, more skilled, or otherwise more powerful than Buffy, that he's still in awe of who she is and what she's done. I don't think Xander-Power stories have to be automatically stupid, but the problem seems to be that most of them don't seem to even want Xander to be Xander anymore.
Now I know none of what I'm saying is anything new. I've said similar things before and many others have said it better than me as well (especially considering how little sleep I've gotten in the last 48 hours. I don't know how coherent I am right now), but it just bugs me.
I read a story like this and it makes me want to write a fanfiction of that fanfiction. Like I'd like to take the whole premise and write it myself, with the characters staying to what I believe is closer to their actual selves. I'm not talking about a parody kind of thing like I mentioned a few months ago, right around when I wrote The Many Lives of Xander Harris, but honestly like a fanfiction of a fanfiction. It'd be a serious story based off of the same basic premise as these other tales, but written where Xander doesn't look down on Buffy, where Buffy can still be a major hero and a major player despite how powerful Xander gets, and where the characters just general act like themselves.
For some stories, like the one I'm reading now, I feel like I would really enjoy doing that, mostly because I don't dislike the story because of its faults. They bother me, but I don't get the sense that the author actually hates Buffy or any of the characters, it's more that they just want to mould Xander into this tragic badass character. And hey, there's nothing wrong with doing that. Change Xander all you like, particularly if you do have the backstory to explain why he's changed, but I feel like that change becomes so much less interesting when the other characters are all "kinda off" in their reactions to him.
Just a heads up, folks: Buffy's never going to call a vampire a "motherfucker."
So what's my point? (See, when I know I'm rambling incoherently I have to ask that so that I can clarify what the hell it is I'm trying to say.)
Well I guess I have several points. First, I wish that there wasn't a stigma attached to writing a story in which Xander gets a power. He's the only character I know of that gets that kind of response from readers. "Oh, another Xander-Power story. That's gotta suck."
And my second point is that one of the main reasons that stigma exists is because of how the other characters are treated in such stories, and how much more I would enjoy these tales if the characters were actually closer to themselves.
And lastly, that I have the sick desire to rewrite these stories from my own fic-POV.
With secret bonus point: Turns out the need for sleep is all a cleverly designed hoax, like the Loch Ness Monster, the Moon Landing, or Communism.
Hey, while I'm at this, lemme ask you guys what you think would be a good "Xander gets a power" fic for me to read. I have the feeling I'll get a lot of responses for stories I already know about, but I haven't read much new fanfic in the last, jeez, two years or so now, and maybe it's time I got back into it. I'd be happy with something fairly long, and while the angsty "Xander gets a power but it's a crappy power" stories can be good, I'm looking for stuff more along the lines of "Xander's an Immortal/Superman/Jedi/Cyborg/Whatever" kind of stuff.
Just remember that I'm looking for stories in which everyone stays in character, no character bashing, and bonus points if Buffy isn't shuffled off to the sidelines to act as wide-eyed cheerleader who just stares in awe of Xander's amazing wonderfulness.
So let me know if you've got any suggestions. If you suggest one that I've already read, I may or may not tell you what I think about it. I'm not sure if I want to start explaining why I don't like individual stories.