fandom fanfiction and the creative mind

7/26/2019 Fandom Fanfiction and the Creative Mind

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Fandom, fan fiction and the creative mind

~Masterthesis Human Aspects of Information Technology~

Tilburg University

Peter Gldenpfennig

A!" #$%$&'

(upervisors"

dr) A)M) *ac+us

Prof) dr) ,)M) Heynders


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Fandom, fan fiction and the creative mind

Peter Gldenpfennig

A!" #$%$&'

HAIT Master Thesis series nr) --./-/

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Thesis committee"

:1r) A)M) *ac+us;

:Prof) dr) ,)M) Heynders;

Tilburg University

3aculty of Humanities

1epartment of 5ommunication and Information (ciencesTilburg center for 5ognition and 5ommunication


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Table of contents

Introduction..........................................................................................................................................2

1. From fanzine to online-fiction, a short history of modern fandom..................................................5

1.1 Early fandom, the 1930's...........................................................................................................5

1.2 he start of media fandom, the 19!0's and 19"0's.....................................................................!

1.3 #$readin% of media fandom and crosso&er, the 190's.............................................................."

1.( Fandom and the rise of the internet, online in the 1990's to)ards the ne) millennium............9

1.5 he ne) millenium, fandom's $ostmodern moment................................................................10

2. Fan fiction, )hat is it all a*out+.....................................................................................................13

2.1 fan fiction the $rofessional and the fan...................................................................................13

2.2 fan fiction archontic literature................................................................................................1(

2.3 #o, fan fiction, )hat is it+ concrete eam$le........................................................................15

2.( /enre and tetual $oachin% the )orld of the fanfic-)riter.....................................................1"

3. reati&ity........................................................................................................................................21

3.1 he creati&e mind ar%aret oden........................................................................................22

3.2 reati&e fandom moti&ation, attention and the 'no&el' )ithin fan fiction.............................2!(. ethodolo%y...................................................................................................................................2

(.1 ata %atherin% and research 4uestions.....................................................................................2

(.2 he analysed cult e%ami ensei...........................................................................................29

(.3 nalysis....................................................................................................................................31

(.3.1 analysis of the formal elements........................................................................................31

(.3.2 com$arison of the analysis )ith the ori%inal artefact.......................................................3(

(.3.3 esta*lishin% the fanfic's creati&ity....................................................................................3(

(.( #am$le analysis ar rial.................................................................................................35

5. 6esults............................................................................................................................................(5

5.1 he fanfic as a stand-alone story.............................................................................................(!

5.2 he fanfic as archontic literature.............................................................................................(9!. onclusions and discussion............................................................................................................53

". han you.......................................................................................................................................5"

6eferences..........................................................................................................................................5

$$endi I nalysed fanfics.............................................................................................................!0

$$endi II ar rial 7 analysis.................................................................................................!1

$$endi III he el for 8hom he hrone olls 7 analysis........................................................."1

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Introduction

8illiam #hatner, the actor )ho's $ortrayal of the character of ames . :ir in the #tar re ;-

series *ecame a cultural icon once he told his fans to enins, 1992?. @e %ot sic of fans

)ho e$t on li&in% out their fandom as an inte%ral $art of their daily life.


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To what extent can a work of fan fiction be called 'creative'?

8ith this 4uestion, I started my research. I had to ans)er many others to *e a*le to ans)er this

$articular 4uestion. uestions lie )hat is creati&ity+ @o) does creati&ity )or+ >see cha$ter 3?.

8hat is fan fiction+ >see cha$ter 1?. 8hat constitutes a fan+ >see cha$ter 2?. an a see cha$ter 2.2?. Es$ecially the last 4uestion, )hich a lot of $eo$le )ill

ans)er strai%ht a)ay )ith a strict


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their fandom throu%h the realm of fiction. I ho$e you enAoy readin% this as much as I enAoyed

analysin% fan fiction as )ell as )ritin% this research re$ort.

(


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1. From fanzine to online-fiction, a short history of modern fandom

1.1 Early fandom, the 1930's

Fandom has its ori%ins in s$orts and theatre, )here certain $eo$le, called 'fans', )ould cheer on and

su$$ort their fa&ourite team, athlete or actor of actress rather than the s$ort or the $lay itself

>enins, 1992?. Fandom as is seen no)adays is said to ori%inate in @u%o /erns*ac's science

fiction ma%azineAmazing Stories>192!?. Bn the letters $a%e of this ma%azine, readers of the

ma%azine could tal to the editor and also tal to other readers. lso, the addresses of the readers

)ere $rinted under the letters, so that readers could contact each other.

From this, fans *e%an to %ather and or%anize themsel&es. Bne of the first thin%s that is

mainly associated )ith fandom is the so-called fanzine, fan-created ma%azines )ith a certain

fandom as its main su*Aect. #te$hen erins on Gine*oo.com claims that The Cometis %enerally

seen as the first fanzine to see the li%ht of day. he first issue )as $rinted in 1930 *y the hica%o-

*ased #cience orres$ondence lu*. /radually, more and more fans *e%an to or%anize and )ith it,

so did the num*er of fanzines and su*Aects %ro).

In the late 1930's the first con&entions )ere held and this can *e seen as the real start of

modern fandom, somethin% that encom$asses the )ritten )ord. erins notes three $oints

concernin% fanzines that are of rele&ance to fandom this day and a%e

Fanzines are uncommercial, nonprofessional and irregular small run publications which

have taken advantage of the cheapest and most accessible technologies in any given period, i.e.

mimeography, spirit duplicating ditto! and "erography, as well as more traditional printing

methods such as offset printing.

Fanzines are published by and for special interest groups and they provide a physical link

between these communities and, e#ually importantly they provide a place for networking and

e"change within this community. The inclusion of correspondents$ and contributors$ addresses

establishes the fanzine as an $open system$, and one in which interaction and reader involvement isessential.

The distribution of fanzines takes place principally within the community that generated it

small print runs and the uncommercial ethos mitigating against wider circulation!. Aside from

subscribers and contributors, editors fre#uently adopt a fairly idiosyncratic approach to who

receives copies, with some fanzines not for sale and some for e"change only.

>erins, #. Hnot dated. Science Fiction Fanzines. he zine and e-zine resource%uide?2

2 6etrie&ed from htt$JJ))).zine*oo.comJresourceJ$erinsJ$erins2.html

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@ere )e already see a certain attitude of the editors to)ards the o*Aect of their fandom and their

fello)-fans. Fanzines )ere not *orn out of the idea to %et as many $eo$le 2001?, ynthia

8aler claims that The %an From &.'.C.(.) >19!(-19!?, a tele&ision series ha&in% stron% ties

)ith the science fiction community3, created the first real media fandom. #he $oints out that many

Star Trek*fans $re&iously em*raced The %an From &.'.C.(.). so *oth series share at least $artially

the same audience, and that audience has already *een descri*ed as 'fanatic' in a memo from the

K research de$artment to the &ice $resident of $ro%rammin%, ort 8erner

+... not ust because they dislike other programs that are on ...-but because they are fans,

fanatics... They talk about the program with other fans and go beyond that/ they proselytize,

they want to convert non*viewers0+

>. urns, $ersonal communication, Fe*ruary 5, 19!5?(

3 #e&eral )ell-no)n science fiction )riters such as @arlan Ellison re)rote scri$ts from the series. lso, $a$er*ac

tie-ins )ere created that )ere )ritten *y )ell no)n )riters such as oan @unter @olly, 6o*ert oulson and a&idcaniel.

( 8aler, .8. Hnot dated. The 1un as Star and the +&.'.C.(.). Special+. 6etrie&ed from

htt$JJ))).manfromuncle.or%J%un.htm

!


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In the fanzines created *y these 'fanatics', a lot of different ty$es and %enres of fanzines can *e

distin%uished. he /erman-merican $sychiatrist Fredric 8ertham summed u$ a fe) %enres in his

*oo The World of Fanzines (19!" includin%satirezine, humorzine, parody fanzine, reviewzine,

rockzine, artzine, Tolkeinzine, articlezine, newszine, strip zine, communicationszineand so on.

s already mentioned, Star Trek is the series that is mostly associated )ith fandom

no)adays. he first run of the ori%inal ;-series ran from 19!! and ended a*ru$tly in 19!9. hese

series s$a)ned a hu%e follo)in% and the di&ersity in fiction mirrored this %ro)th

2From the start, Star Trek fans produced not simply the critical discussion typical of

science fiction fandom but creative responses to their favourite show. From the first, Star

Trek zines included fan art 3 poems, songs, stories, drawings, teleplays -4 5ndeed, a

creative Trek culture rapidly developed through the proliferation of fanzines like

Spockanalia, ST*6hile, T*'egative, and 7arp 'ine/ A Star Trek Chronicle.8

>o$$a, 200!?

In 19"5, 2Star Trek8 (ives0 >Cichten*er% et al.?was $u*lished, a *oo dedicated to the

history of early Star Trekfandom. lthou%h the *oo descri*es all as$ects of fandom, includin%

fanzine culture and early con&entions, it also includes a cha$ter )hich focusses on fan fiction, his

*oo is the earliest tracea*le &enture into serious eamination of fan fiction as literature. s o$$a

mentions 2The authors of 2Star Trek8 (ives0 don$t think these stories are important as e"amples

of 2fan communication8 but for what they$re saying in themselves, as stories in 2a whole new genre

of science fiction88. >o$$a, 200!?.

1.3 "#readin$ of media fandom and crosso%er, the 19&0's

he 190's are the years )here media fandom really too off. #ome mi%ht call it '%ee culture',

)here fans not only e$lored the numerous $ossi*ilities )ithin s$ace e$loration throu%h Star Trek*

fandom. Instead, they *roadened their interests *y turnin% to media artefacts )ithin different

%enres. his interest is $ro&en *y the success of *loc*uster mo&ies lie 6idley #cott's 9laderunner

"


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>192? and #te&en #$iel*er%'s5ndiana :ones*trilo%y >191J19(J199? and tele&ision series lie

;ill Street 9lues >191-19"? and Cagney and (acey >192-19? throu%h the fandoms these

artefacts %ained. his )idened interest had much to do )ith the fact that more com$le narrati&e

and characterization *ecame a household trend in media. 8here in the 19!0's and "0's a lot of

narrati&e and characterization )as dee$ened *y the fans themsel&es >throu%h discussions in fanzines

and on con&entions, as )ell as throu%h fan fiction?, in the 190's *road story arcs and dee$er

characterization )as im$lemented in the media artefacts themsel&es

$ersonal communication, une 21, 2005, in o$$a 200!?

s 2everything became zineable8, different media artefacts )ere $aired *y the fans. his is called

crossover, a %enre )hich is still one of the most $o$ular %enres in fan fiction. he crosso&er-%enre

eists since the start of media fandom5*ut really too off )hen other artefacts came to $lay a role in

fandom culture as a )hole, and )ith the *roadenin% of media fandom in the 190's, this )as eactly

)hat )as ha$$enin%.

Kot only a crossin% of multi$le artefacts into one $iece of fan fiction too $lace, also a more

thorou%h e$loration of )ell-no)n >at least *y fans? relationshi$s *et)een characters in the source

material )as somethin% that )as and is etensi&ely e$lored in fan fiction. Bne of the most $o$ular

%enres in this re%ard is :M#- orfriendship*fiction, and :J#- or slash-fiction!.8here :M# e$lores

a non-seual friendshi$ *et)een characters, :J# is the erotic &ariant. 8hile :M# has al)ays *een

around since fan fiction arose, :J# is thou%ht to ori%inate from a story in the third issue of the

fanzine 1rup, namely iane archant's 2A Fragment =ut of Time8 >1rupN3, 19"(?

5 o$$a notes that Star Trek>%an From &.'.C.(.). rosso&er fiction eists as early as 19"9, *ut I $ersonally find it

hi%hly unliely that there )as no crosso&er fan fiction *efore, since *oth series shared much of the same audience,

an audience that founded many zines and )ere &ery acti&e )ithin their fandom.! :J# stands for :ir and #$oc, indicatin% a same-se relationshi$ *et)een the t)o Star Trek characters.


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2...which depicted two nameless people one male, one whose gender was not revealed!

making love? %archant acknowledged in the ne"t issue of 1rup that she intended these

characters to be @irk and Spock.8

>o$$a, 200!?

he se&eral %enres and crosso&ers that that entered media fandom *roadened fan-culture, *ut

$olluted it at the same time. here )ere so many fanzines co&erin% so many to$ics that a decline

)as almost ine&ita*le, sim$ly *ecause a fan )ouldn't no) )hat fanzine )ould co&er the su*Aect of

his or her interests. he introduction of Lsenet and later the Internet in the 1990's remedied these

$ro*lems *y introducin% se&eral technolo%ies lie mailin%lists, messa%e*oards and fan fiction

archi&es. his ena*led fans to *etter filter out )hat they )here searchin% for. @o)e&er, this )ould

also drastically chan%e the realm of fandom.

1. Fandom and the rise of the internet, online in the 1990's to(ards the ne( millennium

Lsenet is seen *y most $eo$le as the InternetOs $redecessor"

and in se&eral )ays, this holds true.

Lsenet )as a system )hich )as used to echan%e messa%es. Each interest had an o)n Lsenet-

%rou$, for eam$le lt.t&.t)in$eas )as a Lsenet-%rou$ dedicated to the ;-series Twin 6eaks

)hile lt.se.fetish.startre )as a %rou$ dedicated to erotic fiction focussed around Star Trek

characters. 8ithin these %rou$s, $eo$le could discuss their interests, echan%e messa%es, or%anize

meetin%s, and echan%e files. hey could also Aoin mailin%lists, *y )hich all su*scri*ers )ould

re%ularly recei&e ne)s a*out their collecti&e interest.

Lsenet at the end of the 190's and early 1990's meant a %ood ha&en for e&ery fandom. Cie

mentioned earlier, at the end of the 190's, a lot of fandoms %ot $olluted, sim$ly *ecause there )as

too much of e&erythin% to ee$ u$ )ith for the dedicated fan too much fanzines, too much %enres,

too much crosso&ers, too much con&entions, too much fans.... he Lsenet-%rou$s formed a %ood

" $ersonal note althou%h >academic? literature mostly recall Lsenet, its main ri&al here in the Ketherlands )as the# or ulletin oard #ystem. lthou%h Lsenet has more in common >in loos? )ith the )ay internet forums )or

today >as a matter of fact, one can still >2011? enter Lsenet-lie archi&es as )ell as enter Lsenet-lie discussions

throu%h /oo%le /rou$s? than the # system, it is im$ortant to note that *oth systems )ere used mainly for thesame $ur$ose to socialise and to echan%e information and files.

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)ay of storin% e&ery $iece of information that )as normally )ritten in fanzines. In other )ords,

Lsenet-%rou$s *ecame the ultimate archi&e for e&ery fandom out there.

Ket to an archi&al function, there is %lo*alisation factor of online fandom. Fans from all

o&er the )orld could access and interact on Lsenet-%rou$s

2Formerly, most fans had been mentored by older fans or had attended a convention in

order to meet others who shared their particular obsession. 'ow people could ust google

their favourite show, oin the available lists, or start reading fiction 3 even erotic fiction 3

on a public online archive.8

>o$$a, 200!?

Ko lon%er )ere constraints lie lan%ua%e >to a certain etend of course, )ithin online Lsenet-

%rou$s En%lish )as the main lan%ua%e so at least a rudimentary no)led%e of the En%lish lan%ua%e

)as necessary? and *orders a $ro*lem. It's safe to assume that the shift to)ards online fandom

hel$ed to increase audiences %reatly.

lso, ne) ty$es of media made the transition online. Br, to $ut it more accurately, more

ty$es of media %ained a )ider audience throu%h online technolo%ies. Kot only >science fiction? ;-

sho)s and mo&ies )ere the artefact of online fandom, also anime, man%a, &ideo%ames and comics

%ained their o)n momentum )ithin the archi&es of Lsenet. ll these different ty$es of media

already had their o)n history and follo)in% >and *y that, also their o)n history of fandom?, *ut

*ecause of the )ide e$osure online archi&es %a&e these media, many )ho )ere $re&iously not

a)are of these media or only had a sli%ht interest in them *efore, could Aoin the con&ersation and

creation )ithin the fan communities online.

1.) The ne( millenium, fandom's #ostmodern moment

8e no) li&e in 'the a%e of the internet', and si%nificant $ortions of our li&es is s$ent online. his

holds true for )or, *ut also for free time and the )ay $eo$le carry out their fandom. 8hile the

mailin%lists are disa$$earin% in a ra$id $ace, other technolo%ies come into *ein% fillin% the %a$. For

10


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eam$le, social media )e*sites lie Face*oo.com %i&e $eo$le more o$tions of interactin% )ith

each other on the su*Aect of their fandom. lo%%in% is another eam$le of ho) $eo$le $ersonalize

their e$eriences )ith their fandom, *e it *y creatin% fan fiction, $ostin% ne)s stories etc..

o$$a >200!? ar%ues that enins, 200!? he e$lores the )ay users

a$$roach and use media content. @e ar%ues that the $artici$atory culture 2is taking shape at the

intersection between three trends/

. 'ew tool and technologies enable consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate, and

recirculate media content?

B. a range of subcultures promote o*5t*Dourself 5D! media production, a discourse that

shapes how consumers have deployed those technologies? and

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E. economic trends favoring the horizontally integrated media conglomerates encourage the

flow of images, ideas, and narratives across multiple media channels and demand more active

modes of spectatorship.

>enins, 200!?

he first trend is one )hich seems to *e the to a certain etent, a media con%lomerate can of course facilitate a fandom, for

eam$le, *y creatin% fan clu*s and or%anise fan %atherin%s?. he third trend is $ro*a*ly the most

im$ortant. It im$licitly holds the idea of


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2. Fan fiction, (hat is it all a*out+

ccordin% to the Bford dictionary, to *e a fan, means to *e 2a person who has a strong interest in

or admiration for a particular sport, art form, or famous person8.I )ould lie to add the term

if )e see e&ery artefact as tet, *e it literature, ;-sho)s, &ideo%ames etcetera?

)hich creates a res$onse, fan fiction. his is nothin% ne) and has *een ha$$enin% since manind

*e%an creatin% artefacts. Cet me %i&e an eam$le of ho) this )ors. Bne of the %reat no&els of

hina,:ourney to the 7est,Ghas *een re-)ritten and re)ored many times. lthou%h its ori%inal

)riter is thou%ht to *e 8u h'en%-en, a hinese )riter and $oet )ho li&ed under the in%-dynasty

in 1!

th

century hina, scholars are still not sure if he is the ori%inal author since it )as $u*lishedanonymously. he story descri*es the $il%rima%e of the uddhist mon Ruanzan% to India, to

o*tain certain sStras, holy scri$tures of the uddhist reli%ion. he story itself has a *ac%round in

old hinese foltales and still resonates )ith $eo$le today *y the timeless ima%ination of ecitin%

ad&entures it $resents, *ut also *ecause it can *e read in se&eral )ays. It can *e read as an

19(2? to contem$orary &ideo%ames lie)nslaved/ =dyssey to the

7est >Kamco-andai, 2010?.

ut can )e tae the a*o&e eam$le of re-ima%inations of ourney to the 8est and consider

them a form of fan fiction+ Kot really, *ecause if this )as the case then e&ery re-ima%ination could

*e re%arded a form of fan fiction. 8hat I )ould lie to $ro$ose is a di&idin% line *et)een the

htt$JJoforddictionaries.comJ, accessed on 2 $ril 2011

9 &aila*le online as $art of the /uten*er% roAect htt$JJ))).%uten*er%.or%Je*oosJ239!2

10 Bne could also call them remaes, if the ne) $roduct is *uild from the %round u$ *ut is still *ased on an earlierartefact, or )e could e&en call them intertetual )ors, if )e see the )ors as tets.

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$rofessional and the fan. 6e-ima%inations mi%ht *e *orn out of fandom, an intense a$$reciation of

an ori%inal artefact, *ut there is a difference in the %oals set *y authors. In that sense, fan fiction is

first and foremost )ritten for the fans, and not for a maret of consumers, as is the case )ith re-

ima%inations lie the eam$les of ourney to the 8est mentioned a*o&e. #ure, these re-ima%inations

mi%ht *e mareted as a 1995? in )hich he claims that

29y incorporating the knowledge deployed in reference to it, the archive augments itself,

engrosses itself, it gains in auctoritas. 9ut in the same stroke it loses the absolute and meta*

te"tual authority it might claim to have. =ne will never be able to obectivize it with no

remainder. The archivist produces more archive, and that is why the archive is never

closed. 5 opens out of the future.8

>errida, 1995?

I thin archontic is the most accurate descri$tion of )hat fan fiction means in relation to the

ori%inal artefact. his is *ecause, if )e see the ori%inal )or as an archi&e, )e can a$$roach fan

fiction as an entry to this archi&e. Fan fiction is often descri*ed as a


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#o no) )e ha&e t)o as$ects of fan fiction co&ered

Fan fiction is done *y thefan for the %reater %ood of his or herfandom, as o$$osed to other

intertetual re-ima%inations )hich are done *yprofessionals for ageneral audience.

Fan fiction is archonticliterature, )hich means that a )or of fan fiction contri*utes to the

archi&e esta*lished *y the ori%inal )or or artefact on )hich the fiction is *ased.

2.3 "o, fan fiction, (hat is it+ concrete eam#le

L$ until no), I ha&e s$oen mainly a*out fan fiction as somethin% )hich is closely related to

fandom and )hich is created *y fans. I also s$oe a*out it *ein% $art of an archi&e esta*lished *y an

artefact, the ori%inal )or on )hich the fan fiction is *ased. ut )e still don't no) )hat fan fiction

really is, ho) it is created, )hat rules and ha*its constitute a %eneral )or of fan fiction and so on.

his $oses a $ro*lem *ecause, ho) can )e tal a*out fan fiction, dra) conclusions on it >*y

esta*lishin% it as archontic literature? and not %i&in% concrete eam$les a*out )hat it actually is+ #o

to sho) )hat is considered ty$ical fan fiction I )ill $resent here a small sam$le.

he follo)in% story, afanfic*ased on /eor%e Br)ell's GH called 2An alternet ending8is

)ritten *y . aner, a mem*er of fanfiction.net, one of the *i%%est on-line communities dedicatedto fan fiction.12he story itself is $retty short, that is )hy I chose to $rint it here in full instead of

addin% it as an a$$endi.

11 For clarity, I )ill use the termfanfic to indicate a $articular story of fan fiction.12 I )ill ela*orate more on fanfiction.net in cha$ter (.

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he first thin% )e notice )hen )e read the story is a certain freedom )ith the source material. 8hat

is $resented here is an alternati&e endin% to /eor%e Br)ell's no&el GH >19(9?. In the ori%inal

story, the $rota%onist 8inston #mith is resistin% the $arty doctrine of su$erstate Bceania throu%h his

Aournals, somethin% that is hi%hly offensi&e and )ill *e ans)ered )ith the death $enalty. @e starts a

lo&e affair )ith ulia, thinin% the hou%ht olice, Bceania's intelli%ence on $eo$le )ho mi%ht

challen%e authority, isn't a)are of his re*ellion and his affair, *ut they ne) a*out this all alon%.

8hen 8inston and ulia %et cau%ht, 8inston is se&erely *eaten and tortured after )hich he is to *e

reha*ilitated for reinte%ration into Bceania's society.

he story a*o&e taes $lace durin% the torture-sessions 8inston had to endure. Instead of

tain% the *eatin%s, 8inston stands u$ and defends himself from the *eatin%s the hou%ht Bfficers

)ould %i&e him. @e stries them do)n, and ram$a%es out of the inistry of #ecrets to esta*lish a

ne) order )here the %o&ernment is afraid of the $eo$le.

First of all, it is not clear if aner read the ori%inal story correct. For eam$le, there is no

inistry of #ecrets. he inistry )here 8inston is held in the ori%inal story is thou%ht to *e >*y

1!

Summery: What if Winston decided to stand up and fight at the end instead of just lying down

and taking it.

Winston's body was racked with pain from the previous beating but his mind was still resisting. He knew

in his heart that this was wrong and so his anger turned to his strength to push on and instead of taking

the beating the following day he would strike back at them with full force. Threw his anger he ignored the

pain and the betrayal. His eyes hardened to a light stone like blue and he was going to fight.

When the thought officers came to get him in his cell he just smiled at them when one tried to wipe that

smirk off of his face. The only thought going threw his mind was 'Either now or never.' He caught the

hand as it sailed towards his face and struck back with vengeance at his tormentors left temple. A

sickening crunch reverberated around the cell as the officer fell over dead. Winston's eyes got dark as the

second officer tried to pull out his taster to stop him dead in his tracks but he was too slow and before

the officer knew it he was on the ground getting the shit beat out of him. With one officer dead and the

other knocked out Winston took their clothing and went incognito out of the ministry of secrets.

umerous officers tried to stop them but they meant the same fate as all of the others stopped dead with

a bullet in the head. A single thought was going threw his mind 'When the people are afraid of the

government that is tyranny and this is tyranny.' !any other people saw what he was doing and some

decided to join him as they fought to the officials palaces ransacking and killing all that big brother was.

"inally they made it to the center of the city and stormed the main buricratic building. The cowered that

was big brother was under his desk whimpering like a little baby for all of this to stop. Winston just saidto him #$ou disgust me.# Everyone that was there agrees that Winston was the hero now that %ig %rother

and all of his corrupt government were finally over.

&t has been twenty years since the rebellion and the people have not been happier light seems to have

returned to the streets and & am happy that Winston made that difference. Things would be a lot

different if he did not stand up and fight to become the first president of a new order on that the

government is afraid of the people.

A government can only go so far before the people decide enough is enough and revolt against the

government. "or we hold theses truths to be self(evident)

Te"t / An alternet )nding, fanfiction.net,

htt$JJ))).fanfiction.netJsJ!3"""03J1JnT*alternetT*Tendin%


19/81

8inston himself? the inistry of Co&e, one of the four ministries in Bceania. lso, it )ould *e

almost im$ossi*le for 8inston to esca$e the ministry for se&eral reasons he )asn't a)are of ho)

the ministry )as structured and therefore couldn't $ossi*ly coordinate a successful esca$e,

telescreens )ould *e a*le to see him tryin% to dress u$ inco%nito and see throu%h his ruse, et cetera.

@o)e&er, in fan fiction, )hat is and )hat is not $ossi*le does not matter. his is a so-calledA&E

-

fanfic, descri*in% somethin% that does not ha$$en in the ori%inal story. an . e$lains his

moti&ation for )ritin% this alternati&e endin% at the *e%innin% of his fanfic

2;ey guys 5 have posted a little story to keep you busy, 5 ust finished reading GH, and

good book in itself but the ending was something to be desired for. 5 honestly hope you

can read GH by 1eorge =rwell. 7ell you know the drill 5 do not own anything of

1eorge =rwell e"cept for the printed copies of Animal Farm and GH.8aner, ., 2010?

Kote that he a$$eals to the no)led%e of his audience )hen disclaimin% the co$yri%hts of Br)ell's

herita%e. his is an eam$le of ho) fan fiction is $rimarily )ritten *y fans for fans. lso, the lac

of $rofessionalism >)ithout Aud%in% its &alue? sho)s in the )ritin%. #$ellin% mistaes are a*undant

throu%hout the tet and there are se&eral other mistaes that sho) the story is )ritten *y a fan, more

than a 200!? a%ain


20/81

Gen 1en is short for 1eneral. hese stories do not focus on $airin%s of characters in the story.airin%s are $ossi*le, *ut are considered a $art of the story, and not the $lot.

Het ;et is short for;eterose"ual. In these stories, relationshi$s *et)een characters are of a

heteroseual nature.

Slash Slash >sometimes a**re&iated )ith 'J'? are stories re&ol&in% around same-se relationshi$s

*et)een the characters in the story.

AU Alternative &niverse are the sort of stories )ith a Startrek fanfic.

PWP 676 stands for6orn 7ithout 6lot and is Aust that a $orn story )ith no $lot at all. Itseistence is only Austified *y the desire of fanfic-)riters to $ortray a $orno%ra$hic

relationshi$ )ithin the uni&erse of an artefact.

Mary Sue/Gary Stu %ary Sue is the female $ortrayal of the hubpages.com>hub>fanfiction, accessed on %ay H, BJ

he list of %enres in a*le 1 is no)here near com$lete. here are many su*%enres and fanfic-)riters

re%ularly use elements of multi$le %enres into one story. It )ould *e too much to list e&ery %enre

here. he reason I chose this list is meant to sho) a recurrin% element in the realm of fan fiction,

namely the recurrin% foray of stories into the eamination of relationshi$s *et)een characters.

8hile there is much academic literature )ritten on this &ery su*Aect,1(it all *oils do)n to a certain

'$o)er' the fanfic-)riter has.

@enry enins, in his essay Star Trek


21/81

(ife >19(?. e erteau maes a distinction *et)eenstrategies and tactics, )herestrategies are the

rules forced u$on the consumers *y $roducers and tactics are the )ay consumers *end the rules to

their o)n liin%. onsumers arepoaching on terrain ori%inally concei&ed *y $roducers *y a$$lyin%

tactics, lar%ely i%norin% thestrategies laid out *y the $roducers on this terrain. he terrain here is

the media artefact, )hilestrategies can *e seen as an intended or $referred readin% of the artefact

and tactics as a re-readin% of the ori%inal artefact *y the creation of fan fiction. his $rocess of re-

readin% and creation is called te"tual poaching.

6eturnin% to the relationshi$-issue )ith the no)led%e of te"tual poachingindicate that the

reinter$retation of relationshi$s )ithin fan fiction is a form of ne%otiation. 8ithin fictional stories

characters are the *uildin% *locs on )hich the narrati&e rests. o chan%e their relationshi$ *y

either re)ritin% the relationshi$s in the ori%inal artefact, or chan%in% characteristics lie %ender and

seual $references, fans are a*le to ne%otiate )ith the ori%inal tet to recreate their idealized tets.y chan%in% the characters, the narrati&e is also chan%ed in a certain )ay >)hich de$ends on the

amount of influence characters ha&e on the narrati&e?. From this it's easy to see )hy there is

somethin% lie 1ary Stu>%ary Suecharacterisation. hese are instruments for )riters to %ain

creati&e control o&er familiar artefacts, to e$lore une$lored ca&ities $resent in those artefacts, and

for most )riters, the most attracti&e ca&ities are the relationshi$s *et)een fictional characters.

E&en if the *ul of fanfics re&ol&e around relationshi$s *et)een characters, this is Aust one

tactic a fanfic )riter can em$loy. ae for eam$le L-stories, stories that tae $lace in a uni&erse

)here certain e&ents )ithin the ori%inal artefact didn't ha$$en, or )here the )hole )orld is different

than that )ithin the ori%inal artefact.15his is different than chan%in% characters and relationshi$s in

the tet, *ut it is still a tactic a )riter em$loys to mae a tet his or her o)n )or. @ere, a )riter

ne%otiates not throu%h redefinin% relationshi$s, *ut *y recreatin% the ima%inary )orld itself.

nother tactic of ne%otiation )ould *e rac-stories. hese stories are so a*surd and *izarre

that it mi%ht seem that they are )ritten under the influence of dru%s or can only *e understood )hen

one uses dru%s )hen readin% them. his %i&es a )riter a clean slate to )or on durin% their

ne%otiations )ith the ori%inal artefact. E&erythin% is $ossi*le, and e&erythin% is $ermitted.

his *rin%s us to an as$ect core to fan-created literature the as$ect offanon. Fanon

descri*es as$ects in stories that in fan-created literature are used as facts *ut are made u$ *y the

fans, and not the creators of the ori%inal artefact. anon on the other hand is limited to that )hich is

actually descri*ed in the ori%inal artefact. #o e&erythin% that is either not descri*ed in the ori%inal

artefact or >some)hat? different in the ori%inal artefact can *e considered fanon.

15 Kote that L *ears a similarity )ith the rosso&er-%enre. lacin% characters of a certain artefact into the uni&erse ofanother artefact is *oth L and rosso&er, for eam$le.

19


22/81

he tactics em$loyed *y )riters as )ell as the use of %enres and 'fanonised' elements *rin%

us to the as$ect of creati&ity. he follo)in% cha$ter )ill e$lain the %eneral creati&e $rocess in as

much detail as $ossi*le, to%ether )ith ho) archontic literature fits in )ith this $rocess.

20


23/81

3. reati%ity

reati&ity and fan fiction, it seems to contradict itself. fter all, ho) can somethin% *e called

creati&e )hen it is *ased on somethin% >a media artefact in this case? that already eists+ $ossi*le

ans)er to this 4uestion re4uires criticism of the some)hat short-si%hted definition )e %i&e

creati&ity.


24/81

others thin of the tree in their o)n *acyard and so on. 8ith this, related thou%hts $o$ u$ sin%in%

hristmas carols in front of the hristmas tree, decidin% that 6em*randt is a *etter $ainter than ;an

/o%h, ha&in% to cut do)n the tree in one's *acyard *ecause it is sic and so on. he $oint is,

thou%hts ne&er stand on their o)n, and all thou%hts to%ether form a $roAected ima%e in our mind.

his ima%e is $roAected in a s$ace )e call conceptual space.

8ithin this conceptual space, )hile focussin% our thou%hts on )hate&er )e set our minds to,

)e are a*le to as oursel&es 4uestions a*out e&ery thou%ht. his sets in motion the act of creati&ity,

since it is 4uestionin% our thou%hts that decides )hether or not )e actually knowsomethin%, and

)hat it means to our actions if that )hich )e thou%ht of is no)led%e. 8hen doin% this )e can

either map no)led%e >)hat do )e no), )hat is the truth on )hate&er it is that )e thin of et

cetera.?, )e can e"ploreit >*y %ra**in% related thou%hts that mi%ht not *e closely related at first *ut

may *e im$ortant later on in the $rocess? and )e can transform it >*y usin% our no)led%e in a )aythat it hasn't *een used *efore?. his forms the core of the creati&e mind as is $resented *y ar%aret

oden.

3.1 The creati%e mind ar$aret oden

For some, creati&ity is the ne), )hile for others it is un$redicta*ility. In fact it is *oth to a certain

de%ree. #ayin% this should mae you thin, oden, 2005?. oden ar%ues that e&ery*ody is creati&e to a certain etent, somethin%

that is more a %i&en than that it is 4uestiona*le. @o)e&er, statin% the o*&ious isn't an ans)er. 8e as

human *ein%s lie to cate%orize those thin%s )e )ant to understand, and *y cate%orizin% )e at least

ha&e a *roader understandin% of a $henomenon. his does not mean )e understand creati&ity as a

)hole, *ut it does %i&e us an in4uiry in ho) creati&e $rocesses mi%ht )or.

oden distin%uishes t)o cate%ories of creati&ity historical creativity andpsychological

creativity, )here the first is a *rand ne) idea to the )orld, and the second is a *rand ne) idea to the

$erson )ho comes u$ )ith that idea. But of this lo%ically follo)s, that historical creativityis also

al)ayspsychological. For eam$le, I mi%ht come u$ )ith a %reat Aoe )hich I thou%ht u$ myself.

o me, this Aoe is totally ne). It is thereforepsychological creativity. here is a $ossi*ility

ho)e&er, that some)here some*ody thou%ht u$ the same Aoe *efore I did. hen, my Aoe remains

only creati&e on a $sycholo%ical le&el, since it isn't *rand ne) to the )orld. 8ould I *e the first to

thou%ht u$ the Aoe, than it creati&e on a historical le&el >as )ell as on a $sycholo%ical le&el?.

22


25/81

@o)e&er, this is Aust a sim$le cate%orisation of creati&ity, )hich maes it easier for us to tal

in terms of 'old' >$sycholo%ical? and 'ne)' >historical? creati&ity. Kote also, that it is hard to say

)hether somethin% is actually historical creati&e. fter all, one can ne&er *e sure of any creati&e act

has *een acted out some)here already. hese terms do not really say what creati&ity is. In the

prKcisof her *oo, oden >1991? also maes a ty$olo%y of creati&ity )hich is more interestin% and

in line )ith ans)erin% the 4uestion of )hat creati&ity is. #he a%ain s$ecifies t)o inds of creati&ity

improbabilist creativityand impossibilist creativity. ccordin% to oden, 2improbabilist creativity

involves positively valued! novel combinations of familiar ideas8, whereas impossibilist creativity

creates ideas that 2could not have been created before8>oden, 199!?.

o a$$ly them to somethin% >tets, s$eech, music or somethin% else that is 'acted'? that could

*e re%arded as a $roduct of creati&ity >and if so, to )hat cate%ory it can *e attri*uted to? and to ha&e

it tell us if somethin% is creati&e to a certain etent or not, the conce$ts need to *e o$rationalized.ut ho) do theseinds of creati&ity come into $lay+ @o) can )e identify if somethin% is creati&e

or not+ @o) is it $ossi*le for a human *ein% to thin of 'somethin%' out of 'nothin%' )here

impossibilist creati&ity is concerned+ For that, oden uses the notion of conceptual space, a style of

thinin% oden, 1991?. In other )ords, it is a s$ace in out minds )here )e connect $ieces

of no)led%e rele&ant to the domain in )hich )e act out our creati&ity.

In conceptual space, oden ar%ues, )e use our no)led%e as far as it is a$$ro$riate and

a$$lica*le to a certain domain. For eam$le, in main% a certain chess mo&e, )e use conce$tual

s$ace to so try and outmanoeu&re our o$$onent on a chess *oard. his can *e done *y acti&atin% the

conce$tual s$ace attached to the domain of chess, )here the conce$tual s$ace contains a chess

*oard, the rules of chess, our no)led%e a*out our o$$onent, and the $ast, current and $ossi*le

futures of the state of the %ame etc.. his domain is lined to no)led%e a$$ro$riate for that

domain, )hich is acti&ated )hen )e recreate a mental ima%e of that domain.

he )ay )e use conce$tual s$ace differs, and this leads to three le&els of creati&ity.

ccordin% to oden, there are three le&els of acti&atin% no)led%e a*out a certain domain

ma$$in%, e$loration and transformation.

o ma$ conce$tual s$ace means main% a mental re$resentation of conce$tual s$ace in our

mind, in )hich )e use our no)led%e to connect it in such a )ay to a$$ly this to )hat it is )e )ant

to achie&e. a$$in% is used to find out )hat )e are >and are not? ca$a*le of )here our no)led%e

is concerned. It is as if )e tra&el throu%h the mental re$resentation in our mind, alon% the corridors

of our no)led%e of the domain )hich )e are ma$$in%, so )e can $in$oint our limits of no)led%e

23


26/81

on the su*Aect of that domain.

E$loration is related to ma$$in%, *ut %oes a lot further >and touches already more on

as$ects )e usually associate )ith the idea of creati&ity?. 8here ma$$in% refers to the retrie&al of

no)n no)led%e a*out the domain from the conce$tual s$ace, e$loration unco&ers im$licit

no)led%e, that is, no)led%e that )e didn't realize )e had *efore, or usin% our no)led%e in such

a )ay to come u$ )ith a ne) solution. oden herself %i&es a %reat eam$le of )hat e$loration is

all a*out

27hen ickens described Scrooge as +a s#ueezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping,

clutching, covetous old sinner+, he was e"ploring the space of )nglish grammar. ;e was

reminding the reader and himself! that the rules of grammar allow us to use sevenadectives before a noun. That possibility already e"isted, although its e"istence may not

have been realized by the reader.8

>oden, 1991?

ransformation is the most ri%orous of the three $rocesses )ithin conce$tual s$ace. @ere,

our no)led%e is a$$lied in a )ay that is un$redicta*le, *ut still *ased on intuition, and thus, still is *ased on somethin% )e no). I ased myself earlier

ho) it is $ossi*le to create 'somethin%' out of 'nothin%'. he ans)er is that )e aren't.? his is related

to ma$$in% and e$loration in such a )ay, that one maes a re$resentation of conce$tual s$ace

>ma$$in%?, one e$lores this conce$tual s$ace >e$loration?, and then one $ushes its *oundaries so

that somethin% ne), a no&el idea, emer%es >transformation?. In other )ords, transformation actually

creates ne) no)led%e *y use of already eistin% no)led%e.1"

hese three $rocesses all follo) one another, as )e can't e$lore our no)led%e of a certain

domain )ithout ma$$in% it first, and )e can't transform our no)led%e )ithout e$lorin% it first. #o

these $rocesses can *e seen as serial. his is not to say that, for eam$le, transformation is more

creati&e than e$loration Aust *ecause it is the hi%hest achie&a*le sta%e )ithin a creati&e $rocess.

his raises a &ery im$ortant 4uestion, the 4uestion )hen creati&ity


27/81

no)led%e al)ays somethin% to stri&e for, more than e$loration, Aust *ecause it $ushes the

*oundaries of already $resent no)led%e+ here is not really a fied ans)er to this 4uestion

*ecause it all de$ends on the contet. 8hat do )e )ant to achie&e *y a$$lyin% our no)led%e+ If

)e loo at creati&ity as somethin% to stri&e for, then the ans)er seems to *e $retty strai%ht for)ard

)hen )e )ant to %o on creati&e endea&ours, )e stri&e for transformation of our no)led%e so that

no&el ideas can emer%e, since transformation is the most creati&e use of no)led%e and so no&el

ideas actually a$$ear to *e as such.

@o)e&er, an alternati&e ans)er relates to t)o as$ects that are Aust as im$ortant to the

creati&e $rocess as the )ay )e use our no)led%e in conceptual space moti&ation and attention. In

his essayFrom Above And 9elow/ 6roblems 7ith 9odenLs %odel =f ;uman Creativity >n.d.?,

onathan Ki%htin%ale criticises oden for failin% to address these t)o as$ects. 8hile i%norin%

moti&ation is $artly Austified *y oden on the %rounds that there is not a %ood com$utational modelof moti&ation >and thus, moti&ation cannot easily *e 'charted', so to s$ea?, she does not e&en

mention attention. nd that $oses a $ro*lem for oden's model if )e tae into account

siszentmihalyi's Creativity/ Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention >199"?, in )hich

he sho)s that 2attentional control and selectivity are among the most significant predictors of

creative performance8 >Ki%htin%ale, n.d.?.

Is this model still a$$lica*le for researchin% fan fiction+ Qes, *ecause the as$ects of

moti&ation and attention are already $art of the e4uation )here creati&e fandom is concerned, as I

)ill further ela*orate on in cha$ter 3.2.

o summarize,

;istorical andpsychological creati&ity is a cate%orisation of the de%ree of creati&ity from

the $oint of &ie) of the $erson )ho creates in relation to the outside )orldP

5mprobabilist and impossibilist creati&ity is a cate%orisation of the de%ree of creati&ity

concernin% the act of creation itselfP

he ma$$in%, e$loration, and transformation of no)led%e in conceptual space is a model

of the ty$es of creati&ity, to *e inter$reted as a serial $rocess in )hich no)led%e is used to create

somethin% 'no&el'.

25


28/81

3.2 reati%e fandom moti%ation, attention and the 'no%el' (ithin fan fiction

8hen a$$lyin% the notion of creati&ity as it comes into *ein% in conceptual spaceonto fan fiction

ins$ired *y a certain artefact, )e try to find out ho) the fanfic relates to the ori%inal artefact and on

the *asis of that relation, )e esta*lish the de%ree of creati&ity. his de%ree %oes from the lo)est

amount of creati&ity >ma$$in%? to)ards the hi%hest >transformin%?.

s mentioned, one of the most serious $oints of criticism of odenOs model is that it does

not tae into account the as$ects of moti&ation and attention, *ut this $oint can *e discarded )here

fan fiction is concerned. he main reason for this is that *oth moti&ation and attention are already

im$lied in the $rocess of )ritin% fan fiction.

oti&ation is an im$ortant determiner throu%hout the $rocess of creation as is sho)n *y

heresa ma*ile >19(?. #he found that intrinsic moti&ations >moti&ations internally tri%%ered *y

$eo$le )ho actually )ant to do somethin% themsel&es? for any creati&e act foster the creati&ity

durin% this endea&our. y contrast, etrinsic moti&ations >moti&ations tri%%ered eternal, for

eam$le students )ho are forced to do home)or? undermine creati&ity. It is almost a %i&en that

moti&ations for )ritin% fan fiction are al)ays intrinsic >unless )ritin% a fanfic is a school $roAect or

somethin% similar?. #ince the act of )ritin% fan fiction is *orn out of *ein% a fan and therefore

lined to fandom, it's safe to say that the moti&ations for )ritin% fan fiction is *ased on an >at leastsli%ht? interest in the artefact on )hich the story is *ased. In other )ords, moti&ation is already

$resent in the $rocess of )ritin% fan fiction.

ttention, as in *ein% attenti&e and carefully selectin% )ords and $hrases )hile $erformin%

the act of )ritin%, has $ro&en to *e of considera*le im$ortance )hile $erformin% a creati&e tas. In

focussin% our attention on the tas at hand )e are a*le to $erform *etter > siszentmihalyi, 199"?.

In fan fiction, this does not $ose a $ro*lem. he attention has already *een s$ent on )ritin% the

story, so there is no )ay )e can return to the act of )ritin% to say somethin% on the creati&ity of the

$roduced tet )hile tain% the )riterOs attention into account. #ure, it has *een an im$ortant factor

in creation and I'm not tryin% to discard it Aust *ecause the attention has already *een s$ent, *ut the

fact of the matter is that )e cannot distin%uish anymore *et)een tets that had a lot of attention

%i&en to them and those that didnOt, )hen )e loo at it from an analytical stand$oint. he $oint of

de$arture in this study is that )riters s$end a nota*le de%ree of attention to the act of )ritin%, in line

)ith the intrinsic moti&ation for )ritin% a fanfic.

2!


29/81

he last $ro*lem )ith oden's model I )ould lie to address here is the idea that somethin%

creati&e al)ays has to *e 'no&el'. I already tacled $arts of this issue in cha$ter 2.2 *ut I lie to

stress here a%ain, that no&el ideas can *e constructed out of familiar no)led%e. s one actually

transforms familiar no)led%e into somethin% no&el, somethin% ne), one does not thin of

'somethin%' out of 'nothin%'P e&en if a no&el idea does notseemto stem from $resent no)led%e, it is

al)ays lined to $resent no)led%e some )ay or another. I called it


30/81

. ethodolo$y

.1 ata $atherin$ and research 4uestions

he case study $resented here is a selection of fan fiction *ased on criteria set *eforehand, and )ith

%ood reason. here is an enormous num*er of stories )ithin e&ery %enre, style and medium to *e

found online, in fanzines, ma%azines and so on. In order to *e a*le to actually e$lore the creati&ity

)ithin, one sim$ly has to decide )hich stories to include, meanin% a lot of $otentially interestin%

fanfics for this research )on't *e $art of the case study.

For *uildin% an interestin% and meanin%ful set of data to *e analysed, I used the )e*site

fanfiction.net, )hich hosts the *i%%est collection of fan-created stories on the internet.

1

Bn this site,the fiction itself is *roen do)n into nine main cate%oriesAnime>manga, books, cartoons, comics,

games, movies, plays>musicals, TM showsandmisc.. Furthermore, there is a crosso&er-section )here

t)o or more cultsGmeet in fiction. Lsers can create an account and $ost their o)n fanfics, as )ell

as re&ie) the )ors of others and *uild lists of $ersonal fa&ourite fics. here is a community-

section for social interaction *et)een users and the site also holds a forum for de*ate.

For this research, I chose to stic to one cate%ory, namelygames. 8ithin this cate%ory there

are literally hundreds of cults. he main criterion I used to choose a cult )as 4uantity. I )anted to

ha&e a cult )ith at least one hundred stories. his to mae sure there )as enou%h material for me to

research. I chose%egami TenseiBJ, a cult )ith more than 1(00 stories archi&ed. nother im$ortant

criterion in selectin% fan fiction )as that I )anted the fanfics to *e com$leted. lot of fanfics are

)ors in $ro%ress, and tain% a )or of $ro%ress for analysis )ould *e unfair, %i&en the $ossi*ility

that creati&ity mi%ht occur in a later &ersion of the story. his is the main reason that most of the

fanfics analysed are so-called one-shots stories )hich ha&e a clear endin% and consists of

a$$roimately one to three cha$ters.

he main reason I chose%egami Tensei)as familiarity. o say somethin% meanin%ful a*out

fan fiction one has to *e familiar )ith the source material. I am &ery familiar )ith *oth &ideo %ames

1 ased on the I of a story, )hich it recei&es )hen added to the data*ase. t the time of )ritin%, the total num*er ofstories on the site accordin% to the latest $ost is !91("!

htt$JJ))).fanfiction.netJsJ!91("!J1JheT)itchT)ithT8hiteT@air@o)e&er, this is a rou%h estimate since the I a story %ets is al)ays the net num*er u$, *ut a deleted story and its

I is still calculated to)ards the total. his is $ointed out *y FFK 6esearch, t)o fanfiction readers )ho too it u$onthemsel&es to research the statistics *ehind fanfiction.net htt$JJffnresearch.*lo%s$ot.comJ2010J0"Jfanfictionnet-

story-totals.html

19 cult is a )ay to refer to a $articular )or or o*Aect around )hich a fandom has or%anised itself.20 8hich can *e found here htt$JJ))).fanfiction.netJ%ameJe%amiTenseiJ

2
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6918476/1/The_witch_with_White_Hairhttp://ffnresearch.blogspot.com/2010/07/fanfictionnet-story-totals.htmlhttp://ffnresearch.blogspot.com/2010/07/fanfictionnet-story-totals.htmlhttp://www.fanfiction.net/game/Megami_Tensei/http://ffnresearch.blogspot.com/2010/07/fanfictionnet-story-totals.htmlhttp://ffnresearch.blogspot.com/2010/07/fanfictionnet-story-totals.htmlhttp://www.fanfiction.net/game/Megami_Tensei/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6918476/1/The_witch_with_White_Hair


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and%egami Tensei so readin% and inter$retin% fan fiction of this cult )asn't eactly a chore for me.

ust to mae sure I didn't let my $ersonal interest in this cult %et the *etter of me as )ell as tryin% to

%et %et familiar )ith fan fiction as a literary %enre, I also read a lot of other fan fiction in other cults

and cate%ories, Aust to %et a feelin% for fan fiction in %eneral.

efore %atherin% data I formulated one *asic 4uestion, namely

To what extent can a work of fan fiction be called 'creative'?

Bne 4uestion e$t na%%in% me, since it im$licitly is a*out the &ery nature of fan fiction, namely that

it is fiction *ased on somethin% else or, as I )rote in cha$ter 2.2, its archontic nature. his 4uestion

is

If fan fiction establishes an entry or extension to an already existing entry in an archive, can

the story in question be called creative?

hese 4uestions are the fundamental reasons for this study and constantly inform the analyses.

definiti&e ans)er to these 4uestions )ill *e %i&en in cha$ter !.

.2 The analysed cult e$ami Tensei

%egami Tenseiis a cult that has its roots in the cy*er$un culture of the 190's. In 19! a$anese

)riter ya Kishitani )rote a trilo%y of no&els calledigital evil Story, of )hich the first no&el

)as called%egami Tensei. entral in this no&el is the usho @i%h #chool, in the su*ur*s of oyo.

Bn this school t)o student factions com$ete )ith each other the %ifted student-faction to )hich all

the %ood students *elon% to and )ho %et the *est facilities and teachin%, and the normal student-

faction )ho are treated as lo)er-class students. In turn, the normal student-faction a*use the %ood

student-faction out of an%er for *ein% mistreated. he $rota%onist of the story, emi KaaAima,

*elon%s to the %ood student-faction and is sic of *ein% *eaten u$ *y mem*ers of the other faction.

8ith his com$uter sills he decided to )rite a $ro%ram to summon demons *y studyin% the

similarities *et)een com$uter $ro%rammin% and ma%ic. @e succeeds in summonin% the demon

Coi from the under)orld to act out his re&en%e. @o)e&er, he soon loses control o&er Coi and has

to summon other demons in order to defeat Coi.

his story formed the *e%innin% of a lon% standin% franchise of &ideo %ame-series *e%innin%

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)ith the release of e%ami ensei >Kamco, 19"? on the Kintendo Entertainment #ystem and the

#R home-com$uter system. lthou%h the series s$a)ned se&eral su*series lie aAin ensei >a

strate%y 6/ %ame? and ersona >an 6/ )ith a less serious tone than the main franchise?,

e&erythin% *earin% the name e%ami ensei has some thin%s in common, and it is those

similarities, elements that define the e%ami ensei-series, that I )ill focus on in my analyses.

e%ami ensei has al)ays dra)n ins$iration from all sorts of cultures, mytholo%ies and

le%ends. For eam$le, *i*lical mytholo%y %oes hand in hand )ith a$anese #hinto mytholo%y in the

&ideo %ame e&il #ur&i&or, )here the story is a modern-day tellin% of the ain and *el $ara*le. In

that %ame it is $ossi*le to 'summon' demons )hose mytholo%ical ori%ins differ %reatly some ha&e

Korse ori%ins, other #hintoist ori%ins, a%ain others ha&e e)ish ori%ins et cetera.

nother constant $resence in the franchise is the as$ect of 'reason'. his entails certain

choices that the $rota%onists >and thus, the $layer? in the iterations )ithin the franchise ha&e tomae. hese choices determine the outcome of >as$ects of? the story and ena*le multi$le outcomes

)here the &ideo %ames are concerned. hey also confront $layers )ith an almost $hiloso$hical

a$$roach. hoosin% a certain $ath in a e%ami ensei-%ame has hu%e conse4uences for the rest of

the %ame and $laces a certain *urden on the shoulder of the $layer. hese $aths re4uire of $layers

that they thin a*out their o)n stance concernin% the issue at hand, and choose a $ath accordin% to

that stance. here is no clear '%ood' or '*ad' $ath, so there is no )ay you ca* $lay the %ame ')ron%'.

he last thin% to address concernin% the ori%inal media-artefact is its &ery ori%ins. he

e%ami ensei no&el *y ya Kishitani started out as a fan-story on a #21itself. In that sense the

)hole franchise has its ori%ins in fan-culture. It is interestin% to see that the $roducts of fan-culture

and its $rofessional counter$arts intert)ine in such a manner. his is $roof that the )or of a fan

can *e etremely $roducti&e and is a*le to esta*lish an archi&e all *y itself.

21 # is short for 'ulletin oard #ystem', )hich $re-dates the internet as )e use it today, *ut )hich shares a lot of

similarities. n electronic *ulletin *oard is Aust that a &irtual en&ironment to )hich $eo$le lo% on *y use of modemsattached to their com$uters. eo$le could lea&e messa%es and stories for other users to read and to react on. so this

system has striin% similarities )ith an internet-forum. he # on )hich the e%ami ensei-story has its ori%ins

had y*er$unculture and the )ors of y*er$un-author 8illiam /i*son >mainly his %round*reain% )or'euromancer >/i*son, 19(?? as its main to$ics.

30


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.3 nalysis

o *e a*le to analyse the le&el of creati&ity in fan fiction, se&eral ste$s ha&e to *e taen, s$ecifically

the three ste$s e$lained in this section. he first ste$ is analysin% the story itself, )hich consists of

elements that are %enerally $ercei&ed as *ein% $resent in most stories. For this I use a structuralist

method *ased on the three le&els that constitute a story accordin% to the structuralist theory of

narrati&e >6immon-:enan, 193?story, te"t and narration.Each of these le&els is *roen u$ into

se&eral dimensions.

fter descri*in% the formal elements of the story, I )ill lin these elements to the ori%inal

artefact *y closely eaminin%, com$arin%, and analysin% the elements of the story and the artefact.

@o) do these elements relate to the ori%inal artefact and ho) eactly does the fanfic contri*ute to

the archi&e as esta*lished *y the artefact+he third and last ste$ )ill *e to loo at the creati&e elements of the story. o *e a*le to do

that, I )ill loo at the results deri&ed from the second ste$ and inter$ret these results in the li%ht of

odenOs model of creati&ity. hen, I can decide )hat the le&el of creati&ity is a )or of fan fiction

has achie&ed.

.3.1 analysis of the formal elements

he formal elements >)hich means those elements that ser&e the story and not the artefact on )hich

it is *ased, see also cha$ter 5.1 for more information re%ardin% the fanfic as a so-called stand-alone

story? of the story mo&e from an a*stract to)ards a concrete descri$tion of elements o&er three

le&els,story, te"t and narration. hese three le&els consist of se&eral dimensions, )hich are

descri*ed *elo).

Storyis the most a*stract le&el. It consists of three dimensions )hich constantly cross and

inter)ea&e )ith each other as the reader $ro%resses throu%h the story. It descri*es the lo%ic of )hy

certain se4uences tae $lace )ithin the story. he three dimensions are

ctions the actions taen in the story. his is not to *e taen literally. Instead, it is a

com*ination of e&erythin% that ha$$ens in the story, and the elements that can mae it ha$$en.

6oland arthes distin%uished *et)eenfunctions and indices >arthes, 191?. Functions have a

31


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'cause and effect'-lo%ic, meanin% that certain e&ents in the stories either cause or $re&ent an action

to *e taen in the story. For eam$le, a rin%in% tele$hone can either *e ans)ered or not.5ndices are

the sum of elements that force the reader to $roduce meanin%. For eam$le, )hen a character is

descri*ed as


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se#uence.Fre#uency measures the relationshi$ *et)een the e&ents that ha$$en )ithin the history of

the story and the num*er of times they are actually narratedP somethin% that ha$$ened only once

)ithin the history of the story may *e descri*ed and referred to multi$le times, and this %i&es us a

measurement of itsfre#uency.

haracterisation the )ay characters are introduced to the reader. his can *e done in an

e$licit manner, an im$licit manner or an analo%ous manner. n e$licit manner )ould *e a story in

)hich the )riter literally sums u$ a list of ty$ical characteristics that mae u$ a character. n

im$licit )ay of introducin% a character )ould *e to descri*e him or her *y his actions, as if the

actions are ty$ical of certain characteristics. n analo%ous manner )ould *e a descri$tion of the

character and his or her characteristics throu%h the use of meta$hors and sym*olic references. he

name of a character for eam$le, could *e an analo%y to his characteristics )hen the character in

4uestion is an anta%onist named 'e&il'. Focalisation focalisation is concerned )ith the $oint of &ie) in a story and ho) situations

and e&ents are $resented. 8e distin%uish *et)een that )hich is focalised >an o*Aect, a character? and

the focaliser >the one )ho holds a certain $oint of &ie)?. Internal focalisation means that the

focaliser is $art of the story itself, )here an eternal focaliser is one )ho o*ser&es the story unfold

and $resents it as such to the reader.

'arrative is the most concrete >or least a*stract, if you )ill? le&el of $resentin% the story to the

reader. It is mainly concerned )ith the actual $resentation of the story, for eam$le ho) characters

in the story tal to each other. It consists of t)o dimensions

Karration this descri*es the relation of the one )ho tells the story )ith that )hich is told.

he )ay narration is $ercei&ed *y the reader de$ends on the actual relation *et)een teller and story.

If the storyteller is an actual character )ithin the story and he or she s$eas of a character tellin%

another story >a story )ithin a story?, the narration and its narrator chan%es accordin%ly.

Ima%ination the )ay the narrator $resents the a)areness of characters )ithin the story to the

reader. For eam$le, the narrator can $ara$hrase and descri*e the thou%hts of a character in such a

)ay that it encloses se&eral connotations that )ould not *e a $art of the narrati&e )hen a factual

account of 'that )hich is thou%ht' had *een $resented to the reader. In other )ords, it is the

difference *et)een somethin% that is actually thou%ht literally translated in the tet, and a

descri$tion *y a narrator >)hich can of course chan%e the meanin% of 'that )hich is thou%ht', )hich

33


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de$ends on the relation the narrator has )ith said character?.

.3.2 com#arison of the analysis (ith the ori$inal artefact

he analysis as conducted in the first ste$ )ill *e eamined and com$ared )ith the ori%inal artefact

in order to see ho) the fanfic actually contri*utes to the archi&e. For eam$le, are characters totally

ne) characters, not $resent in the ori%inal artefact+ If this is the case, then it can *e considered a

ne) entry to the archi&e >*ut only )here the characters are concernedV?. Bf course, su*tle chan%es

or unno)n characteristics of characters can are also *e considered a contri*ution to the archi&e, as

a continuation of an already eistin% entry .In order to do this I use the results from the analysis conducted in ste$ 1. 8hen I refer to

actual characters in a story for eam$le, I )ill use the information that I analysed at the le&el of

story Haction, actans, te"t Hcharacterisation and narrative Hima%ination, since the dimensions

*et)een *racets literally refer to these elements. @o)e&er, )hen I tal a*out the )orld in )hich

the story unfolds, I )ill only use the information analysed at the le&el of story Hsettin%.

Kote that in the com$arison I do not ela*orate on cate%ories that s$ea for themsel&es. For

eam$le, se&eral stories that ha&e *een analysed share the same $rota%onists and thus ha&e the same

*ac%round. here is no use in a constant ela*oration on this *ac%round in e&ery analysis that ha&e

those $articular $rota%onists. hat is )hy some formal elements seem to *e ne%lected *ut are in fact

cut short since they didn't sho) anythin% meanin%ful for this research.

.3.3 esta*lishin$ the fanfic's creati%ity

o esta*lish creati&e elements in fan fiction, I )ill tae the results %athered in ste$ 2 and inter$ret

them usin% oden's model of creati&ity. For clarity and trans$arency, the ta*le *elo) summarizes

the method *y )hich creati&ity )ithin fan fiction is identified

3(


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The creative "rocess in conce"tual

s"ace accordin% to oden

The story&s contri$ution to

the archive

A'ount of

creativity

a$$in% no)led%e etension Co)

E$lorin% no)led%e etensionJne) edium

ransformin% no)led%e ne) @i%h

'Co)' is the lo)est amount of creati&ity, meanin% that there al)ays is a certain le&el of creati&ity, so

no creati&ity )hatsoe&er isn't an o$tion. Kote that this ta*le is only intended for clarity $ur$osesP I

try to a&oid talin% on fanfics *ein%


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*oy )ho )aes u$ one mornin% at the sound of a radio alarmcloc. @e is descri*ed as a 'normal'

human *ein%, doin% 'normal' human thin%s. @is )ain% u$ at the sound of the alarmcloc and the

realization that he o&ersle$t is somethin% e&ery*ody can relate to. his lin )ith our $hysical, real

)orld is a%ain im$licitly sho)n )hen his mother is introducedP he seems to ha&e a ty$ical

$arentJchild relation )ith his mother Gee finds out his mother reset his alarm cloc so he could

slee$ since he )asn't %oin% any)here )ith the sno)fall outside

he settin% of the story seems to *e entral or Korthern a$an >ty$ically of the e%aten franchise is

that $ractically e&ery artefact, )hether they are *oos, &ideo%ames or animes, ha&e a a$anese

settin%?, since sno)fall is $ractically %uaranteed in these re%ions *et)een Ko&em*er and ay. Its

not clear if the story is set in a &illa%e or a city. he story mentions nothin% other than Gee

:urosa)a's house and its immediate surroundin%s.

;ery soon after the start of the story the actions and actants tae a turn )hen )e %et

introduced to a ne) character, a su$eratural *ein% >later it is e$lained that he is in fact a demon?

called ac Frost, and a mysterious human that seems to $osses tele$athic $o)ers to con&erse )ith

Gee and is only no)n as he emon amer

Gee %ets attaced *y ac Frost *ut is a*le to defend himself, somethin% the emon amer, )ho

3!

*eke +uickly shut the door he opened and shivered. #&'m guessing you're the one who changed the time

on my alarm,# He said to his mother with a glare in his eyes. His mother laughed. #$up- orry & didn't

tell you but it's a snow day sweetie.# he said with a large smile on her face. *eke sighed softly and

began to walk back to his room. He entered his room once again inspecting for any changes he always

did this out of refle/. He then walked to the window near his large bed and looked at the view.

#Hee ho-# aid a small voice. *eke blinked and turned to the window and saw nothing. He turned his

back again. #Heeeeeeeeeeee H0000000000-# the volume of the call was much louder than before.

*eke turned to the window and opened it suddenly he saw a small speck of dark blue in the distance.

#What the...# He said.

.....

#A1&-# He heard a deep masculine voice say. A small blast of fire flew out of the white of the snow and

towards the monster blasting it. The monster melted leaving nothing but the small dark blue hat he

hadn't noticed while fending it off. He stared into the direction of where the flame came from. A tall

muscular man in a dark black trench coat walked out of the white backround. #Who are you,# *eke

asked the figure.


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)atched Gee %ettin% attaced from a distance, finds &ery curious. @e decided to hel$ Gee *y

castin% an '%i'-s$ell. y doin% this he frees Gee from his attacer and e$lains to the

o&er)helmed Gee a*out demons, demon tamers and the relationshi$ *oth ha&e )ith humans

ctions

he literal actions in the story are strai%htfor)ard, meanin% that there is afunctional relationshi$

*et)een 'that' )hich is descri*ed, and 'that' )hich ha$$ens after that. @o)e&er, there are instances

)here indices come into $lay )ithin the story. ost of these indices ha&e to do )ith fied as$ects

of the e%aten-franchise. For eam$le, the '%i'-s$ell is a fire-*ased s$ell used a%ainst ac Frost

)ho is $resented as a sno)man. From this, )e can see )hy this s$ell is effecti&e a%ainst ac Frost,

fire and cold o$$ose each other after all. his is clearly an indeical element. From the story

ho)e&er, it is not clear that this is in fact a recurrin% element in the e%aten-franchise and can e&en

*e considered one of the most im$ortant as$ects of the artefact o$$osin% elements fi%htin% for

domination. @ere )e see a recurrin% as$ect of fan fiction stories e$ect a certain $re-no)led%e

from their fans.

nother eam$le )ould *e the relationshi$ *et)een Gee and his mother. @o)e&er *rief the

shared moments *et)een mother and son are, )e can see that they ha&e a ty$ical mother-son

relationshi$. @o) Gee acts to)ards his mother and ho) Gee's mother acts to)ards him is

somethin% )e can relate to, since this relationshi$, seen as an inde", refers to our $hysical )orld. It

is somethin% )e as readers are familiar )ith. y usin% this relationshi$ to set a sta%e, the )riter is

im$licitly settin% a sta%e for a normal )orld )e are familiar )ith )hich contrasts )ith the

su$ernatural *ein%s and their actions introduced later in the story.

3"

#Who are you,# *eke asked the man. #!y name is 2ake 3oerinth my 4emon Tamer 3odename is 4ark

E+uino/.# *eke blinked. #4(d(4E!0 Tamer,# He asked while sweat began to bead at his forehead. He

would not be believing his ears if he hadn't just been attacked by a demon.

#$es 4emon Tamer we fight to make a world where the creatures of this world and those beyond it can

live in peace and harmony.# 2ake e/plained. *eke shook his head. This was impossible- ot only did

demons e/ist on Earth there is a secret force that tames them-

#Why did you help me,# *eke +uestioned further. He felt he had a right to answers. #& was in the area at

the time and heard there was a demon on the loose. o & helped you out nothing special.# 2ake

e/plained

#Where did you come from,# *eke +uestioned further. #!y mother now it's time for you to stop asking

irrelevant +uestions and my turn to ask you some things.# 2ake said sternly.

#"irstly how were you able to hit the demon away from you like that, 4o you have any fighting

e/perience,# 2ake asked.

#ot really but & train by myself by instinct and things & see on T5...# *eke answered.


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ctants

Ece$t for ac Frost, all characters are B, short for $resuma*ly? teena%e *oy

rs. :urosa)a, Gee's mother

ac Frost, a demon )ho's elemental ali%nment is ice

he demon tamer, a human *ein% )ith s$ecial %ifts to $rotect humans a%ainst demons

#ettin%

I assume the story taes $lace in a$an no)in% that the ori%inal artefact has a$an as a *asis for

most of its stories. his is further cemented *y the name ':urosa)a', )hich is a a$anese surname.

It is sno)in% in the story, )hich means that the story $ro*a*ly doesn't tae $lace in oyo, Bsaa or

:yoto.22his is interestin% since the *ul of stories of the ori%inal artefact ha&e oyo as a settin%.

he settin% isn't further descri*ed in the story, so I *ase my claims mostly on $ersonal inference.

Te)t Time, characterisation, focalisation!

ime

8hile the short len%th of the story ensures a $retty short readin% time, time )ithin the story flo)s

fast. he se4uence is chronolo%ical, meanin% that there are no e&ents or scenes )here the $ast or a

>$ossi*le? future e&ent is narrated. here are only short references to scenes that ha$$ened ri%ht

*efore the actual reference, )hich is )hy the chronolo%y is $retty strai%htfor)ard. he fre4uency is

normal, meanin% that e&erythin% that ha$$ens in the story is only told once. here are no e&ents that

%et retold one or more times.

haracterisation

haracters are introduced in an im$licit manner or in an analo%ous manner. Gee :urosa)a is

introduced im$licitly. @is actions >the )ay he o&erreacts to his alarmcloc and %ets u$ to dress in a

school uniform? and his relation to rs. :urosa)a tell us that he is $ro*a*ly in his teens. @e is also

a normal character )ith no s$ecial a*ility )hatsoe&er and o*li&ious to the )orld around him, a

22 For more information a*out sno) in a$an, see htt$JJ))).Aa$an-%uide.comJeJe22!5.html

3
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2265.htmlhttp://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2265.html


41/81

)orld )hich also inhi*its demons and demon tamers, hence his constant sur$rise a*out e&erythin%

that ha$$ens around him

lso im$licitly introduced is the demon tamer. 8e don't no) much a*out him, *ut )e do no)

that he is a character that has a certain 'cool' around him, the )ay he tals nonchalantly a*out

demons and fi%htin% them.

ac Frost is introduced analo%ously. @is name refers to a mythical character ori%inatin%

from Euro$ean follore, )here ac Frost )as the $ersonification of cold )inters. he fact that he is

$resented as a sno)man therefore maes sense. he e%aten-franchise uses mythical and reli%ious

characters and their features &ery li*erally, and ac Frost is a $erfect eam$le of this.

Focalisation

Focalisation in the story constantly shifts *et)een an in&isi*le focaliser, o*ser&in% ho) certain

actions unfold, to the $rota%onist as focaliser )ho descri*es ho) he feels and )hat he thins. his

shift, it turns out, is not a deli*erate shift, *ut sho)s a )riter not a*le to choose *et)een $oints of

&ie). his does ha&e merits and do)nsides. he merits are that some actions cause sur$rise >for

eam$le, the scene in )hich Gee detects a tracin% de&ice on his uniform?, *ut the do)nside isa

lac of sta*ility in the tellin% of the story, )hich maes the $ositionin% of the characters, lie that of

the demon tamer to)ards Gee, not &ery clear, u$ to the $oint that it frustrates a clear readin%

e$erience, and fails in creatin% a nice tension )ithin the story.

he focalised o*Aect in the story is Gee's o)n constant o*li&ious stance to)ards the )orld around

him. his maes the story a nice introduction for a fanfic in de&elo$ment, *ut it $oses more

4uestions than it ans)ers. %ain, this maes readin% this story more frustratin% than should *e. In

39

#Hee ho-# aid a small voice. *eke blinked and turned to the window and saw nothing. He turned his

back again. #Heeeeeeeeeeee H0000000000-# the volume of the call was much louder than before.*eke turned to the window and opened it suddenly he saw a small speck of dark blue in the distance.

#What the...# He said.

...

*eke blinked in confusion. Who was that man, Why was he carrying so many weapons, How did he make

fire hit that snowman, How was that snowman alive, These thoughts flooded *eke's mind. The cold

suddenly took *eke's body and he shivered violently he decided to head inside and think on this more.

...

#Who are you,# *eke asked the man. #!y name is 2ake 3oerinth my 4emon Tamer 3odename is 4ark

E+uino/.# *eke blinked. #4(d(4E!0 Tamer,# He asked while sweat began to bead at his forehead. He

would not be believing his ears if he hadn't just been attacked by a demon.


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itself, nothin% is )ron% )ith a de&elo$ment lie this, *ut one %ets the feelin% there should *e more

to this story than there actually is. It hurts the o&erall ima%ination of the story *y the reader *ecause

of *lans that are im$ossi*le to fill u$ *y the use of ones o)n ima%ination *y the reader.

*arrative narration, imagination!

Karration

he narration in the story is done *y an outside, in&isi*le authority. #ometimes the narration shifts

*et)een this authority and Gee :urosa)a, *ut this shift only taes $lace )hene&er Gee is

contem$latin% his o)n thou%hts on )hat is ha$$enin% in the story.

Ima%ination

he )ay characters are *rou%ht to life is really strai%htfor)ard. ll thou%hts, feelin%s and actions

are e$licitly stated. Kot a lot of ima%ination >or none at all? is needed to understand the characters.Bnly t)o times in the story a ind of ima%ination is acti&ated. he first time occurs )hen the

demon tamer e$lains to Gee that demons only attac humans )hen they ha&e somethin% they

)ant and )hy it )as $ossi*le for Gee to hit the demon. ecause the story does not further

ela*orate on this as$ect, there is definitely somethin% more to the attac than currently descri*ed,

)hich s$ars the ima%ination. he second time is )hen the demon tamer %i&es Gee three o$tions

erase his memory )ith the ris of *ein% attaced a%ain, ill him here and no), or *ecome a demon

tamer himself. hese choices can *e lined to the first time, a%ain, there is somethin% more to it.

8hy is the third choice the only reasona*le choice+ ost liely, this is deli*erately incor$orated in

the story, it has a


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Story(

ctions are flat in that they are strai%ht to the $oint and do not really hold a dee$er meanin% other

than $ushin% the story for)ard. In other )ords, the story feels more lie an introduction to, than an

actual story. @o)e&er, there is the daily life-as$ect >Gee )ho )aes u$ and %ets ready to %o to

school? )hich contrasts )ith the dysto$ian cy*er$un settin% of the e%aten-franchise. In this

sense, this story cannot *e considered canon at all. Further more, there is no mention of a demon

summonin% $ro%ram >or somethin% similar? at all. Instead, the settin% of the story resem*les our

o)n realm mied )ith su$ernatural elements that *orro)s from the e%ami ensei canon, such as

ac Frost.

ar trial is a fanfic consistin% $rimarily of Bs, and *y that $resents a ne) loo on the

ori%inal artefact, not *ound *y $ast histories of already eistin% characters. @o)e&er, the character

of ac Frost is canon. his *ecomes more e&ident )hen ac Frost is defeated *y an '%i'-s$ell,)hich is an actant *ound *y canon.

hen there is the settin%. ssumin% the story taes $lace in a$an, one can reco%nize a

$attern in line )ith other stories in the e%aten-franchise, since most of them all ha&e a$an as a

settin%.

Te)t(

ime in the story is $retty strai%htfor)ard and this is in line )ith most of the stories told )ithin the

franchise >stories that are considered canon?.

haracterisation is also in line )ith the artefact. 8ithin the e%aten-franchise, these

elements are almost eclusi&ely $resented in an im$licit and analo%ous manner, althou%h sometimes

e$licit descri$tions of certain characters in canon taes $lace.

Bn focalisation, there is not much to say. his shifts in the story, *ut the same holds true for

stories that are canon. Further more, there isn't a focalisation techni4ue that stands out in the story

or in some )ay or another taes the story into a direction that is not considered canon.

*arrative(

Karration is totally in line )ith the artefact, meanin% that a narrati&e *ein% steered *y an outside

authority or *y a character can *oth *e considered canon.

Ima%ination is also in line )ith the artefact. In the e%aten-franchise it is &ery common that

charactersO moti&ations and intentions are not e$licitly stated. In fact, this can *e almost considered

a rule. his maes the story $retty hard to %ras$ so to s$ea. 8hat the different characters in the

story )ant and need isn't literally or e&en im$licitly s$elled out. #ur$risin%ly, this added to the

(1


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ima%ination more than that it derailed $resent no)led%e on story and characters

o summarize

he story $artly stays true to the canon )here the characters, settin%, time and characterisations are

concerned. Bther actants, lie the '%i'-s$ell and the demon tamer are canon, and mae returnin%

a$$earances throu%hout the e%aten-franchise.

ctions ho)e&er, are a )hole different story. @ere, the story de$arts fully from the franchise, %i&in%

the reader a ne), dare I say, 'fannish', loo on a canonized franchise, *y miin% a slice-of-life

element )ith the canonized elements of demons and ma%ic.

&stablishing the creativity

- Bn story

Bther than the settin% >)hich is only mapping, since it uses a canonized settin%, namely a$an?,

most of the fanfic on the le&el ofstorycan *e considered e"ploring. It does not directly relate to the

ori%inal artefact. For eam$le, the characters are an e$loration of ho) B's fit in )ith canonized

actants such as ac Frost or the '%i'-s$ell. Bn this le&el, the st

fandom fanfiction and the creative mind

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