That is a really cool post! ...and has me thinking about one of the things I'm working on in a new context, now. (Said thing is designed so that there are bunches of details, turns of phrase, etc. which don't have any significance at the point at which they're read, but add an extra layer of horrible on a re-read with knowledge of context that you only get later. The spear only workd by going back in time.
...and there was this older fic I wrote, which was basically finding a way to turn Dr. Chase of House M.D. into James Sunderland of Silent Hill II. (It's so AU that there are pretty much no spoilers.) Because they have the same hair. (It... yeah.) There's one moment in particular, where Chase has been trying to get away from his old life for a really long time in the fic, and someone from his old life has just shown up, and you get the line:
"Dr. Robert," a cheerful voice calls, and he turns and wishes he had a mask or a gun or an Ebola culture or just a good thick board with a nail through it.
Which totally got the reaction of a spearpoint, but not because of any work the fic put into it. It relies entirely on the reader recognizing the nail board as the first weapon James gets in the game.
And you can do some really neat things with fanfic and spearpoints! Like, the nail board was not a spearshaft in SH2. (There were plenty of spearshafts. The nail board was almost wholly utilitarian.) But you can take stuff that wasn't intended to carry a lot of emotional heft and repurpose it, imbuing it with additional significance. But yeah; it's a different skillset from knowing how to construct the shafts from scratch.
MAN. ...let's study how characters become established and emotional engagement is fostered. That seems like a good next step.
no subject
...and there was this older fic I wrote, which was basically finding a way to turn Dr. Chase of House M.D. into James Sunderland of Silent Hill II. (It's so AU that there are pretty much no spoilers.) Because they have the same hair. (It... yeah.) There's one moment in particular, where Chase has been trying to get away from his old life for a really long time in the fic, and someone from his old life has just shown up, and you get the line:
"Dr. Robert," a cheerful voice calls, and he turns and wishes he had a mask or a gun or an Ebola culture or just a good thick board with a nail through it.
Which totally got the reaction of a spearpoint, but not because of any work the fic put into it. It relies entirely on the reader recognizing the nail board as the first weapon James gets in the game.
And you can do some really neat things with fanfic and spearpoints! Like, the nail board was not a spearshaft in SH2. (There were plenty of spearshafts. The nail board was almost wholly utilitarian.) But you can take stuff that wasn't intended to carry a lot of emotional heft and repurpose it, imbuing it with additional significance. But yeah; it's a different skillset from knowing how to construct the shafts from scratch.
MAN. ...let's study how characters become established and emotional engagement is fostered. That seems like a good next step.