Fiction ponderings

[innocent_lex]

Two things I've been thinking of lately. One was that conversation about RPF and all the ins and outs of writing it, reading it, and what counts as RPF (your average tabloid story, for example). On that topic, I saw news that there's a new mockumentary which will be on in a couple of weeks where the story is "what if Prince Harry was taken prisoner while he served with the army in Afghanistan?". Obviously this didn't happen and is extremely unlikely to happen. Still, this is essentially a mainstream RPF AU. It's not just fanfic and it's not just historical drama (even recent history). This programme was (I think I'm right in saying) made by the same people who made the one with Bush being assassinated. So, same principle. The lines are ever fuzzier. I'm still cogitating on my perspective.

And on a slightly less, er, deep topic... there's this theory that there are an infinite number of alternate realities, not just in fiction but in physics. Combine the idea of infinity with the idea of alternate realities and does that mean every bit of fanfic you've ever read is actually reality somewhere out there in the multiverse, even the anatomically impossible ones? That's a pretty disturbing thought.

Comments

[readerjane]

(every bit of fanfic you've ever read is actually reality somewhere out there in the multiverse)

Spends a moment being properly disturbed.

Lets a slow grin spread over my face...

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

ROLF! Yeah, okay, some of it puts a grin on my face, too, though for the sake of these poor characters I'd prefer just a holodeck. And no, I'm never going to stop complaining that the holodeck hasn't been invented yet.

But if you've ever looked at Delicious in an effort to hunt down good fic, you'll have seen some of the stuff that's out there (and bookmarked!), and... I dunno, it's certainly, er, imaginative.

[readerjane]

Robert Heinlein described something like this idea (he was thinking of published fiction rather than fanfic) in his novel, Number of the Beast. It was a terribly-written book, but that one concept was pretty fascinating. The four main characters have a spaceship and a mad-scientist device that allows them to skip from one parallel ficton to another. They visit Oz, Barsoom, and a lot of RH's favorite fictional worlds.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

I guess it's logical that someone with a lot more imagination would have covered this off already, but it's an odd choice for Heinlein. Or maybe it's that I don't know Heinlein very well.

Interesting approach, though, going for the parallel fiction idea. Thanks for that.