Do cameos distract? - 05/19/03 02:40 PM
A stray comment on Rat's latest story prompted me to think of the various cameos we've had in stories. The following is a list of some of the cameos we've had over the years:
Tara, of course, made Tank the bad guy of sorts in a fic, and Tank retaliated by putting Tara and Cindy Haste in a fic and making them shave their heads. Nan was in that one too, but she was a doctor at STAR Labs and retained her dignity. Elisabeth gave a cameo to nearly every mb regular in her "Story of a Lifetime" (why isn't that on the archive, Elisabeth?), while Debby Stark disguised various FoLCs very loosely and featured them in different bits of Dawning.
There are more subtle cameos as well. Someone had Lois and Clark mention "Jernigan's Pub" during an investigation (sorry, I don't remember who or what fic that was!), but it wasn't the main part of the story. I'm guilty of this kind of cameo, too; in "A Certain Point of View," Lana tells her parents not to hire the Wilson band, because they have a lousy bass player. :p I'm sure there are other examples out there as well.
So, to get to the point: How do you feel about cameos? Do they amuse you? Annoy you? Can you skim over it and just keep reading, or does it distract you and pull you of the story? Would it matter if the cameo was a minor, subtle one, rather than something obvious? Do you think that cameos suggest a clique of sorts to the reader that recognizes the various names?
I look forward to seeing the results of this, and any discussion below. And if I've missed any cameos in fics, please share them!
Hazel
Tara, of course, made Tank the bad guy of sorts in a fic, and Tank retaliated by putting Tara and Cindy Haste in a fic and making them shave their heads. Nan was in that one too, but she was a doctor at STAR Labs and retained her dignity. Elisabeth gave a cameo to nearly every mb regular in her "Story of a Lifetime" (why isn't that on the archive, Elisabeth?), while Debby Stark disguised various FoLCs very loosely and featured them in different bits of Dawning.
There are more subtle cameos as well. Someone had Lois and Clark mention "Jernigan's Pub" during an investigation (sorry, I don't remember who or what fic that was!), but it wasn't the main part of the story. I'm guilty of this kind of cameo, too; in "A Certain Point of View," Lana tells her parents not to hire the Wilson band, because they have a lousy bass player. :p I'm sure there are other examples out there as well.
So, to get to the point: How do you feel about cameos? Do they amuse you? Annoy you? Can you skim over it and just keep reading, or does it distract you and pull you of the story? Would it matter if the cameo was a minor, subtle one, rather than something obvious? Do you think that cameos suggest a clique of sorts to the reader that recognizes the various names?
I look forward to seeing the results of this, and any discussion below. And if I've missed any cameos in fics, please share them!
Hazel