Regarding a common fanfic theme - 01/15/07 01:23 PM
Hi, my name is Vincent and I'm a first time poster here, although I've been lurking around reading the boards for a while and have read quite a fair number of fanfics from the boards and the archives.
If you're reading this, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to skip the next paragraph about where the question I'm asking came from.
I guess I'm what you would call one of those people who overanalyzes things - for example, as I watched the show one of the things that I would do is that I'd create in my mind what I would consider the most probable L&C universe (which, given that it is a fictional work, I assume would be that which has the fewest deviations from our own world) Since I'm pretty obsessed with the show, this goes all the way down to relatively unimportant details - without detailing my reasoning, these consist of even the most plot-unrelated things such as Falstonia probably not being a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation act ("Chip off the Old Clark"), the conventional military forces, population, and land area of the country whose world leader who threatened destruction by armies are larger than that of the probably very strongly nationalist country whose leader threatened destruction by missiles ("Sex, Lies, and Videotape"), Wesley Snipes exists ("Strange Visitor"), Batman and Gotham City both exist (either "We have a Lot to Talk About" or "Ordinary People"), Siegel and Schuster, if they exist in L&C, did not create Superman in 1938, the International Assembly, not the UN, was created following World War II (Pilot), Alfred Nobel created the "International Peace Prize" instead of the "Nobel Prize" ("Sex, Lies, and Videotape")...etc. etc. the list goes on and on.
But I digress - getting to the point, I've noticed a recurring theme in various stories written by more than a few authors, which is basically that Lois slept with Paul in college(the guy mentioned in "The Rival")
Now, I was wondering how this came about - I've rethought my interpretation of "The Rival" over and over and have been unable to come to any conclusion that would suggest that this could have happened in canon (Lois clearly implying that Paul never noticed her, Lois's later contradictory and unconvincing denial of Linda's more calm assertion that Lois and Paul hadn't even been dating, Lois's apparent disgust at the mention of Linda just jumping into bed with Paul, etc.).
So what I'm wondering is how so many people got the idea - did one author think of it and then the idea was adapted by others, is there a different interpretation of the dialogue in the episode, or is there yet another explanation?
I mean, with other common fanfic themes shared by multiple authors I think I've been able to piece together the train of thought that lead to it, (fanfic challenge, intuitive modification to a major plot element in an episode, followup of stated intent by a character, etc.) but I'm not so sure about this one.
If you're reading this, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to skip the next paragraph about where the question I'm asking came from.
I guess I'm what you would call one of those people who overanalyzes things - for example, as I watched the show one of the things that I would do is that I'd create in my mind what I would consider the most probable L&C universe (which, given that it is a fictional work, I assume would be that which has the fewest deviations from our own world) Since I'm pretty obsessed with the show, this goes all the way down to relatively unimportant details - without detailing my reasoning, these consist of even the most plot-unrelated things such as Falstonia probably not being a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation act ("Chip off the Old Clark"), the conventional military forces, population, and land area of the country whose world leader who threatened destruction by armies are larger than that of the probably very strongly nationalist country whose leader threatened destruction by missiles ("Sex, Lies, and Videotape"), Wesley Snipes exists ("Strange Visitor"), Batman and Gotham City both exist (either "We have a Lot to Talk About" or "Ordinary People"), Siegel and Schuster, if they exist in L&C, did not create Superman in 1938, the International Assembly, not the UN, was created following World War II (Pilot), Alfred Nobel created the "International Peace Prize" instead of the "Nobel Prize" ("Sex, Lies, and Videotape")...etc. etc. the list goes on and on.
But I digress - getting to the point, I've noticed a recurring theme in various stories written by more than a few authors, which is basically that Lois slept with Paul in college(the guy mentioned in "The Rival")
Now, I was wondering how this came about - I've rethought my interpretation of "The Rival" over and over and have been unable to come to any conclusion that would suggest that this could have happened in canon (Lois clearly implying that Paul never noticed her, Lois's later contradictory and unconvincing denial of Linda's more calm assertion that Lois and Paul hadn't even been dating, Lois's apparent disgust at the mention of Linda just jumping into bed with Paul, etc.).
So what I'm wondering is how so many people got the idea - did one author think of it and then the idea was adapted by others, is there a different interpretation of the dialogue in the episode, or is there yet another explanation?
I mean, with other common fanfic themes shared by multiple authors I think I've been able to piece together the train of thought that lead to it, (fanfic challenge, intuitive modification to a major plot element in an episode, followup of stated intent by a character, etc.) but I'm not so sure about this one.