And now it’s time for the weekly reminder that Wep has no life. Er, I mean, it’s time for me to talk about some of my favorite Chuck fanfic. Yeah. That’s it.
You’ll notice this week (or I’ll just tell you), that I’ve decided to kind of change things up a bit. Instead of just telling you about one story, I’ve decided to go with two. Why? Well, in the world of fanfic, often times a reader will value a serial fic over a one-shot, or vice versa. For me, I tend to be a fan of the serial fic. I don’t know why, possibly because that’s where I cut my fanfic teeth, but I know I do.
So to balance that, I’m implementing a new rule for myself this week. Instead of one recommendation every week, I’m going to recommend two of the many, many fics I’ve read in the fandom. There will be one serial fic, and one one-shot. I figure that’s only fair, to make sure everyone is properly represented.
First, we’ll talk about the fic I promised you last week. One of my favorite action sequences I’ve ever read.
If I told you Sarah and Chuck were on a motorcycle, Casey was in an ice cream truck, there was gun play and explosions abound, and you could get it all in one story, what would you say? I’d hope you’d say that sounds awesome. I know I thought it was.
Back near the end of season 1, Sharpasmarble began an expansion of Chuck’s first season. Through a series of many fics, he told a story that, at first was something that could be happening off screen. Of course, when season 2 started, his entire series became very alt-canon (not to be confused with alternate universe…that phrase is horribly overused in the world of fanfiction).
In fact, there’s still a story he’s working on in that alt-canon. But for the action sequence in question, we have to go all the way back to the story that started it all.
Chuck vs Auld Lang Syne takes place after episode 1x11, and explores the Team Bartowski dynamics, the Chuck/Sarah relationship (still very much in its infancy at that point), Chuck’s growing aptitude as a spy, and many other fun factors. It’s a fast moving story, and relatively short, but the climactic action sequence is far and away one of my favorites to this day. If you haven’t read it (and I imagine many or most of you have), then you should go and check it out today. And if you have, go read it again. Casey in an ice cream truck? What part of that is not made of win?
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4136242/1/Chuck_vs_Auld_Lang_Syne
So sticking with the season 1 theme (I’ll probably do a lot of these, as A) Season 1 was my favorite AND B) Those are the stories buried in the archives that probably need the most recommending), my one-shot recommendation this week is a little story called Five Idiots That Seriously Piss Agent Casey Off by hiding duh. Yeah, awesome title, I know.
This fic is listed as being of the Sarah/Casey pairing variety, but don’t let that scare you off if you’re adverse to that ship. That’s not really what this one is about. To me at least, this is much more a Team Bartowski tale. And on top of that, it’s not romantic at all. Well, unless you’re John Casey and gunplay turns you on.
This author has in fact written three supposed Sarah/Casey stories, but only one of them seemed overly romantic to me. Well, only one of them mentioned romance of any kind. I think he/she really understands the partners’ dynamic of those two, and writes it pretty well, in my opinion in the other two, including the one I’ve recommended.
Also, one of the great things about this short story is that it ends in a way that would probably make a fantastic story in its own right. But I won’t spoil it for you, just check it out for yourself.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4036464/1/Five_Idiots_That_Seriously_Piss_Agent_Casey_Off
Next Week: What happens when a serial one-shotter takes on a serial story? Awesomeness. And also, one time when some chocolate was mixed with a little peanut butter. Er, I mean one time Chuck was mixed with another of my favorite fandoms (featuring the prettiest Nerd Herder (except for that one time Sarah donned the gray tie)). All that and more coming up for you next time in What the Frak is Wep Reading?
Great recomendations. Those are two of my favorites so you have the correct opinion. What is the difference between Alternate Universe and Alternate Canon?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite one shot is: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4786485/1/bChuck_b_Versus_the_bKobayashi_b_bMaru_b
ReplyDeleteThanks for recommending that last one. I never read it before.
Ski
sasikh85, if I had to hazard a guess I'd say the difference between the two is alt universe is a completely different world than Chuck the TV series. The characters might be the same (have the same name), but might have different backgrounds and/or personalities. Alt canon is based off the TV series with the characters having the same backgrounds and personalities, but the writer will have a different storyline than the actual show. I could be wrong though.
ReplyDeleteLA
That's pretty much what's going on, LA. Alternate Universe stories take place in a world where none of the characters are who we know in canon. Oh, they have the same names, but things are much different. For example, Chuck may be a sanitation worker, and Sarah is his little wifey at home that moonlights as an exotic dancer. Of course, that's an extreme case, but you get the idea. For an example of this on TV, look no further than the S4 finale of Bones, The End in the Beginning.
ReplyDeleteAlt-canon (or alternate reality) is less dramatic than AU. In an alt-canon fic, certain events have unfolded differently for our characters, which changes their path in life from what we know from the show. Take for instance What Fates Impose (or any of the other 1,000 stories in which Chuck didn't get kicked out of Stanford, haha). Chuck joins the CIA, and things happen differently for him. It doesn't change who he is, or where he comes from, but it changes his path.
So, to summarize, I guess I would say:
Alternate universe= A different life
Alternate canon= a different path
Make sense? Hope this helped!
-Wep
I have to agree with you Wep on the serial's being > the one shots. I think the reason for that favoritism is pretty simple. The brilliance of serialized television shows is that you can evolve characters over the course of an episode, a season or 10 seasons. You can mature and develop a character in a much more impressive way than in film. However the flaw in most of today's network TV is that writers and executives are crazy about screwing up the golden goose so once they find a character's sweet spot they have to try and stretch that out as long as possible, indefinitely being the preferred option.
ReplyDeleteThough admittedly Josh Schwartz missed this class in the TV-exec training program as he has shows in all of his shows an inability to properly pace both plot threads and character development resulting in shows that shoot through the progressions at a break neck speed...but I digress.
For me I got into fanfic because the character development in cannon didn't really progress far enough and I wanted to see how far things could go if the writer(s) were really allowed to run with it. Thats the beauty of serialized fanfic you can develop characters and narrative beyond the canon and into areas the writers wouldn't dare venture.
...This was what I thought...until I watched the Wire, then I realized that great writing could actually exist on the screen, writing that actually allowed for characters to develop in perfect shaped and choreographed arcs. (sigh)
This is, there are actually one-shots out there that evolve characters in a way that canon never attempts to. Usually, these are highly stylized fics, covering large periods of time, but they can be interesting. I'm writing one right now, in fact. Still, for my money, to get the unique blend of humor and drama and action that the show gives us is not obtainable in a simple one-shot. That's really why the serial fic works better, for Chuck at least.
ReplyDelete