Thinky Fourth Wall!
Jul. 19th, 2008 11:59 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
kirinin.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sgarecfinders(Those of you who are familiar with the concept of the fourth wall, please feel more than free to start reading at the link for And Be One Traveler.)
There's a literary technique called 'taking down the fourth wall', where the characters in the story become aware of their audience in some way, i.e., the 'barrier' between themselves and reality (as we know it) is removed. There are numerous examples in various fandoms where a character becomes aware of the fact they're on a show, or are actually in our version of reality rather than the one they had supposed. Elizabeth's institutionalization (and Buffy's, crossfandom) is a good example of this latter sort of fourth-wall breakage. There is an entire book, called Sophie's World, about characters who discover they are characters, and do their utmost to trick their author and escape the book. (Wikipedia actually does a far better description of what the fourth wall is, and what it means to break the fourth wall, here.)
And Be One Traveler is a good example of breaking the fourth wall in the SGAverse. In this story, the SGA characters discover a copy of Rodney passed out in one of the corridors in Atlantis; but, rather than a quantum mirror double, they find that he calls himself David Hewlett, and believes their reality to be entirely fictional. There is another fic called the Long Journey Home, by skoosipants, where Rodney McKay is an author who believes he's made up the entire SGC and everyone in it... only to discover that they are all too real. These sorts of stories, where the line between fantasy and reality is fascinatingly blurred, have always intrigued me.
I made a VERY similar rec request in the past, and I apologize to those of you to whom this is familiar. The original query was quite some time ago, and so I hope to garner a few new responses. Also, the last time I think it was misinterpreted a bit, as I received numerous helpful responses involving RPS-fic. Since I adored And Be One Traveler, I wouldn't turn my nose up at RPS, but only if it fits the request:
1) A character becomes convinced (correctly or incorrectly) that they are in the wrong reality for some reason.
2) A character becomes aware that their reality is fictional, or that they, themselves may be fictional.
3) A character writes for/produces/sees the greater plotline of SGA.
4) A character makes frequent asides or comments to an unseen audience, or some version of a Greek 'chorus' is present.
5) An actor has issues with the nature of his/her character bleeding into their own sense of self. (Please - no fics where the only way in which the actor's 'sense of self' is disrupted is that they are attracted to someone new or unexpected.)
I know I always make oddly complicated requests here. Thanks for always giving me such thoughtful answers. :)
-K
There's a literary technique called 'taking down the fourth wall', where the characters in the story become aware of their audience in some way, i.e., the 'barrier' between themselves and reality (as we know it) is removed. There are numerous examples in various fandoms where a character becomes aware of the fact they're on a show, or are actually in our version of reality rather than the one they had supposed. Elizabeth's institutionalization (and Buffy's, crossfandom) is a good example of this latter sort of fourth-wall breakage. There is an entire book, called Sophie's World, about characters who discover they are characters, and do their utmost to trick their author and escape the book. (Wikipedia actually does a far better description of what the fourth wall is, and what it means to break the fourth wall, here.)
And Be One Traveler is a good example of breaking the fourth wall in the SGAverse. In this story, the SGA characters discover a copy of Rodney passed out in one of the corridors in Atlantis; but, rather than a quantum mirror double, they find that he calls himself David Hewlett, and believes their reality to be entirely fictional. There is another fic called the Long Journey Home, by skoosipants, where Rodney McKay is an author who believes he's made up the entire SGC and everyone in it... only to discover that they are all too real. These sorts of stories, where the line between fantasy and reality is fascinatingly blurred, have always intrigued me.
I made a VERY similar rec request in the past, and I apologize to those of you to whom this is familiar. The original query was quite some time ago, and so I hope to garner a few new responses. Also, the last time I think it was misinterpreted a bit, as I received numerous helpful responses involving RPS-fic. Since I adored And Be One Traveler, I wouldn't turn my nose up at RPS, but only if it fits the request:
1) A character becomes convinced (correctly or incorrectly) that they are in the wrong reality for some reason.
2) A character becomes aware that their reality is fictional, or that they, themselves may be fictional.
3) A character writes for/produces/sees the greater plotline of SGA.
4) A character makes frequent asides or comments to an unseen audience, or some version of a Greek 'chorus' is present.
5) An actor has issues with the nature of his/her character bleeding into their own sense of self. (Please - no fics where the only way in which the actor's 'sense of self' is disrupted is that they are attracted to someone new or unexpected.)
I know I always make oddly complicated requests here. Thanks for always giving me such thoughtful answers. :)
-K
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Date: 2008-07-20 06:25 am (UTC)I think it's just what you're looking for. (Your comment about a "Greek chours" made me think of it. :)
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Date: 2008-07-20 06:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-20 06:42 am (UTC)-K
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Date: 2008-07-20 06:49 am (UTC)"But we're speaking Latin now." Rodneus had never heard such idiocy in his life. "We're Romans. It's what we do."
Exactly. Thanks!
-K
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Date: 2008-07-20 06:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-20 06:57 am (UTC)Also, I JUST NOW realized you mentioned Sophie's World in your intro about the fourth wall. You have . . . my undying admiration. Seriously.
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Date: 2008-07-20 12:06 pm (UTC)When Realities Collide (http://www.visionsofprettyboys.com/Atlantis/WhenRealitiesCollide.htm) by Lady Ra. Rodney wakes up in Vancouver General Hospital surrounded by the SGA cast, who tell him he is David.
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Date: 2008-07-20 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-21 01:08 am (UTC)...wow. :o
I guess like me, you've read and enjoyed Sophie's World. When it came out, I was fifteen, just like the protagonist. It's probably a big part of *why* I'm so enamoured of the fourth-wall breakage. That and that one episode of 'Growing Pains'. (Sadly, that is not a joke.)
Also, sure thing about the wait. It really is a long-term fic goal of mine. I collect these the way I collect Rodney-outside-his-bailiwick (http://del.icio.us/Kirinin/outsidehisbailiwick%2C) stories. ;)
-K
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Date: 2008-07-21 01:08 am (UTC)Thank you so.
-K
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Date: 2008-07-21 08:50 pm (UTC)-K
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Date: 2008-07-21 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-22 03:24 am (UTC)I just found it when someone else rec'd it another request. It's done as an unknown asking questions of Sheppard and Rodney. It's hysterical!! A sample:
30) Last words?
John:
Well—
"So long, Rodney", for one.
Okay, you really need to get over that.
Not according to fandom.
I don't think you comprehend the concept behind the fourth wall.
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Date: 2008-07-23 04:51 am (UTC)Now I went back to the previous post and noted that there was no listed reason to have Joe and John in the same room together, but what the hey? There's definitely something twisty in John finding David Hewlett hot. ;)
-K
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Date: 2008-07-23 05:08 am (UTC)"He likes being poked. He also finds it fun."
"You're a lying liar that lies on his way through Liarville!"
I am dying of squee. Thanks!
-K
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Date: 2014-12-20 12:44 pm (UTC)