sick_wilson | Let’s Gather ‘Round the Campfire (#4)

Entry tags:

Let’s Gather ‘Round the Campfire (#4)

7/10 ETA: Help! I've fallen behind on replying and can't get up!

Sorry campers, RL intruded, and I was out most of the day. As a rule, I'm incoherent after 5pm, so I'm not going to attempt responding this evening. Your great comments deserve more than gibberish. Bear with me, I'll be back tomorrow. You guys are the best! *hugs* The mod is in.

Hi Campers!

Have you brought your flashlights? We've had wonderful discussions over the last few weeks, but do you have the fortitude to discuss today's topic, ghost stories? You know what I'm talking about... dun dunn dunnn... the deathfic. Is it a guilty pleasure or does it squick you out? Do you have to be in the mood (bookmark them for later)? Why?

Food for thought:
Is a good cry enough for you, or after you finish the story, do you mentally write a different ending, like House coming to Wilson's rescue with a last minute diagnosis and cure.

What about the causes? Illness or Accident? Anyone want to discuss the irony of the oncologist getting cancer?

Going a bit afield: Does your interest or disinterest about characters dying extend to watching movies, (randomly chosen titles: Dead Poets Society, In the Gloaming) and reading novels, or is that a different experience for you?

For writers: can you write and read them? Do you prefer one or the other?

Alright, I've used up my quota of questions marks so let's hear from you. And as always, please talk amongst yourselves, and don’t be shy about asking questions and chatting with your neighbors.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

The internet may be setting up a whole new set of rules. Did you see the controversy (http://www.teleread.com/2010/05/05/novelist-diana-gabaldon-causes-fanfic-furor/) over author, Diana Gabaldon's comments about intellectual property? I'm referring to it here for the purpose of showing how a published author can be out of step with the internet and fanfic fans.

I believe eager new writers would do well to lurk for a bit before posting. Get to know fandom first, or ask at a Q&A site about the do's and don'ts about posting fics.

Warnings as self-defense. Good way to look at it.

(eta: Gabaldon took down her post. In case you are interested, here's the content (http://kate-nepveu.livejournal.com/483239.html).

Edited 2010-07-09 17:56 (UTC)

Aw, thank you for the kind words. I'm speechless (almost). I was waiting for the end of camp to say how awed I am by the energy and esprit de corps everyone is showing. Believe me, the feeling is mutual. *hugs*

"I Guess It Would Be Nice," is a beautifully written story and perfect example of what fanfiction does so well. Creates missing scenes that enhances canon.

Good old Res! I worried big time over the warning. "Might be considered a deathfic, but it's not," was the best I could come up with without giving away the story. There was also the addendum: "Wanted: Open-minded readers willing to suspend belief that sad stories can have happy endings." Maybe the hope factor helped. Please have another bag of marshmallows with my thanks.

Thanks for getting my hopes up over a new deathfic. --> D:

Personally, I don't care how you or anyone else approach my deathfics. When I hit the post button, it's for you to do with as you like. I do feel responsible for typos and clarity. If it makes you happy to print it and line the cage of particularly nasty bird, be my guest. Just don't tell me that poor Jocko died an hour later.

...fandom as a place of happiness.
--I never thought about this before, but you're right. The bulk of the stories conclude happily.

I just kill off--in this case--House, too,
--Inventive solution. I must try this when I read the next deathfic. *mutters, "Apparently it won't be yours."*

Even with House's beliefs (or non-beliefs) being what they are, until we have canon evidence that there's nothing on the other side...
--This is an issue I've thought about. How to approach the afterlife knowing House's outlook, but I think there is a little wiggle room about House's true feelings on the subject due to Hugh Laurie's portrayal. There's a slight hesitation before he answers in "Three Stories," and the way he doesn't answer Wilson in, "97 Seconds."

You and other people brought up that reuniting House and Wilson after death eases our pain. Hollywood did it very well in, "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," (1948), and "Maytime," (1937).

a good writer can convince me of nearly anything.
--That really says it all.

Spoilers can ruin a movie or television show. Thank goodness I didn't know about the spoiler you whited out. Along with spoilers, too many movies shamefully employ the death trope. You know what to expect from a movie that claims it's, "Five Hankies!."

The fact that several of my death stories have been, IMHO, some of my best work makes me really enjoy writing them a bit more.
--Such an intriguing statement. And yet you probably won't be posting anything soon. You are EVIL.

alternatealto and I touched upon the auto-pilot fic in discussion #3. An absolutely wondrous feeling.

I agree with your idea that we all have House and Wilson muses or identities in our heads. Nicely put.

Dream analysis puts a different spin on the oncologist having cancer. It works extraordinarily well for Wilson. Even explains why Wilson was drawn to the specialty after Danny ran away and his first failed marriage. If you ever felt like writing a deathfic about Wilson, I think it would be a fascinating read.

You chose an interesting array of movie deaths. Unfortunately, I never saw "The Departed" because I heard it was violent, but I'm glad the bad guy got what he deservedd. Sorry about your friends committing suicide and your own struggles. Life has a way of turning around.

Didn't want to spoil anybody, but the summary of "In the Gloaming" spells out what's going on. Get the extra sturdy tissues before watching.

There are build-a-bear haters? My Wilson and House bears would be crushed to know that.

Oh, my, yes, I was well aware of that whole brouhaha while it was going on. What a mess -- but very entertaining to read, especially the posts on Fandom Wank. It even turned up on SciFi author John Scalzi's blog, Whatever. He's one of many professional authors who has no problem at all with fanfic -- in fact, he and actor/geek Wil Wheaton just ran a fanfic challenge in support of an organization raising money to fight lupus.

I agree with you that everyone who wants to write fic in a fandom needs to get to know the fandom first -- and the fandom's subcultures, too! Otherwise, one is in danger of making a major social gaffe like -- oh, I dunno, posting a Huddy fic in a place dedicated to House/Wilson fans? :^)

Although I do have to say that H/W folks can be a little more -- intense in our defense of our favorite pairing than might be the rule in other show's fandoms. Another strong argument for good warning notes!

Awwwwww . . . there is just something so, so . . . so awwwwww! in knowing someone has Wilson and House build-a-bears! Now I'm all melty.

A huge guilty plasure, especially well-written angsty suicide fics *hides quikly*

Like the first poster, `though, I really don`t like the "Wilson sneezed a bit too hard. And he died. Then end." fics :P

Hurray for John Scalzi! He's far more enlightened than Gabaldon, plus he's far more generous.

lol. Even with a decent understanding of fandom and the subculture, it's possible to make a slip or two. ;-)

And indeed! Cheers for lots and lots of warning notes! ... er, but don't let the header get too long.

Are you ready to melt moar? Wilson bear has a sweater vest, and House bear wears a gray, "Everybody Lies" t-shirt.

Agreed! In order to sell a sick!Wilson story, good writing is a must. And taking into consideration Wilson's history of antidepressants, a solid case can be made for a suicide fic.

However, I'm not giving up hope that someone will write the ultimate death-sneeze fic. ;)

Thank goodness I didn't know about the spoiler you whited out.

Huh? I mean, how could you know that you didn't know it, unless you read it? Or do you mean that the whiting out didn't work? *really, REALLY hopes that isn't the case* Or, do you mean that you're glad you didn't know about it before you saw the movie?

too many movies shamefully employ the death trope. You know what to expect from a movie that claims it's, "Five Hankies!."

Not only do I know what to expect, I know to expect a film where I probably won't care that much about the death. There are, of course, exceptions; tear-jerkers where I am invested in the characters, or where it's a situation where the separation of the characters saddens me, or where the death just seems so unfair that it makes me hurt. (Or, on rare occasions, some combination of the above. *has one particular movie in mind*)

The fact that several of my death stories have been, IMHO, some of my best work makes me really enjoy writing them a bit more.
--Such an intriguing statement. And yet you probably won't be posting anything soon. You are EVIL.

Okay, the encouragement I'm getting from you is helpful. If nothing else, I WILL try to finish the fic I just started, though more than likely not in time for the end of Camp. But I'll be honest: to my recollection, I've only ever completed any death stories in one fandom (Starsky & Hutch), and I don't know that I'd necessarily be nearly as good at it in a fandom where I had (IMO) a much less good handle on the characters. (In fact, one of my stories that I consider a death story in Starsky and Hutch was written almost entirely via my Hutch!muse standing on my shoulder, dictating the story word for word. I've never experienced that before or since.)

alternatealto and I touched upon the auto-pilot fic in discussion #3. An absolutely wondrous feeling.

I'll have to go back and reread that. It really is an awesome feeling, and I've had so many versions of it, too.

*holds hands up in surrender* Okay, okay, so I shouldn't have said anything! I do thank you for your thoughts, though, and the (implied, at least) encouragement. :-)

I think there is a little wiggle room about House's true feelings on the subject due to Hugh Laurie's portrayal. There's a slight hesitation before he answers in "Three Stories," and the way he doesn't answer Wilson in, "97 Seconds."

I think there's definitely wiggle room, based on the whole thing in "97 Seconds" alone. But, on a larger scale, I also don't think it necessarily matters. There are shows/movies in which characters have come back from the dead and said "There's this there, there's that there" and I still don't necessarily accept that as canon, on the grounds that I can argue that until you're dead enough that you can't be brought back, you're not dead enough to know what comes next. I consider people--real and fictional--who "see the light" to have had a near-death experience, not a glimpse of the great beyond. They might be the same, they might not, but until we/they get wherever it is we're going, and send a message back somehow, I feel totally free to have whatever I want happen in any universe I want it to happen in. (Not that I couldn't do that anyway, but I have issues with breaking canon, as opposed to bending it.) So until Wilson dies and sends Cuddy an e-mail from Wherever ("Dear Dr. Cuddy: I'm afraid I won't be able to make it in today. In fact, you should probably look for a replacement for me. I died last night, and while Heaven is very nice, there's no transportation back to Princeton. Sorry about the short notice. Sincerely, James Wilson P.S. I'd tell you to tell House I'll see him again some day, but I'm not sure that'll happen."), I reserve the right to allow the reunion of House and Wilson's souls in any multiple ways. (Why, yes, I do have entitlement issues; however did you guess? ;-D)

Awww! *melts*

However, I'm not giving up hope that someone will write the ultimate death-sneeze fic. ;)

Not saying this is the ultimate one, but it is a bit more than "Wilson sneezed a bit too hard. And he died. Then end." (And, see, I told you I'd write you a death story!)

"The {Probably Not) Ultimate Death-Sneeze Fic" (A triple drabble...accidentally; it topped out at 296--not counting "The End"--so I decided to edit it into exactness. Oh, and WARNING: Medical Inaccuracy abounds in here...though, I suppose TECHNICALLY, MOST of it COULD happen....)

"Wilson sneezed a bit too hard, and the fountain pen he was holding got jammed through his eye and into his brain. The trauma team attempted to remove it, but--being the incompetent bastards House always knew they were--only succeeding in breaking the pen in half, resulting in the metal nib being stuck in his head. Unfortunately, this interfered with the MRI House wanted to do, and while he and Foreman were arguing over how best to proceed, the ink from the pen leaked into Wilson's brain, causing irreversible brain damage. With the assistance of his Vicodin, washed down with scotch, House was able to understand that the Wilson he cared about--er, sorry, I mean, didn't hate--was gone, and knowing Wilson's ~~need~~ penchant for selflessness, he decided to let Wilson go so that his organs could be donated to other people (and no, it doesn't matter that Wilson has a whole family who might have an opinion--or more than one! Whether it's canon or not, House MUST have Wilson's Power of Attorney, because otherwise the story would make no sense!) Two days later, Wilson's lungs went to two of his patients who'd had lungs removed due to cancer; his heart went to his ex-wife Julie (since, clearly, she had lacked one of her own); and his (regenerated) liver went to House...which, in retrospect, was probably a waste, since House then proceeded to spend the next year drinking himself to death. But it all worked out okay, because when he died, he discovered that apparently Whoever or Whatever was in charge didn't care about his disbelief, as he was immediately greeted by a somewhat sheepish Wilson. House said nothing, but offered him a handkerchief out of his pocket, grinning obnoxiously, and, in that moment, all became right with the world again. THE END"

I think we should change 'Warnings' at the beginning of stories to 'Squickables.' Just sayin'...

I'm thinking of posting the question of fandom vs canon death on my journal. I have people from all sorts of fandoms and I'm wondering if it spans far and wide. Also, I read PPTH overrun by zombies once, and it totally rocked. Pretty much all the main characters from the show died, except our boys, which I was also okay with. Besides, zombie!Cameron is too awesome. :D

Squickables may be a more concise term than "warning." :)

I'm too wrapped up in my H/W cocoon to notice what's going on in other fandoms. I'd be curious to hear other opinions.

Besides the question above, I enjoyed chatting with you and reading your stories. Mind if I friend?

I know all about being wrapped up in a fandom cocoon. I really can only do one at a time, but I've been around for quite awhile. I started in the Harry Potter fandom back in 2004, then did about 6 months in the QAF fandom before I wanted to kill all the bitches, then I did almost 5 years over in CSI so I've been around the block a bit. I mostly have friends from CSI and House, but a lot of my old CSI friends have moved to new fandoms too, so I get NCIs, SPN, Dr. Who/Torchwood. All sorts of stuff!

Yes! Of course you may friend me! I will wait to pose the question until the friending is complete... well that and I just spent the whole day riding roller coasters in the sun on 4 hours of sleep and simply cannot formulate the question right now. :D

I think you're right about that. We write for a much smaller community than writers do when they publish, so the people objecting are not just customers--they are peers and virtual neighbors. Its just more personal.

Your friends do span a range of fandoms; let's see what others have to say. And hurray for rollercoasters!

Excellent! I need a little more recovery time though. Here I was thinking that sleeping for 11 hours would help... lol!

Kind of left that spoiler remark dangling, didn't I? My apologies. I meant that I was glad not to know about the spoiler before I watched the movie. If I had known, I might have skipped it. I loved that character.

I hate when character death is the main focus of the movie. I'll never forgive Erich Segal for writing Love Story, and bringing "shallow" and "manipulative" to the genre. I'll stick needles in my eyes before succumbing to tears watching that movie or its offshoots. For a good example, Out of Africa may be my all time favorite.

We need stories after camp ends, so don't be concerned about the deadline. And all kidding aside, please write what brings you pleasure--whether it's an intriguing plot or your love for the characters. Then again, writing will help you tap into your House and Wilson muses.

Internet Highway to Heaven. Good idea! Wilson would never allow death to stop him from notifying Cuddy he wasn't coming into work. Hmm, this gets my plot bunnies excited to breed with each other. Actually, it would be fun to prove to House that his theory about the afterlife was wrong.

*smothers cackling*

Aww, that was unbelievably lovely. I'm almost wiping tears off my face.

And this story proves the irony that one death is sad, but two deaths makes for a happy ending.

How funny. I just woke up after sleeping eleven hours. I'm not sure if my responses are any more coherent, or I just think they are.

Please take your time about posting the question to your journal. Do it whenever you feel like it.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 3 of 4

Let’s Gather ‘Round the Campfire (#4)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject