Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Hey, What About (insert name here)?


In my last post, I mentioned that there aren't very many fanfics about the two characters who represent Presidents' Day on Holiday Island. It was (mostly) a joke, but it got me thinking about other minor characters who haven't gotten much fanfic attention. Certain supporting characters, like Aunt Amy, Tommy Sherman, and Ted DeWitt-Clinton, have had major roles or even been the main characters in numerous fanfics even though they only appeared on the show two or three times.

Then there are the backgrounders, characters who appear in various episodes but generally don't have speaking roles or even names aside from the ones given to them in fanon. Recently, characters like Shaggy, Burnout Girl, Bob the punk, and many more have taken center stage in lots of fanfics, getting character development never dreamed of by the show's writers.

But what about the rest? The characters who were important enough to have names and occasional speaking roles, but not important enough to appear more than a handful of times each? I'm thinking about characters like David Sorenson, one of the rare smart people on the show and, as a tutor, probably witness to the inner workings of plenty of families in Lawndale. Or Axl, who must have a few interesting stories to tell about the alternative culture as he interacts with the patrons of Dega Street. Unlikable as the character is, I'd bet a writer could have lots of fun writing about a day in the life of Val (as in Val).

Who would you like to see more of in a fanfic? Wannabe Brooke? Retro Nathan? One of the Wandering Lanes? Post your thoughts in the comments!

7 comments:

Stripey said...

I likewise would like to see a few more David appearances in fanfic. Same for Alison, who Jane could conceivably run into during her college years.
I think Penny Lane receives more screen time in fanfic than any of the other absentee Lane siblings, but I also think that more could be done with her. I would kill to see a fic where she takes Jane traveling with her one summer.

Wassersauefer said...

To be fair I thought about Axl using as character but haven't done so far. Don't know why, I think I just hadn't had any good ideas how.

abe said...

There are a few good fanfics with Allison as a major character, including "More Than Just Lost" by TAG, "Not Your Average Jane" by Yui Daoren, and "Love, Reign Over Me" by Crusading Saint, and several authors have re-imagined Allison's meeting with Jane (including "All Good Things Come to an End" by Dervish on SFMB, and "Seeing Things Through" by Renfield).

While I don't recall any fanfic featuring Axl as a major character, he did make one grand entrance driving a horse-drawn hearse in "Heroes" by Lew Richardson.

InvisibleDan said...

I used Cindy, a backgrounder, in an Iron Chef just because I hadn't seen anyone use her in a story. It was fun giving her a bit of a backstory and I'll consider doing something similar in the future. I just don't know which other character to use... Any suggestions?

Watermelon_Man said...

I like Lehrman. He's probably my favorite of all the one-off characters, though David is a close second.

Anonymous said...

Luhrman's lack of fic is stunning. He's even more misanthropic & monotone than Daria and there's hints of mutual interest! COME ON PEOPLE

- Charles RB

JohnHWatson said...

Luhrmann fans, be sure to look up the Abruptly Amy series!
You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll kiss lunchtime goodbye, and then re-read the whole thing next day!