City of Heroes/Villians: Spirals of Fate – Chapter One

“Alone Â… no, not quite alone for it was there. It was always there. Vincent could feel it, even when dreams and nightmares overwhelmed his sleep. It lurked just beyond the edge of his nocturnal visions, whispering softly, lulling him to trust, to listen, to obey its incessant pleas to release to the anger, to the rage, to ‘it’… Images began to race, underscored by the voice, a montage of images, past memories. Power growing, strength unleashed, unrepressed, coupled with a quickness that belied belief and a disregard for personal safety, supplanted by the rage orchestrated by the voice.”

So begins Chapter One of the City of Heroes/City of Villains tale, Spirals of Fate. The young man Vincent, feeling the power growing within him,  finally confronts would-be attackers – and releases the full force of his unvented rage.

This story is an interesting example of a seemingly recent phenonemon, known as “Fan Fiction,” or sometimes simply “fanfic.”

The truth is, however, “fan fiction” is nearly as old as human history.

The ancient Greeks of the Hellenistic Age were probably the first in human history to turn away from religion – in their case, the Olympians – and attempt to explain the world around them in scientific terms. Yet, even though they had ceased to believe in their old gods and goddesses, they continued to make up entertaining stories about them.

The old U.S. American staple, known as the “Tall Tale,” is another example. Legends of characters such as Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill were most certainly not all created by any one person, and even today, such characters may appear in a schoolchild’s creative writing. Related to this is an interesting genre of fiction in which a classic novel is rewritten from the point of view of a different character – for example, Grendel, which re-tells the Beowulf legend from the monster’s perspective, or another novel (the title of which escapes me) that is a version of Moby Dick from the whale’s point of view.

Since the 1960’s,  there have been a plethora of novels based on Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe. (In fact, someone once estimated that if the characters in all the Star Trek series had actually lived through all the adventures – TV as well as fan fiction – they would have had to live to an average age of 275 years.)

And now, we have our MMO’s – entire “virtual” worlds in which we create characters that live, love, struggle and yes – often die.

“Fanfic” has even taken on a new dimension with the rise of “machinema” film-making, in which the characters and animations of electronic games are used to make Hollywood-style films.

This writer once despaired at the kind of garbage corporations were passing off to our children as “toys” – cheap, plastic figures that were little more than a multi-media marketing campaign, in which the story came pre-packaged. Sometimes, cartoons and movies were made based on the toys, sometimes it was the other way around, but the bottom line was that childhood imaginations were becoming dangerously atrophied.

MMO and PC gaming, played properly, gives all of us an opportunity to exercise our imaginations once more – to create, to plan, to tell stories.

Since culture and society is shaped by the stories its people tell, let us make sure we are using this new medium wisely. Too many of the stories we’ve told ourselves for the past 10,000 years have been destructive, leading us down paths to potential disaster.

It’s time for some new stories, and we have some bang-up tools to tell them. Joseph Campbell says that the power of myth is the power to change.

Anyone out there ready for change?

Via PC GameZone

“Alone Â… no, not quite alone for it was there. It was always there. Vincent could feel it, even when dreams and nightmares overwhelmed his sleep. It lurked just beyond the edge of his nocturnal visions, whispering softly, lulling him to trust, to listen, to obey its incessant pleas to release to the anger, to the rage, to ‘it’… Images began to race, underscored by the voice, a montage of images, past memories. Power growing, strength unleashed, unrepressed, coupled with a quickness that belied belief and a disregard for personal safety, supplanted by the rage orchestrated by the voice.”

So begins Chapter One of the City of Heroes/City of Villains tale, Spirals of Fate. The young man Vincent, feeling the power growing within him,  finally confronts would-be attackers – and releases the full force of his unvented rage.

This story is an interesting example of a seemingly recent phenonemon, known as “Fan Fiction,” or sometimes simply “fanfic.”

The truth is, however, “fan fiction” is nearly as old as human history.

The ancient Greeks of the Hellenistic Age were probably the first in human history to turn away from religion – in their case, the Olympians – and attempt to explain the world around them in scientific terms. Yet, even though they had ceased to believe in their old gods and goddesses, they continued to make up entertaining stories about them.

The old U.S. American staple, known as the “Tall Tale,” is another example. Legends of characters such as Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill were most certainly not all created by any one person, and even today, such characters may appear in a schoolchild’s creative writing. Related to this is an interesting genre of fiction in which a classic novel is rewritten from the point of view of a different character – for example, Grendel, which re-tells the Beowulf legend from the monster’s perspective, or another novel (the title of which escapes me) that is a version of Moby Dick from the whale’s point of view.

Since the 1960’s,  there have been a plethora of novels based on Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe. (In fact, someone once estimated that if the characters in all the Star Trek series had actually lived through all the adventures – TV as well as fan fiction – they would have had to live to an average age of 275 years.)

And now, we have our MMO’s – entire “virtual” worlds in which we create characters that live, love, struggle and yes – often die.

“Fanfic” has even taken on a new dimension with the rise of “machinema” film-making, in which the characters and animations of electronic games are used to make Hollywood-style films.

This writer once despaired at the kind of garbage corporations were passing off to our children as “toys” – cheap, plastic figures that were little more than a multi-media marketing campaign, in which the story came pre-packaged. Sometimes, cartoons and movies were made based on the toys, sometimes it was the other way around, but the bottom line was that childhood imaginations were becoming dangerously atrophied.

MMO and PC gaming, played properly, gives all of us an opportunity to exercise our imaginations once more – to create, to plan, to tell stories.

Since culture and society is shaped by the stories its people tell, let us make sure we are using this new medium wisely. Too many of the stories we’ve told ourselves for the past 10,000 years have been destructive, leading us down paths to potential disaster.

It’s time for some new stories, and we have some bang-up tools to tell them. Joseph Campbell says that the power of myth is the power to change.

Anyone out there ready for change?

Via PC GameZone