Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach
October 30, 2019 1:39 PM Subscribe
(sl AO3) : Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach
This has likewise been rec'd heavily in my circles, and I thought it was only a matter of time before someone brought it up in a more mainstream space. To be honest, it wasn't my cup of tea, and I had some criticisms of the writing that I now realize I feel weird about discussing in a non-fandom community. It's definitely an ambitious story, though, and an on-point example of one of the current trends in fanfiction.
posted by northernish at 1:59 PM on October 30, 2019
posted by northernish at 1:59 PM on October 30, 2019
This is so good but I don't feel like it's done, although it says "completed;" I want to read more of it.
[she typed, inadvertently revealing her knowledge of GO fanfic]
posted by Countess Elena at 2:00 PM on October 30, 2019
[she typed, inadvertently revealing her knowledge of GO fanfic]
posted by Countess Elena at 2:00 PM on October 30, 2019
This is probably an Unpopular Opinion, but Neil Gaiman's work always reads to me like Douglas Adams fanfic, so that style seems like it could be easily replicated by a dab hand.
posted by rikschell at 2:07 PM on October 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 2:07 PM on October 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
Neil Gaiman's work always reads to me like Douglas Adams fanfic
I'm a fan of both, and I maintain that Anansi Boys is the best Douglas Adams novel Adams never wrote.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:35 PM on October 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm a fan of both, and I maintain that Anansi Boys is the best Douglas Adams novel Adams never wrote.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:35 PM on October 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
I read this as it was posted and was riveted the whole time. It's an ambitious piece of work with a lot of really interesting ideas and a conclusion that I found very satisfying.
posted by merriment at 2:36 PM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by merriment at 2:36 PM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you're going to link fanfic can you at least say that clearly and more importantly what setting(s) are being drawn on? I have no problem with fanfic but the framing leaves something to be desired. I dunno if it's in the tags, I guess I don't see those on mobile I guess.
posted by Caduceus at 2:46 PM on October 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Caduceus at 2:46 PM on October 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
I have read the first four chapters and I’m loving it. Thank you for the recommendation!
posted by Emmy Noether at 2:52 PM on October 30, 2019
posted by Emmy Noether at 2:52 PM on October 30, 2019
Caduceus, it is set in the Good Omens universe. On my desktop, the tags etc. are all very clear at the top of the page.
posted by wires at 2:58 PM on October 30, 2019
posted by wires at 2:58 PM on October 30, 2019
This was written by a mefite, so perhaps some care is warranted in the discussion?
posted by thomas j wise at 3:06 PM on October 30, 2019
posted by thomas j wise at 3:06 PM on October 30, 2019
This was written by a mefite, so perhaps some care is warranted in the discussion?
Is their AO3 account linked in their profile? Otherwise, it's not exactly appropriate to link someone's online identities.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:21 PM on October 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Is their AO3 account linked in their profile? Otherwise, it's not exactly appropriate to link someone's online identities.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:21 PM on October 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Caduceus, it is set in the Good Omens universe. On my desktop, the tags etc. are all very clear at the top of the page.
The tags on the fic itself once you click through are clear and obvious. The tags on this Metafilter post are not, not on mobile. Without the Mefi post tags, and without knowing what AO3 is, it's not readily apparent that this post is linking to a work of fanfiction, or what fandom this is a fic for. So yeah, I also think this post could have used better framing to provide more context.
posted by yasaman at 3:34 PM on October 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
The tags on the fic itself once you click through are clear and obvious. The tags on this Metafilter post are not, not on mobile. Without the Mefi post tags, and without knowing what AO3 is, it's not readily apparent that this post is linking to a work of fanfiction, or what fandom this is a fic for. So yeah, I also think this post could have used better framing to provide more context.
posted by yasaman at 3:34 PM on October 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
I mean tags are fine and all but I shouldn't need to come into the thread to learn what fandom the AO3 link is to. If we can say on the front page that its AO3 link we could probably say what the fandom is above the fold too, rather than being coy about it.
posted by Caduceus at 3:35 PM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Caduceus at 3:35 PM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Even more unpopular opinion: Anansi Boys is the best Douglas Adams novel Adams wasn't capable of writing.
And at his best, Gaiman is sparkling. But at his average, Gaiman is tedious. Anansi Boys is good, but not his best.
posted by Pinback at 3:46 PM on October 30, 2019
And at his best, Gaiman is sparkling. But at his average, Gaiman is tedious. Anansi Boys is good, but not his best.
posted by Pinback at 3:46 PM on October 30, 2019
I liked it. About four lines in there were three distinct places I figured it would go, and it went to none of them. It was...deft.
posted by AdamCSnider at 3:46 PM on October 30, 2019
posted by AdamCSnider at 3:46 PM on October 30, 2019
I really enjoyed this, thank you for sharing it.
posted by Anonymous Function at 4:56 PM on October 30, 2019
posted by Anonymous Function at 4:56 PM on October 30, 2019
On my mobile layout the tags won't even show until way at the bottom so really, being out of Tumblr and fandom space currently, the odds this fic was an spn one was just as likely
posted by cendawanita at 7:50 PM on October 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 7:50 PM on October 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
I read this with no background in the fandom; finished it; it was great. Thanks!
posted by wym at 10:40 PM on October 30, 2019
posted by wym at 10:40 PM on October 30, 2019
(after the main character learns something Very Important) "Some of her coping techniques, she knew, were less adaptive than others."
I've never seen a more economical use of language ever. A lesser writer would have spent chapters on this, but twelve words were all that were needed. It gave me chills.
posted by Mogur at 5:27 AM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've never seen a more economical use of language ever. A lesser writer would have spent chapters on this, but twelve words were all that were needed. It gave me chills.
posted by Mogur at 5:27 AM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
If I were writing a book, I would be super interested to research in detail and over time how different fanfic fandoms evolve and why. For instance, GO almost instantly produced a lot of fic written to a pretty high standard but produced very few (as far as I can tell) coffee shop/they-met-in-college sorts of AU.
And I can think of several reasons for this, but I don't think they tell the whole story: Good Omens has both a book and a TV show, so there's a lot of world density already; it arrived at a a time when fanfic is pretty respectable easy to disseminate; the book has been around forever and so there was already a certain amount of fic; the style of the book is relatively easy to pastiche* and has been relatively influential so it's sort of always-already there.
My private theory is that because the main characters are middle-aged (both because they're...immortal, which is sort of like being middle aged forever?...and because the actors who play them are middle aged) this has helped skew the writers a little bit older and hence drawn a higher percentage of people who've read and/or written a lot already.
(And on that note, I would love more genre film/TV/books where the main characters have adventures and/or romance while also being over forty - less from a representation standpoint than because it changes what the characters think about and have experienced. With the best of the GO fanfic, I felt like the writers were able to create characters who were on the one hand a bit stuck because of the immortality/being-outside-observers-rather-than-true-participants/being outsiders in their own communities things and on the other also had actually lived a lot and had knowledge and perspectives that came from ridiculously extended experience.)
But there's obviously a lot more going on with why different fandoms attract the people and take the shape that they do, and it's kind of interesting.
*The pastiche-ability means that it gives a guide to shakier and newer writers, not that it takes no skill to produce a good, innovative version; it's about raising the basic quality across the board. By contrast, it's sort of difficult to do a really good Conan Doyle pastiche that isn't full of distracting anachronisms - there are plenty, but there are also plenty of bad ones.
posted by Frowner at 6:43 AM on October 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
And I can think of several reasons for this, but I don't think they tell the whole story: Good Omens has both a book and a TV show, so there's a lot of world density already; it arrived at a a time when fanfic is pretty respectable easy to disseminate; the book has been around forever and so there was already a certain amount of fic; the style of the book is relatively easy to pastiche* and has been relatively influential so it's sort of always-already there.
My private theory is that because the main characters are middle-aged (both because they're...immortal, which is sort of like being middle aged forever?...and because the actors who play them are middle aged) this has helped skew the writers a little bit older and hence drawn a higher percentage of people who've read and/or written a lot already.
(And on that note, I would love more genre film/TV/books where the main characters have adventures and/or romance while also being over forty - less from a representation standpoint than because it changes what the characters think about and have experienced. With the best of the GO fanfic, I felt like the writers were able to create characters who were on the one hand a bit stuck because of the immortality/being-outside-observers-rather-than-true-participants/being outsiders in their own communities things and on the other also had actually lived a lot and had knowledge and perspectives that came from ridiculously extended experience.)
But there's obviously a lot more going on with why different fandoms attract the people and take the shape that they do, and it's kind of interesting.
*The pastiche-ability means that it gives a guide to shakier and newer writers, not that it takes no skill to produce a good, innovative version; it's about raising the basic quality across the board. By contrast, it's sort of difficult to do a really good Conan Doyle pastiche that isn't full of distracting anachronisms - there are plenty, but there are also plenty of bad ones.
posted by Frowner at 6:43 AM on October 31, 2019 [6 favorites]
As a general rule, fan fiction's something I don't pay much attention to. (Everyone has to filter/navigate sturgeon's hoary old law their own way!) But there are exceptions to every rule, and this one's a real solid exception in my book. So just an anecdote point for anyone else who might also be in that intersection of "Yeah, I like Good Omens" and "but fanfic? Enh....?" it's well worth ignoring that enh-reflex.
posted by Drastic at 7:00 AM on October 31, 2019
posted by Drastic at 7:00 AM on October 31, 2019
Frowner, that's a really interesting point about scaffolding and about middle-aged characters!
I read the book (Good Omens) years ago but haven't yet seen the TV show, and saw many recommendations for this fanfic in my circles, and have now read it. I found the fanfic interesting and enjoyable and moving, and have only one nit to pick (the level of repetition in the POV character's inner monologue, which is a stylistic choice that I would prefer the author dial down about 15%, but found easy to deal with and see as part of the flow of the character's approach).
If you enjoy well-written fiction about the process of therapy, especially from the therapist's point of view, and in particular if you like seeing a therapist deftly refusing over and over again to succumb to baiting by a fighty patient, I recommend Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, especially the first book (also titled Regeneration).
posted by brainwane at 4:04 AM on November 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I read the book (Good Omens) years ago but haven't yet seen the TV show, and saw many recommendations for this fanfic in my circles, and have now read it. I found the fanfic interesting and enjoyable and moving, and have only one nit to pick (the level of repetition in the POV character's inner monologue, which is a stylistic choice that I would prefer the author dial down about 15%, but found easy to deal with and see as part of the flow of the character's approach).
If you enjoy well-written fiction about the process of therapy, especially from the therapist's point of view, and in particular if you like seeing a therapist deftly refusing over and over again to succumb to baiting by a fighty patient, I recommend Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, especially the first book (also titled Regeneration).
posted by brainwane at 4:04 AM on November 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Well, I didn't realize it was fanfic until I read this thread. I haven't finished it yet, and it is moving ... a bit slowly by chapter 4, but it seems to be rewarding my attention. Thanks for the pointer.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:31 AM on November 1, 2019
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:31 AM on November 1, 2019
I enjoyed this very much! I don’t much see the relevance of a story being set in some universe not of the author’s devising, so long as it stands on its own and is engaging. And I found this very engaging indeed.
posted by DrMew at 5:28 PM on November 1, 2019
posted by DrMew at 5:28 PM on November 1, 2019
I’m glad you commented, GC, I thought it was only two chapters! It has a ending all right, and it’s terrific—
posted by Countess Elena at 6:33 PM on November 1, 2019
posted by Countess Elena at 6:33 PM on November 1, 2019
I also read all the way and enjoyed it with no knowledge of the source
materials
posted by Meatbomb at 1:09 AM on November 3, 2019
materials
posted by Meatbomb at 1:09 AM on November 3, 2019
Well I wish I had known this is 100,000 words long before getting immediately sucked in (I now know the length is shown on the page, but I try to avoid reading the header info when going to AO3 on a blind recommendation, at least to start). It swallowed up my whole weekend—but I'm not complaining. In fact I found it to be super compelling as well as moving. Really lovely work.
I've read Good Omens many, many times, yet I feel as if I've learned a few things about the book that I hadn't ever really examined this closely before (though this is TV series-based, the series follows the book pretty closely). I guess "[character] goes to a therapist" is a thing in fanfic, but this seemed more true to life than a lot of what is often represented as how talk therapy actually works, from both sides, in even most non-supernatural works of fiction. I liked that expression of what truly long and hard work trauma therapy is for all involved, how careful all of the characters are to try to do and say the right things for each other, and just the clinical explorations and demonic expressions of fragility and love and pain.
Yeah, I guess I really, really liked this and I'm glad to have read it.
posted by obloquy at 8:38 PM on November 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've read Good Omens many, many times, yet I feel as if I've learned a few things about the book that I hadn't ever really examined this closely before (though this is TV series-based, the series follows the book pretty closely). I guess "[character] goes to a therapist" is a thing in fanfic, but this seemed more true to life than a lot of what is often represented as how talk therapy actually works, from both sides, in even most non-supernatural works of fiction. I liked that expression of what truly long and hard work trauma therapy is for all involved, how careful all of the characters are to try to do and say the right things for each other, and just the clinical explorations and demonic expressions of fragility and love and pain.
Yeah, I guess I really, really liked this and I'm glad to have read it.
posted by obloquy at 8:38 PM on November 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by daisyk at 1:56 PM on October 30, 2019