Alice vis-a-vis Tin Man

[amedia]

Comparisons may be odious, but they are also irresistible. Brief thoughts on the fanfic potential of the two series.

In some ways, Alice gave us less than Tin Man. As we followed our heroes around the O.Z., we encountered or heard about farming of various kinds, at least one large city with pedestrians on the street, nightclubs, hookers, and other businesses, a prison system, and so on. I found myself totally able to believe that the Outer Zone had a society and an economy that worked. Tin Man succeeded in creating a world, and I think that's one of the reasons there's so much fanfic - there's a whole world to explore that we've glimpsed and can build on. While I loved the look and feel of Wonderland, we didn't see much of it - mostly the casino and a city that appeared largely uninhabited, and some wilderness. It almost seemed, at the end, as if all the people who escaped from the casino were pretty much all the people, period, although I don't think that's meant to be the case. That might foster fanfic of the worldbuilding kind because there are so many blanks to fill in, or it might be just too daunting because they've left so much for us to do.

In other ways, Alice gave us more than Tin Man. The canonical pairings in Tin Man (Ahamo/Queen, Cain/Adora) predate the events of the series. The characters are much too busy trying either to save or to destroy the O.Z. to dabble in pesky things like romance. Which means that relationship stuff was left for fans to fill in, if they want to. By contrast, Alice pairs off the pretty young protagonists at the end: Duchess/Jack and Alice/Hatter, and as happy as I am to see those nice kids get together, it takes the wind out of the sails of people who want to write the kind of shippy stories in which people come to have that first realization that they're interested in each other that way. That's already been done.

Alice also gave us more in terms of tying up the ends of the plot more neatly - it actually ended, rather than just stopping, like Tin Man did. Which is better from a literary standpoint, but less encouraging from a fanfic standpoint.

Nonetheless, my reaction to Alice is still, "Wheee! That was fun!"

Comments

[moony-blues.livejournal.com]

So...do you think that Alice will have as much of a following as Tin Man did? I don't think there's much wind in the sails at all... By the time Tin Man was over, there were more comms, right? More noise surrounding it, at any rate. I think that most of us who were already in Tin Man didn't find enough in Alice for us to "jump ships," so to speak. It was fun, but I don't think the bandwagon will be nearly as long-lived.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

It seems to have quite a following now, at least judging by the traffic on Bobsie's comm, but I don't know if it will have any staying power.

"jump ships!" hee hee - nice play on words!

[kseda.livejournal.com]

I agree completely with everything, and I am not sure if that makes me angry or overjoyed.

...nevermind, I'm too busy having Ahamo, Della, and Ambrose trip on candy-flavored acid to care. CARRY ON.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

I'm too busy having Ahamo, Della, and Ambrose trip on candy-flavored acid to care

Oh YAY!

[archon-mentha.livejournal.com]

Maybe, world-building wise, Alice will lend itself better to blending with the source material? The economy on the show, based on oyster emotions, was completely wiped out at the end.

I definitely don't feel the urge to write fanfic I felt after watching Tin Man, sadly. And that despite preferring Alice/Jack to Alice/Hatter.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Alice will lend itself better to blending with the source material?

That's an interesting way of looking at it. It would be fun to find elements from the book that weren't used, and write fanfic chopping them up and re-interpreting them in interesting ways.

I mean, just look at the way the broken watch from the Mad Tea Party got splintered - the watch itself as a possession and a symbol of Alice's father, while the attempt to fix it with butter winds up as a throwaway line in a conversation between Mad March and Hatter. It would be cool to try to do that with - oh, I don't know - Alice's train ride with the talking insects, or something.


I definitely don't feel the urge to write fanfic I felt after watching Tin Man, sadly.

Me neither. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but I just don't feel *fannish* about it.

[lionille.livejournal.com]

Interesting that what makes a satisfying story to passively absorb is different from what makes good fic fodder.

The very things that were odd about TM (no romances, abrupt ending, no resolutions for Glitch's brain sitation) are the very things that make me one very happy ficcer.

They did lay down a workable, complex world, and a few fascinating, sympathetic, likeable characters with interesting backstories,... in short, it was a perfect sandbox.

Didn't see Alice, so can't speculate there, but if they tied up the romance with a bow, it sounds like a satisfying movie, but not the best sandbox to play in.

Also, may I say, TM had Glitch, who is one of those rare creatures that I don't think anyone can set out to create on purpose, but comes together in a brilliant blending of character, writer, circumstances of plot, and actor to gift us all.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

TM had Glitch, who is one of those rare creatures that I don't think anyone can set out to create on purpose, but comes together in a brilliant blending of character, writer, circumstances of plot, and actor to gift us all.

Very true, and well spoke! There are a couple of characters with Glitchlike qualities in Alice, but no one who unites them the way that he did.

[erinm-4600.livejournal.com]

I loved Alice. But, really... it takes a lot for me to NOT like something. If I thought I wouldn't like it, I never would have watched it.

That said, and having the day to think on the earlier blather I dumped on oddsbobs earlier, you are correct about Tin Man.

The lack of conclusion does feed the fanfic fodder. And thank GOD for that, as I'd be screwed without it. Every fandom has good and bad, and I will be around both because they're small and unique. I never could get into the Stargate or NCIS fandoms, and those are my two big 'shows'. Go figure..

That said, I'm intrigued for the Alice fandom, but will probably -if at all- focus on the 'other' stuff in Wonderland (Charlie, Alice's mom and dad). I was VERY happy to see Alice and Hatter together at the end, but I'm not really ready to jump onto the hayride.

I wager the one fanfic idea I had, I covered this morning, so I'm pretty much good. Now, a DVD with deleted scenes may change that... or the occasional crossover... but that's it.

*places Alice in the box of fandoms I'm in, but not actively playing with, like Flashpoint and High School Musical*
*rounds up the Tin Man crew and squishes 'em senseless*

[amedia.livejournal.com]

*is squished, very happily*