LNH20: Bite-Size Tals of the LNH v20 #5: "I Never Metafiction I Didn't Like"

[Andrew Perron]

On Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:57:43 +0000 (UTC), Adrian J. McClure wrote:

Oh god yes. XD This is the LNH20est way to tackle this issue!

> "Interesting. I've noticed the same thing. We're living in a world
> where the definition of what 'real' is has changed considerably. I'm
> sure you're familiar with the theory that there are certain... what I
> suppose you could call metaphysical forces... that affect the
> probability of events in the universe:  comedy and drama."
> 
> "You mean the metafictional theory of reality? Yeah, I've heard of
> that. I used to think it was a big steaming pile of pseudoscience,
> just like ancient astronauts, Bigfoot, Mothmen, jackalopes... but now
> I've met them all. I don't even know anymore."

*nods* Makes sense, makes sense.

> "Free will is a complicated matter at the best of times. I am neither
> a scientist nor a philosopher; I am a teacher. Nonetheless, I think it
> is clear that we are all affected by wider factors over which we have
> little control, whether they are based on our culture, background or
> biology. However, we have the freedom to work with or against these
> factors as we choose. Perhaps tropes are the same way. Each of us are
> drawn to particular tropes according to the genre we inhabit and to
> our own abilities, personalities and interests. We are free to express
> or subvert these tropes as we choose.

Indeed!

> "The superhero genre requires significantly heightened amounts of both
> comedy and drama to function. The best evidence suggests that the
> Killfile worked by suppressing comedy and drama, effectively
> preventing the superhero genre of existing.

See, I figured that the Killfile suppressed the superhero genre directly -
or possibly speculative fiction in general.  You could have both comedic
and dramatic stories with it up, I think (as some stories flashbacking to
that era will show).

> "Why do you think the Killfile fell?"
> 
> "No one really knows. There are any number of theories.

I'm not sure whether my musings on this will turn out spoilery or not, so.

> As a result, the world is becoming more random and
> absurd even as it is simultaneously becoming more dramatic and
> carefully worked out. It is simultaneously undergoing Cerebus Syndrome
> and Reverse Cerebus Syndrome."

Oooooh.  Yes, that's an excellent way to put it.

> "Indeed. This is why the LNH is so important. It serves as a sort of
> experiment which brings together people inhabiting radically different
> genres and modes of thought. We can learn how to deal with 'these
> guys' before one of them turns the White House into jam."

Is why the LNH rocks! <3

> As if on cue, the alert beeped. Fearless Leader pressed the button,
> and Kung-Fu Holmes appeared on the screen. "Sorry," he said. "We'll be
> home soon, but we've got a bit of a problem right now..." They were
> fighting against a dog with three bodies awkwadly joined to one head.
> It snapped its slavering jaws at that."
> 
> "What is THAT?" said Fearless Leader.
> 
> "A reverse Cerebrus," said Kung-Fu Holmes.
> 
> "See?" said January Frost. "Comedy in action."

...awesome. XD

> This was really a world-building meta-post poorly disguised as a
> story. I had these thoughts after reading Kung Fu Holmes, but it took
> me a while to express them properly. I've also been reading a bunch of
> Saxon Brenton's work, so I was predisposed to write a big
> metafictional infodump; it's harder than it looks.

Woo for world-building meta-posts disguised as stories! <3

> Note that while people on Earth-20 are slowly becoming aware of
> metafictional forces and tropes, none of them--except for Minority
> Miss and the refugees and travellers from the classic Looniverse--are
> yet aware of the Writers as such.

I don't think we want to lock it down *quite* that much. (I'm still not
sure whether Kid E does.) But yeah, it's not common.

Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, writey writey