Tag: fan fiction

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A Critical Hit in Edinburgh

On Sunday, Critical Role performed a show in Edinburgh for the first time, and I had the privilege to be in the audience. But before going any further, it’s worth explaining what Critical Role is, because this is a writing blog rather than a Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fansite.

This event is a long‑running collaborative storytelling series where a group of professional voice actors play D&D. They building character arcs, improvise plot turns and twists, and shape an evolving fantasy narrative. It’s part-game and part-performance, combining into a sprawling epic.

I’d known for more than a year that this was happening, but I didn’t instantly snap up a ticket, reasoning that while I did enjoy them, I wasn’t a superfan. That was until earlier this month, when I heard there were a number of resale tickets available. I gave it some consideration. Some pals said I could stay overnight after the event, which eased the logistics enormously, so my mind was made up.

After some fish and chips, we headed to Edinburgh Castle, a location that almost seems engineered for fantasy storytelling. You can bet the audience leaned into it too, with the vast majority of attendees in some form of costume, many head-to-toe.

Their live shows are known for being lengthy, as you can see from the running times of their existing videos. This one ran from 6pm sharp to around 10:40pm, including a 20‑minute break.

I knew the comedian Daniel Sloss would be acting as MC, but I didn’t realise he would play such an integral part in the story. For me, he was an absolute highlight, merging the established tropes with peculiarly Scottish humour. At one point, he offered the actors bottles of Buckfast and they seamlessly made it a minor plot point.

The only downside was the almost absent crowd management. The queues for bathrooms, drinks and merchandise were so unclear that more than on logjam formed without stewards keeping the flow moving. It didn’t derail the actual event, but it was noticeable enough to tar the experience.

I’m giving away as little as possible here because the recording will be available on YouTube in due course. I was quite far away from the action, so I did watch most of it on the giant video screen anyway. It’s different, however, when you’re surrounded by hundreds of people echoing the catchphrases or stamping their feet when the baddies were blasted to bits.

It’s unlikely I’ll be following Critical Role around the world, but if they chose to come back to Scotland in a year or two, I’d consider going again.

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Fun with Fandoms

The website Archive of Our Own – or AO3 to its users – has existed since 2008, growing in popularity over the next few years. Writers can use it to post fan fiction, taking characters that already exist from books, films or even real life, then placing them into new stories or retelling existing stories from another angle.

Despite knowing about the site since almost day one, I didn’t open an account because I only used it to read the stories of one pal who would use characters from Star Wars.

More recently, it’s been brought to my attention that another pal writes and collaborates on steamy romances between two male Formula One drivers, so I finally opened an account in September to read them. Then, quite independently, I learnt someone else had published a multi-part tale placing the members of a 21st-century alternative rock band into a 1930s adventure story.

I’m being deliberately imprecise in these descriptions because all three writers use pseudonyms and don’t necessarily want their identities associated with their pseudonyms.

It’s common for fan fiction authors to stay anonymous, as some published authors actively dislike their characters being used in other work, even when the resulting work isn’t earning any money. Anne Rice and George R R Martin are two prominent examples. In other cases, there is potential for libel where living people are featured.

While mere threats of legal action are a dime a dozen, I can think of just one case involving fan fiction that actually went to court. In 2009, Darryn Walker was arrested on charges of obscenity after writing a story imagining the kidnap and murder of the pop group Girls Aloud. Ultimately, the author was cleared of all charges. If you’re interested, the offending text has been archived.

Although I’ve published many short stories online, they all featured original characters rather than existing ones. I think if I were going to write any fan fiction, I’d probably pick Rosaline from Romeo & Juliet. For starters, there’s no risk of legal action from William Shakespeare. For seconds, she’s a seriously underdeveloped character considering how pivotal she is to the early plot; if she hadn’t rejected Romeo, the events of the entire play might never have happened.