Madina's fanfic links

1.Cecilia's tale is based on Sofia Coppola's dreamy,poignant shocker of a film-The Virgin Suicides which tells the tale of the sheltered Lisbon sisters who one by one commit suicide. The film is narrated by four neighboring teenage boys,who as can be expected often take the liberty of spying on the girls. The boys, fascinated by the mystery enveloping the Lisbons' life and sudden death construct their own version of the suicides based on their voyeuristic experiences.
This particular fanfic is written from the point of view of the youngest Lisbon sister-Cecilia who happens to be the first girl to do away with herself. Cecilia's narration puts an interesting spin on the story.It shifts the tale from the boys' version of events to 'reality',as the Lisbon sisters are merely the boys' romanticized reconstructions of them. Interestingly enough 'Cecilia's Tale' doesn't take away from the hazy,sexy,mystic quality of the film. This fanfic doesn't explain Cecilia's motives,it merely gives her a voice,a voice that is just as enigmatic as her film character.


2.American Battle Royale is based on the cult Japanese book come manga,come film classic. A modern ''Lord of the Flies'' of sorts tells the story of a group of ninth-grade students forced to participate in a survival game to the death(in the given case,literally). Randomly selected by the Japanese government,the students must kill each other within the rigid time frame of 48 hours. Each students gets a particular weapon and sets out to play the game.Not just a nasty slasher in BattleRoyale blood and guts are paralled with the intricate relationships of the students; alliances,betrayals,grudges,gossip,lust and romances in the face of death.
The fanfic, based on the Japanese cult classic changes the setting of the events from Japan to America. 'American Battle Royale' hardly deviates from the plot of the original. The only difference lies in the setting and the characters. This particular fanfic barely explores the cultural differences between the teenagers of the West and the East,which would be a logical progression from setting Battle Royale in America instead of Japan. Overall this particular fanfiction does not satisfy the reader,as it doesn't not offer an alternative reality to Battle Royale,just alters few bits and bobs.


3.The Price of a Heart is a deliciously twisted ,gothic re-imagining of the classic children's favorite-The Wonderful Wizard of OZ. I believe this children's tale needs no introduction as am sure all of you are at least partially familiar with Frank L. Baum's brilliant homecoming saga. The fanfic based on book, most specifically focuses on Tin Woodman's plight to acquire a real heart. It seems that the protagonist is near the reach of his goal when he meets the Wonderful Wizard of OZ. However,all turns sour when the Wizard presents him with Dorothy's heart..whilst Dorothy is left to die in the basement..







4.American Psycho:One Less Loose end is a fanfiction directly based on the jaw-dropping,vomit inducing classic novel-American Psycho. The book follows Patrick Bateman-a handsome,Wall Street businessman with impeccable sense of fashion and self,who just also happens to be psychopathic murderer.Bateman accounts his day to day life,describing a rape or murder with the same emotional disattachment as he would a suit or a particular brand of bottled water. ''One less Loose End' describes a particular murder scene,featured in the book,with more acute emotional description or lack of it thereof .For all American Psycho fans this is definately worth a read. The writer captures the voice '' of the beast'' impeccably,creating an illusion that you're just reading another chapter of the book.

5.A Test of Friendship: is a fan fiction based on Sex and the City,a superficial guilty TV pleasure that I am sure most of you will be at least vaguely familiar with. For those out of the loop with the popular culture of the last fifteen years, Sex and the City follows the lives of four successful New York women in their search for love and temporary sexual fulfillment.Men on sex and the city are portrayed almost as accessories to these power women who swap boyfriends and lovers with the same speed as they swap designer shoes. The real emphasis of the show however is placed on the friendship between the four main characters. Men may be disposable in the lives of the protagonists,but the bond between the girls remains unbreakable. 'Sex and the City:A Test of Friendship' explores just what would it take to make that bond crumble..





6.Offred's Nightmare is based on Margaret Atwood's brilliant dystopian fiction-The Handmaid's Tale. Set in a future totalitarian America,a country rife with aids, pollution,corruption and rapidly declining birth rates. The novel follows Offred who is a handmaid - an ordinary woman plucked away from her life and forced to bear children for infertile,wealthy couples. Offred is forced to live under extremely rigid rules, some of which include no speaking and no reading. Offred's unfortunate position is justified by the government through various readings of the 'Old Testament.' The Handmaid happens to be entirely trapped by her situation and the role her dystopian government prescribed to her.
The fanfiction I present to you is a poem,one written from Offred's point of view,dwelling on her shocking,claustrophobic experience living in future USA.






7.Felicity is a fanfiction based on Gus Van Sant's Elephant. A heartfelt depiction of teenage violence based on the Columbine high school massacre. Elephant is shot from a point of view of several high-schoolers on their daily routine,leading up to the imminent tragedy. All characters in the film are portrayed as equal,in terms of their moral decency. The killers are shown as normal high-schoolers, displaying nothing particularly out of the ordinary in their psyche. Murdered students are shown to have just as many faults as the killers themselves. This is particularly exemplified by the three female characters,being rather fickle and bitchy.They are presumably murdered later. The film doesn't attempt to explain the Columbine massacre, it simply captures another day in high school,just as it would be. It shows highschoolers who are are doomed,but don't realise it just yet, being too wrapped up in their superficial world.
'Felicity' is written from the point of view of Alex, one of the killers, reflecting on the aftermath of the massacre. This is an intriguing fanficiton,as the thought processes of the killers are not explored in the film.

8.From the Rooftops of London is a fanfic based on P.L. Travers' children's favourite-Mary Poppins. It tell the story of an enigmatic,aloof British nanny who mysteriously appears at the household of the Banks. She then proceeds to care for the family's children entangling them in many adventures and magical situations. 'From the Rooftops of London' tells the story of Mary Poppins' life before she became a governess in the Banks' household.

9.Colorado is a short fanfiction pieced based on arguably one of the best books of the 20th century-Lolita. It tells the story of Humbert,Humbert,a middle-aged scholar who becomes obsessed with a twelve year old girl who goes by the name of,you guessed it-Lolita.Our humble narrator(as Humber,Humbert likes to call himself)marries the girl's mother in order to remain close to Lolita and then proceeds to have an affair with the prepubescent girl,once he unwittingly kills her mother.
'Colorado' is fashioned as a letter written by Humbert,Humbert as a plea for jury's mercy,after the sordid affair is discovered. Although this fanfiction doesn't offer any new twists to the novel it captures the character voice of Humbert,Humbert beautifully. Nabokov's fans will be pleasantly surprised.

10.A Golden Thing is a fan fiction based on Francesca Lia Block's whimsical, young-adult novel-Weetzie Bat,a story about a young punk girl living in altern universe-LA. She shares a flat with her gay best friend-Dirk and his boyfriend Duck. Weetzie soon encounters a genie and wishes for a 'Secret Agent Lover Man'( if you don't know who or what that is,it's up to you dear reader to find out) for herself. Adventures ensue. 'A Golden Thing' is a fanfiction written from the point of view of Dirk's grandmother-Fifi. In the duration of the fanfic she voices her concerns about Dirk's and Weetzie's frivolous lifestyle(which includes going to punk rock concerts and promiscuous sex) to her father, the genie.Basically this fanfiction explains the sudden appearance of a genie in Weetzie's and Dirk's life. 'A Golden Thing' could be an effective 'add on chapter in the novel,as it is written in Francesca Lia Block's style and the concept of the fanfic ties into the novel itself very efficiently.