LUNACY'S FAN FICTION REVIEWS
DEFINITIONS
maintained by lunacy@dc.seflin.org
Last updated:
02/14/01
Included on this page are definitions of some common terms you may come across in the world of fan fiction - specifically those most commonly found in Xena and Star Trek Voyager Fan Fiction.
Also make sure to visit Cmshaw's excellent a href="http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/6930/">FANFIC page for additional definitions, including ones for terms not listed below. Cmshaw is a fan of STAR TREK, HIGHLANDER, X-FILES and THE SENTINEL but features definitions for many of the same terms commonly used in XWP fanfic.
"Uber" is a German term that literally means "over" but which is used in academia to refer to the fundamental essence of a concept or an idea or a character. An Uber-Xena story is one which takes the ESSENCE of the characters in XWP and places these in another time, another place, another reality. The TV series itself provided us with its own Uber-Xena episode in the XENA SCROLLS. A story involving the characters of Mel and Janice *is* an Uber-Xena story because these characters retain essential qualities of the original Xena and Gabrielle while existing in another time (1940's). In an Uber-Xena story, the characters do not have to be mirror images of the originals they are based on - both physically and spiritually there could be differences but again, the ESSENCE of the originals must be there. Taking Mel and Janice as examples once again - Mel is very different from Xena as is Janice from Gabrielle but three things define them as Uber representations - Mel and Janice resemble their ancestors physically, they are identified as being descendants of the warrior and bard, and they share the same type of bond. The Xena and Gab representations in an Uber-Xena generally resemble the originals although they don't have to look exactly like them. In most Uber-Xena stories they are presented as either descendants of the warrior and bard or reincarnations but again these aren't prerequisites. Suffice it to say that if you're a fan of the TV series, the characters in an Uber-Xena story will be familiar to you even if they aren't exactly Xena and/or Gabrielle.
As fanfic has evolved, we've been seeing more and more stories which blur the line of what is considered "uber". There are stories that have the Xena or Gab from Ancient Greece becoming immortal and living on into the present. There are stories where the reincarnations suddenly remember who they once were and become Xena or Gab. For the purposes of my fanfic reviews, in terms of the physical, if the body involved in a story is the original one from Ancient Greece then I do not consider that uber - that's simply an immortal Xena or Gab. If it's a different body then I look at the soul's personality and memories. If the character remembers every single thing from Ancient Greece and her personality was formed during that period then I lean toward NOT uber. If the personality is very much a product of the more modern environment and there are only a few or no memories of the past, then I will tend to see it as uber.
For the purposes of my reviews also let me add that I may review stories as "uber-Xena" even if the writer did not intend them that way or presented them as such. If they come across as uber-Xena to ME and I feel they might also to other Xenites then I'll include them in my uber section but this in no way means the specific stories are not original tales with characters and storylines exclusively owned by the respective authors.
Alternative Reviews: |
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General Reviews: |
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Uber-Xena and Original Fiction Reviews: |
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Holiday Tales: |
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