I suppose, all things considered, this shouldn't make a difference to me, but ...

[ladybug_archive]

As is the case with I imagine a lot of the characters from Daniel Boone, the character in the Bitter Mission episode is a thinly-veiled version of a real person. I've definitely heard of James Wilkinson in history, but it didn't register with me in the episode because they modified his name slightly (Wilkerson). Although when I was first typing the first entry involving the episode, I originally typed Wilkenson.

Anyway, with that as the case, part of me feels a bit uncomfortable at the thought of writing fanfic involving the character. Which I suppose is ridiculous given that the titular character of the show himself is based on a real person. But it seems a little different with Boone, since he's passed so heavily into legend.

The real Wilkinson seems to have remained heavily involved in treachery up to his dying day. And he never was found guilty during his lifetime of the many charges brought against him. He would have also been younger at the time period of the episode than his fictional counterpart was.

The fictional Wilkerson seems to be very repentant at the end, and as mentioned, it was strongly implied that he was going to die for his crimes---or at least, that he thought he would. Despite the treachery he committed, overall he seems a much more admirable person than his real-life counterpart.

My question is, Should I feel alright writing fanfic involving him, since he is fictitious, even though he was heavily based on a real person? There seems to be enough fictional material in there that he really became his own person.

And I think Daniel Boone needs a tag now....

Comments

[rose-of-pollux.livejournal.com]

Aha, I know the feeling. My version of Sethos draws a lot from the real one, but I guess the 3000-year-old distance helps to make it a little less weird... but only a little. Maybe that's why I can't get motivated to work on "The Girl from Ijtahwy"... But yeah, since YGO-verse Sethos technically is fictitious, he is still writable.

And if it helps to clear any doubts, considering you've written for the Monkees and Carmen and put those guys through quite a bit (and yes, I'm guilty as charged for the latter...), a fic involving Wilkerson repenting and just serving five years seems mild. XD;

And there are some in the Hogan's Heroes fandom who do bring historical figures into their fics. I never would, but there was an amusing story someone wrote where Newkirk tells the story of how he yoinked a bottle of champagne from Churchill's hotel room just before he was drafted. XD

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's hard for me to think of the YGO Sethos as being the same as a historical person. I think it was your own concept to make him be the Pharaoh from real-life, wasn't it? For me he's completely fictitious. But, yeah, maybe since you have him be the historical Sethos, that's why you're having trouble.

With The Monkees, at least, it feels vastly different. They definitely are fictitious on the show. And the real-life Monkees are aware of the fans' stories. Micky has even said (where, I would love to know) that he reads and is both embarrassed and amused by the slash fics. So I don't really worry about writing anything about those characters.

With Rockapella, the line is very blurred about what's fictitious and what's not. I chose to say they were fictitious on the show, but I can't say that really is the case. And largely because of that, I do feel highly uncomfortable writing for them. Sean's amusement notwithstanding.

I don't think I could ever feel brave enough to write historical fiction novels where real people play huge parts. I would live in terror that I would be writing them incorrectly. But something like that Hogan's Heroes fic sounds a lot different, unless the person had Churchill say a lot in it.

Daniel Boone is probably my one exception where I'd be willing to write for historical people. It's already an established fandom, and as I mentioned, Boone himself has passed so largely into legend that he feels larger-than-life to me in some ways, half-real and half-fictitious.

I suppose if I can just think in terms of the show, and that Wilkerson is not the same person as Wilkinson, just inspired by him, I could maybe relax and write. Him repenting seems to be canon, at least. I still think I need to try running the question past little_details to see if anyone else has insight on whether he might survive the outcome of the court-martial.

[rose-of-pollux.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was more my own thing. XD;

Oh, wow, I had no idea that Micky read fic. Cool.

Sean's amusement notwithstanding.

...Dang, I need to finish that fanart... Thanks for reminding me!

For me, using titles instead of names definitely helps to blur the lines. Yes.

Well, good luck with the Wilkerson, though. ^^ I hope you can write it!