Stephanie Eberhard

When Lesh was bored with his first choice avatar he decides to try some other race and was enamored with a female elven avatar- the complete opposite of his original orc warrior. At first, it seems Lesh is crushing on his sexy lady character but then, he grows to appreciate manipulating male avatars to help “her” navigate the quests while still remaining intact. A creative twist on exploring gender stereotypes, I found the situation similar but more cost effective than paying to gain levels as inexperienced and impatient players did in For the Win by Doctorow. Some commenters of Nick Yee’s article agreed with this strategy in one way or another (Noah Rosenberg and Tyler York).

To start, I appreciated the fantasy storyline much more in fangirl. I found the in-game narrative annoying when I was influenced by the falsetto voice of the audio book actor. However, when I shifted to the e-book version read with my own internal voice, it was much better. It distracted me rather than be a feature of someone else’s that was expressed in the comments of Nick Yee’s article when they speak of the character as not themselves but a part of interactive fiction (Randal Truong). “Quora User” asserts how playing a different gender is more effective to disassociate himself and be totally immersed in a life others theorize they could never have. These reasons could describe why role-playing on table top or online is enticing; fantasizing about being someone/something else is an invigorating way to spend time in one physically limited location.

The protagonist Cath is endearing, quirky, and damaged. We are told she is a talented author and I didn’t seem to mentally fight that assertion. Her writing had more imagery and British character accents but besides those differ

The protagonist Cath is endearing, quirky, and damaged. We are told she is a talented author and I didn’t seem to mentally fight that assertion. Her writing had more imagery and British character accents but besides those differences, the writing style didn’t seem to shift back and forth. Ironically, the antagonist is her twin sister but I was grateful that storyline was not as prominent nor was the boy troubles. That allowed me to enjoy the book as entertaining serio-comedy instead of exhausting melodrama. For me, it is the internal antagonist, Cath’s fears and anxiety, that maintains my interest as the constant conflict.

Cath’s soothing and invigorating fan fic passion is interesting although the consistent similarities to Harry Potter with slight Twilight touches irked me. I wish the early scene about plagiarism between Cath and Professor Piper was longer and the follow up scenes more developed but that wouldn’t serve the novel as written I suppose. Overall, the characterization of different forms of literacy were insightful and engaging. Levi’s use of audiobooks/lecture recordings, Nick’s strict paper writing rule, and Cath’s internet community for her fan fic as well as academic writing episodes and progresses were fascinating.

Also underdeveloped but referenced or thrown out at times was Cath’s relationships with her internet community. She was cool and/or covert about bumping into fans and establishing new ones (with Levi); I imagine, due to the appeal of her work online. She revels in the anonymity of it as does some of my student writers. Yet, she did enjoy the recognition in her Fiction-Writing class with Prof. Piper and Nick so I wonder how those two feelings will continue to collide. And, she considers her online community “friends” and defends that title when challenged by Reagan. Yet, they are clearly not on the same level as she does not express her affinity for another fan fic author’s work, nor does she connect with anyone else about writing Carry On Simon besides her past with Wren. Therefore, she is elevating that relationship from reader/commentor/fan to friend without a symbiotic connection. I wonder if she is using this term as a defense mechanism or a true sentiment.