"I'd always loved science fiction movies. But never did I think I could get caught up in one…"
— The Opening Paragraph of A Sci-Fi Fan's Adventure
A Sci-Fi Fan's Adventure is a fanfiction by ML Lanzillotta (aka Cececat). It's based on the 1975 cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show . The first seven chapters take place during the movie, while the rest take place over the next year or so. It stars an Original Character named Fay... who happens to be the long lost daughter of the film's infamous Creepy Crossdresser. Fay is notably one of fanfiction's few lesbian original characters.
Though most of the fanfic follows the character Fay, a subplot involving two characters from the original film (Brad and Janet) was also featured. Fay was more popular with reviewers, though.
This fanfic is much more of a Science Fiction story than the film it's based on.
It contains constant references to:
- Classic literature
- Many scenes are "borrowed" from Hamlet and quotes are taken from a lot of other plays by William Shakespeare
- The main character Fay is a bit obsessed with the 19th century novella Carmilla
- Pip is clearly based on the character of the same name from Great Expectations
- Speculative Fiction
- The fictional language spoken by aliens is actually Sindarin from The Lord of the Rings
- Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey are often referenced... mostly to show that Fay likes Science Fiction
The 27K word fanfiction was written in four days. Word of God says the author didn't sleep for much of that time.You can read it here: [1]
A Sci-Fi Fan's Adventure contains examples of:
- Continuation Fic: The Brad and Janet subplot is definitely a direct continuation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, especially since it doesn't have any original characters (except for Estella, Janet's half-alien baby who doesn't show up until the last chapter).
- Expy: Pip is basically Pip from Great Expectations... in the 1970s. Right down to the fact that he helps a person on the run from the law. Of course that person is Fay right after she killed the Queen and stowed away on a spaceship, not a convict.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Frank figures out Fay is his long lost daughter the minute he hears her name... apparently he asked his ex-lover Lenore to name any bastard kid of their's after Fay Wray. He tells her via weird physic link when he realizes (in a scene copied from the original movie) that Riffraff is going to kill him.
- Mythology Gag: ...sort of. The last line of the entire fanfic is a direct quote of the last line of the movie.Fay: I want to go to the late night, double feature, picture show.
- Running Gag:
- Save for the wedding cake at the end, the only food ever mentioned is salmon. Mostly just smoked salmon. An in-universe reason is given only once.
- Brad's cassette tape of Richard Nixon's resignation speech. In The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Janet and him listen to Richard Nixon's speech at about 11 o'clock at night in November. It later became a running joke in the scenes taking place on Earth. He's mentioned to be listening to it at least twice in scenes after the part copied from the movie.
- Shout-Out: Only three characters in The Rocky Horror Picture Show had full names and all of the names the fanfic's author invented referenced something.
Word of God explains nearly every one via Author's notes.- The character Columbia ended up with the 'real name' Laura Trent. Why? Because the film's actress was credited as 'Little Nell' and her real name is Laura Campbell. And 'Little Nell' Trent from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens was apparently the first thing the author thought of.
- Fay's long-dead mother is named after a character mentioned in a few poems Edgar Allan Poe wrote.
- The noble "Chapman Family" is named after Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame, possibly just because the author wanted to make a joke about the infamous "Find the Fish" sketch from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life in Chapter 12.The Ghost of Fay's Father: [...] The last is Chapman. Their symbol is a snake. One of my dearest friends was of the Chapman family. He died about 20 years ago, sadly. And we never did find his pet fish.
Fay: [narrating] I didn't understand the relevance of that specific person or... fish.
- Sudden Musical Ending: At the end, when Fay marries Flora, they randomly start singing "I Get a Kick Out of You" from Anything Goes.
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: Weirdly averted. When Lady Flora wants people to ignore her she dresses as a servant boy. Her love interest Fay never notices... until Lady Flora takes off the disguise and proposes marriage near the end. Nobody cares at all.
- Weddings for Everyone: In the end, Fay marries Flora and Glen marries Lady Hippolyta on the same day that Fay is crowned Queen of the Trasylvanian Empire.
