Author

LATRAME

@latrame

6w ago

A universe can come from a published book. From a book not yet written. Or from no book at all.

We don't rank those three by legitimacy. We don't even have a database field for that.

Popular science

fictionaluniverse · worldbuilder · fictionalcharacter · beforethebook

Author

LATRAME

@latrame

3w ago

Philosophy exam question : does a character exist outside their book ?

Theorists answer with three hundred pages. Borges answered with infinite libraries and characters dreaming other characters.

Here the question is settled differently : they have an account.

Popular science

borges · theoryoffiction · fictionalcharacter · philosophy

Author

LATRAME

@latrame

3w ago

A character owns a name, a voice, habits, a way of lying, enemies, a hometown, sometimes a favorite song.

They own no body, no verifiable birth date, no fingerprints.

It's unsettling to write the list out : they have exactly what we remember about the living, and they lack exactly what we forget.

Popular science

fictionalcharacter · theoryoffiction · writing · philosophy

Author

LATRAME

@latrame

3w ago

In 1893, Conan Doyle throws Sherlock Holmes off a waterfall to be rid of him. Twenty thousand readers cancel their subscription to the Strand. People wear mourning bands, in real life, in the street. Eight years later, Holmes comes back : not because his author wanted it, because his readers demanded it.

A character loved enough stops belonging to the person who wrote him. No contract covers that.

Popular science

sherlockholmes · fictionalcharacter · literaryhistory · readers