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There's one of those intermittent fanfic explosions happening on the internet. Fandom Wank has it, of course, but the summary goes something like, "porny time-travelling romance writer throws fit over people writing porny fanfic about her character based on a Dr. Who character (and her own husband? I'm not entirely clear on all the details here), likens it to seeing people sexually harass family members; writer partially recants after learning that people write fanfic because they like the stories."
I uh wow.
My two fundamental thoughts are:
* Writing in some worlds is always fanfic, even if it's the "normal" publication thereof. Arthuriana: fanfic since Malory and before! (Remember: Lancelot is a French self-insert Gary Stu.) Writing for television series? Effectively fanfic; the world is there, the characters are defined as start points, and then bunches of writers implement stories on that basis, in theory with some consistency editing. Similarly, shared world anthologies partake of the fanfic nature to me. (Yes, this means that Merlin and similar Arthuriana television show fanfic is probably the fanficciest fanfic ever.)
This is also, at least in my understanding, closer to a historical understanding of fiction as being in perpetual dialogue with other writing; the concept of "original work" as currently processed is pretty new?
* Some stories can only be told from the perspective of and in dialogue with an existing world. For a lot of things, those stories are told from the assumptions of "the real world" and thus go unmarked. A story about a Quidditch match cannot be told outside the Potterverse; I mean, in theory one could go and come up with a similarly nonsensical game for a similarly nonsensically crafted universe and build up enough worldbuilding to have it make sense, but it's much more straightforward to say, "Harry Potter world. Quidditch match. Go" rather than do all this stuff that's basically peripheral to the story. This isn't lazy worldbuilding; it's simply not reinventing the wheel.
I'm one of those people who is ... uncomfortable with fanfic focused around my characters; it is my thought that I can simply not read it, and hope that in the blessed event that it exists someday, which would mean my characters are actually published, I don't have to be subjected to it. Fanfic in worlds I create, however, is fucking fantastic. I can't populate all of that space. Worlds are big places.
These are my thinky thoughts. Maybe someday they will actually have relevance.
I uh wow.
My two fundamental thoughts are:
* Writing in some worlds is always fanfic, even if it's the "normal" publication thereof. Arthuriana: fanfic since Malory and before! (Remember: Lancelot is a French self-insert Gary Stu.) Writing for television series? Effectively fanfic; the world is there, the characters are defined as start points, and then bunches of writers implement stories on that basis, in theory with some consistency editing. Similarly, shared world anthologies partake of the fanfic nature to me. (Yes, this means that Merlin and similar Arthuriana television show fanfic is probably the fanficciest fanfic ever.)
This is also, at least in my understanding, closer to a historical understanding of fiction as being in perpetual dialogue with other writing; the concept of "original work" as currently processed is pretty new?
* Some stories can only be told from the perspective of and in dialogue with an existing world. For a lot of things, those stories are told from the assumptions of "the real world" and thus go unmarked. A story about a Quidditch match cannot be told outside the Potterverse; I mean, in theory one could go and come up with a similarly nonsensical game for a similarly nonsensically crafted universe and build up enough worldbuilding to have it make sense, but it's much more straightforward to say, "Harry Potter world. Quidditch match. Go" rather than do all this stuff that's basically peripheral to the story. This isn't lazy worldbuilding; it's simply not reinventing the wheel.
I'm one of those people who is ... uncomfortable with fanfic focused around my characters; it is my thought that I can simply not read it, and hope that in the blessed event that it exists someday, which would mean my characters are actually published, I don't have to be subjected to it. Fanfic in worlds I create, however, is fucking fantastic. I can't populate all of that space. Worlds are big places.
These are my thinky thoughts. Maybe someday they will actually have relevance.
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From:
no subject
I haven't read fanfic based on stuff I've done, but I've come close - I've seen someone make connections about characters I wrote and then make bald assertions that "this is the only way to interpret the situation!" And it's really frustrating when I come across his bullshit because that was most assuredly not my interpretation when writing said situation and because he's twisting what I said to fit his fanwank. And because he's being such a jerk about doing so.
From:
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From:
no subject
THIS yes THIS. 'Fanfic' stems from the, heh, legal fiction of perpetual copyright. Whereas people sharing (often smutty) stories about the same characters and the same magical logic is normal human culture. It's also a great way to reinterpret and interrogate culture, and to experiment with it. (And, here are these oddbods insisting that people should not write at all if they are not good enough and determined enough to produce entire books that use their own worldbuilding and their own characters...while fandom is sat over there saying 'come on in, everyone can do this!' One of these things represents a shared creative culture, the other does not.)
I'm not going to list the reasons why this pearl-clutching is ridiculous - I am sure you have heard them all before - but what gets me is, the only people you ever hear this from are novelists. There are very few bookfandoms (that don't have film/TV adaptations) that are large enough to sustain themselves on the internet. Offhand I could name only three (and in two of those cases the novelist in question has requested that readers not post fanfic online). Fanfic as a great communal enterprise is almost always about TV series, films and videogames, yet the copyright-holders of these things aren't prone to having hissy fits about it. I am honestly not sure why this is the case, and most of my guesses on the subject are uncharitable.
/goes back to writing lesbian porn about videogame characters
From:
no subject
The thing is, I know these are blatant self-insertion slashfics driven by the fact that I am fertile. They are not intended for publication. Heck, they're not intended to be finished! I mean, the universe really does not need a balrog/smurf/carebear BDSM slashfic with marshmallow fluff featuring prominently.
Having said that, I can understand the unease one would have around people ficcing with published characters - you can't look at it, as the author, lest you be slapped with a plot-stealing lawsuit of stupidity which would take time away from your writing.
From:
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"In summary: I am not a precious sparkly unicorn who is obsessed with the purity of his characters -- rather, I am a glittery and avaricious dragon who is jealous of his steaming pile of gold. If you do not steal the dragon's gold, the dragon will leave you alone. Offer to bring the dragon more gold and the dragon will be your friend."
From:
no subject
From:
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There's someone genuinely appreciating and playing around with your work, maybe an amateur author/artist getting their feet wet by borrowing. Then, there's someone who's turned it into an inappropriate fetish, and that's when copyright law seems like a good option.
From: (Anonymous)
no subject
What a view....it locked me into evil heretical giggling.