fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #480 ]

⌈ Secret Post #480 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 08 pages, 193 secrets from Secret Submission Post #069.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - more whining ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I didn't say you were a troll for not liking fanfic. I said you were a troll for the arrogant, judgemental way you expressed your dislike. Like this fun bit, for example:
Go out and write something original

Ah, of course. I enjoy fanfic, so that means that I obviously don't write original stuff. I do. Cue the typical, geek-girl moment of "Omigosh, I'm so writing my novel/comic/epic play/whatever." I'm an artist. I revel in the creation of ideas. All the time. Although actually, right now, my job search requires me to more or less write fanfiction. Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, etc don't want to see pages of my original stuff in my portfolio, they want to see me tell a story with their characters, and bonus points if I can write the story myself. Which brings up your "exception being corporate creations" clause that you slide in there.
Where's the exception? There's fanfic out there for Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Marvel, DC, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, etc. And then there's novels of that. But the Star Trek ones weren't written by Gene Roddenberry. The average Star Wars novel is far too good to be by George Lucas. The original writers of the series certainly didn't write the Doctor Who novels. But that's okay because they're "corporate." See, that doesn't make sense. It's still fanfic. It is still, regardless of officialness, a fan (and yes, they're fans) taking characters and worlds that do not belong to them, and writing their own situations and ideas for them. Sometimes they suck, sometimes they rock, just like regular, unofficial fanfiction.

The fact that you "cannot understand" is really the bit that seems arrogant. I'm not sure why, but it sure sounds like you think you're so much better than us. Why is it considered an expression of love. Well, let's look at that childhood thing. Lovely way to miss the point. The point was it's FUN. It's fun when you're a kid, and it's still fun now. (Go play on the swings. Believe it or not, that's still fun too, whatever your age.) People put their stuff on the internet because they want to share it with their friends. And "friends" extends to anyone in the same fandom.
But then, how can you explain "fun." I guess it's like if someone just hated, I don't know, dance, or gymnastics or knitting. You can explain how great it is to them, but they're not going to get it.

You're entitled to your opinion. Like I said, it's your arrogant attitude in accusing us of insulting the original work that I take issue with. I'm not calling you a troll because of your opinion (hey, look at my response to #1 up there. We differed in opinions too, because honestly, I absolutely love those movies). I called you a troll because of the way you expressed that opinion. If you can't tell the difference...well, I'm not particularly surprised.

In terms of corporate creation (Dragonlance novels, etc.) the rights were sold by the original creator, or they in some way provided consent, which is the point here - if the creator's cool with it, no problem. I personally don't feel that they're valid submissions to an existing body of work, but hey, that's my own problem. The example I had in mind was a corporate multimedia creation, like .hack.

Not being able to understand something seems arrogant? I submitted the secret for the sole purpose of trying to understand it, given I knew fanfic writers would provide (hopefully comprehensible) feedback, although it seems half the people in this community acquired their communication skills from 4chan.

The insult is inherent in the appropriation factor, as loving something does not make it yours. Maybe I'm weird, but I feel that I would not be able to fully understand (and in turn, write) characters that are not mine. It's like...unwanted intimate touching, an invasive action.

Thank you though, for taking the time to write a respectful reply, even if we don't agree.

Ah, okay, I get your problem. See, fanfic writers do not think that their fandom belongs to them. That whole "loving something does not make it yours" is the bit...that's where I think we're tripping up. For one thing, when an author requests that there be no fanfiction, like, say, Anne McCaffery, fans will oblige. They may grumble a bit, but they'll find that they can't post on ff.n.

Second is this concept that a story is a thing, a solid noun that can be kept by one person. I'm of the Russell T. Davies school of thought (or maybe the Neil Gaiman school of thought) where a story is a living, breathing thing that goes out into the world, and once that's done, it's not exactly the creator's anymore. Not that it doesn't belong to them, it certainly does. But regardless of that creatorship, they don't have control over what the fans see in the story. RTD mentioned a throw-away line in an episode of Doctor Who where the Master mentioned that he was present when the Daleks "took control of the Citadel." He said that he had a very clear idea of what that meant, but that it was never going to get shown. He then said that a couple thousand people saw that episode, and so now, there were a couple thousand ideas as to what that meant, and that was the beauty of telling a story--everyone's going to see it differently.
And that's the truth. Everyone will see a plot, line, character, or relationship a little differently. Fanfiction is certainly not an invasive action (although at this point, I'm tempted to chalk it up to the same thing as talking with my mum, and acknowledge that our brains just work on completely different wavelengths, and yours confuses and frightens me not just a bit). For one, most authors just don't read fic of their stories (for legal reasons). But it also doesn't infringe upon canon at all. Canon still sits there, pristine and untouched, for all that someone wrote a fic about Harry and Draco meeting in the Room of Requirements one night. And the number one arguement is simply, if you don't like it, don't read it.

And again with the arrogance thing--it is not that you don't understand or have a differing opinion. It is the way you express that.

[ SECRET POST #480 ]

Re: 7.

Re: 7.

Re: 7.