thoughts on visual fanwork in two very different fandoms

[isiscolo]

I figure with everyone away at Vividcon I can post about my shameful little secret, which is: I don't really like (most) vids. I have been thinking about this a lot lately, because SGA has a lot of vidders and a lot of vids, and also because it has led me into some tangential thoughts about fanart and other visual derivatives

Comments

[angiepen]

I agree, although it's more than that. For me, most songfics are an exercise in self-indulgence on the part of the writer. Fangirl hears a song, song makes her think of her favorite character(s) in some intensely emotional way. Fangirl writes songfic, half or more of the verbage of which is the song lyrics, and the main point of which is to communicate, "Hey, I heard this song and it made me think about how angsty/slashy/frustrated/whatever Joe and Bob are!" Guess what, hon? I don't care. [shrug] The writer of a songfic very rarely in my experience adds anything significant to the emotional content of the story besides what was already in the song itself, and needless to say most songfics have no plot whatsoever. To me, songfics are essentially the same as vids only with added words instead of added pictures, and the words serving essentially the same function (i.e., not much more than the creator saying, "Hey, look what this song reminded me of!") as the pictures in a vid.

The reason I liked that one HP story, though, is that the lyrics were part of the story. Yes, they were obtrusive, in that they stuck out, but they were meant to, for a reason, which to me makes it work. The lyrics weren't just a gimmick or a crutch; they were an integral part of the story, which wouldn't have worked at all without them. I just wish I could remember what it was called and where I found it. :/

Angie