Can't stop the signal

[merryish]

I was just ranting to a few friends in a chat room about some of the comments on an old Making Light post ("Fanfic": force of nature) and on the recent boingboing entry on OTW (Organization for Transformative Works: defend fandom!).

Comments

[aka_arduinna]

Fan fiction as it exists (mostly online) today is inextricably tied to the fannish culture it's created for. While it may succeed outside of fandom, it isn't written for that purpose. It's written as part of an ongoing conversation between the fan writer and other members of fandom. It's not just a creative work; it's a cultural communication, as well. What sort of boggles me is that any pro SF/F writer does the same thing, so why don't they get that about fanfic

[lydiabell]

That, plus fanfic is a big game of "what if"? Starting with "What if John were in love with Rodney" is not really different from those conversations that start with "What if Superman and Batman got in a fight? Who would win?" But the latter is socially acceptable (well, in geek terms,anyway) while the former is somehow the End of the World.

[lavenderfrost]

What if Superman and Batman got in a fight?

Or, "what if Batman and Spiderman teamed up???"

Not only is it ok, it gets PUBLISHED. A LOT. Hell, I *own* at least 2 or 3 BatSpider comics. Not to mention the Justice League kthnx.

[seperis]

When you get right down to it, "John wants Rodney" is the same thing as "the ship has a hyperdrive". It's just a way of not having to start every story from absolute scratch, reinventing the wheel every. damn. time.

That's a *fantastic* way to put it.

Here by way of metafandom

[turlough]

Hear, hear! As someone who started her fandom career in offline sf fandom many decades ago this particular aspect of the debate never ceases to amuse me :-)

[amonitrate]

(Oh, wait, that's Dune, isn't it?)

mwah ha ha ha!

srsly, great comment. That part tickled me though.

You know what?

[hmpf]

That's totally the Paul Atreides Kyle MacLachlan you have in your icon there.

(@ OP: sorry for the spam.)

Re: You know what?

[amonitrate]

ooo.

It's been ages since I saw Lynch's DUNE. I know it had major problems, but KM was perfect as Paul. SO much better for the role than the guy in the Sci Fi channel version.