Fans are promiscuous
I was going to whine like I usually do about work, but I had an epiphany re: my job today. I spend all my time trying to get people to give me information that they don't have/can't find/don't want to give me. I am resisted and thwarted all day long, every day by pretty much everyone I come into contact with, and it is, in fact, my job to be resisted and thwarted all day long by everyone I come into contact with. That's why I was hired. I don't have good days at work because I can't. I feel better having made my peace with that.
***
OKAY. So Phoenix Rising.
I did not take notes at the panel on Saturday. Right before I left my house, I remember thinking that I really should grab something to take notes with/on, and then I didn't do it. I've been kicking myself for that. And then I waited two days to write anything down at all, so yeah, I am, unfortunately, operating from memory.
Firstly, I'm glad that I didn't actually register for the conference. It was weird being at a con like that for a fandom that wasn't my fandom. I love HP, but I don't really love it fannishly (except for my H/D fic thing) and I didn't really know anyone and being in a fannish context like that, but not really in it made me miss you guys. There is no QUESTION that I'm going to the next Writercon, no matter what it takes. Seriously. (There were a couple of times when I almost called one of you, but I don't really have that many phone numbers and those that I do have, I don't talk to on the phone all that often, so that would have been weird? *sigh* I should just break down and get an instant messenger). There was all this crazy, buzzing, intense fannish energy, and I just . . . really don't care about Severus Snape, you know?
The panel was at the Aquarium of the Americas, which I hadn't been to since the storm. I was pretty surprised to see that it looked exactly the same as the last time I was there. That was nice to see on the one hand, and weird and kind of surreal on the other because they lost most of the fish and some of the other animals, and it took them quite awhile to reopen.
The panel consisted of the site runners of The Leaky Cauldron, The Sugar Quill and Fiction Alley, along with Henry Jenkins. The moderator was a woman named Catherine Tosenberg who wrote her dissertation on HP fanfic (talk about academic validation) and probably does all kinds of other things in that fandom that I wouldn't know about because of the whole not-my-fandom thing. (Or not my central relationship with a text, as Prof. Jenkins would put it).
The discussion started off with fannish history - "when Kirk and Spock roamed the Earth" - Catherine Tosenberg. There was a lot of interest in placing Harry Potter in the greater fannish-historical context, and a lot of enthusiasm about being part of fan culture at this "singular moment in history" when the series is still unfinished. They talked about how the internet changed fandom. In pre-internet fandom, there was a system of mentorship involved in fic writing, as well as some built-in quality control. You had to find your way to not just a con, but the right con where people were talking about fanfic, and you had to find the right people to talk to and basically had to be invited to publish your fic. The internet changed that because for the first time, fans could find fandom on their own without knowing other fans, and generally started to find fandom at a much younger age. Of course, most of you probably know that. I'd known that, but I hadn't thought about it, since I've really only ever had one in-depth discussion with someone who was really active in a pre-internet fandom. The influx of new fans happened so quickly and made the reaction time so much quicker than it had been, that at first you had a lot of fans acting without knowledge of fannish norms, which led to a burst of new creativity, new fannish norms, and things that had been previously "unficcable" becoming popular. (They mentioned RPS and incest-fic). I found that interesting because one of the things I value about fandom the most is the gleefully subversive impulse to constantly push the envelope and see how insane and cracked out we can be (with, of course, tongue-in-cheek self-awareness being a key part of that), and they definitely implied that there used to be a lot more self-censoring going on. That makes perfect sense when you're publishing 'zines, and it makes perfect sense that it would change with the internet where we can "publish" anything we want, but I hadn't really thought about it before.
In pre-internet fandom there was, apparently, no word for "Jossed," nor did there need to be because that was the default state of things. This is the first time that the fandom has actually been able to keep up with the canon and respond to each other, and often the text, instantaneously. We can write episode reactions in the commercial breaks ("As my friends in Supernatural fandom were doing on Thursday" - Henry Jenkins. And the crowd goes wild). Of course, that changed feedback on fic too, which is now instantaneous as well, probably leading to more badfic. Well, obviously leading to more badfic without the built in quality control, but there is still a system of mentorship. New fans no longer need someone to show them how to find fandom, but they do need someone to show them how to be in fandom.
Of course, a book fandom is different than a television fandom, since they have years between infusions of new canon. Catherine Tosenberg hypothesized that that's why HP fights get so nasty and wanky and that's why they have the reputation that they do - they have to wait forever, so they can just sit around having the same arguments and discussions over and over and over. Prof. Jenkins made the old joke about academia - that the fights are so intense because the stakes are so low, and then said it's even worse in fandom because the stakes are even lower. (My dad says the same thing about church work). In the early days of HP fandom, apparently the most popular 'ships were Harry/Hermione and Draco/anyone. The first I would not have guessed, since from my perspective outside the fandom is that Harry/Hermione is a fairly unpopular pairing, but that could just be Harmonion fall-out and I am outside the fandom. Draco/anyone I totally would have guessed.
However, that does drive home the point that what is mainstream in a particular fandom depends on where you're standing. In the bigger fandoms (like HP), getting into a new ship can be like entering an entirely different fandom. From where I'm standing in the Jossverse, I see a lot of B/A, a lot of Spike and slash, slash everywhere. Is that mainstream for BtVS/AtS fandom? I have no idea. And that says interesting things about the importance of blogging in the greater fanosphere, since we now can tailor our flist so specifically to our interests that it's difficult to tell what "mainstream" is, if it even exists. (I also think that shows like Supernatural are an interesting case because it has to be by nature so much more cohesive. There are only two characters - sure there's the wincest-gen divide, and some people care more about John, but still, it's difficult to form factions the same way. It sort of makes me wish I'd actually been in X-Files fandom to see how that worked back then since it had a similar set-up. Huh.)
Henry Jenkins wrote about the fanboy/fangirl divide in his blog recently, and that came up in the discussion, along with the way that the line between media producer and media consumer is slowly breaking down. I guess Time had an article recently about the all-powerful fanboy without acknowledging fangirl culture at all. (Aside: Writercon was the first time I realized how distinct fanboy and fangirl culture really are. But they really, really are). He's uncomfortable with the way that fangirls are being written out of the story because we're coming to a point where there is a lot of power in the fan culture. The woman who runs The Leaky Cauldron reported on The Order of the Phoenix movie and said that they now have two whole fan days for reporters from fan sites, and when she started she would be the only fan reporter in a room full of mainstream media. They brought up the way that Supernatural's previouslies are essentially fanvids and seem to be a nod to fangirl culture. Apparently when Lord of the Rings was airing on TBS, the promo was essentially a Frodo/Samwise slash vid. The copyright holders are aware of fan culture - both fanboy and fangirl - and know that they need to know how to market to us. Rowling is apparently very permissive of fan sites and fan culture, going so far as to acknowledge different sites on her blog, though not so far as to acknowledge fanfic (which everyone agrees is for the best). Apparently there was a run-in with TPTB in the Potterverse awhile back when people running fansites, mainly teenagers, got "cease and desist" letters and fought back. I don't understand the full context of what happened because I was in a room full of people who were already familiar with the situation, but I guess TPTB ended up backing down because they understand how important the fandom is, and now they're fairly permissive.
The idea of fanfic for money came up, and though no one specifically mentioned fanlib, I imagine people were thinking it. The consensus is still that that's a bad, bad and probably unworkable idea, but it always surprises me when anyone seems enthusiastic about it. Can I just reiterate how the idea absolutely makes my skin crawl? I think we would lose the gleeful subversion and creativity, but even more than that, I think we would lose the community. Right now we exist in a fannish safe space, in the margin, with this free-floating exchange of ideas and a kind of shared consciousness. I don't see how introducing profit into it could do anything but kill that. I just don't.
They also talked about fanfiction as a niche product, and the way in which fanfic readers/writers generally exist outside the target audience of a particular text - female action fans or adult readers of children's literature, they latch on to subtext that exists in the margin. I would say more about that, except Prof. Jenkins already blogged on it, so just go there.
fan fiction represents the ultimate niche product -- one which emerges from a subculture, even if that subculture is now producing and circulating fan fiction on a scale which would have been unimaginable to those of us who first starting writing academic work on fan fiction almost two decades ago. The internet has increased the scale and expanded the distribution of fan produced content. Reading and writing fan fiction may not yet be a "mainstream" activity but it is starting to push the limits of our conception of what constitutes niche success.
Someone who was clearly new to fandom asked if fans "migrate" from one fandom to another. Prof. Jenkins said that they absolutely do, but that even more than that, fans are promiscuous. I kind of loved that.
The question that I wanted to ask and didn't, since I was in a room full of HP fangirls and Henry Jenkins and so got intimidated and wussed out, was about Harry Potter fanboy culture, if there even is one. songgirl12 and I had been talking about that earlier while we were watching Quidditch and discussing the fanboy/fangirl divide (like you do?). Fangirl culture is by nature so much more speculative than fanboy culture, that's one of the divisive characteristics, and HP is not Star Trek or Lord of the Rings - it's a text that I think requires that kind of speculation to take it into the fannish, adult level.
They led with a conversation about how the panelists became fannish - boredom and maintaining sanity were important themes and that got me thinking. I make posts occasionally about my fannish history, and there are ways in which fandom saved me. I don't care that that sounds extreme because it's true. I'm not exaggerating. I found fandom because I had to, and I don't like to think about what would have happened if I hadn't. I was fucking nuts guys; I needed this community - and I have more to say on that, and I may have some questions for you all, but this is probably not that post.
So it was pretty cool. Yay for HP cons in my backyard. It does make me want to go to cons in my fandoms, though.
***
On an semi-unrelated note - fandom can be so fantastic and so utterly batshit. I spent all weekend watching it be kind of awesome and talking to my friends about how in fandom we are just really so much more awesome than other people. (For a seriously geeky value of "more awesome"). I was being facetious, but only a little bit. I came back to wank, but honestly I missed most of it and I'm not going to weigh in here for the sake of weighing in, except to say that words have power and yes, using "rape" to mean *anything* except, well, rape is highly offensive, and not apologizing when called on it is more so, and I don't think that saying that constitutes bullying. My flist is full of strong, intelligent and articulate women. I missed you all this weekend, and I'm proud to know you.
***
OKAY. So Phoenix Rising.
I did not take notes at the panel on Saturday. Right before I left my house, I remember thinking that I really should grab something to take notes with/on, and then I didn't do it. I've been kicking myself for that. And then I waited two days to write anything down at all, so yeah, I am, unfortunately, operating from memory.
Firstly, I'm glad that I didn't actually register for the conference. It was weird being at a con like that for a fandom that wasn't my fandom. I love HP, but I don't really love it fannishly (except for my H/D fic thing) and I didn't really know anyone and being in a fannish context like that, but not really in it made me miss you guys. There is no QUESTION that I'm going to the next Writercon, no matter what it takes. Seriously. (There were a couple of times when I almost called one of you, but I don't really have that many phone numbers and those that I do have, I don't talk to on the phone all that often, so that would have been weird? *sigh* I should just break down and get an instant messenger). There was all this crazy, buzzing, intense fannish energy, and I just . . . really don't care about Severus Snape, you know?
The panel was at the Aquarium of the Americas, which I hadn't been to since the storm. I was pretty surprised to see that it looked exactly the same as the last time I was there. That was nice to see on the one hand, and weird and kind of surreal on the other because they lost most of the fish and some of the other animals, and it took them quite awhile to reopen.
The panel consisted of the site runners of The Leaky Cauldron, The Sugar Quill and Fiction Alley, along with Henry Jenkins. The moderator was a woman named Catherine Tosenberg who wrote her dissertation on HP fanfic (talk about academic validation) and probably does all kinds of other things in that fandom that I wouldn't know about because of the whole not-my-fandom thing. (Or not my central relationship with a text, as Prof. Jenkins would put it).
The discussion started off with fannish history - "when Kirk and Spock roamed the Earth" - Catherine Tosenberg. There was a lot of interest in placing Harry Potter in the greater fannish-historical context, and a lot of enthusiasm about being part of fan culture at this "singular moment in history" when the series is still unfinished. They talked about how the internet changed fandom. In pre-internet fandom, there was a system of mentorship involved in fic writing, as well as some built-in quality control. You had to find your way to not just a con, but the right con where people were talking about fanfic, and you had to find the right people to talk to and basically had to be invited to publish your fic. The internet changed that because for the first time, fans could find fandom on their own without knowing other fans, and generally started to find fandom at a much younger age. Of course, most of you probably know that. I'd known that, but I hadn't thought about it, since I've really only ever had one in-depth discussion with someone who was really active in a pre-internet fandom. The influx of new fans happened so quickly and made the reaction time so much quicker than it had been, that at first you had a lot of fans acting without knowledge of fannish norms, which led to a burst of new creativity, new fannish norms, and things that had been previously "unficcable" becoming popular. (They mentioned RPS and incest-fic). I found that interesting because one of the things I value about fandom the most is the gleefully subversive impulse to constantly push the envelope and see how insane and cracked out we can be (with, of course, tongue-in-cheek self-awareness being a key part of that), and they definitely implied that there used to be a lot more self-censoring going on. That makes perfect sense when you're publishing 'zines, and it makes perfect sense that it would change with the internet where we can "publish" anything we want, but I hadn't really thought about it before.
In pre-internet fandom there was, apparently, no word for "Jossed," nor did there need to be because that was the default state of things. This is the first time that the fandom has actually been able to keep up with the canon and respond to each other, and often the text, instantaneously. We can write episode reactions in the commercial breaks ("As my friends in Supernatural fandom were doing on Thursday" - Henry Jenkins. And the crowd goes wild). Of course, that changed feedback on fic too, which is now instantaneous as well, probably leading to more badfic. Well, obviously leading to more badfic without the built in quality control, but there is still a system of mentorship. New fans no longer need someone to show them how to find fandom, but they do need someone to show them how to be in fandom.
Of course, a book fandom is different than a television fandom, since they have years between infusions of new canon. Catherine Tosenberg hypothesized that that's why HP fights get so nasty and wanky and that's why they have the reputation that they do - they have to wait forever, so they can just sit around having the same arguments and discussions over and over and over. Prof. Jenkins made the old joke about academia - that the fights are so intense because the stakes are so low, and then said it's even worse in fandom because the stakes are even lower. (My dad says the same thing about church work). In the early days of HP fandom, apparently the most popular 'ships were Harry/Hermione and Draco/anyone. The first I would not have guessed, since from my perspective outside the fandom is that Harry/Hermione is a fairly unpopular pairing, but that could just be Harmonion fall-out and I am outside the fandom. Draco/anyone I totally would have guessed.
However, that does drive home the point that what is mainstream in a particular fandom depends on where you're standing. In the bigger fandoms (like HP), getting into a new ship can be like entering an entirely different fandom. From where I'm standing in the Jossverse, I see a lot of B/A, a lot of Spike and slash, slash everywhere. Is that mainstream for BtVS/AtS fandom? I have no idea. And that says interesting things about the importance of blogging in the greater fanosphere, since we now can tailor our flist so specifically to our interests that it's difficult to tell what "mainstream" is, if it even exists. (I also think that shows like Supernatural are an interesting case because it has to be by nature so much more cohesive. There are only two characters - sure there's the wincest-gen divide, and some people care more about John, but still, it's difficult to form factions the same way. It sort of makes me wish I'd actually been in X-Files fandom to see how that worked back then since it had a similar set-up. Huh.)
Henry Jenkins wrote about the fanboy/fangirl divide in his blog recently, and that came up in the discussion, along with the way that the line between media producer and media consumer is slowly breaking down. I guess Time had an article recently about the all-powerful fanboy without acknowledging fangirl culture at all. (Aside: Writercon was the first time I realized how distinct fanboy and fangirl culture really are. But they really, really are). He's uncomfortable with the way that fangirls are being written out of the story because we're coming to a point where there is a lot of power in the fan culture. The woman who runs The Leaky Cauldron reported on The Order of the Phoenix movie and said that they now have two whole fan days for reporters from fan sites, and when she started she would be the only fan reporter in a room full of mainstream media. They brought up the way that Supernatural's previouslies are essentially fanvids and seem to be a nod to fangirl culture. Apparently when Lord of the Rings was airing on TBS, the promo was essentially a Frodo/Samwise slash vid. The copyright holders are aware of fan culture - both fanboy and fangirl - and know that they need to know how to market to us. Rowling is apparently very permissive of fan sites and fan culture, going so far as to acknowledge different sites on her blog, though not so far as to acknowledge fanfic (which everyone agrees is for the best). Apparently there was a run-in with TPTB in the Potterverse awhile back when people running fansites, mainly teenagers, got "cease and desist" letters and fought back. I don't understand the full context of what happened because I was in a room full of people who were already familiar with the situation, but I guess TPTB ended up backing down because they understand how important the fandom is, and now they're fairly permissive.
The idea of fanfic for money came up, and though no one specifically mentioned fanlib, I imagine people were thinking it. The consensus is still that that's a bad, bad and probably unworkable idea, but it always surprises me when anyone seems enthusiastic about it. Can I just reiterate how the idea absolutely makes my skin crawl? I think we would lose the gleeful subversion and creativity, but even more than that, I think we would lose the community. Right now we exist in a fannish safe space, in the margin, with this free-floating exchange of ideas and a kind of shared consciousness. I don't see how introducing profit into it could do anything but kill that. I just don't.
They also talked about fanfiction as a niche product, and the way in which fanfic readers/writers generally exist outside the target audience of a particular text - female action fans or adult readers of children's literature, they latch on to subtext that exists in the margin. I would say more about that, except Prof. Jenkins already blogged on it, so just go there.
fan fiction represents the ultimate niche product -- one which emerges from a subculture, even if that subculture is now producing and circulating fan fiction on a scale which would have been unimaginable to those of us who first starting writing academic work on fan fiction almost two decades ago. The internet has increased the scale and expanded the distribution of fan produced content. Reading and writing fan fiction may not yet be a "mainstream" activity but it is starting to push the limits of our conception of what constitutes niche success.
Someone who was clearly new to fandom asked if fans "migrate" from one fandom to another. Prof. Jenkins said that they absolutely do, but that even more than that, fans are promiscuous. I kind of loved that.
The question that I wanted to ask and didn't, since I was in a room full of HP fangirls and Henry Jenkins and so got intimidated and wussed out, was about Harry Potter fanboy culture, if there even is one. songgirl12 and I had been talking about that earlier while we were watching Quidditch and discussing the fanboy/fangirl divide (like you do?). Fangirl culture is by nature so much more speculative than fanboy culture, that's one of the divisive characteristics, and HP is not Star Trek or Lord of the Rings - it's a text that I think requires that kind of speculation to take it into the fannish, adult level.
They led with a conversation about how the panelists became fannish - boredom and maintaining sanity were important themes and that got me thinking. I make posts occasionally about my fannish history, and there are ways in which fandom saved me. I don't care that that sounds extreme because it's true. I'm not exaggerating. I found fandom because I had to, and I don't like to think about what would have happened if I hadn't. I was fucking nuts guys; I needed this community - and I have more to say on that, and I may have some questions for you all, but this is probably not that post.
So it was pretty cool. Yay for HP cons in my backyard. It does make me want to go to cons in my fandoms, though.
***
On an semi-unrelated note - fandom can be so fantastic and so utterly batshit. I spent all weekend watching it be kind of awesome and talking to my friends about how in fandom we are just really so much more awesome than other people. (For a seriously geeky value of "more awesome"). I was being facetious, but only a little bit. I came back to wank, but honestly I missed most of it and I'm not going to weigh in here for the sake of weighing in, except to say that words have power and yes, using "rape" to mean *anything* except, well, rape is highly offensive, and not apologizing when called on it is more so, and I don't think that saying that constitutes bullying. My flist is full of strong, intelligent and articulate women. I missed you all this weekend, and I'm proud to know you.