Whither the Squick

[yourlibrarian]

This is clearly the week to be discussing RP fic. Just as I was finishing the very enjoyable RPS AU Restraint by darkemeralds, a question was posted on writingthewall about RPF and original fiction, what distinguishes the two and "Should more RPF 'cross the line' and be turned into publishable original fiction?" And of course this was also the

Comments

[wistie]

I love this "I really don't think there's any need to be ashamed of the stories we tell, because clearly we love them a great deal."

And - I kept waiting for the JA and JP of the AU to arrive. Inconceivable that they didn't. Just shows how sloppy the writers have gotten this season.

[yourlibrarian]

Heavens yes. The episode had some of Edlund's signature moments but it was certainly one of the weakest scripts I've seen him turn out. As an excuse for an RP AU I thought it worked very well, and I won't deny I laughed quite a bit. But it didn't try very hard to accomplish anything and the acting was so over-the-top in general that it became even more obvious how hard they had to try to seem mannered and unnatural. It reminded me of the same issue coming out in Real Ghostbusters. I'm sure they had fun doing this but it smacked of fanfic not only because of the storyline but because of its self-indulgence.

[cookiemom6067]

I always find your thoughts interesting to read in regard to fiction in general and Supernatural specifically. I had a variety of reactions to "The French Mistake" and confess that I am disappointed, on the whole, with its execution. I acknowledge that my disappointment may have been the result of my great anticipation for the episode and belief that I would really love it

[yourlibrarian]

Clearly, I don't know either :) I'm also one of those people who doesn't understand the term "guilty pleasure." Why should I feel guilty about something I enjoy? Granted, torturing kittens isn't one of those things, so perhaps there are pleasures people should feel guilty about, but the things the term usually applies to seem so ridiculously innocuous.

As I stated to wistie above, I think FM could have been a much better episode, especially since Ben Edlund is well capable of crafting good episodes.

I believe that I can add to your discussion by saying that fans have had more exposure to Kripke, Singer, Gamble, Manners and Edlund through conventions and interviews than they have any of the other people on the production staff you have mentioned.I think you're absolutely right there, though it doesn't explain the families who have generally gone unseen, whose personalities must be a general mystery, and who are not even in the entertainment industry. I agree that, particularly if the family is depicted in a really unflattering

[withdiamonds]

This is a very interesting post. I apologize in advance, I have very...blunt opinions on RPF, no doubt born of years and years and YEARS of arguing about/calling it rape discussing it

[yourlibrarian]

I know where you're coming from, in part, since while Trek was my first fandom, my next two were music fandoms as well. The documentation issue was very different though, both because of the era and the available technology. Plus, I think with musicians, self-promotion has become an integral part of the business in a way it isn't with actors, because who pays actors is not who watches actors. With musicians, the wallet and the audience are the same. So there's a lot more incentive to do consistent documentation with musicians. And, of course, with small name acts fans may actually be doing that work for the artists these days

[skaredykat]

here via metafandom

Very cool analysis. Having recently read Restraint and by happenstance watched The French Mistake, I think your points are interesting and thought-provoking. (Though both this essay and TFM immediately made me think of one of the first RPF fics I read, Only You by james, which still makes me laugh even harder than the recent episode did.)

[yourlibrarian]

Thanks for the link!

[skaredykat]

When I saw the episode, I did wonder for a second if someone in the writer's room had ever seen that fic... And your line about "must be among the most fictionalized pair of animals ever seen in fanfic" reminded me that this was the fandom that gave us an RPS fic written from Sadie-the-dog's POV.

In my reading thus far, SPN and SPN RPF fic seems to have a much lower percentage of really cracky stories/AUs than SGA (my main fandom), but those two RPF stories were certainly memorable examples, especially since they're both done in a non-AU (the Js as actors on SPN) setting.

[yourlibrarian]

It's a fandom that's also included the dogs in a lot more unsavory ways ... I think at this point SPN may be giving Harry Potter a run for its money in terms of including every possible type of fic that could ever be conceived.

I agree, though, about the percentage of cracky fic. My feeling is (and I could be very wrong about this since my knowledge of SGA fandom is only secondhand) that a fandom that is so very dominated by a single pairing is likely to produce a lot more "insider" fic than one that is divided by either controversial pairings or a lot of competing pairings. While Sam/Dean was unquestionably the dominant pairing in the early days of its fandom, it was a very controversial one and yet, given the limitations of other characters, was one with few alternatives other than RPS (also controversial) until S4.