Once More With Feeling...

[shadowkat]

Last one, I promise. All this is probably proving is that I should leave polling to the experts. Hee.

[Poll #976784]

Comments

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about Whedon's new Buffy S8 in comics?
Other: I don't consider the comics to be same as TV show canon, but if Joss wants to write it, I say go ahead and let him. Don't know yet if I want to spend money to read it, that's all. But I do sympathise with those fanfic writers who feel they're getting Jossed to hell and back. It's tough to build on closed canon for 3 years, then have that yanked out from under you.

How do you feel about Whedon doing ATS comics?
Am ambivalent and Other: Ambivalent because, unlike Buffy, which ended on a relatively happy, resolved note that was a great jumping off point for fanfic, Angel ended with Wes dead and the others quite soon to be dead. Yes, it's possible to write around the alley scene with some kind of Slayer or magic interference that allows the Fang Gang to live and keep fighting. But for many viewers, such interference would be a huge, clunky McGuffin. There's great power and elegance in the stark, iconic, we few, we happy few, Leonidas' 300 ending Joss gave us. The ending made sense thematically, their last day gave us character resolution, and I'm not sure continuing the story would necessarily add to the story.

Having said that, if Joss wants to write it, he's free to do so. I may or may not read it, I may or may not incorporate it into my understanding of the TV show. Like I said, I don't consider different mediums to (necessarily) be the same canon.

Would you read fanfic that does not follow the canon of the comics?
Of course, the comics aren't canon - totatlly different medium: Perhaps my answer should be "I don't need fic to be canon-compliant, but it's a nice plus. Thankfully I don't consider comics to be canon, so either way you're in the clear with me."

Do you think fanfic should be allowed to be published for money?
I answered only if the author is dead and the work is in the public domain, but that's not a complete answer. I don't think "allow" is really the question. Fanfic is published for money. That's what tie-in novels are, only they've got a stamp of approval from the PTB and the stuff that we write doesn't.

I didn't follow the debate that triggered this "fanfic for money" question, but if we're talking unsanctioned fanfic? No, don't try to make money. Because then we'll have lawyers up our ying-yang and we don't need that. Or if you're really determined, get signed on to write a tie-in novel and get it published. More power to you.

What more or less triggered the polls...

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the indepth comment.

FYI - so you don't have to waste time scrolling through the old posts and debates -

The two debates that triggered my polls:

1. Whether Joss's writing of the comics would really deprive fanfic writers of their audience because people who are into canon would only read if the fanfic followed what Whedon did in the comics. Not, whether it is canon, but more whether fanfic writers are justified in whining about Whedon continuing the story in comic form because it is costing them readers. And the degree to which the comics being canon truly matters in regards to how you read fanfic and write it?

2. Who primarily writes fanfic - men or women? And whether the illegality of fanfic (not the stuff authorized or in public domain of course) is silencing women's voices - because that is what they write? And finally, whether fanfic that is not sanctioned by the author/publisher or in public domain should be published for money?