Five Things About Fanfiction
Mar. 1st, 2010 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. I don't normally rec' let alone admit to reading Everybodys Human AU Spuffy fanfic - but Crave, a Fanfiction written by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nautibitz which can be found here:http://community.livejournal.com/nautific/profile - is rather brilliant. It is BSDM - so not for everyone. Also Spike is not nice and quite complex. But her character depictions, how she threads themes from both series, along with character tropes from both series, as well as rips away the metaphors - is insightful and surprising. She also has a wicked and delightful sense of humor that is lacking from a lot of fic. Naughty is witty. The fic reminds me a bit of the Rosemary Rodgers Modern Day Bodice Rippers that I read as a teen, but a lot more risque. Rosemary has nothing on Nautibitz. She bends and twists characters, revealing new sides. In this fic, Buffy is married to Lindsey, whose father is wealthy billionaire Spike - and Spike proceeds to go after Buffy. It's Father-in-law Fic, the opposite of the male equivalent - Mother in Law Fic (a la The Graduate). WARNING: The thing about this type of fic? You have to go in with an open-mind, if you can only read fic that fits your view of canon, this is NOT for you. But if you read fanfic in much the same way you once told stories with paper dolls or took characters out of favorite fairy tales and placed them in your own or role played, just play, without rigid rules or boundaries - it is for you. For me, I like to see twists on similar themes - I see fanfiction as means of a story being told in another way. Taking me inside another pov, another head...telling me something new about the people, and myself and the world.
If we think about it Jane Austen and William Shakespeare have been told in various ways, often the most interesting being the least conventional.
I love this bit from her fic, because it provides an interesting explanation of Buffy's relationship and attraction to both Spike and Angel, and vampires in general...even if it isn't exact, while at the same time underlines the fact that it is not that simple - we can psychoanlyze ourselves to death, but when it comes to human emotions and things like love, desire, hate...it is never that simple. You can't just put a neat tag on it. People are more complex than that. :
"Don't you mean safe? If she thought about it, wasn't Spike the flipside of that coin? The opposite of everything she knew was good for her? An extreme representation of her negligent, alcoholic, self-serving father? Of course he was. Spike gave her the raw, rapt, unapologetically male attention she'd never dared to dream of but had obviously always sought -- even moreso in the light of her father's recent death. That's why she'd eaten it up, that's why she felt an immediate connection, that's why she'd let it go so far...That's why it broke her heart to her him say the words, "I don't want you." It crystallized her hidden fear of abandonment. Of course that's all he was. A rich cultured version of her deadbeat father. And if her mother was here, she'd say he was a vampire: he reels you in with charming little lies, then drains the life out of you when you bare your neck."
2.
Okay, would someone like to explain to me what the point is to plagarizing someone else's fanfic? Why would you bother? Nothing against fanfic, I rather adore fanfic, but seriously what is the point? It's not like you are getting paid for it. It's not like you have to write it or anything or that it is a class-assignment. Most people who plagarize do it for one of two reasons 1)they are suffering from writers block, and have to get a story sold, 2) have to turn in a paper for class. But fanfic? Doesn't plagarizing go against the whole point of writing fanfic to begin with - which is to play with an idea and share it with others? Be a bit like plagarizing meta. I mean if the language or story is already out there - why copy it? I'd think it would be a colossal waste of time. I totally get why the people being plagarized are livid and upset, I'd be too. But I do not understand the motivation of the plagarizer. That boggles my mind. Clearly too much time on their hands. Or maybe they are just bored? Or have to find some way to get their jollies off? Or they don't know they are plagarizing - although how you can't know, is mind boggling as well.
Add to this - the guy that I read who was doing it? Is actually not a bad tv review writer. He wrote great snarky reviews of the episodes when they aired back in 2002 on BC&S Spoiler Board. Major poster on BC&S. So, why is he wasting his energy plagarizing erotic fanfic, posting it on sites, and pissing everyone in fandom off? Goes to show you, when you think you are being crazy and self-destructive, all you need to do is go online and find someone crazier and more self-destructive than you are. (shakes head in bewilderment).
3. Why do people write and read fanfic? What compells us to do it? And what draws us to it?
And what do we look for in fic that we can't find in something else? And more to the point, why are we so judgmental and critical of the fanfic that others write and read - regardless of the type? Why are people judgmental of others tastes?
4.Who in the heck came up with OTP as one true ship, why isn't it OTS - OTS would make more sense and wouldn't be confusing since (ETA: Never mind, I figured it out on the way to work this morning, when it hit me = "paring" and I thought, Duh. Then I pondered why people picked pairing over "ship" or "relationship" or "romance"...because in the real world - OTP means On-Time Performance and has meant this since the 1800s, hence my confusion. My difficulty is that Online and Offline are using the same accroynymes/abbreviations but with completely different meanings. Examples:
ETA = Estimated Time of Arrival (at work) vs. Edited to Add (online)
OTP = On time performance rating (at work) vs. One True Pairing (online)
And there are others...]
5. What is up with this whole fic must be based on canon?? Isn't this an oxymoron of sorts? Isn't all fanfiction by its very nature based on canon??? (Personally, I find if the fic concerns a favorite pairing of mine - I will try anything. Canon, smanon. I honestly don't care that much...as long as the characters are interesting, provide a new twist, and seem plausible - I'm there. Also more character-centric than plot centric fic wise. Overly plotty fic bores me. It should be about the characters, new layers, bits I didn't think of or see before.) Not sure I understand the whole canon thing when it applies to fanfic. I mean let's be honest, can any fanfic be considered canon and not AU at a certain point? And isn't all fanfic to some degree based on canon - including an everybody's human fic - after all you are basing it on the characters of the story, using their attributes and similar themes from the tale to tell your own. If it was "canon" then it would be plagarized and not original in the least and sorry, what is the point of doing it in the first place? PRide and Prejudice with Zombies was certainly not canon, yet it is certainly based on canon.
PS: While I'm generally speaking not a huge fan of parody, the Buffy the PEnguin Vampire Slayer Fanfic/Fanart meme going about is hilarious. Especially the photo of a naked Spike in Wrecked conversing with a Penguin Buffy, after a hot night of sex. That you don't see everyday. Someone even wrote a fic in which everyone in the series is a penguine and what it would have been like if it had been a series with well the animated Penguin cast of Happy Dance. At the very least it would have been something kids between the ages of 6-10 would have loved.
nautibitz which can be found here:http://community.livejournal.com/nautific/profile - is rather brilliant. It is BSDM - so not for everyone. Also Spike is not nice and quite complex. But her character depictions, how she threads themes from both series, along with character tropes from both series, as well as rips away the metaphors - is insightful and surprising. She also has a wicked and delightful sense of humor that is lacking from a lot of fic. Naughty is witty. The fic reminds me a bit of the Rosemary Rodgers Modern Day Bodice Rippers that I read as a teen, but a lot more risque. Rosemary has nothing on Nautibitz. She bends and twists characters, revealing new sides. In this fic, Buffy is married to Lindsey, whose father is wealthy billionaire Spike - and Spike proceeds to go after Buffy. It's Father-in-law Fic, the opposite of the male equivalent - Mother in Law Fic (a la The Graduate). WARNING: The thing about this type of fic? You have to go in with an open-mind, if you can only read fic that fits your view of canon, this is NOT for you. But if you read fanfic in much the same way you once told stories with paper dolls or took characters out of favorite fairy tales and placed them in your own or role played, just play, without rigid rules or boundaries - it is for you. For me, I like to see twists on similar themes - I see fanfiction as means of a story being told in another way. Taking me inside another pov, another head...telling me something new about the people, and myself and the world.If we think about it Jane Austen and William Shakespeare have been told in various ways, often the most interesting being the least conventional.
I love this bit from her fic, because it provides an interesting explanation of Buffy's relationship and attraction to both Spike and Angel, and vampires in general...even if it isn't exact, while at the same time underlines the fact that it is not that simple - we can psychoanlyze ourselves to death, but when it comes to human emotions and things like love, desire, hate...it is never that simple. You can't just put a neat tag on it. People are more complex than that. :
"Don't you mean safe? If she thought about it, wasn't Spike the flipside of that coin? The opposite of everything she knew was good for her? An extreme representation of her negligent, alcoholic, self-serving father? Of course he was. Spike gave her the raw, rapt, unapologetically male attention she'd never dared to dream of but had obviously always sought -- even moreso in the light of her father's recent death. That's why she'd eaten it up, that's why she felt an immediate connection, that's why she'd let it go so far...That's why it broke her heart to her him say the words, "I don't want you." It crystallized her hidden fear of abandonment. Of course that's all he was. A rich cultured version of her deadbeat father. And if her mother was here, she'd say he was a vampire: he reels you in with charming little lies, then drains the life out of you when you bare your neck."
2.
Okay, would someone like to explain to me what the point is to plagarizing someone else's fanfic? Why would you bother? Nothing against fanfic, I rather adore fanfic, but seriously what is the point? It's not like you are getting paid for it. It's not like you have to write it or anything or that it is a class-assignment. Most people who plagarize do it for one of two reasons 1)they are suffering from writers block, and have to get a story sold, 2) have to turn in a paper for class. But fanfic? Doesn't plagarizing go against the whole point of writing fanfic to begin with - which is to play with an idea and share it with others? Be a bit like plagarizing meta. I mean if the language or story is already out there - why copy it? I'd think it would be a colossal waste of time. I totally get why the people being plagarized are livid and upset, I'd be too. But I do not understand the motivation of the plagarizer. That boggles my mind. Clearly too much time on their hands. Or maybe they are just bored? Or have to find some way to get their jollies off? Or they don't know they are plagarizing - although how you can't know, is mind boggling as well.
Add to this - the guy that I read who was doing it? Is actually not a bad tv review writer. He wrote great snarky reviews of the episodes when they aired back in 2002 on BC&S Spoiler Board. Major poster on BC&S. So, why is he wasting his energy plagarizing erotic fanfic, posting it on sites, and pissing everyone in fandom off? Goes to show you, when you think you are being crazy and self-destructive, all you need to do is go online and find someone crazier and more self-destructive than you are. (shakes head in bewilderment).
3. Why do people write and read fanfic? What compells us to do it? And what draws us to it?
And what do we look for in fic that we can't find in something else? And more to the point, why are we so judgmental and critical of the fanfic that others write and read - regardless of the type? Why are people judgmental of others tastes?
4.
ETA = Estimated Time of Arrival (at work) vs. Edited to Add (online)
OTP = On time performance rating (at work) vs. One True Pairing (online)
And there are others...]
5. What is up with this whole fic must be based on canon?? Isn't this an oxymoron of sorts? Isn't all fanfiction by its very nature based on canon??? (Personally, I find if the fic concerns a favorite pairing of mine - I will try anything. Canon, smanon. I honestly don't care that much...as long as the characters are interesting, provide a new twist, and seem plausible - I'm there. Also more character-centric than plot centric fic wise. Overly plotty fic bores me. It should be about the characters, new layers, bits I didn't think of or see before.) Not sure I understand the whole canon thing when it applies to fanfic. I mean let's be honest, can any fanfic be considered canon and not AU at a certain point? And isn't all fanfic to some degree based on canon - including an everybody's human fic - after all you are basing it on the characters of the story, using their attributes and similar themes from the tale to tell your own. If it was "canon" then it would be plagarized and not original in the least and sorry, what is the point of doing it in the first place? PRide and Prejudice with Zombies was certainly not canon, yet it is certainly based on canon.
PS: While I'm generally speaking not a huge fan of parody, the Buffy the PEnguin Vampire Slayer Fanfic/Fanart meme going about is hilarious. Especially the photo of a naked Spike in Wrecked conversing with a Penguin Buffy, after a hot night of sex. That you don't see everyday. Someone even wrote a fic in which everyone in the series is a penguine and what it would have been like if it had been a series with well the animated Penguin cast of Happy Dance. At the very least it would have been something kids between the ages of 6-10 would have loved.
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Date: 2010-03-02 05:04 am (UTC)Eurydice's Promise of Frost was my first NC17, deviant from canon, took a day off from work just to finish reading it. Later I found All About Spike and read the entire archive. When I finished it I start hunting down authors on their websites.
Crave was the reason I joined LJ, to be able to read it and it was my second AH story first one being Older also Naughti's.
Anaross brought me the pain with her angst stories (and Spike/Faith surprisingly).
Those three authors and an archive formed me as a reader, guess I'm a Smashed type one liking the epic and hot combined with pain.