clearing some tabs
Apropos of nothing: these earrings amuse me.
Apropos of fanfic: since I managed to attract much more discussion than usual the last time I talked about fanfic, I know there are more than a few of you who would find these two interesting. First, something about the whole FanLib wankery (which I presume you’re aware of), discussing fanfiction as a mode of cultural production. And second, a lengthy post from Making Light (home of the Nielsen Haydens and others), on the sucking pit of quicksand that is the question of legality and fanfiction, with a very useful section toward the end about the disclaimers people slap on their stories.
I don’t know if I’m as optimistic as part of that post is, about the likelihood of a given piece of fanfic being declared “transformative” if challenged in court, but it’s true — as far as I’m aware — about that being the real sticking-point. And when you look at it in that light, you could probably have an interesting argument about which is the more transformative work: Terry Brooks’ The Sword of Shannara or HobbitChick4Evar’s latest installment of her epic Frodo/Sam slashfest. One copies the plot of The Lord of the Rings point for point; the other does not. I don’t know which side of that argument I’d be on, honestly, or whether I’d declare either (or both) transformative — but the point is, I think the argument could happen, with good points on both sides.
(Having said that, hells yeah is “The Game of the Gods” transformative. That thing’s freaking brilliant. Middle-Earth fanfic and parody/critical typology of Mary Sues, all rolled up in one entertaining package.)
Anyway, I figured I’d toss those out there so I could close those tabs and stop having them clutter up my browser.
