Why We Write (and read)
Jan. 4th, 2008 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficNot gonna have the fifth Peter/MJ story done by tonight. I figure five's a good round number to close out a one-person ficathon. I know, it's supposed to last a week, but this is America. You want a seven-day work week, go to Cuba, ya commie!
Anyway, it's probably going to be a bit longer and more plotty than the rest of the stories, since my idea is what if Mary-Jane got spider-powers and Peter Parker became the erstwhile Mr. Steed to her Ms. Peel? Answer: There would be flirting. I know you're all shocked.
I've been thinking lately about... well, look about the subject. There was a series I wrote on another website a while back that really seemed to connect to people. And partly that's no surprise... it takes two fan favorite characters who don't get a chance to interact much (i.e., at all) in canon and threw them together with some funny jokes, a plot to unravel, and scads of inappropriate sexual tension.
And it got me thinking about stories and why some connect with audiences and others don't. There's luck and talent and timing -- a story about the Master lusting after the Doctor will probably get more attention if it's posted three seconds after casting news says John Simm is joining the cast than if it's posted three seconds before -- but there's also filling in the blanks.
I'm sure we all know of people that love canon couples, ship them like crazy, would throw a fit if they were broken up... but either won't read about them in fanfic or won't write about them. Part of that is because the concept of OTP is breaking open a little wider than normal; the foolishness of the HP ship wars is showing most people that there's no point in debating who is bestest snuggle-bunnies with whom when you can both just retreat to the opposite ends of fandom and ship your ships in peace. So people can be very neat about not getting their m/m couple in canon, but they still have a nice m/f couple that also has its good points. And since they're getting that m/f couple in canon, why would they want it in fanfic when they can read exciting, novel stuff about the m/m? Fanfic doesn't just provide more of the same for canon, but it fills in the blanks.
The most obvious example is slash, so we'll skip that. But depending on the medium of your fandom, there will doubtlessly be constraints. Again, most obviously, not many shows can show the two male leads expressing their appreciation for each other in an NC-17 kinda way. But that's the least of it. If your fandom's a TV show, each episode has to tell a story, with rising action so that the audience stays tuned during the commercials, probably some T&A and fights and special effects to keep the young heterosexual males watching if it's a genre show, and wrap it all up in time for next week's exciting episode. The show simply can't devote the equivalent of 20,000 words to a minor character's childhood when the season arc has to be advanced, the ensemble all has to get to do something, and Snarf has to tell a joke. So that childhood, worthy as it may be of 20,000 words, has to go unexplored.
And in comics, there's not only a mere 21 pages a month (more or less) to tell a story, but there's also crossovers, editorial mandates, characters who die or get maimed every year (you Heroes fans, crying about flyboy. Imagine if that happened EVERY TWO EPISODES and you know what it's like to be in DC fandom)... it all gets in the way of telling a story. So even if someone really would like to talk about Dick and Barbara's night at the opera (Y HELO THAR CHUCK DIXON!), they also have to tell a story about Batman fighting Scarecrow that gets Nightwing in place to participate in the big battle scene for issue six of EVERYONE'S PARENTS ARE DEAD: THE MEGA-ULTRA-SUPREME CROSSOVER TO END ALL CROSSOVERS UNTIL THE NEXT ONE!
That's just publishing realities. Besides that, there's talent (some folks really can't write some genres. Some, like Chuck Austen, can't write any genres), interest (yes, there are some people who would rather write about Harry and his friends solving crimes than Snape sending anonymous love letters to Sirius), and it goes on from there.
In fandom, though, people have the time and inclination to delve into things it's impossible (or at least mathematically improbable) for canon to go into detail on. There's the ever-popular what-ifs (What was Ronon's thought process really like, going from seven years on the run to being part of society again? What if Dick had amnesia and thought he was back in a relationship with 'Batgirl'... who has now grown up and become Oracle? What if the third Spider-Man movie hadn't been weak... i.e., if I had written it?) and even just putting a microscope over canon... or should I say putting a prism over it? (How do we interpret Spike's guest spots in early Buffy knowing what we learned from later Buffy? What if he was in love with Willow instead?)
I should note that the story I mentioned earlier was written for a canceled show, and written very much in the manner of said show (it could even pass for gen). Just another way fanfic can give you what canon can't: If the show is over (or starting to suck... *cough*!), then fandom can be your only source for new, good stories. At least, that's the theory...
Anyway, it's probably going to be a bit longer and more plotty than the rest of the stories, since my idea is what if Mary-Jane got spider-powers and Peter Parker became the erstwhile Mr. Steed to her Ms. Peel? Answer: There would be flirting. I know you're all shocked.
I've been thinking lately about... well, look about the subject. There was a series I wrote on another website a while back that really seemed to connect to people. And partly that's no surprise... it takes two fan favorite characters who don't get a chance to interact much (i.e., at all) in canon and threw them together with some funny jokes, a plot to unravel, and scads of inappropriate sexual tension.
And it got me thinking about stories and why some connect with audiences and others don't. There's luck and talent and timing -- a story about the Master lusting after the Doctor will probably get more attention if it's posted three seconds after casting news says John Simm is joining the cast than if it's posted three seconds before -- but there's also filling in the blanks.
I'm sure we all know of people that love canon couples, ship them like crazy, would throw a fit if they were broken up... but either won't read about them in fanfic or won't write about them. Part of that is because the concept of OTP is breaking open a little wider than normal; the foolishness of the HP ship wars is showing most people that there's no point in debating who is bestest snuggle-bunnies with whom when you can both just retreat to the opposite ends of fandom and ship your ships in peace. So people can be very neat about not getting their m/m couple in canon, but they still have a nice m/f couple that also has its good points. And since they're getting that m/f couple in canon, why would they want it in fanfic when they can read exciting, novel stuff about the m/m? Fanfic doesn't just provide more of the same for canon, but it fills in the blanks.
The most obvious example is slash, so we'll skip that. But depending on the medium of your fandom, there will doubtlessly be constraints. Again, most obviously, not many shows can show the two male leads expressing their appreciation for each other in an NC-17 kinda way. But that's the least of it. If your fandom's a TV show, each episode has to tell a story, with rising action so that the audience stays tuned during the commercials, probably some T&A and fights and special effects to keep the young heterosexual males watching if it's a genre show, and wrap it all up in time for next week's exciting episode. The show simply can't devote the equivalent of 20,000 words to a minor character's childhood when the season arc has to be advanced, the ensemble all has to get to do something, and Snarf has to tell a joke. So that childhood, worthy as it may be of 20,000 words, has to go unexplored.
And in comics, there's not only a mere 21 pages a month (more or less) to tell a story, but there's also crossovers, editorial mandates, characters who die or get maimed every year (you Heroes fans, crying about flyboy. Imagine if that happened EVERY TWO EPISODES and you know what it's like to be in DC fandom)... it all gets in the way of telling a story. So even if someone really would like to talk about Dick and Barbara's night at the opera (Y HELO THAR CHUCK DIXON!), they also have to tell a story about Batman fighting Scarecrow that gets Nightwing in place to participate in the big battle scene for issue six of EVERYONE'S PARENTS ARE DEAD: THE MEGA-ULTRA-SUPREME CROSSOVER TO END ALL CROSSOVERS UNTIL THE NEXT ONE!
That's just publishing realities. Besides that, there's talent (some folks really can't write some genres. Some, like Chuck Austen, can't write any genres), interest (yes, there are some people who would rather write about Harry and his friends solving crimes than Snape sending anonymous love letters to Sirius), and it goes on from there.
In fandom, though, people have the time and inclination to delve into things it's impossible (or at least mathematically improbable) for canon to go into detail on. There's the ever-popular what-ifs (What was Ronon's thought process really like, going from seven years on the run to being part of society again? What if Dick had amnesia and thought he was back in a relationship with 'Batgirl'... who has now grown up and become Oracle? What if the third Spider-Man movie hadn't been weak... i.e., if I had written it?) and even just putting a microscope over canon... or should I say putting a prism over it? (How do we interpret Spike's guest spots in early Buffy knowing what we learned from later Buffy? What if he was in love with Willow instead?)
I should note that the story I mentioned earlier was written for a canceled show, and written very much in the manner of said show (it could even pass for gen). Just another way fanfic can give you what canon can't: If the show is over (or starting to suck... *cough*!), then fandom can be your only source for new, good stories. At least, that's the theory...
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 07:09 pm (UTC)Interesting point about people with cannon OTPs merely enjoying cannon and not bothering with fanfic. I see a ton of Lois/Clark stuff for Smallville where their relationship is not really cannon, but I hardly see any Lois/Clark from the actual comics where the relationship has been going strong for years.
Though in some cases, fanfic helps to tide us over for the next installment of fandom. People have to wait a month for the next issue of their favorite comic, at least a week for the next episode of their favorite show, and a year or more for the next movie in their favorite series/trilogy/what-have-you.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 08:51 pm (UTC)That could just be because a popular TV show will automatically have more fic than most comics.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 10:11 pm (UTC)