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ellisk
Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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 Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 4:54 pm Post subject: Fanfic in the news |
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I saw this posted on another site and I thought some folks here might think it is interesting too.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3188813.stm
An article, fairly well researched, about fanfic. I take fanfic for granted as I take television for granted--it is part of my daily entertainment. But I am always amused by people's reactions when I try to explain it to them if they don't read it. I would love to know what people who didn't know about fanfic before reading this thought about this article.
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ghettoelleth
Joined: 06 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, they've sure got us pegged, El. LOL
"Frankly, that's what we want: other people to validate our work, to tell us 'This was great! I totally agree with your take on the characters!' Our payment is the ego boost."
Prolific fan fic writing might just raise the bar abit though. No more half dragon/half elf/half Maia entities named Tiffany. hehe
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ellisk
Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| ghettoelleth wrote: | | Prolific fan fic writing might just raise the bar abit though. No more half dragon/half elf/half Maia entities named Tiffany. hehe |
 Scary--but I saw something that was part dragon/part Maia just recently--and as a sign of how scary life is becoming--nothing struck me as strange about that and I kind of liked the story. Time for me to read the books again. 
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Rhapsody
Joined: 11 Apr 2004
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Location: Maglor's Lap
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| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:13 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Many of the writers are female. Many are American. |
This made me wonder, yes the first one is correct for me, the other is not. Is it really true that there aren't many fan fic writers outside the Northern American continent? It makes me curious if there is any data on this, and even so, if they also know how many authors there are with not having English as their mother tongue...
| Quote: | | Others, like fantasy-meister Terry Pratchett and Anne Rice, author of Interview with a Vampire, have taken a hard line, publicly asking writers not to use their characters or stories. |
I love Pratchett, but I really couldn't pull off writing Rincewind, or any of the Wee Free Men or DEATH (although he is tremendously fun)... so he can breathe again 
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ghettoelleth
Joined: 06 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 5:23 am Post subject: |
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No more half dragon/half elf/half Maia
Yo! Elliska baby! First, notice the math, then know that this was the daughter of Legolas, and lastly, her name...her NAME was Tiffany, ffs. Now, I'm all for the glass being half full but that's just not always possible if Tiffany's holding it upside down. 
Where's Thrandy dammit? 
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ellisk
Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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| ghettoelleth wrote: | | Where's Thrandy dammit? |
He's almost ready. I'll be emailing you this weekend to make sure of some things and then he'll be ready. 
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ellisk
Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Rhapsody wrote: |
This made me wonder, yes the first one is correct for me, the other is not. Is it really true that there aren't many fan fic writers outside the Northern American continent? It makes me curious if there is any data on this, and even so, if they also know how many authors there are with not having English as their mother tongue...
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I agree that I did not buy that part of the article either. The vast majority of the LotR fanfic writers that I converse with online are in Europe. Maybe that is specific to Tolkien (and it might make sense since he was from Europe too), but that is my experience in this fandom.
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Eruanna
Joined: 11 Jan 2005
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Location: Dor-Cuarthol, betwixt the Bow and the Helm...
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| Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 7:36 pm Post subject: Fandom |
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I know that there have been many articles on the other side of fandom, viz. slash fiction.
It is time someone did a sociology paper on the phenonmenon of fanfic. 
I tremble to think of what some writers are doing to the characters (many of whom are real historical figures....) in Kingdom of Heaven fanfic.  Good historical fiction I adore, but some people don't even get history right.
I need to reread "Ivanhoe." Alright...it was a romantic view of the Middle Ages...
(sigh)
--Eruanna
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inglor
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:40 am Post subject: |
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I just wonder if any from the Tolkien Estate has ever read any of our (fanficcers) stuff. I have several that I think would make the Prof cringe at what I have done to his characters. I feel like I am treading on sacred ground sometimes (especially messing with Luthien). Even some of the good writing really twists what the Prof wrote about, and I'm not just talking about slash. There are those who think that one day theTolkien Estate will wake up and put an end to our musings like Anne Rice and Anne McCaffery have done.
Although I think the Prof said in one of his letters that he hoped people would continue to write in his world but I really don't think he wanted Galadriel or Maedhros or Legolas buggered or turned into simpering weaklings.
But hey, when the muse comes and sits in your lap demanding attention, who are we to argue. 
Inglor
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NancyBrooke
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| Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the article, Ellisk, it was interesting.
I've been thinking about this lately because of published books I've read recently, i.e.
Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard, in which "Tiny Tim" all grown up is the main character; and The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl in which Henry W. Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell solve a murder mystery.
Then there's those I haven't read: Scarlett, by Stephens Mitchell, a sequel to Gone With the Wind; An Assembly Such as This etc. (it's a trilogy) by Pamela Aiden - Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view; and, and, and ...
I'm sure there are more. Is this fanfic, or what?
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NeumeIndil
Joined: 06 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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Question that hit me earlier today: Did they take into account the industrial status of the countries/continents that they pulled their numbers from? A lot of people in the US and Europe have internet access at home, at work, at public libraries and cafes, even on their cellular phones. A large number of people in other parts of the world (i.e. Africa, parts of Asia, etc.) don't even have food, whether they're Tolkien fans or not. It might skew the numbers to expect the same level of fan fic participation from "third world" countries as from industrialized nations.
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ellisk
Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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| inglor wrote: | I just wonder if any from the Tolkien Estate has ever read any of our (fanficcers) stuff.... Although I think the Prof said in one of his letters that he hoped people would continue to write in his world but I really don't think he wanted Galadriel or Maedhros or Legolas buggered or turned into simpering weaklings.
But hey, when the muse comes and sits in your lap demanding attention, who are we to argue.
Inglor |
Yeah, I bet you are thinking about Letter 131 where he says he created a world that "would leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama." That does sort of seem like an invitation to me.
And although I love the Harry Potter books but despise their associated fanfiction largely speaking, I have read interviews where Rowling discusses her reaction to pairings of Harry and Snape--seems she likes the fanfiction (even encourages it) but thinks pairings like that are a waste of time because they are completely impossible and even frightening.
I wonder what Tolkien would say to this modern technological proliferation of people wielding paint and music and drama in his world (in photomanips, musical versions of the Lay of Luthien and fanfiction). It's an interesting question.
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ellisk
Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| NancyBrooke wrote: | Thanks for the article, Ellisk, it was interesting.
I've been thinking about this lately because of published books I've read recently, i.e.
Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard, in which "Tiny Tim" all grown up is the main character; and The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl in which Henry W. Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell solve a murder mystery.
Then there's those I haven't read: Scarlett, by Stephens Mitchell, a sequel to Gone With the Wind; An Assembly Such as This etc. (it's a trilogy) by Pamela Aiden - Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view; and, and, and ...
I'm sure there are more. Is this fanfic, or what? |
Too true and a very interesting point. I have always wondered how they away with doing books like that--it is totally glorified fanfiction (or at least the ones I read in your list were--relatively well written and true to canon fan fcition, but just like fan fiction just the same.)
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NancyBrooke
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| Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:42 am Post subject: |
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And, in the realm of AU, there's The Eyre Affair, and Tuesday Next's other adventures from Jasper Fforde - meta fan fiction.
Looking forward to those - a good beach read, I'm thinkin'.
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ghettoelleth
Joined: 06 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:14 am Post subject: |
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| inglor wrote: | | I just wonder if any from the Tolkien Estate has ever read any of our (fanficcers) stuff. Inglor |
I read an article that was a bit of an eye opener. I think what I learned from it more than anything is that Christopher Tolkien was a sadly obsessed man. He disowned his own son for going against his wishes regarding JRR's work. Granted, bringng the films to screen have opened up the work of Tolkien to freaks like us, but to disown your own child? That's pretty nuts.
I have seen Royd, teasing a cast member with a manip from Theban so, yeah, he's aware of it, I'm going to say no, however, on whether or not there's a printout of "Don't Panic" on his night stand. Anyhow, here's a link to the article I read. Seems to me the author may have overly opined a tad so its never absolutely clear how anyone but Royd or Christopher felt or feel. I do find it so bizarre that Simon Tolkien is estranged from his 80+ year old father, (I really hope they rectify this before too late), for strongly endorsing Peter Jackson's vision and yet, apparently no one's head has rolled for granting entities like SNL, South Park and Rankin/Bass permission to use the names and characters. Don't get me wrong, I think Trey Parker rocks but come on, we can all imagine what he did with Gollum. Royd has a cameo appearance in Fellowship and yet seems on good terms with grandpa. Who knows, there may be more to it, but jeez, if its over a movie, get over it. Who can say what Tolkien himself would have thought of all the Tolk pr0n, I like to think he would have enjoyed the het stuff, ignored the slash and sued the hell out of AT&T.
http://forcesofgood.com/features/041004/hobbits.php
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