As this is an open letter to the FFML, I will respond in kind, and
politely say:
Why are your two views the only ones?
Or rather... why should I, as a writer, accept your two extremes as the
only ones? Having read through the article but once, I cannot say I am
fully familiar with Mr. Palmer's point of view--but it seems to be that he
believes that a fanfiction should contain and represent the same cloth
that the characters are cut from. Mr. Lawson's polar view, I am more
familiar with--that the fanfiction, though it uses the same cloth, is a
different and unique design from the original pattern and should be
treated as such.
I'd like to present a different view--and that is that in order for a
fanfic writer to be a -fanfic- writer, he or she must be able to -both-
express their view -and- conform to the laws, rules, and sundry set forth
by the original creator.
I suppose it sounds like I am straddling a fence here. And, in a way, I
am. I'll put it this way. A shirt is a shirt, yes? Neckhole, two
armholes, optionally a pocket. It's still a shirt if I change the fabric,
or add another pocket. It's still a shirt even if I put zippers on all
the seams. But is it a shirt once I start putting more sleeves and more
neckholes on it? Or, to put it another way, a paperclip is only a
paperclip until it's bent so far out of shape that it cannot be
recognized. A fanfic is only a fanfic insofar as the characters, no
matter how masked or twisted, can -still- be recognized. There is a point
where the characters are simply facsimilies, with the same name and the
same look, but not the same character.
Not that that is bad--several 'alterniverse' stories are very well done.
And good reading.
And so the eternal question is--but are they 'fanfic'? And what -makes- a
fanfic a 'fanfic'? Is it the names used? The setting? Or is it all
these and more? I believe it is all those.. and -more-.
To write a fanfic is to walk a delicate line. It is to upset the balance
without tipping the contents of the pot. And, as we've seen, it's hard to
do -well-. A good fanfic writer can take a character--a series--through
the depths of hell, or the heights of heaven, and the character--and their
reactions--will be recognizable ones. Things will flow--they will seem
-natural-.
I would also like to address a point not made in either post--and that is
what canonicity is. I've seen quite a few fanfics claim canonicity on
the basis of a single story--or even a single panel--and arrogantly and
smugly claim that it was a canon story. Folks, this just isn't true. (Of
course, this is my opinion). When you consdier canonicity, you must
consider -all- the available source material--all the 'official' source
material--and use that as a basis. Not one moment in time.
Anyways, enough ranting from me. :)
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| Church of Ryouga (1st Deacon, Sacred Compass), CASKET |
| ukyou@maison-otaku.net|hikaru@humbug.org.au|yakumo@thekeep.org |
|http://www.maison-otaku.net/~ukyou/ (Under construction, as always. :) |
| Kaoru no Miko, Yakumo no Miko, Kenshin no Miko, Nima no Miko |
| Yes, I MUCK. Where? Just about everywhere. ;) |
|"We are the music-makers; we are the dreamers of dreams." - Willy Wonka|
| "Yooh! Obake-chan!" - Tasuki, Fushigi Yuugi |
| "Sana-chan, there's trouble! Use your henshin burachaa!" |
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