From:	David Johnston <rgorman@telusplanet.net>
Subject: Re: [FFML] What Kind of Fanfic Should an Author Create?

I've been considering this issue ever since it came up on R.A.A.F.
Argument by analogy is a dangerous business of course.  We aren't 
"guests" in the original author's work, more like burglars.  We can
hardly regulate the actions of fanfic writers since we are basicly 
scofflaws of a minor sort.  

Hmmm...<looks to the Heavens...No guidance from the Norns today ^_->
Welll...I don't think that we're 'burglars' in any sense.  Oftentimes, I 
would argue that something like Ranma� or OMG! or any other anime/manga 
is created by their respective owners and the moment that they release 
it for public consumption, they have, by proxy, invited the 
viewer/reader into _their_ 'world'.  And by that, I would say that  
we're guests in the 'world' of Tenchi or Ranma or...

That is a sign of a good story/world telling, where the viewer/reader 
feels that they're actually 'almost taking' part in the events of the 
'show or manga'.

That being said, I'm always puzzled and repelled by fanfic written for 
no particular purpose except to kill and corrupt the heros of the 
original series.  If you like the series, why destroy it, even on an 
imaginary level?  If you don't, why are you writing about it?  I 

suppose

it makes sense if what you liked about the series were the villains.

<heh!> It's a case of personal preference.  If your preferences are not 
fulfilled by OOC or 'corrupting' fanfiction, then you probably wouldn't 
read it.  Sometimes, 'corrupting' the heroes is one way to take a 
different look at the entire storyline.  I think one of the better 
examples in my recollection would be: Levar Bouyer's Innocence of a 
Minor [in a Minor ?] setting the events of BSSM first season on an ear.  
Or perhaps you may be meaning 'corrupt' as them being OOC...again, if a 
character is OOC [when compared to the original anime/manga behaviour] 
but IC in context of the story [where the OOC-ness was explained by the 
story].

Helen :)

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