jaebility | Fanfic

Everyone and their pet donkey has heard of the wank involving Diana Gabaldon and the evil that is fanfic by now so I'm late jumping onto the bandwagon, but I just gotta say that damn, that woman is tripping balls crazy.

If I ever get published, I'd consider fanfic about my book an honor greater than any award. Because it means that not only do people like your stuff, they're inspired by it.

Fanfic is awesome! It gives me new ways to explore the characters, situations, worlds. It keeps that universe open and alive. And where else am I going to read about mpreg? Come on!

Also, if I get published, I will read the hell out of any fanfic for my stuff. In fact, I'm going to write my own. One of the amazing things about fanfic is that it allows you to write characters in ways that you couldn't get away with in profic. That is, there are tropes that are acceptable for fanfic that aren't for profic.

...I might have already planned out some fanfic. I can neither confirm nor deny that I've worked out a gender!switch story.

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I happened to find this comment by someone on her blog rather amusing:

Ms. Gabaldon: When you decided to make your Lord John a descendant of *THE* Earl Grey, did you happen to ask any of the Earl's descendants if they wanted their forefather to be related to a fictional sodomite*? But hey-- these are only real people whose lives you are re-writing, not precious fictional characters.

Funny that Gabaldon didn't respond, lol.

Ha! Good point!

If I ever become pro and have my own fandom, I will totally have a sockpuppet and start shipping wars. >D

amen! lol

Hehehe that'd be awesome.

Well, you know I agree. But I gotta say, people's reactions to her stance are rapidly becoming almost as annoying as said stance itself.

Good reaction: "Oh well, too bad, that's disappointing; different strokes for different folks. Good thing I know I'm not a rapist, and that if you thought hard about it, you probably didn't mean to call me one." Bad reaction(s): "Oh yeah? Well...you're a porno-writing hypocrite who admits you were sort of thinking of Doctor Who, so that makes me exactly the same as you barring the money, neener neener neener!" "Bawwwwww, big BAYbee!" "Oh, you must be new. Didn't you get the memo about sharing with the group?"

Guess not. (Shrugs) Yeah, it bees that way, sometimes. And the only reaction any of us can control, to anything, is our own.

I have to agree. A lot of the responses just make fan fic writers look like fucking nutjobs.

I read the part where she equated writing fanfic with breaking into her house, seducing her husband and sending creepy sex stories about her daughter, but did she call ficcers rapists as well?

From my POV, it's not so much that she called fanficcers rapists explicitly as it is that everybody who's already pissed off at her for telling them they're doing something immoral seems to be translating "stalker" or "creepy person sending sexy stories to my daughter" as (potential?) "rapist" in their heads. And then getting even more upset because Gabaldon's work contains quite the surfeit of rape as a plot device itself, and could be triggery to people who read it, which is a valid thing to warn audience members about, but somewhat beside the point in terms of the current argument.

Essentially, she used words that hurt people's feelings, so they're hitting back at her by...mainly using words also calculated to hurt people's feelings. It'll go on until somebody else starts Doin It Rong somewhere in the Internet, and then they'll forget about her--though one assumes she'll end up on a list, for further reference. As people do.

Ah, thanks for clearing me up. I'd read her post, but hadn't gone back through the other related links.

Well at least she'll have Lee Goldberg to keep her company on the fandom stink-eye list.

I agree that there's been histrionics from both sides, but I maintain that Diana Gabaldon's the guilty party here; her first reaction to fanfic was completely overblown and ridiculous. Fanfic's something near and dear to my heart, but even if it wasn't something that I enjoyed, I'd never go on a _poorly written_ rampage about how fanfic's like burglary or stealing someone's husband.

She's not only insulting fanfic, but the people who write it. It's her prerogative as an author to disallow fanfic because she fears/hates it, but once she start insulting fanficcers, she looses all my sympathy.

Using an emotional argument's always a mistake; I certainly learned that once myself, the hard way. "This thing you're doing is hurting me--let me tell you what it feels like, using metaphors!" "Your metaphors are hurting me! Let me hurt YOU worse!"

But now people are just essentially dropping in on her to yell insults (followed, in one case, by the insulter gleefully adding: "Zing! I'm here all week!") and berate her for not following "the first rule of Customer Service"...Jesus, so this is a Service Industry job? Let me go shoot myself right now. Oh, and telling her how Fandom at large Knows Her Name Now, and she's essentially poisoned her own brand, so yah boo sucks. We Know Where You Live, Author Whose Books We Mainly Don't Even Read Anyways! And Whose Name WE Can't Spell Correctly Before Posting!

As a professional writer, I have sympathy for her--but you know, I'd have sympathy for her "just" as a fanfic writer, too. This dogpiling crap needs to stop.

The dogpiling seems like group-think bullying.

Yes, she used hurtful words, but she's stated her policy. Pounding on her blog, emailing her and sending nasty letters aren't conducive to making the case for fan fiction.

...I do like the idea of writing your own fanfic, though! Can I steal that?;)

Harumph! I wait and I wait. But nooooo.

You're waiting for me to fic my own narrative while I'm in the process of writing it? Man, I'm flattered you think I can multi-task THAT well.;))

Well, no. There was something else I was thinking of.

Amen.

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