Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World

by Jamison, Anne

  39.Dobbs, Michael Ann. “Learn to Be a Better Writer by Reading Fanfiction.” io9.com, 1 Jan. 2013. http://io9.com/5972357/things-you-can-learn-about-writing-by-reading-fanfiction.

  40.Personal email communication, March 2013.

  41.Ibid.

  42.Personal email communication, December 2012.

  43.Reed, Jessica. “David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson: A Dream Couple?” The Guardian, 9 Aug. 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/09/david-duchovny-gillian-anderson-dream-couple.

  44.Wills, Emily Regan. “The Political Possibilities of Fandom: Transformational Discourses on Gender and Power in The X-Files Fandom.” Accessed 21 Nov. 2009. http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_ citation/3/6/2/9/2/pages362928/p362928-1.php.

  45.Knowles, Chris and Michael Hurwitz. The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series the Myths and the Movies. New York: Insight Editions, 2008.

  46.Den of Geek. “The 10 Most Disappointing Female Characters in Sci-fi TV.” 1 Jul. 2010. http://www.denofgeek.com/television/525697/the_10_most_disappointing_female_characters_in_scifi_tv.html.

  47.Scodari, C. and J. L. Felder. “Creating a Pocket Universe: ‘Shippers,’ Fan Fiction, and The X-Files Online.” Communication Studies 51, no. 3 (2000).

  48.Ibid.

  49.Ibid.

  50.wendelah1. “Fic Recs: Diana Fowley (The X-Files).” 6 Feb. 2012. halfamoon. livejournal.com/270567.html.

  51.Maidenjedi. “Something Strange.” Accessed 6 Feb. 2012. http://users.pdsys.org/~maidenjedi/fanfic/something_strange.txt.

  52.Ibid.

  53.Penley, C., “Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and the Study of Popular Culture,” in Cultural Studies, edited by L. Grossberg, C. Nelson, and P. A. Treichler, New York: Routledge, 1992; Jenkins, H., Textual Poachers: Television, Fans and Participatory Culture, New York: Routledge, 1992; Jenkins, H., Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York: New York University Press, 2006.

  54.Brooker, W. Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars Fans. New York: Continuum, 2002.

  55.Lamb, P. F. and D. L. Veith, “Romantic Myth, Transcendence and Star Trek Zines.” In Erotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature, edited by D. Palumbo. New York: Greenwood, 1986.

  56.Bacon-Smith, C. Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992.

  57.Green, S., C. Jenkins, and H. Jenkins. “Normal Female Interest in Men Bonking: Selections from the Terra Nostra Underground and Strange Bedfellows.” In Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture, and Identity, edited by C. Harris and A. Alexander. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 1998.

  58.idella. “The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades.” 8 Jan. 2010. xf-santa. livejournal.com/48315.html.

  59.Tosenberger, C. “Homosexuality at the Online Hogwarts: Harry Potter Slash Fanfiction.” Children’s Literature 36 (2008): 185–207.

  60.idella, “The Future’s So Bright.”

  61.Bronze Archive for 2–3 Jan. 1998. http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?vip=joss-whedon.

  62.Bronze VIP Archive for 18 Nov. 1998. http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=19981118.

  63.Joss Whedon, comment dated 29 Jan. 2000, 16:37:03. Bronze VIP Archive for 29 Jan. 2000. http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=20000129.

  64.Joss Whedon, comment dated 6 Feb. 2000, 09:50:47. Bronze VIP Archive for 6 Feb. 2000. http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=20000206.

  65.Ibid.

  66.Jenkins, Convergence Culture.

  67.Bronze VIP Archive for 18 Nov. 1998.

  68.“Joss Whedon Speaks about ‘Grave.’” The Bronze Beta, 22 May 2002. http://www.bronzebeta.com/Archive/Joss/Joss20020522.htm.

  69.Bianculli, David. “Joss Whedon: Slayers, Dolls and Singing Villians.” NPR interview, 12 Feb. 2009. http://www.wbur.org/npr/100601869/joss-whedon-slayers-dolls-and-singing-villains.

  70.Bronze VIP Archive for 18 Nov. 1998.

  71.Jane Espenson, comment dated 12 Dec. 1999, 15:23:00. Bronze VIP Archive for 12 Dec. 1999. http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=19991212.

  72.Jane Espenson, comment dated 12 Dec. 1999, 15:58:14. Bronze VIP Archive for 12 Dec. 1999. http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hslao/buffy/get-archive?date=19991212.

  73.Barnet, Barbara. “A Conversation with Jane Espenson: Part One.” Blogcritics, 29 Sep. 2012. http://blogcritics.org/a-conversation-with-jane-espenson-part/.

  74.Lewis, Lisa A., ed. The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media. London: Routledge, 1992. http://www.scribd.com/doc/47984716/The-Adoring-Audience-Fan-Culture-and-Popular-Media.

  75.HPEF Presents: Ascendio 2012. “About HPEF.” Accessed 16 July 2013. http://hp2012.org/?page_id=3064.

  76.LeakyCon. “Special Guests: A Quick Who’s Who of LeakyCon 2012.” Accessed 16 July 2013. http://www.leakycon.com/london/special-events/.

  77.Gunelius, Susan. Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon. New York: Macmillan, 2008.

  78.Melissa Anelli, personal email communication, April 2011.

  79.Ibid.

  80.Ibid.

  81.Heidi Tandy, personal email communication, April 2011.

  82.Russon, Mary-Ann. “HP Webmasters Interview: Heidi Tandy, FictionAlley.org.” UrbanWire, June 2004. http://www.theurbanwire.com/jun04/heiditandyprint.html 2004.

  83.Heidi Tandy, personal email communication, April 2011.

  84.Ibid.

  85.The Harry Potter Alliance. “What We Do.” Accessed 16 July 2013. http://thehpalliance.org/what-we-do/.

  86.The Harry Potter Alliance. Sample chapter page. Accessed 16 July 2013. http://thehpalliance.org/chapters/featured-chapter-sample-page/.

  87.Noxon, Christopher. “Oh Harry, You Naughty Boy.” Inside.com, October 18, 2001. http://www.christophernoxon.com/index.php/cnsite/clip/oh_harry_you_naughty_boy/.

  88.Odlyzko, Andrew. “Content Is Not King.” First Monday 6, no. 2 (5 Feb. 2001). http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/833/742.

  89.FictionAlley.com forums. Comment dated 28 June 2004. Accessed 17 July 2013. http://forums.fictionalley.org/park/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64277.

  90.Ventre, Michael. “Devoted ‘Twihards’ Get Their Fix Online.” Today Movies. 16 Nov. 2009. http://www.today.com/id/33921402/ns/today-entertainment/t/devoted-twihards-get-their-fix-online.

  91.Astraea, “BUFFY Fans: Can a Buffy Fan Watch Twilight?” The Trek BBS. 3 Oct. 2011. http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=5264523&postcount=6.

  92.Jamison, Anne. Fifty Shades of Pop Culture Theory: Twilight Fan Fiction Unit from Theories of Popular Culture (ENGL 5960) (blog). http://fiftyshadesofpopculturetheory.blogspot.com/.

  93.“Legitimate Concerns about Breaking Dawn.” PetitionOnline. Accessed 16 July 2013. http://www.petitiononline.com/petitions/BDFailed/signatures.

  94.Kelly Hardy (autumnblossom1972). Comment to “Reviews for ‘Sacrifices,’” 14 June 2009. www.fanfiction.net/r/3940174/0/60/.

  95.bronzed topaz. Comment to “Reviews for ‘Waiting for Dawn.’” 26 June, 2012. http://www.fanfiction.net/r/3766104/33/1/.

  96.Lewis, Andy. “25 Most Powerful Authors: EL James Opens Up about Her ‘Roller Coaster’ Year Since ‘Fifty Shades’ Hit Big.” The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Nov. 2012. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fifty-shades-writer-el-james-395588.

  97.Icedragon. “Re: Master of the Universe by Snowqueens Icedragon.” Twilighted Forum, 27 Oct. 2009. http://www.twilighted.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=6627&start=200#p759242.

  98.Scalzi, John, “My Policy on Fanfic and Other Adaptations of My Work,” Whatever (blog), 25 May 2007, http://whatever.scalzi.com/2007/05/25/my-policy-on-fanfic-and-other-adaptations-of-my-work; Scalzi, John, “Quick Fuzzy Nation Addendum,” Whatever (blog), 7 April 2010, http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/04/07/quick-fuzzy-nation-addendum/; Scalzi, John, “Wil Wheaton/John Scalzi Fan Fiction Cont
est to Benefit the Lupus Alliance of America” (Scalzi-Wheaton [or non-explicit Scalzi/Wheaton] contest post), Whatever (blog), 30 May 2010, http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/05/30/fanfic-contest/.

  99.Personal email communication, 2013.

  100.Neil Gaiman. “Fair Use and Other Things.” 19 April 2008. http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/04/fair-use-and-other-things.html.

  101.einfach mich. “Open Letter to the Fan Fiction Fandom.” 11. March 2012. http://einfachmich.tumblr.com/post/19146182920/open-letter-to-the-twilight-fan-fiction-fandom.

  102.Personal communication, July 2013.

  103.Archive of Our Own. “FAQ.” Accessed 21 August 2013. http://transformativeworks.org/faq#t456n26.

  104.Personal communication, December 2012.

  105.Braden, Kara. “Filing off the Serial Numbers—from Fanfic to Novel (Part 1).” 23 May, 2013. http://karabraden.tumblr.com/post/51153188418/filing-off-the-serial-numbers-from-fanfic-to-novel.

  106.de Sade, Marquis. Juliette. Grove Press: New York, 2000. First published 1797.

  107.Braden, “Filing off the Serial Numbers.”

  108.Scalzi, John. “Amazon’s Kindle Worlds: Instant Thoughts.” Whatever (blog). 22 May 2013. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/05/22/amazons-kindle-worlds-instant-thoughts/

  109.JaneDavitt. “Reunion.” 14 Sep. 2005. http://supernaturalfic.livejournal.com/550.html.

  110.Estimates of proportions of genres and pairings in Supernatural fanfic are based on analysis of the fic listed on the daily “Supernatural Newsletter” (http://www.spnnewsletter.livejournal.com), which covers only stories posted on LiveJournal.

  111.As of June 28, 2013.

  112.As of June 28, 2013.

  113.Black Samvara @supernatural_fic. Accessed 16 July 2013. http://delicious.com/supernatural_fic.

  114.spn_anna commuity homepage. Accessed 16 July 2013. http://spn-anna.livejournal.com/.

  115.Winchester Mpreg community homepage. Accessed 16 July 2013. http://mpregwinchester.livejournal.com/.

  116.“Knotting.” Supernatural Wiki. Last modified 29 June 2013. www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Knotting.

  117.The SPN J2 Big Bang challenge can be found at spn-j2-bigbang.livejournal.com.

  118.Analyses of stories, and a list of other Supernatural-centric Big Bang challenges, can be found at www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Big_Bang.

  119.“Drinking with the Stars: ‘Supernatural”s Misha Collins.” YouTube.com, 21 Oct. 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGl-hkjcZRU.

  120.“Cockles” is the mashup pairing name in fanfiction for stories featuring Misha Collins and costar Jensen Ackles. Ryan, Maureen. “‘Supernatural’ Season 8: Misha Collins Talks Castiel’s Big Return and More.” HuffPost TV, 31 July 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/supernatural-season-8-misha-collins_n_1726114.html.

  121.Samlicker81. “Burning Desires,” posted under “The Completion of My Fic from Sympathy for the Devil.” 13 Sep. 2009. http://wincest.livejournal.com/2647212.html.

  122.Chuck Shurley writes under the pen name Carver Edlund, which is a portmanteau of two of the show’s writers at the time—Jeremy Carver and Ben Edlund.

  123.Jenkins, Henry. “Supernatural: First Impressions.” Confessions of an Aca-Fan. 15 Jan. 2007. http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/01/supernatural.html.

  124.“Robdam.” Supernatural Wiki. Last modified 30 April 2013. http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Robdam.

  125.Walschots, Natalie Zina. “Teenage Dread.” Toronto Standard, 12 July 2012. torontostandard.com/culture/teenage-dread.

  126.Arrow, V. “Real-Person Fanfiction: Looking at Band Fandom(s), One Direction Edition.” Survey, 28–31 Oct. 2012.

  127.Colazitron. Personal interview, 29 Dec. 2012.

  128.Jones, Lucy. Personal interview, 30 Dec. 2012.

  129.Elle. Personal interview, 30 Dec. 2012.

  130.Thomas, Kayley. “Remediating Reality in Real Person Slash Fiction.” (Master’s thesis, University of Florida, 2010). http://www.worldcat.org/title/remediating-reality-in-real-person-slash-fan-fiction/oclc/741565148.

  131.Mitchell, Ramona. Personal interview, 30 Dec. 2012.

  132.Shrew. Personal interview, 26 Dec. 2012.

  133.Cat. Personal interview, 31 Dec. 2012.

  134.Darcie. Personal interview, 30 Dec. 2012.

  135.Personal Communication, 2012.

  136.“IRL” is fandom speak for “in real life.”

  137.On July 2, 2009, homosexuality was decriminalized in India after a long fight by the queer movement on behalf of the Indian LGBT populace. It’s worth noting that the 2009 law pertains exclusively to sodomy as per article 377 of the Indian Penal Code; lesbianism was never included within either the law or its repeal, as it was beyond taboo—it was considered practically unthinkable in a culture that emphasizes a traditional nuclear family and the patriarchal structure this entails.

  138.A fandom lurker is someone who consumes fanworks but does not produce any themselves, and who does not interact with other producers or consumers of fanworks online. The term is used for someone who exists on the fringes of fandom activity and has refrained from identifying themselves to the community.

  139.Slash carries a taboo across the world as current global socio-sexual movements clearly indicate that homosexuality is still a fraught subject. To be a slasher is, loosely speaking, to entangle your own personal sexuality with these different threads. It’s not an easy subject to launch into with someone who lies outside of the community, who might not understand that element. The taboo of being a slasher in fandom isn’t a taboo merely within the fandom community but extends beyond these bounds to interactions with the world at large; that is, I might choose to disclose my identity as a slasher to people I meet, but their own stances on sexuality (within or outside of fandom) might influence our interaction.

  140.“RaceFail ’09” refers to a series of blog posts initially written in response to SF/F author Elizabeth Bear’s advice about “writing the other” in fiction. These posts pointed out both Bear’s apparent hypocrisy, critiquing her record of portraying people of color, and encompassed the failings of the SF/F genre as a whole when dealing with the issue of race. The term also includes the responses the blog posts generated and the resulting (sometimes heated) discussions. More information on RaceFail ’09 can be found at http://fanlore.org/wiki/RaceFail_’09 (accessed January 2, 2012). We found that our own experience of fandom resonated quite strongly with Deepa D’s “I Didn’t Dream of Dragons”: http://deepad.dreamwidth.org/29371.html (13 Jan. 2009).

  141.Bollywood has its own fanworks; there is a specific subsection on the collected fanfiction archive, FanFiction.Net, and there are numerous online journals that contain fanworks devoted to Indian cinema and literature specifically, although, notably, the majority of these are produced in either English or Hinglish.

  142.Arguably, this can be traced back to the idea in Anne Jamison’s introduction to this essay wherein race as an issue is subverted in favor of alien races or cyborgs. In Supernatural’s case, racism, while still present as a global issue, is also taken beyond those bounds to an issue that deals with the theological divide of angels, demons, and humans.

  143.James, Kendra. “What’s Not Going Bump in the Night?: The Missing Folklore of Supernatural.” 14 Apr. 2011. http://www.racialicious.com/2011/04/14/whats-not-going-bump-in-the-night-the-missing-folklore-of-supernatural-tv-correspondent-tryout.

  144.This information is documented by Kendra James at Racialicious.com, 1 Aug. 2012. http://www.racialicious.com/2012/08/01/this-show-was-supposed-to-be-a-gift-teen-wolf-race.

  145.Included here is just a small sample of the pieces available online regarding the casting and appropriation of “Kali” in Teen Wolf fandom: “Kali, Motherfuckers . . . or You Know Vengeance, Motherfuckers,” 22 Oct. 2012, http://zorana.tumblr.com/post/34110118173/kali-motherfuckers-or-you-know-vengeance; “For Every One of You Who Thinks . . . ,” 29 Nov. 2012, http://beliel.tumblr.com/post/36801233111/for-every
-single-one-of-you-who-think-kali-is-an; Joseph Lamour and Kendra James, “Teen Wolf: I Came for the Hot Guys, I Stayed for the Consistent Race Fail . . . and I Wish I Could Quit,” in “The Racialicious Entertainment Roundup: Nov. 23–29,” Racialicious.com, 30 Nov. 2012, http://www.racialicious.com/2012/11/30/the-racialicious-entertainment-roundup-nov-23-29/#more-26472.

  146.The negation of culture arises when the propagation of cultural references for that particular society privileges populist notions rather than any truthful or factual understanding. It prioritizes a false history that is often historical propaganda and that itself carries a great deal of racial, social, and political prejudice. For example, people watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom might now cringe at the assumption that South Asia is a land of ritual sacrifice and the eating of monkey’s brains. If that makes viewers cringe, why should they not also cringe from the fact that Davis is using populist notions of a South Asian deity to add cultural flavor to the depiction of a villainous werewolf?

  147.Goldsmith, Kenneth. Day. Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 2003.

  148.Alberro, Alexander. “Reconsidering Conceptual Art, 1966–1977.” In Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology, edited by Alexander Alberro and Blake Stimson. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999, pp. xvi, xvii.

  149.John Guillory, “The Memo and Modernity,” Critical Inquiry 31 (2004).

  150.Cobbing, Bob and Steven Ross Smith. Ballet of the Speech Organs: Bob Cobbing on Bob Cobbing. Saskatoon/Toronto: Underwhich Editions, 1998.

  151.Dworkin, Craig and Kenneth Goldsmith. Against Expression: An Anthology of Conceptual Writing. Avant-Garde & Modernism Collection. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2011.