Things that are not a property of all fanworks

[alias_sqbr]

Inspired by this poll and the surrounding conversation plus stuff I've seen people say before.

The following are examples of things that most people (including their creators) would consider fanworks but still often get excluded from statements saying or implying "All fanworks are...".

"What counts as a fanwork" is a different question to "what should be on the AO3", but I think it 's something that need to be considered before that question can be sensibly answered (plus I just think it's interesting!).


Text: fanart, fanvids, fanscarves etc.

Based on a well known or commercial canon: Lots is based on works by friends or obscure bits of history etc.

Noncommercial: lots of people who are totally ensconced in fanworks fandom sell their fanart or fanfic based on out of copyright works. Plus there's all the stuff that's part of mainstream culture like Wicked. (not that everyone classifies this as fanfic).

Not legally protected: as well as stuff based on out of copyright canon there historical RPF and parody.

Made out of love of canon: sometimes it's an expression of how much canon makes you angry (sometimes this is mixed with disappointed love, too, but it's very much a continuum) Or done as a prompt for a canon you haven't even seen, etc.

Made as part of a community around that work: Lots of fanworks are made in isolation because the creator is just inspired to make them, they either might not be in the fandom for that work (if one even exists!) or not in or even aware of fanwork fandom at all. And sometimes the same people go on to join a fanworks fandom and continue to make exactly the same sorts of fanworks.

Using fannish conventions: see above, and this is also true for some works whose creators are involved the relevant fanworks fandom. Also there's not just one "fanworks community", and conventions differ.

Translatable into original fic with some extra backstory: A parody of your own work just isn't the same. Fixit fics are satisfying because they fix the broken canon in your head, if you made an original story with the same plot the canon story would still be "broken".

Pornographic or otherwise going against community norms: *waves little G-rated genfic flag*

Designed to hit people's buttons (as porn, romance, satisfying angst etc): No more inherently than other creative works, I'd say. Fanworks which are dense, dry, inaccessible etc are less common but do exist.

Using someone else's characters: Stories with original characters in a fictional setting.

Stuff I've seen some argument about:

Fiction: meta, picspams, and depending on how you define things, fanart and crafts etc.

Based on a fictional work: Real person fiction. Anthropomorfic.

Not original: I don't know that I've read any original works that their creators and consumers consider fanworks, but apparently they exist! Of course then there's the question "How do you (and they) define original?". (See the comments for some discussion of this)


So, what have I forgotten?

In my opinion fanworks (and fanfic in particular) are an incredibly fuzzy subjective category, the intersection of many interconnected motivations and approaches. I'm frequently reminded of this since I make stuff like G rated satirical fancomics of out-of-copyright sources that don't fit into a lot of people's preconceptions. If there's one thing that melannen's poll made clear to me it's that even my own internal definition makes no freaking sense, so trying to generalize and include everyone seems almost impossible! Yet saying "fanworks are what ever their creators say they are" can obviously be taken to ridiculous extremes.

So...I guess the moral I'm going for is, be aware that it's complicated, and don't overgeneralise. And you are welcome to say "All the fanworks that I like are X"..as long as you accept that other people may be creating and consuming fanworks for entirely different reasons.

(And yes: I am now, finally, largely over my cold and thus up to long rambly meta again :))

Comments

[ex_peasant441]

I've known people create an OC for a fic and then take the OC off and play with them alone. It still somehow remains a fanwork though because it has its origins and conventions, not to mention the audience, rooted in fandom.

Or there is stuff like the penguin!fic currently doing the rounds in the Buffy fandom - it started with some character names but it has now gone so AU it is ridiculous, anyone from the PTB that seriously tried to sue over that would be laughed out of court, but clearly the fic is of and based in fandom because of who is reading and writing it.

[dharma_slut]

yes, this, and I have been involved in a fandom that grew new branches around of a couple of ad hoc original characters. Now, within that group of writers, those characters are permanent members of the crew of the Pearl, and she would no more sail without them than without Captain Sparrow.

[alias_sqbr]

I get the feeling there's this whole original-but-fannish subset of fandom that has somehow managed to mostly pass me by, I guess because it's so far from what I tend to want from fanfic.