Buckle up homies, I'm about to get controversial on main and stir some pots but someone’s gotta say it.
Dramoine fanfiction blurs the lines between gift economy and capitalism, and we should talk about it.
With the rise of purity culture, fandom etiquette dying as consumerist mindsets enter our spaces, and fanfiction becoming mainstream, it sure is a hot mess riddled with pitfalls for anyone who do not tread carefully.
Which is why I am disappointed but not surprised that the publishers of certain Dramoine fanfics-turned-originals are shoving all consideration aside to monetize on the fact that these books were originally fanfics.
Fandom is not to be monetized in any way, shape, or form—and yet, that is exactly what’s happening when the publisher releases a poster to explain Dramoine fanfic to a mainstream audience and the author claims her fic on Goodreads along with naming AO3-tags in a comment about original work.
This also prompts readers and fans to create fanart to share on social media where they utilise fandom-related knowledge to (knowingly or not) market what is supposed to be an original work, further blurring the lines between fanfiction and books, which endangers one of the only communities left not fuelled by capitalist intent.
There needs to be separation between fandom and trad literature, because they serve separate purposes. Fanfiction is art created for the sake of creating art. Money has never been a motivational factor in the creation of these stories, they are written for the joy of writing as a gift to the community.
Books are also an artform, but a monetized artform where the intent of publishing them is to earn. Books become products, which is why we can critique and review them, just as we do a movie.
Fanfic writers and traditionally published authors can be the same person. Many of us strive to be both, but we must keep these spaces separate, because fanfiction and trad books are separate things with separate purposes.
Taking advantage of fandom to market a product is an oxymoron that will send us another Anne Rice. Do we really want JKR’s lawyers to come knocking on our doors? Do the publishing houses want that?
snowghoul
theartofmadeline
