So I’m on AO3 and I see a lot of people who put “I do not own [insert fandom here]” before their story.
Like, I came on this site to read FAN fiction. This is a FAN fiction site. I’m fully aware that you don’t own the fandom or the characters. That’s why it’s called FAN FICTION.
Back in the day, before fan fiction was mainstream and even encouraged by creators… This was your “please don’t sue me, I’m poor and just here for a good time” plea.
I worked with one of the women that got contacted by Rice’s lawyers. Scared the hell out of her and she never touched fandom again.
The first time I saw a commission post on tumblr for fanart, I was shocked.
One of the reasons I fell out of love with her writing was her treatment of the fans… (that and the opening chapter of Lasher gave me such heebie-jeebies with the whole underage sex thing I felt unclean just reading it.)
I have zero problem with fanart/fic so long as the creators aren’t making money off of it. It is someone else’s intellectual property and people who create fan related works need to respect that (and a solid 98% of them do.)
The remaining 2% are either easily swayed by being gently prompted to not cash in on someone else’s IP. Or they DGAF… and they are the ones who will eventually land themselves in hot water. Either way: this isn’t much of an excuse to persecute your entire fanbase.
But Anne Rice went off the deep end with this stuff by actively attacking people who were expressing their love for her work and were not profiteering from it.
The Vampire Chronicles was a dangerous fandom to be in back in the day. Most of the works I read/saw were hidden away in the dark recesses of the internet and covered by disclaimers (a lot of them reading like thoroughly researched legal documents.)
And woe betide anyone who was into shipping anyone with ANYONE in that fandom. You were most at risk, it seemed, if your vision of the characters deviated from the creators ‘original intentions.’ (Hypocritical of a woman who made most of her living writing erotica.)
Imagine getting sued over a headcanon…
Put simply: we all lived in fear of her team of highly paid lawyers descending from the heavens and taking us to court over a slashfic less than 500 words long.
Yep I used to have disclaimers on all my Buffy fic back in the day. The Buffy creators were mostly pretty chill about fandom but it’s not like it is now. You did NOT talk about fandom with anyone except other fandom people and bringing it up at cons was a massive no no because of stuff like this.
I think Supernatural (and Misha Collins specifically) was when that wall between fandom and creators started to break down. It’s a relatively new thing.
I remember going to a Merlin panel down in London and a girl sitting next to me asked the cast about slash and I thought she was going to get kicked out!
Oh man, let me tell you about the X-Files fandom. Lawyers for FOX sued, threatened, and generally terrified the owners of fan websites on a regular basis. God help you if you wrote or created original art set in their (expansive) universe or worse - dared to write about their characters. Even people who weren’t creating fanworks, just hosting Geocities pages about how much people liked the show would be sent C&D orders or actually fined. When I was first discovering the concept, the first rule of fandom was you do not talk about fandom because the consequences could be devastating.
It was such a strange and uncomfortable experience for me when fans in LOTR and Potter fandoms suddenly started shoving their work in people’s faces speaking publicly about fandom and wanting to engage in dialogue with the creators and actors of the Thing they were into. Fan stuff was supposed to stay online, in archives and list-serves and zines we passed around because it just wasn’t cool to talk about it and it could get you in a boatload of trouble. The freedom we have to create and gather together in a shared space, or actually be acknowledged in any way by people outside the fandom was inconceivable to my fannish, teenaged self. I want fans these days to understand how amazing modern fandom really is, cherish the community, and appreciate what it took to get us here.
I was one of the ones who got a love letter from Anne Rice’s lawyers. Bear in mind that up until that point her publisher had encouraged fanfic and worked with the archive keeper (one of my roommates at the time) to drum up publicity for upcoming books and so on.
I could tell such tales of how much Anne screwed over her fans back then. The tl;dr version is that she and her peeps would use fan projects as free market research and then bring in the lawyers once it was felt Anne could make money off of it herself. (Talismanic Tours being one of the most offensive examples of this.)
But where fanfic is concerned not only did we get nastygrams but one of my friends had Anne’s lawyer trying to fuck up her own privately owned business which had NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING ANNE RELATED. Said friend was a small business owner with health issues who wasn’t exactly rolling in money, so guess how well that went?
On top of that when yours truly tried to speak out about it I discovered that someone in Anne’s camp had been cyber stalking me to the point where they took all the tiny crumbs of personal information I had posted over the course of five years or so and used it to doxx me (before that was even a term and in early enough days of the WWW that this wasn’t an easy task) and post VERY personal information about me on the main fandom message board of the time. Luckily for me the mod was my friend and she took that down post haste, but it was still oodles of fun feeling that violated and why to this day I am very strict about keeping my fandom and personal lives separate online.
Hence why those of us in the fandom at the time who still gave enough of a shit to want to keep writing fic DID keep writing fic, but shoved it so far underground and slapped it with so many disclaimers they could’ve outweighed the word count of War & Peace. It wasn’t just for the purpose of protecting fic but for trying to protect our personal lives as well.
(Also would love to know who @tiger-in-the-flightdeck knew. Life paths crossing after so many years….)
Lucasfilm also sent cease-and-desist letters to Star Wars fanzines publishing slash.
My favourite bit I read from one included the idea that you weren’t allowed to have any explicit content, of which anything queer, no matter how tame, was included, to “preserve that innocence even Imperial crew members must be imagined to have”.
Yeah. The same Imperial crew members who helped build the Death Star to commit planetary genocide.
(It’s one reason Sinjir Velus, while I still have some issues with him, feels like such a delicious ‘f*** you’.)
Later on, they were apparently persuaded to ‘allow’ fans to write slash, provided in ‘remained within the nebulous bounds of good taste’.
(On a related note, if I wasn’t quite so attached to my URL, I would 100% change it to ‘Nebulous Bounds’, because that’s just downright catchy)
Anne McCaffrey had this huge long set of rules about how exactly you were allowed to play in her sandbox. Dragonriders of Pern was my first online fandom, and I was big into the Pern RP scene - and just about every fan-Weyr had a copy of these lists of rules McCaffrey wanted enforced. One of which was ‘no porn’ and another was basically ‘it can’t be gay’ (and for a while ‘no fanfiction posted online’? which??? anyway.)
Let’s not forget: the reason AO3 is called ‘Archive of our own’ is because it was created in response to some bullshit that assholes were trying to play with fan creators. Basically (if I remember the fiasco correctly) trying to mine fandom creators for content which they could then use to generate ad profit on their shitty websites. When the series creators objected, the fans tried to pull their content, only to find that the website hoster resisted, claiming their content was all his now.
To this day, *talking* about writing or reading fanfiction - just acknowledging that it exists - to anyone other than people I know are in fandom as well, feels like a dangerous act. The strict separation I maintained between my real life identity, my online identity, and my fandom identity (yes, they were separate, because some of the most vicious and mocking people were fellow nerds) has broken down a bit these days, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to integrate them as freely as some younger fans do.
Everybody should know that AO3 is just one project of the Organization for Transformative Works. Their mission is much broader than just hosting a (very good) fanfic site. They do all kinds of fandom history archiving and publish an academic journal, but most importantly, they perform legal advocacy to protect the fair use rights of people who make fanfic or fanart.
The OTW Legal Committee’s mission includes education, assistance, and advocacy.
We create and post educational materials about developments in fandom-related law on transformativeworks.org and on archiveofourown.org.
We assist individual fans when their fanworks are challenged, we answer fans’ questions about law relevant to fanworks, and we help fans find legal representation.
We partner with other advocacy organizations and coalitions in the U.S. and around the world.
We advocate for laws and policies that promote balance and protect fanworks and fandom.
And much more!
I haven’t been involved in fandom stuff all that long, but I find this stuff so fascinating!
whew, i feel old, but that’s mostly bc i was on forums way way waaaaay too young. but this? yes. all the way. people had password protected forums on the weirdest, most unconventional websites. before you could even be approved by the mods they would search your blog, your other accounts, question you, everything, all because we were broke teens and preteens trying to do something for fun and if someone got in who could doxx you or send your work over to a lawyer? that was it, you were OVER. that’s also part of where fandom wars and the defense of fandom came from: quote unquote “enemy” fandoms would infiltrate just to hurt you. @theglintoftherail makes a very good point: ao3 is a goddamn haven. and they’re a great team of lawyers and people dedicated to protecting fanworks! part of the reason it’s so great is because they know there’s no one like them out there. they also go to the ends of the damned earth to protect you and to be inclusive, which is why there’s shit like tentacle porn and underage and dubcon. because they’re dedicated to protecting readers and creators to the death. they don’t advocate for it and they have the extensive rating and tagging system because of that (legit the best tagging system i’ve ever seen) but they don’t know if you’re dealing with trauma or if you need to get something out. do not forget your fandom, kids. jesus
I’m just the right age to remember the disclaimers and to have HEARD about the Anne Rice, Anne McCaffrey, and X-Files fiascos, but I was never in any of those fandoms and I was more or less on the tail end of that. I can’t imagine having to be scared to tell people I write fanfic. So glad we’ve come so far.
20+ years ago, I used to be terrified someone would try to sue me for the fanfic I was writing. I covered my work in disclaimers and posted it from school PCs on the ‘guest’ account so no one could track me. I remember looking up at the school security camera as I posted my work, wondering if the school got a Cease & Desist letter if they’d trawl through the footage and discover it was me and know I was writing naughty gay fanfic. I imagined the entire school finding out what I’d written.
Conversely, last year, I featured in the ‘notable fans’ section of the Tomb Raider 20th Anniversary’ book - an official publication - as a fanfic writer.
It’s fantastic how fandom is becoming a part of enjoying content and is slowly, slowly being normalized <3
This is a Very Important Fandom History Class - all newer/young fans should read this, and if you’re interested, check out more of the creators vs. fans history on Fanlore. I vividly recall the days when we were regularly threatened (and, in fairness, legally they were right) by cease-and-desist letters or calls from lawyers from Universal, Fox and other studios. I was in the X-Files fandom from its earliest days, and I know this happened to friends of mine. This was back in the days of actual paper zines - there was no FF.net or AO3, or really much of an Internet.
The Internet, though, had really just become a thing right about the time X-Files hit the airwaves in the early ‘90s (we had some of the first fan chats on the old Delphi forums – ah, the days of waiting for a line of text to slowlyyyyy unfold across the screen!), and so everything was already in the midst of a shift…it would be a little while before the studios realized that fans sharing and creating content was, bingo, FREE PROMOTION for their properties, and something to be encouraged, not shut down.
I never cease chuckling now when I read an issue of Entertainment Weekly that tries to analyze and parse fanfic or fan art, or see studios sending out content directly to Big Name Fans whom they know will blog and create buzz about it. Or see actors and talk show hosts sharing fan art and stories on the air, for good or for not-so-good. We would never have dreamed this would happen back in the old days, when we had to run scared of most of the studios in order to create fanworks. We’re actually pretty mainstream now, and although that, too, has its good and bad points, it’s SO MUCH BETTER now for fan creations than it ever has been.
When I read Ngozi’s policy on fanworks for Check, Please, I nearly cried. The idea of a content creator encouraging fandom, LOVING fandom? That was revolutionary to me in 2016. IN 2016. But even there, she does ask that people acknowledge that the characters belong to her.
I grew up in fandom as an X-phile, and was doing kind of a lot of fanart/t-shirts and was METICULOUSLY careful to make no profit of any kind on them because it probably WOULD have gotten me sued. I wasn’t out money, but it worked out to the dime covering costs and no more.
I’ve been pondering fanwork-friendly fandoms as a concept for a while now, and have some ideas for ways of protecting both content creators and fans. Anyway.
Hello!! Fun fact: you are going to write me a story and therefore I love you.
I’ve included likes, dislikes, and prompt-related rambling below, but please don’t feel bound to write me something that matches every detail in this letter. That sounds exhausting and generally not fun. I tend to go overboard with the details in hopes that something sparks an idea—but if you want to just grab something from my list of “likes” and run with it, please please do. I will be delighted!! I say again: you are going to write me a story and therefore I love you.
General likes: pining, happy endings, fun dialogue. crack played straight. delicious, delicious tropes.
here, for shits and giggles, are my top 10 from the trope sorter—
1. Found Families
2. Fake Dating/Fake Marriage Accidentally Turns Into Feelings
3. Royalty/Arranged Marriage
3. Amnesia
5. Seemingly Unrequited Pining
6. Soulmate Identifying Marks: Tattoo, Red Thread of Fate, etc
7. 'Groundhog Day'/Karmic Time Warp
8. Espionage AU
9. Adopting/Raising a Baby
10. Magical Connection (telepathy, etc)
—and honestly any of those, for any pairing, would make me happy!!
General dislikes: i’m not comfortable with the inclusion of RL wives or girlfriends, at least not as main characters or plot devices. i don't like sad endings—happy or hopeful, please! porn is totally optional (i promise i really will be happy either way), but if you write it, i’m not into any especially hardcore kinks. i generally don't enjoy meet-cute fic (these guys all already have relationships i enjoy!), but i can be sold on a really good one, of course, so do what your fannish heart tells you.
Pairing specific stuff:
1. Nicky/Ovi
these two have capital-H History and i love it. i love that ovi called nicky’s name at the draft. i love that the two of them have such superficially different personalities. i love that nicky is apparently the most obsessively competitive guy in that room, and that ovi is a v. intense team mom. i love that they supposedly didn’t get along at first and now they are old married hockey parents. here’s my tag for them, if you want more shout-y feelings.
some prompt-y thoughts:
groundhog day au for them could be very fun (and very painful), particularly at the olympics or during a playoff series. did they give up a chance with each other in the name of national or capitals' success? how does reliving that choice (and having the chance to change it) go?
can you imagine amnesia fic for them? fic where nicky forgets the last ten years (AGGRESSIVE HANDWAVING RE: HOW AMNESIA ACTUALLY WORKS, OBVS) and doesn't remember that they've become friends. he remembers alex drafting him, but he doesn't remember what came after. or, on a less grand but no less painful scale, just fic where one of them forgets that they’re a couple, in ye olde trope-tastic tradition.
do you think alex ovechkin is a hockey-playing robot who has more enthusiasm for the game than 90% of his “real” “human” peers? i think he might be. just saying.
post-retirement fic!! tell me what happens. do they retire at the same time? are they ~together, or not? are there post-retirement visits to russian, or to sweden? does ovi drag nicky on a road trip because he doesn’t want to acknowledge that they’re done living in each others’ pockets (does nicky agree to go because he doesn’t, either?). did they win it all? are they bitter that they didn’t win it all, and they have to work that shit out before they can get around to a functional, grownup relationship? TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT.
2. Schmidt/Holtby
alright. listen. let’s talk about this. obviously, nate schmidt is sunshine personified, and holtby is a goalie, and therefore their friendship was great from the start. but then there is all this Fashion Nonsense?? THOUGHTS:
so we know that Braden Holtby: Fashion Icon is a thing, and we know that nate is dazzled by his well-tailored light. he asks braden for fashion advice (“If Schmidt feels conflicted in what he should wear, he texts Holtby for guidance,” shoutout to wapo for reporting the important things), and goes shopping with him on road trips where he “hangs out and watches in awe” (CALM DOWN NATHAN). and then there was...the haircut. we all remember the haircut, right? it was that totally bros thing where nate and braden were hanging out in a hotel bathroom and nate asked braden to give him a (presumably) awesome, high-fashion haircut, and braden got like a fifth of the way in, panicked, and abandoned ship.
incredible.
what i’m saying is, maybe he freaked out because his non-existent cred as a hair stylist was on the line, or maybe he freaked out because he was very close to actual ray of sunshine nate schmidt, and a lot of feelings he’d been trying to ignore were suddenly right there in his face, figuratively and also literally, and then he fled the hotel bathroom.
please feel free to tell me that story. or any other story about them falling in love, really, via fashion or otherwise.
or, if you want to deal with the fallout of the expansion draft, i’d read that too! do they have to figure out a long distance relationship? does braden help nate set up his new place in vegas (surely fashion advice can extend to decor advice...) and then they fall in love? is there some kinda trope-tastic nonsense on the horizon where braden misunderstands and thinks nate is dating his NEW goalie (hi flower) and there’s a whole lot of cross-country pining? YOU TELL ME.
3. Andre/Kuzy
...i just think they would be cute.
lmao i’m so sorry THAT’S P. MUCH IT, they are both young and enthusiastic and goofy and i’d like to see them be that, but together. they’ve both had some rough stretches as young, talented players on great (but ultimately doomed, oops) teams, and maybe they have helped each other through that!!
other vague thoughts: languages!! learning each others’ languages, either deliberately or just via locker room absorption; accidental eavesdropping; one using pet names without the other realizing; etc., etc. or some goofy trope-y shit? a sudden soulbond, surprise telepathy, fake dating—bring it on.
listen I JUST THINK THEY WOULD BE CUTE. if you offered this pairing, and you have a story you’ve been dying to tell or a dynamic you want to write, please go for it. i want to read it!!
We’re coming up on our deadline, and once it’s past, you’ll have missed your chance to write for and receive a story in the ALL CAPS Exchange! Sign-ups will extend until it’s no longer July 4 in any part of the world … expect them to close for good at about 6 a.m. PST on July 5th.
friends!! i am currently completing the first statistics homework i’ve had since 2008, so that’s tricky, but once i’m done with that, i’m going to finalize my signup for all caps. if you’ve been thinking about it, here’s your last call!!
my knowledge of authoritarian regimes and state oppressive tactics tells me that this new administration is trying to suppress resistance and cause fear through issuing a surge of oppressive policies and other actions in its first week. attempting to overwhelm us. to fatigue us, to make us lose hope in the possibility of resisting. his friendship with putin is one of many things that makes this make sense 4 me - these are the kinds of overt oppressive tactics the russian state uses on its citizens. remember resistance is always possible, and the use of methods to suppress resistance always indicates fear of resistance.
the first time chirrut touches bazes face is before they even start dating and when hes done he kinda laughs and says “i didnt need to do that. i already knew you were handsome” and baze doesnt sleep for 3 days bc hes still thinking about it
OLD ENOUGH TO READ FAIRY TALES AGAIN — Instrumental playlist for fantasy worlds and magical lands you will love again.
01 A Narnia Lullaby Harry Gregson-Williams | 02 Arrival of the Birds & Transformation The Cinematic Orchestra | 03 Divenire Ludovico Einaudi | 04 Once there was a Hushpuppy Benth Zeitlin | 05 Davy Jones’ Theme Song Hans Zimmer | 06 Piano Duet Danny Elfman | 07 Once Upon a Dream Simon Rawlings | 08 Portuguese Love Theme Gabrielle | 09 Clara? Murray Gold | 10 Fireside Dance Danny Elfman | 11 Caresse sur l’Océan Bruno Coulais | 12 Let it Go & Vivaldi’s Winter The Piano Guys | 13 I Giorni Daniel Hope | 14 The Origins of Time Johann Johannsson | 15 The Threat of War Alexandre Desplat | 16 The Deer Woodkid | 17 Summer ‘78 Yann Tiersen | 18 Photograph Arcade Fire | 19 Define Dancing Thomas Newman | 20 Once upon a December Emile Pandolfi | 21 How it Ends De Votch Ka
2087
theartofmadeline
titsay
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
vaporwave
