Let's Chat 1
Below is the chat on a recent discussion I had on the http://fuckyeahrtfanfic.tumblr.com/ tiny chat! I plan on having another one tomorrow at 7:30 am Pacific Time Zone (UTC-08:00)
jbnova: Hello. [5:22 PM] fanficinpopculture: hi [5:22 PM] jbnova: Welcome to the chat. [5:22 PM] fanficinpopculture: thanks, [5:22 PM] jbnova: So what brings you by? [5:23 PM] fanficinpopculture: I need rt awsome fandoms help with a project on fanfiction I'm doing but if you are not intrested I totally understand :) [5:23 PM] jbnova: I'm very interested. [5:23 PM] acindra: what's the project about [5:23 PM] acindra: also hi nova, tim [5:23 PM] jbnova: Welcome back Cin. [5:24 PM] acindra: aw i missed maris [5:24 PM] timothay: Hey cin [5:24 PM] fanficinpopculture: the project is just about fanfiction really and how it fits into popculture and if it DOES fit into popculture. [5:24 PM] acindra: how would you need us to participate? [5:26 PM] fanficinpopculture: I want to have this portion of the project where instead of me just saying my opinion and scholarly article sources I want it to be more of a discussion [5:26 PM] fanficinpopculture: The topic is Shipping or Slash and why it happens [5:26 PM] acindra: wouldn't that lose you credibility since you're talking to a group of ficcers? [5:27 PM] jbnova: Not necessarily. [5:27 PM] fanficinpopculture: For this portion not really because I'm asking people who do it why they do it, [5:27 PM] jbnova: And Maris just left. [5:27 PM] fanficinpopculture: I would lose credibility if I asked you guys if fanfiction was good or not :) [5:28 PM] jbnova: Unfortunately, Cin and I are not very active in the writing side. [5:28 PM] acindra: liol [5:28 PM] acindra: not true anymore >.> [5:28 PM] jbnova: Oh? [5:28 PM] acindra: been writing a lot since the ss thing came out. none of it is edited tho [5:29 PM] fanficinpopculture: writing is wriing, and you can ship characters together without nessisaryly creating content right? [5:29 PM] acindra: yeah [5:29 PM] jbnova: I also don't have a particular ship. [5:30 PM] fanficinpopculture: no worries the questions are really about ships themseves but why people might do them [5:31 PM] acindra: go for it then [5:31 PM] jbnova: Ask away. [5:32 PM] fanficinpopculture: What do you guys think shipping is? [5:32 PM] jbnova: It gets its name from "relation*ship*, referring to a romantic pairing. [5:32 PM] jbnova: So it'd be any group of 2 or more people in a meaningful relationship surpassing friendship, often a romantic or sexual one. [5:32 PM] acindra: though it's not necessarily romantic when you say you ship people [5:32 PM] acindra: ye [5:33 PM] jbnova: I'm referring explicitly to ships, not BROTP. [5:33 PM] acindra: you can still ship aromantic people [5:33 PM] jbnova: I know. [5:34 PM] jbnova: But aromantics are often in explicitly sexual or frienship only. [5:34 PM] fanficinpopculture: Do you guys think that shipping is a crutial part of fanfiction? [5:34 PM] acindra: generally i'd say it's the desire to have 2+ characters having a relationship that's more than just friendship [5:35 PM] acindra: characters including real people's camera persona [5:35 PM] acindra: no [5:35 PM] jbnova: I wouldn't say it's crucial. [5:35 PM] acindra: it's a large part of it but it's not a necessity [5:35 PM] jbnova: A fanfic can consist entirely of a storyline you want to see. [5:35 PM] jbnova: Like a group of people go to the zoo. [5:35 PM] acindra: for example harry as a slytherin [5:36 PM] jbnova: Harry as a Slytherin would be an example of an AU, or Alternate Universe. [5:36 PM] jbnova: Where fans write them to speculate "What Ifs?". [5:36 PM] acindra: fanfiction tends to explore personalities [5:37 PM] acindra: and how characters react to other characters and situations [5:37 PM] jbnova: It's mostly about character dynamics. [5:37 PM] fanficinpopculture: what is the most important part of fanfiction? the "What if" or exploring characters dynamics, or something else? [5:37 PM] jbnova: It's entirely dependent on the type of fic being written. [5:37 PM] acindra: and the person reading it [5:37 PM] jbnova: If it's a "slashfic" then it's the ship. [5:38 PM] jbnova: If it's just an unseen event as depicted by the author, it's character dynamics. [5:38 PM] jbnova: If it's the "What If" then it's "How would this character act under these conditions?". [5:39 PM] acindra: this mob just dropped a hat that's literally a cat [5:39 PM] jbnova: In Trove? [5:39 PM] fanficinpopculture: Would it be fair to say then that fanfiction is simply a medium and what happens depends solely on the people using it [5:39 PM] jbnova: Yes. [5:39 PM] acindra: yes. to both [5:40 PM] jbnova: Essentially fanfiction is taking a published and established work and putting your own spin on it. [5:40 PM] jbnova: "Novels are just published original fanfiction." [5:41 PM] acindra: in our case the piece of work is the camera personalities of roosterteeth employees [5:41 PM] jbnova: For instance, I am in the middle of writing a fanfiction based on Achievement Hunter in an Alternate Universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender. [5:41 PM] jbnova: It focuses on the character dynamics and relationships in a platonic manner, as well as them existing in that setting. [5:43 PM] fanficinpopculture: So fanfiction is an exploration of types and that shipping is just exploring a character in a different way? [5:43 PM] acindra: yes [5:43 PM] jbnova: Indeed. [5:43 PM] acindra: there's also the lack of mogai relationships in pop culture [5:43 PM] fanficinpopculture: But why do you think that shipping is so popular? [5:44 PM] acindra: that makes fanfiction appealing [5:44 PM] acindra: because people like having opinions [5:44 PM] acindra: they like characters and putting them together [5:44 PM] jbnova: I think shipping is popular because people like the idea of Character A and B, and sometimes A+, in a relationship. [5:45 PM] fanficinpopculture: and maybe putting some of their identity into something they love [5:45 PM] acindra: it's like in disney movies we get presented two characters who oftentimes are unlikely to get together [5:45 PM] jbnova: I know that there are fanfic writers who write solely for recognition. [5:45 PM] acindra: but they do end up getting together [5:45 PM] acindra: like kovu and kiara [5:46 PM] jbnova: Is that the Princess and the Frog remake? [5:46 PM] acindra: sometimes we see personalities that would go well together in other works that aren't explored in said work [5:46 PM] acindra: no that's lion king 2 [5:46 PM] jbnova: There's a Lion King 2? [5:46 PM] jbnova: So there is. [5:46 PM] acindra: you haven't seen lion king 2? [5:46 PM] fanficinpopculture: and a lion king 1/2 [5:46 PM] acindra: IT HAS THE BEST MUSIC NOVA [5:46 PM] jbnova: Cin you know I don't like Disney. [5:46 PM] acindra: you make me sad [5:47 PM] jbnova: What else is new. [5:47 PM] jbnova: Aw, Maris' internet got capped again. [5:47 PM] acindra: it's about that time yeah [5:48 PM] fanficinpopculture: Do you guys think that a reason why there is a lot of male/male pairings in fanfiction is becuase there is a lack of strong female characters? (ie sherlock or supernatural) [5:49 PM] acindra: partially that and partially the lack of gay/mogai characters [5:49 PM] jbnova: Though that issue is mostly on Tumblr, it has slowly began to spread as a more reasonable belief [5:50 PM] jbnova: A prime example is the Naruto fandom that violently proclaimed that Naruto and Sasuke are "totally gay for each other". [5:50 PM] jbnova: And led to a significant amount of Naruto/Sasuke fanfiction alongside Naruto/Hinata and Sasuke/Sakura. [5:51 PM] fanficinpopculture: like have a sexuality enbellished upon the character? [5:51 PM] jbnova: Yes. [5:52 PM] jbnova: Often times, and especially in the RT fandom, sexuality is embellished. [5:52 PM] jbnova: Sometimes gay, pansexual, asexual, anything in the sexuality spectrum. [5:52 PM] jbnova: As well as gender, though I believe that's specific to Tumblr and AO3. [5:53 PM] fanficinpopculture: What are your views on this? is this good, bad, or something that just happens? [5:53 PM] acindra: i disagree [5:53 PM] acindra: there was plenty of gender themed fics on livejournal [5:53 PM] jbnova: I will concede on that as I do not actively read fanfiction. [5:53 PM] acindra: i think it's a good thing [5:53 PM] acindra: for multiple reasons [5:53 PM] acindra: the first being people are reading [5:53 PM] jbnova: It's an outlet for people who are those "invisible" genders and sexualities to have a character that is. [5:54 PM] acindra: representation is important [5:54 PM] jbnova: I have seen numerous fics of transgender characters when the "canon" version of those characters are cisgender. [5:54 PM] jbnova: Is it bad? No. [5:54 PM] acindra: it helps people be more open minded about their peers [5:54 PM] acindra: well. you don't know that [5:55 PM] acindra: unless they're stated as explicitly cisgender they could be trans or non binary and it's just never discussed [5:55 PM] acindra: like dumbledore being gay. [5:55 PM] jbnova: That was explicitly stated. [5:55 PM] acindra: though tbh that was a cheap way to say it. it should've been in the book [5:55 PM] jbnova: Yes it was. [5:55 PM] acindra: yes after the books were done [5:55 PM] jbnova: I thought it was during Book 7? [5:55 PM] acindra: no [5:55 PM] acindra: it was never said in the books [5:56 PM] jbnova: No, I meant that she revealed it before Book 7 was published. [5:56 PM] jbnova: I know it was never stated but for World of Author. [5:56 PM] acindra: either way it wasn't actually in the book, it's an author's headcannon but that means jack shit in the content [5:56 PM] fanficinpopculture: Do you feel that Rowling was swayed by the fandom to say that? Or was that he true intentions from the start [5:57 PM] acindra: it doesn't matter either way [5:57 PM] jbnova: It had no impact on the story. [5:57 PM] jbnova: Dumbledore could have been a non-binary pansexual and it would have changed nothing. [5:57 PM] jbnova: J. K. Rowling would have written Dumbledore the exact same way. [5:59 PM] jbnova: It was a poor copout to the lack of representation. [5:59 PM] jbnova: A proper example is in Game of Thrones were there are characters explicitly shown to be gay and an entire culture of agender individuals. [5:59 PM] acindra: yess [5:59 PM] jbnova: But I digress, as this topic is no longer about fanfiction. [6:00 PM] jbnova: Cin, you read A Song of Ice and Fire, right? [6:00 PM] acindra: no [6:00 PM] jbnova: Ah. [6:00 PM] jbnova: Well, there's a group of (initally) male warriors who at birth have their junk cut off and trained to be warriors. [6:00 PM] acindra: the dothraki ye [6:00 PM] acindra: no [6:00 PM] jbnova: Not Dothraki. [6:00 PM] fanficinpopculture: But why is there a lack of represenation in media? [6:01 PM] jbnova: The Unsullied. [6:01 PM] acindra: the dudes dragon lady gets [6:01 PM] jbnova: Yes. [6:01 PM] acindra: i'm waiting for the last book to actually read it [6:01 PM] jbnova: The dudes the bi or pansexual dragon queen gets. [6:01 PM] acindra: i fucking hate unfinished stories [6:01 PM] acindra: why? [6:01 PM] acindra: because our media and government is still full of racist bigoted sexist assholes [6:02 PM] jbnova: And some media outlets are just uninformed. [6:02 PM] acindra: it's getting better. but it's slow [6:02 PM] jbnova: Not everyone is a racist, bigoted, sexist. [6:02 PM] acindra: but a lot of the producers are [6:02 PM] jbnova: Yes. [6:02 PM] acindra: like bubbline not being able to happen [6:02 PM] jbnova: Which is BS, as it's super canon. [6:03 PM] jbnova: "Why isn't PB into Finn?" "Because she's a hardcore lesbian with a vampire." [6:03 PM] jbnova: A demisexual lesbian at that. [6:03 PM] acindra: plus he's like 12 [6:03 PM] jbnova: Demisexual is the one where you have to know the person first, right? [6:03 PM] acindra: ye [6:04 PM] jbnova: Also yes Finn is 14 or something and PB is at least several hundred years old. [6:04 PM] fanficinpopculture: Sodo you think that fanfiction is created to combat the hetronormative tendencies of today's media? [6:04 PM] jbnova: No. Not in the slightest. [6:04 PM] jbnova: It was because fans wanted events to happen that didn't happen in canon. [6:05 PM] jbnova: I must go now. [6:05 PM] fanficinpopculture: okay thanks for the help :) [6:05 PM] fanficinpopculture: it was super intresting [6:05 PM] acindra: no problem [6:05 PM] fanficinpopculture: can i post this on the blog portion of the project? [6:05 PM] acindra: sure [6:05 PM] acindra: but link us to it [6:06 PM] acindra: or is it an essay? [6:06 PM] acindra: either way i would like to see the completed project [6:06 PM] fanficinpopculture: it's a blog, [6:06 PM] fanficinpopculture: want a link? [6:06 PM] acindra: yes [6:06 PM] fanficinpopculture: http: