#transformative works

[anneangel]

In favor of fanwork!

For those who follow me because of Good Omens, know that this blog is friendly to those who liked the finale and those who didn't. It's friendly to those who believe Asa and Anthony are Aziraphale and Crowley as much as to those who think they aren't. It's friendly to criticism of the finale as much as to positive comments about it. It's friendly to those who will never ship Asanthony as much as to those who have already embraced them. It is friendly to those who are anti-GO3 and to those who accept it as Canon for the TV series.

I just hope that, whether or not the finale is what we wanted, people know that there's still room to write fanfiction and create amazing art about anything covered in Book and the TV adaptation so far.

I know some people think it's a kind of indirect marketing for the original work, but I see transformative works, especially fanfiction, as something fair, autonomous, accessible and free.

I've said this before, but I'll repeat it: For me, it's MORE than just allowing the audience to tell their own version of the story; Fanfiction has evolved into people writing it as a way to heal their own ghosts and help others deal with the same ghosts. Plots that bring so much struggle, worry, and reflection, sometimes funny and light, sometimes dark, sometimes both, but mostly exciting, thought-provoking, making the reader laugh and cry, cathartic, almost therapeutic.

In general, I think fanfiction transcends the original work, as it marks the individuality and collectivity of the fanfiction author and the fandom as a whole.

These are plots that bring so much diversity, so many new messages and thematic axes, so many different lifestyles, values and points of view that have never been seen before in the original work and its adaptations. Each fanfic is unique.

It's a way for the fanfiction author to include their voice; fanfiction is about making the audience something more than mere spectators or consumers of the original work and its adaptations. It's about making it yours too; it's a wonderful creative and interactive experience!

Seriously, many of you have such spontaneous, creative, incredible, and exciting ideas.

From this perspective, I hope that, whether you like the official Finale for TV or not, whether you are still fascinated or frustrated with what was presented to us as the Finale, or perhaps a complex fusion of both (as I feel), don't forget that this may be "the end" of the original material available to us for the TV series, but it's only the beginning of the "what ifs?" and "what else?", so necessary for creators of fanfiction, fan art, fan comics, fan animatics, etc.

You may like or dislike the Finale, but you can see it as a way to change what you received (if you didn't like what you received), or expand upon it too (if you liked).

It can also be a path to a new art/work form. I've read several fanfictions and fan comics that are so unique that they could basically be original just by changing the characters' names.

Whether the plot elements are compatible with Canon or not, the transformative work is valuable for both: for those who create it and for those who consume it. Don't forget that!

So, whatever happens, I will continue to support transformative work!

I hope, that the intrigue and discord about "whether the finale was satisfactory or not" (a perfectly valid discussion, as long as it's done respectfully towards those who think differently from you) doesn't make people in this fandom forget that fan work is a masterpiece apart from this fandom!

Now I, personally, feel that I like the fanworks (fanfics, fanarts, fan comics, fan animatics, etc.) more than the original work (whether book or adaptations), because the artists and writers in this fandom are truly very good and positively transform the original work into different and totally captivating fan works!

Therefore, having said all this, I will reblog fanwork material, whether from the original work (book) or its adaptations (including the TV series seasons 1, 2 and the finale), whether it's compatible with canon TV series or not!

Because, regardless of my ambivalent feelings about the finale I received (I love and hate it simultaneously, for multiple reasons), I think the artists and writers in this fandom are what make it all worthwhile!

[ninjakittenarmy]

While I do agree that there’s a lot of rather astounding misinterpretations of works and their themes, I feel like a lot of takes about fanfiction specifically “missing the point” of a story come from this magical world where every work you’ve ever enjoyed only ever promoted 1 to 1 replicas of their exact views on every theme within it. And that every conclusion they draw from a story was 100 percent thought out. And that’s where this narrative that the creator’s views are sacrosanct and any disagreement with it means you’re like, disrespecting the work and the creator. Most of these people, in my experience, will have works they consider “guilty pleasures” that they insult at every point and consider fanworks contradicting or bashing a given aspect of it a mark of quality.

Sometimes you do not agree with a work’s perspective on something. Sometimes the fact that you disagree makes it interesting even. Sometimes you agree with a lot of it but not everything. Sometimes you feel there’s a but of nuance that’s beyond the scope of the story. Sometimes your views are close but not exact.

Sometimes it’s not even really a disagreement. Sometimes the story is simply tackling a context in which one thing is true without saying it’s true in ALL cases but someone who believes it’s true in all cases likes it (understandable) and treats everything as being just as absolute as they believe it is (confirmation bias).

And when people delve into scenarios where a key part of the narrative is changed, that’s not always because they missed the point, it’s because transformative works are in conversation with the narrative and proposing alternative scenarios continues the discussion.

Also sometimes “what if this scenario where the story is about a different set of circumstances with different answers” is just interesting to the writer. Not a disagreement, just an interesting scenario. A thought experiment. The story already said the thing it wanted to say. Why would I write a story that just says everything again one for one?

“Why did you write a fic for the story about nobody needing to die where someone needs to die?” Because I find the scenario interesting and the existence of such a scenario as a possibility is literally mentioned in the story. It’s just not part of the game. I never said the game should have it.

[idhren]

LOTR: Tale of the Middle Kingdom is a personalproject that reimagines J.R.R. Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth in a Chinese setting. China is called 中国 (Zhōngguó) - meaning ‘‘The Middle Kingdom". Taking inspiration from the books, movies, ancient Chinese artefacts and paintings, this project is a love letter to my own Chinese heritage, seen through the lens of medieval fantasy and historical design.

Check out the artist's website for more - neat project!

[jay-austen]

One of my friends was trying to argue with me that the song of Achilles was NOT Iliad fanfiction.

The definition of fanfiction (according to fanlore which was created by OTW who also created ao3) ‘is a work of fiction written by fans for other fans, taking a source text or a famous person as a point of departure.’

The song of Achilles is literally a re-telling of Achilles and Patroclus story from the Iliad. The characters are the same, the place is the same, it’s meant to be a re-telling

It is a transformative work. A transformative work takes something (the Iliad) and turns it into something with a new purpose, sensibility, or mode of expression (Song of Achilles)

I love reading ao3 and fanfiction (I’m a fanfiction author lmao) but saying the song of Achilles is not Iliad fanfiction is just wrong

[notnotolovegarden]

Ao3 ily

[vifetoile]

anyway, if you love The Odyssey, and you love transformations and twists, I highly HIGHLY recommend The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason

it’s basically like forty something very short Twilight Zoneish takes on The Odyssey. The stories do not connect but each one is a little self contained puzzle or mirror or peculiar take and it’s one of my favorite books

[jetkast]

Even before I was in fandom for anything, as a kid I'd like to think about or look up what I guess would be considered cornplating interpretations of... well, anything, really. Whether it was based on something confirmable came secondary, in the sense that direct from the author's mouth was first-order compelling, but not necessary. When I discovered the idea of "transformational works" I felt a lightbulb go off. Not only was there a concept for what I was searching for, but people who felt the same urge that I do.

I remember like it was a week ago (instead of over a decade) when the "curtains are just blue" conversation came up in my English class in senior year of high school. I remember thinking, even if the author didn't intend for it to be symbolic, isn't it more interesting to consider it could be? How much of the power of words opens up when blue no longer only describes a pigment, but also an emotion or an atmosphere. How it opens up a window to the author -- are they "blue", or is the character, the story? Was that the color of the drapes in front of them while writing, or was it the color of the curtains in their childhood home, or completely the opposite? My teacher at the time was trying to get the class to think about the description of a picture on the wall, seemingly unrelated to the narrative. Why this person, why these clothes, why this scene?

I was never part of the "it's not that deep" crowd. How limiting. What if it was, and beyond that, what if we made it to be? It's like squeezing a lemon, getting juice, then balking at the idea of making lemonade. Why expand, why transform, why explore, why pervert, why deconstruct, why queer, why remake, why distort, why why why?

Why not? More importantly, how can you not? This pull to tease apart meaning and change POV and ask what if doesn't occur to you? I don't know who I'd be without that urge. I don't know who I'd be without that urge reflected in others across time and space. The world is so much richer for it.