i'm just saying, it's all fine

BBC Sherlock Textpost (12/?) + The Onion Headlines 

The Legitimacy of Fanfic

Friend, some really great words to keep in mind are “There is nothing newunder the sun.” and “If I have seen further than others, it is by standingupon the shoulders of giants.” - Isaac Newton.

All literature comes from somewhere, draws from the cultural sources aroundit to beg, borrow and steal the same couple of plots served up over and overagain. Throughout history, the idea of sharing the same stories, building onthem, and tweaking them WAS how stories were done. It’s only been fairlyrecently that fiction treatedas intellectual property attributed to individual authors even became a thing.

“Paradise Lost” is a fanfic of the bible. Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” was afanfic based on earlier works. For over a hundred years since Doyle firstpenned his Sherlock Holmes stories, other authors have been writing theirown versions of Holmes and Watson. These stories are called “pastiche” or anyother fine, upstanding words that generally mean “white men wrote this” andhave a legitimacy to exist.

The difference between these and much of what we call “fanfic” today is thatthese newer works are primarily written by women and minority voices. Whenever womenengage in an activity, it’s usually thought of in negative terms, infantilized,and made to seem less important than what men do. If a man does it, we call it“art.” If a woman or marginalized person does it, we call it “craft.” Thesedistinctions are classist, racist, and sexist, and have little to do withwhether something is beautiful, good, or useful.

Back to fanfic in particular. With the internet, and sites like fanfic.netand AO3, people who ordinarily wouldn’t have access to publishing houses nowhave the ability to write stories and send them out into the world. Anyone witha way to the internet, now has access to this free system of gift and bartereconomy with literally thousands of fantastic works at our fingertips. Authorscan explore topics such as being genderfluid or trans, dealing with abuse, miscarriage,eating disorders, queer experiences, kinky sex, drug use – all on their ownterms without having to worry about pleasing investors or marketing strategies.The fact that they might be borrowing characters or worlds from other authorsto launch their stories is what humans have always done with stories.

So much of what we can consume today in tv, film and literature is the restrictedviewpoint of a very few predominantly white males. It is a cultural revolutionof the highest order to let those whose voices that are not normally heard havea platform. Support women! Support queer folks! Support minorities, and livesof all sorts by writing, reading and promoting fanfic – amen, brothers andsisters! (Can I get a hallelujah from the back??!)