On The Subject Of Canon-Rape...

[ladymirth]

Anna directed me to this post of hers in 7thyeartrain. Her subject and theme are different to what I wish to tackle; however, some of the comments touched upon the issue of so-called canon-rape, which I do want to talk about. I am going to single out the relevant comments that in order to respond to them.

One of the main themes in discussing canon-versus-fanon, is whether and how far OOC’s (Out of Character) should be tolerated.

 

People have different interpretations of certain characters; their motivations, their potential and their possible future evolution. One cannot speak for everyone and say “only so-and-so is possible within the realm of this person’s character. Depending on where you’re standing, twelve different people could describe twelve different view points that seem utterly contradictory, yet in reality have an equal chance of being valid (perhaps some more so than others). Literature has always been a purely subjective matter, and in the hands of a creative imagination, any so-called “canon” is completely malleable. I have read stories where Hermione turns out to be a hippie, Snape is a misunderstood hero, Ron is a back-stabbing bastard and Draco is a demi-god in leather pants. Some I have found myself enjoying, because of the marvelously insidious way the author starts out true to canon and then uses the progression of events to transform the characters in convincing ways that the creator of the series surely never intended. Yet, to take someone else’s characters and transform them to your own in front of the reader’s eyes – now that’s real talent. That’s art. And those who merely spew unconvincing OOC tripe (in my opinion, at least) well, I don’t want to read them, but if there are people who still enjoy reading this stuff, well good luck to them. (And stay the hell away from me.) You have obviously landed on the planet Uranus so don’t even bother leaving a review. Just back the mouse away quietly and click the pretty Back button that will send you back to sweet earth.

 

If someone wants to completely mischaracterize people, perhaps that author should stick to original fiction.

 

In my experience very few authors deliberately mischaracterize. Either they are somewhat biased in their perceptions, confused or it is simply a case of “to-mah-to or to-may-to”. “Were you even reading the same book that I was?” is a reaction that is part and parcel of any literary experience. You may argue whether canon supports a particular depiction, and the author may either tell you to go screw yourself or present a case in their defense or concede to your opinion. Nevertheless they may also tell you that they’d rather stick to that particular characterization as it accords with their level of preference for the character. In which case, announcing “this fic will bash Ron extensively because I hate all Weasleys,” will not only prepare their readers for what they’re getting into but also let anyone know how much effort the author is going to spend in order to stay true to canon.

 

However, the people who get defeated in such an argument and still argue that the content of their story is canonical do deserve a swift kick in the arse, IMHO.

 

If the reader does not want to read characters being mischaracterized any longer, maybe the reader should stick to reading something else. This “Custodians of Canon” shtick can grow very old, very fast. In my experience, some of fanfic’s best contributions to the personality development of its fen have sprung from major fanon controversies. Today, we sail our varied ships on the calm, staid waters of this fandom, we enjoy soft porn without a second’s thought and spur on a greater acceptance toward the gay and lesbian community through the popularity of slash and femme-slash. We enjoy the post-Buffy culture of moral ambiguity in tandem with the black-and-white ideologies inherent in Potterverse. Yet, we enjoy these now because of the select few who dared venture outside of canon in those early years and made deviant theories evolve into mainstream acceptance. The early slashers, the smut-writers and non-canonical shippers were ruthlessly head hunted by these canon purists and had they succeeded, the fandom would today boast of an oppressive and much less multi-cultural and less colourful ethos. Fanon has, and always will, live outside of canon. It thrives because of it.  

 

What really frustrates you sometimes, is the fact that fics absolutely degenerate in literary beauty and dilapidated in sense, they somehow earn far more reviews than they deserve. They are heaped with praise and adulation! And none of the reviewers are able to notice the same blaring errors in these crackpot fics that they were able to notice in the relatively better ones.

 

I can’t help but sympathise with this point. It seems criminal that some of the best written fic out there gets little recognition compared to the teeny-bopper tripe whose fangirls number in thousands. It seems like Dark Forces at work right there. 

But you know, taken even into wider context, this phenomenon is hardly unique to fandom. In my opinion, Rowling can scarcely match the ingenuity of her contemporaries, such as Pratchett, Gaiman and Peter S. Beagle. And yet, hers is the household name, the fame and the billions. Few people in North America have even heard of Tin Tin; their adulation is reserved for DC comics and Marvel. Is this fair? 

And some of you may argue with me, and say that you think otherwise. You don’t think it’s unfair at all. Well, then that’s your preference. I can judge the quality of these works for myself, but how can I impose standards on others? The most I can hope to do is encourage them to read Pratchett, Gaiman, Beagle and Herge before coming to a definitive conclusion themselves. 

Similarly, you may vent your frustration about under-appreciated authors by recommending them as much as possible to the fangirl hordes and hope they see reason. But try to understand that there are many things in earth and heaven not dreamt of in your philosophy. 

Also, be kind to mediocre writers. They eventually wake up to the fact of their own mediocrity and either leave fandom alone or go on to become truly excellent writers. To make a case in point, kindly compare and contrast the quality of Draco Dormiens and Draco Veritas  by Cassandra Clare. Mediocrity is the pillar of Genius.

 

I couldn't believe that the author finished all of her stories with comments like "OMG HOW FUNNY WAS THAT? REVIEW!". Pathetic, if you ask me.

 

This is a rare, extreme case. I thought after six years of fandom we had more or less weeded out these kinds of Suethors. I suppose it’s just not possible. I pity the poor, deluded writer, pity her very much. But personally, I prefer to leave the deluded ones to their delusions. Antagonising them only makes them defensive. Sooner or later they will grow up. Hopefully. If they don’t, well, fandom is a large enough place, and we should be kind to dumb animals.

 

But there are people who couldn't care less about the quality of their writing and couldn't care less what other people think of it. And I believe that, in those cases, the reader has the right - or even the obligation - to ignore that fic and decide to go spent their time on something that's worth it.

 

Absolutely. Word, to that.

 

Lol! I love this community it's a community to kick Mary-sues writer's arses something i would enjoy doing if i wasn't to nice for my own good! lol anyways i have come across a REALLY REALLY REALLY annoying fanfic which contains evrything you say it's called The Ice Queens vs The Marauders and it's on FF.net the authour is Crystal Princess13.
Anyways lol! i agree that people shouldn't want everyone to lurve their fic! lol! i have a friend who made a user on fanfic jus to critisize people. lol it's mean i know but meh. I hope the next thing you write about is how to kick the authours arses!

 

Yes? And where’s the community for wanking people who use netspeak and has no concept of grammar, punctuation or capitalization in posting Livejournal comments? Do not laugh at other people’s backsides unless your own is well-covered.

 

In conclusion, whatever else it is, fandom is a precious training ground for tolerance and civility. We have come a long way during these past few years. Let’s not lose that.

 

On a completely unrelated note, I just want to share this delicious little gem of fanfic I came upon today. Is Snape-centric and contains an allusion to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

End of the Line by shewhoguards

 

Comments

[annabtg.livejournal.com]

Nice essay there :) I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Funny point about JKR and writers such as Pratchett... I hadn't thought of it that way. Although if the "badfic" gathering all the reviews was at JKR's standards, I wouldn't complain. :P

Just one thing - of all examples of a writer getting better with time, did you have to bring up Cassandra Claire as an example? She may just have found someone better to plagiarize from. *is bitter*

See ya,
Anna.

[ladymirth.livejournal.com]

Aw, gods. Not you too.

I don't lend any credence to this Cassandra Clare plagiarism deal. Fanfic is about ripping as many people off as possible. (I did it and I was only into chapter 2 of my fic. LOL) Cassie did name some of her sources, and speaking as a person who has been in the Yahoo group for more than five years, I can tell you we've even had "guess the quote" games about it. I was taking a break from HPdom when the whole hubbub hit but I've read the account of it in Fanhistory and a couple of message boards and all of them seem completely flimsy and one-sided to me.

I always liked Cassie's work (although I joined the Yahoo group primarily for Lori Summers' fiction) but I've never thought her a god, like some people did. The fact was, she was one of the few decent writers we had way back when there were only a few sites active and even they were crawling with suethors and badfic. She was one of the driving forces behind making the fandom what it is today; she was one of the most influential supporters of slash fic when it was being persecuted and she practically created Fanon Draco. I don't think she really deserved as much attention as she got, esp since I now can think of at least ten fanfic writers who can eclipse her, but that is true of many BNFs.

Anyhow, she has moved on to orignal fiction, and I have not yet found people who have actually read her Mortal Instruments Trilogy who are claiming her to have plagiarised with supporting evidence.

I would very much like to know who your resources are in this matter. I wanted to write off my rebuttal post this evening, but thought I should do a bit of homework first and find out why people are so very convinced of Cassie's guilt. If you have any, would you please send me a few links?

[ladymirth.livejournal.com]

Er, I'm not sure, but I think I sound a bit archiac in my reply. Don't mind it if I am, please. It's 3.30 in the morning and I'm reading Georgette Heyer. I'm going to be speaking like a Regency era heroine for the next two days. *headdesk*

[annabtg.livejournal.com]

I read white-serpent's essay (on JournalFen?) earlier today. I think I found the link here in your journal, but it's past 5 am here and I'm in desperate need of a painkiller so you'll forgive me for not being willing to dig it up again at the moment.

I will admit I knew next to nothing about this whole thing, and having read that side may have me biased, but really, I was appalled at what I saw. Even if there were indeed find-the-quotes games etc., I don't consider that a good writing method. Heck, even if she quoted EVERYTHING she used, I wouldn't be willing to categorize her as such a good writer. Using non-HP quotes repeatedly (several times in each chapter, as I realize) may serve like a 'homage' to other shows and stuff, but I, as a writer who obsesses manically over each word she uses to make sure it works as best possible and as someone who values originality, find this, if anything, a lazy tactic that doesn't make for a good writer - at least, not one *I* can appreciate. I'd much rather read something devoid of such references, even if it meant it wouldn't be so witty and well-written.

Sorry if my comment came out as too offensive.

See ya,
Anna.

[ladymirth.livejournal.com]

No, you weren't offensive. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

It depends on how serious you are about your writing, really. And how you perceve writing. The reason I love fanfic is for much the same reason Cassie does - you can play with several people's toys at once without harm to the original creators. Others (like you) to test their mettle as honest-to-goodness writers. I pride myself that I am a good essayist, but I know I'll never be a novelist.

I have just read the journalfen entries.

I don't believe Cassie had the book open in front of her when she wrote this. Sometimes when descriptions are so vivid, they tend to stick in your mind for a long time. Now, I can quote several pages of Fingersmith, or The Black Moth from the time I read it years ago (because imagery stays with me) but I am hard-pressed to remember the names of their authors off the top of my head.

That's not to say that Cassie hasn't been an awful idiot about some things. She has plenty of blame on her side. But I think that the entire issue has been blown out of all proportion, both by the opposing camp and her fangirls.

I have been following Cassie's progress for years and I know she's a sensible, talented person. That entire team of BNFs, Lori, Lissane, AngieJ, Angua9, Carol Estes have always been favourites with me not so much because of their fiction as how down-to-earth and sensible they are. I won't deny that Heidi Tandy has a bit of volatile personality though.

I just think it's sad that so many newbies and even not-so-newbies will not be able to appreciate the people who shaped this fandom into the haven it is today. I wish Cassie could be remembered in this fandom for the person she is rather than for a plagiarism charge that occurred back in the days when the boundaries of fanon had not yet been properly established.

And as part of fanon mythology, I truly believe The Draco Trilogy deserves to be read.