Relevant?

[isi]

Have you guys seen this thread on the subreddit today?

OP suggests that fanfic involving EasyCGI and Docamera would be hilarious. I agree that would be pretty funny. But then there's BTC's comments. I'm somewhere between wondering how much he's seen (meaning does he know about us), being a little disheartened by his reaction, and remembering that we're bound to get that kind of reaction from some people. And cue segue into another 4 page pseudo-academic essay about the nature of fanfic and how it's perceived by the people it's about.

Comments

[mindcrack_love]

Okay, I would totally love some EasyCGI/DocCamera semi-meta fic, two usually-silent watchers talking about all the things they've seen that cannot be unseen from high in the sky. Maybe DocCamera is jealous of EasyCGI getting to observe multiple people? I don't know, it could be a thing.

Regarding BTC: It is discouraging, I totally get it! But yes, there is no way fanfic will be for everyone, and frankly 90% of everything is crap. Just like there's bad Minecraft maps, servers, and LPs, there's bad fanfiction too, and that's often the first thing many people find.

I don't think he wants to completely silence people who do it. I don't think he means that everyone who writes it is terrible. I think he's just had a few bad experiences and doesn't want to repeat that, and that's okay; he's just not communicating that effectively.

But yet again, I'm going to put out my policy on just how visible we should be: I think people who want to find us should be able to find us, with fewer hoops to jump through if possible. I think people should be smart about what they share - if they really don't want to be "revealed", talk to me and I'll put it out there on your behalf. (You can leave a message in the rules post if you want to do that; no one can see the comments to that post but me.)

I think all fanworks, fanfic or fanart or mixes or Photoshops or fan videos or meta or WHATEVER, should be available to all as easily as possible, because fanwork is how culture is transformed and created now and to ignore it is to ignore how hard people work to express themselves. But just like how I don't feel a need to walk into the Museum of Modern Art every week, if people want to avoid this art form, they can and should be able to.

At the same time, I want to let people discover it for themselves and make their own conclusions, and this goes doubly so for the Mindcrackers themselves, as the subjects of this work. If some of them *don't* want to see this, that's fine, and we shouldn't force it on them. But if some do want to know this exists (hi, MC!), or if they find it on their own, they should be aware of what's here and know that the community is here for them.

[isi]

Excellent post. I feel the same about pretty much everything. And Re: BTC, I hope you're right, though there's only so much you can glean from a one sentence reddit comment.

[pagat]

Yes and yes. I love the subject of fanwork as reinterpreting and transforming culture.

And I have to say, I found this place through google myself. (Accidentally, actually. Came through one of the group rewatch posts, took a look around, and decided to lurk.) So I appreciate keeping it open for the most part; this little community has a lot to offer.

[pink_sheep]

Same, but I found it after lurking at what fic was after the pony one I was curious to see if everyone was on some kind of drug..

Obviously not as I found a lovely place :3