In this week’s stupid-scary tech news, Slate magazine reports on a case about a Web start-up that was sued by a law firm for linking to publicly available biographies on the law firm’s website. The law firm argued “trademark infringement” on the grounds that visitors would think that the start-up was associated with the law [...]
There were a pair of posts this week on the FanHistory blog (here and here) about how to become a successful fan writer. The title of the first post is pretty much its thesis: “Fan fiction, social media & chasing the numbers with quality content (Hint: Doesn’t matter).” The basic premise is this: If you [...]
Usually, this blog is devoted quite adamantly to book-based fandom because media-based fandom has more than its share of outlets for news and discussion. However, this is an issue that I have been following for some weeks now about the upcoming movie Avatar: The Last Airbender. The movie is based on the popular Nickelodeon animated [...]
Today, while making my daily blog-reading rounds, I found this article on Slate’s Human Nature blog. The article is about female sexuality, and how new studies are discovering that, whoa, female sexuality is really complex! And not at all what we expected based on reading What Women Want columns in men’s magazines!
I come bearing excerpts:
During [...]
I don’t like it.
It’s inaccurate. It should be just “fiction.” The addition of the word fan is not a comment on the writing but a comment on the writer that is being used to project judgment on the writing and set it inherently lower than “non-fan fiction.” This is an unfair, spurious judgment, and we [...]
Back in late November, Stellaluna posted meta entitled Storytelling that I rather liked. It made the argument that stories aren’t “just stories” and authors can’t use this as an excuse for unwitting or insensitive depictions of typically disenfranchised groups. I liked it for this reason: I think it’s too easy and too common for stories [...]
This semester, I am taking a course called Women Writers. Next week’s topic is Rethinking the Maternal, with lots of intriguing readings on how women can balance the selfish needs of a writer with the selflessness of motherhood–or if it can be done at all. Now, Bobby and I have chosen to be child-free, so [...]
My last post on whether or not Maedhros threatening to kill Elrond and Elros was canonical has generated a lot of wonderfully thought-provoking comments. Not surprisingly, many of these have been about canon: what it is, how it is defined, and at what point to we pass from “canon” to “AU.” This is a matter [...]
During the kerfuffle a couple months ago involving FanHistory.com, I found myself growing skeptical of the site, not so much because of the kerfuffle itself (which involved its owner Laura Hale’s refusal to remove a fan’s real name from the site) but because of what else came out concerning Ms. Hale’s intended use of the [...]
There has been a recent spate of posts on Metafandom and elsewhere about whether or not academia–and academically inclined fans–should have a role in fandom. So far, it hasn’t even been a matter of how much of a role, or when academic analysis is appropriate, but a black-and-white, YES-or-NO debate such as is rarely seen [...]
lease, come inside my humble cottage and have a seat by the fire. Many are the stories here, and they are not the sorts of stories you'll often hear beyond these walls. Yes, the world is listening--and judging--but do not worry. You are safe here. I am the Heretic Loremaster. I read the same books as everyone else, but I read them a little differently: I don't necessarily take them at their word. I like to look at the stories that build our mythological history from the eyes of those disfavored by that history.
My friends, the wind is cold outside, but it is warm in here. Let us brighten the dark of night with lore and song.
