Mapping Queerness in Fandom

one of the most overbearing critiques of fandom—that it...

Thu, 03 May 2012 17:19:00 -0400

one of the most overbearing critiques of fandom—that it isn’t proper writing (grammatically and thematically). and look how this poster neatly situates critiques of fanfiction writing mechanics and style into imperialist, U.S./anglocentric pushes for assimilation!!!! wooooo…

fandom's replication of oppressive social paradigms

Thu, 03 May 2012 15:16:00 -0400

although fandom has the power and often does function as a transgressive, resistance space for queers of all kinds, as fandom can never be separated completely from the complex power dynamics of RL it often ends up perpetuating oppressive social paradigms under the pretense of progressiveness. one example that immediately comes to mind is slash fiction that remains deeply invested in heteronormative gender roles. for example, within the kingdom hearts fandom, the character sora is often paired with riku. in the actual video game, sora is younger than riku (by a small margin) and has a more curved boyish figure in comparison to riku’s buff body. extrapolating gender performance from gender presentation, fans often write RikuSora fics and not SoraRiku fics—that is, Riku as top and Sora as bottom and never the other way around). sora is often depicted as sexually immature and naive as well as a crying, emotional mess. riku on the other hand displays normative “cool guy” gender performativity evident in his stoic or aloof allure. riku tends to hold power and dominance in the relationship over sora. this becomes problematic when we begin to read sora as a female or feminine character and riku as the masculine character. also, it is a rare occurrence that characters of similar gender performances whether masculine or feminine are paired together. thus preserving heteronormative conceptions of relationships even within supposed queer spaces.

additionally, slash fics tend to prioritize MxM slash pairings over FxF pairings. this prioritizes male queerness over female queerness. when combining this reality with observed (not methodically collected) gender self-identification of authors and readers in RL, we can see how fandom is mostly frequented (in my observation) by female writers and readers who write and read about male homosexualness. personally, i relate this dynamic with the power dynamics within the male gaze towards female queer sexualities and how the disorienting power of female queerness is always reconfigured and reabsorbed as a part of patriarchal heteronormativity—only the opposite. females watching and writing about male queers for their own heterosexual pleasure.

one of the beautifully transgressive aspects of fandom is...

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:49:00 -0400

one of the beautifully transgressive aspects of fandom is it’s complete lack of participation in and regard for capitalist systems. despite having to include disclaimers of non-ownership of characters, storyverse, and more, fandom exists virtually entirely outside of normative buy-sell relationships in RL.

for example, when i was deeply embedded in Naruto fandom, i used to beta read for an author writing kibanaru (Kiba x Naruto) fics. essentially i was her editor to help her clean up any grammatical or spelling errors. i did that work for free! every week she would send me new material that i would work through slowly so as not to miss anything. then we would discuss the story’s trajectory and brainstorm together. additionally, ffic writing is an amazing way to get your work out without having to worry about finding someone to fund you or publish you (afraid that they won’t make money out of your work) and what-not. however, that said, i do wonder about the racial and classed positionalities of people invested in fandom. how much does privilege allow them the time to write? the money to afford a computer with internet access?

crackfic as parodic play and a move towards reparative writing practices

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:33:00 -0400

although the definition of crackfic varies depending upon the individual or website defining the term ranging from things like hysterically funny! to WTF so bad this person must have been on CRACK when they were writing this!, crackfic queers the way readers understand what is “proper” or “appropriate” or “legitimate” writing. in my experience with fandom, crackfic, parodies, and ridiculous fics are marginalized as genres within fandom. at least a few years ago when i was more committed to remaining up-to-date with the fanfiction community, the most popular genre of fiction seemed to be serious ones. there was a definite trend of angst and emoness at the time, though i’m not sure if this is still the case. nonetheless, crackfics have not always been appreciated for their literary merit and as such haven’t always been highly reviewed and commented upon.

yet, here i’d like to figure the reading and writing of crackfics (regardless of the precise definition) as a move towards a queer reading and writing practice. instead of striving for literary excellence, crackfic exists for the sole purpose of having fun—both while reading and while writing—without the stress of satisfying someone else. crackfic readers and writers read and write with spontaneous openness to surprise and the ridiculous.

Here are some examples of crackfic:

Benevolent Sibling (Battlestar Galactica re-told in the eyes of the Cylons; emulates a certain infamous reality TV show)

Sublimation and the Snitch (Remus Lupin writes an essay about Quidditch and sex)

GodAwful.net Dedicated to the collection of “god awful” fics some of which could be categorized as crack

Crack Attacks! Kingdom Hearts fandom crackfics

crossing the line

Thu, 03 May 2012 02:43:00 -0400

Some of the most inventive work in fandom happens as pastiche; these works are categorized under the term crossover, and involves elements taken from different materials and remixed into novel creations. Other fanworks combine canon with different imagined realities, resulting in AU, or alternative universe, narratives. AU works can be utopic or dystopic in nature, often providing implicit commentary on the failures of the source material. Finally, mixed media or genre reworkings offer more opportunities for fans to apply different aesthetic frameworks in addition to different narrative outcomes.

Fanwork is, in and of itself, trangressive and subversive in that they retell stories on new terms. When mixtures such as crossover, AU, and genre reworking occur, these trangressions operate on an even higher level.

Crossover:

I Used Live Alone Before I Knew You (Good Omens and Sherlock)

The Flexible Concept of Tomorrow (X-Files and Doctor Who)

Asteroidea (Sherlock and His Dark Materials)

Paper Chase (Sherlock and White Collar)

I Was Only Borrowing Time (I Was Going to Put it Back) (White Collar and Doctor Who)

The Ivory Horn (Narnia and His Dark Materials)

AU:

Let Us Dare (if Ygraine Pendragon had not died in childbirth)

The 28th Amendment (if John McCain had won his presidential bid; told through the lives of news anchors and political pundits such as Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow)

Drastically Redefining Protocol (Merlin and Arthur in present-day England)

Genre/medium crossing:

The Rowling (reworking of E. A. Poe’s “The Raven)

The End to ‘Always,’ Nevermore (another reworking of “The Raven”)

The Death of Narcissa Black (storytelling through watercolor panels)

Vocabulary and abbreviations in fanfiction

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:03:00 -0400

Vocabulary and abbreviations in fanfiction:

The domain of fanfiction can be read as a huge society of its own. It has its own rules (if you use moderated websites to distribute and read your fics), its own inside jokes, even its own lingo. Above is an extensive list of the abbreviations and vocabulary used by members of the ffic community.

building upon previous post “to anon or to de-anon? user...

Wed, 02 May 2012 19:42:00 -0400

building upon previous post “to anon or to de-anon? user identities and inter-fan relationships”, in its anonymity, fandom can function as a safe space for readers and writers to build community, engage in performativity, and discover one’s sexuality. many friends who i have spoken to have discussed how fandom was their first introduction to queerness and deviant, marginalized sexualities and gender performances where those behaviors and identities were not shamed and othered.

furthermore, as this meme suggests “what happens in [fandom], stays in [fandom]!” fandom provides the unique platform for engaging with like-minded or similarly-interested individuals and communities in a completely anonymous fashion. fandom is safe so long as fandom retains its almost cult-like presence and does not mix with “real life,” (RL). what i mean by that is, when trying to build a fandom community in RL, the reader/participant in fandom is immediately marked socially. i recall moments when trying to find other members of the fanfiction community in RL (as a way of locating queerness in my every day living), and being overcome with anxiety and embarrassment—knowing full well that they know that i read fiction typically characterized or known by its deviant nature. additionally, the anonymity of fandom seems to flatten other kinds of difference in race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability in favor of cultivating communities through common desire.

although community can be felt purely through membership within fandom spaces, much of the community building and the “contact” seems to occur within particular domains of fandom. for example, as a reader of primarily fanfiction based upon japanese anime (cartoons)/manga (comics) and videogames or other japanese-inspired shows, my community resides within the Naruto, Tsubasa, Avatar, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy fandoms whereas others may primarily occupy Harry Potter, Twilight, or Doctor Who fandoms.

however, a dynamic that i’ve discovered through my own interactions and relations with fandom and other fanfiction writers as well as readers is that normative categories of identification do have meaningful impact in terms of how readers (or how i) relate to their writing. particularly because when i was younger i used fanfiction as a way to read queerness and perform my budding queer identity through reading, i was much more drawn to other authors and readers who had similar desires to my own. desires in fandom and particular pairings as well as their RL sexual/romantic desires for people of particular genders or sexualities.

as one becomes more and more a part of the fandom community, it becomes increasingly apparent how fandom’s nature as a safe space and community also can act as a form of healing. as evident in author’s notes (AN, A/N) of many fics, writers appear to be extremely self-conscious and self-critical of their writing. many will say something to the effect of “this is my first fic! no flames please!!! i’m trying my best! ;_;” what we can read in that is an overwhelming paranoid reading of negative feedback and fear of rebuke that i would argue is a strong carry over from RL into the world of fanfiction.

as a writer of fanfiction myself, i’ve noticed that members of fandom do not seem particularly inclined towards flamery and mostly dish out unrelenting praise or solid concrit. perhaps this is due to the queer nature of the community and a want to provide safe, affirming spaces for fellow members.

to anon or to de-anon? user identities and inter-fan relationships

Wed, 02 May 2012 19:36:00 -0400

Relationships among fans are not limited to incidental, short-lived encounters. In fact, these relationships often extend over many years, despite their lack of knowledge about specifics about their “real” identity. Markers of identity often shift in fandom communities through performative practices such as use of language, widely held beliefs/opinions about a work, and do not depend on things that the state deems necessary for identification: citizenship status, marital status, birthdate, social security number, income, education, etc.

As described by Samuel Delany and others in their work on stranger intimacy, public spaces such as forums and comments are collectively maintained, both by official mods (moderators) and by users. Policing and discipline often occurs on this public level, and keeps conversations in public discourse (people take screenshots of arguments waged through comments).

Contact occurs in anon memes in which individuals can anonymously (or not) request certain types of fanworks, usually with some kind of prompt; these forums are often concentrators of works containing kink, smut, genre and genderbending, AU (alternative universe), PWP, etc. Anon memes for Merlin, Young Justice, and Star Trek have produced extremely popular works that have spread throughout fandom without needing to unveil the identity of their creators (although some authors choose to reveal their identities, or de-anon, after their works have gained popularity).

We speculate that fandom is able to place less stress on the identity of authors and producers of fanworks because most of the focus is on the work, and the explorations and possibilities within them. There is less pressure for artists for generate a cult of personality and limited opportunities for celebrity. Thus, the value and acclaim given to fanworks usually reflect their inherent worth. This is not to say, of course, that fans never accumulate enough fame on their own to influence their readership. Archiving tools such as delicious.com allow fans to keep track of how many other fans bookmark certain works, which magnifies their effect. And several authors have published their original work through mainstream booksellers after having gained a substantial following in fandom, such as Sarah Rees Brennan, who started off writing enormously popular fanfic starring Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.

fandom's liberatory potential

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:51:00 -0400

While most fanworks refrain from performing explicitly political work, many do take an active role in provoking conversations and questions about the inclusivity of the source material. Rather than becoming abject to the marginalization and problematic elements of media produced in a flawed society or rejecting it altogether, fans can engage in disidentificatory strategies that incorporate canon in unexpected, playful, and empowering ways.

Fandom is inherently queered through its marginal existence: it is frequently accompanied by questions of legality, and refuses to operate within capitalist economies. No monetary profit is being made, and fic exchanges and “gifts” operate as different economic systems.

Periodic writing drives and competitions among communities encourage works that center characters of minoritarian identities: Femgenficathon, (re)definition: genderqueer fanworks fest, LGBT Fest, queer_fest, and Chromatic Fanfic.

As if compelled by the death and pleasure drives, fanworks focus on what lies beyond canon; fandom is characterized by a refusal of deaths and terminations, both of characters and of existing media. Often, works will attempt to continue narratives that have ended, re-imagine their endings, and bring back to life characters and relationships that were terminated in the source material — and find pleasure in doing so. It is expansive, exploding borders of reality and edging readers to new forms of understanding canon:

The End of the Tracks (the life of Susan Pevensie, post-exile from Narnia)

five things that never happened to dana scully (self-explanatory title)

First and Second (the imagined life of Preeti Patil, mother of Parvati and Padma)

The Other Path (Hermione Granger as an activist)

Bakcheios (retelling of Euripides’ play, Bacchae)

After the End (post-Hogwarts narrative; written prior to The Order of the Phoenix)

outsider perceptions of fandom

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:19:00 -0400

Reactions to the existence and proliferation of fandom range from disgust to disapproval to outright laughter. Many critiques focus on the questionable legality of fanworks, suggesting that they are plagiarisms. Some authors have explicitly forbidden or strongly discouraged their fans from writing fic (especially those of a pornographic nature), such as Anne McCaffrey and George R. R. Martin (although others such as J. K. Rowling have given it their blessing).

Furthermore, writers of fanfic are frequently portrayed as teenaged girls obsessed with romance, drawing heavily on the stereotype that young women (and interest in romance) are are immature and shallow. Such a perception, while damaging on its own, renders invisible older individuals and people — including teenaged girls — who turn to fanfic as an intellectual and artistic exercise.

here’s some shameless fic plugging… :3 Happenstance...

Wed, 02 May 2012 05:59:00 -0400

here’s some shameless fic plugging… :3

Happenstance in a Prism, Avatar fandom, AU, high school Zuko x Sokka (SoZu)

ThreeAlls, Naruto fandom, historical SasuNaru (Sasuke x Naruto)

Motion, Kingdom Hearts (KH) fandom, one-shot RikuSora

Half Sandcastle, KH fandom, one-shot RikuSora

Snapshots, KH fandom, one-shot LeonCloud

Like I Killed the Giants, KH fandom, AU AkuRoku (Axel x Roxas)

Marigold, KH fandom, AU AkuRoku

Suburbia, KH fandom, AU RikuSora

Sunflower Kisses, Naruto fandom, InoSaku (Ino x Sakura)

fandom as social commentary and critique

Wed, 02 May 2012 05:44:00 -0400

Fandom is the queerest reading practice! It is a site of cultural production and cultural criticism, and is an active attempt at transforming, repairing, and challenging societal norms that are perpetuated through canon.

Drawing from Judith Butler’s conceptualization of “theory,” fandom is by definition theoretical in that it envisions — and puts in practice — a newer, better, more ideal world as imagined by fans. Such utopic visions, which often collide and compete in addition to collude, include fanfiction (fanfic) that gives voice and flesh to minor characters: one for sorrow

or to characters forcibly minoritized by their status as women or as people of color: Bar Maid (Or, Five Lives Rosmerta Never Changed), Five Women Who Hate Fleur Delacour

or to characters queered by being given alternate genders and lifelines: equivalence, Seems So Easy for Everybody Else

and fanart that supports non-normative relationships, both romantic and not: Deviants

and fanvideos (fanvids) that dissect and recombine clips from two different TV shows: A Study in Time

Fandom is rife with conversations that question and resist norms perpetuated in both society and as they are reflected in the media. metafandom.livejournal.com is an online community that reposts critical reflections on issues ranging from “Reading Against Intent: Women in Fiction, Authorial Intent, and Negative Reinvention” to “TUTORIAL: Drawing Characters of Colour”. These essays range from whimsical, lighthearted, and informal to serious contemplations laced with academic jargon to rough, angry rants and bitter debates.

Racefail ‘09 is an excellent case study for examining the intersection of activism, academia, and fandom. Discussions and arguments about cultural appropriation in fiction and their fanworks spurred larger critiques about POC (mis)representation in fandom as a whole. These conversations generated a huge quantity of blog posts addressing racism, classism, ableism, sexism, and privilege on a basic, 101-type level; more posts dealt with the politics of internet animosity, rhetoric, and “tone” arguments.

For us, fandom was the first place in which we encountered queer individuals, characters, and themes; this was where we cut our teeth and bruised ourselves learning about privilege, racism, sexism, and homophobia, all through the lens of fictional worlds we loved to inhabit. In part due to the distance from our personal, “real” lives to these fictional universes, we were able to digest challenging notions with more ease.

fandom: what even is it?

Wed, 02 May 2012 04:44:00 -0400

Fandom, in the simplest of definitions, is a community of fans. It encompasses subcultures upon subcultures of individuals interested in continuing conversations about all productions of media — video games, TV shows, books, bands — beyond the source material.

This can happen in a variety of ways through many different platforms. There are many degrees of involvement. Some fandom participants merely seek out assurance that other individuals share the same passions, choosing to lurk in on discussions or consume fanworks that others have created. Some join in on those discussions, both anonymously and as an identified user, often through comments sections on websites. And some produce fanworks.

Fanworks is a broad term that refers to visual artwork, literary creations, photo, video, and sound editing, and other media that fandom participants produce in response to canon. Although the level of deviation from canon can vary, these works must contain elements that are recognizable as being derived from canon.

Fandom (as we know it) is predominantly confined to the internet, with spaces such as livejournal.com, fanfiction.net, tumblr.com, and archiveofourown.net having the largest communities, along with private websites hosted by individual authors/artists/fans. The fanworks we will provide in the rest of this website will feature products from all of these media. However, fandom has inhabited more tangible spaces such as fan conventions, zines, and mailing lists throughout its existence.

We hope you enjoy your visit! We aim to portray a diverse set of experiences relating fandom to topics in queer theory. Please click through other posts in no particular order (we feel that fandom is an assemblage of ideas, people, and products rather than one with a single narrative).