Monday, May 31, 2010

Guillermo Del Toro no longer to direct The Hobbit


This was the news that greeted me when I woke this morning.

Now comes to the fore just how much Tolkien means to me, because when I say that this has completely offset my entire day, I honestly mean it.

Peter Jackson's LotR trilogy was and remains the most perfect thing that has ever happened in any of my fandoms. Never could I have imagined so faithful an adaptation and for three years (I was in high school, so I had the free time!) I ate, slept and breathed Middle Earth as a result.

I had always adored the books, but here was Tolkien's world; more vivid and more tangible than ever it was in my imagination.

When The Hobbit was announced, I was excited but almost immediately incredibly nervous. Yes, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens were writing it, yes it was going to be made in NZ and handled by WETA, yes it was going to be two movies... wait, what? Two separate movies. Neither of which would be directed by PJ. There we go; fangirl nausea.

Now I've read and re-read The Hobbit since I was about 7 and there are not two movies in that book. So, ok, they were going to bridge The Hobbit and LotR with some material from the histories of Middle Earth... the jury was still out on that one. I have a level of trust when it comes to Peter and Fran, so I talked myself off the tallest ledge of Minas Morgul and reasoned that life in the LotR fandom was still worth living.

Then came the news that Del Toro was going to direct. It took a long time to sink in, but since PJ ultimately wasn't going to direct, I actually felt that Del Toro was the best possible choice, and obviously everyone creatively involved in the project thought so too. Thus the dust settled and casting rumours could begin to fly happily as everyone settled down to write what I can only imagine is a beast of a script. Of course, the MGM Rights Ownership Battle of Fail™ also raged on. And on. And on some more.

So now, here we are with a 3 year project turned 6 year endurance test; no definable end in sight and now no director. I weep.

I want to say that I'm glad The Professor isn't alive to see this, but actually the whole rights problem would be a non-issue if he was... also I could invite him over for tea!

Do I think PJ will step into the breach? No. Would I die before I see Sam Raimi direct these movies? Well... *starts climbing up Minas Morgul again*

All I want is to see mountains again (mountains, Gandalf!); to walk through the Shire, to meet Beorn, to finally see Mirkwood and a glorious Weta Smaug... *wistful sigh* The Hobbit was the most cherished book of my entire childhood; it was my world. I would rather never see it on the silver screen than see it flung through hoops for the studios until it is unrecognisable. PJ won't let that happen... but the more this project drags on and the more wearied everyone becomes by the process, the more I fear for it.

There is also the growing possibility that I'll be long dead before it is even made!

What do you all think? What does this mean for you as a fan, or just a viewer? Who do you think is likely to direct?

Sunday, May 30, 2010

MCM Expo - London - May 29th 2010


Having started with the colossal disorganisation fail that I so fondly remember Expo for, it ended up being a wonderful day. To those unfamiliar with it; MCM Expo is a bit like a badly run, less glamorous English version of Comic Con. To give them fair credit; they have drastically improved since I first attended in 2007. Just don't ever hope that a steward will be able to help you.

The much anticipated Comic Village absolutely lived up to expectations. I had the opportunity to meet a host of wonderful artists, and some really interesting collectives. I'll be posting plenty of reviews and snippets in the next few weeks. There is just so much talent out there, it really is overwhelming.

Having blown all of my current earnings, I dropped in to the Steampunk Panel, run by the lovely VSS. It merits, and will receive, a post of its own but was a wonderful - and far more down to earth than expected - introduction to steampunk.

Next up was the Caprica panel with Ron D. Moore (yes, I had a pronounced fangirl squee moment) and Esai Morales. I confess that Caprica has been on my to-do list for what seems like forever. After yesterday, it's definitely right at the top!

I had anticipated being spoilered for some episodes, but thankfully many of the questions were very vague. Esai Morales is a wonderful guy; very intelligent and with a wonderful sense of humour. He really seems to enjoy his role and be invested in the future of the show.

As Ron described it, Caprica came about not just as a result of the desire to tell the backstory of BSG but also Remi Aubuchon's submission of a completely independent pitch to the network about the development of artificial intelligence. It is something that I have long been interested in, so I am very excited about watching.

The panel did reveal some interesting information...! Esai Morales announced that he is going to be a father! Ron Moore confirmed that they are discussing several possible further BSG spinoffs with the studios. Apparently there are multiple possible directions they could take, and no one in particular has been favoured over the others so far; consequently he was reluctant to discuss them. We will also see at least Gemenon and potentially more of the Twelve Colonies in Caprica.

One of the best aspects of Expo is, of course, the costumes. There is a cosplay competition for animated characters, so many of the costumes do lean in that direction and most of them I don't recognise (if anyone can enlighten me as to what anime/manga/game character has a red, swirly face and a black coat with white trim I would be much indebted to you, as I saw about 10 of him/her and it's been driving me absolutely crazy), but there are still some absolute gems.

I did my very best not to openly fangirl this woman, but it was a disturbingly accurate costume and I was awesomely impressed. She looked completely normal aside from the obvious, and I would never even have noticed anything - as she had her back to me - if some other people hadn't started flailing and asking for photos.

The one part of the day where I truly let myself down was in not getting a photo with Darth Vader and the stormtroopers; but I was reluctant to step out of the queue before getting in and I was, I admit, considerably grumpy as we were having trouble with our tickets and no one seemed to know how to sort it out. Their costumes were so accurate! I've been paying close attention to Vader, as I am designing a costume for myself, and they even had the silk stripe at the bottom of the cape. Amazing!

This Neytiri (wow, Avatar was so memorable that I had to Google her name :S) looked pretty exhausted at this point - which was about 4pm - and we weren't far behind.

Expo is essentially a large floorshow, so passing time between panels can get a bit tedious as the day goes on - and paying £4 for a sandwich doesn't do much to improve matters.

While burning time at a booth, I made the mistake of screaming "OMG it's so sexy. I need one" at the Alienware M11X and the demo guy took it out of the glass case so I could play with it. Let me tell you; I have lusted after these computers for years. YEARS. What I did not need was to hold one in my hands. So, the next time I find myself in posession of £800 *pause for maniacal laughter* I know where that's going. I love my Scully *pets HP Pavilion* but those laptops are just too sexy to be allowed. Therefore - logically - I must own one.










Nobody puts steampunk Alien in a corner! Except apparently whoever owns this one; it was stashed at the back of a stall selling pornographic anime keychains...











The free bag of stuff that I got with my early entry ticket contained mostly shite (and Nanny McPhee stickers! I think they may have gotten their key demographic slightly wrong...) but did come with a free t-shirt. No idea what it's about (and I did misread it as Vital Slut; which I found far more exciting) but I won't say no to free pyjamas!

Detailed below is my comic book haul, and the free stuff that was actually worth keeping (and a little of the glamour of my bedroom floor!). I'll be talking about each of the artists over the course of a couple of posts; so watch this space. Lots more steampunk on the horizon too!


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Sci-Fi Underwear: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

So... sci-fi underwear. Not the topic of many in-depth discussions about the nature of science fiction and the portrayal of women, but one that I feel does deserve to be highlighted.

Many of these shows/movies are really just victims of their time, but since I mainly watch sci-fi and it is a genre in which people frequently seem to get semi-naked so they can be hunted by aliens/serial killers with supernatural ability/have their partner check them for mosquito bites, it does seem an obvious choice to dissect.

Since the number of Google image searches I have done for "actor or character name underwear" is probably above average, I expect I am on some kind of government watchlist now.

I would like to highlight at this point that this is not the time or place I have chosen to discuss the objectification of women in the media; that is a far more complex topic than this flippant post merits. My point here has nothing to do with the fact that it is most frequently women who are stripped down for our 'viewing pleasure' (which is something I definitely plan to discuss in the future) but the fact that people used to consent to wear this stuff on television!!!

Exhibit A: Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Alien

How it is even possible to give someone as incredibly skinny as Sigourney Weaver ACTUAL MUFFIN TOP is just beyond me.

Why? is the question that closely follows.

Also? The bra. It is your friend. It gives you the comfort and support you need while fighting aliens that want to hatch their young in your chest.

Do Lucas and Scott have some sort of "no underwear in space" pact?

Exhibit B: Gillian Anderson as Scully in The X-Files Pilot

Really beautiful woman; hideous, baggy underwear.

Now, enlighten me, was this kind of thing actually kinky in the 90's? Did that off-white, baggy look maybe do it for some people?

I think if you're going to the effort of putting partial nudity in your pilot (the general intention of which, I was led to believe, is to convince a network to pick up your show), why on earth would you dress your actress in this, unless you hate her and/or never want your show to see the light of the post-watershed tv slot??


Of course, they did eventually get the underwear right, with much practice; Battlestar Galactica being a prime example of functional and non-terrifying undergarments.



What about you guys? Where do you think sci-fi has gotten underwear terrifically wrong/right??

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Various forces commanded that this be made... it is late at night and therefore an unskilled production....


Wishful Drinking


I have actually been wanting to read this book for almost 2 years. I spotted it when it first came out in hardback, but couldn't afford it.

I snapped up the paperback at work today and, much to my own surprise, got through it during lunchtime.

Wishful Drinking is going to be very difficult to describe as it is part book, part acid trip, but is basically an account of random - sometimes wholly unconnected - parts of Carrie Fisher's life.

If it weren't for Fisher's frank discussion of her recent ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) in the opening pages, even prior knowledge of her biopolar disorder and addiction problems would make the tone of this book difficult to interpret.

As she admits, the treatment has left her with massive gaps in her memory - she wryly describes the voicemail message her friend has made for her, stating "Hello and welcome to Carrie's voice mail. Due to recent Electro Convulsive Therapy, please pay close attention to the following options. Leave your name, number and a brief history as to how Carrie knows you, and she'll get back to you if this jogs what's left of her memory." Littered with photos - mainly of her family - and anecdotes, Wishful Drinking is for the most part an ironically easy read. I found the first two thirds at least to be a little flippant and also confusing - as the book mostly reads like the wildest manic episode you could imagine. Her trains of thought, which are not always humorous, are frequently scattered. The focus is largely on her parents - something it would seem Fisher has been unable to avoid since birth.

There is an abrupt turn towards the end of the book, in which it becomes simultaneously more disturbing, revealing and funny all at once... for all that Fisher gathered her stardom and puns around her earlier in the book, here we begin to see the very serious and disturbing side of her mental illness. There is a glimpse of the true hopelessness of being so lost in oneself that you can't quite see the way out.

The upside to Wishful Drinking - for it cannot be ignored - is Fisher's self deprecating sense of humour. She doesn't have the 'survivor' mentality at all -something which I think would have tended to make the book unbearable. Her frank approach to the problems in her life is very refreshing.

Poking fun at Hollywood royalty and even putting forth Lucas' argument that "there's no underwear in space" [I KNEW there was no bra under that gown!], Fisher dilutes the deeper sadness of her illness with often randomly inserted tales.

Wishful Drinking is, at times, very funny. It is not really a helpful description of Fisher's life. It is definitely not a book to read while tired, stoned, drunk or reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? [I made the latter mistake] as Fisher's reality is, she freely admits, not reality at all. It is, above all I think, a sad, sad testament to the trials of living with bipolar disorder. This book may be marketed as humour, as a book for Star Wars fans... it isn't. Yes, those aspects are present, but what Wishful Drinking presents is a person who, despite having finally been diagnosed and received appropriate treatment, is fundamentally not well and that is a sad, sad thing to read.

Do I recommend it? Definitely. Fisher is witty and very endearing at points. There are some priceless moments - Star Wars related and otherwise. It is such a frank account of what it is to be "batshit", that I can't help but love her more for it. What I will say is this; unless you are prepared to take that dive with Fisher as a recent bystander to her world and life from the outside, this book will seem like nothing more than wandering drivel. Take that step, and what you will find will make you laugh, cry and occasionally frown in pleasant confusion.

I don't want to give away the closing paragraph, as it is a wonderful punchline - but I will share this example of precisely the funny/sad/ironic tone with which Fisher manages to lace most of the book.

I tell my younger friends that one day they'll be at a bar playing pool and they'll look up at the television set and there will be a picture of Princess Leia with two dates underneath, and they'll say, 'awww -- she said that would happen.' and go back to playing pool.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Find of the day!



I managed to resist spending money I don't have both in Mega City Comics and when I saw comic strip tights in Camden... but these just broke me. Who among you could honestly resist fully functioning Rubik's cube earrings?? I ask you!!!

More fun and friendly geeky objects - including Lego earrings - are available at Philip's ebay shop: The Happy Shack.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Phoenix Copper Art

It was my very first (sort of) convention. 2007. I had flown to London straight after an exam, and was generally a little confused, stressed and tired. Having roamed the convention hall for several weary laps, Will's stall caught my eye not just because of the stunning array of his work on display, but because it provided a corner in which it looked like I might not be buffeted by any Daleks for a few minutes.

It turned out to be one of the best things I have ever found while hiding from Dr. Who villains!

Will's work is incredibly unique - as far as I am aware there isn't anyone else doing sci-fi related copper art. His work covers almost any show and fandom you can shake a wizard's staff at - from Lord of the Rings to Firefly - and he has made some absolutely amazing pieces. I only wish I had enough photographs to do them justice.

My first purchase from Phoenix Copper Art was an A5 Princess Mononoke journal - each journal has a copper plate cover with a unique design, leather binding and the pages detailed with further images from the relevant fandom. Mine, for example, had the tree spirits inside; which made me squee to no end. Will can supply refill pages, so you can keep on using your favourite journal cover forever!

Will also makes journals on request - although this can take some time as he is very busy - and is very happy to discuss any design ideas you might have. He's not just a fantastic artist but great fun to chat to. I always look out for him at cons and know where to retreat to when I need a break from wandering in circles and perhaps a therapeutic Twilight rant.

The website doesn't even touch on the range of designs available - I highly recommend looking out for Phoenix Copper Art if you are planning to attend any cons in the UK (Will lists the events he plans to attend on the website) or getting in touch if you're looking for the perfect gift for that geek in your life - or you just want to spoil yourself!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Geek Roundup

It's been an exciting week in geek world! Not only did I get started on the world of comic books, but I also (finally) watched 2010, started on Stargate: Universe, began planning a (sort of) proper costume for a party I'm going to, bought tickets to a convention and arranged a Star Wars marathon complete with themed cookies! Not bad going...

This is a (pretty) shameless link offload... my tabs are starting to annoy me... to anyone who has Google Chrome; I highly recommend TooManyTabs - you can hide them all and then die of horror when you open the programme again days later...

I finished V For Vendetta today, but that is most definitely a graphic novel deserving of a well thought out review and my work schedule and the sudden appearance of social engagements (I know!?!?!) this week are making that difficult to squash in right now.

Plus Intergalactic Freecycle takes more time and brain space than it really ought to.

- Cute baby is cute; your argument is invalid.

- I am going to recruit this woman to help design the hobbit hole guesthouse I intend to build when I retire and am inexplicably wealthy...

- A Dozen Reasons TV Shows Get Made; when you're channel hopping and you wonder where all this shit came from...


- A great article by my friend Amy pointed me in the direction of Contropussy, which lent amusement to an otherwise sombre morning...

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Comic books galore...

Well, not so much galore, per se, as more plentiful than previously...

My decision to conquer timidly venture into the world of comic books at last was one met with much enthusiasm by my friends... a list of recommendations quickly accumulated; which I'm hoping will grow over time.

In no particular order (well actually, it's the order in which they were recommended...):
V For Vendetta ~ Alan Moore [currently reading]
Watchmen ~ Alan Moore
Fables ~ Bill Willingham
Sandman ~ Neil Gaiman
Y: The Last Man ~ Brian K. Vaughan
Pride of Baghdad ~ Brian K. Vaughan
Mouse Guard ~ David Petersen
Mr. Stuffins ~ Andrew Cosby & Johanna Stokes
Preacher ~ Garth Ennis
The Buffy comics ~ Various (?)
Squee ~ Jhonen Vasquez
The Star Wars comics ~ Various
The Guild ~ Felicia Day et al. (aaaand now Do You Wanna Date My Avatar is stuck in my head.. )
Transmetropolitan ~ Warren Ellis

So, Day 1. I borrowed V for Vendetta from a friend at work (I may not have mentioned, but I have wisely chosen a habit that I cannot afford to fuel and so will be obliged to beg borrow and steal all the comics I need to read...) and started reading it on the train home.

Initial thoughts? It took a little while to ease into... I had a lot of trouble integrating the words and images.. I would find myself at the bottom of the page, having skipped 4 or 5 frames and just read the speech bubbles/captions. I have no problem with words or images as separate entities - I live in books, and Shaun Tan's The Arrival may well be one of my favourite things in the universe (it's a wordless graphic novel and if you haven't read it, do so now...) but, stuipd as it is to say, and stupid as it makes me feel - learning to balance the two is probably going to take some perfecting.

I'm really enjoying it so far - although Alan Moore's introduction regarding his disillusionment with Conservative Britain rather made me want to muffle my screams of terror in the nearest pillow. In V for Vendetta, the omnipresent CCTV cameras have "For your protection" signs justifying their presence... Britain now is the most watched country in the world and no one feels the need to justify that. Anyway, I digress; I'll store my thoughts up for when I'm finished and my political terror for whenever the hell Nick Clegg gets his head out of his ass.

On a slightly lighter note, I have a confession to make...


This isn't my first time... I did in fact pop my comic book cherry back in secondary school when a friend of mine (who also introduced me to Placebo... must track her down and thank her someday...) threw Lenore #1 at me during lunch.

Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe and not shying away from being generally icky and squelchy - Lenore filled the little zombie girl-shaped hole in my heart that I didn't know was there!

A stack of the first 10 issues was one of my very first eBay purchases! I think I had to convince the seller to accept a postal order (kind of a weird form of cheque)... Dear whoever you were in California - I'm sorry for making you want to shoot me/yourself whenever that was! My country had no concept of debit cards...

Moving from Roman Dirge to Alan Moore is quite the leap, it must be said... more on that as the situation progresses...

Food glory of the day; my fanfic rant made me so late for work that I ate a cupcake in the shower for breakfast... this was remedied later on by a newly opened Mexican restaurant near work giving away free burritos for lunch... I love when the universe restores balance like that... proof of the Force, people!!!

Going to bed to watch Stargate: Universe or The Guild... Sometimes, I am just too rock and roll...

A Meditation on Fanfic


I came across a very interesting discussion this morning, on the livejournal of George R.R. Martin - author of the fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire (for which he is best known - I hasten to add that he has been writing and editing both fantasy and sci-fi for many years and very certainly knows what he is about).

He makes some very interesting points, and cites a recent blog entry by author Diana Gabaldon on the same topic, which attracted great deal of attention.

I have always been fascinated by authors' perspectives on fanfiction - Robin Hobb's Fan Fiction Rant being among the most famous.

I completely appreciate where all of these authors are coming from and understand their individual perspectives - in fact, I think George R.R. Martin's children analogy does the best job of quantifying exactly how authors feel about their creations.

I also know that many authors - such as J.K Rowling - are happy for others to wander freely through their creative universes and experiment and play with their characters. Again, I see the appeal in having created a universe that people *want* to explore further, and enjoying the knowledge that fans are keeping a world alive long after the books/movies/shows have ended.

However, I think the key point here is one that the authors have cited themselves - and that is permission. Not copyright permission (which I will get to in a moment), but creative permission. A great deal of authors have openly stated that they do not mind fanfiction being written using their worlds and/or characters. Other authors have expressly requested that no such thing be done with their creations. I have very conflicting feelings here. One the one hand, as fans - the very moniker ascribed to fan fiction - that should be respected, and for the most part I think that it is. Fandom is, in fact, very effective at policing itself because it is, on the whole, comprised of people who love and respect the work and the creator(s) of the work. On the other, a small part of me has always felt, in a way, that authors were little children stamping their feet and shouting "Don't play with my toys!". Being that the "toys" are characters that they have laboured for years to create and do legally own, it is their right to do so. Yet, and this is only me, I would adopt an attitude of 'see no evil' and merely ignore fanfic being written about my work if I didn't like it; but then I am Irish, and therefore insanely laid back. I also have the perspective of having been in fandom for many years.


The other major argument to be considered here is copyright - and I think it ties directly to the above. The fundamental truth here is that you can't stop the Internet. As a writer, you have put your published work out there for global consumption, as is completely your right, and there is simply not enough time in the world for you or any employees you may have to track down and put a stop to anyone misusing (as you perceive it) elements of that work.

While copyright law is copyright law - writers own the work and have the right to enact their wrath upon those who don't - unless those persons actively attempt to get their derivative work published or make some sort of monetary gain, it is impossible to track every single instance. Which is, again, where it comes down to respect on the part of the fans. I have enjoyed reading and writing fanfic for many years, but I would probably feel very uncomfortable reading anything written for a fandom in which the author had distinctly expressed their disapproval of fanfic. Sadly, I don't think that there are - or can be - any hard and fast rules here. If you respect an author's wishes, and don't write about their world - then kudos. If you disregard their wishes and write about it anyway; then you may have created something good and wonderful that some people enjoy - but the author will hate you. You may have created something awful - and the author will still hate you. I can't quite quantify how I feel about this... Oddly enough, of all the writers who have spoken out against fanfic; those that I have read are never worlds that I would have sought out fanfic for. I felt that they were complete.

The other side of the copyright coin of course is the wonderful creation of the Creative Commons License. In a sense, those authors who approve of fanfic have a slightly easier ride - CC License your work and let the fans write away... This does involve a level of trust but, as stated before - and numerous instances have been cited in the comments of the above blog posts - fandom is incredibly effective at policing itself. If you, as an author, have no problem with people having their wicked (or occasionally virtuous) way with your work; as long as you don't read it (Marion Zimmer Bradley is often referred to here) and no one tries to sell/publish any of it, you can pretty much sleep easy at night.


Onwards to my experience of the merits of fanfiction... I have written (not very much) and read (a great deal) mostly within the X-Files fandom, which is a wonderful community of people. I think that writing fanfic for a tv show is a very different ballgame, as (to the best of my knowledge) there seems to be less of a creative protectiveness with tv writers. They have, doubtless, put in an incredible amount of work, but are generally less attached to the characters and what happens to them - I have never seen an objection from a show writer regarding fanfic but please feel free to point me in that direction if you are aware of one.

I think that writing new scenarios for tv characters (in the form of fanfiction) has a different feel to writing for characters in a book. For me, personally, I find it much easier to handle. Books for me are what they are - I can very rarely imagine alternate scenarios. Perhaps that's just how I'm programmed. With television, you already have a diverse group of writers and directors creating new (and in the case of the X-Files, varyingly insane) scenarios every week. There is a sense that almost anything could happen anyway, and fanfic slips very neatly into that mindset.

With all due respect to Chris Carter, and everyone creatively involved in the X-Files, there were often glaring gaps in continuity and storytelling. Fanfiction has, over the years, done much to account for these inconsistencies - and often done so very skillfully. To me, fanfiction complements whatever fandom I am reading it for. If anything, it fuels my love and appreciation for that world - I am no less likely to buy, watch or read anything produced by the official copyright holders because I have read/written a derivative work. If anything, I am more so...


The two main issues I can see that authors have with their characters being used are thus; firstly, that the fanfiction written is vastly inferior and substandard and secondly, the frequently sexual nature of fanfiction and the use of their characters therein.

I would like to strongly dispute the first. Yes, there is a world - probably several worlds worth if it were all to be produced in hard copy - of some of the worst writing ever penned (typed?) using some of the most interesting and well recognised characters from pre-existing literature/film. I would estimate that there is as much bad fanfiction as there is bad original writing - and it is rendered more offensive by the (mis)use of characters lovingly crafted by their original authors. BUT - I have also read X-Files fanfiction that is better written, better thought out, better characterised than many published novels. The beauty, and the joy, of reading and writing fanfiction consistently within the same fandom is that you *know* the characters - you know them from the show. You know who they are and what they would do. I would argue that fanfiction is a fantastic training ground for young writers - it teaches you the importance of characterisation, of sticking to what your character would or wouldn't do or say, when you may not necessarily have reached the stage where you can form such characters yourself. Although indeed, I have read many novel-length fanfics which feature additional original characters which have more depth and meaning than many of the additional characters on the show.

What we are now entering is an incredibly exciting era - fanfic authors are starting to get published. Not for fic, but for their own work. Cassandra Clare (whose Wikipedia article is so dire I refuse to link to it - someone please rewrite it, for the love of all that is holy) is, to my mind, the most prominent example. Having written for the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter fandoms for many years, she now has her own trilogy - The Mortal Instruments - which has been critically acclaimed and reached bestseller lists both in America and the UK. Sarah Rees Brennan is a similar example.

I think that the overall point I seek to make here, is that a good writer will be a good writer... if they choose to play in fanfic first, then that's a lucky fandom. Dismissing fanfiction unilaterally because there are badly written fics would be like banning poetry because there are Vogons... Well written fanfiction deserves a modicum of respect, I feel.


Sex and sexually explicit scenes in fanfiction make for an entirely more prickly debate.

I completely understand authors not wishing to see their characters used (?abused) in ways that were not written in the books or shown on the show... particularly in the case of rape fics or fics that deal with non-canon relationships.

However, I think that fanfiction is one of the most important places in the world for dealing with gender, sex and sexuality. That alone has enough material for an entirely different post, but I will say this much; fanfiction has created an incredible forum for the exploration of gender identity, of sexual meaning and relationships and particularly on the brutality and aftermath of rape. I have read fics that deal with this much more effectively than the likes of an episode of Law and Order: SVU. Fanfiction is free, accessible (not only in the sense that it is available on the internet, but in that it features characters we already know and love) and, in my opinion, a fantastic way of exploring a wide variety of social issues.

You know what, yes, for every well researched, well written fanfiction, there are 1,000 instances of soft (and not so soft) porn written with varying degrees of skill. Again, my answer would be, as long as it is being read by consenting adults, what harm? People pay for trash like Stephenie Meyer - why not just get your bad writing for free?

Fanfiction needs to be recognised in its own right - not as a way of potentially exploiting existing characters or universes, not as a retreat for those who 'cannot write their own material', not as a vessel for various sexual predilections, but as a valuable tool - both for upcoming writers, for those who do not have the access to books that they should have and for valuable discussion and dissection of some of the issues and identities that define us as human.

Fanfiction authors are not (all) indiscriminating na'er-do-wells who are out to ravage and destroy pre-existing works of fiction... but thoughtful, intelligent, well educated people committed to discussing not only plot, character and motive, but the grander issues underpinning the heart of any well told story - whether it be told with newly created characters or a friendly and familiar face in an FBI basement.

All and any thoughts welcome.

Friday, May 7, 2010

You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means...

Reliable sources have informed me that I can do something with my time on the internet other than adding to my wishlist on Thinkgeek and reblogging the same Super Mario Post-It window collage again and again on Tumblr...

Amy (geek with curves) has a wonderful blog that regularly makes me envious both of her awesome life and her clearly superior geeky knowledge...

I have nothing quite so interesting to offer, but I am about to embark on a journey into the world of comic books for the first time, and figured that if it didn't interest someone it would at least give them something to point and laugh at. Geek is a word thrown around all to often, and not applied to women nearly as often as it ought to be...

Chances are, this will also accumulate the random things I find on the internet...

Note; I am a girl. I like movies where substantial structures blow up. I like hardcore sci-fi based in nerdy science. I like snarky commentary. I also like wearing corsets... these characteristics will present themselves in ever alternating proportions.

A round up of today's lingering tabs...

I'm not going to lie; yesterday's election was stressful! The prospect of a hung parliament with a majority Conservative/Lib Dem coalition is making everyone here a bit tetchy and miserable...

So... SFX did the only thing a decent British organisation could do, and came promptly to the rescue with a prospective cabinet that I, in all honesty, would rather vote for. This sort of shit wouldn't fly with Vetinari...

I'm usually the first to run in the opposite direction when J.J Abrams is linked with a project, but the leaked Super 8 trailer caught my eye with a mention of Area 51. Once an X-Files fan...

Suspicion persists that the 'leak' is a studio stunt, but it looks interesting none the less... as long as he's not out to rape the X-Files again (Fringe: Never Forget!), I remain optimistically curious...

On a similar note, 5 former Area 51 employees speak out... reveal... well, not much! Original link snurched from Boing Boing!

A SyFy employee tells you how you can really save your tv show... it's not good news, I fear!


Life changing advice of the day; this movie will really help if you live in the UK right now. Largely because it is awesome, but also because it helps to work out the rage...