So I have this friend...
Apr. 18th, 2009 11:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zhieHow many conversations start out that way, eh?
So, I have this friend in the fandom. Doesn't matter what fandom. Could be any fandom. It's a decent sized fandom, lots of fans, lots of people writing fic, lots of people reading fic. People talking about their ideas, exchanging their ideas, writing and (as we called it back in the day in another fandom) riffing and plotting and drabbling and whatnot.
Anyhow, the story goes like this: Two people are chatting, and person number one talks about an idea they have that they want to write to person number two. Person number two likes the idea so much, they go and write the story on their own. They give credit to person number one, but they just go on and write the story. Person number one is not happy, and wants the story removed from the sites where it is. Person number two has no plans to remove said story.
This one is hard for me. While I really, really like person number one --- in fact, I don't even know the other person, had not ever heard of them before at all (shows you the size of the fandom, I guess) --- I differ in opinion. And that's sad for me, because I enjoy it when I have the same opinion as my friends, because then I can go 'yeah, go you, you tell that fuckwad how it is!' and feel like, yeah, I got their back on this.
But... this is where it gets hard, because I can't.
I'm very careful about things that I don't want people to run off with. My original fiction, as much as it kills me not to discuss, is kept so very hush-hush. There's maps - a language - lots of beautiful characters - a history - and, gah, the stuff I would LOVE to be able to post about and chat about and discuss! But... I guard it. I think my usual response is 'There's dragons in it.' Because, really, that's like, what, half the fantasy ever written. So I'm safe. I'm not going to freak next time I see a fantasy novel with a dragon on the cover.
If I saw a fantasy novel with... the image in my mind as I type this that I can't share... I'd freak, have a break down in whatever bookstore I was in, and probably be led out by security. But... although that seems pretty drastic... it's because it's mine. My idea. My characters. My world. My language. Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.
Did I say it's mine? It's MINE.
But... if I see a story that has Haldir toting a stuffed animal... or Erestor being called Ress... or Galadriel raising goats... or Glorfindel eating cheesecake...
I am THRILLED beyond belief. You would not believe how absolutely tickled I was when Dark put cheesecake into Fin's mouth when I read her story. Actually, I think she read that part to me over the phone. I was grinning like a mofo. And was it TICS who put a goat into her story once -- Erestor petting a goat or something? My apologies if I'm remembering that incorrectly, I think that's who it was... anyhow, it was delightful. I reread it more than once. And Ress. Darling Ress, with all his imperfections, no matter who writes him, it just absolutely delights me, especially -- ESPECIALLY -- if I stumble into one unexpectedly (and I think even moreso if the writer just took it for fanonized canon at this point).
I've farmed out ideas, knowingly or not. I've had people jump into my sandbox. Some of them asked ahead of time; some of them just did it. Some of them credited me; some of them took a shovel as a souvenir and I've not seen them since. I prefer the former to the latter -- play with my sand, at least pimp me a little on your way to the next playground. But I find it difficult to say no in the long run, because all of the toys in this sandbox I stole from the one with the initials JRRT on the side.
This is hard to say, but... Erestor is not mine. Glorfindel, also, not mine. Crap. That WAS really hard to say. I might need a moment. *pauses* Okay, I'm back. Whew. Yeah, it's definitely difficult when you start to get this attached to a character. It's hard to see other people do things with them, or write things about them, or... y'know, there's this het group I frequent, and the things they do with Glorfindel... I totally have to skip those posts. Yeah. Shoot, I'm digressing, where were we... oh yeah.
Now we come to the part where there's the reply button coming up soon. Feel free to play in this sandbox, but I encourage you not to use names of the parties involved in case you know who they are. And as for the parties involved... to the one I know, I am sorry that I can't agree with you, because you're such an awesome person and as I said earlier it hurts not to be able to side with friends, I feel like the biggest asshole for it, but it's a matter of sticking with my principles and such. Know that I still love you and I hope things come to a conclusion that is favorable to you *HUGS* even if I don't agree with it. To the one I don't know, you don't sound like a very nice person from what people are saying about you, but I don't know you and I do at least give you kudos for crediting the idea to the person who came up with it, because that's more than I'm used to seeing overall in any fandom - but you might want to get the okay on things ahead of time before writing off of someone else's idea, because although it's a good way to write a story it's also a great way to lose friends.
Epilogue: I fully intend, once the original is published, to allow a fanfictional free-for-all. I just don't want anyone to touch/see/sniff/mess with/accidentally write a story so very similar to what I have ahead of time. So until then, know this... there's, um, dragons, and stuff...
Alright, I see the reply button approaching... feel free to discuss as soon as we land... please keep your hands and feet inside the post until we come to a full stop...
So, I have this friend in the fandom. Doesn't matter what fandom. Could be any fandom. It's a decent sized fandom, lots of fans, lots of people writing fic, lots of people reading fic. People talking about their ideas, exchanging their ideas, writing and (as we called it back in the day in another fandom) riffing and plotting and drabbling and whatnot.
Anyhow, the story goes like this: Two people are chatting, and person number one talks about an idea they have that they want to write to person number two. Person number two likes the idea so much, they go and write the story on their own. They give credit to person number one, but they just go on and write the story. Person number one is not happy, and wants the story removed from the sites where it is. Person number two has no plans to remove said story.
This one is hard for me. While I really, really like person number one --- in fact, I don't even know the other person, had not ever heard of them before at all (shows you the size of the fandom, I guess) --- I differ in opinion. And that's sad for me, because I enjoy it when I have the same opinion as my friends, because then I can go 'yeah, go you, you tell that fuckwad how it is!' and feel like, yeah, I got their back on this.
But... this is where it gets hard, because I can't.
I'm very careful about things that I don't want people to run off with. My original fiction, as much as it kills me not to discuss, is kept so very hush-hush. There's maps - a language - lots of beautiful characters - a history - and, gah, the stuff I would LOVE to be able to post about and chat about and discuss! But... I guard it. I think my usual response is 'There's dragons in it.' Because, really, that's like, what, half the fantasy ever written. So I'm safe. I'm not going to freak next time I see a fantasy novel with a dragon on the cover.
If I saw a fantasy novel with... the image in my mind as I type this that I can't share... I'd freak, have a break down in whatever bookstore I was in, and probably be led out by security. But... although that seems pretty drastic... it's because it's mine. My idea. My characters. My world. My language. Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.
Did I say it's mine? It's MINE.
But... if I see a story that has Haldir toting a stuffed animal... or Erestor being called Ress... or Galadriel raising goats... or Glorfindel eating cheesecake...
I am THRILLED beyond belief. You would not believe how absolutely tickled I was when Dark put cheesecake into Fin's mouth when I read her story. Actually, I think she read that part to me over the phone. I was grinning like a mofo. And was it TICS who put a goat into her story once -- Erestor petting a goat or something? My apologies if I'm remembering that incorrectly, I think that's who it was... anyhow, it was delightful. I reread it more than once. And Ress. Darling Ress, with all his imperfections, no matter who writes him, it just absolutely delights me, especially -- ESPECIALLY -- if I stumble into one unexpectedly (and I think even moreso if the writer just took it for fanonized canon at this point).
I've farmed out ideas, knowingly or not. I've had people jump into my sandbox. Some of them asked ahead of time; some of them just did it. Some of them credited me; some of them took a shovel as a souvenir and I've not seen them since. I prefer the former to the latter -- play with my sand, at least pimp me a little on your way to the next playground. But I find it difficult to say no in the long run, because all of the toys in this sandbox I stole from the one with the initials JRRT on the side.
This is hard to say, but... Erestor is not mine. Glorfindel, also, not mine. Crap. That WAS really hard to say. I might need a moment. *pauses* Okay, I'm back. Whew. Yeah, it's definitely difficult when you start to get this attached to a character. It's hard to see other people do things with them, or write things about them, or... y'know, there's this het group I frequent, and the things they do with Glorfindel... I totally have to skip those posts. Yeah. Shoot, I'm digressing, where were we... oh yeah.
Now we come to the part where there's the reply button coming up soon. Feel free to play in this sandbox, but I encourage you not to use names of the parties involved in case you know who they are. And as for the parties involved... to the one I know, I am sorry that I can't agree with you, because you're such an awesome person and as I said earlier it hurts not to be able to side with friends, I feel like the biggest asshole for it, but it's a matter of sticking with my principles and such. Know that I still love you and I hope things come to a conclusion that is favorable to you *HUGS* even if I don't agree with it. To the one I don't know, you don't sound like a very nice person from what people are saying about you, but I don't know you and I do at least give you kudos for crediting the idea to the person who came up with it, because that's more than I'm used to seeing overall in any fandom - but you might want to get the okay on things ahead of time before writing off of someone else's idea, because although it's a good way to write a story it's also a great way to lose friends.
Epilogue: I fully intend, once the original is published, to allow a fanfictional free-for-all. I just don't want anyone to touch/see/sniff/mess with/accidentally write a story so very similar to what I have ahead of time. So until then, know this... there's, um, dragons, and stuff...
Alright, I see the reply button approaching... feel free to discuss as soon as we land... please keep your hands and feet inside the post until we come to a full stop...
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-19 08:13 pm (UTC)