Here's a roundup of fan creativity stories that might be of interest to fans:

• Ugo put together a variety of horror fan film recommendations. "While some call Gus Van Sant's shot for shot remake of Psycho the biggest fan film ever made, Psycho 5 robs it from being the best, at least as far as Psycho fan films go. Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, and William H. Macy simply can't compete with a cast of earnest children, especially when it comes to the kid playing Norman Bates. This is not only a fun and charming fan film, but it's likely the cutest thing you'll ever see. It also manages to include the other Psycho films in the plot, making it a true sequel."
• Amanda Knightly is a fan who is active in many places. "However, the 22-year-old would rather receive strangers’ gazes on her own terms. That’s why Knightly has embraced cosplay, sewing costumes and dressing up like her favorite anime and video game characters in public under the pseudonym Misa on Wheels. “When you are physically different in any way, like in my case using a wheelchair, society is bound to stare,” she told the Daily Dot. “And with my cosplay, I can give them something pretty cool to stare at.”"
• Anime fan Fabrice Requin takes his fandom to many places too, in this case, around Asia. A French university student, Requin has taken his favorite female anime character, Holo from Spice and Wolf, on a three-month tour which he's been documenting on Twitter and Facebook. "Since the cardboard cut-out folds in half, Requin was able to fit her in a large suitcase, as he told curious onlookers on the Sankaku Complex forums. Whenever he encounters a notable land mark, he unfolds Holo and the two pose for a picture."

If you are an anime fan, make fan films, or cosplay, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on music and the classics that might be of interest to fans:

• The post Are music startups killing online music fandom? examines social aspects of music sharing, or the lack of them. "Honestly, I think I discovered more new music when MySpace was the only game in town for burgeoning bands to share tunes. Thanks to Facebook, I know how little most of my social circle and I have in common when it comes to music preference. More broadly, I think the music startup explosion hasn’t really done much to promote new music discovery at all, but mostly encourages an echo chamber of musical tastes where friends and acquaintances share the same small pool of artists, bands, and songs with each other."
• While most documentaries about bands tend to recount the history of the group, one of Rolling Stone's selections for Seven Best New Music Documentaries of the Year was So Color Me Obsessed, which focuses on people fannish about the group. “It’s not just about the Replacements,” Bechard says. “It’s about how any band affects you and becomes almost part of your family.”
• Music mashups are pretty common but it's less common when the setting is classical. "[T]he Met is breathing new life into the charming form of the pastiche as a way to celebrate Baroque opera’s renewed popularity." The Enchanted Island opens on New Year's Eve in New York City and "places the four lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Prospero’s island from The Tempest. It’s all set to the music of the greatest Baroque master composers."
• Similarly, a life of cosplay isn't that common, particularly when it is as a long-dead author. But one fan "is a hit with locals in her hometown on Keighley, West Yorks - near Bronte homeland Haworth" particularly as her efforts help direct tourists to the local Bronte sites. The Telegraph notes "Locals regularly stop to compliment her on her unusual style as she struts her stuff doing her food shopping, or while munching on a Big Mac."

If you're a fan of opera, music, or authors, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories about fans in the media that might be of interest to fans:

• Australia is launching a comedy television series about fans which "has been compared to The Big Bang Theory", only Outland features a group of gay sci-fi fans. "Outland's producer Laura Waters said: "[Production company] Princess Pictures is proud that closeted science fiction fans will finally have a voice and that a full family of gay Australian characters can go where they never ventured before - prime-time television." (A trailer for the show is available at the link.)
• An increasing amount of media attention is being paid to fan conventions as journalists take part in them. The result of more "insider" type coverage is reflected in this lengthy television segment on Steampunk fandom that provides not just a look at fan cons, but goes farther to investigate the fandom's origins, and explain its creations and its influence on popular culture.
• Some of the increasing news coverage of fans can be attributed to their visibility in the social media that journalists happen to pay attention to, making them more familiar with both fans and fannish practices. The multigenerational fans that were shown in the Steampunk con segment, for example, belie the "loner" label so often used in the past in stories on fans. As this essay by a second-generation U2 fan points out, fandom can be a way of life for many. "I must say that U2 are the most important band in my life. They’ve been the soundtrack of the past several years, and they’ve been there for me through all the toughest times, as well being right along for the good times. "

If you attend fan cons or are part of the Steampunk or Harry Potter fandoms, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on universal fandom that might be of interest to fans:

• To be filed under "fans are still fans, regardless of gender", at the FIFA Master Conference in Neuchâtel, Switzerland a multinational group of researchers presented a study on female fans of male dominated sports. Among their findings were that women "want to be included in regular fan culture without necessarily having to adopt aspects of the language and behavior that prevails within it" and that they "want acceptance in the same way it is afforded to men. They want to be accepted within fan communities on their own terms as legitimate and authentic fans."
• To be filed under "fans are still fans, regardless of their fandom", a media fan who attended her first sports convention, Caps Con, discovered that fans are alike under the cosplay outfits. "I’m a geek. I’ve hit the cons, walked the walk, and I talk the talk. The amazing thing about Saturday was just how much of fandom has apparently become universal in the last ten years. Whether it’s NHL hockey, comic books, or a television series, every convention has its consistencies."
• To be filed under "fans are everywhere", Star Wars fans' recently staged "a huge lightsaber battle" in a New York City park with over 1000 participants. The Fandom Post story included video from the event and also from July 2010, when a group staged a scene of Darth Vader arresting Princess Leia in the NY subway, much to the delight of surprised bystanders.

If you're part of a sports fandom, if you LARP or are a con-goer why not contribute your perspectives to Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.