• At New Statesman, Elizabeth Minkel discussed tension between fans and content creators. "[M]aybe it’s best to think of fan/creator relations through the lens of 'mutually assured destruction', in the sense that 'they’re allowing me to do what I want, so I’ll enable them through what they want'. Just because we can see each other – and just because we can potentially even talk to each other – doesn’t mean it’s actually a good deal to directly engage with each other...social media continues to transform the way we communicate...it’s not the historical barriers in place, but perhaps instead the ones we continue to erect, out of mutual respect, that help to keep making television worth getting invested in."
• The Columbia Chronicle looked instead at fan vs. fan. "In 2006, Grieve and a colleague conducted a study to measure how fans view opposing teams and found that when the home team lost, fans were more likely to deem visiting fans unfriendly, rude and untrustworthy than when the home team won. Fans sometimes take their negative attitudes toward rival groups too far, Grieve said, adding that some are emotionally attached to a team simply because they enjoy the confrontational nature of fandom rather than the camaraderie and socialization benefits."
• Lizzie Yin wrote in The Global Times about how she was an anti-fan. " I'll admit that I once used to like some of my targets. From my perspective, many of the anti-fans out there have a history like me. They used to like somebody or some band, then they grew out of it, and felt embarrassed or ashamed of that past history, since they later found those people 'uncool.' Exactly like the fans, the anti-fans also spend a great amount of time, energy and resources in hating somebody, passionately."
• At Geek Tyrant, Mick Joest complained about tests of fannishness. "[G]eeks have evolved into something well beyond the current umbrella we share. Table-top gamers may have no interest in Firefly, and the Browncoats could not give a flip less about Manga readers. PC gamers may log 100s of hours in DOTA and never watch an actual episode of the original Star Trek, and that's completely fine. It doesn't make you more or less of geek to have your hands in multiple cookie jars of fandom, and it's that kind of pissing contest of 'who's more popular' that drove many people into the less mainstream interests we share today. "

What examples of fandom love & hate have you seen? Write about them on Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. 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.

Welcome to our Events Calendar roundup for the month of May! The Events Calendar can be found on the OTW website and is open to submissions by anyone with news of an event. These can be viewed by event-type, such as Academic Events, Fan Gatherings, Legal Events, OTW Events, or Technology Events taking place around the world.

• Free Comic Book Day takes place on "the first Saturday in May each year - when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores."

  More about Free Comic Book Day on Fanlore

• M/M Rares

  M/M Rares is an annual fanfiction exchange for rare slash pairings. Participants write a fic at least 1000 words long focusing on a slash pairing another participant has requested. As this is an exchange, they receive a 1000+ word fic featuring a slash pairing they requested in return.

  Nominations Open: 13 April
  Nominations Close: 3 May @ 8:00pm PDT
  Signups Open: 5 May @ 8:00pm PDT
  Signups Close: 23 May @ 8:00 PDT
  Assignments Sent: No later than 30 May @ 8:00pm PDT
  Fics Due: 25 July @ 8:00pm PDT
  Fics Revealed: 1 August @ 8:00pm PDT
  Authors Revealed: 8 August @ 8:00pm PDT

  More about M/M Rares on Fanlore

• LexiCon

  LexiCon is an open-to-all gaming convention. Visitors can learn to play new games like Gravwell, Sentinels - Vengeance, Jupiter Rising, Relic Runners, City of Iron, and BioShock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia. LexiCon also will have family gaming events like "Learn 5 Family Games in 90 minutes" and Adult Party nights Friday and Saturday. There will also be a Magic the Gathering Tournament with $1,000 1st prize, plus lots of extras.

• BLush Convention

  BLush Convention is a biennial not-for-profit event organized for Philippine and Asian fans of Boys' Love and Yaoi. The first event was held last 8th December 2012 at Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila. This year it will take place on May 3 in Manila. It will feature panels and talks, merchandise booths, the much-anticipated butler cafe, La Vie En Rose, and more.

• Open Doors chat with fans

  OTW's Open Doors committee will be holding two public chats on Campfire (the online chat platform the OTW uses) in order to discuss the import of the Yuletide archives to the AO3. The second will be held on May 4, 1am UTC (see when the chat is held in your timezone)

• VidUKon 2014

  Vidukon is a fan run convention in the UK where fannish vidders and vid watchers get together to OD on vids and vid talk and have the fun times. Aside from video shows, panels and workshops will run for those interested in the whys and wherefores. A Vid Bazaar is also included in the con-suite where DVDs are up for sale or swap. You can get a spot on the table for a flat fee, payable at registration. Registration is £40 for an attending membership, which includes two and a half days.

  VidUKon is also accepting Premieres and submissions to their Vidder's Choice show - a chance for any member (attending or supporting) to show a vid of their choice during the opening evening. Deadlines for these are 11th May 2014.

  Starting in 2014, a virtual convention will be running alongside the physical convention. If you buy a supporting membership, you will be able to watch the vidshow, including Premieres, streaming, in real time, with comments enabled to discuss the shows with your fellow virtual attendees! After the convention, this will be available to everyone. They are also considering streaming some panels, depending on interest.

  More about VidUKon on Fanlore

• WisCon

  Running since 1977, WisCon is the first and foremost feminist science fiction convention in the world. WisCon encourages discussion, debate and extrapolation of ideas relating to feminism, gender, race and class. WisCon honors writers, editors and artists whose work explores these themes and whose voices have opened new dimensions and territory in these issues.

  Special events include the Tiptree bake sale and auction, a writer's workshop and a Dessert Party, as well as a vid party. The deadline for submitting a vid is Friday, May 9, 2014, two weeks before the con.

  More about WisCon on Fanlore

Calls for Papers this month come from:

• Stardom and Celebrity in Contemporary India

  The forthcoming issue of Indian Journal of Comparative Literature & Translation Studies is opening submissions on "Stardom and Celebrity in Contemporary India". The informing assumption is that there is no single culture of celebrity and the issue will endeavor to highlight the co-existence of multiple domains of celebrity culture in India. IJCLTS invites original, unpublished and innovative work from across the disciplines and across the world. The extent of the essays should be between 3000-5000 words or shorter but rigorously analytic pieces (500-1500 words) whose scope is less extensive than that of an essay but which raises a pertinent point regarding celebrity culture. The pertinent master categories of India studies.

  Besides the articles, IJCLTS is looking for translations, interviews, and book reviews. Submit by 31st May 2014.

• CFP: My Little Pony: A Transcultural Phenomenon

  "This one day conference seeks to place the 30 year long ‘My Little Pony’ series within critical, cultural and creative contexts, exploring the brand from a multi-disciplinary range of perspectives. 300 word abstracts are invited." The conference will be held at University of Brighton – Grand Parade on Saturday 28 June 2014. Please send abstracts and enquiries to Ewan Kirkland at e.kirkland [at] brighton.ac.uk.

  Deadline for abstracts: 28 May 2014

• CFP: Queer Fan Cultures in Greater China

  Queer fandom nowadays has become a global phenomenon. The blooming of Chinese queer fandoms in the past two decades has also offered rich sites of queer representations of gender and sexuality. Yet, research explicating Chinese queer fandoms is still far from adequate. The editors seek chapter contributions that elaborate the cultural specificities, significances, transformativity, hybridity, historicity, and futurity epitomized by Chinese queer fan cultures. We are especially keen to receive manuscripts that consider the queer dimensions of gender, sexuality, desire, and fantasy from a wide range of Chinese temporal and geographical settings. We also very welcome submissions that employ interdisciplinary and/or comparative approaches.

  To submit chapter proposal submissions for consideration, please send a 1000- to 1500-word abstract with working bibliography and a CV by May 30th, 2014 to queerfandom2014 [at] yahoo.com.

• CFP: The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Solutions and Resolutions

  Charles Dickens’s last novel, unfinished as it is, has become a call to arms to a legion of fans, academics and authors to solve the mystery and complete the uncompleted. The Victorian Popular Fiction Association will publish The Drood Inquiry, which will investigate and celebrate the many weird and wonderful responses to Dickens’s story, exploring the ways in which these solutions reflect upon the authors’ attitudes to Dickens and his legacy, and how Dickens’s story and characters exist both within the boundaries of the original text and without in the numerous spin-offs that have arisen.

  Proposals are welcome for 20 minute papers to be presented at a one day conference on the themes of the book or the insights its subsequent treatment can provide on Dickens’s reputation, as well as any discussion of theories on how the story ends. Proposals (up to 500 words) and a brief biographical note should be sent by 31 May 2014.

• CFP: Golden Age or Gilded Age? Fan Cultures, Past, Present, and Future

  Fan culture has been intimately linked with mass media since the beginning of the movies in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As various technologies have pushed media evolution along – sound, color, television, and internet – fan culture has kept pace and fueled not only consumption but also developed communities. First in fan magazines, then at conventions, fan culture has spread and inspired fans to celebrate the media they loved. This love frequently leads to the development of derivative works such as fan fiction and fan editing—the expansion of existing media elements into whole new worlds.

  Is this the Golden Age of Fan Culture, as brought about by the internet’s ability to transmit media and foster communities, or is this a Gilded Age, where fan culture has gone postmodern, sometimes eclipsing the objects and subjects of fan desire? This area welcomes proposals on a diverse range of topics pertaining to fan culture, both present and historic, with a particular emphasis on visual media such as film and television.

  2014 Film & History Conference is looking for submissions of 200-word proposals by 1 June 2014.

The OTW encourages anyone to submit an event that's not already listed, and to check out the calendar throughout the year!

• Malaysia's New Straits Times profiled a local fan artist's work on superheroes. "[H]er drawings of Marvel Comics heroines such as She-Hulk, Rogue and the female Captain Marvel [are] in elegant gowns, drawn in art nouveau style. The illustrations are a stark contrast to the characters’ original style in the comic books which have a tendency to sexualise female characters through costumes and body language."
• Over at io9's Observation Deck The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask's opera was recommended. It now has seven installments, the latest posted earlier this year.
• The Daily Mail also focused on music, profiling Taylor Davis and her covers of video game music. "[H]er efforts also caught the attention of Journey's composer Austin Wintory, who asked her to be the solo violinist on the game's soundtrack, which Miss Davis described as 'an amazing experience' and 'a dream come true. Since I'm such a huge gamer myself and know the kind of impact the music can have on a gamer, it's so exciting that my performance on the soundtrack is actually a part of the gaming experience and that it might really touch someone in a positive way,' she said."
• Bustle wrote about how season 3 of Twin Peaks "is a beautiful showcase of fandom at work, and of the capabilities of mediums like Twitter to harbor experimental fiction. This particular foray into Twitter storytelling is centered at the handle @EnterTheLodge, though it stretches out to 50+ Twin Peaks character accounts, telling the story of an imagined Season 3 for the series. They’ve just started the journey, but if you’d like to catch up on what’s gone on so far you can do so through their Storify archive. "

What amazing fanworks have you seen? Write about them on Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. 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.

• The Asahi Shimbum detailed fan concerns about the TPP. "Usami and other creators of fan fiction, however, could face the possibility of legal prosecution as copyright violators in the future, depending on the outcome of TPP negotiations. Some countries are apparently demanding that Japan clamp down on knock-off and pirated works in the intellectual property arena, even if the copyright holder does not object to it. Under current Japanese copyright law, authorities take action only after the copyright holder, such as the artist of the original work or publisher, lodges a formal complaint."
• India's Business Standard wrote about book piracy and its turn to crossover fiction. "By the 2000s, piracy had changed across all kinds of language publishing in India. In 2003, Harry Potter's publishers successfully sued Uttam Ghosh, preventing him from introducing a character called Jhontu in a sub-series where Harry Potter goes to Calcutta, a work of fan fiction if there ever was one...Book pirates in China had stayed ahead of the curve, by passing off a weird little book called Harry Potter and Bao Zoulong as a new Potter sequel. In this version, Harry Potter became a leading character in a translation of The Hobbit, with an explanatory paragraph to tell the reader how Harry Potter was turned into a hobbit one day while taking a bath."
• The Wire explored the origin of The Office Time Machine. Creator Joe Sabia "wasn't really a fan of the show" but created it to "advocate for copyright reform and highlight the importance of fair use in protecting creators and their art."
• Yet fair uses of content can be beneficial to creators. The Toronto Star discussed how music companies made more money from fan videos than official videos. “A lot of that is due to consumers putting more and more repertoire and new versions up there, but also it’s YouTube getting better at advertising" as now more than 50 countries are part of video ad monetization. "'It’s a massive growth area. We’re very excited about the creativity of consumers using our repertoire and creating their own versions of our videos,' said Francis Keeling, the global head of digital business for Universal Music Group."

What copyright developments have you seen relating to fandom? Write about them on Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. 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.