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

• AfterEllen stepped up to explore "Why smart lesbians read (and write) fan fiction." They write, "We lose ourselves in stories, but we also find ourselves in stories. Fan fiction isn't just a way for us to gay-up straight characters (or sex-up gay characters); it's an exercise in molding narratives that resonate with our unique life experiences. Fan fiction readers and writers aren't waiting for networks and showrunners to hand them a beautiful bouquet of freshly picked roses. They're planting their own gardens and fertilizing their own imaginations and pruning and weeding and growing something proud and strong. They may have borrowed the seeds, but the blossoms are all their own."
• A post at the i.b.taurus blog also took issue with the idea of focusing only on the sex in fanfiction while overlooking the gender issues. While discussing the practice of kink memes, writer Hannah Elison points out how "journalists continue to paint fanfiction as a world of ‘creepy’ anonymous erotica, despite erotic work making up a small percentage of stories" while "they ignore the fact that though these stories may unashamedly portray acts of bdsm, intersexuality and even bestiality, they have yet to escape the ever-present force of dominant gender paradigms."
• An NPR look at the origins of Fifty Shades of Grey managed to avoid a discussion of the sexual, but neither did it provide much on the topic of fanfiction at all. OTW Staffers Suzanne Scott and Francesca Coppa provided some input, but the focus remained rather firmly on E.L. James.
• A better look at fanfiction appeared in The Boston Globe. While it focused on that other favorite topic, copyright, the disclaimer "Full disclosure: I write and read fan fiction as a hobby" may account for the observation that "Yes, the vast majority of fan fiction falls woefully below such lofty standards [as Shakespeare]. But so does most original writing, particularly the self-published kind — and some fan-written stories would hold their own against much professional fiction. (Granted, “Fifty Shades of Grey” is appallingly bad, but then “Twilight” is no “Jane Eyre,” either.)"

If your fanfiction focuses on the sexual, the copyright, or just the fun, why not write about it on 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. 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 PBS production OffBook has created a new video about the spectrum of fannish behavior and motivations, and it features discussion from board members Francesca Coppa and Naomi Novik. The 7:20 minute video explores the diversity of fandom, the way its fanworks may challenge dominant views expressed in mass media, and fair use and its meaning for fans. The segment concludes with "Fandom lets many more people have a voice, and it lets many people tell stories that would otherwise not get heard." (No transcript available)

This video was released within days of two other discussions about fandom and society:

• Brett White writes in Comic Book Resources about women represented in comics and the vital role of women in fandom: "Women engage in fandom to levels that men do not. When women get behind something, their sheer numbers and passion force it into the mainstream." To that end he believes that "I want other people to be inspired. I'm a white male...I had my heroes who 'looked like me' and that I could identify with or aspire to be. I want girls to have that chance too. And as much as I want boys to see women as equals, I want girls to know that they don't have to identify with Disney Princesses or Really Cool Disney Channel Starlet if they don't want to. They can identify with Wasp and Invisible Woman or Kitty Pryde. They can be Stephanie Brown or Batwoman or Black Canary. They have as many awesome superheroes as their brothers do. Everyone needs female heroes as much as male ones."
• Richard Just wrote in The Daily Beast that as American culture becomes increasingly politicized and polarized that sports fandom may be a neutral meeting ground, and thus a vitally important space for discussion and common cause.

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. 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 the benefits of fandom stories that might be of interest to fans:

• Blogger Suzanne Lahna wrote recently about things she's learned from fandom. Concluding that "Fandom is important, and I think the why needs to be told," she lists a few benefits from the immediately practical to the lifelong. "Fandom taught me how to make a fight scene work like a fluid thing. Fandom taught me that present tense is actually okay, and can be used well in the appropriate scenarios...Fandom taught me how to write boldly, without shame, without hesitance." She writes, "Fandom has given me hope. Fandom reminds me that there are no limits to what we can write about, what we can do, only the limits we place on ourselves."
• The Atlantic looks at soccer fans and finds much the same thing as Lahna. "Trying to rationalize fandom can be a complicated, even futile process. But studies by psychologists have shown that identifying yourself with a sports team can have profound implications. According to Daniel L. Wann, a professor at Murray State University, and a pioneer in the field of sports psychology, the more passionate your fandom, the more positive the impact is on your psychological health. Based on surveys of American sports fans over more than two decades, Wann has categorized fans in relation to the degree to which they consider their team an extension of themselves. He describes the more ardent fans, the ones who consider their team to be an important part of their lives, as 'highly identified' fans, and the ones who follow their team more loosely, with a sense of detachment, as "weakly identified" fans. He says, in the case of the highly identified fans, the social connections that are formed through their fandom—the camaraderie that comes out of following games with a group of people—plays a significant and positive role in their lives."
• A piece on sci-fi cons in The Seattle Times came across the same opinions yet again: "'It's a community,' Katrina Marier, editor of Westwind, the magazine of the Northwest Science Fiction Society, said. 'People in fandom care about each other. We're excited to get together.' She said when someone gets sick, people visit with casseroles and offers of help just like in any group." Indeed some ideas should spread outside of fandom. "'Some [people] you'll like and some not. Some you'll agree with and some not,' she said. 'You all can occupy the same space for the course of a weekend. That is very important, and we could use a lot more of that in our national discourse.' That's reason enough to be involved. Besides tolerance, Marier says, fandom has solidified some other good traits. 'Fandom has encouraged my tendencies to both be open to new ideas and to think about them critically, and to ask questions.'"
• Indeed a story in The Advocate stresses the ways in which fandoms and society can be intertwined with their feature on a comic book store wedding. Various comics shops honored the marriage of characters Northstar and Kyle with fundraising events and receptions, but Midtown Comics took it a step further when they hosted a wedding in-store. The groomsmen featured in the story "were selected from more than 50 applicants because 'they really stood out as super-fans,' said Thor Parker, Midtown Comics’ social media and events director. They met online and had one of their first dates at a comics-related event."

If you're an X-Men fan or in a comics or sci-fi fandom, or want to share your own story about what fandom has meant to you, why not write about it in 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 at transformativeworks.org. 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 misogyny in fandom stories that might be of interest to fans:

• Theater blog Parabasis had various posts discussing fandom politics and gender last month. The issue was raised by Salon critic Laura Miller in her interview when she noted that female interests such as those expressed in romance fandom tended to be the most reviled. She also contrasted some male fandom groups with female fandom groups such as Game of Thrones fans to Twilight readers. "The people who are Twilight fans...created a kind of female fandom that is profoundly different from the male forms of fandom, which are largely based on that mastery thing where you’re trying to assert control over this uncontrollable experience. The female fans just don’t have that issue. People who are really into Twilight will go onto forums and say, “Oh my God, I’m so into Twilight I haven’t done laundry in ages!” because they’re not battling to be the most, to outdo each other...Willingness to participate, be social, be friendly, interact, that’s what matters."
• The Parabasis posts were the subject of commentary on Metafilter, prompting editor Isaac Butler to single out the way female fandom keeps being "rediscovered" as a form of intentional blindness. However another comment on Metafilter focused on a different article in this issue. "I was not prepared for the article/interview to make an abrupt and alarming course-change into casual misogyny." Citing a conversational exchange between two fans, the commenter notes "There's the dismissal of the output of female fandom as "saccharine, emotional garbage"...there's the explanation that it's okay to disparage the work of "girls" because at least women aren't so silly, which then implies that young men of course never contribute to silliness or obsessed-with-sexiness fan culture...And what makes me SUPER EXTRA SAD about the whole thing is that Jaime Green is a woman, and Tanner Ringerud is her boyfriend! Which hooks this whole conversation into the much larger pattern of women denigrating the fannish spaces that other women have created for themselves, in order to win points with the more acceptable and mainstream male nerd culture."
• A fanfic guide on Crushable also took exception with criticism of female fanworks and their focus on sexual content. "I first joined fanfiction forums around the age of twelve, so I joke that everything I learned about sex I learned from fic. I’ll say it now—I was that weird kid who tried to understand this intimate act by reading other writers’ adult stories and reworking those details into my own, like someone who turns an object around in her hand until she’s investigated every angle. I learned a lot about the clinical and emotional details of sex through these fics."
• Game reviewer Katie Williams had a rather direct experience with denigration at a game expo. "I would often be asked by the PR rep whether I wanted someone to play my “hands-on” demo for me. During booth tours, I would more often than not be guided towards the Facebook games. Following demonstrations, I was often offered fact sheets just in case I didn’t “understand”. People would regularly take note of the publications listed on my badge and say, “But you don’t really play, right?” I was assumed to be eye candy, the pretty face of a publication whose content was provided by people with actual talent. Every time I protested, the offender would say — as if it were a proven fact — “Well, girls aren’t usually into this stuff, you know.”"

If you're a gamer, Twilight fan, a Game of Thrones fan or create fanworks, 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.