I've been reading through some of the Diana Gabaldon mess. Haven't got through a big chunk of it because for the love of Hugh, people are stupid sometimes. How many different ways can it be explained, in tiny words, that in order to steal something you actually have to, y'know, remove it from that other person's possession?
Possibly the strongest argument in this mess (and I don't actually know how the legalities of it work) is that money being raised to help pay the bills of a cancer patient might actually be owed to the original creator. Though why you'd want to make such a dick move argument is beyond me. I mean, seriously, who wants to be the asshole on the internet whining about how an unauthorized story about your characters could help save someone's life? Oh, right. Diana Gabalon would.
And there lies the spark for me even making this post in the first place, because authors/creators being douchebags about fanworks is nothing new. Point, laugh, move on is generally my mantra. But this shit has actively upset me. 'Cause, see, when I was sick there were fans who did things like writing stories and making vids and sending me silly gifts and making fannish based donations to breast cancer organizations on my behalf. In my most horrible moments, these were the things that kept me sane, that helped me hang on in the fight for my life. Y'all, I still watch this vid![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trelkez made for me every time I start feeling scared or alone. You should go watch it right now again too. I'll wait. Back now?
There was no need of a big whip around for my bills, but oh god do I know what it's like to sit and stare at over a hundred thousand dollars worth of medical bills in despair, and I know that if I had needed it, or did need it in the future, that y'all would come through. 'Cause you're awesome like that. And so I try to imagine what it would feel like if one of the creators of, say, Doctor Who had come along and chosen that hill to plant their flag in and rail about the grossness of fans and how awful and disgusting and illegal it all was. In public. To take a moment of peace in pretty much my darkest hour and piss all over it and start a huge wanky controversy where this thing that was keeping me from starting to scream and never stopping was suddenly the centerpiece of a big internet wide wankfest.
Hey, Diana? I think I can say with absolute certainty it would feel about a thousand times worse than your discomfort at the idea your characters might be having unapproved sex in a story someone wrote somewhere. You are a horrible person, and you should feel horrible.
The end.
Possibly the strongest argument in this mess (and I don't actually know how the legalities of it work) is that money being raised to help pay the bills of a cancer patient might actually be owed to the original creator. Though why you'd want to make such a dick move argument is beyond me. I mean, seriously, who wants to be the asshole on the internet whining about how an unauthorized story about your characters could help save someone's life? Oh, right. Diana Gabalon would.
And there lies the spark for me even making this post in the first place, because authors/creators being douchebags about fanworks is nothing new. Point, laugh, move on is generally my mantra. But this shit has actively upset me. 'Cause, see, when I was sick there were fans who did things like writing stories and making vids and sending me silly gifts and making fannish based donations to breast cancer organizations on my behalf. In my most horrible moments, these were the things that kept me sane, that helped me hang on in the fight for my life. Y'all, I still watch this vid
trelkez made for me every time I start feeling scared or alone. You should go watch it right now again too. I'll wait. Back now? There was no need of a big whip around for my bills, but oh god do I know what it's like to sit and stare at over a hundred thousand dollars worth of medical bills in despair, and I know that if I had needed it, or did need it in the future, that y'all would come through. 'Cause you're awesome like that. And so I try to imagine what it would feel like if one of the creators of, say, Doctor Who had come along and chosen that hill to plant their flag in and rail about the grossness of fans and how awful and disgusting and illegal it all was. In public. To take a moment of peace in pretty much my darkest hour and piss all over it and start a huge wanky controversy where this thing that was keeping me from starting to scream and never stopping was suddenly the centerpiece of a big internet wide wankfest.
Hey, Diana? I think I can say with absolute certainty it would feel about a thousand times worse than your discomfort at the idea your characters might be having unapproved sex in a story someone wrote somewhere. You are a horrible person, and you should feel horrible.
The end.
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I'm just so...wtfed. Obviously she's had a problem with fic for years, but of all the opportunities to point a finger she chooses one which is helping a sick person live?
Even if I agreed with any of her basic premise, did her e-mail get broken or something, that she couldn't dash off a quick note saying "I'm so sorry about your friend, I feel like I need to defend my copyright here, but hey...is there anything else I can do to help?"
She's gotta do a big posturing line in the sand PUBLIC post about this? Is Scrooge her role model or something?
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"I hate fanfic. Here's why it sucks. Here's some more reasons. Oh, by the way, a fundraiser for a sick person brought it to my attention, and I was wondering if I should step on them, except I don't really care what you people think."
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For fuck's sake there wasn't any need to mention the auction or the cancer patient at ALL in the original post. Call me crazy, but the obvious answer to "Should I crush someone in public at their lowest moment?" is pretty much always NO.
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Nope. Passive-aggressive, and just ugly.
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And screw Gabaldon. Once any creative person releases their work into the world, their work makes its own journey, its own friends, its own life. Personally I avoid interviews, DVD extras, etc., for that reason. I read a book, and the story becomes mine -- probably in ways never intended by the writer, which include writing/reading fanfic. Go me, I say!
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The author is dead is my mantra. I ended up reading and watching way more behind the scenes stuff than I ever have during parts of Ten's era in order to make clappy squee hands at David Tennant being adorable. And while he is quite often SUPER ADORABLE, it was not worth it.
I would have issues with the way RTD's reign played out no matter what, but watching the sausage get made too made it even worse, because it also vastly reduced my ability to fix it in my head or run happily with alternate interpretations of things.
I haven't watched a Confidential in a long time, and I'm better and happier for it.
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Give me the book/show/movie/comic. I'll take it from there. ; )
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this one too
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AWESOME
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Friend of violetisblue, here
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Re: Friend of violetisblue, here
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And then, after all of her anti-fanfic ranting, to find out that she admitted she appropriated a DW companion (including the characters' and actors' names) for her books, and has endorsed the book of a woman who wrote a sequel to The Last of the Mohicans? How does she NOT see her own hypocrisy?
And, while I'm at it, what the hell is up with pro writers these days? They get published, their egos balloon, and they become entitled and possessive, and no longer think their own shit stinks? WTF?
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And yeah, I don't care if she decided to donate books later. The part where she dumped a public shaming on a cancer patient and tried to make her friends feel bad for helping her, already happened. :(
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I <3 you right back.
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*love*
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