Rose B. Fischer: Fangirls Just Wanna Have Fun (Discussing the Lighter Side of Fanfiction)

Check out this awesome post from Rose Fischer on Natacha Guyot’s blog, Science Fiction, Transmedia, and Fandom!

Natacha Guyot

I write fanfiction because it’s fun.  I wanted to share this because I think fanfiction is a hot button topic in the social circles I belong to.

Fanfic authors get a LOT of flack for their writing, and I’ve written other posts about why I think fanfiction can (and should) be taken seriously.

This time, I just want to say that everything doesn’t have to be so darn serious and important! I don’t understand why it has to be such a big deal if fans want to write stories about their favorite characters.  Everyone has certain things we just do because we want to, because we enjoy them, because they’re fun.  Fanfiction is one of those things for me.

My most popular long-running fanfiction project is a series of short stories entitled Vader’s Cat.  It’s about an orange kitten who adopts Darth Vader and grows up to be a…

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Blogging A to Z Day 28: X-Files

I always say that without Star Wars, I wouldn’t be who I am today, including as an author and scholar. This is true, but there is another strong influence: The X-Files. This Science Fiction universe has also had a great impact since my adolescence. I even remember thinking that the FBI might be a career I’d like (although I am French!) and I loved how Mulder and Scully served their country, even when it was going against the system and put them in life threatening situations.

Click here for the A to Z list Art by Jeremy of Hollywood Nuts!

I don’t like every single episode and I am not a huge fan of the second movie but this doesn’t take anything away from my love for the show. I hope that we get to see more X-Files in the near future, and that if it happens, we don’t just get Scully, Mulder and Skinner back, but also Reyes and Doggett. The last two seasons of the show had many brilliant moments and Doggett and Reyes were compelling characters. Of course, the duet formed by Mulder and Scully remains at the heart of what makes The X-Files my all time favorite TV show. I love their connection and how both characters develop so much over the years. Scully remains one of my role models and a game changing female character in the television landscape. I can’t wait to be able to work on the book project I have about her. Even with so much already published, there is still room for more analysis and angles to be tackled.

Source: The X-Files Wiki.

The show inspires to be perseverant even in face of the adversity and I like how faith has such a strong place in it, whether it is in God, science, other people or in the existence of aliens. Faith has many faces in The X-Files and without it, the characters might not have made it through. The tagline of the show, ‘The Truth Is Out There’, is a good way to sum up the show and its message. Even when a situation looks like a dead end, with too many road blocks piling up, there is always a way. This doesn’t mean there isn’t loss or tragedy, because there is a lot of these in The X-Files. Yet, the characters are always able to carry on and do the best they can.

This is why ‘I Want(ed) to Believe’ we would get more X-Files! I was so happy when official news about six new episodes came out in March. I can’t wait to see them and I hope that this might be the beginning of a new era (I can dream, right?)

I am a Star Wars Fan: Implications of Long Lasting Franchises

I am a Star Wars fan.

I am not an original trilogy, a prequel, a Clone Wars, a sequel fan. I am a Star Wars fan. Does this mean I like everything that was ever created and produced in this long term media franchise? No. I don’t have this luck and I am fine with it.

There are specific Star Wars projects and stories I don’t like, even when I gave them a try. I can’t bring myself to be on board with the Legacy era, thus my timeline stops at the end of the New Jedi Order book series. It was a difficult time for me when I realized that I didn’t like the stories that came after, because I wanted to.

For a few years, I didn’t read any new Star Wars books. Then I realized that there were still so many stories I didn’t experience yet, and I went back to it, just pretending that the Legacy era doesn’t exist.

The same way, I tried several of Karen Traviss books, but I admittedly can’t stand her way of writing Star Wars, and thus didn’t pick her Clone Wars era novels.

Other than these two examples, I love all eras, from the Old Republic to the end of the New Jedi Order and that of course includes the prequels. I recently rewatched Episode III: Revenge of the Sith for the first time since I finished Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Let me tell you how gut wrenching this was, even more than the previous times I watched the movie.

Concept art for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Star Wars Identities Exhibition (Lyon, France, 2014)

So, I have things I like and others I don’t in the Star Wars universe. And I can’t stand the haters and all the bashing that takes place. I know this isn’t specific to Star Wars fandom, but it is still a pet peeve of mine.

It isn’t because you dislike something that you have to spread your hate and throw it down people’ throats. This is a huge no-no for me. Among my friends who are Star Wars fans, we don’t all like the same parts of the universe, but we can agree to disagree. This is call healthy discussion.

I am not so familiar with comics, except for the recent DC and Marvel movies, but when I see how many decades these universe have existed, I am pretty sure that many people don’t like everything ever made about them, or even a given character. This is natural to me with such long lasting franchises.

I find it encouraging. Even if you don’t like certain things, it doesn’t mean that the universe or franchise falls down. You can only choose to acknowledge what works for you and this is the beauty of it.

This is why I was so happy to hear how Disney is going to make more Star Wars after purchasing the Lucasfilm. I don’t expect to love everything they will make and I do still have issues with certain things, such as the whole Legend labeling of most of the Expanded Universe.

I still am waiting with an open mind to what will come next. And I was alsoamong people pointing out concerns about the first cast announcement for Episode VII, with only two women and one person of color. Since then I was relieved to see new additions to this cast and elated to see how our main new trio has once again a woman among them, and one person of color among the two men. I am looking forward to see Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac, as well as their fellow cast members bring more Star Wars to life.

C-3PO and R2-D2.
Star Wars Identities Exhibition (Lyon, France, 2014)

Keeping a benevolent eye upon the Star Wars universe doesn’t make me blind. I was distressed to see how we needed the #WeWantLeia campaign and how #WeWantHera and #WeWantSabine was needed as well in terms of Star Wars toys, including with the new lines for the Star Wars Rebels show. My feminist bone easily gets loud when I see such representation issues, but this is also why I love Star Wars so much. We have had inspiring female characters since the first movie, Episode IV: A New Hope in 1977.

Another reason why I dislike bashing is because it is disrespectful of the fans who like them. I don’t believe in faction wars in fan communities. I know they take place, but I find it sad that we can’t all agree to disagree respectfully when it is only a matter of personal preference.

While on the subject, one thing that highly annoys me in the bashing department is George Lucas bashing. Once again, I don’t agree with all of his choices, but without him, we would have Star Wars in the first place and in the end, this is his baby. As aspiring writers and authors, we are often reminded that we can’t please everybody so why should Lucas have to do it?

I’ll always say how Han shot first, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that Lucas has been a strong inspiration to me for many years, and was the reason I chose my path as a researcher and writer who specializes in Science Fiction, Transmedia and Gender Studies.

I am not asking all of us to have the same opinion – this would be boring – but I can still hope that we talk about what we love instead of spreading hate, right?

-ed. You can find more of Natacha’s work at natachaguyot.org.

Welcome Aboard, Rose B. Fischer!

My friend Rose B. Fischer has kindly agreed to join us with an awesome run of blogging to begin on February 2. We are publishing a series here on two classic 80’s animated series that you don’t want to miss.

And no. I am not telling you what the two cartoons are, nor even sharing one piece of art from them today. My job is to convince you to stick around and see what comes next, so I am not even creating a topic category for her series until the very last minute 😀

Rose’s series will run on the first and fourth Monday of every month. That is an odd schedule, I know, but we think it can be good. Once it starts, it will run into the spring. If Rose and I like the result, I will figure out how to do more on childrens’ media here once her series is done 😉

Rose is a multi-faceted blogger and an accomplished graphic artist. At her own blog, she’ll be focusing on her “Redefining Disability” series for the first half of 2015. I love, love, love this series, and I hope it takes off this year. More info.

Rose and I met through mutual friends. We’ve been blogging in the same circle and chatting on the Internet for most of a year now. She does marvelous work, and always has tons of interesting things to say about media. I am supremely happy that she’s publishing here, and you’ll definitely want to tune in for her series.

Rose has a whole page to help you find her on other social media. She is all over the Internet. She has Pinterest Boards to die for, and tweets @RoseFBlog.