I shouldn’t be opening this can of worms but the whole Vampire Chronicles revival has made me notice how, because of how fandom has become intrinsically linked with shipping, people immediately link fanfiction with slash in their minds and wrongfully believe that Anne Rice’s deal with fic was the shipping.
The biggest problem with this isn’t that people think Loustat wasn’t canon but that they minimize the real issue, when we’re getting in troubling times with fanwork through how easy it is to monetize work online nowadays and how people are learning to do it before they even learn what intellectual property is.
Anne Rice thought initially (like many authors did, but she was particularly hellbent on it) that fanfiction was a direct threat to her copyright and intellectual property. And, legally speaking, she had the grounds to pursue that idea into shutting people down, because fanfiction isn’t actually legal.
One of the particular reasons that has been circulating in fandom at large through the years (though I don’t think it was ever cleared and I don’t think the publisher will ever do so) is that Knopf thought fanfiction was a direct threat commercially to her material if they were to swap to ebook publishing alone (the entire 2000s decade, and even a bit more into the 2010s, was a huge baby fight between editors on whether or not ebooks were going to entirely replace paper, you have no idea the lectures I've attended, some actually about fanfiction held by clueless boomer editors outside of anything fandom related). She thought they had a point and they started their legal actions. Some people still keep the receipts of the cease and desist Knopf sent FF net and they mention clearly that, even if they weren’t making a profit, it was copyright infringement. And they were, technically, not wrong.
This is not to remove blame from Anne Rice, Knopf and their behavior, but to remind people of the fragile nature of fanfic as a whole. The reason why fanfiction survived was because of the work fandom put into making fanfiction more visible outside the niche corners of fandom, establish its nature as a non profit activity and defend its intent while helping writers cover their backs when needed.
It is still not a legal genre in general, especially fanfiction of copyrighted work that isn’t on public domain (and some countries also pay for use under public domain), but it’s allowed to exist somewhat under the common acceptance of it not being for profit and not being meant as a direct competitor to the original work or a replacement of it, but a fandom appreciation of it. That’s why AO3 has an army of lawyers ready, that’s why they don’t allow people to link their monetization platforms in their fics.
The thing is, the monetization of online content has made it easy for people to forget that. This is not just a fic writer situation, but a content creator situation, people learn to monetize before knowing what they can monetize, in every platform. Those girls who went and did a Bridgerton musical without permission were allowed to even be eligible for a Grammy but the moment they started profiting for themselves, Netflix, producer and author came knocking, because what they did is illegal.
Added to this, the US copyright law is now more prominent internationally because of them owning the vast majority of mainstream sharing platforms and their servers being located in US territory, as well as them having the studios that end up owning the rights of adaptation eventually. So, companies rather than people are now more accepted to be holders and representatives of IP.
This practice isn’t as commonplace in other places of the world, where the material author always has the last say, but the US law being present in every major platform online and the evolution of the entertainment industry (in which adaptations or distribution create the possibility of major companies like Netflix, Disney, Universal, etc. to become representatives of IP that used to be owned by an author and a publisher alone) have created a scenario in which insanely huge companies can and will act as representatives of an IP and pursue legal action, with or without the original author deciding on it.
So, the fact that the whole Anne Rice vs fanfiction situation has been reduced to some idea that her very gay books weren’t gay and she didn’t like slash is derailing the conversation from the original issue, which is a problem that is still relevant today, maybe more than ever. Anne Rice might be gone and, even before that, her stance on fanfiction might have changed, but we’re losing what we learned with that experience if we’re not willing to remember it properly.
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I’m feeling quite sad today so I thought I’d take pictures of my cat trying to cheer me up with her aggressive headbutting/asking of pets.
I like the last one a lot because it’s basically her side eyeing me as if to ask “Better now, bitch?”
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Ngl, I'm kinda starting to hate my name. Not my tumblr URL, no, but my actual name. The one I go by IRL. I picked it because I didn't think anyone would actually use the name I really wanted. It was a placeholder for me. But, now that its been so long... It feels almost pointless to change it again... Like, would anyone even use it? Remember to use it? And the hassle of getting new nametags at work and I know some people would get up in arms about it too... I just... I hate how taxing it all is, even just socially transitioning... Not that I know what sort of name I'd even want anymore. Everything feels so... Tainted, anymore. It either has a bad memory attached, or someone else tried it out first and it feels like rotten leftovers. Why do I even have to have a name? Why must I be percieved? I'm so tired of this farce we call life...
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watching vids of ph from this year is a little. odd. just due to his age he cant perform as ferociously as he used to and hes even more off-key than he could be previously and he doesnt do anything particularly crazy with his voice (i dont think he physically could), he wont be doing arrow ever again probably. and its like. not hard to watch but its its its idk ive just been watching so many vids from the 80s recently and then i go and watch him performing earlier this year and its soooo different.
but hes also approaching 80 so like what do we expect?? hes not gonna have the same energy as a 30 yr old, its unreasonable to ask him or expect him to. but i think, as ph fans, we can also feel a little sad that he's not who he used to be physically. all good things must come to an end i guess. it just doesnt feel good. and im saying "we" because i know a lot of vdgg/ph fans feel this way. i cant speak for everyone obviously but i have seen people express their.... idk the right word for it honestly.... ennui? about this, some people in a much less kind way than others. im usually the first person to say "let the old dude play the fucking music if it makes him happy" but it doesnt mean it feels good to see him so frail.
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i get a lil peeved when i see posts about “sex is cool but blank” ideology ~ sex is cool, and it isn’t meant to be separated in tiers of life’s pleasures. . the but just adds this need to compare it to other activities such as being in love, feeling safe and held etc - but they’re meant to coexist. sex can be interwoven into many many things, just like it can stand on its own. all of these pleasures we strive for in life are meant to be shared when the moment is right, so yeah sex is cool AND it’s even better when you’re in love
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I don't know how to exactly describe it or word it in a way that sounds cohesive but, something about abe just feels..inherently gender queer/trans to me. Sure he is a Man, but to me he is one in a trans way, maybe it's my personal connection to him in the sense that he is how I want to present myself, my self projection of my own gender identity to him, or the fact that he's a weird alien creature who is also a Guy tm. He's just nonbinary trans masc to me sorry
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