The expert panel of fan fiction experts files in, onto the stage. It's a packed auditorium. An old stage. There are chairs set up beyond the footlights. There is shuffling and rustling among the crowd as the panel takes their seats.
Panel member 1 stands up and addresses the crowd.
First, a little history. Some say fan fiction truly started in the late 1960's with the cancellation of the T.V. show "Star Trek". Fans, unprepared for the show to end, began writing new episodes and publishing these in fan fiction magazines. But is that really the case? Yes, it happened. But fan fiction goes beyond "Star Trek". Before everyone could read and write, centuries before T.V. and books, ect., people told stories. People had their myths and heroes and villains. These stories were not static, these characters were not static. They were real and vital and changeable. They could change with the telling and retelling and in this way people owned and participated with their mythos. Today we still have stories…stories and characters who matter and the people have a piece of these characters…not just T.V. and movie corporations and advertising companies and publishing houses. We own these stories and characters and myths, they are ours. Nowhere is that clearer than in fan fiction. The fascinating art of fan fiction. Some people consider it to be a dorky activity but these people do not understand its heart.
Wild applause. The panel members seated on the stage clap politely. Panel member 1 smiles and bows ever so slightly, returns to her seat.
Panel member 2 rises, he steps forward to the microphone and addresses the crowd.
Today we're going to talk about fan fiction in the context of "Degrassi: The Next Generation" which has a nice little tie in to "Star Trek" the modern forbearer of fan fiction in its present state. The tie in is just the "next generation" in the title. Anyway, Degrassi is interesting because it is still going on, the canon isn't completely set. I'm sorry if I'm just throwing out terms you might not know. Canon is the core facts of a fandom, facts and events and character traits that don't change. As everyone is aware Degrassi is set in a high school/community school/junior high in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is an ensemble show and follows roughly 20 characters or so, mostly teenagers but also some adult characters, most of whom were on the previous incarnation of "Degrassi". That is a lot of canon for fan fiction writers to play with.
Panel member 2 takes a sip from the glass of water on the podium and steps away and back to his seat to polite applause.
Panel member 3 steps toward the mic, adjusts her blazer, and addresses the crowd.
I'm going to talk a little about "Mary Sues". But before I do I wanted to mention the internet's impact on fan fiction. The internet and fan fiction sites made it very easy for many people to participate in the dance, the cultural dance and manipulation of characters. But back to Mary Sues. There are different variations but basically a Mary Sue is a story that features a character that may be an author surrogate or an author insertion, a character that tends to have special abilities and beauty and attraction and a lack of flaws. The Mary Sue character very frequently becomes romantically involved with one of the canon characters. As I said before there are variations, the most common of which may be a traumatic past for Mary Sue.
Panel member 3 pours herself a fresh glass of water, clears her throat, and continues.
In reading a fair number of Mary Sue type stories I've found that a lot of them tend to have something in common with the canon character they associate with the most. In the case of "Degrassi", if the Mary Sue is going to be romantically involved with Craig Manning she will tend to come from a similar background of child abuse as he does. If she is going to be involved with Sean Cameron she will come from a background of extreme poverty and abandonment by her parents or parent figures. Mary Sue tends to upstage the canon characters and invoke ire among the readers.
Panel member 3 sips her water, scans the crowd, and continues.
It is strange, the Mary Sue phenomenon. It can be traced back to a story written by Paula Smith entitled, "A Trekkie's Tale" a "Star Trek" fan fic written in 1973 and featuring Lieutenant Mary Sue who, at 15 and a half was the youngest lieutenant. But she was a parody of the form, so it predates the 1973 reference but was not referred to as a "Mary Sue". There are canon Sues, Mary Sue characters that exist in the canon of shows, books, movies, a notable one being "Wesley Crusher" from "Star Trek, the next generation". What is kind of strange about the whole idea is how exactly do you tell? How much of you gets into the things you write? Maybe you continually write about one or two characters in a fandom because you see yourself in them, you relate to them. Or you want to be like them. Mary Sue kind of ties into the OOC situation, OOC meaning "out of character". How do you keep the characters in character and not get a little of yourself in there? It is a gray area of creativity and writing and relating and the subconscious. Many of the serious Mary Sue stories are not conscious author insertions and yet, people who have never even met the writer can say with some accuracy that that person has written a Mary Sue. Strange, indeed.
Panel member 3 returns to her seat. Applause. She bows her head.
Panel member 4 rises, approaches the microphone, and addresses the crowd.
I'm going to discuss some of the romantic involvements in "Degrassi" and its fan fiction. The characters involved with one another are represented by a name that combines the two characters names. If the pairing involves Craig the pair name usually starts with the "Cr" of Craig and finishes with the ending of the other character's name. Examples are Cranny(Craig and Manny), Crellie(Craig and Ellie), Crash(Craig and Ashley, and special note on this name, "Crash" also implies the impact and drama of this relationship), Crarco(Craig and Marco). This may possibly be traced back to an episode of the show where Paige and Alex were starting a relationship and were hanging out with each other almost exclusively and Marco referred to them as "Palex". These character pairings, many of which were present on the show, have very loyal followings. The relationships are frequently elevated above and beyond what they were on the show, are often elevated to a "Tristan and Isolde" or "Romeo and Juliet" type of true love, soul mate type story. Also of special note I'd like to add that supporters of the "Crash" relationship like to point out that the actor who plays Craig favors this relationship, and has stated in many interviews some of the reasons why he feels this way. He has said of the other two relationships Craig has been involved in (Crellie and Cranny) that those characters did not have as much in common with Craig, that Manny was just for fun, that Ellie supported Craig but it was one sided but with Ashley the characters supported each other and had more in common with each other. What is interesting about this is to what degree the opinions and feelings of the actor portraying Craig effect the situation. After all he plays Craig, breathes life and depth into this character and is arguably one of the better actors on the show. But he did not create Craig nor does he actually own him beyond portraying him. In scenes with the other characters was the passion less? Are people who like the Craig and Ellie dynamic or the Craig and Manny dynamic so far off base? These other pairings have strong followings as well, as Ellie is a character who is very near and dear to many readers/writers of Degrassi fanfic. And Manny's love at first sight slow burning crush and rocky road with Craig is something many readers/writers relate to as well.
Panel member 4 returns to his seat amid applause and some whistles.
Panel member 5 rises, steps to the podium, addresses the audience.
We would be remiss at a fan fiction panel not to mention slash. Slash gets its name from the slash mark between the characters' names in the summary, such as Marco/Dylan. Slash tends to mean male/male attraction or relationships, although it can refer to female/female but is not usually used to connote heterosexual relationships. Slash is sometimes referred to using the Japanese terms yaoi or shonen-ai. Yaoi is the term for "boy love" or the male/male relationships found in Japanese novels or comic novels called manga. It is frequently very sexually graphic and there is usually a dominant character and a submissive character. Typically the dominant character is more masculine, I.e. having smaller eyes, a stronger jaw, being taller, ect. This character can be referred to as the seme, a Japanese term that comes from martial arts terms but as been used for a long term in the sexual realm. The more submissive character in these pairings is more feminine, weaker, has larger eyes, ect. This character is the uke. But these are not rigid rules of the form. The height rule is frequently breeched. These slash or yaoi stories are very interesting. Some readers of fan fiction and some writers avoid the form altogether. The reasons are unclear but may revolve around embarrassment, sexual confusion or "puritanical" views, religious concerns and reasons. Many readers and writers of fan fiction are American, and America has a dubious sexual culture. It is ever present while at the same time still rigidly repressed. A strange culture to come to sexual maturity in. Perhaps the readers/writers with the strongest slash aversion are the younger ones. That aside, there are other readers who almost hunger for it and slash stories tend to have more hits than none slash stories, thousands of more hits. Slash stories are reread with more frequency, driving the hit count up in many cases. In "Degrassi" stories Marco and Dylan are natural slash pairings as they actually have a canon relationship, but Craig can be popular. Craig as canon is almost a womanizer or male slut, one of only two main male characters to impregnate someone in high school, a character who was only in ninth grade at the time. He is frequently involved in love triangles and female characters routinely go out of their way for him. It is almost a flip to his personality to have a slash story feature him. But it isn't really that much of a reach as Craig has many uke qualities and characteristics. Physically abused by his father in his first episode Craig is heavily associated with being a victim/abuse/hurt ect. Another relationship that should be mentioned in the slash context is that of "Palex". An unlikely coupling, Paige and Alex as a couple intrigued many fans, and there did seem to be something almost magical about their developing relationship. Slash is read by females and in a way it is written for them, although males read it as well, and some gay male readers actually prefer it to gay male/male stories written by gays for gays. Females may like it because it is non-threatening sexually to them. Done correctly slash stories can be very moving and very intense.
Thunderous applause, and panel member 5 returns to her seat.
Panel member 1 stand again, walks to the microphone, and addresses the audience.
To conclude I would like to say that fan fiction is a wonderful tool of exploration. Especially as far as "Degrassi" goes, what with all the characters and the relatively little amount of time the show is able to devote to each of them, fans clamor for more. For more history or back story on a certain character, for minor characters to become more developed, for situations to be dealt with in more depth. Fan fiction allows this. For the myriad "what-ifs" What if Manny had the baby in ninth grade? What if Ellie continued cutting? What if Craig's father hadn't died or Craig had stayed in the abusive situation longer? What if J.T. had not died, what if Liberty kept her baby or aborted the baby? What if Jimmy was killed or never shot at all? So, keep writing, keep reading, keep putting in the Mary Sues and then yanking them out as you grow as writers. Keep dealing with your issues, with your hopes and fears and your everythings through these characters who have become yours.
Panel member 1 bows at the waist as the applause rocks the auditorium, and the sound goes on and on, a lifetime of sound.