WSJ covers fanfic

[giandujakiss]

Sigh.

It's not that I have a problem with the article (hilariously, the commenters seem to know more about the subject than the reporter does - re: Nero Wolfe, really????), it's just that I remember the exact same article when it appeared in the NYT 20 years ago.

Comments

[cofax7]

And will OSC approve any slash for his anthology? I think not… Heh. I was impressed that the reporter appears to be familiar with the Yuletide archive, given teh Care Bears reference.

[giandujakiss]

Well, the Care Bears thing is pretty legendary; probably someone mentioned the specific story to her. I notice that none of the articles in this genre mention AO3 - it's always only fanfiction.net

[rivkat]

Sorry. I tried?

[giandujakiss]

Hee, we appreciate your efforts :-).

[liviapenn]

I don't see anything in the article about Nero Wolfe? Or did you mean, really, is Nero Wolfe a Sherlock Holmes AU? Because, yes, sort of, in that Rex Stout *was* a giant Holmesian and *did* troll Holmesian fandom by posting meta that argued that close analysis of the stories revealed that Watson was a lady and Holmes' wife. :)

[giandujakiss]

Yeah, from the comments - that's awesome!

[saraht]

I don't really think of the Nero Wolfe stories as Holmes AUs, because the relationship between Nero and Archie is so different from (and vastly more satisfying to me than) the relationship between Holmes and Watson. But, yes, hilariously, Stout was a troublemaker in Holmes fandom.

[saraht]

Eek, I called him "Nero!" I hate when people do that. I blame my headache. Change that to "Wolfe and Archie."

[giandujakiss]

I confess to never having read them - although the source of the comment is, I believe, a professor who studies fanfic - possibly she's right that that's how they began, even if the author ended up changing the characterizations? It's hella fun to imagine, anyhoo.

[liviapenn]

The Wolfe novels are GREAT. I think Sarah's right, you can't really read them as Holmesian fanfic, even with the serial numbers filed off-- Wolfe and Archie are too distinct. But the books are definitely fangirl catnip, in that you can absolutely tell the author definitely loves the SH stories for the same reasons we fangirl Holmesians do, and has thought A LOT about how cool it would be for a cranky genius detective & his badass sidekick to live together and solve crimes, etc.

[stewardess]

In fan fiction, as in pornography, there are subcultures that cater to all manner of tastes.

Why hello there, bias!

As if that was not true of everything.

[auroramama]

Yes, totally neutral comparison coming up! I hear there's a subculture of interior decorating involving French country style.