When is too much of a good thing bad?

Posted by Saluki in Stray Thoughts with Saluki | 2 comments

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had guest blogs dealing with the appeal of All Human fan fiction.  Kari and Mac gave their opinions on what the appeal of AH fic is or isn’t to them, and I saw great points in each of their posts.  My opinion is that there is enough room for all of us in the fandom.  I myself enjoy all aspects of fan fiction, from canon, to AH, to AU.  As an author, I’ve written canon and AH, and I’m just starting my first AU fic.  The great thing about this fandom is that there is something for everyone.  But, when does something for everyone become too much?

I recently became aware that there is a sub-genre in fan fiction involving sexual fetishism.  For the most part, I’m not including BDSM in this category.  These are stories that delve much deeper into fetish that whips and bonds.  Now, I want to be clear, I don’t care what two consenting adults do in their bedroom.   I don’t care that people want to write about it.  But, when it comes to fan fiction, I think we as authors need to be very careful how we treat the characters Stephenie Meyer lovingly created and trusted us with.

Since the actions taking place in these types of stories are between consenting adults,  it has been suggested that those of us who don’t like the stories just don’t read them.  Usually, I’m on that side of an argument.  I mean, we all have different tastes, so if I don’t like something, it doesn’t mean it’s bad.  However, I am starting to feel very uncomfortable with the direction Twilight fan fiction is starting to head.

My fear is that there will come a day when Stephenie Meyer will stop allowing Twilight fan fiction to be written all together.  I wonder if she would be okay with many of the ways her characters have been portrayed in fan fic . As it is, I think many fics have pushed the envelop pretty far, and I wonder if it will get to a point where she will feel her characters have been distorted beyond her comfort zone and just say enough is enough.  At what point will we have pushed the envelope too far?

To those authors who write these types of stories, I’m not saying don’t write them.  Stifling or censoring creativity is not at all what I’m suggesting.   Instead of exploring these topics through fan fiction, try expanding into Original Fiction.  If your story is compelling and your writing is good, it shouldn’t matter what the characters are named – a good story is a good story, period.  As KariAnn pointed out in her guest blog, many fics out there border on OF as it is.  In the end, does it matter if the characters we write about are named Edward, Alice, or Carlisle if 90% of the story isn’t canon?   Two of my stories are AH; both contain lemony goodness as well.  Part of me thinks the stories would be “less” if the characters were not Edward and Bella, but then I think that the issues I talk about are pretty universal, so maybe it doesn’t matter what I call the characters.  It’s a complex issue, and one that I don’t have a complete handle on yet myself.  I guess one reason I wrote this blog is to stimulate discussion about the topic and to find out if I am alone in my musings about the boundries of Twilight fan fiction.

In my opinion, there are many fics (several of which I read) that would probably give Stephenie Meyer pause.  I mean, she did write the series so that Bella and Edward didn’t have sex until they were married, so I’m guessing that her smut comfort level is probably way different from most readers and writers of fan fiction.  Keeping in mind that she is a practicing Mormon who holds her religious values very dear, sexual fetishism, BDSM, and the like are probably not something she would be comfortable with when it comes to her characters.  Heck, she might not even approve of pre-marital sex for Bella and Edward!   Since smutty fics are very popular and tend to generate the most chatter in the fandom, it seems more than likely that Stephenie or someone associated with her could become aware of these  stories, increasing the chance that her name will eventually be added to the list of authors that do not allow fan fiction.

I know this is a delicate situation, and I hope I didn’t offend.   Full disclosure – I read and write smut.  Most of what I read and write could fall into the “Stephenie Meyer would not approve” category.  This is just a topic that has been on my mind for some time and I wanted to see what other readers and writers of fan fiction through about it.  Maybe I’m overreacting or making this a bigger issue than it is.  I just find myself increasingly worried that some day soon, Twilight fan fiction as we know it will no longer exist.  I love fan fiction, both as a writer and a reader, and would be very sad to see that happen.   There are many popular authors who do not allow fan fiction to be written because, in part, their characters are so dear to them that they don’t want to see them twisted in any way beyond how they as writers created them.  And, in my opinion, it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that Stephenie Meyer might join that list someday.

What do you think?  Am I being too harsh, is there a place for all categories of fan fiction? Or should we as a fandom be concerned about the issue?  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.