Snark's SECOND Law of Fanfic (formerly the First)

[athelind]

From FurryMUCK, this morning:

normanrafferty tries to remember the review he read of 'Torchwood'. "I think it said, 'Is it possible for something to be new material and fan-fiction at the same time?'"

Oh, you betcha. Let's codify this, in fact:

Snark's First Second Law of Fanfic (a.k.a. "Running the Asylum"):
A sufficiently established franchise is indistinguishable from fanfic.

When a fictional franchise has lasted long enough to induct its fandom into the ranks of its professional creators, the distinction between Canon and Fan Fic erodes. The new wave of creators start sneaking Fanon into official sources. Ret Cons abound. Writers will revisit old stories, instilling far more self-indulgent detail into the retellings than ever appeared in the original.

In short, the Inmates are Running The Asylum.

Sometimes, this can bring fresh, new life to the franchise. Other times, the same kind of in-fighting that erupts in fannish circles will play out between creative teams -- but now, the factions are all armed with Canon.

Comments

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Alas, the real Shark Jump for the Mythos was early on, when Derleth snagged all of HPL's old notes and started doing "post-humous collaborations" that imposed a Good Scary Creepy Gods vs. Bad Scary Creepy Gods dualism on Lovecraft's Vast Indifferent Fortean Cosmos.

By the way, I wuv my widdle plush Cthulhu, and will brook no insult to his fuzzy little squamous head.