Let The Fanfic In!
The value and contribution of fanfiction to the transmedia network
MA Thesis Television and Cross Media Cultures
Loetje de Voogt 6058558
First reader: Anne Kustritz Second reader: Stephen Amico
June 27, 2014
University of Amsterdam
UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
June, 2014
This MA thesis is presented
by
Loetje de Voogt
6058558
Amsterdam
This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author.
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Abstract: This research examines the possible contribution of fanfiction to the transmedia network and its position within the contemporary media landscape. By examining the course of the position of fanfiction throughout the years, a new position of fanfiction can be established, as it has now shifted to a more accessible and accepted position. The analysis of the TV show Arrow shows how fanfiction can contribute to the overall transmedia experience, as the online stories expand the existing storyworld, offer alternative plotlines, and deepen and enrich the experience of the viewer. The narrative structures of Arrow’s fanfiction provide more space and time than any other transmedia platform to take the viewer into a more in-depth journey of the Arrow storyworld. This research thus shows how fanfiction can be a valuable contribution to transmedia networks for producers as it ensures persuasion, audience connection and financial impact. The analysis of Arrow also shows a shift of fanfiction into the mainstream as it is striking that the main genre is heterosexual, – “Olicity” fiction, the pairing of characters Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak – while in most cases slash (same sex) fiction is the largest fanfiction genre.
Keywords: fanfiction, fans, transmedia, transmedia network, transmedia storytelling, Arrow, slash, media, fan works.
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Table of Contents Abstract: ...... 3 Acknowledgements ...... 5 1. Introduction ...... 6 1.1. The show Arrow ...... 8 2. Transmedia ...... 9 2.1. Transmedia and fanfiction ...... 9 3. A Definition and History of Fandom and Fanfiction ...... 12 3.1. Fans and fandom ...... 12 3.2. Fanfiction ...... 13 4. Fanfiction in Academic and Social Cultural Context ...... 16 4.1. Weirdo’s with no life(?): Fans in social cultural context ...... 16 4.2. Why study fanfiction? ...... 18 5. Fanfiction and the Industry ...... 21 5.1. The industry’s perspective on fanfiction ...... 21 5.2. The fan-author relationship ...... 25 5.3. Fans and Felicity Smoak ...... 26 6. Transmedia Fanfiction in Arrow ...... 29 6.1. Fanfiction platforms, narrative structures and intertextuality ...... 29 6.2. Transmedia platforms of Arrow ...... 29 6.2.1. Fanfiction archives: Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own ...... 31 6.3. Narrative structures ...... 34 6.3.1. Arrow and narrative structures ...... 38 6.3.2. Arrow and slash fiction? ...... 42 6.4. Intertextuality ...... 44 7. Conclusion ...... 47 8. Bibliography ...... 51
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Acknowledgements
I am indebted to several people for their support of this thesis.
First of all, I would like to thank my parents, Emmy van Houten and Pim de Voogt, who have made it possible for me to study at the university, and who have supported me all these years. If it was not for them, I would not have been able to finish my education. Many thanks for all your love and support. I would also like to thank my friend and fellow student Hugo, who was always there to help me out with any obstacle I would encounter, and who I could always turn to whenever I needed advice.
Naturally, I would also like to thank my supervisor Anne Kustritz, who has helped me to gain new insights and to make interesting observations. If it was not for her and her feedback, I would not have been able to write this thesis I am now so proud of.
Many thanks to all.
Loetje de Voogt.
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1. Introduction Within humanities, as the name evidently describes, the human is the central object of studies. We examine human interactions and learn what the motivations for particular actions are. By studying fanfiction, one can get close to what it is that drives fans in their activities. Fanfiction is the writing of stories by fans, based on already existing characters and worlds written by another author. Fan authors ‘borrow’ these existing characters and worlds and often write alternative storylines in which the characters lives and adventures take new and alternative turns. Fans literally put their thoughts and desires on paper in fanfiction. They write down what they would like to see happen and how they imagine a story would develop. A very import aspect of reading and writing fanfiction is commenting on one another’s work. By doing so, a web of interactions evolves. This web is very interesting for scholars, as it tells something about how the interactions between fans work, how ‘fan authors’ see themselves, and how they relate to the narrative transmedia world of an existing text. Thus far, little research has been done to the relation between fan works and transmedia, and in particular on fanfiction. This research will contribute to and help to expand this upcoming research genre. In this research I will examine how fandom and in particular fanfiction has developed over the years, and how it has established itself within the contemporary media culture. Fanfiction was, for a long time, a fairly underground activity and still is a subject rather unknown to many people. That said, it so happens to be the case that the fanfiction culture is rapidly evolving and getting more awareness. With this research I aim to explore that evolution and explore the position of fanfiction in the contemporary transmedia landscape. I will examine how fanfiction is valued in social/academic perspective and what this is like from the industry’s perspective. Questions that arise with that are; How did fanfiction start out? What was its (cultural) value initially and how did the industry react to this phenomenon? And most importantly, how has the position and the value it started out with developed over the years? By providing a short history of (media) fandom and fanfiction one can better understand how fanfiction is positioned within these contexts, and this will provide answers to these questions. By examining these different perspectives on fanfiction, a more important question can eventually be answered; how fanfiction is positioned within and how it can contribute to the transmedia network; a storytelling strategy most media corporations use these days. The incorporation of fanfiction into the transmedia network is related to the attitude of both the industry’s and the academic world towards it. In an era of digitalization and technology all types of media tend to blur together. New ways of storytelling evolve in which the consumer participates more than ever. When the viewer turns on the television he or she is constantly invited to search for
6 | P a g i n a other media to continue the experience of the show he or she is watching. According to scholars like Henry Jenkins, the audience wants to have the opportunity to not be a couch potato, and become an active user (Jenkins (c) 2006). Many TV shows and movies use convergence (Jenkins (a) 2006) to provide a new form of television or film experience. What does fandom mean for these transmedia worlds and to what extent are fans and fanfiction a part of it (since fanfiction is a part which cannot and is not controlled by the producers)? The TV show Arrow from The CW Network is one such series that makes use of convergence and transmedia storytelling. It’s first episode was aired on October 10th in 2012. That means the show is only one-and-a-half years old and therefore interesting to examine as it shows us the latest forms of transmedia storytelling and the latest interaction between producer and consumer. This also means that the fanfiction culture around Arrow is very recent, and it can show us how the fanfiction is valued within the transmedia world around a new recent TV show. As mentioned before, there are many different opinions and perspectives on fan activities and fanfiction in particular. The main question of this research is therefore; what is the value and position of the fanfiction of Arrow within its transmedia landscape and how does it contribute to the overall transmedia experience? To answer this question, a definition and explanation of transmedia networks is acquired, which will be presented in chapter 2. The history of fandom and fanfiction will be examined in chapter 3, which will put the position of Arrow’s fanfiction as it is today in context. Chapter 4 will examine how fans and fanfiction are positioned within our (social) culture and within the academic field, which will show the importance of studying (Arrow’s) fanfiction and help understand its position within our society. Chapter 5 will examine the industry’s perspective, and will show why fanfiction is not (yet) incorporated as a (full) part of transmedia networks. Chapter 6 is a case study on Arrow that explains how fanfiction fits within the/Arrow’s transmedia landscape. This case study is used to show how Arrow’s fanfiction differs from other fan works and how it can be a valuable contribution to its transmedia network. Eventually this research will demonstrate how valuable fanfiction as a transmedia strategy can be for corporations and producers, as the characteristics of fanfiction correspond strongly with the characteristics and strategies used in transmedia to enrich the viewer’s experience.
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1.1. The show Arrow Arrow shows us the story of Oliver Queen, a young billionaire who supposedly died in a violent shipwreck and was missing for five years before being discovered on an island in the Pacific. Oliver had to survive the hard way on this island, where he was tortured and mistreated for years. He gained incredible hunting and fighting skills to survive the island. When he returns to Starling City he returns with a mission; to eliminate all the evil from the city and everyone who has “failed it” and right the wrongs of his father. He then becomes the vigilante The Arrow. By day, Oliver pretends to be the old billionaire partyboy he used to be, but at night he fights crime in the city. Gradually he becomes a team with his bodyguard Diggle and his IT employee Felicity Smoak. Together they must protect Oliver’s secret and save the city. Oliver has to lie to his mother Moira, his sister Thea, his best friend Tommy and his ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance in order to protect them against any harm. Through a compilation of episodes with present time and flashbacks the viewer finds out what happened to Oliver on the island. On board the Queen’s Gambit, the name of the ship, was Sara, the sister of Laurel Lance (the last was Oliver’s girlfriend when he last left Starling City). When the ship goes down, Sara is pulled into the water and believed to be lost and drowned. Gradually the viewer finds out the shipwreck was not an accident and Oliver’s father was not the man he thought he was. The viewer learns that Oliver was not alone on the island. Oliver spent a great deal of his island time with Slade and Shadow, who trained him and taught him how to fight. Together they try to find a way to get off the island, which gets them into new dangerous situations over and over again. Eventually, Oliver comes across Sara and finds out she is still alive. She works for a man who tries to find a medicine called Mirakuru, which is somewhere hidden on the island. Under critical conditions, Sara and Oliver inject Slade with the Mirakuru, which then turns him into an almost super-humanly strong man, with delusional thoughts. These horrible experiences have made Oliver, The Arrow, into what he is now; a cold-blooded killer, who hunts evil at night. In the second season, premiered on October 9th 2013, there is a change in Oliver’s attitude towards his actions. He has sworn not to simply kill the evil in the city anymore but to improve the conditions of the citizens and punish the villains. However, this is not so easy since his past on the island is chasing him. Again through flashbacks the viewer learns that Slade and Oliver became enemies, through the death of Shadow, whom they both loved. This has caused Slade to promise Oliver to once take away from him all that he has, just like he did with him. All through season two, Oliver has to cope with Slade hunting him down. Sara, who has joined the League of Assassins, the viewer learns, returns to Starling City as The Canary, another vigilante. Together with Felicity and Diggle they do everything in their power to stop Slade from hurting everything and everyone in Oliver’s life and to keep the city safe.
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2. Transmedia
To understand properly how fanfiction is positioned in the contemporary media landscape and how it can contribute to the transmedia network, one must first examine why fanfiction would not be incorporated in the transmedia network. This has to do with the position of “the fan” and his or her activities, in historical, social, academic and industrial context. The following chapters will therefore examine how the fan and fan activities have evolved over the years, and how they are currently established in different contexts. This will help to understand what motivates, or de-motivates, producers to incorporate fanfiction into their transmedia network in general, and eventually in the context of Arrow’s fanfiction. This chapter will provide a definition of transmedia and how fanfiction fits within the transmedia framework.
2.1. Transmedia and fanfiction
The increase in online consumption through computers (…) has led many (…) makers to invest in new media and technologies in order to enrich the audience experience of television fiction (Grandío and Bonaut 2012, 558).
The digital era in which we live, with all its new technologies, has enabled both producer and consumer to experience “old” media in new ways. As Maria del Mar Grandío and Joseba Bonaut argue in the quote above, the online community and possibilities have led makers to invest in new ways to enrich the experience of the viewer. The viewer no longer simply wants to be a “couch potato” but wants to (or wants to be able to) continue with the story outside of the television show. The audience looks for new experiences and the industry responds to this by combining different (plat)forms of media to enlarge the overall experience of a movie or a TV show. This is what media scholar Henry Jenkins introduces as media convergence in his book Convergence Culture:
By convergence, I mean the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want (Jenkins (a) 2006, 2).
Not only does the viewer want to be able to continue with the story elsewhere, he or she also wants to participate in the story and the way it evolves. As Stanley Baran and Dennis Davis explain; “[i]f you want it, you can get it somewhere. And if you want it but can’t get it, you can create it yourself, as the Internet and digital technologies have turned us all into potential content producers” (2009, 23). This new model of watching television requires and ensures an active audience – a “participatory culture” (Jenkins, 2006) – and a change in the values of the storytelling model (Grandío and Bonaut 2012, 559). Anyone can participate in the creating process and produce content online or use the
9 | P a g i n a content created by other users. This active audience has moved the industry towards a new way of storytelling – transmedia storytelling – a term introduced again by Jenkins, in 2003. Transmedia storytelling is the expansion of the original story (in this case often a movie or a TV show) onto several media platforms, such as websites, videogames, comic books, online episodes etc., which are all self-sufficient to enable its individual consumption. Jenkins explains that,
(…) each medium does what it does best — so that a story might be introduced in a film, expanded through television, novels, and comics, and its world might be explored and experienced through game play. Each franchise entry needs to be self-contained enough to enable autonomous consumption. That is, you don't need to have seen the film to enjoy the game and vice-versa (Jenkins 2003: In Scolari 2009, 587).
Each medium has to be independent in a way that it can be consumed without consuming the other platforms. The producers explore what each medium can do best to add value to the story and how they can create a multimedia story world altogether (Grandío and Bonaut 2012, 564). The actual TV show remains the main and central story, but as Grandío and Bonaut argue the “interactive media offer a deeper approach to these fictions’ complex worlds: adding new values to the TV story and creating new plots” (2012, 564). Frank Rose describes how transmedia storytelling results in a deep immersive way of entertainment; “(…) stories that are not just entertaining, but immersive, taking you deeper than an hour-long TV drama or a two-hour movie (…) will permit” (Rose 2011, 3). According to Buckner and Rutledge (in: Grandío and Bonaut 2012) “there are three reasons why producers should be using transmedia storytelling to make their audiovisual stories more successful: persuasion, audience connection, and financial impact” (560). Viewers can be persuaded into staying connected to a show or movie by providing extra information online (webisodes, interviews etc.). By incorporating social media into transmedia storytelling, viewers can stay connected. Social media enable an immediate communication between viewers, but also between producers and consumers. Because of the rapid speed of the Internet and the ongoing creative process on the media platforms the text is never a “finished, completed product” (Zaccone, 2011. In: Grandío and Bonaut 2012, 561), and it needs to be reconsidered as a part of a wider, always changing user experience, that requires scholarly attention. Until recently, fanfiction has not been considered as a(n) (official) part of transmedia storytelling, since it is not controlled by the production industry and mostly written by amateurs. As Anne Kustritz explains “often discussions of transmedia only incorporate consideration of corporate forms of transmedia narration, ignoring independent and fan-produced material” ((b) forthcoming, 2). This research will examine how fanfiction contributes to the transmedia story, since it does all the
10 | P a g i n a things that other (official) transmedia platforms do for a TV show – expanding the story, creating psychological depth for characters, offering alternative storylines etc. Fanfiction can persuade and connect audiences, and by doing so, it can contribute to a successful franchise or popularity of the show that ensures a positive financial status. Fanfiction and fan works show us the complexity of transmedia storyworlds, as they complicate, and at the same time enhance, the relationship between artist and fan – producer and consumer. Kustritz explains how “fan works seriously require challenging the authority of both authors and copyright holders to determine a story’s meaning and legitimacy” ((b) forthcoming, 2), as fan authors become authors of new plotlines, and fans interpret stories in their own ways. Kustritz examines how fan works function within the transmedia narrative and seriality. This research will focus on how fanfiction in particular can contribute to the overall transmedia network and how it functions within its narrative and seriality. The narrative structures in fanfiction challenge the rules of classic literature and show us new ways of interpreting a story, which will be expanded on in paragraph 4.2. It also shows how the anti-fanfiction movement of corporations is outdated and a new collaboration is necessary between the industry and its consumers. It is a unique and much underappreciated form of interaction that should be studied to research the new possibilities and ways of television storytelling. The goal here is not to argue that fanfiction is now an activity for the regular viewer but to explore how fanfiction (and fan works) has (have) developed over the years into what it is now, and how it (they) can contribute to the experience of a transmedia world, and why it therefore should be considered and incorporated by the production companies.
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3. A Definition and History of Fandom and Fanfiction
This paragraph will set out the history and origin of fanfiction and how it ‘came into being’ as it is today, which will then also provide a clear definition of what fanfiction is. To do so, one must first look at the history of fandom. Arrow’s fanfiction builds on a long history of fan culture and corresponds to many other fanfiction communities. Therefore, the development and position of fanfiction over the years need to be contextualized, to understand the position of Arrow in today’s context as fanfiction has developed strongly since its first believed occurrence (which will be complicated in the following section) since 1926. The prior history of fanfiction ensures its position in today’s society, therefore a closer analysis is necessary to understand both the continuities of Arrow’s fanfiction with other fan writing and how Arrow’s transmedia strategies differ from other networks and fan works.
3.1. Fans and fandom As Jenkins states, cultural studies has directed its attention more towards processes of reception and so developed a more sophisticated understanding of the relation between the audience and the mass media, and how they interact with it in their daily lives (Jenkins (b) 2012, 1). The position of the consumer has become more and more important in the contemporary media landscape. The consumer is nowadays more able than ever to communicate with the producer. Whether or not this gives the consumer more power is a much debated question, which is a whole study on its own. A particular group of consumers that has gotten more attention the last few years within the academic field are “the fans”. Though a lot of research has been done to media fandom, most of it has been rather recently and not many researches focus on fans in specific. This field of research is upcoming and still in its developing phase. As Francesca Coppa states, no comprehensive history of media fandom has been written (up till her own article) and historic research of fandom would presuppose a relevance of specific fandom activities (Coppa 2006, 41). This of course implies a previous belief of non-relevance in the academic field. Yet, with an explosion of fan activity, which is enabled to the fans through technical developments such as the introduction of the Internet, Bronwen Thomas argues that an interest within the academic fields such as literary and narrative theory, ethnography, feminism and queer theory, and cultural studies has emerged (2011, 2). Before the word fandom became associated with science fiction it was mostly applied to sports and theatre. The first science fiction fandom traces back to the 1920’s and 30’s. Science fiction fandom is said to have developed on the ‘letters page’ of the magazine Amazing Stories in 1926. However, as Thomas argues, “links have also been drawn with oral and mythic traditions; with
12 | P a g i n a traditions of collective interpretation” (2011, 1). The first believed science fiction convention was in 1936 in Philadelphia with only a hand full of people. In 1939 the first World Science Fiction Convention was held, which is now known as Worldcon and is held annually ever since1 (Coppa 2006, 43). The readers were now able to react on and communicate with the editor(s) and ultimately, and most importantly for modern fandom, with each other (Coppa 2006, 42). These readers weren’t just readers, but they became (deeply) involved fans. As Veerle van Steenhuyse puts it; “Fans are fans by virtue of their enthusiasm and commitment. Unlike ‘mundanes,’ they are dedicated enough to seek out fellow-fans, to gush over their object of affection, or, indeed, to write about it” (Steenhuyse 2011, 2). Henry Jenkins even describes the fan as a “textual poacher,” a concept borrowed from Michel de Certeau, and defines fans as “readers who appropriate popular texts and reread them in a fashion that serves different interests, as spectators who transform the experience of watching television into a rich and complex participatory culture” ((b) 2012, 23). Fans are thus deeply involved viewers, unlike the ‘ordinary’ viewer, who engage with an object in a way that often considered excessive (by the ‘regular, general viewers’ and the producers). Fans go beyond the provided storyworld and expand their fantasies in a fan community with each other.
3.2. Fanfiction Back in 1966, the beginning of (screen) media fandom – which is described by Louisa Stein and Kristina Busse as the “evolving traditions of fans of film and television programs, as well as of certain books, musical groups, and film and TV actors” (2009, 194) – there was already a typical profile of ‘the fan’; mostly women who “were better educated than most, heavy readers, and scientifically literate” (Coppa 2006, 45). These women started creating creative responses to the show such as poems, songs, drawings, stories etc. and special fanzines arose; unofficial and non-profit magazines produced by fans . Fans gather (“poach”) small pieces of the larger story and transform them into their own stories. Fans started creating their own written stories, parallel to the original story. These stories are called fanfiction or fanfic. The stories are produced by fans but based on the plotlines and characters of an existing single text or a group of texts. This is called ‘the canon,’ the entire (original) source text on which fans base their stories. Thomas explains that “these fan-created narratives often take the pre-existing storyworld in a new, sometimes bizarre, direction” (2011, 1). Steenhuyse argues that particularly in television fandom, fans do something new with the familiar. She explains how “audio-visual media may provide a "vivid, concrete set of images" and sounds, but they offer less "direct insight" into the characters' "thoughts and emotions" than literary texts do” (2011, 6). This is important, as this is the main reason why fans engage with or create fanfiction, according to
1 With the exception of the years 1942 – 1945 during World War II (Coppa 2006, 43). 13 | P a g i n a many scholars. They wish for a deeper, and more enriched experience of the already existing storyworld. Television has a limited time, namely the 40 minutes of air-time in the case of Arrow, which disadvantages the opportunity to expand on the characters’ backgrounds and relationships. Fanfiction therefore enables the viewers to take matters into their own hands, and release their imagination as to what these backgrounds and relationships can or will be. Anik LaChev argues that to fan authors it is not as much about the shocking plot turns, as it is about the “coming together” of two characters and the road towards this moment, how it happens (LaChev 2005, 86). According to LaChev, “pairing” is the vast majority of fanfiction; romance stories in which the goal is to write the coming together of two characters. These aspects ensure the different valuation of fanfiction (in comparison to traditional literature). Fanfiction is mainly focused on the emotional content and attachment instead of correct grammar (although grammar should not be discounted) (LaChev 2005, 90). With the up come of Star Trek, which was considered “mainstream” science fiction, fanfiction also became more “mainstream”. As most of these mainstream programs evolved around friendship and partnership in that time, this opened doors to a new wave of fanfiction which was called slash fiction; “a variety of fanfiction based on constructing same-sex relationships between characters” (Thomas 2011, 7). Viewers started to read “alternative” relations and plotlines in television shows where “buddies” (two man working together, or being good friends) had close friendships etc. Back in the days, most of the works of art by fans were mainly printed fanzines. This changed with the arrival of what would later be called the Internet. Digital technologies enabled the onset of the World Wide Web. Fans were now able to create and access very specific communities, specialized in their interests, publish their stories and reactions, and almost immediately receive feedback. Most importantly, the boundaries between author and reader, creation and interpretation were challenged (Thomas 2011, 1). This development also ensured a shift for slash fiction into the mainstream. As the slash-zines were previously mostly sold from literally a box under the counter, it was now able to publish and access these specific fanzines online. Those who wanted to read these could now access them (more) easily and those who did not could easily avoid them (Coppa 2006, 54). Also, now that slash fans were able to talk and discuss slash fiction openly with each other online, “many began to articulate their reasons for slashing, reading strategies, and politics” (Coppa 2006, 54). So when reading about fanfiction, one can conclude that the precise origin, timeline and definition of fanfiction is much debated within the academic field. Fanfiction develops itself, adjusting to the context of the age it is produced in. With the arrival of the Internet traditional forms of fandom have changed – the forms of fandom, accessibility and fields of interests – which will be further explained in paragraph 6.4. Fans can now move through ‘fannish’ activities with high speed
14 | P a g i n a and scan easily for their ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’. Therefore it is interesting is to examine by the means of the fanfiction of Arrow, a very recent television show, how fanfiction has positioned itself today. Fanfiction has already transgressed from ‘under the counter’ produced fanzines to online fanfiction archives such as Fanfiction.net – (one of) the biggest fanfiction archives online, which will be elaborated in chapter 6. This contextualizes the preceding history of fanfiction – a context in which fanfiction transformed from a fairly unaccepted and small activity to an Internet society with endless possibilities – that has led the fanfiction of Arrow to transform to what it is today; a more mainstream and accessible form of fanfiction, as will be elaborated upon in chapter 6.
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4. Fanfiction in Academic and Social Cultural Context
The previous chapter has shown how fanfiction has developed and established itself over the years. Yet, it does not show how fans and their activities have been valued and positioned from a social cultural context. The validation of the fan in this context relates closely to the academic appreciation of the fan and fan works. Why has it been such a small field of research, and what does this mean for the use and position of fanfiction in the transmedia network? This chapter shows the importance of studying fanfiction, and explains the reasons for the under-appreciation and under-utilization of fanfiction from the academic and social cultural context. This eventually helps to understand the importance of studying a program such as Arrow, with it being a new and recent transmedia program that shows the continuities and the differences with this preceding attitude from both the society and the academic field.
4.1. Weirdo’s with no life(?): Fans in social cultural context Roberta Pearson argues that fan studies had once begun as “an act of reclamation and celebration; reclamation from the geeky image constructed by the media” (Pearson 2010, 86). Fandom has always been, and still is an underrated and much debated “to be worthy or not” social concept. Henry Jenkins gives an example of how he himself is addressed when speaking of fandom, in context of the representations of Star Trek fans;
These representations won widespread public acceptance and have often been quoted to me by students and colleagues who question my interest in fan culture; their recognition and circulation by non-fans reflects the degree to which these images fit comfortably within a much broader discourse about fans and their fanaticism (Jenkins (b) 2012, 12).
The representations Jenkins talks about are the sketches about “Trekkies,” the Star Trek fans, who are represented as “crazies”, “misfits”, as people with “no life” etc. What is interesting about his quote is that is appears there are some assumptions imbedded in our society about fans.
[T]he fan still constitutes a scandalous category in contemporary culture, one alternately the target of ridicule and anxiety, of dread and desire. Whether viewed as a religious fanatic, a psychopathic killer, a neurotic fantasist, or a lust-crazed groupie, the fan remains a “fanatic” or false worshiper, whose interests are fundamentally alien to the real of “normal” cultural experience and whose mentality is dangerously out of touch with reality (Jenkins (b) 2012, 15).
These assumptions can be traced back to the concepts of “good taste”, as explained by Pierre Bourdieu. Certain tastes and ways of behavior seem “natural” to some, because they belong to a
16 | P a g i n a particular social and cultural group, who all share the same values and behavior. Fans differ from this, not only because of their choice of object or their degree of intensity, but by the ways they approach and read texts, which are often alternative ways. As Jenkins explains, “fans enthusiastically embrace favored texts and attempt to integrate media representations into their own social experience” ((b) 2012, 18). Fictional worlds become real worlds, to the extent that they are places that can be inhabited and explored in many different ways. Yet, Jenkins argues “[t]here is always someone more extreme whose otherness can justify the relative normality of one’s own cultural choices and practices” ((b) 2012, 19). Apparently, a fan is something we should not or do not want to be, which is remarkable since there are so many fans around the world, in all kinds of genres. There is still a firm and problematic stereotype about the fan imbedded in our society, to the extent that the activities of the fans are regarded as unimportant and “ridicule”. Not only does the first quote say something about fans themselves, it also implies something about the people who study them. As Jenkins explains, students and colleagues question his interest in fan culture. Fans are imbedded in our society as “low” culture, so why bother to study them? Particularly in this case, why study the works of art they produce? LaChev explains how she encountered the same problems when explaining her object of research to colleagues.
[W]hen I managed to explain to them what fan fiction was and could be, most of them wore looks ranging from sympathetic to freaked while checking my ears for any pointy additions to them. And even though I’ve never owned a set of Vulcan rubber ears (nor have most of the fan fiction writers I’ve met and worked with), it seemed to be a given that reading or writing fan fiction was a bizarre hobby that only a freak would consider (LaChev 2005, 84).
She argues how fanfiction falls “under the devilish category of entertainment-enslavement and is seen as having no greater artistic value whatsoever, apart from being a danger to the freedom of one’s mind” (LaChev 2005, 91). Her research in Germany pointed out how Germans thought of being a fan; “unpopular and strictly limited to grown men (soccer) and teenage girls (boy bands)” (LaChev 2005, 91). She addresses this phenomenon to the fact that in Germany there is (still) a big divide between high [C]ulture and low entertainment culture. People do not want to “be” a fan and fanfiction – the activity of a fan – is not worthy of studying since it is simply considered as low culture. This of course makes studying fanfiction difficult as there is not much research done, and it is hard to bring the results under serious attention when people discard the subject as irrelevant and “unworthy”. So not only the fans themselves, but also their works and activities and the people who study them are “ridiculed” from the social cultural context, in which the fan is regarded as a derogating norm.
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4.2. Why study fanfiction? The previous section shows how society regards fans and their activities and explains the neglect of studying them from an academic perspective. Why then do some academics argue in favor of them, and how does the academic field respond to their arguments? Several arguments from different academics will show the importance of studying fans and fan works in this section which will then result in understanding the preceding underutilization of fanfiction and stress the importance of this research. Thomas argues, “online fanfiction is ripe for analysis because it makes visible the process of creation and reception as authors and their readers engage in ongoing interactions about their stories” (2011, 9). The immediacy of the Internet has changed the relation between author, fan author and fan/reader. According to LaChev this immediacy is also the reason for the popularity of the genre. The direct contact between writer and reader (in fanfiction people are usually both) is “one of the most remarkable qualities of fan fiction and sets it notably apart from commercial fiction” (LaChev 2005, 90), since in commercial print fiction this immediacy does not exist and fans are not able (or only over a much longer period of time) to communicate with the author. LaChev and Kustritz both argue in their own ways how fanfiction can challenge the classic study of literature on the basis of narrative structures. LaChev argues how the immediacy, as mentioned above, and the rapid pace of the Internet provide a new way of storytelling and writing, in which new and rewritten stories are provided everyday and the writing process is a public occurrence. Kustritz argues that if fan works were to be considered as a fully legitimate part of the story, they would “significantly complicate the question of how transmedia serial narration can function” ((b) forthcoming, 5). This refers to the agency audiences gain over a story, by writing endless plotline possibilities in fanfiction. The speed of the Internet, and the order in which stories are provided challenges the classic narrative structure of chronological seriality, with different time dimensions and endless alternative events. This new agency of the user to “control” the storylines, or at least offer alternatives, and the agency of the user to choose which path to take is very interesting for scholars. This also shows how the user/viewer can contribute and challenge the overall storyworld narrative by providing new story paths with his or her writings. LaChev considers fanfiction as “a sort of meta-textual commentary on life’s more or less basic issues” (2005, 87). This would mean that fanfiction could mean a lot to academics as well as readers. Since the stories usually concentrate on life’s basic issues (love, tragedy, hurt etc.) and a large group of people comment on it, or take the story in a different turn, it can inform academics how different ideologies exist among different people (or races, genders etc.). The readers can profit from these different comments when they themselves struggle with the same issues and can learn from one another, as they can communicate about the questions and issues. So instead of considering a fan as
18 | P a g i n a something which should not be striven for or something to be avoided, as is clearly done by the German example LaChev studied, it can actually help individuals to read fanfiction, to explore several approaches to a problem or a story. Another reason why these academics argue that fanfiction is worthy of studying is the fact that some fan works can rival professional fiction. Even in the early years of fanfiction, fan written books were sometimes published and whole spin-off series were produced by fans (Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II, 2003). LaChev explains the Über fiction genre; when characters are transferred to a world or scene which is underlying and unrelated to the TV show. A variation to this genre are the independent or semi Übers, which “can be read completely separate from the original show context” (LaChev 2005, 89). These independent Übers can be published for commercial purposes since they are no longer directly linked to the copyrighted material (LaChev 2005, 89). The fact that these works are a threat to the professionals is to many academics a good reason why fanfiction would be worthy of studying. The fans themselves are not always pleased though about the commercialization of independent Über fiction, since the free access of the material within the fanfiction culture is a typical characteristic of fanfiction and one of the pleasant aspects for fans. A difficulty of studying fanfiction that is often argued though, is that because of the anonymity of the Internet, and the emotional attachment of the authors, the object of research is not unified or quantifiable, and ultimately cannot be verified (LaChev 2005, 86). Though, LaChev argues, through surveys a general identity of the fan can be established. Another difficulty is the strong attachment many authors of fanfiction have with fandom and fanfiction. The problem here is that fans and academics are sometimes very involved with fanfiction (academic fans are then called “aca-fans”). These aca-fans are mostly avid users and producers of fanfiction. This can get in the way of providing an objective look at fanfiction, since many aca-fans will write in favor of the phenomenon. This is also a critique that comes from scholars from different disciplines, who argue that an objective and distant approach to fanfiction is necessary. One can argue though that as a researcher of fanfiction, one almost has to be a fan to understand the culture of fandom. The academic has to immerse oneself in the world of fanfiction to understand what is written, what can be done and how people interact with each other. It is hard to do this when one wants to stay at an objective distance. To fully understand the experience of being a fan, one has to become a fan. The line between being a fan or a fan studies academic is thin, and since fan studies is still in its developing phase, an appropriate form of objective observation may still have to be developed. The expansion of the academic field that studies fan works, would foster this progress. More and more academics acknowledge the knowledge and information that can be distilled from examining fans and their activities, as they can teach more about the difficult and always changing relation between author and consumer. The attitude of many academics, and also of the society, is
19 | P a g i n a nonetheless still mainly condescending towards the study of fans and their works, which is unfortunate since new narrative structures arise with the immediacy of the Internet, where readers can choose their own paths and enlarge their fictional storyworld and new and unfinished stories are posted every day.
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5. Fanfiction and the Industry
Not only does the reading and writing of fanfiction have its consequences and developments within a social cultural context, but also within the field of digital production and consumption. As already mentioned in the introduction, technical developments have enabled new possibilities for consumers in general and according to Pearson also particularly for fans:
The digital revolution has had a profound impact upon fandom, empowering and disempowering, blurring the lines between producers and consumers, creating symbiotic relationships between powerful corporations and individual fans, and giving rise to new forms of cultural production. Some fans revel in the new opportunities presented by digital technologies, while others lament the digitally enabled encroachment of corporate power into every space of fandom. (Pearson 2010, 84).
Pearson argues here that relationships between corporations and fans have emerged and have given new shapes to the fanfiction and the industry culture. This chapter will examine what these relationships exactly are. How does the industry cope with the production of fan works and vice versa. What is the position of fanfiction when looking from the industrial perspective? This relationship is of importance as it explains the position of fanfiction of Arrow within its corporate context. The attitude of producers towards Arrow’s fans and fanfiction reveals the power relations between fan and producer and it shows what possibilities and opportunities fans have with their fan works. There is a longer history though that precedes this attitude and relationship, which must first be examined to contextualize the situation of Arrow.
5.1. The industry’s perspective on fanfiction The power relation between fan and producer dates back to the beginning of fandom, or as Pearson puts it “the relationship between fans and producers predates the digital age” (2010, 87). As Jenkins argues, it has a “part in the history of a series of organized efforts to influence programming decisions” ((b) 2012, 28). Even when there was no Internet, fans managed to exert some power on the industry. The Star Trek Trekkies managed to save their show from cancellation (Pearson 2010, 87) and the hardcore Doctor Who fans ensured the fan community remained, what eventually on the long term can be said to have ensured the re-launch of the show in 2005 (Perryman 2008). Yet, Jenkins argues, fan campaigns just as often produce little or no result. Fans find themselves powerless to alter the program’s fate (Jenkins (b) 2012, 29). Often, producers are supportive to these type of campaigns, or might even encourage them (as they bring the program under attention to potential viewers). Others, however have responded
21 | P a g i n a with contempt argues Jenkins, since the fan’s protection of “favorite aspects of fictional texts infringe upon the producer’s creative freedom” ((b) 2012, 30). William Shatner, the actor who plays Captain Kirk in the Star Trek series said about this: “People read into it [the series] things that were not intended” (Jenkins (b) 2012, 30). As Jenkins rightly notes, Shatner takes the right here “to judge what meanings can be legitimately linked to the program and which are arbitrary and false” ((b) 2012, 30). This of course does not only account for fan campaigns, but also for fan activities such as fanfiction, since especially in this field fans “poach” small pieces from the larger whole and extract relations or storylines which might not have been intended by the producers. Some producers would even go as far as (threatening) to prosecute fan publications that would threaten their official fan organizations and would violate the values of the show. Pearson argues that many producers nowadays try to benefit from fan production activities by “indirectly monetizing user-generated content for the purposes of promotion” (2010, 85). This is for instance done by hosting competitions in which fans are asked to make small short films or write episodes (to promote or amplify a show), of which the best will eventually be produced. In the early beginnings of fanfiction, corporations tended to reject any form of fan work. Moreover, according to Coppa “Gene Roddenberry’s [creator of Star Trek] strategy of turning a blind eye to fan art and fiction was probably responsible for the flowering of media fandom” (2006, 45). Because of this, fanzines emerged and eventually even novels appeared. It did not take long for corporations to acknowledge the value of these fan works and so in 1979, ten years after its origin, the book Star Trek Concordence of People, Places, Things, written by fan Bjo Trimble in 1969 was officially published. The active audience was a very controversial concept in these years. Nowadays, “the advent of the internet has greatly facilitated both the production of gifts and the exchange mechanisms among fan communities” as Pearson explains (2010, 87). The gifts are the fiction and works the fans create, the exchange mechanism is the interaction (and exchange of products) between fans and fan communities. What can be seen here is the increasing acknowledgements of the industry towards fan-communities and activities. In her article, Laura Felschow describes such an acknowledgement of the producers of the show Supernatural towards its fan culture. In the episode “The Monster at the End of this Book” many references are made towards the activities of Supernatural’s fancult. The two main characters, the brothers Sam and Dean, discover that a series of novels was written about them, with all their personal details involved. When they go online to do some research, they find fan fiction based on their characters, including slash fiction about them, which leaves them feeling disturbed. Throughout the episode winks are made at existing fanfiction authors and other fan activities (Felschow 2010, 6.1 – 6.2). Several things can be concluded about fanfiction from this episode, as the fans both received it as accurate and funny but also embarrassing and hurting. On the
22 | P a g i n a one hand, the episode acknowledges the existence of the fans and their activities online. It embraces the fiction written about the show and its characters and it introduces the fiction to the rest of Supernatural’s viewers by referring to it in an official episode. It even refers to the slash fiction, which might be odd for non-(slash)fans. Also by mixing up usernames of active (and important) fanfiction authors, they acknowledge their efforts and creativity. Therefore, it can be argued that the industry recognizes the importance and value of fanfiction, as they devote an entire episode to its existence. On the other hand, it can also be argued that it simply mocks the fanfiction culture. As Pearson describes, back in the days corporations were not that enthusiastic about fanfiction especially when it came to the implication of homosexual relationships (2010, 87). Though the slash fiction is mentioned in the episode, it still is ridiculed by the characters themselves, and therefore also by the producers. Felschow argues that “The Monster at the End of This Book” reinforces the power of the writers and reminds cult fans that they may only receive what is offered (2010, 6.6). It is an effort to tip the balance back in the producer’s favor and it shows that they know exactly what is going on within the fan culture, even though they do not participate in it (Felschow 2010). This example shows how the industry tries to retain power over fan productions. Even though corporations encourage fans to write pieces based on their existing texts, they still try to retain final authority. Jenkins describes the extreme example of Lucasfilm trying to maintain control over fan production. In a letter of the Star Wars fan club director the company’s position is summarized ((b) 2012, 31):
Lucasfilm Ltd. does own all rights to the Star Wars characters and we are going to insist upon no pornography. This may mean no fanzines if that measure is what is necessary to stop the few from darkening the reputation our company is so proud of (…) You don’t own these characters and can’t publish anything about them without permission (Jenkins (b) 2012, 31).
One fan responded to this letter saying Lucasfilm tells us what they see in Star Wars and that they will impose us to see this as well. This of course is a very difficult and much debated and disputed subject. To what extent do corporations have the right to recall their copyrights when they do not agree with specific stories or types of fanfiction? The Organization of Transformative Works has constituted the following rules:
Copyright is intended to protect the creator’s right to profit from her work for a period of time to encourage creative endeavor and the widespread sharing of knowledge. But this does not preclude the right of others to respond to the original work, either with critical commentary, parody, or, we believe, transformative works. (Organization for Transformative Works, Frequently Asked Questions) (Pearson 2010, 91)
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Transformative works are creative works about characters or settings created by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creators. A transformative use is one that, in the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, “adds something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the [source] with new expression, meaning, or message.” (Pearson 2010, 91)
Still, until today producers and consumers are struggling and negotiating about these regulations. Pearson gives an example of Paramount who has drawn a set of rules regarding the contest of writing fan-authored stories for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. In their own words “certain types of stories would be disqualified from consideration” (Pearson 2010, 88).
a. Any story focusing on explicit sexual activity or graphic depictions of violence or sadism.
b. Any story that focuses on characters that are not past or present Star Trek regulars or familiar Star Trek guest characters.
c. Stories that deal with the previously unestablished death of a Star Trek character or that establish major facts about or make major changes in the life of a major character, for instance, a story that establishes a long-lost sibling or reveals the hidden passion two characters feel for each other.
d. Stories that are based around common clichés, such as “hurt/comfort” where a character is injured and lovingly cared for, or “Mary Sue” stories where a new character comes on the ship and outdoes the crew. (Strange New Worlds Contest Rules. In: Pearson 2010, 88 – 89).
The stories these fans are supposed to write are for the profit of the producers. The pitfall of these rules though is that fans have to abandon a lot of particularities that attract them to writing fanfiction (like pornography, reading against the grain, being rebellious, etc.). Corporations must therefore determine the value of fanfiction to them and may need to adjust their rules and demands on how it should be written. As Suzanne Scott and Pearson put it: “
“Media fandom is rapidly being constructed as a fertile battleground where the territory between online gift economies and commodity culture will be negotiated” ([Scott] 2009). It is not resistance, it is negotiation, with much of this negotiation taking place in the legal minefield of copyright law (Pearson 2010, 90).
Copyright laws can of course complicate the writing of fanfiction, but as Russo and Pearson describe, it is now a matter of negotiation between producer and fan. The fact that fans are even mentioned in conditions and prenuptials is a positive thing according to Pearson, as it acknowledges their influence and value. Jenkins argues that “fan fiction repairs the damage caused by an increasingly privatized culture [by producers and corporations]” ((a) 2006, 256). Tight controls have “protected”
24 | P a g i n a corporations, but damaged fandom cultures. Fanfiction repairs this damage by rejecting the idea of one absolute (original) version.
5.2. The fan-author relationship It is not just the corporations and production companies that struggle with this relation between fan and writer. Original authors of books, stories and shows are not always positive about fans “taking” their work and transforming it into new, alternative or altered plotlines. Stein and Busse quote science fiction writer Robin Hobb on her feelings towards fanfiction: “[f]an fiction is to writing what a cake mix is to gourmet cooking” (Stein and Busse 2009, 205). She also calls fanfiction “Paint-By- Number art” (Stein and Busse 2009, 205). In the eyes of Hobb, and with her many others, fanfiction is a third-rate, low class activity, without much value, which is almost a “disgrace” towards the original, authentic work of an author. Yet, not all authors show resistance against fanfiction. J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, has proven to be aware and actively supportive of fanfiction. Within the Harry Potter fanfiction, slash fiction is one of the most popular genres, often involving the character Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. At an appearance at Carnegie Hall Rowling announced that Dumbledore was, indeed, gay. Catherine Tosenberger argues that this confirmation lends support to the argument of slash not simply being a “perverse resistance” to a given text’s presumed heteronormativity but rather “an actualization of latent textual element”” (2008, 201). This would mean that fan authors do not just invent alternative readings and stories, but they actually read and recognize the deeper storylines and actually (fully) understand the text. The reactions of the fans to this confession of Rowling were very divergent though. Some fans saw it as a reaction towards fan requests and desires to provide them with more information while others saw it as her desire to control the interpretation of her books (Tosenberger 2008, 201). Besides that, fans also felt “robbed” of their ability to fantasize about what happens after the book ends, which is “one of the great treats of engaging with fictional narrative” according to journalist Rebecca Traister (Tosenberger 2008, 201). “If you didn’t put it in the books, please don’t tell us now” (journalist Jeffrey Weiss in: Tosenberger 2008, 201). This issue raises the question of how much power and influence the author has, or should have. Does the author has the right to retain control over the imaginations and interpretations of his or her existing text? By confirming the alternative readings of fans, authors bring themselves in a difficult position. On the one hand they might please the desires and urges of fans to gain more information and confirmation of their ideas and readings, but on the other hand they can also ruin the fun of imagination for them. They might also ruin the fantasy world of the fans who did not read or recognize this alternative reading (since it is not always explicit) and who had wished it would have stayed the “dominant” way.
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In the previous section an example of acknowledgement of the fans in Supernatural was given. The show Buffy the Vampire Slayer shows similar episodes to the one in Supernatural, where an active acknowledgment of the fans came forward. In her text “Buffy Acknowledges the Fans” Justine Larbalestier describes five episodes in which this phenomenon occurs. One of these episodes is “Superstar” in which Jonathan, a minor character in the show, becomes the main character of the episode through a spell and becomes an adored superstar who does everything right. In the rest of the show, Jonathan is considered an outsider who wishes to be a “star” like Buffy. At the end of the episode the spell is reversed and Jonathan is considered “pathetic” for wanting to be like Buffy. Larbalestier argues about this that “the object of desire, the show and its actual central character, Buffy, is punishing the one who desires it: the fan” (2002, 234). Some fans, she found, liked the episode very much, since it was obviously dedicated to the fans, and enjoyed the way it mocked the Mary Sue form of fanfiction. Other fans, though, felt very uncomfortable watching the episode as the desires of Jonathan to be Buffylike came “dangerously close to caricaturing the relationship of fans to the show” (Larbalestier 2002, 234). The power balance between fan, author, and producer is therefore very complicated and undefined. Fans are sometimes heard and acknowledged by the industry, but the motivations behind those acknowledgements are not always clear.
5.3. Fans and Felicity Smoak What the above shows, is how author and fan interact and how they both exert influence on each other. Fans take new turns with storyworlds and corporations respond to these activities (either negative or positive). An example that shows a positive interaction between fan and producer, and which puts the analysis of Arrow in context is the example of character Felicity Smoak. Felicity, an employee of the IT department of Queen Consolidated, was scheduled to make a one-time-only appearance in season one’s third episode “Lone Gunmen”, with a small “possibility of recurring”. The overwhelming positive reactions of fans that followed on Twitter and other online platforms therefore surprised the producers. Felicity rapidly became the fan’s favorite, which made the producers decide to make the minor character a recurring one. Initially, Felicity’s air time was little. After her first episode in which she has 00:02:09 minutes of air time, the following two episodes in which she stars, #4 “An Innocent Man” and #6 “Legacies”, gave her approximately 00:01:44 and 00:01:11 minutes of air time, with in episode 4 two scenes and in episode 6 only one scene. As the show progresses, Felicity keeps returning on the screen, which eventually resulted in making the character a series regular in season two. This promotion of the character to a series regular had mostly to do with the popularity of the character with the fans. As Emily Bett Rickards, the actrice who plays Felicity, says herself “(…) thanks to the fans and the
26 | P a g i n a reaction, they brought me back”.2 If the fans had not gone online to express their love and enthusiasm towards this character, Felicity would have been a guest star with only one, maybe two episodes in which she would star. Why was Felicity such a hit with the fans? Especially since the producers did not intent her to stay. The keyword in the explanation of Felicity’s popularity is (character) identification, as was the case in the example of Jonathan in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As Cynthia Hoffner explains, “[i]dentification [in film and literary studies] has been defined in various ways, but commonly refers to the process by which a viewer shares a character’s perspective and vicariously participates in his/her experiences during the program (Maccoby & Wilson, 1957)” (1966, 389). It is about the psychological relationship between character and spectator, in which the spectator recognizes his or herself in the character (consciously or not). There are several reasons why Felicity is an identifiable character for the viewer. First of all, one could say that spectators can identify with her, simply because she is a woman. The CW’s main target is the 18 – 34 year-old woman3. One could say there is a “male gaze,” instead of the regular female gaze in this show, with an obvious heterosexual norm, on which will be expanded in section 6.3.2. Nearly every episode shows shots of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) being shirtless and working out, thus showing off his fit body. In that way the show clearly focuses on female spectators. Often spectators identify with same-sex characters, and since the main target and likely the audience of Arrow is female, they search for female identification. Why then was Felicity the woman who was most identifiable for the viewer? Why not any of the other female characters – Moira Queen, Thea Queen and Laurel Lance – that were introduced in the first few episodes? When regarding the targeted audience of 18 to 34, Moira can be soon eliminated, since she is a mother and somewhere in her fifties. Thea, Moira’s eighteen-year-old daughter, would then be more appealing, but since she represents a billionaires family, not many people will be able to identify with such wealth. The character of Laurel Lance stands closer to the “ordinary” woman, yet still she is presented as a beautiful, very confident and strong woman with a highly successful career as a lawyer, which might not be something the majority of the viewers can identify with. Felicity on the other hand, is introduced to us as a small character (initially), working in the IT- department of Queen Consolidated. She wears glasses, unremarkable clothes (also initially), and a ponytail which all make her less sexy and attractive and more ordinary. Also, the fact that she works in the IT-department is interesting, as many science fiction fans (who are also mostly women as was
2 Interview with Emily Bett Rickards on www.greenarrowtv.com. Byrne, Graig. ‘Arrow Interview: Emily Bett Rickards Talks About Felicity Smoak’s Popularity, Shirtless Oliver & More’. Greenarrowtv.com. April 19, 2013.
27 | P a g i n a explained in chapter three) work in similar areas, so they can identify with her work and intelligence. The regular, ordinary woman is also not likely to get in contact with a billionaire such as Oliver Queen. That is why fans can relate to Felicity, as it is simply because of her work and the time and place that she comes in contact with him. What happens then, at their first encounter (episode 3 “Lone Gunmen”, season one) was an important factor that made her become so popular. The first few episodes Oliver is very distant and closed to all of his friends and family. When he meets Felicity and asks her to fix his laptop, she acts a little cheeky by asking him how his laptop crashed. When Oliver replies with him having spilled a coffee over it, and she in return answering that it looks more like bullet holes, we see Oliver sincerely smile for the first time. This did not went by unnoticed by the fans. The “ordinary woman from the IT-department” is the first woman to have an effect on Oliver and make him feel comfortable (or maybe uncomfortable because of tension?). The chemistry between Oliver and Felicity was picked up by the fans which initiated the love and interest for the pairing of Oliver and Felicity. Felicity is the most identifiable character as she is the character closest to the spectator. Her “ordinariness” makes her recognizable and identifiable for the “ordinary” (female) viewer. All the above examples show the complexity of the fan-author relationship. The industry’s attitude towards fan works, and particularly fanfiction, has changed over the years. Where it once started out as an activity that was mostly counteracted by corporations and producers, it has now shifted towards a dialogue between producers and fans. Fans are invited to write stories for episodes, and producers show their awareness of fans and their activities through fan dedicated episodes and other acknowledgements. Yet, there are still often corporations that turn their head for fanfiction and either do not wish to be associated with it, or even go as far as fighting it. This is unfortunate, as fanfiction is not only an exhaust and escape for fans to turn to with their new and alternative ways, it also provides the producers with information of what fans would like to see, and who they like, as is shown in the example of Felicity Smoak. Negotiations and new strategies are therefore required, to improve the overall transmedia experience of the storyworld.
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6. Transmedia Fanfiction in Arrow
The previous chapter clearly shows the history of the attitude of the industry towards fans and fanfiction. Because of the deviating plotlines in fanfiction, corporations have kept their distance from this fan activity. This chapter will argue, by the means of Arrow’s fanfiction, that fanfiction can be a valuable contribution to the overall transmedia network of a film- or TV production, because fanfiction can function as a transmedia strategy, as section 6.2. and 6.2.1. will show. Transmedia strives to let the viewer continue with their storyworld experience and enrich their viewing, by providing agency for the viewer so they can choose whether to engage with the story deeply or not. Fanfiction also ensures this agency, by providing the viewer multiple paths and stories to choose from. Narrative structures persuade the viewer to remain loyal to the show, as section 6.3. will show, and audience connection and interaction is achieved, which is a very important transmedia strategy, according to Buckner and Rutledge.
6.1. Fanfiction platforms, narrative structures and intertextuality
To examine how the fanfiction based on the TV show Arrow is positioned within- and how it contributes to Arrow’s transmedia world, the methodology used by Grandío and Bonaut (2012) to analyze transmedia narratives, will be applied on Arrow, only the focus will lie on fanfiction and fan works. In their analysis, Grandío and Bonaut focus on various aspects of the transmedia narrative of which the following will be used in this research: - the platform itself and its accessibility, - narrative, and - intertextuality. In paragraph 6.2., the transmediality of Arrow will be described, focusing on which media platforms are used to narrate the story. In addition, the platforms of two online fanfiction archives will be examined to provide an overall idea of how these types of media platforms are structured and how they function. In paragraph 6.3., the narrative aspects of Arrow and its fanfiction will be explained. Also, by focusing on the slash fiction of Arrow in paragraph 6.4., it will show how the Arrow fanfiction fandom differs from other fandoms and what this means for the position of fanfiction in general. Finally, in paragraph 6.5., the intertextuality of Arrow will be described and how the intertextuality of fanfiction can contribute to enrich the experience of Arrow.
6.2. Transmedia platforms of Arrow
The producers of Arrow use several forms of transmedia storytelling to continue and expand the storyworld outside of the TV show. To position Arrow’s fanfiction within the transmedia network of Arrow, its complete transmedia universe must first be examined. To start with, simultaneously with
29 | P a g i n a the first episode of Arrow, which was aired on October 10th, 2012, a comic book written and drawn by the script writers and executive producers of the show, Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim, was published. Arrow is based on the original comic book The Green Arrow, but this new comic book is based specifically on the adventures of the TV show. Viewers were invited on the website of DC Comics to get their first issue for free at their local comic book shop. The issue was also available in the online DC Digital Store, and so were all the continuing issues since then. As the comic book was especially written and drawn for the TV show, the images from the comic book are sometimes identical to the scenes in the series. The purpose of the comic book is, according to DC Comics, to “(…) discover new mysteries, plotlines, and dive deeper into the world of ARROW” (DC Comics (a) 2012). As explained further on their website; “(…) our new Arrow comic tells crucial in-continuity stories designed to fill in important details about the series’ characters and give fans an even deeper glimpse into the world of Oliver Queen” (DC Comics (b) 2012). The purpose of the comic book is thus to provide the viewer with more information about the characters and create a richer and deeper experience of the show’s story. This is thus a form of transmedia storytelling, as Jenkins describes, as the comic book is self-contained and can be read without regarding other franchises. Another form of transmedia of Arrow is the mini-series Blood Rush, a six-episode series produced by the CW Network and sponsored by BOSE. The short episodes of approximately one minute each, were both broadcast during the air-time of Arrow and put available online. The series recalls on the situation in one of the earlier episodes of the first season where Oliver got shot and his blood was obtained by the police. Felicity though she had destroyed it, but a phone call by officer Lance proves otherwise. Felicity then uses Oliver’s voice generator to pretend to be The Arrow, and calls Roy Harper, Thea’s boyfriend, who came in earlier to Queen Consolidated for a meeting with Oliver and who was waiting downstairs in the lobby. She asks him to break into the lab to steal the blood sample. Felicity guides Roy through the lab. Together they manage to recover the sample, and eventually get out safe. Roy brings back the sample to Felicity, not knowing that it was her on the phone the whole time and that she works together with The Arrow. The viewer can watch these episodes as an independent, self- containing story, but it brings deeper involvement and pleasure to those who have seen the prior episodes and understand the relationship between Roy and Felicity, and where the presented problem in the series originates from. A third strategy that contributes to the overall experience of the Arrow universe is the making of a spin-off show of one of the characters, Barry Allen, who will star as superhero The Flash in the same called spin-off show. Initially the intention was to use one of Arrow’s episodes as a ‘backdoor pilot’ for the spin-off series to begin, where Barry would be introduced
30 | P a g i n a as The Flash. The producers found that the character worked so well though, that they directly ordered it into a full on pilot, with a complete series following. With a spin-off like this, viewers can continue watching and experiencing the world of Arrow as The Flash is set in the same universe and city as Arrow. The viewer thus does not have to stop watching and return to his or her own world, but cross over to the other series and remain immersed in the Starling City universe. Because the show is only on air since 2012, the use of social media is another strategy that is incorporated in the transmedia world of Arrow. The official Facebook page of Arrow had 4.214.688 likes on April 30, 2014, and is still growing. Almost every other day the officials post photos of either the new upcoming episode, or the episode that just aired, recapturing what happened. There are also small trailers posted, promoting the upcoming episode. This platform is therefore a good medium to persuade the viewers to watch, and keep watching Arrow. When (exclusive or extra) information is provided, on for instance the Internet which needs a little more effort to obtain, fans – the Facebook visitors – can feel favored and privileged for knowing more of what is about to come and happen in the upcoming episode. They feel more involved with the subject and are therefore persuaded into watching the show (and being a loyal fan). Also, the Facebook page provides a platform for fans to communicate with each other about the episodes. Viewers post their expectations and desires on the page and reply to one another. It seems though as if the officials do not use the opportunity of a website like Facebook to connect the audience with each other to the fullest. Almost no discussions are set up, and no references to discussion boards or forums are provided whatsoever. This is also the case on the official Arrow website by the CW Network. There are only tabs referring to photos, videos, the cast, the music, full episodes and links to the Facebook page and the Twitter feed. Except for Facebook and Twitter there are no possibilities provided by the officials of Arrow for the fans to discuss their ideas and feelings about the show.
6.2.1. Fanfiction archives: Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own
This research argues for another form of transmedia that will enable the viewer to continue with the storyworld’s experience, namely fanfiction. When examining the traces of fanfiction and fan works on the official websites of Arrow, almost no references can be found. The only place where some fan activity/work is found is on the Arrow Fan Club Facebook page. Though the official Arrow pages do not provide redirecting links to this Facebook page, it does have 33.0734 likes, and it provides the same type of images and videos that the official Arrow Facebook page does. The difference on this
4 Amount of likes of Arrow Fan Club Facebook page on 27-05-2014.
We're a fan-created, fan-run, non-profit, non-commercial archive for transformative fan works, like fanfiction, fanart, fan videos, and podfic. We currently have 14995 fandoms, 309920 registered users, and 1089954 works. While the site is in beta, you can get an invitation from another user or from our automated invite queue. All fans and fan works are welcome! (Archive of Our Own)6.
To upload content on AO3, one needs to acquire an invitation to the website, which is possible through a friend/other user or an automated invite queue. In the case there are many users asking for an invite, one has to wait in the queue to upload content on to the website. When the user has
5 Fanfiction.net statistics, 2011.
33 | P a g i n a suggestions and (or) comments. At the end of the story there is immediately a box where you can write and submit your comment. There is also the possibility to read all the other comments of other readers. This shows the immediacy of fanfiction and fanfiction archives. These website provide a platform on which immediate interaction between authors and readers is possible, in very easy ways. On FFN there is even a section for “beta readers”. As FFN explains on their website “A beta reader (or betareader, or beta) is a person who reads a work of fiction with a critical eye, with the aim of improving grammar, spelling, characterization, and general style of a story prior to its release to the general public.”7 An author can thus ask a beta reader to read their work prior to publishing the story on the website. This helps to improve the quality of the writing, which then again improves the reading experience. In many ways this shows how fanfiction and these platforms can function as a transmedia strategy. Both platforms enable the reader to scan easily through the online content. The reader is invited to be active and can choose his or her own path to enrich their storyworld experience exactly with the stories they wish to read. By using filters the readers can easily avoid the stories that do not correspond with their preferred reading, and quickly find the stories that do, so they can continue with their transmedia experience. Readers are connected to one another and stories and backgrounds are expanded and continued. All the stories are independent and can be read individually. These platforms not only incorporate the in-depth possibilities of the comic book and the mini-series, but also the audience connection that lacks on the Facebook page, and incorporates the possibility to transport from one storyworld to another, as the spin-off show does. Therefore fanfiction and online fanfiction archives can be an effective transmedia strategy, as they incorporate several transmedia possibilities.
6.3. Narrative structures
Since fanfiction consists of writing stories and focuses on the narrative, it is useful to examine what a narrative exactly is and how it is constructed in general and within the transmedia network. This will then explain how narratology is constructed within fanfiction and why the narrative structures of fanfiction are valuable and interesting to the overall transmedia network. Monika Fludernik examines and defines the concept “narrative” in her book An Introduction to Narratology;
A narrative is a representation of a possible world in a linguistic and/or visual medium, at whose centre there are one or several protagonists of an anthropomorphic nature who are existentially anchored in a temporal and spatial sense and who (mostly) perform goal-directed actions (actions and
7 Fanfiction.net, section Beta Readers.
plot structure). It is the experience of these protagonists that narratives focus on, allowing readers to immerse themselves in a different world and in the life of the protagonists (Fludernik, 6).
So in transmedia storytelling a possible world with characters is created in the TV show and then expanded onto several other platforms, where the actions of the protagonists are central. New story- and plotlines are to be created and the (action of the) narrative has to be expanded (professionally or amateurish). Abba then argues, that “(…) television series (…) have been supported, officially and otherwise, by online interactive narrative experiences” (2009, 60), and each of these experiences or narrative products provide an “effective window into the whole story” (Grandío and Bonaut 2012, 561). According to LaChev, these online possibilities have enabled new ways of writing and storytelling which challenge the study of classic literature, especially with fanfiction. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the academic field has often not considered fanfiction as a worthy research field, but LaChev argues that one can actually learn a lot from these amateur stories and they should not be considered as low culture, simply because they are written by amateurs. Many of the online stories, LaChev argues, are actually written quite well, which is also caused by the norm of using beta readers. Grandío and Bonaut explain, by paraphrasing Michal Beeson that “[n]arratology, from a transmedia perspective, has a clear goal: to distinguish the story (object) from how “it is told” (language and medium)” (2012, 565). LaChev explains how this is also the main purpose in fanfiction. According to her, many academics have mistaken the goal of reaching (a form of) originality and authentic, personal work in fanfiction writing, which is ultimately not achieved. Yet in fanfiction, it is often not about what is happening, but how it happens and how it is told. The climax of the story is mostly already known; the (romantic) “pairing” of two characters. It is therefore that the road towards this climax is important to fanfiction writers and readers. Jenkins explains this by referring to Umberto Eco’s research as to how a movie can transform into a cult artifact. They argue that it is not about how well a movie or TV show is made, but to what extent the show provides resources that the consumers can use in constructing their own fantasies. Thus Jenkins states, “[i]n order to transform a work into a cult object one must be able to break, dislocate, unhinge it so that one can remember only parts of it, irrespective of their original relationship to the whole” ((a) 2006, 97). This exactly describes what fanfiction is, even though Jenkins does not describe fanfiction here but the phenomenon of transmedia (storytelling) and how fans derive their fantasies from it. In fanfiction, the author breaks down the original story, and only uses specific parts of the text to create a new story based on their fantasies. Kustritz argues that “the addition of fan works to a transmedia multiverse provides a serial effect that deepens understanding of the story in multiple segments over time” ((b) forthcoming, 15) , as the narrative itself can be seen as an effect, rather than an intentional
35 | P a g i n a design. The audience decides for itself how to interpret the events, what to make of them and how to connect with them. Grandío and Bonaut argue that some media are more suited to showing private spheres than others. Internet related media can provide more depth and detail where traditional television storytelling sometimes cannot (for instance because of time limits). According to Grandío and Bonaut it is better to tell an intimate story (about a character) through interactive media, since these media can choose what they show, to whom, how and when. In fanfiction, the main priority of the writing is creating an opportunity for emotional attachment. The emotional content often has the priority over correct spelling and writing (though it must not be discarded). The fanfiction author has more time and space to get into the (emotional) background of a character, time and space that is not available in the air time of a TV show. Even though these stories are not created and controlled by the producers of the show, they can still provide an insight in the character’s psyche, since the goal for many fanfiction writers is to maintain the style of the TV show, and stay close to the original character. Another important aspect of transmedia is time dimension. According to Grandío and Bonaut there are three time dimensions in transmedia. First, the dimension that sets time in the main story. Second, the dimension that sets time away from the main story, and is presented to the user through Internet media. Third is the dimension that tells a story that is not presented at all through either the TV show or the online content. This dimension is where fanfiction comes in. In fanfiction all three dimensions occur, but it is especially useful for the third dimension. Authors can release their imagination and write about any time outside of the original story. They can write about the events in the past prior to the present story, or about the future. For example, in the fanfiction of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a large amount of stories describe the life after Elizabeth and Darcy are married, which is where the novel (and movie) ends. Fanfiction forums therefore provide a space for fans to go to and to continue their story experience (of any show), long after the story may have ended, or dive into the past of a character where the TV show does not take them. In line with this is Kustritz’ statement that transmedia narratives no longer follow a linear form of seriality. “(…) [S]eriality no longer offers a linear sequence of events, but instead an a-linear flexible sequence of information, each piece of which enriches the viewer, listener, or reader’s ability to re-interpret the central events” (Kustritz (b) forthcoming, 9). The narrative question of “what is going to happen” transforms into “what happened, and who are these people”; the seriality of a chronological order is left out and the audience themselves are asked to unravel the history of the characters (Kustritz (b) forthcoming, 9). Readers have to travel through different time dimensions and different stories to collect all the pieces that put the motivations and background of characters and stories in context.
36 | P a g i n a
Kustritz gives an example of a game, played in fan communities, called “Stranger in a Strange Fandom” ((b) forthcoming, 10), in which participants are asked to watch a vid – a form of fan remix video – of which they had never seen the original source. They were then asked to write down a description of what they though the original source was, based on the images and information that was provided in the vid. As Kustritz describes, this resulted in “an enormous range from hilarious to shockingly accurate inferences” ((b) forthcoming, 10). This shows that even though the interpretation of fan authors in fan works is completely set loose from the official producers, the central narrative often refers to the original source, and remains closely to the original story. Even though there are different pleasures and different interpretations to be found at different stages in the fanfiction (Kustritz (b) forthcoming, 11), there is still often a connection with the original source. Therefore the “fear” of producers and corporations of fanfiction being inaccurate or not being “true” to the original story is unjustified (in most cases). As Kustritz describes, many franchises, such as James Bond and Star Trek, have used the transmedia techniques of “rebooting their own storylines and characters along a new, fundamentally altered timeline” ((b) forthcoming, 13). This way the producers proposed multiple endings online, and finally showed “what really happened” in the eventual movie, as opposed to “what could have happened.” The producers thus use alternative stories to keep the reader/viewer interested and wondering. This provokes an “eagerness” with the viewer to go and watch the movie to learn what really happened, or what is going to happen. This shows how corporations already use transmedia techniques to explore the possibilities of the multiverse concept and its endless varieties of narrative adaptations across multiple media platforms. Fanfiction could then contribute to this technique, as fanfiction stories mainly address alternative endings or plotlines, yet stay within the frame of the original story. The movie can then be one of the possibilities of what happened, or the producers could promote to go online and read alternative endings to the story. Kustritz explains that the purpose of transmedia is to create as many storylines as possible and provide the audience with numerous options to experience the storyworld of the show or movie. Important here is that it is the possibility of a story or sequence that is central, not the ultimate authority of being “real” or “true”. The fanfiction stories are possibilities of what could have happened, and even the movie can be one of those possibilities. When for instance a fan did not expect (or want) a certain ending or plotline, he or she can search for (or write) alternative endings. Therefore, the difference between the officially and professionally produced story and the amateurish fan produced work does not matter within the transmedia world. The purpose is to enrich the viewer with an in-depth experience of the storyworld, whether that story is the “actual truth” or a possibility of what could happen. Writing fanfiction allows the author to write any possibility one could imagine, and thus the addition of fanfiction to a
37 | P a g i n a transmedia network could enlarge the transmedia storytelling possibilities, which then again deepens the understanding of the story and enriches the experience of the viewer/reader.
6.3.1. Arrow and narrative structures Within Arrow, the process of putting together what happened or is going to happen, as mentioned above, is offered by different time dimensions in the TV show itself, and by new plotlines in the simultaneously published comic book. Though the comic book offers new insights as well, the fanfiction can offer the same kind of puzzling on another (more extensive) level, as the stories offer multiple plotlines and character backgrounds. In the comic book, the main focus still lies on the image, with little space for literary explanation in the form of a text balloon. In fanfiction there is more space available for feelings, thoughts and long conversations, which is not possible in the comic book. Fans can establish their own fantasies about a character by either putting their fantasies on paper, or reading other authors’ work and creating their own world around a character. In Arrow, two time dimensions are central to the narrative. The present time, in which Oliver has returned to Starling City, and the past, the five years Oliver was trapped on an island. Through flashbacks the viewer learns what has happened to Oliver on the island. Some episodes barely show any flashbacks and some episodes contain large parts of the island story. As mentioned in the previous section, time dimensions are very important in transmedia storytelling. They provide new information that helps to understand the motivations of a character. Arrow already does this in the TV show itself by using flashbacks, and also by revealing new information in their comic book, but one could also argue that the fanfiction provides another time dimension, which is not presented on any other platform. For instance in the story ‘We Keep All Our Promises (Be Us Against The World)’, sarcastic_fina provides an insight in the pre-island Oliver. The story summary reads: “Oliver Queen has no idea what he's doing with his life, but when his father gives him an ultimatum, he has to figure it out.” Sarcastic-fina describes how Oliver was before he got trapped on the island. Although this story provides an alternative plotline (Felicity and Oliver meet before the island) it does also provide an insight in what kind of person Oliver was pre-island time. In the TV show, some hints are presented about the person Oliver was before he went missing. He used to be a billionaire playboy, acting out, spending money, and doing whatever he wanted to. Sarcastic_fina, and many others, take these aspects and use them to create a story that shows depth and insight into how Oliver used to be. There is no time and space for this in the TV episode, but there is in fanfiction. There are also stories that imply the future of Oliver, specifically his future love life. Many, if not most, of Arrow’s fanfics are about the pairing of Oliver and Felicity; “Olicity”. These stories describe either how the two get together, or how the tension between the two builds up and how
38 | P a g i n a they cope with that. This can be called a future perspective (and not an alternative perspective) since there are hints towards this relationship in the TV show. There has never been any actual romantic/physical contact between the two characters, but there are often hints that would imply a romantic tension between them. This “relationship” between Oliver and Felicity is one of the main motivations for the Arrow fiction writers to write (and read) their stories. As mentioned earlier by Baran and Davis, if you can’t get it somewhere, you can create it yourself. In this case, many Arrow fans want a relationship to evolve between Oliver and Felicity. Figure three shows an example of a Facebook post on the Arrow Facebook page, where a fan has posted a drawing of Oliver and Felicity kissing each other. The drawing says “we are waiting for this event”. The “we” shows that this fan and, he knows with him many others, have the desire for this relationship to happen. This also shows that it is not just the “core” fans
Figure 3. Post on Arrow Facebook page. Accessed on 27-03- of Arrow, who already write and read 2014. fanfiction show an interest in this event, but also all the other “regular” fans of the show that commented on this post, or any other post that involve the get-together of Oliver and Felicity. Since this event does not occur on television, the fans go online to either write the stories themselves, or search for the stories to read them. When typing in “Oliver and Felicity” on FFN, 900 stories pop up, of which 653 are in the romance category of the total of approximately 2200 Arrow stories. On AO3 the number is even higher, with 1572 Olicity hits, of the total of 2068 stories in the Arrow category. An example of one of these “future” stories is ‘It’s a Boy’ by AnnaEmmaSwan021 (FFN) in which Oliver and Felicity have their first child. As Grandío and Bonaut argue, some media are more suited to showing private spheres than others. In this case, the fanfiction can provide more intimate and private moments between Oliver and Felicity than any other platform can. As Kustritz explains, “cross-media works (…) can offer information completely unavailable in the original medium, as when fan artists show a book character’s facial expression at a pivotal plot moment. In this case the fan work often becomes authoritative because they offer the only available interpretation” ((a) 2014, 1). Elizabeth Woledge explains this by the means of slash fiction of Star Trek. By blending genders together (male/male), a feeling of intimacy is created, as the characters are two men – men who usually do not express
39 | P a g i n a intimacy – share their feelings and emotions with each other – something that would never be shown in the television series. As Woledge states; “(…) for many of the authors it is intimacy rather than sexuality that is the centrally important element” (2005, 57).In Arrow’s case, the producers may not intend on bringing Oliver and Felicity together (or to elaborate on their relation), but the fans do wish to see this relationship happen. In fanfiction, and fan art/works, this relationship can be made possible. The thoughts and emotional feelings of both Oliver and Felicity are described in many stories. Sometimes, authors continue with one of the scenes from the show in which a tension between the two is presented but not acted out, and develop the story in a way that they do get together. Take for instance the story ‘One’ by delena4ever2012, (FFN). This story continues with the episode ‘Identity’ (#2) of season two, where Felicity brings Oliver a cup of coffee in his office late at night. In the episode, a flashbacks follows next, and nothing happens between Oliver and Felicity. Delena4ever2012 describes her story as; “alternate ending to felicity giving oliver coffee scene”. In this story, the two have a long conversation about why Felicity is still working with Oliver and Diggle after everything that has happened. The story ends with Oliver asking Felicity out on a date, and Felicity kissing him in return. One of the reviews, by lovelove94, reads “I prefer this ending... its so much better then what actually happened”. This story and this comment show how fanfiction can provide alternative plotlines which the viewers would prefer to see, and by doing so, enrich the experience of the viewer. Another example of a story that provides an insight in a more private matter is the story ‘The One Who Broke Her Heart’, written by maxmotivates on FFN. The story describes the history of the relationship between Felicity and her father, and the way she reacts when she sees him again after many years. This is a story that is not presented to the viewer in any way in the television show. The story can therefore never be verified, but for the Arrow fan it can be an interesting story to read. The viewer does not learn a lot about Felicity’s background or past in the TV show or on other platforms, and through the fanfiction medium, a viewer can immerse him- or herself in the (alternative) background stories of this character. Especially since Felicity was originally not intended to be on the show for so long, there is not a lot of time incorporated for her character and its background, and with this character being so popular with the fans, the fanfiction can fill up the missing parts the fans long to read and see. As described before, the “actual truth” is not relevant here. The goal is to provide an enriched experience of the existing storyworld, whether that is an expansion of a character’s background, or an alternative plotline which might not be likely to happen in the actual TV show. Some companies even use other media platforms to suggest alternative endings or happenings in a plotline, which then drives the viewer to watch the actual program to see how the story will develop or end. The fanfiction of Arrow does this in a way that many stories “predict” what
40 | P a g i n a is going to happen between Oliver and Felicity, as many adaptations of their story are given. The reader must then return to the television screen to see if these “predictions” are right, and what eventually really happens to their relationship. Or, the viewer uses fanfiction to replace the show and follow their preferred path. Eventually the viewer collects all the different narrative pieces and experiences them as a coherent whole which provides them with more information, access and insight into the entire narrative world. By providing such in depth and extensive stories, LaChev argues that fanfiction can even ensure fans solely of the fanfiction, without ever having watched the original television show.
Now, many times people will develop an interest in a fandom because they have stumbled across a story, and only then will they make an attempt to watch the show. As a result, some fan fiction readers (and even some writers!) have never even seen the shows their stories are based on,
preferring to consult the fanon rather than the canon. (LaChev 2005, 85)
The term “fanon” refers to the phenomenon whereby the created material by fan authors becomes commonly accepted by other readers and writers. An example in Arrow of this is the term “Olicity”. This term, the aggregation of the names Oliver and Felicity, was introduced by fans, and eventually commonly accepted by the fans. Not only the fans accepted this name as a general Arrow term, but also the producers have adopted this term. The following example shows this clearly:
Figure 4. Tweet from @CW_Arrow Twitterfeed. 14-02-2014.
The figure above shows a tweet from the official Arrow Twitter account, describing a vine – a very short, looping video – in which Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity) sits next to a big poster of The Arrow, with a text balloon attached to it saying “#OLICITY”. The term was clearly introduced by fans, as Felicity was initially only meant to be on the show for one or two episodes. Yet, because the fans saw something happening between her and Oliver, and adopted her as fan favorite, the producers decided to keep her in the show, and anticipate to the fans ideas and wishes. This shows that the officials and the industry know about the existence of fanfiction, and by adopting a part of the fanon they acknowledge the fanfiction and the fan activity around the show. What all the above examples demonstrate, is how fanfiction can be a strategy to persuade the viewer/reader to tune in to a show and then remain loyal to the show – as Buckner and Rutledge argue transmedia platforms should. By providing background stories and an expanded transmedia world, the experience of the fan becomes enriched. The fan becomes more (emotionally) involved
41 | P a g i n a with the characters and explores the possibilities of the fictional world and its plotlines. As LaChev argues, some even become fan of the fanfiction before they have watched the show. The fanfiction can then persuade the fan to also become a fan of the TV show. Not only does fanfiction persuade viewers to become or stay fans of the show, it also connects the audience with each other, as producers and consumers at the same time. Authors ask readers to respond to their stories with suggestions and opinions, and readers then again advice authors how to improve their stories. As mentioned in section 6.2.1., within the fanfiction culture beta readers exist to assess one another’s work. Jenkins explains how this is a special relationship as the editors acknowledge the writer’s and each other’s strengths and limitations, and the focus is more on suggesting rather than instructing or correcting, to eventually improve the author’s own writing process ((a) 2006, 181). All commentary options and references are “designed to help would- be writers improve their stories and push themselves in new directions” (Jenkins (a) 2006, 181), both on grammatical and stylistic level as on content level. Also, as delena4ever2012 and lovelove94 demonstrate, fans want to share their ideas about the alternative readings to a text – how they would have preferred the story to evolve. This audience connection is very important to both the fans and the show’s producers, as the fans are able to discuss the episodes and the overall plotlines with each other, and the expectations and desires they have which the producers can pick up on and use to hold on to their fan base.
6.3.2. Arrow and slash fiction?
At their core, fan works provide authority to whichever version of characters, settings, events, and genre forms are most pleasurable to imagine. Fan communities amplify types of pleasures often silenced and sidelined in the mainstream industry, while fan infrastructure reserves open, uncontrolled space to circulate and share those pleasures still yet to be imagined (Kustritz (a) 2014, 2).
This quote applies for both slash fiction and Olicity fiction of Arrow. In both cases, neither of these storylines are presented to the viewer in the TV show, therefore the fan runs off to the transmedia world of Arrow to escape into a world where their desires for alternative readings are possible. As described before, there are many stories written about the relationship between Oliver and Felicity. Many of them also contain explicit sexual descriptions of their relationship. In Arrow, whether there is an existing relationship or not, there are almost no explicit sexual scenes or references on-screen (between any of the characters). These types of pleasures, of seeing sexual interactions between characters, are silenced and sidelined by the industry. This ensures the fans to fantasize about these interactions and eventually express their fantasies online. Maybe even more for slash fiction than for straight pairing, fanfiction is an escape and
42 | P a g i n a opportunity for fans to express these ideas. In slash fiction, viewers read relationships between same sex characters which are (often) not presented in the TV show. Slash fans derive pleasure from pairing these same sex characters and creating an alternative story. On AO3 for instance, there are 291 explicit slash stories in the Arrow fandom of the 2083 in total – 210 male/male stories and 81 female/female stories. Another 88 stories belong in the ‘multi’ category in which any combination between characters occurs and having multiple partners is a common thing. A very interesting observation when looking at these numbers is that 1440 stories are female/male stories, of which 1399 involve the relationship between Oliver and Felicity. Fanfiction is often considered to exist mainly for and from slash fans, and this is indeed the case for some fandoms. For instance, Xena the Warrior Princess is considered to be the biggest lesbian fandom worldwide, in which the pairing Xena /Gabrielle, both female, is the most popular narrative by far8 (LaChev 2005, 91). Also in the biggest fanfiction fandom, Harry Potter, slash fiction is one of the most popular patterns. On AO3, the male/male section of Harry Potter stories contains 27.025 stories of a total of 55.324 stories, while the female/male section only contains 15.776 stories.9 It is interesting to see then, that in Arrow, this is the other way around. Only 13,9% of the total Arrow fanfiction on AO3 is (explicit) slash, while 69,1% is hetero fiction, of which 67,2% Olicity fiction. This in comparison to the 53% slash fiction in the Harry Potter fandom on AO3, and only 28,5% hetero fiction.10 What do these numbers mean for the fanfiction of Arrow? When regarding Jenkins’ definition of the fan as “an outsider, a freak” and something that one “does not wish to be(come),” and fanfiction (especially slash fiction) which is often portrayed as a “freakish” activity because of the suppression of this activity and genre in the mainstream media, it is interesting to see that within Arrow fanfiction, the most popular narrative is that of a hetero relationship. As slash is mostly the biggest genre within other fandoms, it is remarkable that is it so small within Arrow. One could argue that this means that fanfiction is changing and especially, its position within the cultural society. Fanfiction is not just for the alternative reader (anymore) but also for the general reader, that reads the heteronormative storyline. Tosenberger considers most fans as “general readers”; readers who read the text as it is presented to them. Slash readers read alternative stories, which are then expanded and put on paper in online fanfiction. These general readers read a heteronormative pattern, as Tosenberger explains by quoting Sarah Jones; “[e]ven where characters’ sexualities are not indicated in the (…) text, a wider logic dictates that heterosexuality can be assumed while homosexuality must be proved” (2008, 202). The general reader reads a heterosexual storyline, while
8 With the exception of Italy, in which the pairing of Xena/Ares is the most popular story (LaChev, 91). 9 < http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Harry%20Potter%20-%20J*d*%20K*d*%20Rowling/works>, accessed on 30-04-2014. 10 All numbers in section 6.3.2. accessed on 30-04-2014. Calculations based on total amount of stories within the fandom, and provided numbers by AO3 within M/M, F/M and F/F categories. 43 | P a g i n a the slash fan reads “between the lines” and finds hints for alternative plotlines. It is often these alternative readers (slash reader) who write fanfiction. Within Arrow then, it can be argued that there are more general readers that go online to write stories, since the fanfiction is mostly based on the heterosexual storyline between Oliver and Felicity. One could of course argue that Olicity fiction is expected, as women, who are often the biggest group of fanfiction writers, look for romance in a story. It is then “easy” to assume and write a romantic relationship between Oliver and Felicity as there are already hints about a romantic tension between them hidden in the TV show. On the other hand, Olicity is as much a revision of the existing text as any slash fiction would be. Slash fans also recognize sexual or romantic tensions between characters, which causes them to write the slash fiction. In Arrow’s case, the producers do not develop the relationship between Oliver and Felicity beyond the point of small hints, and so the fans take matters into their own hands and develop this relationship themselves to look up the boundaries (of what could happen). So on the one hand one could argue that Arrow’s fanfiction is now more for the “general reader,” as Tosenberger described, where the more obvious heterosexual elements are recognized in the text. This could mean that fanfiction has become more visible and accessible (and accepted) to the general reader, and not just for the “alternative slash reader” anymore. On the other hand one could also argue that the “general reader” becomes more like the slash reader, and looks at the more complex, underlying storylines in the TV show. The author picks up on small elements that hint towards a specific undeveloped and unaddressed relationship. This would also mean that in general, fanfiction has become more accepted and accessible for the general reader, since now it is also a place where these readers can go to expand on the dominant reading, and enlarge the show’s experience.
6.4. Intertextuality As Jonathan Gray explains, texts are “always intersected and interrupted by dense networks of intertextuality” (2003, 68). Intertextuality means the references (in this case) in a movie or an episode to other already existing texts. According to Grandío and Bonaut intertextuality is closely linked with transmedia narratives, as it is a “set of relations that link one text with another of different sources” (Guarino (2007) in: Grandío 2012, 563), which ensures an intermediality between platforms. Grandío and Bonaut use the concept of intertextuality to analyse the “internal and narrative connections among the cross-media stories” (563). Within film and television this often means the references to other universes or quoting other films. The comic book universe exists on a high level of intertextuality, as many superheroes exist in the same universe and make cross-overs to and appearances in each other’s worlds. The TV show Arrow, which is based on a comic book, also shows a high level of intertextuality, as it contains many references to other superheroes and
44 | P a g i n a universes, and there are many similarities between different heroes. Several superheroes of the DC comic book universe make an appearance in Arrow. As mentioned in section 6.2. one of the transmedia strategies of Arrow is the spin-off serie The Flash. By making this spin-off, the producers create an intertextuality, which enables the viewer to travel from one superhero’s world to the other, and never “stop” experiencing the fictional world. This intertextuality can be explored even further in fanfiction. Within the fanfiction culture the genre of cross-over stories exists. A cross-over story is when several elements of two (or more) different shows or movies (or books etc.) are combined into one story. The stories often address the pairing of two characters from different universes. As Arrow already provides the viewer with small parts of other worlds, since there are so many intertextual references, the fan may want to see more of those two worlds. It is obviously hard to combine the several superhero worlds on television, as this would mean the producers would have to shoot on sets of the other shows, or have to build new sets. In fanfiction, the fusion of two worlds is easier, as it does not literally has to depict the images of the two worlds, but sketch the idea in words and let the reader imagine the rest. In this way, any limitations with copyright are also avoided, as producers may not own the rights to one superhero, but do to another. They are then unable to combine the stories on television, but in the fanfiction, this cross-over is possible (as fanfiction is also non-profit). On FFN there are 40 different sources, with a total of 112 stories, crossed-over with Arrow, of which the biggest are Batman and Supernatural. On AO3 one finds the cross-over stories under the filter “fandoms”. On AO3 only eight different fandoms can be found for cross-over stories with Arrow, with a total of 83 stories. The biggest ones here are with Teen Wolf and The Avengers. This shows that fans see many references and cross-over possibilities in Arrow. The reactions and activities online of fans show that they enjoy the incorporation of many superheroes from the DC universe and the idea of mixing several other science fiction universes together. For instance on May 16, 2014, the Arrow Facebook page shared a photo of The CW of several members of the crews of Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, and Arrow posing together at The CW Upfront event. The photo was liked 174.773 times and 3064 comments were posted. Here is what some of the comments said11:
Imagine that crossover episode! (Annette N Ryan Reyes)
Super-arrow-natural of the vampire diary. (Jeong-woon Kim)
11 Arrow Facebook page, comments on post of 16-05-2014. Accessed on 21-05-2014.
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Hopefully they can mix them up! Supernatural can be the messengers for The Vampire Diaries to reach out for the people they lost, and Arrow can be the people who kill vampires!!!! Or something like that, it will be cool though! (Erik Pineda)
The comments show the enthusiasm of the fans when imagining a cross-over between these three popular series. The fans would like to see the universes of all three shows come together, and combine the series they love in one. As shown above, these three series are also the most popular ones for cross-over fiction of FFN and AO3. The producers of Arrow could please the fans by incorporating fanfiction in their transmedia network, so fans can find the fanfiction more easily and read the cross-over stories of any universe they like, or create the fiction themselves, as for instance Erik Pineda already does slightly in his post as he explains how these three universes could come together. The producers can thus expand on the intertextuality of Arrow by incorporating fanfiction, which provides more space and possibilities to expand on these intertextual references and explore the multiple universes, in the overall transmedia network. This chapter has thus shown how fanfiction can contribute to the overall transmedia network of Arrow. Fanfiction stories contain many characteristics that are used in other media platform to develop a way of transmedia storytelling. The narrative structures of fanfiction show how fanfiction can offer more depth into character’s backgrounds, or into alternative plotlines and endings that are not covered in the TV show, or on any other transmedia platform. The intertextual possibilities of the TV show are utilized and expanded in cross-over fanfiction, which enables the viewer to remain in the Arrow (superhero) universe, and enrich his or her experience. The producers of Arrow have already done some effort to incorporate the viewers wishes, by extending the role of Felicity Smoak, but they could please the fans even more, by providing them more possibilities to stay captured in the world of Arrow, and give them the possibility to take the story wherever they want it to go, which can be done by incorporating fanfiction into their transmedia network. The existing fanfiction shows that not only the slash fan is interested in alternative Arrow stories, but that also the general reader, who reads heteronormative storylines, wants to see certain plotlines elaborated.
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7. Conclusion
This research was set out to show the position and value of fanfiction within the contemporary media landscape, focusing mainly on its position and function within the transmedia network. As fan studies in general, and fanfiction in particular, have been a fairly unknown and small field of research, it is necessary to expand this research to better understand fan cultures and fan activities. In particular, the research to fan works and their relation with transmedia has been very limited. Kustritz has set the first steps towards this area of research, and the present study continues to explore this relationship. This research thus sought to answer the question of how fanfiction can be a valuable contribution to the transmedia network of a television show. By examining the fanfiction of Arrow, a picture could be sketched of how this fan activity complements the story universe of this particular, very recent TV show, which can then be extrapolated to the general position of fanfiction in the contemporary media landscape. The position of fans and their activities has changed over the years, in the academic, the cultural and the industry’s context. Fans, who were once considered as unworthy of studying and unworthy of spending time on, are now more appreciated for their efforts and seen as a valuable subject for research. Academics show more interest in fanfiction, as it can inform them about new ways of writing and it challenges the classic literature with the speed of the Internet and the daily changing stories. As the fanfiction communities have grown from small convention get-togethers to large online archives with millions of stories and visitors, academics are now able to investigate these communities which will inform them about motivations and subcultures of fans. These online fanfiction platforms also show new and unknown ways of interaction between consumer and producer, which is an important relationship in the contemporary media culture where the consumer is invited to become an active user and gain more agency. The active viewer wishes to have more agency in his or her media experience, and transmedia networks provide these possibilities. Fanfiction provides the fans with the possibility to have more control over how they experience the show they love. Fans are able to choose their preferred reading, explore alternative plotlines, pair favorite characters together and remain in the storyworld for as long as they want by for instance cross-over stories etcetera. Fanfiction thus fits in the profile of transmedia networks, as it provides more agency for the viewer to choose his or her own path in a story’s universe, by either writing the alternative plotlines themselves or choosing which fanfiction plotline to follow and go beyond the frames of the TV show. Corporations and producers have shifted from fighting and prohibiting fanfiction to accepting and acknowledging it, and even actively inviting fans to write fiction for them. Although their attitude has changed, the industry still remains rather silent about fan productions in general. As was shown
47 | P a g i n a in the case of Arrow, there is no active use by, reference towards or stimulation of the production of fanfiction by fans, while the examples of Arrow’s fanfiction provided proof that it can be a valuable contribution to its overall transmedia storyworld. The narrative structures of Arrow’s fanfiction provide more space and time to take the viewer into a richer in-depth journey of the Arrow storyworld. As the examples of sarcastic_fina, delena4ever_2012 and maxmotivates show, fanfiction can provide the viewer with more information than simply the TV show can do. The strict air-time impedes the possibility to expand on characters’ backgrounds and to keep the viewer immersed in the Arrow universe. In Arrow’s fanfiction, many possible backgrounds and future stories are described, which enable the viewer to find (and create) any additional information, and any alternative plotline he or she wishes to read. Intimate details or feelings are extensively described through which the viewer gets strongly involved with the characters. The actual ‘truth’ is not important here, as the purpose of fanfiction is to enrich the viewer with an in-depth experience of the storyworld, regardless of it being the ‘actual truth’ or a possibility of what could happen, which is also a strategy that production companies sometimes use to keep the viewer interested. Therefore the difference between controlled, official content and uncontrolled, amateur work does not matter, as the purpose of transmedia is to make the audiovisual product successful through persuasion, audience connection, and financial impact (Buckner and Rutledge 2011 in: Grandío and Bonaut 2012, 560) which can be achieved by providing the viewer with as many possibilities of the story’s plotlines as possible to immerse oneself in, to extend the duration of the experience. In Arrow, the love story between Oliver and Felicity, that does not develop or expand in the TV show, is massively described in the fanfiction culture. As can be seen on the Facebook page, where core fans as well as ‘general’ fans gather, the desire and love for this relationship is extensively expressed. Therefore, it is not just for the core fans, but also for the ‘mainstream’ Arrow fan, that fanfiction can be interesting, as the fanfiction provides the stories all these fans want to read and view, but which the TV show cannot (or will not) show them. The fact that Olicity fiction is the biggest section within Arrow’s fanfiction also says something about the position of fanfiction in general, as in many fandoms slash fiction is the biggest genre. In Arrow’s fanfiction though, the ‘mainstream’ dominant (heterosexual) reading is the dominant category. As Jones explained, heterosexuality is the norm, whereas homosexuality has to be proved. For the ‘mainstream’ reader, heterosexuality, and thus the relationship between Oliver and Felicity, is the standard. As Arrow has a big archive of Olicity – heterosexual – fiction, this could be an indication of a shift in fanfiction, developing from an underground activity towards a more mainstream activity. This indicates that fanfiction is now not only used by slash readers, who had to turn to fanfiction to express their ideas and desires that were not expressed on screen, but also by mainstream, heterosexual readers, who wish to see their favorite pairing develop. The possibilities of fanfiction are thus becoming more
48 | P a g i n a important for and known by viewers, as it is their only possibility to let this pairing happen. This is why Arrow and its fanfiction differ from previous TV shows and their fanfiction, as it seems as if the fanfiction of Arrow is more accessible to the mainstream viewer, which would then again mean for producers that it can be an interesting investment to explore what the role of fanfiction can (and should) be in the transmedia network, as it is now a more appealing activity for ‘all’ fans (and not just for the core fanfiction fans). Though there may be some difficulties that come with incorporating fanfiction into the transmedia network, such as copyright laws and infringement of interest and values, this research shows there are many benefits to the use and acknowledgement of fanfiction. The most important is the negotiation between producer and fan, that has to get to the point of fans being able to take their fiction to wherever they want it to go, and corporations maintaining their values and beliefs of a product, but still allowing fanfiction to exist. By doing so, fans and their fanfiction will contribute to the overall transmedia experience of a TV show, in a way that other previous transmedia strategies and platforms were not able to. The limitations of the image (time, space, money and possibilities) are circumvented and left behind in fanfiction, where endless imagination and possibilities exist. The incorporation of fanfiction is thus an interesting and new development that can expand the transmedia platform and can improve and strengthen the overall experience of a TV’s or movie’s storyworld. Fanfiction still is an under-appreciated and under investigated form of fan activity which deserves more attention, not only by the industry, but also by academics and spectators. Though fanfiction sometimes crosses boundaries which may infringe personal values, it is a form of art that provides space and possibilities to all users to explore fantasies and create new stories. Fanfiction is thus not only an escape for fans, but also a platform where creativity, development and improvement is stimulated. This relates both to the consumer (the fans) and the producer, who both benefit from the developments in fanfiction, as the fan is provided with more (extended) and better (qualitative) stories, and the producer is provided with information about the preferences of his audience. Further research could address the actual effect of fanfiction on the overall transmedia experience of the viewer, by holding questionnaires and interviews. Such research will be very interesting for production companies as it would mean that the ‘free’ work done by fans can become a part of their transmedia strategy, which makes the audiovisual story more successful according to Buckner and Rutledge (Grandío and Bonaut 2012, 560). This research has shown, by the means of an analysis of the fanfiction of the TV show Arrow, that the incorporation of fanfiction into the transmedia network can be very useful and valuable for producers, as fanfiction provides an opportunity to expand the existing storyworld, which enables the viewer to immerse oneself in the
49 | P a g i n a fictional universe and release his or her fantasies, which then again enriches the (transmedia) experience of the viewer.
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