Mar

Fifty Shades Takes Manhattan…While TwiFandom Whips Out The Chains…

Written By TwoPeas1pod

I managed to go all weekend ignoring the controversy over the Today Show’s segment Friday morning about Fifty Shades of Grey. My TL was spinning faster than a Vegas slot machine over it and honestly, I just wanted to stick my fingers in my ears and hum in effort to block it out.

Bring up the idea of ’to publish vs. not to publish’ and people seem to lose their minds in this fandom.

So, I finally gave in tonight and watched the clip. For those of you who have managed to stay under the rock with me – here it is. Watching it has given me twitchy palms. Alas, it’s time to unload…

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46590258/ns/today-books/t/triple-x-trilogy-novels-has-women-talking-quietly/

My first thought: Where the hell did they dig up that Boca Raton book club? It looks like the cast of a Real Housewives episode.

Does he moderate the meetings? "Hellllo bitches! Let's talk some Fifty"

My second thought: Dr Drew. WTF?

How can you claim a book demonstrates violence against women if you haven’t read it? And why the fuck are you sitting in on this segment if you just admitted you haven’t read it and therefore have no clue what you’re talking about?

In that whole 7+ minutes, it’s like you were the token dick in the room. And honestly – the ‘premenopausal’ comment made you sound like one.

Has the man ever spent 5 minutes on Pornhub? What does he think most of the men in this world are jacking off to? Most of that stuff doesn’t exactly depict men and women in a candlelit bedroom, making love on a bed of roses. In the missionary position of course.

We live in a world where we think the glass ceiling no longer exists – but apparently, women are still not allowed to have the same fantasies as men?

Whatever Dr. Drew.

Read the book and then come back and talk to us. I don’t care if you agree with us – but at least then we can have an intelligent conversation.

Now... Isn't this old ad campaign fucking ironic? No subject is taboo? Well, apparently we found Dr Drew's hard limit.

I can only imagine what his twitter feed looked like Friday. I am guessing the man learned that we should all be known as the TwiMafia. You mess with one of our own, we get nasty. You mess with our beloved Fifty, we pull out shanks.

My third thought: Why would anyone in this ‘family’ object to EL’s success? CLEARLY Stephenie Meyer doesn’t. If she did, she would stop fanfiction from happening.

Other authors have come out with guns and lawyers blazing. Handing out cease & desist letters to prevent fanfic from entering their universe. Steph clearly embraces it. I have always admired the woman. This is one more reason to adore her.

I’m gonna get technical for a second. Don’t let your eyes cross.

Here. Let this make your eyes cross instead. "Stop crossing your eyes babe, Seriously it's distracting."

If you look at US copyright law the 4^th clause says to prove infringement you have to show the ‘effect of the use upon the potential market or value of the copyrighted work.’ So ask yourself: Is MOTU being published and hitting the NYT Bestseller list REALLY gonna cause a dent in the Twilight juggernaut? Will it have any impact on Stephenie’s wallet? Yeah… I think not.

I have to laugh at the people who are all over twitter typing in shouty caps about how Icy will land in jail over all this. Do they not think Writer’s Coffee Shop has lawyers? Do they not think those lawyers made pretty damn sure copyright laws weren’t violated? Please give these professionals more credit than that.

One of the gifts Stephenie’s work has given the world is the inspiration so many women have found to put pen to paper themselves. I would hope she knows how much she’s inspired us and would feel proud of any success that comes from it.

Lots of writers are inspired by other people’s work. That’s why so many great writers are also prolific readers. If we were going to squash every novel that was inspired by Romeo and Juliet, we’d pretty much wipe out half of Barnes & Noble. Was Fifty inspired by Stephenie? Was Fifty inspired by looking at Robporn? Who knows. But he stands on his own. With a flogger in hand. And that is all that matters.

My fourth (and final cause my brain hurts) thought: I am going to go on record here. I pretty much only read fanfiction these days. In fact, I don’t think I’ve purchased a real book in over 18 months.

Why would I? Our TwiFamily is full of so much talent it consistently amazes me. But I don’t tell anyone in my real life this fact. Because let’s face it… they would laugh. Their asses off.

Fanfic has a bad connotation. Juvenile smut. Poorly written drabble. Plotless romance.

That is a load of crap. Having MOTU morph into Fifty Shades and get passed around Real Housewives Book Clubs helps show that there is quality fanfic out there worthy of respect.

I was so proud when they mentioned in the Today Show piece that this was indeed a Twilight fic. EL is one of us. She’s not trying to hide it. She is still out there tweeting about her sons and her day from her Icy account. I was also proud that apparently the Today Show had received so many emails with worry that EL and Icy weren’t the same person. TwiMafia in full effect.

Part of what I love about this fandom is the empowerment I feel being with so many great women. We are a sisterhood. And sisters should take care of one another. We should not be abandoning her now. We should be throwing her a tickertape parade. We should have her back while she is going out into the great big world.

I pulled up the New York Times Bestseller list tonight and got chills seeing her name AHEAD of John Grisham’s.

That’s just cool.

She gave us all Fifty. Not Edward. Fifty.

He belongs to her. Not to Stephenie. Not to us. He is all her own.

As much as he would like it – this fandom cannot chain him to the bed and hide him on ff.net.

For the record: THIS is my Fifty. Will always be my Fifty. I don't give a crap if people wanna call him Christian instead of Edward as long as he has this sex hair. And I would offer about 100 million dollars if someone would talk R&K into playing these roles in the movie. I know. It's not gonna happen. But a girl can dream. No one else will ever replace this MOTU manip for me. It will long reign in my heart.

She deserves to send him out into the world and we deserve to watch the rest of the universe discover what we’ve all known for years…

Think of how happy sooo many more husbands will be… the damn divorce rate actually might drop.

I am so proud of you Icy.

Go out there and get ‘em EL.

Laters.

<3 twopeas1pod

What side of the bed do you fall on? Chain fanfic down or send it out into the universe?

Categories : Twilight

Em

Fantastic post!

Thank you for sharing some love.
http://twitter.com/quietruby quietruby

Thoughtful, LOGICAL and heartfelt! Thank you for sharing your positivity!
Mrs W

Bravo! The vocal few are only going to make themselves look stupid in the end, and make the twilight fandom into even more of a laughing stock. We all know this level of animosity began long ago, when motu was still being written.
Jodie Dodd

Brilliant! Thank you, these are my thoughts exactly. While reading MotU I hoped it would eventually be published, being one of the many who encouraged Icy to publish. I wanted to be able to share a hard copy with friends who had never read Twilight or any other fanfiction.

FSoG stands completely on its own. It may have been inspired by Twilight but it is its own story, nothing at all to do with vampires and wolves, etc.

E.L. deserves the attention she’s getting, she’s given us fantastic characters whom you’ll cry along with while laughing your ass off a few pages later!
actressoncall

I so second everything you say. I am so proud of Icy!
ChocoMG2112

That was brilliant, thank you so much.
AdoreFanfic

Loved your post. It’s the voice of reason and sanity in this insane debate. Of course the work belongs to E.L. James (Icy)! Her imagination may have been sparked by outside factors, but these characters are all hers. She is the one who developed them into those we know and love.
As for Dr. Drew, shame on him! He lost all credibility as soon as he admitted that he didn’t read the books. He then proceeded to do what most people do in terribly uncomfortable situations where they’re about to be exposed for their ignorance—he shifted the focus to violence against women. I call BS. Any of us who have read Icy’s story knows that is not even on the radar in her work.

P.S. I pretty much read only FF, too, these days. Some of the writing is impressive and memorable, while some is just juvenile, but all of it comes from just plain old real people who are putting themselves out there for the sheer joy of writing. Kudos to all of them!
http://twitter.com/FunmbiE Funmbi M. Elemo

Thank you for this post, especially the part about U.S. copyright law. This definitely sheds some light.
Now you know I love MotU: first fic I ever read and I STILL celebrate my MotUversary (December 2, 2009). I own the FS series, I love EL and wish her the very best.

With that said, I think it’s only fair to acknowledge that this is a complicated situation. Despite initial intent, this is something that can affect other TwiFic authors and the fandom in general.
It’s important to consider fanfiction in a historical context: the fights and law suits that fanfiction authors engaged in to reach a rather precarious balance with publishers/copyright holders.

MotU is based (in part) on Twilight, this can’t be denied. FSoG is based on MotU. So, while FSoG looks NOTHING like Twilight, it is a derivative of sorts (even in the most minor of ways).
I completely agree that the FS plot is original and it is well within EL’s rights to share that plot with any audience she wants. But we have to acknowledge that, for better or worse, the publishing and popularity of FS has pushed some boundaries in traditional fanfiction.

I don’t have any answers. I know I don’t want SM to shut down TwiFic. I also know that I’m so, incredibly happy for EL and her recent success.

This…this “conflict” is necessary…a sort of growing pain as our community changes. I think if we continue to show patience and respect, we’ll get through this just fine.

x
- http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole
  
  Super super interesting thought Funmbi! That notion is one that I hadn’t thought too deeply about -but could certainly understand someone arguing against support of publishing FF. The idea of fear over Fifty being published causing SM to change her view and try to shut down FF. I can see that arguement.
  
  I guess I just havesome strange inner faith that she would not do that. In my mind SM is a super savvy lady and seems to make smart choices and I think she would know that shutting down FF (would give me heart failure) and would turn so many fans against her. The backlash it would cause, in my opinion, would not be worth it for her.
  
  I could see her stopping the publishing of anything that got ‘too close’. A brown haired girl with a perky ‘psychic’ pixie of a friend. Anything to do with Wolves and Vamps… We all know there are LOTS of awesome fics out there that have amazing plots – but rely on Stephenie’s character development instead of their own. They are still AWESOME reads – but they need to stay on the fanfic shelves. Those I could see Steph and her lawyers objecting to.
  
  But stories that stand on their own…and I guess I just firmly feel MOTU is one, I hope SM would feel flattered by. I hope she feels like a proud mentor, not someone being robbed. She has more money than she and her children’s children could ever hope to spend… So as long as it’s not blantant infringement, I can’t see her getting upset over someone else making a few bucks off something she helped inspire.
  
  It would be SO SO SO interesting to know how SM feels about this. I WISH someone would interview her and ask. And it would be fascinating to interview E.L. and know what the legal process was that she went through. You KNOW there had to be a lot of hoops to crawl through…
  
  I have to wonder – did WCS lawyers have to contact Little & Brown?? And can you imagine being the editors/lawyers who had to meticuously comb through FSoG to make sure it was ‘clean’. Bwahahahaha!
  
  I find this discussion very interesting. I just wish it was more civilized on my TL. That’s why I just tried to ignore this whole thing all weekend.
  
  What I can’t stand are the people out there railing on authors who pull their fics. I was seeing a lot of ‘This shouldn’t be published, it’s fanfic – she shouldn’t have pulled it.’ Sure it’s a bummer – but it’s an author’s right in my eyes. I feel like some people think once a story is posted to ff.net it’s public domain… To me it’s just not. I like that she was honest and forewarned us all (knowing she needed to give us time to download it!) I love that she finished it out as an FF. She could have EASILY said ‘Hey bitches – you want the last 4 chapters you’ll have to buy the book!’ To me Icy stayed true to us. I respect her for that… And I respect SM for letting this happen. Both amazing women in my mind!
BellaFanatic

Well said…..my thoughts exactly. *standing ovation* ;o)

Thank you for this well written article.

And most of all Congrats to our dear sweet EL. We all knew these books were going to skyrocket & they did.
Adonicass

interesting comments, supportive, intelligent. Why weren’t you on the Today Show?

BWHAHA that was exactly my reaction when I saw the BR bookclyb. Where are the real suburban moms (Like me)?
- http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole
  
  I would HAPPILY go on the Today Show for round 2 with Dr Drew!!! lmfffao. Bring it DrD. Bring it. But he better have read the damn thing… and be ready to tell me what a safe word is!!
Vanessa

love this post!! you are so right in so many things!! Look at Icy now, fifty and her story are known everywhere! and it totally deserves to be known I love it, there will never ever be another story that could replace Motu or even EP those are stories worth reading tons of time on books or as fanfics. so happy and proud of her and all the fics writers because what starts like a fun hobbit can be so much more <3
http://twitter.com/GuardingKatmom Kathie/katmom

Thank you…Loved this!
http://tuchulcha.livejournal.com/ tuchulcha

“I am guessing the man learned that we should all be known as the
TwiMafia. You mess with one of our own, we get nasty. You mess with our
beloved Fifty, we pull out shanks.”

This is exactly part of the problem. What is up with the crazy over the top response by those who are fans? Icy has never reigned this in, nor has she spoken up about the seriously scary way her fans “protect” her. Is this legal? I believe that’s unsettled law. Is the publishing of MOTU ethical? No. I don’t believe it is at all. This post says it very well – http://jamigold.com/2012/03/when-does-fan-fiction-cross-an-ethical-line/

Unfortunately I fear that you’ll all go “shank” that woman and tell her how wrong she is. What’s up with the absolutely crazy behavior of vilifying anyone who expresses the opinion that the books are terrible or the publishing unethical. We all have a right to our opinions, don’t we?
- http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole
  
  We can totally discuss with different opinions. I found that article very interesting. Like I said above – I find the different view points very interesting. I find Dr. Drew’s comments offensive not because of the MOTU discussion but because I think he has a double standard of men and women…
  
  The article’s arguement about ‘using’ another person’s fanbase is one I hadn’t heard before. Very interesting. I had not thought of it that way before.
  
  But I am sitting here trying to ponder that and I guess from that perspective I think Vampire Diaries, True Blood (although is this based on another book? I do not watch any of these shows… so I am admittedly ignorant on this one), My Babysitter is a Vampire, Wizards of Waverly Place… I could go on — should all also be labeled as having crossed that same ethical line because to me all these are doing is capitalizing on the same fans. EVERYwhere we look these days vampires abound. Isn’t that just people tapping into us? And then I guess I look at people like Marcus Foster and Sam Bradley. While certainly those gentlemen might have talent all their own – they have tapped into the Twilight fandom. Do we belittle their succcess because of riding some coat tails?
  
  I have had the pleasure of beta’ing for 3 different authors. I see how hard these people work. It starts out as a hobby. It builds and grows. They spend so much time and put so much heart into it. If it turns into something organic – something that can stand on its own – do we have to shut it down because of how it started out?
  
  I guess in my mind this decision should be left up to Stephenie. It really is her choice, not ours. If she is ok with it, I don’t see why this fandom feels the need to ‘self police.’
  
  If Steph said ‘NO.’ We’d have to respect that. She clearly has said yes. So I just can’t see why we are trying to override it…
  
  And I guess I just don’t see the parallels between MOTU and Twilight. But admittedly it has been probably a year since I read it… Would be interested to read any articles where someone has gone through and compared.
  - http://tuchulcha.livejournal.com/ tuchulcha
    
    Truly I don’t believe you can assume SMeyer has said “yes”. It may be that they’re taking a wait and see attitude. Unless she comes out and says she has no problem with it I’m not comfortable assuming she’s OK with it. I think that’s way too big an assumption to make.
    
    As for the parallels with Twilight just take out vampirism and substitute BDSM. I’d say the parallels are striking.
    - http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole
      
      I guess this is where we just agree to disagree. I don’t see the parallels in plot at all. And I would think if Stephenie had a problem with it she would have stopped it by now. The cat’s too far out of the bag now. Just my opinion.
  - Nagilum135
    
    Marcus Foster and Sam Bradley advertised their “connection” to Twilight? Really, never seen it. What I have seen is fans of Pattinson talking about Foster and Bradley, downloading their music and attending their shows because they like Pattinson and wanted to connect to things he liked. Don’t ever remember seeing Foster or Bradley actively pursuing Twilight fans.
    - http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole
      
      Sorry. Never meant to imply that they have ‘advertised’ it. In fact, I have so so much respect for those guys cause they haven’t. They seem true friends and I am so happy that they are. Hollywood seems like it would be a lonely place without real friends… I just meant that they Twilight fanbase has ended up being a good thing for them… Twilight has been like a web spreading out across so many things. It’s made a lot of people a lot of money… And it seems like there’s lots of shows and other YA books out there now trying to plug into this fandom. I don’t have a problem with it actually… It’s just I don’t think you can single this one book out if you don’t lump all of those things in with it. I guess Vamp Diaries would be my biggest example? Interested to know how you feel about shows like that? From your viewpoint do they cross the line? Thanks again for sharing your ideas.
Nagilum135

He doesn’t stand on his own – Icy read The Dominant and then wrote MOTU. No way in hell did she come up with the idea by herself. You can pinpoint it by looking at the evidence.
- http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole
  
  Ahhh… I was wondering if someone would bring this up. I have some very close friends who feel this same way. I have read the Tara Sue Me trilogy and very much enjoyed the story. I actually think this arguement might be easier to make than the Twilight vs MOTU one. I was not a part of the fandom back when MOTU first got started. Was there controversy then about the simlarities? I am curious what TSM had to say at the time?
  - http://tuchulcha.livejournal.com/ tuchulcha
    
    From what I’ve heard from a mutual friend she felt terrible about the proliferation of abusefic masquerading as BDSM and also with the sheer numbers of bad BDSM fic that came after TS/TD. She’s left the fandom now, so not sure what she’d have to say about it if she even knows.
- Arty
  
  I don’t actually think there are many similarities to MotU/FSoG and TD/TS. The relationship in TD/TS starts out based on being a D/s relationship. Bella is a natural submissive in the story, whereas Bella/Ana is nothing of the kind.
  
  Again, you can say that SM’s characters are based on the works that inspired SM. Canon Edward is very similar to The Vampire Diaries’ Stefan, imo. That’s the show – I’ve never read the books.
  
  EL has never said this was a BDSM story. It’s a love story with kink.
  - http://tuchulcha.livejournal.com/ tuchulcha
    
    They’re marketing it as a BDSM story – “the new 9 1/2 Weeks.” That’s what all the articles are about. *raises eyebrows* She can’t say that anymore now that they seem to be marketing it that way.
    - Aredeetea
      
      Who are the “they” you’re talking about? The NYPost? Those aren’t EL’s words. People seem to think this is some brilliantarketin scheme. You’re giving TWCS way too much credit.
  - http://tuchulcha.livejournal.com/ tuchulcha
    
    See this article: LINK REMOVED BY AIT DUE TO PRIVACY ISSUES
    or this
    http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/makes-you-want-sex-with-your-husband-1.1249382
    or this
    LINK REMOVED BY AIT DUE TO PRIVACY ISSUES
    
    Looks like they’re marketing it as a “BDSM” story.
    - http://www.adventuresintwilighting.com Adventures In Twilighting
      
      Some of the links in this comment have been removed due to issues with personal privacy. For ethical reasons, we ask that anyone commenting here please refrain from posting links to articles that divulge unauthorized personal identity information.
  - http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole
    
    Love story with kink! I love that description! Gonna start making my RL peeps read FSoG… and that is exactly how I’m gonna describe it! =). ITA!
  - Nagilum135
    
    I didn’t say there were similarities, I said Icy read the stories and then came up with MOTU. She liked what she called the dark side of Edward in those stories and wrote her version but I doubt she’d have written the BDSM aspect without having just finished, and I mean just having finished The Dominant. She stopped her story in progress to start MOTU because she was so inspired.
http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole

Wow. Very very interesting comments here today! I like the different view points! I might joke about shanks… but I do actually enjoy listening to what other people think. As long as it’s not beligerent I am willing to agree to disagree. =). Some of these comment really have me thinking… Love it! Thank you all for being willing to share you ideas.
RoseArcadia

Freakin’ fantastic post, man! Yeah, what can I say, you said it all…big fat ditto!
http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole

well that makes me sad =(. Her story was very good and is still enjoyed by many. =)
http://twitter.com/drapht13 Deb

Awesome post!! You have an amazing ability to put into words exactly what I, and I’m sure many other women here, are thinking.
I completely agree that it is SM’s prerogative to allow fanfiction to be written, posted and possibly published or take steps to have it stopped. If she is not complaining about it then who are we to give these authors a hard time.
Congrats to EL for all her success!!!
http://www.adventuresintwilighting.com PrettySparklies

Oh @TwoPeas1Pod, you never cease to amaze me when you take the reigns! Of course, I agree 100% and I too am so happy about the comments we’ve gotten. I like a good discussion and welcome you all to our site! We should have a fanfic corner!
- http://twitter.com/twopeas1pod Nicole
  
  Thanks for letting me have the keys to the car babe. Lol. I have really actually enjoyed all the comments today. I think for the most part we’ve managed to have a good discussion, present a lot of different views and remain respectful. At least I hope people feel that way.
  
  I have been thinking about everything people have said. Truly. I feel like I better understand the arguements people are trying to make on both sides…
  
  I have been trying to answer in my mind the question someone asked about WHY we all feel so passionately about this.
  
  I guess for me it’s because MOTU was much more than a book. It was an awakening. I think that’s what those ladies on the Today show were trying to say they’d experienced too. For some people it just hits a certain cord…it’s, odd to say, but altering. But different people bring different things to their reading of a story- so I get that for some it’s just a book… Anyway. I think that’s why I am passionate in my support for it… Let’s just say MrP is a big fan of Icy… =) I’m not into whips and chains mind you – but reading the book sparked us talking about sex. Openly in a way we hadn’t before. That’s pretty fucking cool in my opinion. And I think that’s why i was so irritated with Dr Drew. He doesn’t get it. Anything that gets couples communicating about sex is a great thing. If books like this are that catalyse for some people… then why shoot it down?
  
  I really thought two people would read this post today. lol.
UnashamedTwiwife

TwoPeas…you’re my heroine. You said everything I was thinking in a much more elegant way.
http://twitter.com/Janeurogyn Jane

Lovely comments… and sentimental- that old image of Motu! An alternate viewpoint I can see but Vitriol really is so hard to understand
JiffSimpson

I couldn’t agree with you more on all counts! I have the Today Show segment recorded but still haven’t watched it b/c I saw so many tweets about it. It makes no sense to have someone discussing a book that they have never read on national television. That’s a total fail on The Today Show’s part!
I do not understand all the nastiness going on in this fandom about fic writers being published. Fanfic is a vessel that allows those who’ve probably never had the opportunity to write for an audience, do so on their terms. And if that opportunity, in turn, allows them to become published authors, we should be celebrating with them, for them, NOT against them!
I, too, haven’t bought a book in over a year because all I read is fic!
Awesome post, Girl!!
40Sumthin

OMG! You go sister! Perfectly said!
40Sumthin

BTW…I’m on the side of the bed saying to send it out into the universe! I have said over & over that there are way too many good stories out there in the FF world & if these talented authors changed the character names, locales, etc., they would have bestsellers!