Subject: Cool! May I please have your e-mail address? (nm)
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Posted on: 2014-12-19 18:51:00 UTC
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An OFU of Animated Movies? by
on 2014-12-18 00:52:00 UTC
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I've been thinking a lot about OFUs recently, and I'm wondering about the following possibility. I've discussed it with one of my betas, so I figured it would be okay to put the idea forward publicly for the sake of opinion.
Basically, most OFUs tend to cover a specific continuum, like LoTR, HP, Redwall, or Pokemon. However, those particular continua have really big fandoms and enough badfic that they get specific OFUs to themselves. From what I can tell, that isn't true for continua related to animated movies. Whereas the Pit has over 52465 LoTR fanfics, it has 10354 HTTYD fics, only a fifth as much, and only 861 Incredibles fics. And movies that are even less known may have even fewer fanfics to their credit.
Additionally, some animated film fandoms may also combine into a single super-fandom and create fics involving all of the encompassed continua. I can think of no better example than Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons, of course, and more recently the version 2.0 with Frozen added to the mix.
So... given the sheer multitude of such movies in existence, I get the feeling that having OFUs for each continuum may become difficult to manage, especially for such relatively small fandoms. So what if, instead, we had an OFU for animated films in general? If you think about it, a lot of the badfic trends in fandoms for these movies are the same or at the very least, really similar. So having to devote OFUs to specific continua may be redundant, as opposed to one OFU where animated movie canons from a range of continua teach a general whole.
Thoughts of course would be appreciated, but I honestly don't know how well this would go over, especially since a multi-fandom OFU seems a bit unexpected around here. Then again, we have an OFU of Crossovers, so maybe this could work too under the right circumstances. -
On a related note... by
on 2014-12-19 04:20:00 UTC
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...is there anyone around here aside from Iximaz who has an interest in Disney/Pixar? I'm working on a second draft for a little secret something relevant to this discussion, and I might need one or two more beta-readers for it.
As a general response to everyone who replied to my original question: In hindsight, an OFU with that broad of a scope may have indeed been a bit too much. Especially with regards to Huinesoron's statement that OFUs are free for anyone to write, so one could crop up for any particular continuum in theory. On the other hand, most of these fandoms are small enough that Iximaz does make a valid point about a Disney/Pixar OFU to cover the films produced by those companies (both the 2D stuff like the Disney Princesses and the 3D stuff like Pixar). Besides, a Disney/Pixar mega-crossover does technically exist in the form of Disney Infinity, though it doesn't have a Subspace Emissary-style story mode yet AFAIK.
A possible compromise would be as follows: At the Ohio State University, where I attend, we have a 'main' college in Columbus, but also a number of affiliated campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, and Newark. The OFUs for the animated film anthologies made by specific companies (Disney/Pixar, Dreamworks, Studio Ghibli, Blue Sky Studios...) could work in the same way - there are 'hub' OFUs that cover everything affiliated with the particular studio, but for those who still want OFUs to exist in specific continua and take care of specific fandoms like HTTYD or Frozen, the 'hub' OFU could have multiple divisions or 'campuses' distributed throughout the various worlds. Then anyone can write a specific division and tie it back to the main OFU for in-universe consistency.
Again, this hasn't actually been put into practice yet, but it's the best solution I can think of. If anyone has a better alternative, though, I'm all ears for it. -
Yes, well, but the thing is ... by
on 2014-12-19 11:58:00 UTC
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... as hS already pointed out, we at the PPC don't actually have any kind of jurisdiction over the OFUs. There's a certain overlap between people who are/were Boarders and people who write OFUs, but that's it. Technically, writing an OFU is something you do in your free time and you don't need Permission for it.
As such, we can't decide that all canons for animated movies are connected. Or rather, we can decide it, but no-one who writes an OFU is obligated to abide by it.
Also, I'm uneasy with the idea of making rules for OFUs that one is not actually planning to write. I mean, if you personally wanted to write an OFU for, say, Frozen and wanted to have it be a division of a larger Disney-OFU, than that is your choice.
But it strikes me as being ... presumptuous, if we on the Board declared that anyone who then writes about Tangled or Brave must write their OFU in the same way.
Finally (and I'm really not trying to be a jerk here) you refer to this as the 'best solution' but you haven't really explained what the problem is. You said in your opening post that having OFUs for all the small fandoms would be difficult to manage, but difficult for whom?
The PPC don't manage anything. When we are made aware of an OFU, we add it to the list of OFUs, to the page for that canon and update the list of minis. That's it.
If you're talking in-universe, someone who can consistently track down thousands upon thousands of fanwriters, send out application forms and then kidnap them to schools located outside of time and space, don't strike me as the kind of organization to have trouble managing separate OFUs for all animated movies.
I mean, if you take a look at the list on Miss Cams page there are plenty of small fandoms. If it's okay to have an OFU for the 10th Kingdom and Ella Enchanted rather than bundling them up in The Academy for Fairy Tale Derivative Fantasy, then I don't see why individual animated movies should suddenly be a problem.
So yeah, sorry to be a downer, but I just see this as a radical solution to something that have never really been an problem.
On the other hand, now I kinda wanna write The Academy for Fairy Tale Derivative Fantasy... -
I actually checked Miss Cam's list, and... by
on 2014-12-20 03:58:00 UTC
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It seems that it actually is possible for an OFU that handles a general category of stuff to exist alongside one for specific continua. There's an OFU for anime in general and also OFUs for specific ones like Trigun, for example (though most of the links on the page are broken; it must be a pretty old list for that to have happened).
The main issue I was addressing was likely an administrative one for those who manage OFUs on a large scale, assuming that there are groups that keep tabs on all of the OFUs for a particular category. But since they're essentially a free-for-all out-of-universe, I guess that may no longer be a problem. So I guess I could still set up an OFU for Disney/Pixar in general (since Disney bought Pixar a while ago and the two can now be considered part of the same company), and it doesn't have to be a 'hub' one for any of the OFUs that may be made for specific Disney continua in the future. Kinda like the Anime OFU I mentioned in the above paragraph.
I am not oblivious to the fact that you listed your e-mail in the username of the post I'm replying to. May I ask if this means you're willing to beta the thing I'm doing (or if you at least have an interest in Disney continua for when I get to a future Disney mission?) -
I might have misunderstood you by
on 2014-12-20 06:38:00 UTC
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In your opening post I thought it sounded like you wanted a general OFU in place of a bunch of smaller ones. Like one big OFU for animated movies and then we don't need one for Wall-E and an one for Porco Rosso and so on.
An OFU for, say, Pixar which exists alongside the more specific ones, would be something else and like you noticed, there's already a precedence. Though I'll be honest and say that I don't know how the genre-based OFUs work, since I haven't read them.
It could specialize in (fictional) writers who write badfics for a lot of Pixar movies, but don't seem to have a favourite.
And yes, I am definitely interested in Disney and other animated movies and unless I'm completely bogged down, when the time comes, I'd be happy to help out as a beta. -
Me! *raises hand* by
on 2014-12-19 11:19:00 UTC
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Though I haven't seen all of the recent ones. :)
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Cool! May I please have your e-mail address? (nm) by
on 2014-12-19 18:51:00 UTC
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It seems a bit, well, rude. by
on 2014-12-18 09:15:00 UTC
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OFUs, as stories, are written by people who want to write them, not 'according to need'. If someone decides they want to write, let's say a Prince of Egypt OFU (FF.net story total: 179), but decides not to because you/someone else has already briefly mentioned it in OFUAnimation - or even potentially could - then you've cut down on the number of people writing stories. That's a negative, in my view.
The key point here is the difference between in-universe and out-of-universe. In-universe, yes, it would make sense for the 'minor OFUs' to all be combined in one, in the same way that it would make sense for there to be a vast number of PPC agents working in Star Wars, Percy Jackson, and all the other popular fandoms. But out-of-universe, people write what they want to write. In missions, that means random obscure fandoms get a mission (like Flatland), while seriously huge ones don't because no-one on the Board is invested enough in them. In OFUs, it means... basically the same thing: the fandoms covered are the ones people want to write for, not the ones that 'need it most'.
I feel I should also point out, in case of anyone getting confused, that the PPC has no authority over OFUs. Miss Cam has said anyone can write them, and that's the end of that. Your phrasing says you know this and are essentially using us as a sounding Board, which is absolutely fine; just making sure no-one gets tangled up in it.
hS -
Re: An OFU of Animated Movies? by
on 2014-12-18 02:34:00 UTC
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First of all, I'd say that a lot of badfic trends are really similar, period. Something like a Tenth Walker may seem fandom specific in theory, but in practice it's the same basic principle as any other brand new character who joins the main characters. The specific ways in which they break canon are what vary from fandom to fandom. You could argue that the true focus of OFUs is breaking their students from these universal bad fannish habits, but you need something a little more specific to focus on in order to make it unique.
Honestly, I also feel like there would be a tendency for this to fall into the trap of pepper-jack cheese, or other pitfalls found in mega-crossovers. Maybe this is just a personal issue, as I tend not to be fond of super-fandoms; they just tend to feel really forced to me. But I feel like it would just turn into All-My-Personal-Favorites OFU. Even in your proposal, I noticed that you only mentioned 3D animated movies by Disney/Pixar or DreamWorks. Where do the Disney Princesses fit into this, just as an example?
Like Iximaz mentioned, I could maybe see one for a group of movies that are thematically connected, like a Disney OFU. Especially since Disney has a preexisting trend of characters from different movies interacting with each other. But a general animated movie OFU is just too big.
If there's a single series you want to focus on, just go with that one. Numbers aren't everything - HTTYD may only have one-fifth the fic count of LOTR, but there's been a Discworld OFU and it only has ~2000 fics. -
I'll re-express my opinion for everyone's benefit. by
on 2014-12-18 01:35:00 UTC
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At first, I was a bit hesitant toward the idea, because all the OFUs I've read/read about cover one fandom only. However, like SkarmorySilver pointed out, the separate fandoms have so little badfic in comparison to the 'Big Names' that combining them all into one OFU would make a certain amount of sense.
I'm still reluctant to say 'sure, why not' to an OFU for all animated movies, but, say, a Disney OFU, or a Pixar OFU, or a Dreamworks OFU on its own could be feasible. But throwing all animated movies into one OFU seems a bit much.
Of course, the distinction becomes a bit murkier when you take into consideration the number of popular, say, Disney/Pixar films. Still, I'm not the ultimate authority on this sort of thing, so... what does everyone else think?