2008-03-20

sab: (sga >> hewlett hearts daleks)
2008-03-20 10:36 pm

utopian currencies

I'm doing Sweet Charity this year and am just sort of marveling in the awesomeness of what fans will do for each other, and for charity.

And then I was thinking I wanted to do something like buy a GIFT for someone, as well. Like, I buy a fic writer and give her an awesome request about Rodney and some chickens, and then I *give* the resulting story to Punk, as a present, because I knew it would be a fic she'd like? Doesn't that seem like a thing we could do with our fannish currency?

And then I thought, what if I buy a Sweet Charity ficcer and have her write my [livejournal.com profile] remixredux for me? Like, I give the person I auctioned for a couple of stories my remixee put up for remixing, and let HER remix one for me? I figured I'd give my remixee TWO remixes upon the reveal -- I mean, I'd write my own remix and so would the auctionee, more presents for all!

And then I thought, sometimes I have an icon that someone else wants. Let's say I "bought" it, with the common icon currency of comment/credit, over at [livejournal.com profile] grrliz icon store. Then lets say I thought [livejournal.com profile] furies would love it. So I remove it from my userpics -- or don't -- and gift it to Step.

Or, for real, what if I find an awesome piece of L Word femslash and I print it out and send it to my sister as a present? I mean, the author's information would be on it...couldn't it be like I'd bought her a book?

This strikes me as an interesting question about the creative commons nature of fanfiction, as well as offers a nice, friendly opportunity for people to use fannish infrastructure to share. I'm not sure if it's going to be universally received to look at fannish output as a product, but, as for me, I gladly put my product out there to be shared, gift-wrapped, farmed out, traded, or to serve any fannish purpose they can.

Yes? No? Oh and as for the LJ boycott, I sort of look at it the way I looked at Victoria's Secret when they discontinued my favorite bra. I mean, I was mad, I was sad, I felt a little abandoned by the people who cared for my breasts all those years, but I wasn't ideologically upset with them, and, at the end of the day, they still had several other bras that excited me, and I was still going to shop there as long as they had good soft pants and 5 bikinis for $25. So, you know, I didn't boycott them.