Out of the Blue (Professionals story by Rob)

Fanfiction
Title:	Out of the Blue
Author(s):	Rob
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	slash, Bodie/Doyle
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):	Bodie/Doyle
External Links:	online here
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Out of the Blue is a 4 page Bodie/Doyle story by Rob. It was printed in The Small Print #4 and was also made available on the circuit.

Summaries

"B receives a sudden middle of the night phone call from D, who left over a year before and is now living somewhere secret with a man called Ashraf (the reasons for D's leaving are only hinted, there has been some accident and shame is involved). B would like to have D back, and D misses B -- he won't come back yet but at least he has called."

Reactions and Reviews: A 2006 Discussion About Sequels

I've been wondering... what are people's attitudes these days to authors writing sequels to Prosfic written by *other* authors? It seems like it went on alot in times past (famously, the Consequences fics) but I get the impression it's more frowned on now as a breach of etiquette? Does it make any difference if the author doesn't seem to write Pros anymore? (or if you never get a response from an attempt to contact them, cos it's old information, for example?) This is something I've been thinking about, but I was also prompted to ask by a friend wondering about the fic Out of the Blue by Rob. When I read it I had to agree - it's crying out for a beginning and an end - does anyone know if it has one somewhere? I see that Out of the Blue itself was paper circuit...

I wondered about Out of the Blue when I first read it, and asked around, but nobody seemed to know anything about any "context" stories. Rob seems to have vanished from sight, alas!

Oh what a shame - it really does seem to be right in the middle of something doesn't it..! Thanks for the info though : )

I was just talking about this with a friend during and after the SGA fuss that broke out recently. Pros is a very different fandom from SGA - thank all the graces!

It was interesting to me that in reading the various LJ posts, both those focused narrowly on the SGA fandom and those who broadened the question to other fandoms, that the overwhelming majority of those upset by the idea were relative newcomers to fandom. And by relative newcomers, I mean post-Internet fandom participants. I think the idea that permission should or even must be sought and received before writing a story sparked by another fan fiction is very much an Internet-fandom related question. I found it extremely interesting that several of the posters who offerred a different, historical viewpoint had experience in writing Pros (e.g. Sandy, Cynthia, Nansi...

Pros has a long, long tradition of writers sparking off each other's work and writing stories that are inspired by and/or negative reactions to other stories, both with and without seeking the approval from the writer of the source inspiration. I'd even say that was one of the major forces that propelled and shaped The Circuit. Some stories are actually sequels while others are more loosely inspired by a plot point, image, or question. Some sequels have been authorized (e.g. Joana Dey's story, Life Goes On which is an authorized sequel to Kathy Keegan's Gentle on My Mind series), and many others have not.

You can get a sense of how common that was just by looking at Pen's series list for Pros stories. However, since the series list only deals with series of three or more stories, it won't show the times when a story got a single sequel written by someone else. But you can find numerous instances if you browse through Cassie's huge database or Lady Dagger's sequel info.

There are many factors that I think shaped the attitudes in Pros, amongst them its development as a slash fandom that grew out of The Circuit (whose unique influence cannot be over-estimated), its huge zine base, and that it was well established before the Internet and online fandom came into being. Any of which is rich enough fodder for a dissertation-length response, though I'll spare you that for the moment. *g*

Out of the Blue by Rob doesn't have a sequel by anyone as far as I know. I did double check with Pen's lists, Cassie's database, and Lady Dagger's info and none show a sequel - or prequel. I'd still need to check Lily's story reference lists to be sure, but ....

I don't follow SGA or ST (or in fact any other fandom!) at all, but it was interesting to hear their aspect of the debate - thanks! And your thoughts about internet vs zine/circuit viewpoints sound very plausible to me (with clearly exceptions on all sides!) I wonder if the accessibility of everything on the internet, and its notoreity for enabling people to "steal" from each other - in general not just in fandom I mean, plagiarising sites for homework, downloading information in exams, stealing bandwidth, for example - might make people a bit more leery. Whereas writing a sequel that was perhaps likely to be seen by fewer people via zines etc limited the damage on its own, if the author didn't like it for whatever reason, now that "damage" is much more easily widespread and available... And so people are more defensive about it to start with?

I'd add in Star Trek-TOS as another fandom in which such a question (is permission expected or necessary) would have been looked at with bemusement during most of its thirty year history. A nod towards acknowledging the inspiration, yes, absolutely, but permission? That's a very different thing.

As to whether or not Pros fen today would view an author writing a sequel to a Pros story written by another author as a breach of etiquette? I'd say that it would be much less likely than in many other fandoms - and in my opinion that's a very good thing - but it would be variable. Different fandoms can have very different norms, and one's prior experience in a fandom often shape their future expectations in other fandoms. So it would also depend on how recently the person asked came to Pros fandom, if Pros was their first fandom, and if they had any sense of Pros unique fandom history.

And too, I think opinions will vary on whether the story is a true sequel (i.e. that it accepts the prior story as "canon background" if you will and builds off it) or if the new story is sparked by the prior story, but doesn't use it as "canon background" - instead moving in a different direction.

Oh, and a last thought (at least for this post *g*) - not all the sequels or stories inspired by others in Pros have been complimentary. Many of the follow-ups to Consequences were attempts to repudiate or remodel the original. There are also several instances where follow-up stories were taking the piss regarding the originals , some more friendly than others.

That was really what started me thinking about it actually - people so clearly did write the sequels in the past, and yet I had a sort of inkling that it was a bit frowned upon these days...

I think that inkling isn't entirely wrong; there are those who don't approve as you saw on the list. And no, there aren't "blanket rules" but I still think the dominant paradigm remains that being inspired by, riffing on, and even writing sequels for other's stories is an essential - and valued - component of Pros fandom.

I also think that you'll get different gradiations of support for that view depending on if you speak mainly to readers or readers/writers. And don't forget to add in the human tendency to make exceptions for our own actions while calling others to account - no matter what the issue.

You can easily while away an afternoon just browsing through the SGA fuss, but I think it's particularly illuminating when you read some of the related posts as the debate moved out to wider fandom circles. I find it interesting to see how many people had not a clue about larger fandom history, or even that norms could - and do - vary widely across different fandoms.

Whereas writing a sequel that was perhaps likely to be seen by fewer people via zines etc limited the damage on its own, if the author didn't like it for whatever reason, now that "damage" is much more easily widespread and available... And so people are more defensive about it to start with?

I don't know. I think it might be part of it, but I think it has more to do with how people view fandom itself. Is fandom (either broadly speaking or restricted to your own specific fandom) a place where communal discussions and other fen interactions lead to creative expression, and the communal/interactive inspiration is expected, accepted, and important? Or is fandom a forum where you, as an individual, seek an audience for your proprietary creative expression?

Before the Internet, I would argue that stories inspired by other work or those written in reaction to other work (riffs, missing scenes, repudiations, even sequels) were another way to have fannish discussions about various issues. Yes, there were also LOCs, and reviews, individual contacts (in person, by phone, and/or by letter), and panel discussions at cons. But the stories themselves acted as powerful venues for such discussion - especially in Pros. Today, there is paradoxically both more discussion (in absolute volume) and less willingness to have discussion (proportionally).

And I absolutely loathe that normal fan discussion is now being labelled "meta" and as a result, many fen are increasingly eschewing the idea of discussion because they erroneously think discussion must mean an academic treatise! Meta-analysis has a very specific meaning. I'll even accept the term being broadened to relate to non-statistical overview analysis of fandom interactions and trends. But to call any fandom discussion "meta"? NO, a thousand times NO. It drives me nuts that a number of influential fen with academic backgrounds routinely promote such usage.

Before the Internet, I would argue that stories inspired by other work or those written in reaction to other work (riffs, missing scenes, repudiations, even sequels) were another way to have fannish discussions about various issues.

Yes, absolutely. This sort of fannish conversation - "debate by fic", as it were - has always been something I've enjoyed.

I've often talked with people who are frothing mad about some story they've read. My suggestion is always (if they're writers) to write a story which expresses their own viewpoints. It doesn't have to have anything whatsoever to do with the original piece. Just decide on your points of disagreement, and write your own story as a way of exploring your own thoughts on characterization, etc.