#i’m considering writing about fanfiction for my big capstone project

[wander-wren]

i finished watching season 2 and i’m back with an essay. spoilers below the cut, though i was as vague as possible.

first, there are a few immediate arguments that sab can’t be fanfiction:

it’s a tv show

it’s produced for profit/commercially

it was partially created by leigh

i’m throwing out the first point because that’s semantics and no one cares. i’ll toss out the second because, while fanfiction should be free, it does get bought/sold (hot tip: don’t do that) and profit doesn’t change its nature.

that leaves the third point and a big question: can an author create fanfiction of their own work?

i think the answer is yes. in my eyes, fanfiction is a lot about the intention of a work, the context. if leigh were to, say, release a short story featuring the crows in our world, without grisha powers and etc, and had them do a heist, that is clearly not intended to be part of the canon. it’s fanfiction.

you may disagree; the lines here are incredibly blurry and everyone sees things differently. but i believe shadow and bone CAN be fanfiction.

the question now is…is it?

in short, i think it is, yes.

it’s well known that many of the people working on the show are big fans of the series. it’s been clear from the start that leigh and eric don’t intend to tell the story of any of the books 1:1–that’s literally impossible in this setup. what they’ve done is to embrace that change, taken the crossover alternate universe where the crows and alina’s plotlines happen semi-simultaneously and asked what ELSE they can change. it’s a derivative work, but not really an adaptation. therefore, i say fanfic.

forgive me for not having read the shadow & bone trilogy in years; i don’t remember how much exactly of that canon made it into the show. i do know that the show added several new characters in both seasons—original characters, if you will, OCs. i definitely saw them add an “only one bed” and fake dating trope in season 2. milo the goat comes across as just a little crack-ish, to me. in the most complimentary possible way, of course. oh, and the dream/hallucination sequences (not alina, the other ones) just felt fannish, i can’t really explain that.

also, what we got with kaz and his backstory/trauma feels fanfic-tinged. if you’ve read any of my fic you know i’m ALL about exploring those things, mental health, recovery, etc. i also write original fiction sometimes, and look, there is a huge difference between the two when it comes to that. characters in shows, movies, books, they can’t really have things like panic attacks unless the story is actually about mental health in some way. at least, not in fantasy/specfic. there simply isn’t time for it; the plot has to move. once you’ve established, yes, Character fears Thing, you don’t need to waste time continuing to have them freak out. plus, it might get boring/repetitive.

but this works in fanfiction because there is no set word limit. because fans love angst. because fans expect fic to fill in what canon doesn’t. because fic is allowed more dramatics and more range of emotion.

kaz brekker having multiple obvious panic attacks and flashbacks? kaz forced to take off his gloves in a crowded market? kaz clutching his cane and gloves like a child in the corner? it’s fanfiction, baby.

counterargument: in the books, we do get that to an extent, but it’s mostly just in kaz’s mind and not showing on the outside. that’s because it’s a book, kaz can do that. in a show, if you want that point to get across, you have to make it show on the outside.

i maintain that it’s fanfiction-y anyway. that’s just what it feels like, as someone who’s written on both sides.

that was a very shaky point i didn’t mean to talk about for so long. but now, the main event: i want to talk about signaling.

i’m not sure if there’s a better word for it, but it’s a fanfiction staple and it’s everywhere in shadow and bone. see, the assumption with fanfic is that everyone reading is already familiar with the world, characters, and plot. you don’t need to explain or go into detail; everyone already knows. hence, signaling.

signaling is: the search for the sea whip/firebird going so fast. book fans already saw the journeys, the friendship-making, etc. we don’t need it rehashed; just the big dramatic highlights.

signaling is: jesper asking for a demolitions expert in s1. book fans know that is a little reference to wylan.

signaling is: the fight for control of the dregs. show fans immediately recognize it as a version of the scene from crooked kingdom. in fact, the dregs coming up at all is a signal.

god i sure hope i’m explaining this well, because it feels like second nature to me as both a writer and reader. sometimes it’s just a reference only fans will understand, sometimes it’s outlining plot points that really should get shown in depth—if they weren’t already known by the audience, that is. the show bends over backwards to do this, sometimes twisting things a little bit awkwardly (implausibly?) to set up the right conversation or conflict. again, that feels like fanfiction, that specific suspension of disbelief to allow for the flashy colors and familiar phrases we all love, so we can point at them, so we can say “i understood that reference.”

i’ve actually been thinking about this—signaling—recently because of a different project, the way fanfic has the freedom to tell huge stories in short amounts of words, because all they need are the keyframes and the things they change, if any. which is helpful, when you only have 8 hours to tell a story that spans four countries and involves like 20 major characters.

so, tl;dr: it’s fanfic because it feels fannish. it’s an alternate universe, a series of hypotheticals and answers, a chance to rewrite parts of canon and do something new.

now, it is 1 in the morning and i this thought came to me half-baked midway through my watch, so forgive me if my points are not entirely coherent. and PLEASE add your thoughts whether you agree or disagree, because i’m very curious and also probably going to be thinking about this for the next week.

is the shadow and bone show fanfiction? discuss