Welcome back to This Week in Fandom, the OTW’s roundup of things which are happening! Before we start, did you know that it’s Copyright Week? Our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have lined up a series of copyright-related topics for discussion throughout the week. Watch for the OTW’s Legal team posting about some of them!
Spoilers ahead! January 2017 has been a big month for people involved in the Sherlock fandom. All three episodes of the fourth (and possibly final) series have now aired, and reactions have been… strong. The third episode, “The Final Problem,” had the lowest ratings in the show’s history, possibly partly due to a Russian version of the episode being leaked early. However, viewer reaction suggests that the low ratings may also be due to the quality of the show. While there are some very positive reviews of the show, like this one from The Telegraph, there were more negative reviews, such as this one from The Guardian, which actually elicited a response–in poem form!–from show co-creator Mark Gatiss.
But all of those are mainstream publications. What did the viewers think? Well…
John describes all fandom emotions during watching the final episode:#SherlockFinale #SherlockReacts @SherlockDaily_ pic.twitter.com/TQCdDRawWP
— Madina Scøtt 🏳️🌈 (@SherHolmWats) January 16, 2017
An article published on the Literacy Daily blog of the International Literacy Association’s webpage has outlined the benefits of using fanfiction as a teaching tool. “As a literacy activity that requires authors to become experts on the original source material,” the article says, “fanfiction has opportunities to practice reading and writing skills valued by the Common Core State Standards, including close reading and writing narratives.” The author, Jayne C. Lammers, has also written other articles about the benefits of using fanfiction to engage students. Are you a student or teacher who uses fanfiction in the classroom? Let us know in the comments how fanfiction is integrated and what the results are!
Lastly, as the Obama administration comes to an end in the US, Konbini has published an article about how Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s epic closeness will endure in Joebama fanfiction. “When read, Joebama fanfiction provides a hopeful release – a sensation all too rare in this febrile time. But, above all else, it reminds us of the beauty of friendship so unashamed, one BFF will place his hand on the other’s shoe, in front of cameras, for all the world to see.” Personally, I have no idea what incident(s) that refers to, but the article does include a rec list of various types of Joebama fanfiction, so I’m sure the answer’s in there somewhere. Are you involved in the Political RPF fandom? Write about it on Fanlore! (Also, please note that any political opinions expressed by this article or any other do no reflect the views of the OTW.)
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