Pern Fandom Mini-FAQ

Uh, what's a mini-FAQ?

A FAQ is a document containing a list of Frequently Asked Questions about some topic. Oh, and it also contains the answers. This is just a small one, hence the term Mini-FAQ. Next question?

What is Pern?

Well, the short answer is that Pern is a fictional world created by Anne McCaffrey back in, oh, 1967 or sometime back then, I'll need to check the publication date of the first book. In this world a mindless alien life form called Thread falls from the skies and must be seared in midair by dragons and their riders, lest it land, grow, and devour everything. Pern's culture is interesting and quite different from our own, full of contrasts and conflict (well, OK, that part is not so different.) In short, the stuff of good fiction. A lot of people are fans of Pern, writing their own stories, creating art, engaging in role-playing, or writing articles to flesh out various parts of the planet's unusual culture. Note that unlike with certain fandoms, ours exists with the permission of Anne McCaffrey, provided that we follow certain rules; see below.

You said that's the short answer, so what's the long answer?

Ahh, therein lies the story. You'll have to see Part 2 for that. Wikipedia also has several helpful articles; start with the ones on Pern and the Dragonriders of Pern Series

So, OK, I have enough information about Pern, but what is fandom?

Fandom is where people who really like a particular fictional setting get together with others who share this interest. Often fans organize into clubs. In the days before the Internet was popular, most of of these clubs published 'fanzines' and mailed them out to their members; they contained stories, artwork, and other articles written by club members. Nowadays many fans interact on the Internet, and a new form of activity called roleplaying has become common.

What's Roleplaying?

Roleplaying (Also known as RP-ing; "to RP" means "to Roleplay") is where fans get together in a MUSH, chatroom or on a messageboard and interact with each other as if they were characters in the fictional world. Some old-school fans disdain roleplaying as just a cheap thrill for people who don't want to put in the effort to learn how to write or draw. Other fans just like to roleplay and, as long as they're having fun, don't see why they should bother producing art or fan fiction.

What's fan fiction?

Fan fiction, also called 'fanfic' for short, is fiction written by fans, set in the world that they are fans of. Many fan clubs feature stories about the characters in the book, movie, TV show or whatever; others create new characters.

Wait! Doesn't that violate copyright law?

Technically, yes. Some fandoms exist against the stated wish of the creators of the worlds that spawned them, and even the ones that exist with permission are still technically illegal. It's just that in those cases, the owner of the copyright has stated that they are not going to pursue the matter. Many fans can get away with what they do because the Internet is a big place and they can be hard to track down, and in the case of many popular fandoms there are so many fans out there that pursuing any one of them is not worth the trouble. For more info on the legal aspects, see the Fan Fiction link at http://www.chillingeffects.org/. Many fans think that fanfic should be legal, and others feel unjustly persecuted when the creators of a world take steps to squelch fan fiction. In some cases, creators have gone a bit overboard in enforcement, though the law is pretty clearly on their side. For more about this problem, see http://www.burnedforfandom.org/

So is Pern fandom happening without Anne McCaffrey's permission?

Anne McCaffrey has granted permission for fan clubs to exist, and for art and fan fiction to be created as long as it does not use her characters. There used to be more rules than that, including one that said no art or fanfic could ever be displayed to anyone not a member of an approved club; all of these rules were relaxed in early 2005.

What about Kadanzer Weyr in particular?

Kadanzer was founded in 1995 by Anna Smith and Ginny Youngblood, who have since left the club. It is now run by a board of directors consisting of three members; we have upwards of fifty members at any given time, though usually less than half are actively contributing. We do some roleplaying, but we are not primarily an RP-based club. Instead we focus on stories and art, both of which are available on our website. As of September 2005, we have released some of our content publicly for anyone to see. And yes, we are approved by Anne McCaffrey!

Tell me more about Kadanzer?

Glad you asked! Kadanzer tends to focus on 'realistic' Pern fiction. Yes, I know that a lot of the Pern setting is very unrealistic, but we like to extrapolate from the assumptions in the books and figure out how that sort of society would actually work. We also have a rule that no story can contradict something that's already been stated in another story. We've built up almost ten years of fictional history with all kinds of recurring characters who interact with each other in all sorts of ways. Also, we like to help aspiring authors and artists hone their creative skills; we provide lots of help to those who want it, though we aren't focused as much as we used to be on being a "writing class". If you just want to write or draw for fun, that's perfectly OK, though you still need to keep from contradicting any club history (and we'll help you with that.) And we welcome people who just want to read the stories and don't feel the desire to write anything themselves... but we dare you to stay in the club for a year without being suckered in!

What if I have more questions?

Feel free to email me at webmaster@kadanzer.org or visit the club website. Also, check out Anne McCaffrey's website!

This document is under construction and will be continued!