In my last post, I talked about how fan fiction is something you may hear about without actively searching for it—although frankly speaking, it’s more likely to be discussed on the Internet than in, say, a college cafeteria)—including a mention of creators’ opinions. While some creators are supportive of derivative works based on their stories and/or characters, there are some limits of what can be legally published. For example, Lucasfilm has contacted several Star Wars fanzines affirming their legal ownership and requesting a ban on pornographic works, and JK Rowling (despite her being “flattered” by fans writing stories about the Harry Potter universe) sent a similar request to Harry Potter sites, not wanting children to run into such.
As I mentioned last time, a common point on which creators offer their opinions is the romantic pairing of two or more characters, known as shipping. One particularly noteworthy pairing is that of Steve Rogers/Captain America and Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier, known as ‘Stucky’ among the Marvel fandom. In addition to having an article on Wikipedia, the pairing has been referred to by Sebastian Stan (who plays Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies) and Joe Russo (a director for said movies), among others, and while they “affirm Rogers’ and Barnes’ canonical heterosexuality”, they also show support for the fans who pair the characters together.