I can almost guarantee that Helen did not set this all up as a Machiavellian slap at Xanthe--I say 'almost' because I don't actually know what's in Helen's head; no one but Helen does, obviously. But to put this kind of work into something thats sole purpose is to hurt is a hallmark of a personality type that just isn't Helen's; I feel confident in saying this after having seen how she's comported herself through a number of fandoms for a number of years. Really, that isn't what it's about, and I think you'll feel better about the whole thing if you let that idea go.
As to what Xanthe feels, I'd say that she appears to me to be an experienced writer who's developed the kind of skin one needs if one is going to put oneself out there on the net, over and over. More specifically, she made a comment on the comm, today (which she then deleted, not having realized that authors are encouraged not to comment in discussion of their stories) where she called Helen's homage 'flattering', said she had no problem with others playing in her universes since that's what she herself does when writing fanfic, and is surprised that others think Helen may have meant 'homage' in an ironic way. She doesn't appear to have a problem with it, and I believe she probably wouldn't want you to be as distressed about it as you are.
As far as the reaction of the original author to an homage goes, there was a lot of discussion of this type of thing, of remixing or playing in someone else's fictional uni without prior consent, when the whole Flashfic comm controversy happened, several weeks ago. It seems that some see no problem with co-opting other's unis without permission while others think it's a not done thing. It seems to be a very individual thing, and if Xanthe has written a journal entry decrying Helen's use of her stories as inspiration and her fen want to back her up on that, then more power to them. She doesn't seem to have done that, though, or seem to mind the homage, so I don't know that it's either necessary or appropriate to jump to her defense. Maybe it's something you should discuss with her?
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Date: 11/19/06 08:44 am (UTC)As to what Xanthe feels, I'd say that she appears to me to be an experienced writer who's developed the kind of skin one needs if one is going to put oneself out there on the net, over and over. More specifically, she made a comment on the comm, today (which she then deleted, not having realized that authors are encouraged not to comment in discussion of their stories) where she called Helen's homage 'flattering', said she had no problem with others playing in her universes since that's what she herself does when writing fanfic, and is surprised that others think Helen may have meant 'homage' in an ironic way. She doesn't appear to have a problem with it, and I believe she probably wouldn't want you to be as distressed about it as you are.
As far as the reaction of the original author to an homage goes, there was a lot of discussion of this type of thing, of remixing or playing in someone else's fictional uni without prior consent, when the whole Flashfic comm controversy happened, several weeks ago. It seems that some see no problem with co-opting other's unis without permission while others think it's a not done thing. It seems to be a very individual thing, and if Xanthe has written a journal entry decrying Helen's use of her stories as inspiration and her fen want to back her up on that, then more power to them. She doesn't seem to have done that, though, or seem to mind the homage, so I don't know that it's either necessary or appropriate to jump to her defense. Maybe it's something you should discuss with her?