What counts, for me, in the case of posting to the AO3, is whether or not their author thinks the fic is fannish.
*nods* There were several questions on the poll that were no-exceptions obviously fanfic (like the last one - your unauthorized sequel to Dracula/Pride & Prejudice/whatever is fanfic, pro author, no matter how deeply you may wish to view yourself as superior to people writing Harry Potter fic on ff.net. The fact that Dracula/P&P/whatever is out of copyright doesn't make it not fanfic; it makes it fanfic that's publishable), but a lot of them, such as the historical fiction examples, struck me as major cases of "It depends." It's possible to write a novel about historical events, featuring the real historical people who were involved in them, that's completely non-fannish, and also possible to write one that's total fanfic, depending on the way the author approaches it.
There are a couple original fiction projects my fiancee and I have tossed around that are total fanfic in spirit while looking completely original on the surface, and others that are laden with fannish tropes and aesthetic sensibilities while being completely non-ficcish in intent.
no subject
*nods* There were several questions on the poll that were no-exceptions obviously fanfic (like the last one - your unauthorized sequel to Dracula/Pride & Prejudice/whatever is fanfic, pro author, no matter how deeply you may wish to view yourself as superior to people writing Harry Potter fic on ff.net. The fact that Dracula/P&P/whatever is out of copyright doesn't make it not fanfic; it makes it fanfic that's publishable), but a lot of them, such as the historical fiction examples, struck me as major cases of "It depends." It's possible to write a novel about historical events, featuring the real historical people who were involved in them, that's completely non-fannish, and also possible to write one that's total fanfic, depending on the way the author approaches it.
There are a couple original fiction projects my fiancee and I have tossed around that are total fanfic in spirit while looking completely original on the surface, and others that are laden with fannish tropes and aesthetic sensibilities while being completely non-ficcish in intent.