Ladies' Big Bang

Hmm, I used to be active in a fandom where the original characters kinda took over-- they developed their own canon, and the canon characters became less and less the central focus. it was really pretty awesome, a great exercise for the writers and although we did lose a few readers, we gained some as well. :) I'm involved in something similar right now.

someone queries how a submission is any different to someone just putting together a bunch of random stuff involving women.

I'm not following this thought? Random in what way? What is fiction, come to think of it, if not random stuff involving people, and the ways in which they work it out...

I think there's a transformative intention behind fanwork that makes it a smidgen easier to find a common thread, and also I guess with anything there's the question of when does including new options diminish the overall intent/impact of the wider project?

If the common thread is the HP verse, then yeah. If the common thread is awesome women, then maybe excluding the potential for new awesome women might diminish the wider project.

Not that I'm campaigning or anything... *grin*