Annie Elliott wrote: . . . a short story competition for the best Rory story. What do you all think? . . .
Perhaps I misunderstood. When you said a short story competition I assumed you meant a short fictional story with Rory as the main character. Are we talking about a short story of a non-fictional nature about a Cork inhabitant's interaction or personal knowledge of Rory? A story about his schooldays from a student or teacher in his class? Someone who delivered groceries to the Gallagher family's home back in the day or who attended art classes with him and has a funny or interesting story to tell? Because that is different. That is a non-fictional telling of an interesting bit of Rory history, and that is fine. We'd all like to hear that. But a fictional story? That can be a slippery slope.
Let me illustrate an example. In Stephen King's book
Pet Sematary, the main character, Doctor Louis Creed begins to lose his mind after the death of his son, begins to plan the events that lead up to the horrific conclusion of the story. He checks into a hotel under the alias Dee Dee Ramone. (Dee Dee Ramone was alive and well at the time the book was written.) While digging up his child's grave, he keeps humming the words to the Ramones song "Blitzkrieg Bop." Of course Dee Dee Ramone wasn't a character in the story, but the Ramone's music and a cursory reference to their music was part of the story line. It's a plot device that King uses very effectively to illuminate the character and his state of mind, and it adds to the story but does not pull the actual character or personality of Dee Dee Ramone into the story line. That is an effective use of a real person in a work of fiction, and I see no problem with that.
Now, had King instead written the story such that Dee Dee Ramone went into the graveyard with Dr. Creed and helped him dig up the child's body, or Dee Dee appeared to Dr. Creed and warned him not to go onto the cursed ground to rebury his son, that would in my opinion be wrong and improper, since Dee Dee Ramone was not a fictional character.
So, when I say "fan fiction," about Rory I mean a portrayal of Rory as a character doing and/or saying things that no one knows he ever said or did. Using Rory and his music as a backdrop for a main character's interaction with another is fine- a boy and girl meet for the first time standing in line waiting to see Taste play in London, they hear Morning Sun and it becomes their song. That is fine. Having Rory perform their wedding ceremony, that is not okay. In my opinion.
And, there is always the notion that someone is going to overstep their boundaries, as in internet rule 34, and that is definitely NOT okay.