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Day 13 – Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
Let's take these questions one at a time, shall we? First of all - CANON ALL THE WAY. I absolutely, positively do not see the point of being in a fandom if all you care about is the fanon. If all you ever read is fanon. If all you ever WRITE is fanon. Just, no. I'm not as much of a canon stickler as some people, but to me, canon is the thing. That's why we're here, that's what drew us in in the first place, and it should always be the anchoring rock.
Not to say that fanon doesn't have its place - it can be a lot of fun, and sometimes expand canon in ways that are intriguing, but all too often, that's not the case. IY fandom is especially notorious for this. Terrible OOC characterization of, well, pretty much all the main characters (even when they're in canon pairings), mating marks, Sesshoumaru's castle, stereotypical youkai - just, ugh. RT gave us such an amazing world to play in, and such beautiful, layered, complex characters, it seems a shame to waste all of that for something far more generic and cookie-cutter.
A couple of my other fandoms have a bit more wiggle room, but even there, I much prefer reading about characters in some version of the canon universe. That's what I'm interested in - not the characters remade to the point where I barely recognize them, in a completely alien world. Maybe that makes me a snob, but so be it. The sandbox is big enough for everyone to play in :)
As for the second part - the only time fanfic or fandom has changed my perception of canon is when it comes to shipping subtext. It's not always obvious in canon (or written into the story, if its actors with chemistry to spare), so its fun to study and speculate sometimes. Elements of Stacy in Bloom have become fanon for KI fandom, which is flattering :) but I'm not sure how much reading that story is influencing the audience, because most of the people who have told me they read it were fans of the show and already shipped the characters :P But it's always nice to hear that your stories have become personal canon for a reader - I take that as a pretty high compliment, because it means my work fits seamlessly into the canon world.
( Other days )
Let's take these questions one at a time, shall we? First of all - CANON ALL THE WAY. I absolutely, positively do not see the point of being in a fandom if all you care about is the fanon. If all you ever read is fanon. If all you ever WRITE is fanon. Just, no. I'm not as much of a canon stickler as some people, but to me, canon is the thing. That's why we're here, that's what drew us in in the first place, and it should always be the anchoring rock.
Not to say that fanon doesn't have its place - it can be a lot of fun, and sometimes expand canon in ways that are intriguing, but all too often, that's not the case. IY fandom is especially notorious for this. Terrible OOC characterization of, well, pretty much all the main characters (even when they're in canon pairings), mating marks, Sesshoumaru's castle, stereotypical youkai - just, ugh. RT gave us such an amazing world to play in, and such beautiful, layered, complex characters, it seems a shame to waste all of that for something far more generic and cookie-cutter.
A couple of my other fandoms have a bit more wiggle room, but even there, I much prefer reading about characters in some version of the canon universe. That's what I'm interested in - not the characters remade to the point where I barely recognize them, in a completely alien world. Maybe that makes me a snob, but so be it. The sandbox is big enough for everyone to play in :)
As for the second part - the only time fanfic or fandom has changed my perception of canon is when it comes to shipping subtext. It's not always obvious in canon (or written into the story, if its actors with chemistry to spare), so its fun to study and speculate sometimes. Elements of Stacy in Bloom have become fanon for KI fandom, which is flattering :) but I'm not sure how much reading that story is influencing the audience, because most of the people who have told me they read it were fans of the show and already shipped the characters :P But it's always nice to hear that your stories have become personal canon for a reader - I take that as a pretty high compliment, because it means my work fits seamlessly into the canon world.
( Other days )
