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 Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:28 pm
I've been reading a lot of Batman Begins fanfiction after seeing the movie The Dark Knight (btw if you havent' seen it? Yeah... get off the computer and go... right now. Best movie of the year).
Anyway, I'm always surprised by to me what are complete breaks from canon in ff writing. I think this is because when I write, generally speaking I do my best to portray the character's personalities, likes and dislikes as much as possible. Why? Because those characteristics as portrayed in the movie are what made me interested in the character and movie to begin with, so I don't want to change them, since I like them just like they are.
My stories tend to be 'snapshots in time' from particular events in the movie or tv or whatever my story is based on, something that shows, "This is really what was going through his mind when this event happened.." Other times, I will write my own version of 'this is what happened next' or 'two years later', again keeping as close as possible to the movie characterizations. When people read my story, I want it to be like a novelization of the 'sequel' to the movie or whatnot.
That said, I think this is why I don't like slash in FF, because it's always between characters who have been portrayed as straight as an arrow in the movie/book/comic/whatever and when I read the stories, I'm always like.. "But this would never happen, not with the character as portrayed in the movie..." That break from reality is what detracts the most from me enjoying those stories.
At the same time, I also am not a big fan of Mary-Sue OCs who the story's hero (in this case, Bruce Wayne) immediately meets and falls in love with at first sight. I'll take a believable and flawed OC any day, even if she doesnt' get Bruce Wayne's everlasting love, because agian, I like the reality of that (even in fiction, go figure).
My current tweak is people who are making the Joker fall in love with their OC, or with Rachel Dawes, or with Batman... I ask myself, did they see the same movie I did, because I seriously can't see Heath Ledger's Joker loving anyone or anything other than his own demented madness. That's what made him so awesome in the movie, that he did not seem to be a character capable of feeling pity or remorse or regret.
Of course as writers, certainly we are entitled to our own interpretations and the addition of our creativity. But for me personally, if I'm reading a story and Mary-Sue Clark walks into Bruce Wayne's office to be interviewed for an executive secretary position and he sees her and immediately falls head over heels... oh and she's suspected all along that Bruce WAyne is the Batman, because who else would it be?.... Those unrealistic breaks in canon usually cause me to close the window and start looking for another story.
What's your take on breaks in movie/tv/comic/book etc canon?
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:03 pm
Hmm... it depends on how you're changing canon, and the overall setting you're doing it in. Canon, for the most part, is a guideline when writing: an official design by the creator that should be followed loosely, though not to the letter (depending on how close you're trying to keep your story(ies) to the official series'. Most of the time I enjoy stories that take a different path, are about lesser characters, or are even within the set 'world', but focus on new characters (either OC's, or ones that were mentioned offhand), as if I wanted the true 'canon', I could just go out and watch/read the series.
Slash in fanfiction... yyeah, that's psycho fanism fodder if I ever heard it. True, it CAN be done well, but so few authors these days try hard enough: it's all about hooking up the cute guys to fulfill some deranged fantasy. Or, some twisted and perverse writer (male of female) living out their 'hawt' pairing, often attracting others of their breed like flies to a bloated carcass.
OC's... *sigh* while I argue that they're not bad, so many people have to make them who either instantly, or quickly hook the main character of the series (in this case, Bruce Wayne) just because the author wants them to. Ugh, not only does that break practically every boundary that has been built up, it does nothing more than fulfill some stupid plot point/idea for the author. It just... it's something that turns a decent story into a piece of trash with a single move.
...... Joker falling in love? That's like the penguin giving up his avian fetish... it's not going to happen. And even if it did... I shudder to think how badly they twist an already unstable character to make any semblance of 'love' work... just no, no, NO! That's going to give me nightmares...
*sigh* There's always going to be badly done stories out there, it's a painful fact of life. I just wish there was a way to filter them out ahead of time, like a flagging system... ahh well.
As I've said, canon is a guideline, but not a true end all. There are some things that should remain unchanged, and others that can be bent: knowing which is which should be a required part of writing fanfiction.... but, anyone with a computer and internet access can dump their crap on ff.net, further polluting the site with horrid sue-ness, bad characterizations, and overall idiocy.
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 10:15 am
I like for people to keep the general world of whatever they like canon, and not add strange creatures/other things that don't really fit and have no origin other than the writer's mind. I particularly don't like crossovers much. I'm ok with AUs though, since that's an entirely differant world all together that I'm not familiar with. And characters should be mostly canon, but sometimes in order to make a story work, you have to change them a bit. Which is ok. And I admit, I have sometimes warped characters way beyond their canon selves, but rarely for more than a scene.
I refuse to read slash. I don't like it at all, and there is really too much of it. Crack pairings are ok (in most cases), just not slash ones.
I personally have trouble writing stories without OCs in them. I try to keep things realistic, and fit them into the world and lives of the canon characters as best I can (which it doesn't always work to be honest). Some people do a really good job of it, but a number of others don't. I think OCs can make a story really interesting by giving things a new twist, but you have to build the character up a bit. And I admit, I have written some of that "instantly falling in love" stuff before (thank the skies I never posted any of it) with one of my favorite characters and an OC. I grimace every time I re-read them now.
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:28 pm
Ever notice that sometimes you will stumble across the most bloated angsty sappy story ever written (with poor grammar to boot) and it's literally painful to struggle through the first chapter... but if it's a popular fiction category, I guarantee you someone will have gushed over it in a review. I see those and I'm always like.. "Did we just read the same story??"
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:36 pm
I've noticed, and it's not uncommon. Generally the people who like those stories, are the people who write ones themselves. And I think some people aren't bothered by bad grammar.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:32 am
Canon... Honestly, I'm a bit of a stickler for canon in my fandoms. I have a talent for noticing what exactly the fanfiction writer came up with and whether or not it would actually work in the original series. And note, before I go on, the more canon a fic is, the more people are willing to overlook any minor deviations from canon and one or two major deviations from it.
However, I believe that if it is too big of a deviation from canon, it had better need to be there for plot purposes, or else I end up either leaving the fic or rewriting it in my own head to make it more canon. I'm not against OCs, but many could definitely use development before conveniently fitting in.
And I also believe that if the fic is AU, the characters had better be as canon as possible or there is little reason for doing it as a fanfiction--just think of different names and write it as original fiction. Some, I have to admit, I absolutely love; but some get left within the first chapter.
As for canon pairings, I most certainly prefer them. If it is a non-canon pair, it has to be able to work with the canon personalities, situations, and other character reactions, in order to convince me of plausible-ness. It's hard to do, but still possible.
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Matelia legwll Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 9:32 pm
I'd have to agree, cannon is always better. I read plenty of stories that aren't "completely" cannon, but they only get read all the way through if they have good plot, and strong character bonds that make the changes from cannon easier.
I myself don't enjoy the cannon pairing of Ginny and Harry. I prefer Luna and Harry. Not that I would never read and/or write a story about Ginny and Harry, but I'd prefer Luna and Harry much more. Small changes like that, are easy to overlook.
Say, in Batman, if an author brought in Harley Quinn, there could be a chance for romance, one-sided the love may be, but Joker can have sex and sexual attraction to her and it not be "love". Had Ledger not died, it might have been interesting to see if they would bring her into the series since she originally worked at the Asyllum. (and the new movies have a lot of simularity to the animated series she was created for)
So, that pairing wouldn't be completely cannon, but at least it would make sense. All that would then depend on me enjoying the story is that it would be written well by the author.
No matter how slight from cannon a story is, if it isn't written well and grasp at your attention, it isn't worth reading anyways.
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