prillalar | Canon to the right of them, canon to the left of them

"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold."

When Yeats wrote that, I bet he was trying to make sense of some fandom's canon so he could write some fic.

I've been fanwanking all weekend -- I won't even get into what and why -- and every thread I tie up looses two more, like Herakles and the Hydra, if the Hydra were made of thread, which I have on good authority it was not.

Is there any watertight canon? Even BtVS/AtS has its weak points. Even Tolkien kept changing his bloody mind.

I've wondered this since my X-Files days and I still don't know the answer: Is my responsibility to the canon greater than the creator(s)'s? Especially if the creator(s) don't seem to have taken much care to make it consistent.

When do I get to say, "That makes no sense -- I'm just going to make some shit up"? When do I get to say, "Character X would never do that, I don't care if I saw it on the bloody screen"?

If I do make shit up, will my readers demand some detailed notes on what and why or will they Just Not Care?

Maybe I'm the only one who cares. Or will even notice. Or gets drawn into an ever-expanding web of research for what started out as a fairly simple story idea.

Maybe it's time for a drink.

But before I do, let me take this opportunity to say: Han Solo shot first and there's not a goddamn thing Lucas can do to change that.

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Han Solo shot first and there's not a goddamn thing Lucas can do to change that.

Yes. And Luke did not scream when he jumped down the ventilation shaft. Unless, possibly, it was a scream of triumph.

Word.

OTOH, there were a few Special Edition changes that I did like. John Williams's new music for the end of RotJ was frankly amazing. I teared up the first time I heard it.

Preach it, honey.

(I nubs you. Can I have your mutant Jedi babies?)

(I nubs you. Can I have your mutant Jedi babies?)

Sure! *grin*

I feel your pain.

I love canon when it's good and consistent, and even when it's poor and confusing, I often wonder if I'm the last person clinging onto it when all others have abandoned ship. But I think there *is* a certain point where you get to say, "Look, this is fucked, I like my idea better," and go with it. Whether or not you consider the result an AU is up to you.

I've had enough people look at my vids and say "I wish they'd done *that* on the show" to know we're not the only people who feel this way. Sometimes (often?) our idea *is* better. That doesn't mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater, but there is stuff I feel perfectly comfortable throwing away, or at least ignoring, if not outright contradicting.

I do find that it's the inconsistant canon, the one with the threads hanging out all over, that inspires me to fic. The more consistant the canon, the less there is for me to explore.

But sometimes -- sometimes -- it's frustrating. :)

Maybe I'm the only one who cares. Or will even notice.

I don't think so. It's true that the bloody writers of the shows don't always seem to remember events which are vital, but in fan writing it seems to matter more. Maybe because we actually *do* pay attention to motivation, relevant events and consistancy. We certainly notice when they get it wrong.

On the other hand, if you choose to move outside canon, it works fine as long as that has it's own internal consistancy.

So, yes. *g*

You're so helpful! *g* But you're right -- fans notice more. With great power comes great responsibility. If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. There's one born every minute. Etc.

With great power comes great responsibility. If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. There's one born every minute. Etc.

It's a short leg that don't reach the ground!

*g*

First Law of the Bards:
Never Let the Truth get in the way of a Good Story.

Second Law:
Make Shit Up as Needed.

Hee! I never thought of myself as a bard (except when I play one in D&D) but maybe I should start.

Hal the Bard. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!

Or maybe that would be Hal the Tyrant.

Well, I'm firmly of the camp that says make shit up if you have to, disregard pieces of canon if you have to, as long as you're hanging true to the essential core of the characters and universe. (I catch flak sometimes for this, but hell, you can't make everyone happy, and a camel is a horse built by committee, and the sun don't shine on the same dog's ass all the time [to continue the parade of aphorisms].)

It's that whole thing of separating the essentials from the non-essentials. I really don't give a toot when exactly Mulder went to Oxford, for example, but it really does matter to me that he has a *brain,* and so does Scully, and when they do damnfool things they need to be the kind of damnfool things really brainy people might do, as opposed to adolescent nitwits or greenhorn rookies. And you've got an excellent sense of such distinctions, so fanwank away, is what I'd say.

Thanks, hon. I do tend to get caught up in details, especially when I'm trying to logically extrapolate something and it turns out not to be logical.

Han shot first. Han would shoot first, given the circumstances.

X-Files canon? Utter hell. Blatantly making it up as they went along, regardless.

Agree with the X-Files statement.

However, it was because there was no continuity that there was so much fic, and there was so much varied fic. You could pick up anything and run with it. The Mess That Was Canon was the reason why there was so much discussion in the fandom and kept it so damn good.

Not that I didn't want to bash CC up once in a while.

I find that when canon is perfect and fully realised, a fic fandom doesn't tend to form. Shows like Six Feet Under, for example. Great show, where's the fandom?

I subscribe to the idea that the fic will work if you make your own canon and stick to it. Especially if it's a long fic. In a long fic, you're extending so far out anyway, you have to make up your own canon.

Yes, I agree that when the canon is too tight, there's not much need for fic. But I think there's a difference between canon that's open and canon that's a mess.

There's a huge fic fandom for Buffy and the canon there is pretty consistent. But it's also open, in that it allows for a lot of possibilities.

Hmm, it's probably more about the characters than about the consistency of the plots, laws, magic, science. Since that's most fanfic is focused on the people.

I was talking with

mommybird about this the other day and she said: B5's characters have sex lives and religious lives and consciences--they don't need anything fanfic would give them.

And I think that's key -- it's more about *how much* has been filled in for the chars, not *how well*.

Canon to the right of them, canon to the left of them

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An aphorism a day...

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