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In the course of reorganizing my Delicious bookmarks/tags over the last few weeks, I've also been doing a lot of reading along the way. One of the things I read was a series of M7 ATF stories that I quite enjoyed. What brought me up short though was on reaching about 2/3s into the series, I discover from the authour's notes that she' only ever seen one episode of Magnificent Seven. So I assume she got her knowledge strictly from fic, which is really odd to me. I normally won't even contemplate writing fic unless I've seen the series through at least once, and usually twice. Or in the case of a show currently on the air -- which doesn't happen often -- reviewing episodes. I can't imagine writing fic in a fandom where I'd never seen the show. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but it's just interesting to me since it's totally the opposite of how I tend to think of fic and fandom.
Which brings me to fanon! One of the other things I came across along the way was an authour who had compiled a fanon versus canon page. It reminded me of something I'd thought of before and was going to post about, but forgot. All fandoms have such quirks, but I think I probably notice it more in M7 since I'm coming into it ten years after the show's been off the air, as opposed to Highlander which I was in from from the beginning. As a writer, I find myself wondering if I need to incorporate fanon into my stories to make my M7 fic more accessible/enjoyable to readers. Since I only saw the show recently, then started reading fic, I still find a lot of the fanon content of stories can take me out of the story simply because the series is new and fresh in my mind. Things that immediately leap to mind are Josiah constantly calling Ezra 'son' and him acting like he's some sort of father figure to him, or Chris frequently being physically violent towards Ezra. The abuse Ezra takes from Chris and Nathan in many fics makes me wonder how on earth he could stay or ever trust them afterward. There's a bunch more, but those are my main two head scratchers.
So anyway, back to my question [g] If you write fic, do you ever feel as if you need to go with popular fanon when you write or do you stick to canon as you see it as much as you can?
Question two: as a reader, do you prefer to read fic with familiar fanon content, or do you prefer more canonical fic?
And last: what are some fanon/canon things in your fave fandoms? Which ones do you hold true in your personal fanon canon and which ones make you twitch?
Yes three questions! I'm very demanding!
ETA: in the case of M7 I'm talking strictly about Old West fic. I love ATF fic, but it is its own universe and for me at least, has more leeway since it's a modern day AU.
Which brings me to fanon! One of the other things I came across along the way was an authour who had compiled a fanon versus canon page. It reminded me of something I'd thought of before and was going to post about, but forgot. All fandoms have such quirks, but I think I probably notice it more in M7 since I'm coming into it ten years after the show's been off the air, as opposed to Highlander which I was in from from the beginning. As a writer, I find myself wondering if I need to incorporate fanon into my stories to make my M7 fic more accessible/enjoyable to readers. Since I only saw the show recently, then started reading fic, I still find a lot of the fanon content of stories can take me out of the story simply because the series is new and fresh in my mind. Things that immediately leap to mind are Josiah constantly calling Ezra 'son' and him acting like he's some sort of father figure to him, or Chris frequently being physically violent towards Ezra. The abuse Ezra takes from Chris and Nathan in many fics makes me wonder how on earth he could stay or ever trust them afterward. There's a bunch more, but those are my main two head scratchers.
So anyway, back to my question [g] If you write fic, do you ever feel as if you need to go with popular fanon when you write or do you stick to canon as you see it as much as you can?
Question two: as a reader, do you prefer to read fic with familiar fanon content, or do you prefer more canonical fic?
And last: what are some fanon/canon things in your fave fandoms? Which ones do you hold true in your personal fanon canon and which ones make you twitch?
Yes three questions! I'm very demanding!
ETA: in the case of M7 I'm talking strictly about Old West fic. I love ATF fic, but it is its own universe and for me at least, has more leeway since it's a modern day AU.
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Date: 2009-07-07 09:03 pm (UTC)From:Both, to be honest. I like to make sure that nothing I write actively goes against canon, but at the same time I don't have a problem using popular fandom tropes if they're ones that I agree with. For example, I fell in love with the character of Gaila in the new Star Trek film - who we really know next to nothing about in canon. It's become common in fanon, however, to place her in engineering. Since it doesn't go against canon, I have no problem with it.
Another example, this time actually related to M7, are the names of the guys' horses (as you mentioned below). I have no problem calling Ezra's horse Chaucer or Vin's Peso, simply because I know that most people in the fandom are used to reading those names even if it's not given in the show. The same goes for calling the town Four Corners.
As a reader, do you prefer to read fic with familiar fanon content, or do you prefer more canonical fic?
Um, both. *sheepish grin* What can I say? I have a variety of tastes.
When it comes to characterization based on canon/fanon, such as Josiah being more of a father figure toward Ezra or Nathan and Chris treating him with much less respect than in canon... well, it depends on when the story's set. If the author can give me some background to explain the difference in characterization (which some have done quite well), then I have no problem with it. If it's just there, out of the blue, sometimes I have more trouble buying it.
On the other hand, I have no trouble whatsoever with little canon things like names. And, of course, when it comes to the ATF AU, I'm even less picky simply because "canon" is much harder to define when it's an AU to begin with.
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Date: 2009-07-07 09:10 pm (UTC)From:I'm the same, it really depends. In the case of characters we know next to nothing about, giving them a fanon background makes perfect sense and I tend to go along with that. Major characters I'm far more resistant to. Like the Josiah thing, it just irks me a wee bit [g] No idea why, but that's my brain! However, I don't have a problem with it in ATF fic since it's a separate entity universe wise for me. Yeah, I'm weird.