Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Ellen Kuhfeld » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:53 am

Crescent Pulsar S wrote:But, say, if I was going to use something before the material it's based on is complete, I'd avoid writing any events that go beyond what's available, and then maybe continue from there and make adjustments where necessary.

Then nobody would be able to write Batman fanfiction, or fanfiction for anything that's still going on. That'd be silly. FFnet has lots of fanfic based on ongoing stuff.

Anyhow, it's a matter of taste for both author and reader. Let me quote a paragraph from my FFnet profile:

It might be a good idea to discuss writing here. For Ranma, I usually go with fanon. It's a lot richer than canon is, and gives more wiggle-room in characterization. And it's not nearly as fussy about what-happened-in-what-order. I want Konatsu in my fiction? I put hir there, even if sie didn't show up until near the end of the manga. I can choose between sane and insane Nodokas. I can make Ryoga, or Genma, worthwhile or a waste of human flesh. One reason there's so much Ranma fanfic is that Takahashi seldom grasped a nettle, and if she did, she forgot about it as rapidly as possible. The anime/manga cries out for resolutions, but resolutions aren't canon; we fan-writers have to supply them.
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:34 pm

What do you mean, no one would be able to write Batman fan-fiction? It's got a ton of finished story arcs and universes to work with, and a fairly malleable continuity. I wasn't saying that something ongoing was a lost cause, period, but that going past a certain point is unwise unless you're confident in what you've got planned, or don't care about the consequences.

An example of what I said before, which you quoted, would be, say... If Ranma 1/2 were still in the middle of the story arc involving Herb, before we see exactly how powerful he is and what it takes to defeat him. If someone has an idea that starts their story off any time before that, that shouldn't be a problem. But, if that story intended to get into the events of that story arc or beyond, one could simply put things on hold until it completed (if that doesn't happen while they're still writing), so you'll have a better idea of how to move your story forward. Which is all assuming that the story arc in the canon is at all necessary to include (which is often not the case in the Ranma 1/2 continuity), or if your story would somehow be incomplete without it.
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby CRBWildcat » Mon Sep 02, 2013 6:02 pm

Crescent Pulsar S wrote:I imagine it has something to do with Pluto seemingly knowing -- or being aware of -- things that someone guarding something in another dimension shouldn't. I was originally going to attribute it to the anime failing to define the exact nature of the Door of Time, but after looking at the episode where it's first shown I can't see how anyone could have gotten the idea of it being a tool allowing someone to practically be omniscient. It's clearly shown that the Door of Time leads to a void, and beyond that is a "cosmic time warp." I could see where the idea could come from the manga, but in that instance it's two-way, so one could look into the third dimension from the fourth, and at the same time it's possible to see both the Door of Time and into the fourth dimension from the third.


Sounds a bit complicated... from an out-of-universe standpoint, I mean. Still, it does seem rather strange that people could just miss that.

TerraEpon wrote:I would imagine a lot of it is because, after all, there were LOTS of fanfics being written when we only had the first 65 dubbed episodes in English and people could only go on FAQs and stuff for the rest.


...Now that was something that never occurred to me.

The original 65 dubbed episodes -- which ended where the four sisters are turned good, and thus no Sailor Pluto at ALL -- aired first in autumn of 1995. It wasn't until late 1998 that the rest of the season was shown dubbed.


Ah, yes... the so-called 'lost' episodes. Can't forget those.

Noy Telinú wrote:Which is exactly why I like to wait until a series is done before fanfiction-ing.

At least a thats what I tell myself.


You and me both, pal. You and me both.

All fanfic is a departure from canon. Some simply depart earlier.


How much of a departure is up to the author, though. See my comments below.

Then nobody would be able to write Batman fanfiction, or fanfiction for anything that's still going on. That'd be silly. FFnet has lots of fanfic based on ongoing stuff.


Batman might not be---

What do you mean, no one would be able to write Batman fan-fiction? It's got a ton of finished story arcs and universes to work with, and a fairly malleable continuity. I wasn't saying that something ongoing was a lost cause, period, but that going past a certain point is unwise unless you're confident in what you've got planned, or don't care about the consequences.


Crud! You beat me to it! ...Ah, well. I ain't mad. It's good. 8)

Anyway, as for me personally, if there's anything that writing fanfiction over the years has taught me, it's that I ought to get all my facts together and separate the canon from the fanon. I hate not knowing exactly what it is I'm writing, and I dislike focusing on things that aren't really part of a given series or character. In short, should I write an SM fanfic, Pluto's not going to have Mitsubishi's logo stamped on the Time Gates (although granted it is an amusing thought :lol: ).
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Ellen Kuhfeld » Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:25 pm

CRBWildcat wrote:In short, should I write an SM fanfic, Pluto's not going to have Mitsubishi's logo stamped on the Time Gates (although granted it is an amusing thought :lol: ).

If it were a fukufic, and Nabiki somehow became the Senshi's business manager, I could see it. (And I have seen fics in which Nabiki became their business manager.)

It's not a good idea to poke fingers in canon's eye -- unless you have a good, fun reason to do so. Like, say, The Best Of Times by Ozzallos did. But slavish obeisance to canon is just as stifling.

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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Mon Sep 02, 2013 10:00 pm

I don't think that's the argument, though. It's one thing to take the canon into consideration, and work with and/or around it, but it's another when a canon-nazi expects nothing less than staying on the straight and narrow. Why even bother writing fan-fiction if that's how it's going to be?

Personally, I don't work with canon because it's easy and expected, I work with it because it's a challenge to keep things familiar and believable despite the changes made. That's part of what fulfills me as a writer. A reader may not understand the work that goes into "keeping things the same," whether they approve of a story or not; they may even assume that what remains canon writes itself (and -- to an extent -- that's true).

It's just a matter of perception. What seems stifling to one person, may be refreshing to another. And, depending on whether it's the writer's or reader's opinion that matters most, or both, it won't matter what the nature of the story is if the party/parties in question is/are satisfied. So long as I accomplish what I set out to do, I'm satisfied. Whether anyone has an issue with what I do or don't do with the canon is ultimately inconsequential.
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby CRBWildcat » Wed Sep 04, 2013 7:30 am

I don't think that's the argument, though. It's one thing to take the canon into consideration, and work with and/or around it, but it's another when a canon-nazi expects nothing less than staying on the straight and narrow. Why even bother writing fan-fiction if that's how it's going to be?


Or crossovers, for that matter? :mrgreen:
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Noy Telinú » Fri Sep 06, 2013 3:53 pm

There is fun in that. O_o

It's shaping your idea to fit within canon sense. It's a fun mind game to do. Of course, other people that are not me might think its stupid or restricting as I have seen, but to me it's just fun.

Besides, many are post canon anyway. That's easy. And people don't really mind usually as long as you explain. Like Pluto saying that she's upgrading the time gates to a tv so she isnt as bored or something. And crossovers? That's not hard at all. Anyone who says they are against crossovers are jerks anyway. Fun! Fun! Fun! ^_^

Is it really that hard to get the facts right? Is it? Just do your research and it'll be fine.
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby PCHeintz72 » Fri Sep 06, 2013 5:39 pm

That's easy. And people don't really mind usually as long as you explain. Like Pluto saying that she's upgrading the time gates to a tv so she isnt as bored or something

The explanation must be better than that, because unless it is meant as a comic one shot, that would send me packing.
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Té Rowan » Sun Sep 08, 2013 9:26 am

Repeat that once you have stood guard over something for a season with nothing to rest your mind with.
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Noy Telinú » Mon Sep 09, 2013 4:28 pm

Pluto is bored.

But another reason is that she could think that it's easier to guard if it was part of a screen to the past and future thus enabling her to better predict stuff and be a help.
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Vahn » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:36 am

CRBWildcat wrote:I've read a handful of Sailor Moon fanfics and related crossovers over the years, including DrunkenGrognard's Grand Tour series, and there's something that's been bugging me for the longest time: just how did the idea that the Time Gates were functionally a gigantic TV set come to be?



I would say because of the fact she was able to sen ChibiUsa a thousand year into the past and plucked her right back then send her back again and not having to worry about causality is a big part of it. If we send someone from the future to the pass,it aalready causea ripple in said time stream but yet pluto somehow was able to iron out the discrepancy to still get the perfect ending.

That to me hint at letting her go through time as she please and able to view multiple time line to nudge it in just the right way.
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Re: Question Regarding a Fanon Thought

Postby Cheb » Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:07 pm

sen ChibiUsa a thousand year into the past and plucked her right back

Wrong :) The pink horror had a "key" she used to initiate her return to the future. It could be a beacon, it could be a remote control. But Pluto personally had nothing to do with the returning event.

Anime canon, the gate doesn't open a portal-like hole through time. It opens a way into some weirdspace which one then has to navigate with difficulty. You can easily get lost forever there, by making a wrong sideways step through time.

P.S. I like the fanon one so much better that I left this piece of fanon in my fic, despite being a canon zealot.
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