Reflection, sparked by ffrants post
Dec. 24th, 2006 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittchaosOne of my forum names is 'Thread Killer Kitt' because I have this way of somehow killing threads stone-cold dead when I post. Also, my posts seem to be ignored on ffrants, and that bugs me (not quite sure why). Finally, this got quite a bit longer than I anticipated, but, I still wanted to post it, so here it is.
There is a post on ffrants where someone is suggesting that canon doesn't really matter in fanfiction. "Please. Who cares? Really? Isn't the point of fanfiction that it's not canon?"
As usual, when this rant comes up, it's because someone is basing an OTP the original poster favors.
Someone else posted:
1) The purpose of fanfiction is to write things that aren't canon
2) The purpose of fanfiction is to take elements of canon and flesh them out, using them in a way not originally perceived and explored.
I tend toward the second of those two statements in my writing.
For myself, I try to extrapolate something from canon or work with something that is plausible within the framework of canon. I write drabbles, too, where the challenge is to write within a strict guideline, so the idea of staying in a narrow area isn't too strange for me.
This is one of my favorite reviews that pertains to this, left for one of the stories I angsted about posting in the first place because the premise was really out there:
Oh my... now that was a truly scary thing to read.
It is always most amazing a thing when a writer can pull out these extraordinary ideas and keep them in character; it makes them frighteningly real when that happens. Which is all too rare. Who would have ever considered the Left Hand as such deep or even a sexual being under that bantering facade? Very original indeed, even if greatly disconcerting. (but lets face it, just look at D, who Wouldn`t love his beauty... ;))
I also liked the idea that Left Hand used to be something else... And yet the past is left so subtly open.
Though, one thing left me curious here. I was strongly under the impression that the Left Hand can see/hear(you name it) through D, only not control. You obvously think differently, but I´m open to new ideas that the change of perspective didn`t bother me too much. Just wondering.
Either way, you have built the story very well. You paint a very vivid picture of a day of these two beings` disfunctional union. Left Hand does sound so strange a creature in this pov and yet the way he speaks and reflects it makes all too possible. And that is the best that fanfiction can do; finding the gaps and building into them, stretching the lines while still keeping inside the frame of that universe. It`s a hard thing to balance well.
Fabulously dramatic ending, sad and yet... comforting.
Beautifully done. I hope to see more from this fandom from you. I should go look up your other stories. Thank you for writing.
All that being said, I see nothing wrong with fanon. I've seen a few summaries that mention being based on fanon instead of canon. I read the rest of the summary and decide if I want to read the story knowing that going in, instead of the rude awakening I receive in stories that don't warn me first.
What I don't like is when the writer distorts a third character in order to make the favored pairing work -- in Yu-Gi-Oh, Anzu is turned into a raving harpy so that Yami/anybody can work, for example. I don't like it when the character in the ship doesn't really resemble himself either -- going by the height rule, Yami becomes totally submissive and weepy as Seto or Joey's uke (because they are both taller than he is) -- he was the pharaoh of Egypt! He might not remember it, but part of that total control over others and arrogance is part of his core personality. He would submit to no one! If the writer has to distort the canon characters' personalities this much to make the story work, it's really not fanfiction any more. It's original writing with canon names attached. The writer would be better served to create original characters and, if the premise of the story is not based in the canon world (Duel Monster duels for Yu-Gi-Oh for example) to post on fictionpress.com instead of fanfiction.net.
Of course, this is only my humble opinion on the matter.
There is a post on ffrants where someone is suggesting that canon doesn't really matter in fanfiction. "Please. Who cares? Really? Isn't the point of fanfiction that it's not canon?"
As usual, when this rant comes up, it's because someone is basing an OTP the original poster favors.
Someone else posted:
1) The purpose of fanfiction is to write things that aren't canon
2) The purpose of fanfiction is to take elements of canon and flesh them out, using them in a way not originally perceived and explored.
I tend toward the second of those two statements in my writing.
For myself, I try to extrapolate something from canon or work with something that is plausible within the framework of canon. I write drabbles, too, where the challenge is to write within a strict guideline, so the idea of staying in a narrow area isn't too strange for me.
This is one of my favorite reviews that pertains to this, left for one of the stories I angsted about posting in the first place because the premise was really out there:
Oh my... now that was a truly scary thing to read.
It is always most amazing a thing when a writer can pull out these extraordinary ideas and keep them in character; it makes them frighteningly real when that happens. Which is all too rare. Who would have ever considered the Left Hand as such deep or even a sexual being under that bantering facade? Very original indeed, even if greatly disconcerting. (but lets face it, just look at D, who Wouldn`t love his beauty... ;))
I also liked the idea that Left Hand used to be something else... And yet the past is left so subtly open.
Though, one thing left me curious here. I was strongly under the impression that the Left Hand can see/hear(you name it) through D, only not control. You obvously think differently, but I´m open to new ideas that the change of perspective didn`t bother me too much. Just wondering.
Either way, you have built the story very well. You paint a very vivid picture of a day of these two beings` disfunctional union. Left Hand does sound so strange a creature in this pov and yet the way he speaks and reflects it makes all too possible. And that is the best that fanfiction can do; finding the gaps and building into them, stretching the lines while still keeping inside the frame of that universe. It`s a hard thing to balance well.
Fabulously dramatic ending, sad and yet... comforting.
Beautifully done. I hope to see more from this fandom from you. I should go look up your other stories. Thank you for writing.
All that being said, I see nothing wrong with fanon. I've seen a few summaries that mention being based on fanon instead of canon. I read the rest of the summary and decide if I want to read the story knowing that going in, instead of the rude awakening I receive in stories that don't warn me first.
What I don't like is when the writer distorts a third character in order to make the favored pairing work -- in Yu-Gi-Oh, Anzu is turned into a raving harpy so that Yami/anybody can work, for example. I don't like it when the character in the ship doesn't really resemble himself either -- going by the height rule, Yami becomes totally submissive and weepy as Seto or Joey's uke (because they are both taller than he is) -- he was the pharaoh of Egypt! He might not remember it, but part of that total control over others and arrogance is part of his core personality. He would submit to no one! If the writer has to distort the canon characters' personalities this much to make the story work, it's really not fanfiction any more. It's original writing with canon names attached. The writer would be better served to create original characters and, if the premise of the story is not based in the canon world (Duel Monster duels for Yu-Gi-Oh for example) to post on fictionpress.com instead of fanfiction.net.
Of course, this is only my humble opinion on the matter.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-25 09:21 am (UTC)Hell, I've seen her become a snappish, petty bitch towards Joey once because he was pregnant with Kaiba's baby...she called him a "fat cow," and Joy responded back with a joke I'd heard on Yo Mamma about Anzu having no breasts. O_o
Right.
If the writer has to distort the canon characters' personalities this much to make the story work, it's really not fanfiction any more.
Agreed. Way back when I posted Star Trek fanfics, I was proud of the fact that they were completely impossible stories with everyone acting like twelve year olds. I cringe at those stories now.
One thing that irks me is when fanwriters focus on one aspect of a character and ignore the rest. Especially with both Kaibas, where Mokuba's become the typical kid brother/sister you see on every other show (Like Cardcaptors's Sakura with a penis :? ) who acts REALLY naive and Seto's so oblivious to Mokuba's needs it's rediculous. I came across one fic where Mokuba was cutting himself and had gone into drugs and depression and Seto never once drags him to a doctor. *facepalm*
Likewise, Yuugi's incredibly small for his age, so obviously, he just *has* to be a weepy girly uke in a fic where Yami/Jounouchi/Kaiba/Otogi/Ryou/Bakura/Malik doesn't WUB HIM OMG!!!1!!!1 Or even worse, when all his friends decide they like Yami better and abandon him.
Fandom. *shakes head*
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2007-02-27 02:00 am (UTC)Had a conversation along similar lines the other day, and think it's my personal opinion that there's two main kinds of fanfic - 'serious' and 'playing around.' Admittedly the lines can blur sometimes, but there's really a basic difference in approach between whether you're trying for a canon-consistent base or you're just playing with some of the ideas and doing what-ifs. This is wny a lot of us prefer there to be AU warnings on the latter.