On the importance of Canon

[brendank]

You know, I've recalled seeing plenty of debates on how important canon is for fanfic writers, how much they should hold to canon, or not be bound by canon and such.
Now from a readers persepctive I'm pretty middle of the road on the whole debate, believing primarily that good writing can make anything work.

But as a writer, I recall seeing one argument that I have to disagree strongly with. The argument was that even if a writer had never seen the series canon, if they had gotten to know the characters well enough through other sources and wrote well enough, that was enough. My reply is this.
Back in the early days, I was writing some Ranma fics who's plot required me to use Nodoka, a character I only knew via other fanfics. And when I finally got ahold of the Manga where she actually appeared, the memory of how completely wrong my fics characterization of her was made me wince so hard I nearly sprained my face.

If anyone wants to add something more, feel free.

[beeftony]

It depends on what fics you're reading, IMO. If all you read is, say, my fics, you'd get a picture of Shego as this surly, sarcastic, yet maternal and even somewhat soft (when she wants to be), and ultimately redeemable character. This is based off of her canon portrayal, but is ultimately how I see her, and how she comes across in my fics, particularly my KiGo ones.

Now, if you were to read Nate Grey's KiGo fics (which I highly recommend), you would get this picture of Shego as someone who knows what she wants, takes it without hesitation, and doesn't care what anybody else thinks. Both are based off of how she appears in the show, but exactly which characteristics are emphasized over others depends on how the author sees her.

On a show with as many writers as KP, we get to see many sides of each character, each one an expression of how that particular writer sees them. When combined, this forms complex, multi-layered personalities that are rare for a cartoon these days, especially a Disney cartoon.

Therefore an eclectic approach is best when trying to get a clear definition of a character through fanfiction alone. Of course canon is always best, but fanfiction can open up certain facets of a character that the writers of the actual show didn't have time to explore. It's best to take the two together, IMHO.

And that's all I have to say about this.

[Luke Danger]

Well, I like to stick fairly cannon, about the closest thing to breaking the cannon I've is to give Ron a weakness in his MMP (as well as all magic) so that he doesn't make it like a mabye half hour battle and it's over.

Remember, cannon is good, but if it destabalizes your fic (like Ron's now-uber MMP) then break it or come up with somthing to coutner it.

[railroadnut70]

While I have to publish a KP fan fic (written a couple, but haven't published them to date), I have done a few in the Scooby-Doo universe. One thing I like to do is reference events from past episodes and incorporate them into my stories. Doing this adds believability to what I'm trying to write.

[Pim Peccable]

I've always tried to keep to canon.

I wrote most of my stories during "the gap" between Seasons 3 & 4 and was expanding on that canon. It has amazed me how well Season 4 matched my take on events in the character's lives.

(If anyone has comments on my continuity, PLEASE PM or I could start a new thread)

Then again, "Team Stop" is a completely alternate "What If" and seems to a very good story.

I feel continuity is important. Therefore I feel a story should note for the reader of both canon that lead to the current story and canonical events that are "written out".

A good story is driven by character, even if that character's history has changed.

[mike]

I like fan fics... but I like them close to canon... but that's me ;D

[Scoutcraft Piratess]

I think I'm middle-road. I believe one purpose of fanfiction is to write things that might not appear in the show. I also believe another purpose is to further explore characters (which leaves a lot of open doors and possibilities based on personal interpretation).

But I also never read blatantly AU, which means I do like a little bit of canon in my stories. I refuse to read anything where the author says "BTW, in my story such-n-such never happened and they live for some reason in Signapore and always have". To me, that just screams "I wanted to write a story but didn't have enough creativity to make it original and thus used names from a show/book".

So I guess I like the story to be based on canon. After that, the author may go where they please.

Also, it's important to know the canon before you write. I think it's awful when people see very little of a show or book and then proceed to write fanfiction. You need to know enough about the canon, because that is from where characters stem.

[zaratan]

I think canon is very important, but it's also how you percieve and utilize the characters. I'll provide some examples.

In my story Impossible Love, the story takes place in a mythological world, where Kimberly is a princess, and Ron is the stablemaster's son. Yet, because of Kimberly's position, she didn't have many friends, and became friends with the young boy. Flash forward to the present, and the kidnapping, the plot by Lipsky and Fiske against the kingdom.

Now granted, I've made Lipsky a bit darker and more competant, but I like to think that I made the characters, Ron, Kim, Wade, Sensei, even Barkin, as close to canon as possible while still being true the the genre.

Now, let's look at anouther example in my own, my portrayal of Bonnie. I have taken many different interpretations on this character, from the tortured but strong Bonnie from Bonnie's Curse, to the snarky yet helpful Bonnie of The Ronless Factor, to the stuck up, greedy Bonnie of Impossible Love, to a mess of Bonnies in between. I've even used canon to explain differences between them. Yet all are interpretations of the same character, and even by the same author. Is any one of those more valid then any other, based on what we have seen in canon? It's all in which qualities you want to emphasize.

Canon is the guideline by which we base the characters and their actions. But it's the interpretation of those guidelines that make fanfiction what it is, no matter what direction you want to take with it.

[Scoutcraft Piratess]

zaratan said:

Canon is the guideline by which we base the characters and their actions. But it's the interpretation of those guidelines that make fanfiction what it is, no matter what direction you want to take with it.

Well-said.

[Slyrr]

For my part I like to stick to the canon of established KP series events and try to 'conform' my stories to them. I would never have Kim dump Ron for Shego for example, or kill off a character or cripple them or anything that might interfere with the events of the actual series. Possibly because being the blind optimist that I am, I still harbor a secret hope that some day an actual KP producer might somehow look it over and say, 'you know, we could WORK with that....'

[zaratan]

Oh I agree, make canon work for you.

In my main series, I made Bonnie psychic, and then used established episodes to cement that, such as my story Answers, where I showed Bonnie's view during Job Unfair and Exchange.

I did the same thing with Valentine's Surprise to get Ron to make a move on Bonnie, tweaking one point in the show, having Yori show stronger that she liked Ron, but then panicking at the end of Exchange, and this led Ron to thinking.

Make canon work for you by showing how something is possible. That's what I do.

[Scoutcraft Piratess]

Oh, I will accept many things in fics.

The writer just has to make me believe it. I've read some fics where the writers have managed to convince me of just about anything. That's good fic writing.

[slicknickshady]

I like everything to be as close to Canon as possible. As you know it is called fan-fiction for a reason so not everything can be canon. So I like authors who stick to Canon when it come's to the charecters relationships and the charecters personalities.

I won't read any that go away from the basic fundamentals that Bob, Mark, and Steve have stated that are in stones. Anything else I have no problem if everything else is not even close to Canon.

When I say Fundamentals for example that's the town they live in, the charecters relationships, and etc.

I have to say out of everybodys replies i am closer to Slyrrs view then anybody else.

[Mickey]

Canon has to have some place in every fan fiction, even if it's small. A bare minimum of canon in a story is to have the characters act like they do in the show. If the characters in a fiction do not resemble the characters in a show, then really all that's been done is the author borrowed the names and made their own characters. As long as the characters are the same from the show, then I don't mind if there's nothing else canon. Of course, the plot needs to interest me, but that's a different topic.

In the one fiction I'm writing, it takes place after the show ended so there's nothing that breaks canon, as everything that happens will be based on what has happened and could possibly (though not probably) happen. That's a personal preference and I choose to not contradict canon material in my own story. I've read an enjoyed other stories that were definite AU material.

I would have more to say, but after reading several other posts, such as Zaratan's and SP's, so I'd only be repeating them.

[slicknickshady]

protomickey said:

Canon has to have some place in every fan fiction, even if it's small. A bare minimum of canon in a story is to have the characters act like they do in the show. If the characters in a fiction do not resemble the characters in a show, then really all that's been done is the author borrowed the names and made their own characters. As long as the characters are the same from the show, then I don't mind if there's nothing else canon. Of course, the plot needs to interest me, but that's a different topic.

That's like me exactly.

[beeftony]

I always like to build from canon, but I never let it restrict me. The whole freaking point of fanfiction is to explore things that, for some reason or another, could not be explored in canon. Characters can be fleshed out more, and stories can become deeper and more involved, sometimes greatly surpassing the events depicted in canon.

This show, for example, is great for fanfiction because of its intriguing characters and surprisingly rich mythos. The only reasons I watch the show are for the characters and the dialogue, not the lazily constructed "plot of the week." This is a show where the creators have stated that continuity happens "by accident." More often than not this just serves as an excuse for shoddy writing whose only saving grace is the amazingly vivid characters and quick-witted dialogue that somehow draws us in and makes such trivial details as plot not matter anymore.

Bob Schooley stated in a recent post that the show belongs to us fans now, and that nothing that happens after Graduation is really set in stone. That, to me, is indicative of the life and vivacity that they have breathed into these characters that makes even the "worst" episodes of this series still watchable. By essentially turning creative control over to us, the creators have given us a wonderful gift. I say we use it to its fullest extent.

[JuPMod]

Canon is the guideline by which we base the characters and their actions. But it's the interpretation of those guidelines that make fanfiction what it is, no matter what direction you want to take with it.

Well said, my friend. It pretty much sums it up what fanfiction is all about. Some fans just do not understand this, since they think *all* fanfiction have to conformed to one set of guidelines. How silly that is.

As for me, I'm in the middle road here when it comes to fanfiction and canon.

Canon is important, given as Zar said, it's a guideline for fanfiction writers. If a person has not ever seen the show, the person should not be writing fics for that show. Reading other fics alone will not give a person the guideline he/she needed which would allow that person to interpret the guideline.

The whole freaking point of fanfiction is to explore things that, for some reason or another, could not be explored in canon. Characters can be fleshed out more, and stories can become deeper and more involved, sometimes greatly surpassing the events depicted in canon.

I agree here, thus why I'm in the middle road. Fics conforming totally to canon are okay, but it's fun to explore the 'what ifs' and see what those roads take you. IMO, it takes more imagination, patience, and writing capilbity to write these 'what ifs' than it is to conform totally to canon.

With this said, don't expect me to read 'what ifs' that are totally the opposite of canon-conform fics. I can't read such fics where the characters are butchered personality-wise and doing things that are totally not like them at all. Unless it's a humor fic or well-written fic to explain the personality changes, I really can't read such fics.

The way I see it, my fic "A Bond of Honor" is the best example out of my KP fics of a middle-ground 'what if' that conforms to most canon guidelines but takes a step to explore the possibilities of another path. I don't want the characters to change so much from their canon personalities, yet at the same time exploring how their lives and such would be different on this new path. As I said, it's *fun* to explore the 'what ifs' as I'm doing with ABoH.

So yeah, I really think any fanfic writer has to least seen the show or read the book before writing fics. Given fanfiction gives different interpreations of canon, it alone can't give the guideline a writer needs to write the characters and events well.

[shallow15]

I agree with much of what has been said here.

I also use canon as a guideline as to how characters will react to given situations. That said, I then take that ball and run away with it, laughing hysterically.

I generaly don't ship, so I really don't get much into how characters see each other in a romantic sense, with the exception of Kim and Ron and that's only because it's in the show. If they hadn't gotten together, then my fics would reflect that as well.

Anywho, my personal thought on AUs is to figure out the best place in the series itself for your divergence to take place. Everything happens in the series up til that point where your fic takes over. I agree that rewriting the whole series form day one is ridiculous, as the aforementioned Singapore example above mentions, but if you can tie it into existing episodes, then you have somethng to work with.

For example, my fic, "Necessary Evil: The Middleton Cell" is quite definitely an AU for several reasons: 1. Kim and Ron are dead, 2. A different alien race invaded and conquered the planet and STILL retain control of it, and 3. Monkey Fist never unleashed the Yono.

Why is this? Because in this fic universe, the V'sori invasion happened just after the events of Stop Team Go. Consequently, the Stopapbles went into hiding, taking Hana with them, and Monkey Fist was captured by the V'sori, so he never had a chance to keep looking for "the weapon."

And right now, he's too busy with the Middleton Cell to do so. But as I pointed out, everything in the series happens up until Stop Team Go, which is where the fic starts to diverge. Doing that give you the ability to keep everyone in charactyer and refer to other episodes, if necessary, without totally trashing canon.

--Erin M.

[Commander Argus]

Canon is a framework, but I tend to look at it more as history. For example, in my "It Finally Happened" Universe, everything that happened in the televised series up to So the Drama happened to them (that series does not include Season 4 and is AU compared to that.)

Canon is also a starting point, and since I go into a lot more depth than a 22 minute episode can, there is still a lot of latitude as to what character's motivations and emotions actually are. I call what I do taking away the "Disney Filter"

[CDB]

I firmly stick to cannon in all of my stories: crossover or not

I believe that's what readers, like Mike prefer, and more important that's what I prefer.

That's how I've written my previous and very first KP story, and with over 370 people reading it...I can say that sticking to cannon was the right way to go.