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Fanfic essay.
This is an essay about fanfic definitions (or something), and came about because of this discussion with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stormwreath. Meta began eating my head, so I figured I might as well just get it down and over with. This stuff has probably been said a million times by people more eloquent than I, but there you go. These are my thoughts. (Kinda short and written down in a morning, but I think I manage to put my main points across.)
Basically I think there are two types of fanfic: story-based and character-based. Not sure these are good names, but let me explain what I mean:
1. Story-based:
This kind can be divided into two subcategories: ‘What happens next?’ and ‘Fill-in-the-blank’. What they have in common is that they do the same job as the show, and the authors essentially try to do the same thing as a show-writer does: Continue or add to the existing story (canon).
Fit-B: On a show there will (if necessary) be flashbacks, and a lot of FitBs fit into this bracket (f.ex. how many ‘William & Angelus meet for the first time’ stories must there have been written before ‘Destiny’ told us what happened?). But fic writers will also take throwaway lines (“I ate a decorator once,”) or scenes we never saw (Buffy telling the Scoobies that Spike had a soul), or things that were never properly explained (why do vampires show up on film?) and try to find suitable explanations. For this to work it is of course of utmost importance that everyone is in character and that the story is plausible.
‘What happens next?’: This kind of fic tries to continue the story we saw on screen. F.ex. post-’The Gift’ there must have been a ridiculous number of fics, trying to work out a way of bringing Buffy back to life. Ditto with Spike post-Chosen. Of course if the show is still on air, the fic will be Jossed sooner or later. But if the show is finished, then this is the main way of still living in the ‘verse we loved. Who lived, who died in the alley? Did Buffy and Spike meet post-NFA? What happened to Illyria? Fics of this type adhere strictly to canon, and try to see where the characters could have gone in the future, given their past and their situation. Keeping them in character is the point.
2. Character based:
This type of fic springs from that eternal question: ‘What if?’ And although I have named this category ‘character-based’, this sort is much more likely to go down the OOC route. Because once you choose the AU path, anything can happen (which, btw, isn’t a *bad* thing!). These kinds of fics branch off from canon at any point (or can be completely AU, such as turning everyone into pop stars), and the possibilities are literally endless. What if Angel had turned Spike? What if Buffy had fallen for Xander? What if Angelus hadn’t been re-souled in ‘Becoming’? What if Jonathan was part-demon? What if Jenny hadn’t been killed? Etc. It is possible to roughly divide this type into two parts: Character-centric ones, where the interest comes from throwing a character (or characters) into a completely different situation and seeing what happens, and story-centric ones where the character(s) is (are) used to tell a different story to the one on the show. (Does that make sense? I hope so, because I don’t have time to delve into it.)
Now post-show fic can of course fall into this category also, but the distinctions become a bit blurry, because obviously category 1 also depends on the ‘What if?’ to have a story at all. I think however that there is still a distinction to be made: post-show stories that ret-con part of canon for the sake of their own story would fall into category 2. It is the difference between taking what’s there and working with it, or taking what’s wanted and discarding (or changing) what’s not.
(And - going back to what started this in the first place - this is why I think AtF fits category 1 and ‘season 8’ category 2.)
Please discuss, but I might not join in, OK? Am horribly busy and shouldn't be here!
stormwreath. Meta began eating my head, so I figured I might as well just get it down and over with. This stuff has probably been said a million times by people more eloquent than I, but there you go. These are my thoughts. (Kinda short and written down in a morning, but I think I manage to put my main points across.)Basically I think there are two types of fanfic: story-based and character-based. Not sure these are good names, but let me explain what I mean:
1. Story-based:
This kind can be divided into two subcategories: ‘What happens next?’ and ‘Fill-in-the-blank’. What they have in common is that they do the same job as the show, and the authors essentially try to do the same thing as a show-writer does: Continue or add to the existing story (canon).
Fit-B: On a show there will (if necessary) be flashbacks, and a lot of FitBs fit into this bracket (f.ex. how many ‘William & Angelus meet for the first time’ stories must there have been written before ‘Destiny’ told us what happened?). But fic writers will also take throwaway lines (“I ate a decorator once,”) or scenes we never saw (Buffy telling the Scoobies that Spike had a soul), or things that were never properly explained (why do vampires show up on film?) and try to find suitable explanations. For this to work it is of course of utmost importance that everyone is in character and that the story is plausible.
‘What happens next?’: This kind of fic tries to continue the story we saw on screen. F.ex. post-’The Gift’ there must have been a ridiculous number of fics, trying to work out a way of bringing Buffy back to life. Ditto with Spike post-Chosen. Of course if the show is still on air, the fic will be Jossed sooner or later. But if the show is finished, then this is the main way of still living in the ‘verse we loved. Who lived, who died in the alley? Did Buffy and Spike meet post-NFA? What happened to Illyria? Fics of this type adhere strictly to canon, and try to see where the characters could have gone in the future, given their past and their situation. Keeping them in character is the point.
2. Character based:
This type of fic springs from that eternal question: ‘What if?’ And although I have named this category ‘character-based’, this sort is much more likely to go down the OOC route. Because once you choose the AU path, anything can happen (which, btw, isn’t a *bad* thing!). These kinds of fics branch off from canon at any point (or can be completely AU, such as turning everyone into pop stars), and the possibilities are literally endless. What if Angel had turned Spike? What if Buffy had fallen for Xander? What if Angelus hadn’t been re-souled in ‘Becoming’? What if Jonathan was part-demon? What if Jenny hadn’t been killed? Etc. It is possible to roughly divide this type into two parts: Character-centric ones, where the interest comes from throwing a character (or characters) into a completely different situation and seeing what happens, and story-centric ones where the character(s) is (are) used to tell a different story to the one on the show. (Does that make sense? I hope so, because I don’t have time to delve into it.)
Now post-show fic can of course fall into this category also, but the distinctions become a bit blurry, because obviously category 1 also depends on the ‘What if?’ to have a story at all. I think however that there is still a distinction to be made: post-show stories that ret-con part of canon for the sake of their own story would fall into category 2. It is the difference between taking what’s there and working with it, or taking what’s wanted and discarding (or changing) what’s not.
(And - going back to what started this in the first place - this is why I think AtF fits category 1 and ‘season 8’ category 2.)
Please discuss, but I might not join in, OK? Am horribly busy and shouldn't be here!
no subject
Imagine a row of terrace houses, and the one in the middle has fallen down. Extending canon would mean restoring that house as an exact copy of its neighbours. Extrapolating from canon would mean using the existing foundations to build a brand new house with a modern design, but using materials and architectural details that allowed it to blend with and complement its neighbours. (And an AU crack!fic would be building a plate glass and concrete towerblock in its place...)
However, the 'extrapolating from canon' stories still need that canon as a base. They might change one specific element for the sake of the story ("What if Spike fell in love with Dawn instead of Buffy?"), but that makes it even more important to maintain the rest of their continuity - otherwise they're just original fiction with characters who share names with the more familiar people from the original story.
no subject
Well it was written down inbetween lots of other stuff, so I made up things on the fly. Changing terminology is more than fine!
A fill-in-the-blank can be character based, after all: there were those two drabbles I once wrote about Willow and her pencil sharpener, one set in season 4 and one in season 6 - they had almost no plot to speak of, but were entirely about her character.
Well exactly. What I mean with 'story-based' was really more 'canon-based', that is, fitting in with the story we have on screen. And therefore it is very important to keep everyone in character.
However, the 'extrapolating from canon' stories still need that canon as a base. They might change one specific element for the sake of the story ("What if Spike fell in love with Dawn instead of Buffy?"), but that makes it even more important to maintain the rest of their continuity
That is true. But the more you change, the further you move away from what you once had (butterfly effect and all that). I like the 're-imagining' theory best of all. That really works for me, I think.