No, thank you for taking the time to write this, you have managed to pinpoint how I feel about fanfic and canon.
The only criteria I have regarding a fanfic is does the characterization work? Do their motivations fit the characters they are based on? Or do they merely look the same as these characters and just happen to have the same names?
I've tried fanfic in which halfway through, I'm thinking, okay, no, Buffy would never do that. Spike would never say that. Xander does not act that way. And I can't imagine Willow acting like that. As you may have figured out from all those essays I wrote - I'm a character girl. It's the most important thing to me when I read a fanfic. If I don't find the writer's depiction of the character believable? I'm gone.
One of the reasons I'm so psyched about ATS S6 with Brian Lynch at the helm, is he is the only writer outside of the ones who wrote the tv shows, that I feel gets the ATS universe and had the characterization of Spike down cold. (The fact that Joss Whedon and Tim Minear agree with me, validates that.) I'm incredibly anal about that.
I'm even critical of the original writers when it comes to characterization - for example in Whedon's S8 Buffy, he has Buffy say a few things that she just would not say, unless she's merely spent far too much time with Xander. It took me out of the story. Sure the reference was cool, but I couldn't imagine the character saying it. If that makes sense.
Until I read your post, I didn't realize that this is what I care about - when it comes to canon. I could care less about the little details of the universe - or timeline - like whether or not Sunnydale still exists or who died in the alley, or if everyone is human. What matters to me is are these the characters I came to know or could they be anyone? The main problem with the Everyone is Human AU fanfics is the characters often feel hollow or like paper dolls, and the plots feel like romance novels I've read. Also too many fanfic writers make Buffy weak - they remove her strength...and that doesn't work for me. For me, Buffy was a tough customer, she could handle herself and never needed to be saved, she saved the guys, not the other way around. So many female fanfic writers for reasons that escape me seem to want to change that, flip it.
When I wrote her - I tried the first round to kill her off, but when I went inside the character, I realized it didn't work. This is a character who can find a way around problems, who is proactive and inventive.
So yes, I agree, it's not canon as far as the plot goes that I worry about, it's canon as far as "who" the characters are. Thank you for helping me figure that out.
This is why I liked discussing things on fanboards and online - it helps one figure things out.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-05-02 12:10 am (UTC)The only criteria I have regarding a fanfic is does the characterization work? Do their motivations fit the characters they are based on? Or do they merely look the same as these characters and just happen to have the same names?
I've tried fanfic in which halfway through, I'm thinking, okay, no, Buffy would never do that. Spike would never say that. Xander does not act that way. And I can't imagine Willow acting like that. As you may have figured out from all those essays I wrote - I'm a character girl. It's the most important thing to me when I read a fanfic. If I don't find the writer's depiction of the character believable? I'm gone.
One of the reasons I'm so psyched about ATS S6 with Brian Lynch at the helm, is he is the only writer outside of the ones who wrote the tv shows, that I feel gets the ATS universe and had the characterization of Spike down cold. (The fact that Joss Whedon and Tim Minear agree with me, validates that.) I'm incredibly anal about that.
I'm even critical of the original writers when it comes to characterization - for example in Whedon's S8 Buffy, he has Buffy say a few things that she just would not say, unless she's merely spent far too much time with Xander. It took me out of the story. Sure the reference was cool, but I couldn't imagine the character saying it. If that makes sense.
Until I read your post, I didn't realize that this is what I care about - when it comes to canon. I could care less about the little details of the universe - or timeline - like whether or not Sunnydale still exists or who died in the alley, or if everyone is human. What matters to me is are these the characters I came to know or could they be anyone? The main problem with the Everyone is Human AU fanfics is the characters often feel hollow or like paper dolls, and the plots feel like romance novels I've read. Also too many fanfic writers make Buffy weak - they remove her strength...and that doesn't work for me. For me, Buffy was a tough customer, she could handle herself and never needed to be saved, she saved the guys, not the other way around. So many female fanfic writers for reasons that escape me seem to want to change that, flip it.
When I wrote her - I tried the first round to kill her off, but when I went inside the character, I realized it didn't work. This is a character who can find a way around problems, who is proactive and inventive.
So yes, I agree, it's not canon as far as the plot goes that I worry about, it's canon as far as "who" the characters are. Thank you for helping me figure that out.
This is why I liked discussing things on fanboards and online - it helps one figure things out.