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Pam posted a great article on fanon versus canon:
http://ljconstantine.com/column14.htm
I have to agree whole-heartedly with the author's opinion that fanon is dangerous. When I first started writing, it was after many years without seeing TAT, and after reading many, many fanfics that relied on fanon - and consequently there are now pieces of my earlier stories (and indeed, characterizations of some secondary characters) that I would dearly love to hide under a rock. Not that fanon-based stories are *bad* - but there were certain characteristics of the guys and the perirpherals that the fanon authors liked that I don't - and had I realized those were fanon versus canon, I wouldn't have adhered to them. Which is one reason I started writing "Their World" - it was a way for me to make sense of the some of the glitches in canon and yet make sure people understood where canon ended and speculation began. (Which reminds me, I need to get back to work on that...)
Anyway, maybe that's why I'm such a stickler (aka "pain in the ass") when it comes to things such as the priest at the orphanage, BA's real name, and character "surprises" in fanfic - if it goes completely against canon, you better be able to explain it believably - and you'd better do it in the story. ;-)
http://ljconstantine.com/column14.htm
I have to agree whole-heartedly with the author's opinion that fanon is dangerous. When I first started writing, it was after many years without seeing TAT, and after reading many, many fanfics that relied on fanon - and consequently there are now pieces of my earlier stories (and indeed, characterizations of some secondary characters) that I would dearly love to hide under a rock. Not that fanon-based stories are *bad* - but there were certain characteristics of the guys and the perirpherals that the fanon authors liked that I don't - and had I realized those were fanon versus canon, I wouldn't have adhered to them. Which is one reason I started writing "Their World" - it was a way for me to make sense of the some of the glitches in canon and yet make sure people understood where canon ended and speculation began. (Which reminds me, I need to get back to work on that...)
Anyway, maybe that's why I'm such a stickler (aka "pain in the ass") when it comes to things such as the priest at the orphanage, BA's real name, and character "surprises" in fanfic - if it goes completely against canon, you better be able to explain it believably - and you'd better do it in the story. ;-)
