Revisions

[kizoku.livejournal.com]

Does it bother you when people use selective pieces of canon to write fanfiction? Of course, for Animorphs I'm talking about changing the ending, but I'm sure this can apply to other parts stuff, too.

I am not a fan of the ending of the series, so I personally don't mind when someone says "Hey, this ignores the end of #54" or when they completely rewrite the ending. But that's just me.

Dear guys who did the first AMcast:

I love you. It came up on my playlist while I sit bored in the computer lab and it made me crack up.

Comments

[lusimeles.livejournal.com]

As long as it's well done, I pretty much don't mind anything... except really creepy stuff like incest, though I guess that's a popular realm for some people as well.

[iapetusneume.livejournal.com]

I never did, but I guess it's because I come from fandoms that only use select parts of the canon all the time. *shrug*

[odette-river.livejournal.com]

It doesn't bother me, either, because I see that as sort of the point of fanfic: you get to play around in a universe and see what you can do with it. If I find something in fic that I don't like, I just avoid it.

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to answer this as a reader, but as a writer. I've only done one Animorphs piece, and it ignores everything that happens after book #45. I made this decision pretty much because I wrote it before the series ended. (I think while I was fiddling with it, we were in the #43 - #47 range, actually.) Anyway, that choice was made out of necessity, but if I were to write the same story now, I might make that same decision by choice, because mine does provide for a happier, if someone silly, ending.

My general policy is to fit my plot idea into a specific point in any given canon, and usually I prefer to work in a closed canon, although there are exceptions. I usually prefer that by the end of my fic, the characters can continue on in future canon pretty much as destiny demands, although again, I have plenty of exceptions.

With many fandoms, it's easy to just write after the series has ended, but with Animorphs that just doesn't work. We need a happier ending to create further adventures.

The vital things to follow with fanfic are characterization and setting. You want the reader to recognize the characters as true to themselves, rather than as pod people bearing the names of familiar characters. If you manage that, and without mixing up the little details of the universe, like how one reaches the yeerk pool or what the characters understand about z-space, you'll have a satisfying story that makes readers willing to accept any historical changes your plot creates.

Just my opinion.

[perpetual-poet.livejournal.com]

Since I can't, for the life of me, figure out how things could possibly continue without everybody dying horribly after the ending, it's fine by me as a reader.

As a writer--I've liked playing with things before the Rachel takes off. My first Animorphs fics were a trilogy about Erek and Jake, using the way canon played out for them. Like I said, though: I have NO CLUE how to continue the supposedly fanfic friendly ending, so I'm not sure where to draw the line--although I'd love some good Cassie angst, years later. XD Basically, either is okay with me.

I had to keep changing "epilogue" to "ending." Blame Digimon--another case of "I don't really like the ending, but there are some great things to play with in there."

[emilyanna07.livejournal.com]

I have no problem with it as long as the story is marked AU. Otherwise, it seems like the writer didn't do their research. But I like reading stories that generally do not focus on the Animorphs (Cassie being an exception). I'm a big fan of Yeerk fics and I'll read almost anything that portrays them in a positive light. Unfortunately, there aren't many of those fics out there.

[emilyanna07.livejournal.com]

the pit?

[emilyanna07.livejournal.com]

Oooh. Should have guessed. :)

[deslumbrar.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends on what parts of canon the writer chooses to keep or discard. If he or she wants to change the ending or only include canon up to, for instance, book #30, that's totally cool with me. I just like it to be marked that it's AU or that it ignores #54 or whatever.

While I easily accept timeline adjustment, my disbelief is harder to suspend if the author starts messing with canon details. Like, if a fanfic says that the Anis can morph straight from one animal to another and it's not 'cause they've all got the hereth illint, there'd better be a good reason. If the same fanfic says they can also morph fluffy unicorns, I'm hitting the back button. And possibly throwing blessed water at the computer for good measure.

[buffyangellvr23.livejournal.com]

I'm with what's mostly been said already...I'm in a lot of fandoms that go AU so it's nothing new to me but I like it marked and the explanations to be good.

[box-life.livejournal.com]

Eh, it's part of the point of fanfiction. In the places where favorite characters die in particular, I figure it's a good thing.