Do you worry about your stories being “AUed”?

[GeorgeGlass]

In writing fanfics about current TV shows, or about movies that are likely to have sequels, I sometimes find myself worrying about my story being rendered AU (“alternate universe,” ie, no longer consistent with canon) by future episodes. For example, I'm nearly ready to begin writing a new Star Vs. the Forces of Evil fic, but I can't shake the concern that when the new season starts (in “late spring/early summer,” as the network is putting it), my story will be rendered AU before it's even finished. I'd feel stupid writing about Marco's romance with Jackie Lynn Thomas when the show has, say, just revealed that she secretly loathes him, or that Marco is actually in love with Star, or what have you.

I pride myself on making my fanfics as true to the source material as possible, and being AUed messes with that. Also, I feel like being AUed renders the story obsolete in the eyes of readers.

Do any of you ever worry about this?

[DirtyAngel]

Um, I write original so no but I can see your point

[JayDee]

Nah. As long as you have it canon compliant up to the point the canon is written then it's all you can do, other than not write anything until a series is utterly finished.

[BronxWench]

What JayDee said.

There's also the instances when you write for a game fandom, like I do, and you are of the opinion that the developers missed a crucial plot point, or went the wrong way, so to speak. In that case, I will happily dive into the AU pool.

[KoKoa_B]

The only time I ran across that problem was when I decided that last year's Camp NaNo project would be based on a comic book whose first issue came out that past June! I, of course, have always added in OCs so I guess you can say that I will always have a hint of AU going on, anyway! I realized that in order to not go too much into AU, I would have to wait until the newest issue is released, read it and go from there. Which... would actually force me to update at least once a month (a vast improvement compared to my current schedule...)!

I know that writing about a comic book is different from writing about a TV show/series: where I only have to wait a month, you have to wait possibly several (and the gods forbid that the show gets cancelled! But, we're writers for a reason)!

But, I will agree with Bronx and Jay: I don't think too many readers would mind so long as the canon characters are indeed canon.

[julpups]

When I stumble over something putative non-canonical, I check the release date of the story which solves the confusion in most cases. You could add "I've written this after season x or before season y was released" to your author notes. I would not see it as an AU and other readers shouldn't either (hopefully ). Otherwise the authors would have to wait years in some cases before they could start writing.

[Desiderius Price]

The bigger danger in these situations is fanfics getting abandoned once the new book/show is released.

[GeorgeGlass]

Then I guess I will endeavor to put my neuroses aside and just write the thing. Thanks, all.

[Guest]

Hi,

I do not worry about the AU label and I actually embrace it. I feel that the original 'mangaka' in my case did a good job with the particular manga that I am writing my fic about. I like taking the characters from the story off into other adventures and using them for other purposes. It is too much fun not to...

If someone says to me that my story is not in 'canon', I only sit back and smile because I did what I set out to do.

LHF

Edited April 21, 2016 by Guest

[pippychick]

While the way I write elves no doubt makes everything I do AU, I think it's fair to say that when they made The Hobbit into a series of films, they did me no favours with the story I'm working on.

People who have only seen the films will consider my work AU as regards events and characters, because they've added things that weren't present in the source material.

That being said, whatever insipid idiocy (yes, I suppose am rather angry at this and I can't help it) they made up regarding Thranduil's wife cannot really be considered Tolkien canon, and that is what counts to me. So I will continue on my way, imagining it however I see fit, in the way that will best suit my plot.

[BronxWench]

That's a very interesting point. When you're dealing with a fandom that began as books and has since become movies, there's going to be serious differences between the two. So, in a sense, the movies are AU themselves, and the original novels must be considered canon, I'd think.

[foeofthelance]

At this point, I think at least two of my stories are AUs of one of my other stories, so if I am worried, its a self inflicted wound.

[Desiderius Price]

My Potter fanfic was started in 2003, just before OotP was released... last updated in 2012, and still WIP. So time does AU many of the fics. (And most of them tweak the canon somehow, which does make it, by its nature, AU)

[GeorgeGlass]

While the way I write elves no doubt makes everything I do AU, I think it's fair to say that when they made The Hobbit into a series of films, they did me no favours with the story I'm working on.

People who have only seen the films will consider my work AU as regards events and characters, because they've added things that weren't present in the source material.

That's a very interesting point. When you're dealing with a fandom that began as books and has since become movies, there's going to be serious differences between the two. So, in a sense, the movies are AU themselves, and the original novels must be considered canon, I'd think.

I'd never thought about it, but yes, I could see "What is canon?" being a big issue with fics about books that have also become movies, TV shows, etc. In the case of LotR, the books are obviously canon--to us. But there are probably plenty of fic-readers out there who have never read the books and for whom the movies are de facto canon.

There are even a few cases in which, IMO, this is a legitimate stance. The James Bond movies, even from the beginning, were not terribly faithful to the Ian Fleming novels--not merely because of material cut or changed for time or other reasons related to filming, but because there was a deliberate effort to make the cinematic James Bond a different character from the one in the books. So I think its fair to say that the Bond movies form a canon of their own, separate from Fleming's written work.

[SirGeneralSir]

i see every fan fic as an AU because according to canon, it actually didn't happen.

its part of a universe all on its own