Poll: New Fics Using Old Canon

[kennahijja]

I've been thinking about the advantages/disadvantages of writing stories with 'old canon' lately. With that, I mean stories that ignore either whole books (like HBP) or certain events in canon (the death of Sirius, for example), not older stories written before said new canon came out.

I see them occasionally, and don't mind reading them, but have the impression that they are rather frowned upon in fandom. Which, in a way, is understandable, since new canon means tons of new details to incorporate, new situations to explore, and writing in an 'old' context smacks of laziness or resentment against new canon developments. Or does it? Since I'm sitting on an *old* plot right this moment and am tempted to forget that the strange animal called HBP ever showed up in its context, I'd be curious about what 'public opinion' is on this. Hence, poll :).

That said, I really want honest opinions, not reassurance - my decision on said plot will be totally uninfluenced by the outcome of this. If I was going for what's popular, I'd not try to carry the candle for Ron/Lucius ;).


[Poll #785133]

Comments

[maeglinyedi.livejournal.com]

I like good AU stories, and to me ignoring/changing something from old canon is writing an AU story. I have no problems with it, and I'll happily read it if I like the pairing/plot/etc.

I've written stories like that as well. My Of Wolf and Man series is an AU in which Sirius didn't die at the end of OotP. Instead Remus pulled him back from the veil. I think it works in those stories, and I've gotten a lot of positive responses for those fic.

On the other hand, I don't shy away from writing Sirius as dead since OotP, either. If the plot demands it, I go with it.

So for me there is a difference between someone writing a story that explores the idea of Snape not having killed Dumbledore (for whatever reason) in HBP, and someone in full denial of those events in HBP, unwilling to even consider them ever in a story. The first is playing with canon and creating what if scenarios. The latter is just plain denial. If that makes sense. :-)

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

Lots of sense :). Denial is something I never understood, as I'm not that dependent on the way canon goes. I like nasty surprises ;).

Since you mention 'Of Wolf and Man'... I somehow have the impression that blanking out certain canon elements happens very often in smut/romance, to pull off a pairing that's become troublesome due to canon elements. Genfic might not need that much of it. (not meant negatively - that's exactly my problem with the fic I'm talking about, and somehow it feels exaggerated to try and write around half a dozen nasty canonical developments just to churn out 200 KB of smut. Yup, it may be lazy, but it's also economic).