Ramble 9

Does It Have to Follow Canon?

Once I again, a disgruntled reader sent me an e-mail, stating that I shouldn’t be writing fanfiction, since I don’t follow the same guidelines set up in the original, and that I make the characters so OOC (Out Of Character), that I shouldn’t even call it a Ranam fic, an Oh My Goddess fic, a Dragonball Z fic or whatever. I only have one thing to say to this person…

“What planet are you from?!”

HELLO. There’s a reason why it’s called FAN-fiction. It’s because it’s written by FANS, like me. Like all fanfic writers, we’re not part of the original creative staff, nor do we have anything to contribute to any future works. Heck, we don’t even get paid for doing this. Therefore, we don’t HAVE to follow the formula set up by the original. All we do is take the same ingredients, and mix them up in different combinations, and even change up the directions on how to do it. There’s no set rules on what we write, how we write it, or even how the characters act. That’s what makes fanfic writing so versatile. It’s literally ANYTHING GOES.

Let’s start with the question of why we write fanfiction in the first place. The bottom line is that though we like the original, there’s always something in it that we DIDN’T like. The series was too short. It ended with some unfinished business. Some characters should have gotten something. Whatever the reason, we the writers become compelled to write about it. And when the writer disliked something on the whole, then he/she feels compelled to change it completely.

And guess what? The writer is perfectly within his/her rights. Why? It’s because it happens to be HIS/HER story. And the reason why he/she posts it on the internet for all to see? It’s because that there are BOUND to be some readers out there who agree with the author. Never mind that there are those who disagree or are outraged that we dare to go beyond the set limits. Who cares? It’s not like anyone’s stopping anyone from making their own stories.

So what if I make Ranma act so unlike the original? So what if I don’t follow the general rules that Takahashi made up? Does that mean that I can’t write a good story to entertain my readers and also fulfill, (at least to myself), what should have happened? It’s not like my stories will change what happened in the original. All I’m presenting is a different view of how things could be.

Whenever I get complaints about my stories and how they don’t follow the original, I simply tell them to either stop reading my stories, or just stop reading fanfiction altogether. If you want to stay in the same old routine as the original, then don’t bother with other people’s works, since they won’t please you and I certainly don’t want to waste any time in convincing you otherwise. For those who do want to read, I must give warnings to everyone to expect ANYTHING. Don’t keep to the original too much. You may want to use it as a reference point, but that’s all.

Whenever someone says, “Ranma didn’t do that in the original!” I simply respond, “Yeah, so what’s your point? I‘m not writing the original.” Then some dope says, “Akane did all this good stuff.” My response is, “So? Does she do that in my story? No.” My favorite is, “Shampoo or Ukyo or whoever, is a scheming, cheating #@%#! Akane is the only one!” My answer to that is, “Why not Shampoo or Ukyo or whoever? I mean, this was changed here, and this never happened, and she did this instead of that.” Readers of that sort always seem to miss that detail, or just deny it completely.

Get this fact clear. I am NOT writing canon. I’m writing FANFICTION! And with that said, I’m going back to writing more of my FANFICTION.