tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post4702503753756899197..comments2023-04-10T03:20:23.344-05:00Comments on HanLeiaFanFicWriters: To "Ben," or not to "Ben".... Guest Post by ErmaZyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-43527137633956000132017-07-01T13:37:13.756-05:002017-07-01T13:37:13.756-05:00I'm late to this discussion, but it's rele...I'm late to this discussion, but it's relevant to me bc just yesterday I started reading a well-written, relatively new AU by an author I'd never read before. Anyway, I dived right in and was hooked. However, by the second chapter there were mentions of Takodana and Maz, and I found myself feeling uneasy and unsure of whether I could continue. (Really, that's all it takes for me to be triggered.) I decided to press on but let her know in my review for that chapter that I was feeling a bit wary. I guess as a reader, I'd rather do that up front than simply stop reviewing because of my own issues with any mention of new canon. JennyCBShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03646431168592570524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-83697134758689071882017-06-27T12:41:57.324-05:002017-06-27T12:41:57.324-05:00Erin, I can understand the impulse to apologize fo...Erin, I can understand the impulse to apologize for someone you had read a lot from, and then just suddenly... stopped. I did that once for a different reason, someone had been posting a story I'd been following, and then the updates became really, really spread out to the point where by the time you had a new one, you'd practically have to go back and re-read the whole story again to remember where you'd left off. (no, amazingly I'm not talking about Knighted Rogue, but now that I'm thinking of it I might have said the same thing to her at some point!) So when they gave another update I sent them a message to tell them I was excited they had updated, and I was sorry I hadn't read and commented but I wanted to wait now until the story was finished to read the whole thing in its entirety rather than constantly going back and re-reading the first bunch of chapters every few months to catch up. Of course then afterward I just felt like a jerk because I was just telling them, hey, this is why I'm NOT reading what you wrote... but I swear I meant it in the nicest possible way.<br /><br />It's tough, for sure. Both as a writer and as a reader. And it kind of sucks that part of our enjoyment of this whole process hinges on the feedback we do or do not receive, but that's just kind of the way it is.Zyrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-29716994297548249492017-06-27T12:00:59.263-05:002017-06-27T12:00:59.263-05:00Another clarification from me: I certainly don'...Another clarification from me: I certainly don't run around apologising to every H/L author whose work I don't read; I'd have time for nothing else if I did that, because there are a lot of people active right now. Also, for the record, I do think it's up to the reader to beware and to select what s/he wants to read. It's not the writer's job to cater to anyone. Tags and warnings are nice courtesies, but really it's up to the reader to attend to her own preferences (and look after her own psyche)! I'm talking about myself here. lol <br /><br />Still, there are some active writers whose work I normally <em>do</em> read and review (or <em>did</em>, before they began writing TFA-related fics). For those with whom I'd been in correspondence already or with whom I felt I had some sort of relationship, I felt an explanation of my withdrawal of interest was the kind and courteous thing to do. For a select few, I think it was better to explain than to leave them wondering why I suddenly dropped off the radar. <br /><br />I wrestled over this for a while without saying anything because it seemed like an awfully egotistical thing to think (never mind do). As if anyone would notice a single reader being absent, right? Why would anyone care if I don't read or review a particular story? They probably don't even notice... <em>Who do I think I am</em>, and all that. <br /><br />I told myself that stuff and let it ride for a while...the better part of a year, in fact. But there were a few signs that indicated to me that those writers <em>were</em> feeling unsupported and ignored, and the guilt started to get to me. I do love this community, and I try my best to be supportive of everyone, so I felt awful just flat ignoring certain people with no explanation. Ugh. Anyway, it turns out that my absence from such interaction was indeed noticed and missed, and the explanation I provided seemed to help soothe some feelings and repair relations. So, I'm glad I did it and I feel like goodwill was restored. <br /><br />Do I think anyone "owes" anyone else explanations or apologies for what they choose to write or read? Absolutely not. But I guess it's just how I'm wired. I'd rather err on the side of caution than risk giving offense, however inadvertently. Erin Darrochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17022044977128626948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-83045441090975299202017-06-27T09:37:54.466-05:002017-06-27T09:37:54.466-05:00Well I was disconnected all weekend and missed som...Well I was disconnected all weekend and missed some interesting stuff. I will try and comment on a few things:<br /><br />First, I don't think anyone who writes owes any readers any sort of explanation or advice on how to "fix" their story to make it readable for them or whatever. Everyone should write what they want, and let the readers decide if they are interested in your story. If they don't like it for some reason, it's not your job to find a way to cater to their needs. I do think it's unfortunate that we can be sort of divided on certain things, and some people may never want to read your story for any number of reasons, but I still feel and have always felt that as a writer, we should write what we want. <br /><br />Then of course as a writer you do have to understand that you may lose some readers for certain reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of your work. I'm sure I lose readers for mentioning the EU kids. Someone else might lose them for using Ben. CV is open about the fact that she writes Han/Leia/Luke stuff and a lot of people aren't interested in that either. But, even though there are people who won't read for those reasons, there are also people who WILL. For the most part, anyway. And admittedly it can get frustrating if the fandom sort of shifts away from you and goes in another direction and you just find fewer and fewer people interested in the things you want to write about, but I still don't think the solution is to try and change what you like to write just to get more people reading. I suspect it won't take too long for there not to be a ton of people left who want to read about the EU kids as I like to write them. At that point I can either figure out a different timeframe to write in, or stop writing (or at least publishing.) <br /><br />Also as for using totally different kids, I think that can sometimes be fine. I've seen people who maybe will use Jaina as a name for one of the daughters but then the rest of the kids are all different. It is initially a tad confusing but doesn't take long to just kind of be like, ok, they have a daughter Jaina but she's not a twin and there's no Anakin or Jacen but instead these other kids. Got it. Or sometimes I've seen people mention that they have some amount of kids but not even name them, just tell us they have them because the kids are maybe not relevant to the story. It's really not a big deal to make up your own kids for them if that's what you want to do. <br /><br />As for author's notes, I think those are good for clearing up potential confusion, or maybe stating that this kid doesn't go dark and nothing foreshadows anything, or that it adheres to this canon or that canon or whatever. But I don't think author's notes need to be used to apologize for your content or give people alternatives to change what you've written in some way. I think Erin's idea to paste it to a new document and change the name is a really good one and maybe some other people might do that, but I don't think as an author you should go out of your way to give people ideas like that. <br /><br />I'm sure there was more I meant to touch on but that's what I've got for now!Zyrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-90908768260053340562017-06-26T19:42:04.974-05:002017-06-26T19:42:04.974-05:00Mic drop! :DMic drop! :DErmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10713238044807604717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-51624019933005565282017-06-26T06:36:27.366-05:002017-06-26T06:36:27.366-05:00Amen!Amen!JainaDurronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16306143301521939650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-72051072169443762002017-06-25T23:42:55.312-05:002017-06-25T23:42:55.312-05:00I think everyone should write what they want.I think everyone should write what they want.StatsGrandma's Office Hourshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06128031887455320394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-24352887741236240892017-06-25T16:44:34.468-05:002017-06-25T16:44:34.468-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.cv73https://www.blogger.com/profile/00172856161533760809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-65404319510687423942017-06-25T12:49:47.345-05:002017-06-25T12:49:47.345-05:00Haha, I really do enjoy having that freedom and us...Haha, I really do enjoy having that freedom and using it! :) Otherwise, it'd be too stressful for me and not worth it, if I had to limit myself to avoid using certain stuff or to put extra work into coming up with every little detail.<br /><br />Re: filtering, I've contacted the AO3 admins a while ago and they're working on improving the system, but <a href="http://otterandterrier.tumblr.com/tagged/archive%20of%20our%20own" rel="nofollow">here's a solution</a> to exclude certain tags when searching, be it ships, characters or any other you can think of! I always try to tag my stories accordingly and include A/Ns with any other specifics.OtterAndTerrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321765791490181004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-21756826297135087642017-06-25T12:43:03.525-05:002017-06-25T12:43:03.525-05:00@Erma, I think it depends because... if you write ...@Erma, I think it depends because... if you write a missing moment for something, then you are counting on the reader having read, or hoping that they will read, the piece of canon you're basing your fic on. If you're borrowing a timeline/setting/character but not necessarily sticking to canon, then you need to describe it a little in your fic, or know that some readers will not get it. Like I said, I think it's preferable to always assume your reader hasn't read any of the material you're borrowing from so that they don't feel like they have to in order to understand what you're showing them. I'm more familiar with DisC than with the EU, so if you tell me that your EU fic is set in this or that period, I won't know what you're talking about and will likely not read it unless you assure me somehow that I'll get it. Or I might not read a DisC fic if you tell me you're using a part of it I don't agree with. Was that what you were asking?<br /><br />@Erin ... yeah see, THAT'S the kind of stories and authors I'll gladly stay as far away from as possible. The only TFA-set fic I've read is Remain in Light, and will read lajulie's Epic Love, both of which are fix-its, so...OtterAndTerrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321765791490181004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-63946016533122993902017-06-25T12:30:55.854-05:002017-06-25T12:30:55.854-05:00@Erin Of course, I know it's just for personal...@Erin Of course, I know it's just for personal use! I only meant that I see a couple of issues with suggesting it publicly, like in an A/N. I can give you my permission/be okay with that in a small circle such as this or if you asked me personally, but if I wrote a note saying "Hey guys! Feel free to change any names that you might not like!" then I'm sort of allowing users to change just anything they want, which kind of defeats the purpose of my fic being my particular vision, you know? Like, okay, Ben is associated with something negative, so is Anakin, I can understand that as an author and reader. But if I came up with an OC child and took great pains to pick a name I liked, then I won't feel so great knowing someone decided to change it just because they didn't like it (though I respect that it'd be an all right choice for you guys!) Because I don't know if the story should suit the reader more than the reader should suit the story and pick what they do want to read. I guess where I'm coming from is that I don't see how having a negative reaction to seeing a Ben child is different to encountering a mention of rape on the Death Star or any other trope you really dislike. It's part of the story I'm reading and I have to accept that within this 'verse, ignore it, or quit reading (or if the story had a warning, decide if I'm willing to invest my time in that story or not).<br /><br />And yes, A/Ns are SO important!OtterAndTerrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321765791490181004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-39932901659166066322017-06-25T07:04:48.897-05:002017-06-25T07:04:48.897-05:00Not to answer for Kels but I'll chime in here ...Not to answer for Kels but I'll chime in here to say that there certainly are some die-hard Han/Leia fans who <em>do</em> accept Disney canon. Some even seem to relish the angst and the opportunities it gives for heart-rending "missing moments" fics. One that comes to mind is AQ (Aquarius-1977)'s <a href="https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11716205/1/Stolen-Time" rel="nofollow">Stolen Time</a>. Warning: it's TFA-compliant and a heartbreaker. Erin Darrochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17022044977128626948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-37096390667939850832017-06-25T07:04:29.034-05:002017-06-25T07:04:29.034-05:00Erin, this: "I'd hate for things to desce...Erin, this: "I'd hate for things to descend again into the fandom doldrums that Zyra describes. I just wish we had better systems on the archives for finding (or excluding) specific types of stories"<br /><br />This seems to be a key point. Given the technological limitations of the main fan fic sites, it doesn't seem there's a good way to have technological systems, be it tags, filters, etc (unless those could be suggested to the site admins?). <br /><br />So can we self-organize to create systems? Be it author's notes, or key words or phrases than appear in the content, etc? Ermahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10713238044807604717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-4852486861554532002017-06-25T06:52:12.118-05:002017-06-25T06:52:12.118-05:00Really interesting point. There's one 1950s mi...Really interesting point. There's one 1950s midwest fic I read (the Indiana one), that was awesome. And yes, how much farther from canon locations and events can that get? So why not play in the H/L/SW sandbox some more? That said, though, just to push thinking a bit (again, in the spirit of curiosity): must it be the case that H/L readers reject DisC (I'm going to start abbreviating it), and are therefore unfamiliar with aspects of it? Ermahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10713238044807604717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-17156645480840764622017-06-25T06:46:40.422-05:002017-06-25T06:46:40.422-05:00Otter, it seems we have very similar views, includ...Otter, it seems we have very similar views, including accepting some things and not others (Tatooine Ghost vs. CoPL) and the unwieldiness of the EU. (Though I grew up reading it, the lack of consistency between characterizations and authors just eventually left me feeling like I could ignore some of it--like CoPL.) But like many of the readers here, I was very upset by TFA. Though I can draw some details from Disney canon (seriously, we need an abbreviation; I'm going with DisC so we don't think it's a Marvel competitor), it's very hard to draw on those details without seeing the rest of the horribleness, horribleness that far outweighs the horribleness that CoPL ever was, even when that was one of the only Star Wars stories available. I think the freedom you feel to pick and choose from DisC or EU without feeling the horrible negative associations is great, and you're in a somewhat enviable position as a writer this way.Ermahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10713238044807604717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-86000858069151480282017-06-25T06:17:27.922-05:002017-06-25T06:17:27.922-05:00It's sort of a creative Wild West, huh? Anythi...It's sort of a creative Wild West, huh? Anything goes... but though boundaries are flexible, sometimes ignored, territory CAN be infringed upon... and when you walk into that saloon and the music stops, well, it could go either way.<br /><br />(Five Solo daughters? Oh my, can't wait to read that :) )Ermahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10713238044807604717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-85620743915988158902017-06-25T05:54:47.116-05:002017-06-25T05:54:47.116-05:00Just to be clear: if I were downloading a fic and ...Just to be clear: if I were downloading a fic and changing anything in it (e.g. a kid's name) it would be purely for my own use; not to be republished anywhere else, <em>obviously.</em> In fact, no one would ever know I'd done it.<br /><br />I'm currently writing a fic with Justine Graham and CorellianAngel wherein we have created five Solo daughters (we started out with even more, a la the Sand Snakes of Dorne, but that was just too unwieldy). If someone were to take a dislike to one or more of the names we chose for those girls and wanted to download the fic, make global changes to suit themselves, and <em>then</em> read it...where's the harm in that to us, as the authors? We wouldn't even be aware of it. Hell, at this point I think we'd just be happy somebody was reading.... <br /><br />Going back to the original question re: writing about H/L's kids: whether we're using <em>Jacen/Jaina/Anakin</em> or <em>Ben</em> or some children we've created out of thin air, I think most new fics these days would benefit from having some sort of clarifying A/N on them to state unequivocally that the story adheres to current canon (for readers who prefer expansions upon the official version), previous canon (for the nostalgics amongst us), a mish-mash of both (for all the omnivores), or is set in some AU entirely. And then...<em>caveat lector</em>.Erin Darrochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17022044977128626948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-86113538177273337622017-06-24T13:31:04.833-05:002017-06-24T13:31:04.833-05:00Great points, Erma! My approach generally is, sinc...Great points, Erma! My approach generally is, since I borrow stuff from both 'verses, to clarify it so that people know I'm not strictly adhering to either of them. When I use Ben, I also clarify that I'm only using the name of the child, do not hint at future darkness, and my fics live in a 'verse with a happy ending. This is both to assure/warn the reader as well as to avoid messages telling me that this or that thing isn't canon, or how nice it is to see them happy before everything goes to hell (:<br /><br />I believe that your story should have to do without a long author's note explaining things, that it should all be said or implied in the text. But in fanfiction, that's not always possible. If you're writing a multichapter with a plot that includes children, or that has a specific 'verse that you built, then you NEED to expand on that in the text. You can totally have a single male child named Jacen, but apart from briefly mentioning in your A/N that this is your creation and not compliant to any canon, you need to develop this child and his story in the text so that the readers aren't left scratching their heads. If you merely want to write a one-shot with a kid and you don't have that bigger 'verse posted, then coming up with one and trying to explain it in the A/N is impractical and a waste of time. You either a) pick an "official child" and clarify in your A/N if you don't think of your story as set in an official 'verse or b) hold onto that story until you publish your bigger fic (or even just a meta post explaining it, but know that your audience for the fic might be limited). In fics that have a Ben dealing with teenage angst, as a writer I do clarify that it's nothing but THAT, and as I reader I also need to be reassured. This goes for the EU kids, too. If your EU kids story leans too heavily on the sad events, or even if it uses too much background information that I don't have and you won't explain to me, then I need to know, because I won't be interested. <br /><br />For background characters, I think that maybe you need to at least have two words explaining who they are, or else you state that your fic is a missing moment of this material that you can go read yourself. But I think that, generally, assuming that your readers won't know who the hell you're talking about and how they are related to the main characters so that you need to write a tiny description about them is a good idea.<br /><br />I... guess I'm okay with people changing the name of the child if they genuinely want to read my story but can't stand the name. But I wouldn't publicly suggest it. There is an unwritten rule to not modify a person's creation, and I wouldn't do it to other authors. I think that suggesting readers can change the name if "Ben" makes them uncomfortable opens up the game to people changing just everything they want, which isn't okay. There are things I don't like in fics that I otherwise do like, and I just have to ignore them (or change them in my mind!) and move on.OtterAndTerrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321765791490181004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-27392048213873799742017-06-24T10:30:48.567-05:002017-06-24T10:30:48.567-05:00@Erin I've made such a patchwork in my brief h...@Erin I've made such a patchwork in my brief history of ficcing that even immediately after writing a story I'm like "so I borrowed WHAT from WHERE, again??" There isn't a single book or comic in the new and old canon that I don't find flawed in some aspect. I'll read it all, but then when writing my own 'verse I just pick what I like. So for example, I'm happy to imagine that Tatooine Ghost happened for real, but all the mentions of CoPL... no. Also I just like to come up with missing scenes for EVERYTHING, so Idk if I have /a/ 'verse or several co-existing 'verses, lol. Mostly, though, I just use background stuff that serves to build the 'verse, like planets or alien species, stuff I don't care to make up: I really find it irrelevant to know what canon they belong to other than to credit it, and I doubt anyone would notice. For "events", such as what Han, Leia, Luke and the NR did post RotJ, I generally choose Disney because the EU really is a nonsensical mess to me, but I tweak it to my liking, so there's no ridiculous H/L timeline, Luke stays very much in contact with his family, and so on. I credit the stuff I borrowed to let people know that it's not mine and where they can find it, but save for a few things I don't think you can tell, without previous knowledge, or care about where I got them from. And since very little is directly associated to TFA or mainstream Disney canon stuff, I've never really worried that someone might decide to not read my fic because I said I borrowed this or that *shrug* Again, it's not to be canon compliant, but to save me from having to come up with a whole new 'verse on my own when there are already two official ones that I can borrow from.OtterAndTerrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321765791490181004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-84298897639433134502017-06-24T10:27:17.467-05:002017-06-24T10:27:17.467-05:00@LoveThis! lol, I promise I don't remember if ...@LoveThis! lol, I promise I don't remember if it was you, but I've definitely gotten more than one person saying stuff like that!! And yeah, I understand that it's almost inevitable to read a story that has clear TFA stuff such as a Ben and not think of what happens in TFA (especially for those who do take the movie as canon), but like Erin said, to me, it never happened. Even in the one fic I wrote, where Leia senses a dark force spying on her and her unborn child, I wasn't thinking of it as TFA compliant, but as "see, they're being awesome, and then they kicked the dark's ass again and lived happily ever after". Like, I'm writing to explore or borrow certain themes, but also to distance myself from TFA and mark it as implausible, so... don't shatter my delusion, please!OtterAndTerrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321765791490181004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-40767115530420446562017-06-24T10:06:26.540-05:002017-06-24T10:06:26.540-05:00Yeah. Just ignore most of that novel above, and go...Yeah. Just ignore most of that novel above, and go for the last paragraph. :DErmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10713238044807604717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-88522412933939589312017-06-24T10:05:33.226-05:002017-06-24T10:05:33.226-05:00Geez, life has me out of it for a little while and...Geez, life has me out of it for a little while and everyone has... really interesting things to say!<br /><br />First, since my story and reactions to it were specifically mentioned, let me be sure to say that Otter was spot on: in no way whatsoever did I ever or would I ever take any offense to anyone not reading, or not wanting to read, the story I wrote with "Ben" in it. I know this is really tough territory for many, and was fully OK with the fact that many of you would completely ignore what I had written. To discover that some of you didn't ignore it, and in fact, even read it, was truly touching, and I can only offer you humble virtual smiles and hugs of gratitude and respect and appreciation in return. And I apologize if my sharing the story to this site put any of you on the spot to feel you needed to read and comment. I assumed that you would simply move along if you didn't want to read it, and didn't consider that the close-knit nature of the site might put pressure on you to read something you might not want to read. My oversight, and my mistake.<br /><br />My view is close to Otter's: I saw "Kylo the murderer" in the movie, not "Ben who started off in the light," and I don't necessarily have much interest in the kids themselves, except as how they might flesh out Han and Leia's characters and stories. And I too agree with the idea that you just write what you need to write...<br /><br />.. but at the same time, posting the story automatically makes makes it an interactive experience with the reader. So the way the story comes across is a factor to take into account when writing. Does this line make sense? Does this description paint the picture? Is this character well-known enough that I can skip five paragraphs of character development? Will this character or detail automatically evoke certain expectations that I will not meet, and therefore need to address in order for the story to make sense? Etc.<br /><br />So, yeah, I guess I'm curious about writing in general, and about writing for fan fiction in particular. Not just about content, but ways to structure that content, and ways to structure the presentation to readers.<br /><br />For example....<br /><br />* Copying and pasting a story, then changing the name of the character, is a great approach. Is that something that could or should be suggested in the author notes? Do readers generally feel free to alter an author's story in this way, or is there an unwritten rule to leave an author's content alone?<br /><br />* If you have a single male child named Jacen, do you let it be as is and just move along with your story, or do you explain somehow why you've chosen this? "Jacen" will evoke EU; single male child may evoke Disney Canon. How much do you need to help the reader out to engage with your work?<br /><br />* Can we start abbreviating Disney Canon the way we abbreviate EU/AU/etc? How about just DC? Or, as Erin and Justine Graham like to call it, Mickey Mouse Canon, so MMC? :)<br /><br />* If you pull details from DC/MMC canon for your story (the Damerons could be great friends to the Organa-Solos, for example) while rejecting other details and the overall DC/MMC worldview, how much do you say this? Again, how much do you need to help the reader out to engage with your work (or choose not to)?<br /><br />* If you have a story dealing with typical growing up, or teenage agnst, and happen to have the children be just one male child, how do you avoid the implication that you're foreshadowing TFA?<br /><br />Again, just examples. Not specific questions needing actual answers. <br /><br />In a way, this is an issue for fan fiction in general, yes? We're all introducing "non-canon" characters or events or timelines, etc. So perhaps it all boils down to, how do you help your readers engage with your work (or choose not to), especially when recent developments in the universe you're writing in have brought up a lot of heartache and other yucky stuff for readers and writers alike?Ermahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10713238044807604717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-1110958046832828972017-06-24T05:05:34.157-05:002017-06-24T05:05:34.157-05:00For me, the kid did NOT "eventually turn out ...For me, the kid did NOT "eventually turn out like that". It's a lie. It's a piece of nonsense. It never happened. It's fiction. I reject it. =D<br /><br />So even if I do happen to read something featuring Ben Solo, I don't think to myself "Aww, what a shame that H/L's only kid turned out like that". He <em>didn't</em> turn out like that. In fact, he didn't exist. There is no Ben. (My delusion is strong, y'all!) I just feel sad that it's what most other people <em>do</em> think of when they think of how the OT3 ended up. I only wish to know more people who share in my fantasy! haha <br /><br />As for using other elements of various canons, most things we saw in TFA are tainted for me so I steer clear. Although I liked the character of Poe Dameron very much, I can't think of him without also thinking of the storyline for the OT trio. Same with cool characters such as Rey, Finn and Maz Kanata. I liked some of Leia's colleagues, too (Statura intrigues me and I'd love to use Lt. Connix as an aide to Leia). But I don't want to think of TFA or how it depicts my heroes, so I just don't use any of that, or read very many fics featuring them. I don't feel so strongly about new canon characters that weren't featured in TFA, though, such as Evaan Verlaine. <br /><br />I can easily borrow elements from the EU/Legends without qualms. I'm happy to pick and choose from events and alien species, etc. that appear there. And I find it much easier to ignore the version of Han and Leia's story that has them losing both sons (and Chewie!) and simply make up my own version of how they end up. I read and very much enjoyed <em>Crucible</em>, even though at that point in the timeline H/L were bereft of two children and Chewie was gone. I don't like that storyline, either, but it doesn't disturb me quite as much as the current canon does.<br /><br />As Otter says, the divide does make for quite a diverse community of writers and readers now. And at least people are writing again! I'd hate for things to descend again into the fandom doldrums that Zyra describes. I just wish we had better systems on the archives for finding (or excluding) specific types of stories, both so I can read the stuff I want to read but also so I can attract the readers who are happy to live in AU territory with me (and who aren't looking for canon-compliant fics). <br /><br /> Erin Darrochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17022044977128626948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-6953330575181681952017-06-23T17:31:24.946-05:002017-06-23T17:31:24.946-05:00I think I might be that reviewer! LOL. I've de...I think I might be that reviewer! LOL. I've definitely positively commented on baby Ben/kid Ben fics and then ended with a lament about TFA and the ST! " Because usually the fic is good, but it's still hard not to read and think about how the kid eventually turned out. Doesn't mean I'll not read the story, or dislike the story, but the specter of TFA always looms. LoveThis!https://www.blogger.com/profile/11844051101715280471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-34217222516862186372017-06-23T14:15:35.864-05:002017-06-23T14:15:35.864-05:00I agree that there are lots of authors who have wr...I agree that there are lots of authors who have written harmless, great fics with a son named Ben (thinking of Corellian-Smuggler's beautiful gingerbread palace fic!), so as long as I can be reassured that no unhappy things are mentioned, I'm in. And that goes for the EU kids and made-up kids as well.OtterAndTerrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321765791490181004noreply@blogger.com