redirected from Discontinuity.Discontinuity
alt title(s): Discontinuity
Amongst fans, Discontinuity is the act of mentally writing out certain events in a show's continuity which don't sit well, no matter if it's a single episode,
a season-length arc, or even an entire series. If a plot or
ending rubs one the wrong way severely enough, fandom can just decide that the offending events never happened. On the series level, events may fall under Discontinuity because the show is perceived to
suck at that point. Events also get "discontinued" for particularly screwing up the characters or setting, and a show that starts to suck will end up screwing things up eventually anyway.
In effect, the opposite of
fanon. (And not unrelated, either — much Discontinuity has resulted from violations of fanon.) While extremely negative audience reactions may lead to an offending storyline being
officially removed from canon in response, Discontinuity specifically refers to when
fans disregard a storyline
regardless of the creators' opinion on it.
For questionable elements ignored or written out of canon by the
creators themselves, see
Canon Discontinuity, or at the very least, a
Discontinuity Nod. If, on the other hand, the controversial element is somehow reworked into being tolerable or even popular, it's been
Rescued From The Scrappy Heap.
In moviedom,
Sequelitis is the most common cause of
Dis Continuity. It's very common to hear fans of a popular movie series disavow all sequels beyond a certain point, typically the first or second movie. For example, the unofficial slogan of the
Highlander fandom is, "There Should Have Been Only One."
It should be noted that this can be justified in cases of
Running The Asylum, as it's clear the people in charge are largely trying to impose their own
fanon.
Sometimes discontinuity comes from not liking a very specific element while still enjoying everything else. When this happens, you've applied
Broad Strokes to the
canon. Not to be confused with
Negative Continuity.
This is a very subjective trope, more based on the fandom than the event itself. The visceral response to
Discontinuity can baffle other fans who don't take the event as seriously, or even *gasp* like the event.
Please only post examples of the fandom disregarding an event; posting Personal Discontinuities
could did get messy, and should only be posted in
Troper Tales. Also, using this as a
pothole is generally rather rude and irritating,
so don't, unless you want to use
Canon Discontinuity instead. If
you would rather forget about it, then don't put it on the examples list!
Examples
