rules of canon and fanfic

Where is the line typically drawn for unprecedented ideas in fanfic?

After my question is sorted out, we can use the topic to discuss in general where canon and fanfic touch/conflict.

Status on question: resolved. lets go ahead and talk rules of canon and fanfic in general now

Currently, I am still working on some Star Wars fanfic.

My main concern is this concept I have of these guys called "demi-gods" that obtain their power from a diluted combination of ancient Sith Alchemy and Magic.

Essentially, they can create a special kind of connection with the Force that locks in their age to whatever it was when they discovered this power. Giving them consistent youth/immortality.

There are pros and cons to it.

Pro's

They are faster than one normally would be, and have a very strong affinity to Ataru, Sokan, and telekinetic Force Powers (wave, pull, push, ect).

They also can survive normally mortal wounds, given that a few key parts of their body are intact. They can also survive greater blood loss then most people.

But in the long run, their connection to the Force is specialized. Overall they are only somewhat stronger than your average Force-user. On top of that, the only ones who know how to connect with the Force in this way is a Clan, named the Zeanus Clan who protects the method to reach this state as their religious doctrine.

The cons:

They have lower tolerance to injuries. Their blood has trouble clotting, their body heals at a fraction of the rate they normally would, and some who become demi-gods go crazy and become by far a threat to only themselves.

Typically though, the only surefire way to kill them is to bleed them out (or suffocate them), destroy the central nervous system, or cut them off from the Force, where the shock would kill them (though that last one isnt always so, if they are young enough and havn't received any normally mortal wounds they stand a sizable chance of living).

and about the plot:

And here is what I fear: it wont be well recieved by many Star Wars fans as it at first glance appears too different from Canon.

Though there are some other issues. The Clan acutally rules their own planet in the Tingel Arm, one hidden away from The Empire that they rule with an Iron fist. The Clan follows a Potentium like philosophy and demand reverence from their 2 billion some followers. That's not unheard of, but gasp! the planet isn't unified. There are at least three other major nations outside of their religious government. And it takes place sometime around 12 ABY.

The first half of the fanfic has the Clan fighting their local problems while also trying to prepare for the Empire or New Republic coming. The local Dissidents had teamed up with teh local Sith to break the System Blockade that's been in place for the last 400 years. The Sith are descended from a small Sith splinter that survived a Sith-Jedi war around 1000 BBY. (a canonical war)

They hope to break teh blockade, and spoiler! do. the second half of the fanfic, chapters 5-8 deal with either the New Republic or Empire draging the planet into the war, one of the protagonist's XanatosGambit is broken as the Empire/New Republic discovered them too soon, and war ensues.

In the end, some Clan members die, two fleets duke it out, a short ground war occurs, the sith are eradicated and the Dissidents quelled back into their government and... and im not sure yet of teh planet's fate yet. i may make it maintain independence OR become part of the R Epublic, as at the time I currently plan to have the Empire answer teh Dissent's call to help, as there is some legitimate in story justification for this; the planet's fleet downed a Victory Class and Imperial Class Star Destroyer about a decade and a half earlier in that area of space, and the Imperial Remnant seeks to gain vengeance as well as gaining such an untapped world that already has a lot of industrial power. (in this time in canon the empire was losing its grip on the galaxy)

Does all of this sound too out of place for star wars? i followed canon, especially in terms of how it relates to historical events, but the things i added to canon may cause some eyebrows, particularly the demi-god concept.

edited 8th Oct '11 5:02:44 PM by jasonwill2

I have no idea about Star Wars but unless you're trying to sell it I wouldn't worry about what other fans think. Just say that the story is partly AU (alternate universe) so that they'll know some of it isn't canon. I've written Sailor Moon stories like that before (where some of it has canon elements mixed with AU elements) and what I did was to just say something like "this story has AU elements" or "some things may be different than canon" although it helps with Sailor Moon that the series has multiple canons (anime, manga, live-action, musicals).

that sounds crazy

well what i mean is that i didnt ALTER any canon, but i did add things that havnt been done before, demi-gods being the one.

its like for example i didnt break canon with all the ships, but that the planet featured in it has its own design of two different ships. like that, canon is intact but other things are there.

i modeled it as if it were going to be published as canon, just worried about a few elements that may seem out of place. (and hey, maybe if someone in Lucas Arts liked it enough it could become canon! ok, i know thats not likey, but it would be cool)

If you're that concerned then I unfortunately would not be the best one to ask, since I'm not a Star Wars fan. Not to mention I personally see canon purists (and people in general who think they can tell others what to write in their fanfics) as "Stop Having Fun" Guys, but that's just me.

You could just put a warning at the beginning that you've added some things to the canon that weren't there originally.

edited 7th Oct '11 5:44:43 AM by Rainbow

Write the best story you can and then label it.

Adding extra stuff is the whole point of fan-fic. If book 1 definitively states this is the complete list of space-ships, then label it 'AU', if that complete list is in book 3, then label it 'canon-compliant up to book 2'

This was common with HP fic because each new book Joss Ed many fan theories, so fics were labelled by year.

thats a good point, but still if a couple or three starwars fans are out there to give an opinion on the plot/elements i can figure out how to handle it and then just talk about fanfics and canon in general here (for any verse)

I'm not sure about Star Wars, as it's not one of my fandoms (I really should watch all the films, though...), but as far as general fanfic+-canon goes, I think that the line for unprecidented ideas is infinite and anywhere.

As much as I hate math, the only thing I can think of that makes any sense to me with this concept is to think of it as a math equation. y=fanfic, x=canon, i=line/imagination, a=author's drive/actual writing

So: Y(i)=Xi+a∞ Or, in words, fanfiction as a function of imagination/line equals the quantity of canon times imagination/line plus authorial drive times infinity.

In plain English; it's limitless. It's determined wholely by the author, and that line is infinite, as is the definition of an "unprecidented idea." Everything is subjective.

There are no unprecedented ideas in a fandom as large as that of Star Wars.

ya i bet i could find something similar too it. hell, when i think about it bane had an almost invinciblity and was only weak to electricty in "rule of two" and many speices, like that of Yoda, can live to be up to and past 700 years old.

i guess that resolves that.