What's a fanfiction writer to do?

Over the years, whenever i watched a tv show that i liked, i would almost always come up with ideas for it of my own. Some were good, others were less than original, but i always tried to stay true to the show's continuity so that my story ideas wouldn't seem out of place.

The problem is, the tv shows i liked usually ended up doing things that torpedoed my ideas. Sometimes they showed stories that made mine seem out of place and/or implausible, other times, they beat me to the punch and used story ideas that i had and showed them in a completely different way. A major flaw i have as a writer is that it's not easy for me to change how i write a story, even when i'm told that it would be a good idea (I have issues with change, i admit it), so when either of the above scenarios comes up, i'm usually left at a loss.

Examples:

Teen Titans - I've had numerous ideas for this show, some of them involving new characters, a new villain and the return of other characters (even the reform of a well-known villain). But it felt like, at every turn, the series and/or its comic book sequel were making my ideas impossible or otherwise very unlikely.

Xiaolin Showdown - Like the above show, i've had numerous ideas for this show, but at times, the show itself, and now its sequel show, has done things to make my ideas implausible and that gets pretty dang annoying at times.

Avatar - Once again, i've had numerous ideas for this show in the past, but with the franchise's creators constantly giving out information about the shows, my ideas almost instantly go down the drain, for both Last Airbender and Legend of Korra

Ben 10 - Like the above franchise, this franchise continuously gives out confirmations about its continuity and while it does feel nice to get some in depth information, said information usually torpedoes most of my ideas (Ex. I had plans for a specific couple, but in the end, the franchise broke them up and confirmed that they were done)

Thundercats 2011 - I had plans for a second season when this show ended with only one season. But when i finally got information about what the second season would have been about, it, naturally, torpedoed my own plans.

All of this is just so frustrating, so i ask again; What's a fanfiction writer to do?

Here's a tip that any writer can tell you: Ideas are worthless. If you stared at a pair of dirty socks for an hour, you could probably come up with forty ideas for a story and three workable ones. Look at plot bunnies and stuff, check out the Fanfic Ideas Only You Think Are Good thread for ideas, look everywhere. You'll come up with something eventually.

If your idea was specifically Jossed, you can do what a lot of fanfic writers do, and put a note at the front of the story. "This story takes place before Episode 13, and presents a different idea of how Mighty Man could have come back from the dead." or "This takes place in an alternate universe where Episode 26 never happened, so Bob and Alice never hooked up."

If it's one of those things where the plotline you wanted to use was run into the ground by the show, you'll need to come up with a way to make it fresh by applying new spin.

So basically...canon vs fanon? Since when has canon ever mattered to fanfiction?

I once did a short story where a character I really hate was killed off for being an unlikeable bitch (It was Katara).

Obviously this didn't happen in the show. Woulda been nice if it had. Would've improved things considerably.

My point is, this is an unavoidable dilemma when it comes to writing fanfiction. You may well go to Alaska and complain about the snow. Write what you want to write and ignore everything else.

If the Cullen family or the crew of Serenity can wind up inexplicably visiting Wallymart and one or more of them falls for some random shelf-stacker or check-out operator, then I'm sure that you can get away with anything.

Out of the top ten most popular Mass Effect fics^note as measured by Favorites, anyway four or five of them are Alternate Universe fics. There's several other great fics that were written before ME 3 (or even ME 2) came out that are still great fics despite being "invalidated" by later canon events.

Just because the canon went one way, and your idea goes another, doesn't mean it won't make a good story. It might make an excellent fic, so don't hold back on that account.

Sayeth Whaaaaaat?

You and I. We're going to have words.

But to stay on topic, as already said, just because your idea is Jossed doesn't mean it's useless. Just don't write your fic and go in saying, "Well, canon was stupid, so I made my version, and it's lots better!" That can really set you up for Hype Backlash, especially if your fic involves character bashing.