Jossed!

[rainstormamaya]

Being Jossed, just in case anyone doesn't know, is what happens when new canon suddenly tramples all over the premise of your fic- it's named after Joss Whedon, so urbandictionary informs me. Authors writing for TV shows or series of books that haven't been finished are particularly prone to this.

Recently, I've been Jossed several times over. Not only in TP fandom with the Random Buzzers conversation -let's just say the Conte kids were a lot further apart, I had Lianne II and Liam the wrong way round, Lianne married for love, Vania never married at all, and neither girl would really be okay with a political marriage in my lexicon, and considering how much Conte fic I write that was quite the blow- but in another fandom I write for, which is TV-based and has just started Series 3. Needless to say, most of my personal canon in fics for that fandom has just been badly dented!

Being Jossed is not something I'm used to at all. I usually write for books that have been finished with, done, finito (many of Tamora Pierce's books were actually published before I ever started reading) and this usually means I'm not open to sudden death by canon. I have been known to write AU, but I prefer it to be AU on purpose, and I tend to like sticking close to canon; my OCs, when used, get slotted in here and there, where they don't bother the plotline of the published books! I've now discovered that I absolutely loathe having things like my idea of the Conte kids' ages, which I've used heavily in quite a lot of fic, suddenly being turned upside down- because I wanted it to fit into canon. I'm just glad I never named any of Coram and Rispah's kids, because I sure as hell wouldn't have named any of them Jonthair or Alinna!

So, what do you do when you get Jossed? For me, rewriting is not an option. There's too much fic with things like those I've mentioned above in it for me to go around changing and reuploading it- I'd be at it for months -so I'm doing the equivalent of stuffing my fingers in my ears and yelling "can't HEAR you!" and just carrying on as I was before, with a slight twinge of guilt for canon-contradiction. But would you rewrite a finished fic? Or if it made a story you were currently working on AU, would you change it?

[Rosie]

Okay, May, I completely beat you.

Tammy made me write incest. I had this short fic a couple of years ago, where I thought it would be amusing to make Roxanne Cythera's sister, and write about the time Gary was dared to kiss her. One fic turned into two, turned into personal fanon, and I noticed that Roxanne was listed under 'Roxanne of Haryse' on Tammy's naming site.

Long and short of it is, Glaisdan and Roxanne are married siblings I can fix it if I take Glaisdan out of the equation completely, but I don't want to wreck Roxanne and Cythera's relationship, and I'm harbouring a strong dislike for Random Buzz.

I will adhere to the quasi-canon in subsequent fics. Probably.

[boosette]

I adopt what I like, ignore what I don't and assume most of the fandom isn't going to know about any of it!

Oddly, I have gone from HATE HATE DO NOT WANT to NEAT YAY with regard to the Crow Triplets now that we've been told Ochobai is a little person.


(I have a very laissez-faire attitude about quasi-canon. Comes from one too-many arguments with harry potter fans about whether fic writers should have to research outside the books for extra-canon details. Not being a HP fan myself, I fell firmly inside the, "Call Ginny any damn -gin- name you want until she's 'Ginevra' in a published book" camp.)

[Lisa]

May, I completely understand where you're coming from. Luckily I fell into the camp where it was easy enough to change (I was hindered by names - I'd luckily guessed the proper number/sexes of children for Wyldon).

But I've had that happen in fandom. I think my favorite was an after-the-end Harry Potter fic I wrote before book 5 came out, and my sister told me to add a line about a character I hadn't mentioned. I did, and then a month later I discovered that this character didn't survive to the end of the series. had she not said that, my fic would actually hold some weight now. >.< Grrr!

But I'm kind of with Candice on quasi-canon. While it's nice to have all this information, it's NOT canon. The only thing you'll have to worry about/deal with is all the feedback from people telling you that you're wrong or that you left something out - and a simple preface/author's note would reduce that factor!

[opalgirl]

My first fandom was a TV show. I don't find it bothers me so much, having a fic invalidated by new events.

With things Tammy says? I look at them this way - it's called fanfiction, right? We've seen things this way - and the author sees them this way.

I'll *use* quasi-canon in new fic, but if something older gets Jossed, I'll let it stand. I was working on what was known at the time. (I'd assumed the age differences between the Conte kids after Roald and Kally were greater, too.) *shrug*

$0.02 - and like I said, first fandoms were in television, so I just live with it.

[Rojo]

I have never written anything that later turn out to be false (as far as I know). Partily this is because I like to write what-could-hav-happeneds, and stuff that is non-canon on purpose. However, I can completely sympathis with someone who has been jossed.

If Tammy told me today that some of the things in my fanfiction where not true, I would not change them. I would, however, keep it in mind for future writings.

[Anaroriel]

I've just been jossed. Apparently Yuki does not have a gift. Dammit. I hate writing out of canon.

[Katty]

Tammy made me write incest.

Stop acting so innocent. You totally suspected all along

[boosette]

I am upset that there is no Gareth 3!

[Rosie]

Apr 25, 2009 1:51:08 GMT 10 Katty said:

Stop acting so innocent. You totally suspected all along

I am suffering enough without being heartlessly mocked!!

[ubiquitous]

Apr 24, 2009 7:12:07 GMT 10 Anaroriel said:

I've just been jossed. Apparently Yuki does not have a gift. Dammit. I hate writing out of canon.

She said she might have a minor one. Though I wanna know why she's headed of to mage parties if she doesn't have any Gift.

[Lisa]

Well, it says she AND NEAL were heading off to a mages party. Perhaps he wanted to go, and she liked his company.

[boosette]

That's what I'd assumed.

[opalgirl]

I asked that question, actually. Sorry, anybody whose personal canon/fics I broke.

Said scene in Squire bothered me. Either it meant Yuki was Gifted or she liked Neal's company enough to tag along with him to listen to mages bicker while drinking.

[Lisa]

Or maybe the mages like to do magic tricks to impress one another, and she was curious. ;D

[lhazel]

And by "magic tricks" I mean...

[Anaroriel]

And by "magic tricks" I mean...

*Spits tea all over her keyboard* Lol!

[misslune]

Ochobai is a little person.

Where did Tammy say that? This is the first time I am hearing of this.

[ubiquitous]

It's on the random buzzers board, where she's talking about the future books.

[lhazel]

That's pretty win. I mean, it never would have occurred to me to do something like that.

[rainstormamaya]

I'm still kind of confused by the 'little person' thing. Maybe it's a Brit difference (Britain and America being two countries separated by a common language) but 'little person' just sounds like an extraordinarily patronising way of saying 'child' to me.

[opalgirl]

Hmm. I think, in the US, little person is one of the accepted names for people with forms of dwarfism. (Of course, I have a hard time keeping track of what's politically correct, so feel free to correct me.)]

[Katty]

in the US, little person is one of the accepted names for people with forms of dwarfism.

Wait, Aly's kid is a dwarf? I just assumed it was some kind of raka-magic-spirit-type thing... but wow. *feels ignorant*

[boosette]

Yep. Midget is definitely not an okay label for an average-height person to use regarding a person with dwarfism here in the US.

[Fox]

But "little person" is? Wow. I agree with May, it sounds highly patronising.

[opalgirl]

May 9, 2009 2:42:01 GMT 10 Fox said:

But "little person" is? Wow. I agree with May, it sounds highly patronising.

*shrug* I've heard people afflicted with dwarfism use it in reference to themselves, so they might not find it patronizing. (It always got me, too, actually.)

I think, in the US, the term 'midget' is considered dated and offensive - it reminds people of the days when dwarves were used in 'freak shows'.

I have heard 'dwarf' used, in place of 'little person,' though. Some also find 'dwarf' offensive, because of the fairytale connection. *shrug*

[boosette]

May 9, 2009 2:42:01 GMT 10 Fox said:

But "little person" is? Wow. I agree with May, it sounds highly patronising.

They self-identify as such; if they aren't offended by the term, average-height people really don't have any business getting offended on their behalf. It's similar to how 'person of color' is acceptable in the US but unacceptable (IIRC?) in the UK.

"Dwarf" refers to both the condition and the people who have it (IE Achondroplasia is a type of dwarfism) and is used largely within medical contexts but also within LP-subculture. It can be patronizing coming from an average-height person, but isn't always so (context is important!).

(ETA: I didn't realize how argumentative and assish that sounded when I first typed it; I didn't intend for it to be and I apologize that it was, but I'm preserving what I said out of, well, y'all caught me with my pants down and deserve the chance to point and laugh. ? )

[samantha]

My experience of being 'jossed' in much smaller and trivial in comparison. I've always thought Thom of Pirates Swoop to be the ... studious type. The slightly boring, walking encyclopedia type of person. Much like his uncle Thom of Trebond.

Then I read that Tammy said he was the sort of person you would baby sit/play with the your children. Which isn't the way I imagined him.

[opalgirl]

Huh. I always saw Thom the Second differently. He's George's son; and life at the Swoop probably didn't allow for him to be studious and boring.

Plus, even if he is dorky, as a kid, he's shown to have a sweet nature. When he worries after Alanna, says he has had 'bad dreams' and gives Numair his stuffed bear in WM, for example.

Also, he's boucing Sarralyn on his knee at the end of TQ, remember? Maybe he grew up around Coram and Rispah's horde of his first cousins once removed? There could be all kind of explanations for this.

[ubiquitous]

Actually, I've always sort of Thom (II) as how Thom would have turned out had he been less driven and alone and whatnot. Intelligent, yet still sociable and playful and not as prickly as Alanna. ^.^