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Assumptions in fanfic
More thinky thoughts about fanfiction:
Unlike original fic, fanfic very rarely starts at the beginning. Even pre-series or spoiler-free fics assume something from canon, even if it's just information about the world, or the characters' names. And even fics accessible to people who aren't familiar with the source material - if they're any good - will mean more to people who are.
Most fanfic, though, contains a lot of assumptions from canon, which I think can be broken down into three categories: explicit (actual events, characterisation, etc. presented in absolute terms - eg. Buffy Summers is a vampire slayer, Rory Gilmore is intelligent, Seth Cohen likes comic books); implicit (things which may logically be inferred from canon, or which may be mentioned outright but still open to some interpretation - eg. Giles is a father figure to Buffy); and inferred (or rather, subtext; things we may read into canon, whether intended by the creators or not - most support for non-canon ships falls into this category).
Explicit assumptions are, outside very specific situations, essentially incontrovertible; implicit assumptions, while more open to interpretation and contradiction, are still likely to be agreed upon by majority of fans, and are unlikely to need evidence to back up their inclusion in fanfic or to throw a reader out of the story when included. Inferred assumptions, on the other hand, are subjective and often personal; what is obvious subtext to one person may be willfully or unconsciously ignored by another. Often groups within fandom may share the same sets of inferred assumptions (particularly within shipper groups, or in the case of particularly pervasive pieces of fanon); in that way, a Peter/Claire (or Buffy/Faith, or Sheppard/McKay) fic intended for those who already ship the couple will begin with far more assumptions than one written for a general audience not already sold on the pairing. Or, in non-shipper circles, a genfic written by someone who has been heavily involved in fandom for some time may contain a whole set of assumptions that would not be present in a similar fic written by somebody new to fandom.
What I'm wondering is: when you write fanfic, what things do you just assume, and what things do you feel the need to establish? Do you write for a particular section of fandom that shares your reading of canon, or do you try to make your fics as accessible as possible for everyone? Do you have some fics written specifically with a particular set of assumptions in mind, and others designed to be read by a more general audience? When you write fics about pairings you ship, do you find yourself including assumptions not present in genfic, or fics featuring pairings you don't necessarily ship? As a reader, are there assumptions that will immediately throw you out of a fic - or are there others which you like to see included?
I believe that most fics are written for people who at least share the assumption that the premise of the fic, whatever it may be, could somehow be possible. A Giles/Buffy fic, for example, may not be written only for people who believe their relationship to already be sexual or romantic in canon, but it is almost certainly not written for those who believe that their relationship could never be anything but familial or platonic. But while one such fic may be written for those who are willing to suspend their disbelief, and be convinced that Giles and Buffy might one day develop a romantic relationship, another may be written specifically for people who believe that the characters are already attracted to one another, and will contain an extra set of assumptions to that effect. Of course, neither approach is necessarily better; while one is certainly more accessible than the other, both serve a different audience, and it is almost certain that shippers will at least occasionally want fics that cater to their particular assumptions.
I also think that what separates badfic from good is the tendency of badfic to ignore explicit canon information. A fic which presents Rory as being suddenly apathetic towards her journalism career is likely to be labelled OOC because it contradicts explicit canon assumptions; that is, that Rory is dedicated to becoming a journalist. A fic that has Rory discovering the inherent bias in the media and giving up a career in journalism to help the people she sees in trouble, however, is different in that it does not begin by contradicting explicit assumptions, and in fact uses other explicit or implicit assumptions - that Rory can be naive at times, and enjoys helping others - to support its premise.
For me? I assume that Lamb is attracted to Veronica, even if he doesn't particularly like her. I don't however, assume that Veronica shares his attraction; for me, the fun, and the challenge, is getting her to become attracted to him - though I'm not averse to the occasional PWP which has her being attracted to him without all that preamble. Though I've never written Buffy/Faith fics, if I did, I would begin with the assumption that Faith is attracted to Buffy. I assume that Michael and Lindsay possess at least a latent attraction to one another, as do Peter and Claire; notably, this isn't something I necessarily believe to be true in canon, but it's the point at which I start off in fandom.
What about you?
Unlike original fic, fanfic very rarely starts at the beginning. Even pre-series or spoiler-free fics assume something from canon, even if it's just information about the world, or the characters' names. And even fics accessible to people who aren't familiar with the source material - if they're any good - will mean more to people who are.
Most fanfic, though, contains a lot of assumptions from canon, which I think can be broken down into three categories: explicit (actual events, characterisation, etc. presented in absolute terms - eg. Buffy Summers is a vampire slayer, Rory Gilmore is intelligent, Seth Cohen likes comic books); implicit (things which may logically be inferred from canon, or which may be mentioned outright but still open to some interpretation - eg. Giles is a father figure to Buffy); and inferred (or rather, subtext; things we may read into canon, whether intended by the creators or not - most support for non-canon ships falls into this category).
Explicit assumptions are, outside very specific situations, essentially incontrovertible; implicit assumptions, while more open to interpretation and contradiction, are still likely to be agreed upon by majority of fans, and are unlikely to need evidence to back up their inclusion in fanfic or to throw a reader out of the story when included. Inferred assumptions, on the other hand, are subjective and often personal; what is obvious subtext to one person may be willfully or unconsciously ignored by another. Often groups within fandom may share the same sets of inferred assumptions (particularly within shipper groups, or in the case of particularly pervasive pieces of fanon); in that way, a Peter/Claire (or Buffy/Faith, or Sheppard/McKay) fic intended for those who already ship the couple will begin with far more assumptions than one written for a general audience not already sold on the pairing. Or, in non-shipper circles, a genfic written by someone who has been heavily involved in fandom for some time may contain a whole set of assumptions that would not be present in a similar fic written by somebody new to fandom.
What I'm wondering is: when you write fanfic, what things do you just assume, and what things do you feel the need to establish? Do you write for a particular section of fandom that shares your reading of canon, or do you try to make your fics as accessible as possible for everyone? Do you have some fics written specifically with a particular set of assumptions in mind, and others designed to be read by a more general audience? When you write fics about pairings you ship, do you find yourself including assumptions not present in genfic, or fics featuring pairings you don't necessarily ship? As a reader, are there assumptions that will immediately throw you out of a fic - or are there others which you like to see included?
I believe that most fics are written for people who at least share the assumption that the premise of the fic, whatever it may be, could somehow be possible. A Giles/Buffy fic, for example, may not be written only for people who believe their relationship to already be sexual or romantic in canon, but it is almost certainly not written for those who believe that their relationship could never be anything but familial or platonic. But while one such fic may be written for those who are willing to suspend their disbelief, and be convinced that Giles and Buffy might one day develop a romantic relationship, another may be written specifically for people who believe that the characters are already attracted to one another, and will contain an extra set of assumptions to that effect. Of course, neither approach is necessarily better; while one is certainly more accessible than the other, both serve a different audience, and it is almost certain that shippers will at least occasionally want fics that cater to their particular assumptions.
I also think that what separates badfic from good is the tendency of badfic to ignore explicit canon information. A fic which presents Rory as being suddenly apathetic towards her journalism career is likely to be labelled OOC because it contradicts explicit canon assumptions; that is, that Rory is dedicated to becoming a journalist. A fic that has Rory discovering the inherent bias in the media and giving up a career in journalism to help the people she sees in trouble, however, is different in that it does not begin by contradicting explicit assumptions, and in fact uses other explicit or implicit assumptions - that Rory can be naive at times, and enjoys helping others - to support its premise.
For me? I assume that Lamb is attracted to Veronica, even if he doesn't particularly like her. I don't however, assume that Veronica shares his attraction; for me, the fun, and the challenge, is getting her to become attracted to him - though I'm not averse to the occasional PWP which has her being attracted to him without all that preamble. Though I've never written Buffy/Faith fics, if I did, I would begin with the assumption that Faith is attracted to Buffy. I assume that Michael and Lindsay possess at least a latent attraction to one another, as do Peter and Claire; notably, this isn't something I necessarily believe to be true in canon, but it's the point at which I start off in fandom.
What about you?