General Discussion

it depends on the mood I am in! I don't read a ton of AUs if only because there are so many different ones of varying quality or subgenre that I can't always find one I'm interested in. I also read and write a lot of shorter fic (oneshots or brief chapter fics), so I find those can give a very nice limited view of the world they inhabit - whether that's a moment in the canon universe (whether it's diverging slightly from it or otherwise) or a little taste of the world the AU takes place in. also: [quote name="LilLegendary" date="2021-10-19 16:11:02" ] FORMATTING. it HAS to be formatted correctly. i can excuse typos, improper grammar, even bad spelling to an extent, but if it isn't written out in proper story printing format i will NOT read it. i dont even care if the story's good or not. [/quote] THIS is a HUGE one for me as well lol. pieces with their line spacing too close together or with huge blocks of text (particularly when they don't add a new line for dialogue) really kinda hurt my eyes.

I love canon characters and settings or settings that feel true to canon as possible, even if that's not the case! The closer it is to canon, the better for me usually! I love "what ifs" and alternate plotlines being explored via fanfiction, and so I don't mind in that case if some non-canon things happen as long as it seems true to the original narrative, aka "would this scene be something I feel like could really be in this media? Does this character seem to react the way you'd expect them to if this occurred in canon?"

But it's all opinion! Sometimes hilariously un-canon things occurring is fun and refreshing. Fanfiction in it's self is a fun way to take bits and pieces of things we love and crash it together into something new. It's all about what YOU personally enjoy writing/reading the most! That's what's important imo. :)

It really depends. For the most part I try to stay canon compliant in my own fanfics (even if it isn't canon compliant, I try to get the characterizations correct at the very least). But AUs are very fun to read! My favorites to read are modern AUs and what if situations.

Thank you for all the input! There was some canon stuff I wanted to take out, but also it completely changes some of the characters so I don’t know if I should or not. I don’t think it’d be considered AU, but maybe I’m wrong. I was thinking of just creating my own, albeit very similar, universe. The author’s visceral hatred for fanfic isn’t all that helpful. I almost want to keep it semi-canon just to spite him.

[quote name="deztora" date="2021-10-19 16:27:17" ] I prioritize proper characterization over "canon". The most important thing to me is if the characters feel and sound like their canon counterparts. If you can't nail their "voices", I don't care how canon compliant your fic is. If you nail the characters' voices, though, you can make your fic as alternate universe as you want as far as I'm concerned! (As long as the AU itself is interesting to me of course.) [/quote] this!! as long as the characters feel and sound right, i'll read a lot of different fic. aus can be a lot of fun, but i tend to enjoy fics that have roots in the canon material. however, one of my favourite fics of all time goes directly against the canon timeline, so.... yeah. characterization over plot and setting, personally