If you're participating in (or running) a fandom RP, how important is it for you to follow, stick close to or stray from the fandom's established Canon?

This is the sticky point that tends to make me uncomfortable in fandom rp's tbh. Like, I always feel beholden to follow the canon somewhat, which feels restricting. I know it isn't necessarily a requirement to follow the canon, but the niggling idea that I must is just... there, regardless.

We personally tend to stick relatively close to it, but not 100%. We rather like to call our approach "plausible canon". Its not always true canon, but it doesn't stray too far from what would make sense. For more extreme things, we tend to try to fit them into the holes in the lore.

If you're participating in (or running) a fandom RP, how important is it for you to follow, stick close to or stray from the fandom's established Canon?

That honestly depends if one is going to continue down the same timeline of -enter fandom here-'s original timeline. If they are, I would hope that they are respectful to said fandom's cannon and treat it with the tlc that it deserves. However, if it's just going to be set in the universe, but using an AU setting, then I think this allows a little leeway with how "faithful" one can be. I mean, in an AU setting, this is where the writer can get creative and re-imagine some stuff. It's sort of like when studios make remakes of old films: they bring in these new directors and writers - a fresh creative team - and see what they can come up with. As we have seen from movies such as Alice In Wonderland from TIm Burton, a fresh take on an old classic can sometimes be a welcomed change.

So, all-in-all, it's the same with rpers that decide to add to - or alter - a fandom's canon in their rp/story: they can forsake possibly ruining it and doing an AU out of respect or do a Tim Burton and continue it while adding their own flare to it.

Anyways, that's my take on it. You can take it if you want, or leave it. ^^

I feel like a fitting sub-topic to slide into this conversation is the presence of alternative fanons to canon material. Sort of alternate time-line/universe concepts that are within the same realm as the source material, but divergent enough that it evades the stickiness of rigidly conforming to an established canon. This of course falls into a world of argument where these AU universes may not be totally complimentary to the source.

My only major experience in this sort of topic is the world of My Small Technicolor Horses: Platonic Campanionship is Witchcraft and "Fallout: Equestria" so my opinion may not be all that diverse as it stands. And even then the relationship of MLP to Fo:E is something that shouldn't exist but somehow it does; and may not be compatible with other shows since the formula for that is such a impossibility. It's an anomaly in a way.

But as Fo:E stands it's one of the more successful sub-genres of horse enthusiasm spawning from its original fic a plethora of side-fics each with its own interpretation of the "canon" laid out by Kkat and all independent of each other. It's perhaps a useful model to look at when approaching existing media and its canon and to apply one's own fanon: finding a point where you can diverge from the existing canon to create something independent but related while feeding off the same image of the source material.

There is then of course the topic of juxtiposed literary ironies and opposites in FoE versus MLP, but that's a whole other topic that begins to bleed into more autism than I already laid out.

Whether to stick to canon down to the last letter or to totally ditch the existence of such lore, like @Altered Tundra had said, it greatly depends on which route the GM and players choose to take. I feel that most people wouldn't want to follow the canon like a law book nor completely ignoring the lore that is laid right in front of them, which means we will have to try to find a balance of both that best suits the goal of the RP is heading for.

If we choose to stick with canon word for word, most of us would feel suffocated and stressed over spending too much time to extra researches; it may giving rise to unnecessary debates among players on which is the "correct" lore. On the other hand, being overly slack would introduce too much chaotic elements that would also cause unwanted squabbles between the members over uncertainties.

To use crude analogy, imagine a fandom RP like building a house: the canon info acts like the base pillars, the main support frame of the structure, while "original" elements supplied by both GMs and players alike - the what-ifs that gave birth to the fandom RP idea - are the remaining parts that will build up this house. With strong foundation from the basic canon stuff and constructive contributions from members, chances of completing this house would be much higher; otherwise, it will collapse easily, like those numerous RPs that simply die off on a bad note.

I'm currently running a fandom RP with hopes to break (or at least, stretch the limits of) this barrier: it's fandom, the canon stuffs are there, but players are challenged to deconstruct and rebuild the canon, creating complex and surrealistic "miniworlds" set within the omniverse (a generic base) provided by the GMs. Somewhat similar to the Tim Burton's example, but way more intense. ;)

Our current RP runs much on that thing we call "plausible canon" anything that isn't defined in lore must be plausibly derived out of it. The setting itself is a hole in the timeline of the Star Wars extended universe. A hole with clearly defined edges but no distinct filling.

Even with the established lore, one has to consider everything. There's so much lore in the Extended Universe of Star Wars that not everything can be reliable, or at times even plausible. With hundreds, if not thousands, of authors you will have some that stretch things beyond plausible. anyways, we think the point is clear enough.

Not that any RP is truly 100% Canon, seeing how a 100% canon story would be a copy of an existing story.

When I run Bleach - Rising Stars, a RP set in the Bleach Universe, I really only stick to the common things. How many squads there are, the setting, etc. Characters and stuff are thrown out(aside from the Byakuya(sp) clan's role in squad 6. Even then, I'll not accept a character that is basically a straight port of a canon Bleach Character, with a new name.

So, basically, sticking to the established canon isn't important to me when it comes to characters, but is when it comes to the actual universe.

Though, on Ellri's last point about 100% canon, a lot of zombie RPs get really close. xD. It's basically almost all running from point A to point B. Even mine, to an extent. xD