The Stations of the Canon: Difference between revisions

* Oh, ''[[Wolf's Rain]]'', how do they repeat your episodes, let me count the ways... Heck, [[Whole-Episode Flashback|even the canon]] does it.

* ''[[Zero no Tsukaima]]'' crossover fic cannot avoid - unless you want to get ''really'' creative - including the summoning, since it kickstarts the plot. Most people doing crossovers usually also include the duel with Guiche in some way, as it is where the Saito-substitute gets a chance to show off his/her power, if he did not already do so at the summoning, and prove that (s)he's not a hapless schmuck.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', what are we going to do with you? Many [[Original Character|OCs]] go through the arcs by numbers. One inevitably meets Konoemon, Shizuna, and Takamichi, then meets Negi and the 3-A class, before going through the Evangeline Arc, Library Island, the trip to Kyoto, and the tournament within the Mahora Festival, before the writers inevitably [[Long Runner|exhaust themselves]] and give up their fic for [[Dead Fic|death]].

* ''[[Death Note]]''. If it involves Mello after Wammy's House, no matter how AU the fanfic is, Mello will get scarred or already be scarred. Also, [[Fix Fic|Fix Fics]] ''really'' love following the Stations up through the start of the [[Memory Gambit]], then seeing how spectacularly they can derail it.

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'': As described above.

** It was [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past]]'' - Harry [[Peggy Sue|goes back in time to fix things,]] [[You Can't Fight Fate|but finds that some things keep happening anyway.]] He wonders whether or not he actually has any free will.

* The [[Circle of Magic]] books invite this by starring a [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]] who all followed the same general template to begin with -- so it's inevitable that half the fanfics are about [[The Woobie]] experiencing a traumatic event (or an entire tragic childhood) resulting in [[Parental Abandonment]], having their unusual ambient magic discovered at a late age, being whisked off to [[Wizarding School|Winding Circle Temple]], and getting transferred to Discipline House because they don't fit in.

* Discussed in the RPG rulebook for ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. In one section about what to do with the eponymous wizarding PI, it mentions that whatever you decide to do with him, there are some defining events of the setting that need to be taken into account--usually because Dresden himself was in a wholly unique position that let him stop [[The End of the World as We Know It]]. Therefore, if you go the "kill off Harry in the background" route, the GM needs to either figure out a way that the world continues to not be a [[Zombie Apocalypse]], or perhaps have the PC's deal with it.

* The [[Self-Insert Fic]] ''[[Mass Vexations]]'' and its sequel both play with this trope extensively; general things occur as they should in the games, but often little details will change, such as differing body language and people not being where they should at a given time. And then there are the times where it's flat-out subverted, such as {{spoiler|Garrus's squad surviving; his loyalty mission still goes through Harkin giving them the information and Garrus finding Sidonis, but that's only the first half of the mission then.}}

* In ''[[Til the Sun Grows Cold|Til the Sun Grows Cold and the Stars Grow Old]]'', which is basically a fanfic novelization of ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]: [[Twilight Princess]]'', this is done with a twist. The major plot points of ''Twilight Princess'' are the stations to be crossed, since the stations ''are'' the plot, but it also introduces some of the stations of the canon of other ''Zelda'' games because Link keeps having past life flashbacks.

 

 

** ''Speeding Bullets'' is one of the worst offenders in this<ref>We're only talking about passing the Station of the Canon here, not quality-- by most accounts, Speeding Bullets was actually pretty good.</ref> - If [[Superman|Kal-El]] was raised by the Waynes instead of the Kents, ''Lex Luthor would be the Joker''!

** ''Darkest Knight'' was worse by several measures. After Wayne becomes a Green Lantern, Sinestro starts wearing a purple trenchcoat and hat ''for no reason whatsoever.''