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It interests me that while I am very sensitive to Christianity when writing Narnia fanfiction -- I try to respect the source text and not be deliberately offensive, while still being true to my own religious views -- I have no similar compunctions when writing Angel Sanctuary fanfic, though that series is even more explicitly grounded in Christian theology and spiritual cosmology.
This is, almost certainly, because Angel Sanctuary itself tramples all over orthodox Christianity (it is, depending on your viewpoint, a sneaky illustration of Gnosticism, flat-out blasphemy, or just Kaori Yuki messing around with the trappings of Christianity because she finds them interesting and pretty), whereas Narnia plays Christianity relatively straight (despite the canonical validation of polytheism in various forms -- e.g. Bacchus, Silenus, and the river god in Prince Caspian, or Tash in The Last Battle... though I grant you, Tash may have been meant more as an analogue of Satan than a more neutral pagan god).
Um. Where was I? Right, so the difference in my attitude toward religion in those two series is based on the way religion is treated in their respective canons. This is because I think that fanfiction ought to, generally speaking, respect the guidelines laid out by canon, whether explicit (names and dates, rules of magic, the events chronicled on the page) or implicit (things like, oh... Uzumaki Naruto is a catalyst who makes people want to be better than they are; or Harry Potter is not going to learn martial arts and go assassinate Voldemort with a machine gun; or a post-manga story in which Setsuna and Sara are separated and punished because of the incestuous nature of their relationship is counter to the intent of Angel Sanctuary, which is to give them a happy ending).
All AU fanfiction (...actually, in some senses, any fanfiction) denies one or more aspects of canon. I find that I can deal much more easily with stories that deny or change explicit canon while keeping most implicit canon the same -- say, a story in which Cedric didn't die at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, or a story in which Naruto succeeded in bringing Sasuke back from the Valley of the End -- than with stories that deny or change implicit canon while keeping most explicit canon the same -- say, a story in which Naruto condemns and gives up on Sasuke instead of trying to redeem him, or a story about how Setsuna ought to give Sara up and love Kurai or Kira instead because incest is an unforgivable sin. I think this is because I view explicit canon as a product of implicit canon: character traits and the moral underpinnings of the world drive the plot, not vice versa. So for me, beyond certain basics like character names, I find implicit canon more important than explicit canon, and I try my best to be faithful to a series's implicit rules even if (or maybe especially if) I throw aside some of the explicit canon.
But. What happens if you find certain elements of implicit canon morally awkward or even reprehensible? ( Say, for example, that I find the marginalization... )
...
*headdesk*
This is, almost certainly, because Angel Sanctuary itself tramples all over orthodox Christianity (it is, depending on your viewpoint, a sneaky illustration of Gnosticism, flat-out blasphemy, or just Kaori Yuki messing around with the trappings of Christianity because she finds them interesting and pretty), whereas Narnia plays Christianity relatively straight (despite the canonical validation of polytheism in various forms -- e.g. Bacchus, Silenus, and the river god in Prince Caspian, or Tash in The Last Battle... though I grant you, Tash may have been meant more as an analogue of Satan than a more neutral pagan god).
Um. Where was I? Right, so the difference in my attitude toward religion in those two series is based on the way religion is treated in their respective canons. This is because I think that fanfiction ought to, generally speaking, respect the guidelines laid out by canon, whether explicit (names and dates, rules of magic, the events chronicled on the page) or implicit (things like, oh... Uzumaki Naruto is a catalyst who makes people want to be better than they are; or Harry Potter is not going to learn martial arts and go assassinate Voldemort with a machine gun; or a post-manga story in which Setsuna and Sara are separated and punished because of the incestuous nature of their relationship is counter to the intent of Angel Sanctuary, which is to give them a happy ending).
All AU fanfiction (...actually, in some senses, any fanfiction) denies one or more aspects of canon. I find that I can deal much more easily with stories that deny or change explicit canon while keeping most implicit canon the same -- say, a story in which Cedric didn't die at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, or a story in which Naruto succeeded in bringing Sasuke back from the Valley of the End -- than with stories that deny or change implicit canon while keeping most explicit canon the same -- say, a story in which Naruto condemns and gives up on Sasuke instead of trying to redeem him, or a story about how Setsuna ought to give Sara up and love Kurai or Kira instead because incest is an unforgivable sin. I think this is because I view explicit canon as a product of implicit canon: character traits and the moral underpinnings of the world drive the plot, not vice versa. So for me, beyond certain basics like character names, I find implicit canon more important than explicit canon, and I try my best to be faithful to a series's implicit rules even if (or maybe especially if) I throw aside some of the explicit canon.
But. What happens if you find certain elements of implicit canon morally awkward or even reprehensible? ( Say, for example, that I find the marginalization... )
...
*headdesk*
