Yahoo Forum Archive

Ainae and I have been toying about with official definitions for the
MEFAs. Since it's buried in a long email, she asked I repost:

*****

An AU story is one that concretely diverges from the source
material. For the MEFAs, this means The Silmarillion, The Hobbit,
and The Lord of the Rings (for bookverse stories), and Peter
Jackson's trilogy of movies (for movieverse stories). Examples of
concrete diversions would be "What if" scenarios, new characters
where existing canon prohibits them (for example, giving Boromir and
Faramir a sister), etc.

*****

This is Ainae's definition, with my tweaks worked in.

So what do you guys think? Does anyone have further suggestions?

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Marta" <MartaL0712@n...> wrote:

>
> Ainae and I have been toying about with official definitions for

the > MEFAs. Since it's buried in a long email, she asked I repost:

>
> *****
>
> An AU story is one that concretely diverges from the source
> material. For the MEFAs, this means The Silmarillion, The Hobbit,
> and The Lord of the Rings (for bookverse stories), and Peter
> Jackson's trilogy of movies (for movieverse stories). Examples of
> concrete diversions would be "What if" scenarios, new characters
> where existing canon prohibits them (for example, giving Boromir

and > Faramir a sister), etc.

>
> *****
>
> This is Ainae's definition, with my tweaks worked in.
> > So what do you guys think? Does anyone have further suggestions?

I have a comment in the form of a question, and it comes from my not
understanding other people's understanding of canon and AUs.

People seem to think that because I'm a canon-freak, I don't like (or
whatever) AUs, and that isn't true. I differentiate between a
legitimate AU and a canon mistake by it's relevance to the plot.
That is what was explained to me when I entered this fandom and it
makes a lot of sense. But I've seen a lot of resistance along those
lines and given the wide range of ideals, I'm wondering if the MEFAs
need an official AU definition. It seems out of step with the way
the rest of the process.

My suggestion is to let the readers decide with their comments.

Sulriel

<snip>

> given the wide range of ideals, I'm wondering if the MEFAs
> need an official AU definition. It seems out of step with the way
> the rest of the process.
>

This proposed definition came about because someone (was it me? I
can't even remember any more!) suggested a category for AU. So Ainae
asked (legitimately) what exactly AU was -- different people have
different criteria. I answered that we don't have to debate what
the "true" definition of AU is, we just have to figure out what the
MEFAs means by that term, for our own purposes. If a piece wants to
run in the AU category, it should fit the official criteria.

This is the same for other things. I just filed my residency form to
get in-state tuition rates. My state defines the term "permanent
resident" as someone who has maintained a permanent residency in the
state for at least twelve consecutive months in the last five years
(or has been travelling outside the state with a branch of the U.S.
armed forces for the same time period) at the time you file the form.
It doesn't matter if you've been living in the state one day short of
the twelve months and plan to continue living there until kingdom
come. *You* may consider yourself a permanent resident, but if you
don't meet the official definition, you don't qualify officially.

Similarly, an individual author may consider her piece AU even if it
doesn't meet the MEFA's official definition. I suppose s/he could
mention it in her summaries - but I don't think it doesn't really
belongs in the AU category. Technically, I suppose the author *could*
put it there, but this would be our guide to say what belongs in a
particular category.

At least that's my take.

Marta

-----Original Message-----
From: sulriel [mailto:Sulriel@htcomp.net]
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 6:15 PM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: definitions for MEFAs- AU

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Marta" <MartaL0712@n...> wrote:
>
> Ainae and I have been toying about with official definitions for
the > MEFAs. Since it's buried in a long email, she asked I repost:
>
> *****
>
> An AU story is one that concretely diverges from the source material.
> For the MEFAs, this means The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord
> of the Rings (for bookverse stories), and Peter Jackson's trilogy of
> movies (for movieverse stories). Examples of concrete diversions would
> be "What if" scenarios, new characters where existing canon prohibits
> them (for example, giving Boromir
and > Faramir a sister), etc.
>
> *****
>
> This is Ainae's definition, with my tweaks worked in.
> > So what do you guys think? Does anyone have further suggestions?


>I have a comment in the form of a question, and it comes from my not
understanding other people's understanding of canon and AUs.

>People seem to think that because I'm a canon-freak, I don't like (or
whatever) AUs, and that isn't true. I differentiate between a legitimate AU
and a canon mistake by it's relevance to the plot.
That is what was explained to me when I entered this fandom and it makes a
lot of sense. But I've seen a lot of resistance along those lines and given
the wide range of ideals, I'm wondering if the MEFAs need an official AU
definition. It seems out of step with the way the rest of the process.

>My suggestion is to let the readers decide with their comments.

Or rather, the authors. But that is a good point. In so many other places
we're saying, let the author decide. Length, we suggest, but let the author
decide. So may be we don't need a definition at all. Or maybe, as with
length, we provide a suggested or working definition, but still leave it to
the author to comply or not.

Discussion?

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Marta [mailto:MartaL0712@netscape.net]
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 10:34 PM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: definitions for MEFAs- AU



<snip>

>This proposed definition came about because someone (was it me? I can't

even remember any more!) suggested a category for AU. So Ainae asked
(legitimately) what exactly AU was -- different people have different
criteria. I answered that we don't have to debate what the "true" definition
of AU is, we just have to figure out what the MEFAs means by that term, for
our own purposes. If a piece wants to run in the AU category, it should fit
the official criteria.

Yes, that is how it came about. But Sulriel's point never made it to my
mind before she said it. I think it certainly bears merit.

>This is the same for other things. I just filed my residency form to get

in-state tuition rates. My state defines the term "permanent resident" as
someone who has maintained a permanent residency in the state for at least
twelve consecutive months in the last five years (or has been travelling
outside the state with a branch of the U.S.
armed forces for the same time period) at the time you file the form.
It doesn't matter if you've been living in the state one day short of the
twelve months and plan to continue living there until kingdom come. *You*
may consider yourself a permanent resident, but if you don't meet the
official definition, you don't qualify officially.

True, but in this case, the schoool categorizes you. (And we did that for
the 2004 MEFAs.) but this year the authors will categorize their own
stories. So to go back to this analogy, you would say whether you were a
permanent resident or not.

>Similarly, an individual author may consider her piece AU even if it

doesn't meet the MEFA's official definition. I suppose s/he could mention it
in her summaries - but I don't think it doesn't really belongs in the AU
category. Technically, I suppose the author *could* put it there, but this
would be our guide to say what belongs in a particular category.

So a suggested definition?

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com