by Amelia Schaffer

Created on: June 16, 2010

The fanfiction term “Jossed” refers to a fanfic story that fit into canon when it was first written, but has been made non-canon by new developments in the original story. For example, a fanfic about Spike’s origins which assumed that Angelus sired Spike would have fit into the canon of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” during Season 2. After the show revealed that Drusilla sired him, however, the fanfic would suddenly contradict established canon, and therefore be considered Jossed.

History of the Fanfiction Term “Jossed”

The term “Jossed” originates from the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fandom and refers to Joss Whedon, the show’s creator, although it can be used for fanfiction and fan theories in any fandom. Jossing happened a lot in the “Buffy” fandom, particularly because fans developed detailed theories about characters’ backstories and the real backstories were not divulged until several seasons later. With the advent of the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Season 8 comics, several more fan theories about what happened after the series ended have been Jossed.

What Do I Do If My Fanfic Gets Jossed?

Getting Jossed can be a frustrating experience for fanfiction writers. The main problem is how to handle an ongoing story (WIP, or work-in-progress) when new canon emerges to Joss important parts of the plotline. The best way to proceed depends on how essential the Jossed information is to the fanfic story and how invested you are in finishing or correcting it.

The best way to handle small and unimportant bits of Jossed information is to edit your fanfic to correct the errors. If this would take too much work for a long fanfic, simply add an author’s note to inform readers that some information in your fanfic is incorrect because of when it was written.

Another way to handle getting Jossed is to label your fanfic “AU” or “AR,” indicating that it takes place in an Alternate Universe or Alternate Reality. This works best for fanfics where the Jossed information is essential to the story and cannot be easily changed - for example, a character dying in canon who lives in your story.

There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to revise or complete a fanfic once important parts of the story have been Jossed. Sometimes an idea for a fanfic, such as exploring a character’s backstory, is not as interesting once the real canon information has been revealed.

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