Canon Era
| Synonyms: | Camelot Era, Old West, Classic | |
| See also: | Canon AU | |
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Canon Era was first coined in Merlin fandom, and refers to stories and other fanworks set in the fantasy Camelot setting of the TV series as opposed to a Modern AU setting. It doesn't necessarily mean canon compliant (at least not for anything after series 1) and often refers to Canon AUs, but it also includes regular fanfic set in the canon universe. It does not necessarily imply that a fanwork takes place during the canon timeline: "Canon era futurefic" is fic set in the canon Camelot setting but taking place after canon.
Other Fandoms
From Merlin fandom the term migrated to The Eagle fandom, which saw an influx of Merlin fans when the movie came out. The Eagle is another fandom with a historical setting but many popular AUs, which seem to be the basic ingredients for needing a term that marks canon era fanworks.
The AO3 has added a Canon Era tag which increases the chances that the term will be adopted by other fandoms with a historical setting.
Related Terms
The use of the term is comparable to Old West (or OW) in Magnificent Seven fandom and classic in Xena fandom. Both are fandoms with a historical setting where the AU fanfic outpaces the fanfic set in the canon of the respective shows.
