During Canon — Tag Meaning
Runs concurrent with the source material's events rather than before or after them, weaving new scenes through the existing timeline. It overlaps with missing-scene fic but covers longer parallel arcs too — an entire relationship developing in the gaps between canon episodes, invisible to the camera but consistent with everything it showed.
What to Expect From "During Canon" Fics
Canon's timeline as scaffolding, with the fic living in its margins and off-screen hours.
How to find During Canon fics on AO3
On AO3, click any tag to see every work that uses it, then refine with the "Filters" sidebar — combine it with your fandom or ship, set a rating, or exclude tags you don't want. See our AO3 filtering guide for the full walkthrough.
Browse "During Canon" works on AO3Popular Fics Tagged "During Canon"
Real examples from AO3's most-kudosed works:
Your Face Is Frowning Oh So Thin (But The Corners Of Your Eyes Are Smiling)
by BoyOneder
Paint it Red
by Art_Deco_Hitchhiker
What we do in the Shadows and Me
by Ares_rundown
Flirting, Fighting and Other Things
by thatllwakeupyouraunt
except you, you can stay
by Cookie_Of_Da_C0SM0S
StarClan’s Hypocrisy
by Reading_and_Cats
Related Tags
Missing Scene
Fills a specific gap in canon: what happened in the elevator between floors, during the off-screen carriage ride, in the three days the episode skipped. It's archaeology as fanfic — authors excavate moments the camera abandoned, and the best ones make you believe the scene was always there, just unfilmed.
Tag guide →
Canon Compliant
Promises that nothing in the fic contradicts the source material — events slot into gaps, expansions, or aftermath without breaking anything canon established. It's a precision tool for readers who want their fanfic to coexist peacefully with the original story, and authors wear it as a constraint badge: all of this could have happened.
Tag guide →
Episode Tag
A TV-fandom institution: a fic that hangs directly off a specific episode, usually picking up the moment the credits rolled. Classic episode tags process what the episode wouldn't — the comfort after the whump, the conversation the writers cut to commercial before — and titles often cite the episode number like a footnote.
Tag guide →
Pre-Canon
Takes place before the source material begins: backstories, first meetings canon only alluded to, villains before the fall, mentors in their prime. Writers work in the shadow of known outcomes, and that dramatic irony is the genre's power — readers know exactly what's coming for these characters, which makes their happiness ache.
Tag guide →
More Settings & Events Tags
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