This might count as petty, but...
May. 25th, 2011 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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fail_fandomanon in a thread about "annoying fanon taken as canon":
Oh, in Sherlock fandom there's so much of that going on. A few examples:
- Sherlock being asexual.
- Sherlock being or having been a cocaine (or any drug) addict.
- Sherlock hating the way his own brain works ("too much noise" and the like; I blame wordstrings for this. She's very good writer, but I don't like her take on Sherlock, and I really don't like her take being accepted by large parts of fandom).
- Sherlock being a sociopath (yeah, I know he says so himself, but that doesn't make it true).
- Mycroft not really caring about his brother.
*forehead slap*
This is the Sherlock bit: anyone not interested, feel free to skip to the questions at the end!
First, I have to admit than I am a rabid Holmesian: not just the new BBC series, but the Arthur Conan Doyle novels and stories as well. (And several of the movies/tv series. And the BBC radio dramas. And various re-tellings/pastiches. Etc.) Therefore, a lot of my perceptions of the new series are most likely colored by the ACD canon, and the huge body of Holmes-related work that came before. HOWEVER:
1. "Sherlock being asexual."
Honestly, when I first read the thread title, I was tempted to respond "The notion in Sherlock fandom that Sherlock and John are most definitely a couple". On further thought, I realized I was overstating things a bit. It's true that a large portion of the fandom is interested in Sherlock/John slash. However, I don't think most fans actually believe they are or will be a couple in the series, or actually even care if that's the case or not. They just enjoy the idea of Sherlock and John as a couple, and I can't fault them for that: this is what fanfic is for.
As for Sherlock being asexual: it is pretty damn close to canon. No, he never comes out and says "I'm an asexual." He doesn't have a t-shirt or go to meetings. But he does pretty explicitly state that he's not interested in romantic relationships, and it's no big leap from there. Are other interpretations possible? Could he turn out to be gay/straight/bi? It's possible. But "Sherlock is asexual" is far from being pure fanon.
2. "Sherlock being or having been a cocaine (or any drug) addict."
This is most definitely canon. Look up the drugs bust scene on YouTube. If this doesn't meet the definition of canon, I don't know what to consider canon anymore.
3. "Sherlock hating the way his own brain works."
I'm pretty sure this a bleed over from the ACD canon, but I can see it easily transposed onto the BBC series (though I'm having trouble coming up with specific examples). No, it's true that Sherlock doesn't 'hate' the way his brain works: in fact, Sherlock thinks pretty highly of his own intellect in either canon. But to be honest, I don't think that what's being represented in fic (or in either canon) is Sherlock 'hating' the way his brain works; but he most certainly is tormented by his own genius.
4. "Sherlock being a sociopath (yeah, I know he says so himself, but that doesn't make it true)."
"I know he says so himself". Q.E.D.
No, I know: 'unreliable narrator', he could have been flippant, etc. etc. There's a million excuses to discount the veracity of his statement. BUT: there's also a lot to be argued for his complete candor. And he did say it without any obvious wink or nod, which makes this notion far from merely fanon. (I also wonder if there's some confusion as to what a 'sociopath' is?)
5. "Mycroft not really caring about his brother."
I have nothing to argue about this. It's canon that Mycroft 'cares' enough about his brother to spy on him and want to keep track of his movements. (Of course, that could have been a cover for his true reasons for wanting to spy on his brother, but anyway...)
What I do want to say is: where is this fanon? Granted, I've not been as deeply involved in the fandom as I once was, but most of the fic I've seen that deals with the Sherlock/Mycroft relationship portrays Mycroft caring much more than he shows in the series.
/end Sherlock-specific bit
All of this brings me to my topic for discussion: what is canon? How attached are you to the 'facts' of the media you enjoy? Do you like it when the source material mixes it up and plays with canon, or is a foolish consistency the hobgoblin of your little mind? (I know it is of mine...)
Where is the line between canon and fanon?
Also: Do you have bits of fanon you find annoying, or that you actually like better than canon?
As for my own personal favorite bit of fanon: see icon!
fail_fandomanon in a thread about "annoying fanon taken as canon":Oh, in Sherlock fandom there's so much of that going on. A few examples:
- Sherlock being asexual.
- Sherlock being or having been a cocaine (or any drug) addict.
- Sherlock hating the way his own brain works ("too much noise" and the like; I blame wordstrings for this. She's very good writer, but I don't like her take on Sherlock, and I really don't like her take being accepted by large parts of fandom).
- Sherlock being a sociopath (yeah, I know he says so himself, but that doesn't make it true).
- Mycroft not really caring about his brother.
*forehead slap*
This is the Sherlock bit: anyone not interested, feel free to skip to the questions at the end!
First, I have to admit than I am a rabid Holmesian: not just the new BBC series, but the Arthur Conan Doyle novels and stories as well. (And several of the movies/tv series. And the BBC radio dramas. And various re-tellings/pastiches. Etc.) Therefore, a lot of my perceptions of the new series are most likely colored by the ACD canon, and the huge body of Holmes-related work that came before. HOWEVER:
1. "Sherlock being asexual."
Honestly, when I first read the thread title, I was tempted to respond "The notion in Sherlock fandom that Sherlock and John are most definitely a couple". On further thought, I realized I was overstating things a bit. It's true that a large portion of the fandom is interested in Sherlock/John slash. However, I don't think most fans actually believe they are or will be a couple in the series, or actually even care if that's the case or not. They just enjoy the idea of Sherlock and John as a couple, and I can't fault them for that: this is what fanfic is for.
As for Sherlock being asexual: it is pretty damn close to canon. No, he never comes out and says "I'm an asexual." He doesn't have a t-shirt or go to meetings. But he does pretty explicitly state that he's not interested in romantic relationships, and it's no big leap from there. Are other interpretations possible? Could he turn out to be gay/straight/bi? It's possible. But "Sherlock is asexual" is far from being pure fanon.
2. "Sherlock being or having been a cocaine (or any drug) addict."
This is most definitely canon. Look up the drugs bust scene on YouTube. If this doesn't meet the definition of canon, I don't know what to consider canon anymore.
3. "Sherlock hating the way his own brain works."
I'm pretty sure this a bleed over from the ACD canon, but I can see it easily transposed onto the BBC series (though I'm having trouble coming up with specific examples). No, it's true that Sherlock doesn't 'hate' the way his brain works: in fact, Sherlock thinks pretty highly of his own intellect in either canon. But to be honest, I don't think that what's being represented in fic (or in either canon) is Sherlock 'hating' the way his brain works; but he most certainly is tormented by his own genius.
4. "Sherlock being a sociopath (yeah, I know he says so himself, but that doesn't make it true)."
"I know he says so himself". Q.E.D.
No, I know: 'unreliable narrator', he could have been flippant, etc. etc. There's a million excuses to discount the veracity of his statement. BUT: there's also a lot to be argued for his complete candor. And he did say it without any obvious wink or nod, which makes this notion far from merely fanon. (I also wonder if there's some confusion as to what a 'sociopath' is?)
5. "Mycroft not really caring about his brother."
I have nothing to argue about this. It's canon that Mycroft 'cares' enough about his brother to spy on him and want to keep track of his movements. (Of course, that could have been a cover for his true reasons for wanting to spy on his brother, but anyway...)
What I do want to say is: where is this fanon? Granted, I've not been as deeply involved in the fandom as I once was, but most of the fic I've seen that deals with the Sherlock/Mycroft relationship portrays Mycroft caring much more than he shows in the series.
/end Sherlock-specific bit
All of this brings me to my topic for discussion: what is canon? How attached are you to the 'facts' of the media you enjoy? Do you like it when the source material mixes it up and plays with canon, or is a foolish consistency the hobgoblin of your little mind? (I know it is of mine...)
Where is the line between canon and fanon?
Also: Do you have bits of fanon you find annoying, or that you actually like better than canon?
As for my own personal favorite bit of fanon: see icon!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-26 06:13 pm (UTC)I am a big fan of Star Trek which as I expect everyone knows has a timeline spanning hundreds of years on screen and thousands of years off-screen. Canon is taken very seriously by a large proportion of the fans. Only certain fanon even warrants discussion in some circles.
For example, it is never stated in canon what NCC (or ICC in the fully canon Mirror universe) stands for in starship registration numbers. The most common theory is "Naval Construction Contract" and "Imperial Construction Contract". I love it. Some people just won't have it.
Then there's the countless continuity errors - lines of dialogue or even selected whole episodes are officially non-canon. However, Star Trek fanon really comes into its own here; there is a great website called Canon Fodder which is full of essays on fan theories which aim to reconcile the continuity errors with canon, preserving both.
I generally steer clear of AU fanfiction in Doctor Who (although I have enjoyed one or two stories & silly ones just for fun). It's selfish of me, but I don't like to invest time in something which is completely at odds with onscreen events or relationships (e.g., Doctor and Amy in love - although that's still better than the Doctor and Rose in love... which IS more or less canon... grrr let's not go there!)
In everything I write, I never even consider violating canon. I agree canon is difficult to define in the Doctor Who universe, but I never include anything as an overall theme which could be contradicted very easily in future episodes of the TV show. Of course, if the story is such that the status quo is restored, that's fine but it's easier for me to write short, character-driven scenes which could slot in anywhere between episodes. In one of my unfinished stories, I had the 4th Doctor meet Amy, but they never exchanged names, and 11 wasn't there to meet his past self. While I feel that this worked, anything more and it would have risked violating established canon or alienating those readers whose fanon beliefs are so strong they dismiss your versions of the characters out of hand. Something which does irritate me is the ever-present risk of NuWho-only fans accusing you of getting things wrong when you reference classic series events or relationships which are fully canon but not widely known or have not been mentioned in the new series - NuWho fanon may have filled a gap which wasn't even there!
The new JJ Abrams Star Trek film series has opened up a can of worms in that universe, because it's essentially a whole AU which IS canon and runs parallel with the "Prime" timeline. It's explained away with time travel as usual.
/ramble.
I should stop making these anonymous comments. I'm sure it's antisocial.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 12:30 am (UTC)It is, in no way, antisocial! (I have no idea why LJ screens your comments by default, though: I unscreen them when I reply.) I know who you are, and invited you to comment here, and really: I welcome any and all reasonable discussion of opinions! So anyway, yes: please do keep commenting. I like well-thought out replies.
I think, in the course of discussing the issue here, I have decided that I don't really care that much what other people want to define as canon vs. fanon so long as they're content to abide by their own rules and not insist that others follow suit. Discussing what can and should be considered canon can be interesting, but in the end, when you write fanfic you're going to end up playing by your own set of rules.
In short, I just get irritated when people start bitching that their own personal fanon be considered canon for everyone else. (Or, in the case of the person I quoted above, when people start insisting that things that are pretty damn canon were just made up by the fans!)
Star Trek is another biggie, and I'm quite sure its fans have their reputation for studious adherence to canon and continuity. ;) Honestly, I think if I had ever gotten into Star Trek, I'd be right there along with them, pondering out the plot holes between series and continuity errors from earlier vs. later episodes.
As for Who: I haven't seen much of the original run of the show, so I try to keep that in mind whenever I think someone is "breakin canon" with their story. There's a lot I don't know, and will never know, so I tend to stick to my own sandbox and write what I know and like. (I haven't written any Who stories in forever! I gotta get on that...)
And speaking of YOUR story: damnit, I forgot to get back to you about that! I PROMISE I will get on that this weekend! My apologies: sometimes if I don't get to something right away, it slips my mind.