Of fanon and canon

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You know, a lot of folks on dA tend to use these journals not just as places to write stuff to keep folks in the loop, but as their own personal soapboxes.  It's kind of annoying, really; so I tend to try not to rant in these if I can avoid it.


But bronies, let me tell you something.  You are making it so hard for me right now.


Let me start by saying that I love canon.  Canon is why we're here.  Without the canon of the show, we would not have come to adore these ponies that we spend so much time on.  Without canon, this fandom has no base, nothing to stand on.  I get that!  As such, I have a healthy respect for what canon brings us with each amazing episode.  But here's the thing:

I love fanon, too.

I love the depth and richness that this vast group of creative ponies manages to bring to an already amazing show.  Without the fanon, I know I wouldn't be half as involved in the fandom as I am.  It takes something that's already great, and makes it that much better, that much more engaging.  And the fact that it's a living thing that we, ourselves control and shape is amazing to me.

Which is why I am so frustrated with you guys right now.

Now, I know that often, we shape fanon out of whole cloth.  There's little to no actual evidence for something, but we don't let that stop us from being creative and coming up with names and stories.   And I am a firm believer that if canon really contradicts fanon, canon wins out.  After all, a big part of engaging fanon is creating the ring of verisimilitude within the canon itself.  The latter can't exist completely independent of the former.  

I get that!

But over the past couple of weeks, we bronies have just been throwing out fanon and washing our hands of it if canon so much as looks at it sideways.  And that's just being extremely silly.

I noticed it first with the whole "Heartstrings" deal.

:\

Just... no.  No.  Bad ponies!  The merchandise is NOT canon.  Do you all honestly need to be reminded of this?  I mean, really.  Twilight friggin' Sparkle does not wear a goggled helmet and ride a scooter.  Applejack does not drive a buckin' truck.  And a shoddy Twilight recolor that happens to have a harp cutie mark is not Lyra.

They don't even look alike for crying out loud!  We have fanon names for like the 20 different background ponies that look alike except for mane and eye color, and we're going to call that the toy version of Lyra, and then say that her name is the one given to the toy?  I mean, we didn't do that with Carrot Top.  We don't call her "Golden Harvest," because that's dumb.  Why would we do the same with a not-really Lyra?

Come now.  You all can do better than that.  


Except... apparently you can't!  Spoilers ahead!


See, in the latest episode, Dinky is at the sisterhood social with some other background pony.  And all the sudden, everypony is all "WHELP GUESS THAT'S IT DERPY'S NOT DINKY'S MOM, GOOD RIDDANCE, DUMB FANDOM!"

Really, bronies?  Really?

We made up Derpy and Dinky based on nothing more than the fact that they're similar colors.  Surely we can do some less complex mental acrobatics to keep the fanon alive.  Like, say, that Dinky really wanted to go, but doesn't have an actual sister.  And Derpy, being the awesome mom and hardworking mailmare that she is, couldn't stay for the whole competition and got a friend of hers to take Dinky instead.  

Easy.  Done.  Fanon preserved.

"But that's impossible!" some say.  Yes, because clearly sisterhood doesn't mean anything but blood sisters, and only relations run the race together.

Oh, wait.  That's not true at all, even within the show itself.  Even so, everypony seems to have decided that one of the sweetest, purest bits of fanon needs thrown out because of a few seconds of screentime.  

And that's the part that I don't get.

There's nothing offensive or weird in the Derpy-Dinky relationship (unlike, for some, shipping).  It's just love and caring and general d'aww.  So, what I want to know is: what kind of pony looks at Derpy being an awesome, loving mom and says "Boy, this is the sort of thing I could use less of!  I'm glad I don't have any healthy families in my pony fanon, now that canon has been totally ambiguous about it!"

It sounds silly, doesn't it?  And I honestly wonder what is wrong with the ponies think this way.

So where does this attitude come from?  And why are we throwing in the towel so easily on this one?

For the former: I have no idea.  I honestly can't fathom the mind that thinks that ambiguous canon means we have to completely wash our hooves of something pure and good.  As for the latter: Again, I don't know.  

But, you know what?  I'm not.  You guys can fold like cheap suits of you like, and live in your fandom made all the dimmer for it.  I'm going to call Lyra Lyra.  I'm going to think that Derpy is Dinky's mom, and she is the best.  And if you don't like it, that's bucking tough, isn't it?

You know why?  

Because I can rationalize it within the canon, like good fanon does.

Because I'm not giving up something as sweet and pure as Derpy and Dinky just because some other pony was with her in a silly race.

Because - and I feel this is important - we can think for ourselves, ponies.  


And that's really the crux of the matter that has me so worked up.  This fandom, and the fanon in it?  We made it.  It's ours.  We work within the framework of canon, but we are not canon.   We shouldn't just abandon the things we've worked at and created based on spurious evidence.  We should be willing to fight at least a little bit for those things that are sweet and good - those things that we have made for ourselves.

Canon is not God, bronies.  It's just the foundation.  We're the ones who've built this house on it.  So stop tearing it down at the drop of a hat.  It cheapens you, and all the rest that we've created to discard it so easily.

Remember: we can't change canon.  But the fanon is what we make of it.


Think for yourselves, bronies.  Fight at least a little for what we've done.

</soapbox>
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SamPD2's avatar
Pfft. Your naivety on the situation of this canon vs fanon debate shines right through the so many holes that can be poked through this journal entry.

The fact of the matter is that if it isn't canon, then it does not deserve to be used, discussed, or built upon.
No amount of reason for your argument will convince the fandom otherwise.
Once an episode come to the forefront, then any fanon that it destroys must be kept that way.

Gone to oblivion.