Attacking people's headcanon, and why does virginity matter so much?
This is kind of a double wank, about two things that have been bothering me lately.
The first (and main) wank comes to me after I was looking through some entries on APH Headcanon on tumbler. This post is largely provoked by the responses I saw to one piece of headcanon in particular on the site.
Just to explain to anyone who's not familier to the com (and to clarify a later point), APH headcanon is a community where people can post (along with an little illustration) their own, individual headcanons regarding characters. For definitions sake, 'Canon-canon' is something that is actually confirmed in an actual series. 'Head-canon' is purely something that exists regarding a character inside a fans head. It may or may not be something that is true in reality, and most headcanon owners are aware that their headcanon isn't true in fact, it's just what someone likes to think.
Now, as most people will know, following the introduction of New Zealand and the ambigousity of his/her gender, there has been an awful lot of discussion and theorizing in regards to the nature of New Zealand's gender. A lot of people have theorized that NZ may be either FtM or MtF transgender, deliberately adrogynous and secretive about their gender, or simply has no gender what so ever. There was one slightly different piece of headcanon on the site that caught my eye however, and which I've got to say I really liked; that New Zealand is actually intersex, and lives as a guy because it is the gender he is most comfortable with.
The reason I raise this wank is not because of the headcanon itself, or even the fact that some people disliked it (as long as people are pleasant about it, whether a person likes or dislikes something is up to them), but because of some of the particular responses this piece of headcanon received. Responses attacking the headcanon's owner for 'leaping to conclusions' or for making 'assumptions'. One person actually wrote a comment saying saying 'This is silly, just because NZ's gender hasn't been confirmed, it doesn't mean you can 'leap to conclusions' like this.'. And I just read that and thought 'Uh, no one's leaping to any conclusions 0.0;. No one's making any 'assumptions'. No one is saying this is even true. No one is trying to make you believe it. It's just someone's headcanon. Which they are simply sharing with everyone else. On an head-canon sharing website'.
And of course, as I am sure is true for other people, this is far from the only occassion where I have seen people's headcanon's being attacked, or taken in to ridiculously serious debate. I've seen it numerous places, countless times. I get taken back by how angrily people respond to headcanon they don't like or which contradicts their own. It's almost scary at times. People react as though they are a 'threat' to their own headcanon or the person is trying to force them in to believing it. And, of course, if the person really is doing the latter, or insisting that their headcanon is fact, I don't blame their reaction. The same goes for if someone's headcanon was to be genuinely perceivable as offensive in some way. In that situation, I can (and on a number of occasions have) understood and even agreed with criticism and anger in response to it. And I'm not saying that headcanon should never be questioned or debated either, but there is a difference between debating and 'OMG, this is so stupid!' and 'your opinion's *WRONG*!'.
But when someone has simply stated their own, personal headcanon, which is simply something that exists in their own mind, I find these kind of reactions disgusting. It's just another form of 'opinion-whoring'. 'I DON'T LIKE YOUR HEAD-CANON, MY ONE'S BETTER, YOU SHOULD BELIEVE IN MY HEAD-CANON, BECAUSE YOURS IS STUPID AND MY ONE'S RIGHT!!'. And why do people take them so seriously in the first place? It's just headcanon, for goodness sake. It seems even headcanon is flaming territory, and a place for anger and furious debate.
And now for my other wank; what is the obsession over whether or not characters have lost their virginity 0.0? I mean, some interest is fair enough, but a lot of people seem completely obsessed, almost as though it is the most important thing about of the characters. Am I the only person who really doesn't care whether xxx has lost their virginity or not 0.0? And much like the headcanon thing, it is a topic that I see frequently coming under ridiculously serious debate, and becoming the product of much furious flaming and flailing. Why is it considered so important by some people?
The first (and main) wank comes to me after I was looking through some entries on APH Headcanon on tumbler. This post is largely provoked by the responses I saw to one piece of headcanon in particular on the site.
Just to explain to anyone who's not familier to the com (and to clarify a later point), APH headcanon is a community where people can post (along with an little illustration) their own, individual headcanons regarding characters. For definitions sake, 'Canon-canon' is something that is actually confirmed in an actual series. 'Head-canon' is purely something that exists regarding a character inside a fans head. It may or may not be something that is true in reality, and most headcanon owners are aware that their headcanon isn't true in fact, it's just what someone likes to think.
Now, as most people will know, following the introduction of New Zealand and the ambigousity of his/her gender, there has been an awful lot of discussion and theorizing in regards to the nature of New Zealand's gender. A lot of people have theorized that NZ may be either FtM or MtF transgender, deliberately adrogynous and secretive about their gender, or simply has no gender what so ever. There was one slightly different piece of headcanon on the site that caught my eye however, and which I've got to say I really liked; that New Zealand is actually intersex, and lives as a guy because it is the gender he is most comfortable with.
The reason I raise this wank is not because of the headcanon itself, or even the fact that some people disliked it (as long as people are pleasant about it, whether a person likes or dislikes something is up to them), but because of some of the particular responses this piece of headcanon received. Responses attacking the headcanon's owner for 'leaping to conclusions' or for making 'assumptions'. One person actually wrote a comment saying saying 'This is silly, just because NZ's gender hasn't been confirmed, it doesn't mean you can 'leap to conclusions' like this.'. And I just read that and thought 'Uh, no one's leaping to any conclusions 0.0;. No one's making any 'assumptions'. No one is saying this is even true. No one is trying to make you believe it. It's just someone's headcanon. Which they are simply sharing with everyone else. On an head-canon sharing website'.
And of course, as I am sure is true for other people, this is far from the only occassion where I have seen people's headcanon's being attacked, or taken in to ridiculously serious debate. I've seen it numerous places, countless times. I get taken back by how angrily people respond to headcanon they don't like or which contradicts their own. It's almost scary at times. People react as though they are a 'threat' to their own headcanon or the person is trying to force them in to believing it. And, of course, if the person really is doing the latter, or insisting that their headcanon is fact, I don't blame their reaction. The same goes for if someone's headcanon was to be genuinely perceivable as offensive in some way. In that situation, I can (and on a number of occasions have) understood and even agreed with criticism and anger in response to it. And I'm not saying that headcanon should never be questioned or debated either, but there is a difference between debating and 'OMG, this is so stupid!' and 'your opinion's *WRONG*!'.
But when someone has simply stated their own, personal headcanon, which is simply something that exists in their own mind, I find these kind of reactions disgusting. It's just another form of 'opinion-whoring'. 'I DON'T LIKE YOUR HEAD-CANON, MY ONE'S BETTER, YOU SHOULD BELIEVE IN MY HEAD-CANON, BECAUSE YOURS IS STUPID AND MY ONE'S RIGHT!!'. And why do people take them so seriously in the first place? It's just headcanon, for goodness sake. It seems even headcanon is flaming territory, and a place for anger and furious debate.
And now for my other wank; what is the obsession over whether or not characters have lost their virginity 0.0? I mean, some interest is fair enough, but a lot of people seem completely obsessed, almost as though it is the most important thing about of the characters. Am I the only person who really doesn't care whether xxx has lost their virginity or not 0.0? And much like the headcanon thing, it is a topic that I see frequently coming under ridiculously serious debate, and becoming the product of much furious flaming and flailing. Why is it considered so important by some people?