When fandom adopts a headcanon...

[nialla42]

Saw this over at Tumblr, and thought it merited some discussion, which is nigh impossible over there.

when fandom adopts a headcanon and it spreads and gains traction and you just do not agree with it but it’s everywhere and you just

Comments

[superbadgirl]

And sometimes headcanon is the only way to survive a show.

[nialla42]

Oh, most definitely. I've gotten to the point where I'm willing to quit watching shows but stay in the fandom. I can choose to read fanfic that suits my tastes and often is more faithful to the characters than what's onscreen instead of getting frustrated by each episode.

[green_grrl]

Oh my god, that's perfect!

[nialla42]

Isn't it just?

[green_grrl]

Jet? Oh, hell no!

I head scratched over that Coulson line, too. I'm pretty sure when they added Coulson and Samuel L Jackson!Fury to the comics that it's canon there, not just fanon. So I assume that line meant Fury met Phil when he was in high school, encouraged him to join the Rangers to get trained, then hired him at SHIELD.

ETA: I was right about the comics:
http://marvel.wikia.com/Phillip_Coulson_(Earth-616)
But it's significantly different from MCU, so it's very much one of those alternate reality things. I still like my fanwank for the cinematic universe, but doubt it'll turn out to be true.

One of my favorite things in SG-1 fandom is Fig Newton's Canon vs Fanon series that takes on things like "Daniel the pacifist" or offworld overnights. As she says, fanon is fine and often makes sense, but know what canon is.

[nialla42]

I second that hell no. ;)

616 and MCU use the same playing pieces, but play on a different board. I think because there weren't any obvious reasons to think the 616 canon wouldn't be pretty much the same in MCU, a lot of folks expected it to remain the same. Didn't Fury refer to Coulson as "Cheese" at least once in the MCU?

I've always viewed fanon as spackle. When TPTB leave out something, or something just doesn't make sense, fans break out the spackle to fix the cracks in canon. We often cling to fanon so long, that if TPTB finally do address the issue and give a different answer which may or may not make as much sense, it's difficult to let go.

I used to be very good at keeping canon and fanon totally separate in my head, but I'm finding it very difficult with some shows. The fanon is just more interesting in the long run when canon is confusing and contradictory. Canon gives us the characters and the world they live in, but sometimes fanon makes them live.

[green_grrl]

if TPTB finally do address the issue and give a different answer which may or may not make as much sense, it's difficult to let go

If TPTB decide that Sheriff Stilinski has some name other than John, the fandom meltdown will be visible from space. :D

I'm with you. Fandom is often SO MUCH BETTER at filling in the characters and their world that I just don't give a fig for canon half the time.

[nialla42]

And they'd probably decide on a name other than John just to create fandom meltdown. Any attention is good attention, right?

I've had a couple of shows I stopped watching but stayed in the fandom. In the past, I didn't think it would have been possible, but now I see that I can get more character and world building out of fanon than canon. Sometimes when I do watch the canon, I find I don't like the characters anymore.

[graculus]

I don't watch Agents of SHIELD, but if I did, I'm with Tony Stark on Fury being a lying liar who lies so I'd be more than happy to ignore this one...

[nialla42]

Coulson was the one who said it, so he's either picked up Fury's habits (possible), or his brain is scrambled (also possible).

[nialla42]

The first time I saw it in a fic, I stopped dead and puzzled over it. Kept trying to read it, hoping that was the only time, but nope, every time Tony would refer to him as Jet. Not sure if they have other characters do it in their ships.

Now, if I see it in use, I immediately close the fic on my Kindle and delete it. It's such a DNW that it doesn't matter if the fic is otherwise good.

[spikedluv]

This is the first time I've heard about 'Jet' and I can't tell you how much no I'm feeling about that. (So much that I'm using the icon that I call Don's WTF face.)

Yeah, I'm just gonna ignore that AoS reveal about Coulson's recruitment. Or pretend it's because his memories were screwed with.

As for Teen Wolf, the only way to remain sane is to ignore much of the canon (hey, if the writers don't even remember it, why do we have to?!!) and live in the world of headcanon/fanon.

[nialla42]

Jet.

[spikedluv]

I keep seeing meta that all this stuff in Teen Wolf will make glorious sense when it's all done. We're just not used to seeing such a layered story with subtle hints that will eventually pay off. We're just too impatient. Nope.I've read the same, and it makes me want to scream. First, because we're not idiots just because we see plot holes, and secondly, because Jeff Davis really is not that brilliant. I mean, he admits that he can't even keep his own canon straight. How the heck do they really expect that he's got it all planned out? He has ~nothing planned out. He flies by the seat of his pants. Take Malia, for example. People are like, be patient and we'll get her story, but Jeff Davis has said in an interview that they filmed her scenes in the finale last because they didn't know if they were going to get the actress for season 4, which means that NONE OF THE QUESTIONS SURROUNDING MALIA WOULD HAVE GOTTEN ANSWERED. Brilliant my big fat butt

[nialla42]

I've also seen a lot of comments about how he created Criminal Minds, so he knows what he's doing building complex stories and characters. My understanding is he wrote the script that eventually became the show, and served as co-executive producer during the first season of the show. It's not like he wrote every script, was the showrunner, etc. He gets a "created by" credit in later seasons, and that appears to be his only connection (and I'm sure he still gets a cut of the profits because of his original script).

He may have some "high points" plotted out, but that's the best he can manage since apparently there's not enough budget to keep actors on a contract, so he can't plot too far in advance.