The line between fanon and canon
May. 1st, 2009 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sumeriaSo, lately I have found myself pondering whence cometh widely held opinions/assumptions in fandoms. Why is Draco good at arithmancy? I can work out why he's good at impressions, but that's the bit of nigh-universal fandom wisdom re: Draco Malfoy (in the Harry/Draco section of the fandom, anyway, and I think the Draco/Hermione. It would shock me not at all to discover that the Draco in segments of fandom less friendly to him was made of different assumptions) that I just can't source. I don't mean "who did it first", or even "why" but more: why did *that* become so universal? But the question is fundamentally simpler in Harry Potter; there are only seven novels, and everything in them in canon.
I was also thinking about Doctor Who, and more specifically, the new series. Most specifically, I've come to the realization that most of the fandom (at least, the fic-writing parts) have a very different conception of the Time War than I have. And what I have no idea of, and really do kind of wonder, is "where did their ideas come from?" are they just interpreting the evidence differently than I, or is there information somewhere in the novels and comics I haven't read that implies these things?
Doctor Who is particular challenging. I would have guessed that the asprin allergy was canon and the smelling-like-honey was not, but apparently, I would have been wrong. I *certainly* wouldn't think any of the vampire stuff were canon if I hadn't seen those episodes with my own two deeply confused eyes.
So, in no particular order...
Who was president during the war, particularly at the end? Everyone I've ever seen pick someone picked Romana, which I suppose I can understand, though it's not the asumption I would (and did) make myself.
Was the destruction of the Daleks/Gallifrey a plan concieved ahead of time and known to the Time Lords? A specific mission entrusted to the Doctor? My feeling is a definitive 'no' to both of those... The way he carried his guilt, they way the Doctor's always been... I never had any doubt that it was a plan concieved entirely by him, carried out by him, and done in desperation and on his own initive. But I seem to be very alone in this opinion.
Was it Eight who pushed that button? Did Nine wake up after the war? I differ again with the majority here. I imagine Eight entered the war, but I always felt that he died in the middle. Nine seems so clearly to be a soldier type, and so personally connected to what was done... it just doesn't feel there's there's been a regeneration between Nine and the genocide to me.
How long has it been for Nine between the end of the war and the begining of the series? Most people seem to think 'almost none'... though there's less solidarity here. My feeling was always, 'a very long time'. He just gave me such a strong impression of a man who had been alone for a long time.
I could be wrong on all my assumptions/interpretations. But I would be very interested to know if there's some information somewhere that is fueling the prevailing schools of thought.
I was also thinking about Doctor Who, and more specifically, the new series. Most specifically, I've come to the realization that most of the fandom (at least, the fic-writing parts) have a very different conception of the Time War than I have. And what I have no idea of, and really do kind of wonder, is "where did their ideas come from?" are they just interpreting the evidence differently than I, or is there information somewhere in the novels and comics I haven't read that implies these things?
Doctor Who is particular challenging. I would have guessed that the asprin allergy was canon and the smelling-like-honey was not, but apparently, I would have been wrong. I *certainly* wouldn't think any of the vampire stuff were canon if I hadn't seen those episodes with my own two deeply confused eyes.
So, in no particular order...
Who was president during the war, particularly at the end? Everyone I've ever seen pick someone picked Romana, which I suppose I can understand, though it's not the asumption I would (and did) make myself.
Was the destruction of the Daleks/Gallifrey a plan concieved ahead of time and known to the Time Lords? A specific mission entrusted to the Doctor? My feeling is a definitive 'no' to both of those... The way he carried his guilt, they way the Doctor's always been... I never had any doubt that it was a plan concieved entirely by him, carried out by him, and done in desperation and on his own initive. But I seem to be very alone in this opinion.
Was it Eight who pushed that button? Did Nine wake up after the war? I differ again with the majority here. I imagine Eight entered the war, but I always felt that he died in the middle. Nine seems so clearly to be a soldier type, and so personally connected to what was done... it just doesn't feel there's there's been a regeneration between Nine and the genocide to me.
How long has it been for Nine between the end of the war and the begining of the series? Most people seem to think 'almost none'... though there's less solidarity here. My feeling was always, 'a very long time'. He just gave me such a strong impression of a man who had been alone for a long time.
I could be wrong on all my assumptions/interpretations. But I would be very interested to know if there's some information somewhere that is fueling the prevailing schools of thought.