Oxymoronic · 5:57am Dec 17th, 2012
So, I was watching "Wonderbolt Academy" with my brony mates today, and one of them said something that really stood out to me. It was a certain word. A certain, very unusual word. The word was "headcanon".
I don't know what it was about the situation, but I immediately called him out on his use of that word. If "canon" is defined as the events and depictions that happen in the official story (whether it be through the show, the comics, licensed books, whatever), then headcanon cannot exist. It's just one person's interpretation of the events. It is, in fact, fanon. It most certainly is not canon, in any way. The word "headcanon" is an oxymoron.
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... Please don't remind me of Hasbro's doings...
They have already annihilated my fanon several times over, and will continue to do so in the following episodes....
By Jove, you can forget about making the Apple family orphans now, since they will officially get a Mom and Dad.
There is no such thing as grimdark in Equestria! No such thing as death either! You are a silly! Get back to work on that flower for our beautiful Corporation! Your fanon is irrelevant to our interests in the business of money. Throw it out immediately! We cannot go against the norm! That would cause us to lose revenue! You must conform and give us your undivided attention and devotion.
Your own beliefs are irrelevant.
Your fanon sucks. Now go die in a fire.
I think my definition of headcannon is fanon based on stuff that actually happens in cannon. Like Lyra and Bon Bon are together a lot so they must know each other well, or the widely held belief that AJ's parents are dead because they aren't around. It's still fanon but it tries to fit into the cannon based on the facts, even if we don't have enough to even make a guess. For example despite still not seeing Scoots parents there are lots of other parents we haven't seen. The reason's AJ's are so weird is that with such a tight knit family and showing the acres all the time it seems like they should be around but just aren't. But no amount of evidence makes any of this true, but there is a difference, even if it's just by degrees.