My thoughts on canon, fanon, and Word of God. · 2:57am Feb 2nd, 2013
So, someone finally brought up Word of God in the comments of Three Little Apples. I've been expecting this for a long time. So I decided to make clear my thoughts on the subject by doing what I do best: lecture essay!
Canon is what we know specifically from the show. It's positive information that we have seen, or ponies have stated. Zecora lives in the Everfree Forest. The Oranges are Applejack's aunt and uncle. Hearth's Warming Eve occurs sometime during winter. As far as the universe of MLP is concerned, these are facts. If you wish to contradict these things, it's either an Alternate Universe, or else you have to show us why what we've seen might be incorrect.
Making up reasons canon can be incorrect is sometimes fun. For example, the Cutie Mark Chronicles are the mane six relating their stories to the CMC. They may not be the most reliable narrators for a number of reasons (they were foals themselves, they're trying to explain things to foals, or they're Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, or Rarity, all of whom are given to exaggeration.) So you could easily tell a “canon” story about the real way they all got their cutie marks, as long as you explain why they didn't tell it that way to the CMC.
There are a couple of things that make canon special, as compared to things I will talk about next:
1) Canon is what everyone interested in the show is expected to know. Because they are facts in the universe of the show, and because we all claim to be fans of this universe, not knowing canon in fanfiction is like making a historical or scientific error.
2) Canon is verifiable. If someone doesn't know canon, you can point to the source in the show that says or shows that it's true.
3) We expect canon to be consistent. This might not always be the case, the show is written by a lot of writers, some of whom are far less interested in it than we are, but for the most part we don't expect future episodes to contradict things we learned in past episodes. If that happens, it's a mistake and someone messed up.
I love canon, personally. To me it's the reason I write fanfic, to try to fit something new into something that already exists. This should come as no surprise, The AppleDash Project is literally built around canon. Catching me breaking canon that already exists, without some explanation of why canon is wrong there, is something that will really bug me. It's kind of like losing at the story, for me.
Now, say something happens in canon that I do not like. My personal preference is to "fix" it within canon. For example, if I did not like purple winghorn ponies, I might write a story where any purple ponies who became winghorn ponies decided to turn back, or set my stories before any purple ponies turned into winghorn ponies. (Also, I think I'm going to like purple winghorn ponies, so it probably won't be an issue for me.)
On the other hand, we are free to totally smash canon to itty bitty pieces. That's what the AU tag is for. Nothing wrong with that, if canon isn't what you need for your story about ponies.
Anyway, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have fanon. Fanon (or headcanon) is what we make up to fill in the cracks in canon. Sometimes, this makes perfect sense. Rainbow Dash grew up in Cloudsdale, for example. This is never stated on the show. We know she went to flight camp, and to flight school. We know one or both of those was in Cloudsdale. The simplest explanation is that she grew up in Cloudsdale. However, just because it's the simplest explanation doesn't make it true. Her earth pony parents might have sent her there to learn to fly, and she went home to Fillydelphia on her vacations. This is just as valid an explanation, it doesn't contradict anything in canon.
Other times, fanon is more of a guess. Scootaloo is an orphan. Okay, we've never seen her parents. We also never saw Sweetie's parents until season two. It doesn't really seem logical to me that there's this orphan running around Ponyville, being best friends with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and AJ, Rarity, and Rarity's parents have never once needed to speak with her parents- for example, to get permission for her to go to Canterlot and be in a royal wedding. A lot of people like this fanon, but it isn't the simplest logical explanation. (Which is: we've just never seen her parents.)
One of the biggest problems with fanon, especially popular fanon, is that it's not verifiable. For someone new to fanfiction, there's no place they can go to learn that Octavia and Vinyl Scratch are friends/lovers, that Rainbow Dash grew up in Cloudsdale, or that Scootaloo is an orphan. Calling someone out for contradicting one of these things is just not fair. And being mad at the show for messing it up with new canon is just dumb.
I personally keep an extremely loose headcanon, and often avoid fanon entirely. I rarely use background ponies except for as background ponies, and I got all the way through Best Young Flyer without mentioning Scootaloo's family. Headcanon details about the characters can change from fic to fic with me, depending on what's important to the story. In my opinion, that's what we're for as fanfic writers- not to become sources on par with the show, but to present as many possibilities as we can think of, as well as we can.
Finally, we have what TV Tropes calls Word of God. Basically, that's when people behind the show tell us stuff. Faust likes to do this a lot, but other writers have as well. A big example is the “shooting stars” representing the Apple sibling's dead parents, or Faust's statement that Scootaloo was intended to be disabled, and never able to fly.
Canon or not? It's verifiable, anyone who wants to look it up can find the places where these people said these things. There's some argument as to whether authors should be expected to know them, since not everyone follows everything about the show and reads all the interviews.
But in my book, they aren't canon, because of the third point about canon. We expect canon not to contradict itself, and when it does, it's a mistake. An error you can point to. Word of God, on the other hand, has not been entered into canon. Faust can say that Scootaloo isn't supposed to be able to fly, but another writer could write an actual episode where Scootaloo learns to fly and it wouldn't be an error. The same is true of the Apple parents. If they show up two seasons from now, well, nothing on the show ever said they were dead. Stars aren't really proof, however they were intended by the writers at the time. (And there are a million kid's entertainment characters who are explicitly orphans. In fact, I seem to remember many of my own My Little Ponies being orphans when I was a six-year-old girl. Usually tragically. No one loves melodrama like a six-year-old girl. Anyway, it can be done, if the writers really care to make it canon.)
So personally, I treat these things as the fanon of people who have the power to make it canon. If they do, it will be canon. If the show doesn't say it, it's not in the rules I have to work with. I have no problem with writing stories where the Apple parents are alive, or Scoot learns to fly, or contradicting Lauren Faust in any way. As far as I know, she's still capable of writing, and if she really wanted it to be canon she can submit a script.
So that's it. Canon I will follow to the best of my ability, or find a way to work around it when I can't. Fanon is made to be broken, as creatively as possible. And Word of God is just fanon.
>purple winghorn ponies
i.imgur.com/n9Koj.png
Someone who realizes that everything Faust says isn't canon...This is... thank you so much!
I see way too many people who bring up WoG and it just makes me so mad!
People tend to get really snooty about it too and that annoys just as much!
Thank you so much for this post!
Breaking Fanon is something I dig. I mean, Octavia doesn't even have lines, for crying out loud--how did her and Scratch become a legit couple in everyone's eyes? At least Lyra and Bon-Bon are in scenes together.
If I'm gonna real-talk for a sec, I find fics staring background characters less pony related than any humanized fic staring characters that talk. At least the humans have personalities already established by canon--background characters could be anything--Scratch could be a serial killer that sells crystal meth to Scootaloo's parents, for all we know, and the writer wouldn't even need to plop on an AU tag, due to the characters non-existent nature.
Though if they ever imply AJ's parents are not dead, I'm going to be upset. Sure, it's fanon, but it's my fanon, gosh-dang-it.
Reading this piee makes me wish more people were more thorough, logical, and capable to back their opinions up without resorting to attacking other people and calling others stupid names. I enjoyed this post
784141
I completely agree, on both sides of that. Writing is not a visual medium, so:
"Hey, y'all, I just made an apple pie," said the orange pony.
and
"Hey, y'all, I just made an apple pie," said the tall, blonde girl.
are exactly the same amount Applejack. Saying humanized fic is not MLP because humans is silly.
And in terms of background ponies, I bring this up all the time when people talk about shipping SoarinDash. Soarin is an OC. The entirety of his character is "Wonderbolt, male, likes pie." What part of this makes him perfect for Dash? I could like SoarinDash, depending on how he's written. Or I could hate it. Because Soarin is an OC.
I think, book, for once you have caught me at a very awkward situation.
I finally have nothing to argue with you about or contradict or beat apart or hang on the wall.
I... I... agree with you. With every single point.
WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?
Anyway, people should just read what they want to and if they don't agree, that's fair. Can't tell you how many times people have told me they dislike my story because of the way I handle characters or portray them inside constructed canon / fanon, but the difference is, they don't let that affect their perception on anything else I write.
So, just because of tradition, I will have to disagree with you on at least one thing.
Um... I hate your font.
I read a statement by Faust saying that she never imagined Scootaloo was disabled, just that she hadn't figured flying out yet.
>Making up reasons canon can be incorrect is sometimes fun. For example, the Cutie Mark Chronicles are the mane six relating their stories to the CMC. They may not be the most reliable narrators for a number of reasons (they were foals themselves, they're trying to explain things to foals, or they're Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, or Rarity, all of whom are given to exaggeration.) So you could easily tell a “canon” story about the real way they all got their cutie marks, as long as you explain why they didn't tell it that way to the CMC.
I had to use that episode to figure out what time of day Twilight's exam took place, and what the weather was like. Answer: Take your pick! The episode shows 6 different views on the same event at the same time and place. One is exactly at sunrise; some are in the middle of a sunlit day; one is in a dark rainstorm.
Face it: The MLP authors are sloppy about consistency. I used to say that the thing that made MLP special was the characters, but I can't say that without a disclaimer anymore, what with the careless schizophrenic treatment of numerous ponies, especially Luna, Rainbow, & Rarity. It's like the writers aren't bothering to watch all the episodes. Which would not be at all surprising in Hollywood.
784351
You're totally wrong, Kitsune. My font is perfect, because all of the letters clearly show up. You're just over-invested in your own font, and dedicated to being "unique," and it's affecting your ability to judge fonts correctly.
Clearly, we must have an argument over several comments because we hold differing opinions, despite the fact that we will eventually let it drop and remain friends.
784361
I'd be interested in reading that. The one I heard was from someone who got to talk to her at a convention. He relayed that info about Scootaloo being disabled, an episode that she had planned but was never made, and some other info I didn't bother to remember. (I remember the episode because it would have been AJ and Dash focused, and the Scoot thing because I hate the idea.)
I would agree, but the truth is that I'd say they're as good as, or better than, most children's entertainment (they're certainly better than the last fandom I wrote for, also kids media, where certian writers could be counted on to have characters acting crazy OOC) and probably as good as most episodic entertainment with teams of writers. It's hard to organize a team of writers to work on one project. Spread that over three years, with writers coming and going, and you're bound to have problems. Unless you have a really strong show runner who's dictating the entire run of the show, you're going to make a lot of mistakes as the show goes on.
784416
I believe this is because they can't evolve characters too much. The execs never said "Oh, we can go on with a Wonderbolts Dash (tm) doll, so go ahead with that storyline. Everything's tied to the toys, because that's where the money is, so, what goes and doesn't go in the show is basically due to marketing decisions.
I agree, and I'd like to throw in my own interpretation of it as well.
There's two kinds of word of god. Speculation and definitives. Sometimes they will say things like "We planned to have XXX be YYY, but that never panned out or whatever," And that's just speculation. It's not applied to the show, and until something in the show shows up that either contradicts or confirms it, it will be held in fanon limbo.
The other kind is the definitives, but they're rare and always usually very vague. For example, book's mention of Applejack's 'star parents'. All that was said, correct me if I'm wrong, was that the stars were a nod to AJ's parents. ALL THAT MEANS is, the stars were a nod to AJ's parents. People then started using that as proof that AJ's parents were dead, or whatever. There's not a single thing said that shows that. So it's a lot of extension of the fact and digging to get to the meanings behind what was a very innocent easter egg, and it's left open-ended on purpose because they might very well bring in AJ's family one day.
And then where will you be, book? WHERE WILL YOU BE?
784366
I disagree. This is a statement of my disagreement-able-ness. You are closed-minded and unwilling to embrace the other fonts. You refuse to expand your world view out of single fontage. My font is clearly better than your font. My font is more font than all other fonts. Uniqueness is a quality embraced by the font. Why can you not see this?
Also, there is no coming back from this argument. You have shown yourself to be so unwavering on the font that we must, from now on, become font-fiends, bitter enemies to the end regarding fonts. Whenever you type anything from now on I will raise up this very bitter exchange between us like a childish pre-teenager with daddy issues, and rub fonts in your face.
This will result in a complete breakdown of our relationship and cause us to be very awkward around each other.
And I have just described the plot of The Gilmore Girls season 3.
Holy crap, how did I last through that.
Personally, I keep my headcanon pretty loose. There are things that make sense to me, like Twilight's family being nobles, but I don't expect every story to include that. If I read a story that contradicts it, I'm willing to accept it as long as it makes sense contextually. Honestly, people arguing over whose fanon is better always seemed kinda silly to me.
784416
Word of God is that they had a scene about that, but it had to be cut for time. Dash was supposed to graduate the academy, being given a medal and a promise that the 'bolts would be keeping an eye on her.
Of course, I do realize the irony of me bringing up Word of God, given the nature of what we're talking about.
784586
Hahaha, beat me to it =)
But joking aside, Comic Sans IS the best font.
I agree with the whole Faust isn't canon thing, mostly because apparently she said Dash would be a bad role model for Scootaloo. Which is dumb. Rarity was a pretty poor role model for a while and she improved, so saying Dash couldn't potentially be big sister material (which was proved later in the whole camping episode) irked me a little.
I really like canon, too (that's why I'm on a fan site in the first place), but I love the crap out of a lot of Alternate Universe fics as well. There's just something really interesting and entertaining about taking familiar characters and chucking them into situations that would likely never happen in the actual show. The whole canon thing is probably why I like Mane 6 ships best as well - they've got the most characterization going for them, and though some other ships can be really well done, (MacDash. FlutterMac, SoarinDash, etc) it does really matter what type of personalities the author gives the characters with less canon development and how they gel with the more main characters. Maybe I'm less wary of background character/mane 6 romances because its less likely that they're self-inserts? Although they totally still could be (and plenty probably are), but maybe its harder for me to tell. If anything starts getting Gary-Stu/Mary-Sue ish that's usually a hint. I still like certain variations of OctaScratch though, and that's gotta be one of the randomest shippings to gain such a huge following.
And the gripers should just realize that everyone has their own preferred fanon. That's part of what makes fanfiction fun, really
This excites me, you present a very detailed case and that sets a sexual thrill right up my spine. Allow me to disagree with most of your points (and please, please don't turn down my advances) I'll try not to blither on too much but it seems to me the flaw here is that, your points 1, 2 and 3 contradict each other.
"Canon is verifiable, yet can be altered but it is also consistent except when it's not?" I mean, just reading that should send off alarm bells. Canon wouldn't exist by this definition.
Yet there is canon, we feel things when they are off or random mutations (ALICORN TWILIGHT)
Canon is not just stated facts but suggested facts (Or fill in the gaps as you call it).To pretend only overtly stated things are canon is being silly. Does someone have to officially state what happened to little Pewee for us to conclude what happened? Weren't small suggestive scenes enough? Or because we didn't officially see Pewee stick around with his parents its 'fanon'? Like your Cloudsdale point. I wasn't entirely buying it. I mean, Rainbow Dash says "best flyer to come out of cloudsdale!". Only pegasus with a cloudhouse and all filly scenes show her in Cloudsdale. When the whole series is acting under the assumption that RD is from Cloudsdale, how is this still "fandom"? Until reasonable contradictory evidence is show, then, I don't see how this is any less canon then Rainbow Dash having magenta eyes. The fact that you question how 'infallible' the word of God is, seems to me you understand very well that canon is built not stated.
The background pony crap. THAT's fandom. Who would even deny that?
Canon is more than what the author overtly says. It has to stay consistent with the pre-existing facts. Or its not even bloody canon anymore, its just authors shitting around wrecking their lore and jumping between species with their main characters. Exploiting 'little cracks' in lore comes off as 'exploiting little cracks in lore' because we all bloody sense when a change is too jarring. There's a reason for that, its not just are headcanons, its what we've assessed from the information they've CHOOSEN to present to us. And I have to end on your challenge to Occam's razor. The simplest answers are usually correct. Especially in a show about talking saccharine ponies who go on pony adventures in ponyville about ponies.
785298
Canon can be tested (by looking at the show). It can be altered by new episodes. And we expect to be consistent, but sometimes people mess up.
Kind of like science, and watching the show is an experiment. You can test it somehow. Theories can be proven wrong by new experiments. And we expect science to be consistent, but sometimes human errors in experiments or theories mean that it's not. But it's supposed to be.
Why? What exactly, in fanfiction that can bend canon if we want to, is wrong with making canon as limited as possible. Limiting it to things you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt?
For my fanfic, canon is the pictures you see (those happened at some point) and that Pewee is no longer around. If you explain those two things, anything you write is canon. So yes, Pewee being with his parents is fanon that makes sense.
Once again, the question is: If this was contradicted later, would it be an error. If you later found out that Pewee was living with Celestia, would this be an error, or could you look at the pictures and say "huh, guess that was just a vacation."
There are errors in the show, like the age of Ponyville and Granny Smith. And those are clearly mistakes, because one thing stated does not match with another thing stated. People have a right to grumble about that. People don't have a right to grumble if Pewee shows up living with Princess Celestia.
It's obvious that she went to school in Cloudsdale. The question is whether she was born and raised there. We never see a scene of her there where she's not at school, and "best flyer to come out of Cloudsdale!" could easily refer to her school as well. But the point is: I can show you Rainbow Dash's magenta eyes, you show me "Rainbow Dash was born in Cloudsdale, or even has pegasi parents."
Magenta eyes: i.imgur.com/dB5nN.png
(ETA: My point is that I accept that she could be from Cloudsdale or not be from Cloudsdale. If you disagree, you have to prove to me, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she is from Cloudsdale, using only the show.)
Here, I think, is where we're having a problem. I'm not trying to be correct about anything except what I can see with my own two eyes. When I write fanfic, I am playing a game. The rules are: 1) Do not contradict anything on the show (canon), 2) Unless you can explain why the show was mistaken. 3) But anything else in the world is fair game. These are rules I set for myself, so I'm the only one whose opinion matters.
You are operating on Occam, often good, in terms of the real world, or predicting future episodes. That's awesome. But in terms of making art, I'm more towards Schrodinger. Rainbow Dash is neither from Cloudsdale, nor not from Cloudsdale until the writers of the show open that box. There's a probability of it, but it can't be proven, so there's no reason not to write her from FIllydelphia. This expands creativity, there are more stories you can tell in the cracks than there are in a perfectly built structure that explains everything.
I think this pretty much covers everything.
29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lltzgnHi5F1qzib3wo1_400.jpg
785583
I see you used the phrase "reasonable doubt". I think it's very fitting, because it sums up exactly where I take issue with your argument. Your "reasoning" for your doubt. Your doubt isn't "oh well, we saw this scene with her on the ground with two earth ponies that might've been her parents". It's "well, we didn't see it for absolutely-100%-sure-as-shit, so who's to say?" Proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not involve proof to an absolutely certainty.
Absolutely certainty is a myth.
Please tell me one possible scene you couldn't argue away with 'what if's for RD being raised in Cloudsdale. Oh birth certification? Well maybe she was born there, but lived elsewhere. Playing with parents at Cloudsdale park? Well maybe they were on vacation. If you can present to me a SINGLE scene that would concisely prove RD is from Cloudsdale then I will concede this argument. Until then, you are arguing on very shaky foundations.
We aren't tittering on a 50/50 probability, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest she is from Cloudsdale. so the Schrodinger cat analogy doesn't cut it. Plus I would be very weary of using Quantumn physics to prove anything.
Sure. Easy. I'll write it right now.
ETA: Now, you can still use the "getting around canon" tricks in this case to make her not from Cloudsdale (she was lying for some reason, etc.). But if she said that, it would be canon that she grew up in Cloudsdale.
Interesting article.
One of my biggest pet peeves in the fandom is when people (usually commenters complaining about a story) cross the three concepts. The most prevalent example I see is probably the status of the big winghorn ponies. Despite knowing more or less nothing about them besides their age, I've seen waaaay too many people insist on godhood or mortalhood being canon.
Actually, scratch that, the biggest example has got to be shipping. Nothing is canon there except for a very few specific relationships we've been shown in the show (the Cakes, various parent couples, Shining & Cadence, and that might be all of them).
Of course, I suspect I'm somewhat guilty of this myself. I can think of a couple authors I've given a hard time over about the existence of healing spells in the FiM universe, though I'd like to think I was approaching it from more of a "be careful with the assumption they don't exist" perspective than a "oh my god why are you so wroooooooong" complaint.
>Applejack's parents
I'm sorry, but at this point it would be pretty hard to retcon AJ's parents to life. They've been gone for three seasons, AJ has acted as her surrogate parent, there has been no sign of them when times were tough OR at the reunion, they are NEVER MENTIONED by anyone... the list just goes on. The two shooting stars also are a fairly obvious bit of symbolism.
Also, apparently, according to the creators of the show, they don't think they're allowed to say AJ's parents are dead, so apparently someone at Hasbro disagrees with you about 6 year old girls loving orphans (though frankly, I REALLY don't think a six year old girl is going to be upset by it unless you implied that THEIR parents are going to die and leave them alone).
However, I do agree with your general view on things.
I will say that I actually am pretty okay with people using the background ponies as OCs who show up on the show. This is why I find FlutterMac a bit bizzare in its popularity; Big Mac himself is basically an OC. We really know nothing about his goals, ambitions, views on life, really anything about him as a person. He is a man of few words, he is said to be shy (though it isn't really clear whether he is in fact shy), he is strong, and... what? He loves his family? He knows Cherilee? He doesn't take on a lot of the responsibilities of the farm's upper management, leaving them to Applejack? We really don't know anything about him.
With LyraBon, at least, I can see why the meme would be popular. I really have no clue on VinylTavia. Though given I have enjoyed stories about both...
Though I really don't have a problem with them, even stories focused essentially on OCs, as long as they are well-written. Heck, I'd rather see them be OCs than see one of the characters we DO know behave out of character.
>Cloudsdale
I think it is clear from the way that Rainbow Dash that she considers herself to be from Cloudsdale, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Rainbow Dash is ONLY from Cloudsdale. For example, I consider myself to be from Corvallis, despite technically speaking having never lived there (I am technically speaking from Philomath, which is a nearby town, which I don't even live inside of EITHER but shh), and having only moved there in 6th grade, and I went to college in Nashville, Tennessee. I COULD say I am from any number of places - where I was born, the city I went to elementary school in, the town that I ostensibly live outside of, or the city I went to college in.
So she clearly has an emotional connection to Cloudsdale, but that doesn't mean that is the only place she lived when she was younger.
1012181
You missed the canonical crush of Spike on Rarity (though it is not mutual).
1162956
I agree, at this point you'd have to do a fair bit of twisting to argue that the Apple parents are alive and a part of the family... but however symbolic the stars were, I don't think it's against canon to propose a scenario like I did in Three Little Apples, or one where their parents were lost on some epic (apple-related) adventure and show back up, or where one or both of their parents left the family for some reason... the Apple parents being dead isn't part of the rules set I have to work with, no matter what the writers say. The fact that the Apple parents haven't been around for three seasons, despite all the things you mentioned, is part of the rules set I have to work with.