Cupid Bow Mouth

Head Canon vs Alternate Reality

Wed, 12 Dec 2018 03:48:20 GMT

runpunkrun is having a fantastically interesting conversation about terminology in fandom by age demographic.

It struck a chord with me because I keep seeing this term headcanon and two people have used it in comments to fic I posted at AO3. I find it curious because in both cases, for me, the scenarios are not head canon. They are AU's taking a left at canon. Headcanon to me (that turned into fanon after awhile, I think) is Buffy always smelling like vanilla. It's true in my head and always shall be so! Fic is so often AU which is just an alternative to the canon. Using the word canon suggests a concrete idea of what something is or should be. And AU's are explorations from a point in canon. Naming something a head canon then, for me, suggests a personal understanding of events that will not change from how I perform the intersection between the source and fandom. Like how no matter what I write about Buffy, she always smells like vanilla (even when it's mixed in with the scent of dirt or blood).

My favorite headcanon is actually a post-series canon. One Thousand Kisses Deep was a fic that I wrote about the end of the slayers and that, to me, is how the series ends. It's obviously an AU from Chosen, but if I had my way that is a narrative end that makes sense.

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Vid Rec: Dream by Gwyn (Multi-Fandom, G)

Sat, 18 Aug 2018 01:02:47 GMT

This vid hit me in all the good feels. So much joy and total adoration. It reminds me of how much I loved fandom and how much I miss being part of it. Gwyn has a very deft hand with pacing and cuts, and the vid features so many awesome fandoms. I smiled throughout.

Happy Friday, fandom!

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Sinking your ship: Social Media and the rise of Fannish Entitlement

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 05:41:55 GMT

Oh, fandom, thou art crazy and getting crazier ...

Now, I'm going to need all ya'll to calm the fuck down, and as my co-worker likes to say, take several seats.

This is not the first time in recent months where I have read an article like this one. Canon and Fanon have been separate things just bydefinition. The soaring popularity of fannishness and the rise in social media have reduced the distance between fan and creator and the result seems to be this weird assumption and insistence by fans that the content they consume be shaped to fit what they want. In other words, they feel entitled to fan service. As a writer, I object. The content that I create, as much as I hope it will appeal to others is not written *for* others. It's what *I* want to write, largely for me. Sometimes I loose track of that, but as I have been recently reminded, it's important to remember.

Now, as a fan, I also object because giving me everything I want isn't probably what I need. My feelings may get hurt and I may be unhappy, but if what happens makes sense then I am onboard.

Social justice, shipping, and ideology: when fandom becomes a crusade, things get ugly

Creators, fans and death threats: Talking to Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman and more on the Age of Entitlement

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