When I was a kid and first learning English I kept hearing “excuse me” and just figured that’s what you said when you wanted someone to move out of the way so I had some interactions like this
Find me on Ko-Fi to get comics early!
I hope I'm not just a mutual to you, but someone you want to bring up in irl conversation so you have to awkwardly and cryptically say "my friend..." and refuse to elaborate on my origins or the origins of our friendships
her ass is not listening
Hi. I'm not a canon purist and enjoy some fanon content very much, but I do think people in the fandom should at least familiarize themselves with the canon content and source material. It's easier to break the "rules" so to speak and experiment with canon when you know what that actually is. I've noticed a lot of fans that are only familiar with fanon criticise content that doesn't line up with what they believe to be canon but isn't. The Red Hood for example. I've seen writers who portray him as the violent criminal he is in much of the canon be completely decimated by Jason fans who only know fanon and the retconned version of Red Hood and completely deny canon even exists and refuse to even glance at the comics. Transformative works are important and playing in the sandbox is for everyone but fandom literally cannot exist without canon. Canon is important and people can do whatever they want with it but they should respect it enough to at least look at it.
Hi anon, I'm going to hold your hand as I say this, and I will say it as gently as I can: This is still a form of canon purism.
We can absolutely agree that readers shouldn't berate or abuse writers for how they choose to portray characters in fic, whether that's a more canon-faithful characterization or a popular fanon version. If readers don't like how a character is portrayed, we should encourage them to hit the back button instead.
I want to draw your attention to some of the words you used in your ask above: "should" "respect" "decimated" etc. Those are some strong words to describe how you think people need to behave, in order to exist in fandom. Of course, there is no fandom without canon source material -- I'm not denying that. But with such a wide and varied canon, the DC fandom has examples of the Red Hood you mention above, AND the "retconned" version you also reference. Both are canon, as in actually, officially, canon. WFA is canon, and that Red Hood looks very different from the Red Hood you describe.
Now, I think your issue is that you enjoy a certain version of canon, and you're frustrated that the fandom doesn't also, as trends ebb and flow, enjoy that canon as much as you do. Again, I want to acknowledge that just because a certain version is popular, it doesn't give folks the right to berate authors for writing a different version. But again, I don't think that's what we're really talking about here. From your ask's tone, I think you're suggesting that people should, in order to participate in fandom, read that older canon, that different version, or as you say, "glance at it" before enjoying or writing the fanon version.
Guess what? They actually, really, really, don't have to. It sounds like you have some issues with judging your fellow fandom members who don't read what you do or reference certain canon. But the magic of this fandom is, you can enter it at any point. We're a big pool, and if someone's entry point is the Lego Batman movie and that's it, that's still valid.
Fandom stems from canon, yes, but I almost never hear people talk about movies, or web comics, or other media when they talk about "required reading." It's always a comic. I really wish people would reflect on that before suggesting it as the one true path to being a fan.
The other thing I don't see asks like these reference ever is the reality that sometimes a fandom outstrips its canon material, and that that's an eventuality in some spaces. Fanon interpretations become popular, and people write about those specific characterizations or scenarios. They ebb and flow, like I mentioned, and some are more canon-faithful than others. Some completely reject canon, and again -- it's still fandom. It doesn't make it better or worse than a more canon-faithful fic. It's just different.
I had a couple asks about this topic a few weeks ago, and I'm assuming you haven't read those or you likely wouldn't have sent me this ask. But in them, I discuss how sometimes we need to suck it up and be unhappy that canon-faithful fics aren't as popular in a fandom at a specific time, and stop punishing fellow fans for writing and enjoying those fics. And we really need to stop shitting on them publicly on Tumblr.
Because often, what you're really saying is that you wish more people would write more canon-faithful fics, and stop writing ones about fanon topics you don't enjoy or think are accurate. And to that, I again say, there is nothing you can or should do to change that behavior from others. If you want to read it, write it, enjoy it, etc, do it yourself. Build the comic-faithful community here, write fics and promote challenges, create a discord channel and discuss your "required reading" there.
We are all writing and reading fanfiction at the end of the day. It is a great equalizer in many ways. My silly Lego Batman fic is just as valid as a canon-faithful rewrite of a certain Batman issue. One is not better than the other, or more deserving of respect. You will never get me to admit otherwise on this blog.
tl;dr: people should absolutely not berate authors who choose to write canon-faithful characterizations. however, there are layers of judgement and disdain many DC comics canon-faithful authors/readers have for their fellow fans that I think we need to examine critically in order to coexist respectfully.
You've heard of Earth is space australia now get ready for: Earth is the space Amazon Rainforest. Aliens land on Earth and they are losing their goddamn minds because every square inch of the ground is absolutely PACKED with life like there are hundreds of species just in this one site, there are winged animals flying through the sky and multiple colonies of sophisticated social insects just in the shadow of their ship, this ONE ROCK is covered in MULTIPLE SPECIES OF ORGANISMS that are themselves MULTIPLE ORGANISMS LIVING SYMBIOTICALLY, the tall, woody autotrophs look so different from each other because they're...holy shit that's like 5, 6, 7???? different species on this one site???
they start talking to a human and the human is like "haha yeah that's a crow!" and the alien researcher is like "you called it a 'bird' earlier, is that a different name?" and the human is like "oh a crow is just one species of bird, there's like, 10 others out there"
"On this planet?"
"No, in the back yard right now."
Scenario where Billy loses one of his last baby teeth but it transfers over to Captain Marvel.
So everyone in the JL is freaking out cause they thought Cap was almost indestructible! So how on earth did his tooth get knocked out?
And when they ask him what happened, he says he bit into an apple and it came out (completely true). But of course none of the JL believe him and they just assume he isn’t telling them the truth cause he doesn’t want to worry them.
And then one day when Captain Marvel flashes another one of his signature megawatt smiles, they see that in the gap of his missing tooth… A NEW ONE IS GROWING IN????
I think it’s humorous when DC villians are all (inconsistently) honorable when it comes to their heroes being injured or getting unmasked, like that could never be the case for Billy Batson. His dynamic with his regular villains kinda hinges on the fact that most of them know he’s 7-14 years old, an orphan, and/or likely homeless depending on the timeline they’re attacking him.
They’re just 1000% down with killing him the moment he’s gets caught flat footed and joking with him they fail because it’s the Same Shit As Normal for Billy. He doesn’t really know any other way of life since because of his uncle’s schemes to steal his inheritance and forcing Billy to steal if he wants to come back home.
It must give other heroes whiplash.
what if instead of cassandra cain it was cassandra pain and everything was the same
Okay, random thought, but I can definitely see Cassandra Cain hanging upside down like a bat purely to freak people out and to keep her status as a cryptid
After Cass got adopted, DC should’ve locked in and given us titles like “Daughter of the Dark Knight.” “The Night and The Shadow.” “One who is All and that guy who likes bats.” “Heir to Gotham.”
Or something. I don’t know.
i think cass is always quietly trying to encourage her family to protect their necks, whether training in instincts during spars or by vetoing costume designs without throat protection. she knows it's not anymore vulnerable than your soft tummy and achilles tendons, but the illogical part of her will never forget her hand slick in blood watching a body do something she's never seen before and wondering why is it doing that? what did i steal from him when i grabbed? what was so important that i tore away?
She/HerAutistic, queer, and (according to all the unfinished fics in my docs) an aspiring fanfic author!
499 posts