#fuck i love fiction
Nothing feels more free than the realization that canon, fanon, and headcanon are all 1000% fake and made up and therefore all equally true and equally false. None are better or worse than the other. They just either appeal to you or they don’t.
This post isn’t about the relative legitimacy or importance of canon versus fanon versus headcanon. This is just about the fact that all of them are fiction. Fiction is fake and made up. Fiction is true, in that it feels true, emotionally. Fiction is false, in that it doesn’t actually occur in the real world. It’s a fantasy.
If I ask someone, “Does the sun rise in the east?” there is a right answer and a wrong answer to that question. There is a true and a false.
If I ask someone, “Is this character gay?” there isn’t a right answer or a wrong answer. There is a canon answer, a fanon answer, and a headcanon answer. There isn’t an actual real, living, breathing human being being discussed. It’s a question about an idea, and the answer will depend on each person’s interpretation of that idea. Broadly accepted or not. Supported by the text or not. Explained by the original creator or not. Each person gets to decide for themselves.
This is even true in RPF fandoms to a certain degree. The living, breathing person has a true way of being, but the public persona they use might not match up to their real self. And it’s the persona that the fandom is writing about, not the actual person.
The idea of canon gets a lot more complicated when there’s both a book and a movie. Or when there’s an original and a reboot. Or when it’s a comic book series that has been running since the 1930s. Or when it’s a fictional story based on real life events.
What you value is up to you. What you enjoy is up to you. But it’s also important to remember that what other people value and enjoy is up to them. You don’t have to spend time and energy trying to make people agree with you. You really don’t. You can just realize that some people love canon best. Some people love fanon best. Some people love their headcanons best. And most people enjoy different aspects of each and pick and choose as they go.
