Saturday morning meme?

[lizbee]

Give me a character and I'll tell you a piece of my personal headcanon.

(Digression: I really hate the term "headcanon".  For years and years it was called "fanon", and that was fine and clever, and then some whippersnapper on Tumblr reinvented the wheel and came up with "headcanon", which, on account of containing "canon" seems to imply a higher level of entitlement than "fanon".  And no matter how much I complain, these damn kids won't get off my lawn!)

(New trends from Tumblr that I also hate:  "X pairing is endgame!"  Not least because it seems to be applied a lot to pairings that have no chance whatsoever of becoming "endgame", ie, Zutara.  And that's coming from someone who quite likes the idea of Katara and Zuko being a thing in old age, and Tenzin's head turning ALL THE COLOURS when he finds out.  But calling it "endgame" implies that they spent the intervening decades waiting for their spouses to drop dead so they could hook up at last.)

(Also not "endgame":  Tenzin/Lin.  When a couple broke up over a decade ago ... and one half is now happily married with an army of children ... and they're only just now back on speaking terms ... that's not a pairing with much future, sorry to say.  Chances that Bryke are gonna canonically break up Tenzin and Pema so Tenzin can get back together with his ex: PRETTY SLIM.)

(I guess that means Pema/Tenzin is endgame?  But now I want to conduct some kind of penance for saying that, so.  Suffice to say, the Tenzin-related tags on Tumblr are ANNOYING and still there is no shirtless Tenzin art because fandom HATES ME PERSONALLY.)

ANYWAY, a bit of a meme to fill out a Saturday that's already looking a bit full!  Here's what else I have planned:

- write minimum 1500 words of novel
- scout journals accessible via public library for research for novel (OH GOD)
- chapter 3 of the Malory Towers reading at the pro blog
- bring in laundry
- tidy room, since I moved furniture on Wednesday and now the Lizcave is CHAOS and this could actually take all day
- (bonus) type up handwritten pages of Detective AU

Comments

[recessional]

See, I see "fanon" as something that's managed to establish itself across more than one mind, whereas "headcanon" may be unique. I ascribe to very little fanon (I'm way too fond of "but where is it IN THE TEXT?" if I didn't come up with it myself), but I have a lot of headcanon.

[lizbee]

That distinction makes a lot of sense! But I remember people talking about "fanon" versus "personal fanon", and in this case, "headcanon" versus "personal headcanon", so I don't think it's universal.

[recessional]

Huh. I have never seen "headcanon" used in a way that is synonymous with "fanon", although I have seen "personal fanon" used that way. (I mean as syn. with "headcanon" or "personal headcanon").

[wolfy_writing]

That's how I always interpreted it. I always heard "personal fanon" and "headcanon" as basically synonymous, and "fanon" without any qualifiers as "stuff that's believed by a significant number of people in fandom. (I always had a pick-and-choose attitude towards the popular-with-much-of-fandom fanon, where I was happy to borrow and share it for speculation and fic purposes, but extremely bothered if people tried to enforce it, or treat it like it was obligatory in any way.)

But I'm not on Tumblr, so it's possible there's a different pattern of usage there.

[fahrbotdrusilla]

yeah, that's how I took it too.

[shehasathree]

This is also the way I understood it. But I don't use tumblr that much, so maybe people there use fanon and headcanon interachangeably more often?

[alexseanchai]

This.

[attackfish]

This. Fanon is really popular headcanon. Headcanon is what I have sat down and decided I think about a certain situation/character, fanon is what I see a lot of other people seeing in a situation/character.

[amaresu]

The is the difference I've always used. Headcanon=personal, fanon=general fandom acceptance.

[innerbrat]

I disagree with your terminology! I think 'headcanon' is personal, for my head, and 'fanon' is canon according to fandom consensus. So "Bolin apologized to Asami on behalf of his brother during the birth scene" is my headcanon, but "Korra has a glorious back tattoo" is fanon.


Um.
Character.



Lee Soo Hyun.

[lizbee]

He really doesn't understand how no one figured out he was running the resistance. Did people seriously think he could afford those suits on a policeman's wage?

[aberration]

I thought of 'endgame' as being a term for what someone anticipates will be the ultimately disposition of the characters' relationships in canon, if that's at all unclear. Like, I thought Mako/Korra was endgame, not because I like it, but it's just how I figured the show would turn out. I wouldn't really apply the term to Pema/Tenzin just because they were established from the beginning in the show's timeline, and their relationship has never been cast into doubt in any real way - I just see it as more about the fact that canons often engage in narratives where there's uncertainty about how various relationships will turn out, but one or two usually "win" out in the end. But I guess what I'm saying is, I tied it to the nature of the canon, rather than the nature of the relationship.

In any case, I'll choose Lin!

[lizbee]

I have to admit, I don't get the same hackle-raise when people say "Makorra is endgame", because that does seem pretty likely given how Bryke are not the most subtle of men when it comes to shipping. (I say with love! I'm going to put myself in the minority and say I like their romantic stuff!)

Okay, some pieces of personal fanon for Lin:

- She's not remotely celibate, but her career was always a much higher priority for her than finding even a short-term partner. The advantage of hooking up with someone you grew up with is that it's really handy for lazy people.
- When she was young, the fledgling society papers tried to cast her in the role of glamorous heiress, much as they did with Asami Sato. It ... didn't take. And her mother made her read out ALL the columns.
- She worked her ass off when she joined the police, and took a lot of training assignments in Be Sing Se and Omashu, where her mother's influence was less tangible. But still, in the end, she was promoted to chief because the Republic City Council wanted to recapture the glory days of Toph at her peak.

[terajk]

- When she was young, the fledgling society papers tried to cast her in the role of glamorous heiress, much as they did with Asami Sato. It ... didn't take. And her mother made her read out ALL the columns.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[lizbee]

Even if it's a situation where Azula isn't Lin's other mother, and I'm still pretty convinced that she is, Lin's upbringing is basically an endless cycle of minor social humiliations.

[attackfish]

Her mother thought the collumns were the funniest thing ever. They kind of embarrassed teenage Lin and made her roll her eyes.

[terajk]

Mai!

ETA: My understanding of "headcanon" is the same/pretty close to recessional's; I always use it like "a thing I personally think which may or may not have any evidence in the text. Usually the latter."

Like, I would use "headcanon" for "the precise nature of local-Azula's mental illness(es), which I mostly have to make up. Crap."

[lizbee]

- She never hated her brother, but after he was born it became clear just how unimportant she was to her parents without the possibility of a royal marriage.
- As Zuko's wife, she has the power to take control of her brother's upbringing and education. Her brother is twelve before he asks permission to live in the palace.
- She's quite certain that growing up as Azula's lady-in-waiting has left her morally warped. Nevertheless, the offer to kill her father-in-law still stands.

[terajk]

...And now I want All the Fic of Mai and adolescent!Tom-Tom doing things. Whether these things are "having tea" or "trolling his sister and her husband's friends" or "teaching him to be a ninja" or whatever do not matter.

[lizbee]

He just really loves Momo. Still.

And their parents are really, really horrified when he takes his court upbringing, and all his powerful friends, and throws it all away to study winged lemurs and create lemur sanctuaries. (Even Mai is a but nonplussed by this, because ... animals. Gross.)

Even though the Avatar thinks this is the greatest thing that has ever happened, and hails him as a hero of lemurkind, they just ... can't deal with it.

[terajk]

This is totally how the lemurs got repopulated.

And Teo and Sokka try to encourage him, or at least talk to him because they're scientists, but they...don't really get the whole lemur thing.

[lizbee]

And also, Teo and Sokka find the whole biology thing kind of ... icky. And full of squishy bits.

[rj_anderson]

Earth King Kuei! (Shut up, you knew I was going to pick him.)

And what everybody else said about fanon being "generally accepted fandom notion" as opposed to headcanon being "my personal pet theory which probably nobody else shares".

[lizbee]

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT KUEI IS YOUR AVATAR BOYFRIEND! How didn't I know that?

- When he was young, and ignorant of the war, Long Feng led him to think he might one day be betrothed to Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. (You can imagine Long Feng's :D/D: faces when Azula turned up on his doorstep one day.) On the whole, Kuei thinks he got off really, really lucky.
- His mother was only a very minor concubine, and Kuei shouldn't have been king at all, except his older brothers were all killed. He has yet to find proof they were murdered by the Dai Li in favour of a child they could manipulate, but he has his suspicions.
- He's supposed to get married and have children. It's what kings do. But the noblewomen of the Upper Ring seem quite dull and ignorant compared to the peasants and warriors he met while he was wandering the Earth Kingdom, and he wouldn't want them for concubines, let alone his wife. A Kyoshi Warrior would be a suitable compromise, but he finds he can no longer trust people whose faces are hidden by make-up. It's been centuries since an Earth King took a wife from outside the country, but the most suitable matches for his rank are either in a mental institution or serving as the Moon Spirit. His advisers despair: soon, they complain, we'll have to start considering peasants. Artisans. Commoners. Kuei smiles and agrees that it's a serious problem indeed, and waits while they come to terms with the idea that any woman in the world could be the mother of the next Earth King if Kuei chooses.

[rj_anderson]

I LOVE THIS. Especially Long Feng's faces, and I would triple-dog-dare you to write epic Azula/Kuei fic except that I know full well who you ship Azula with. (And also, my brain refuses to wrap around the idea at. all. I suspect it would really bring out the worst in both of them, and not in a sexy way.)

And you really didn't know that? I thought I'd been fairly annoying about it!

[lizbee]

I did write an arranged-marriage-via-mindbending Azula/Kuei fic!

I always figured that after it ended, Zuko found a way to break the mindbending, and then Azula, once she had finished setting things (furniture, buildings, Long Feng) on fire, went, "Hang on, this means my children are just a couple of murders away from inheriting the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom! And for a fraction of the cost of a century-long war!"

While Kuei hides behind Bosco and Zuko and Mai hire better bodyguards for their children.

[rj_anderson]

I read that! I'm pretty sure I commented on how much I loved it. I think that was also where I first mentioned my G.P. for Kuei. (Yes, I have a type and it is skinny and nerdy and has a weird sense of humour. Dark hair and/or glasses also help, apparently.)

I would enjoy Azula setting Long Feng on fire. I imagine Bosco would be clapping.

[lizbee]

You know, now I remember that comment! Clearly I need to start keeping records of people's crushes.

[unjapanologist]

Jee, please? *too tired to be original*

[lizbee]

TRICKY! I'd never given him a second thought before you started writing!

- Jee is entirely into men, and not attracted to women at all, which in many ways makes it easier to form and manage the boundaries in his relationship with Zuko and Mai, but occasionally he feels like there's a whole piece of Zuko's life from which he's excluded. Why this should be a problem, when a few years ago he was a prisoner of war in the North Pole and didn't dare dream of seeing home again, let alone having a royal lover and a job worth taking pride in, he doesn't know. But they're probably going to have to work it out one day. He hopes Mai will help him get Zuko drunk first.

[unjapanologist]

One day I'm going to write a fic about post-canon Jee/Zuko/Mai negotiating where they stand with each other and how to gracefully change those boundaries once someone starts feeling uncomfortable.

In a way, I'm really glad for the Jee you describe. It sounds like he's become so sure of his right to be in that amazing job and have that royal lover that he's willing to defend his place in Zuko's life, instead of just taking what he can get and being grateful for it.

[alexseanchai]

Katara?

[lizbee]

- After a couple of years concentrating on the post-war rebuilding with Aang, Katara and Gran-Gran returned to the Northern Water Tribe so that Katara could finish learning healing and Gran-Gran could reunite with her old friends. (And so that Pakku could give his successor a hard time, naturally.) So she and Aang were apart for some extended periods when she was in her late teens, and although they were still officially together, and not really interested in anyone else, in a sense they were on hiatus.
- At first she thought that Korra was nothing at all like Aang, and she was both relieved and disappointed. Then the little girl went out and tamed a polar bear puppy, and the resemblance became clear.

[alexseanchai]

:)

[luunyscarlet]

Azulon.

[attackfish]

Yue

[loopy777]

Sokka. Not just because he's my favorite character to write, but also because everyone seems to have a wildly different psychology for him while still writing him pretty much the same way.

Myself, I don't keep much head canon. I prefer to simply challenge fanon. If I keep a personal canon, there's too much danger of it infecting my writings, and I prefer to mix things up.

[trouble]

Does it need to be LoK? I still haven't watched that because I'm ... something.