Are You Affected By Fanon?

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

Not at all.  I usually separate fanon and canon, because if those get mixed I'll just get confused.  I read MLD and that didn't change Dashie, I saw a cupcakes video, and that didn't change my opinion on Pinkie.  

[Plentyy 26]

Well, not really that much. I love reading fanfics, the most it can do is give me more ideas about the ponys relationships and so on, but all together, they're two seperate things for me, because for example if i read a fanfic where there is a dramatic change to the general relationships between the man 6, or one of them maybe gaining a higher rank (being a princess) then its kinda sad when you swithc back to the actual show and realize it was all just a fanfic, kind of similar to when you have a dream and something wonderful happens, then you wake up and realize it never actually happened and then cry a river.

 

, In my opinion.

[Kaidan 16]

Background Pony definitely warmed me up to Lyra as an example.  As for fanon/canon, I can say that since I have read about 15-20 million words of fanfiction, and there are only about 24 hours of actual MLP footage, I have to believe that my views on the ponies are at least somewhat swayed by fanfiction. 

 

I agree, at first all I knew was "Lyra likes humans" but eventually stories like Background Pony, Vinyl & Octavia and others filled in a whole world of background characters for me. I like to combine canon and any fanon that doesn't contradict the canon. So when I see Lyra on the show I think of humans, when I see Trixie I imagine she was off doing the things she was in the fanon. Scootalove when from fanon to canon, and so forth.

 

Now there are great stories like Rainbow Factory and The Secret Life of Rarity that don't fit canon. I enjoy them but that fanon doesn't affect how I view the show. I don't see Rarity and think 'serial killer!' If I ever see Flim and Flam again though I might wish Rarity was

[LostWalker 4]

Honestly I'm not, fan related material is self explanitore. It's by fans for fans IT really has nothing to do with the show. Its someone elses view of a character that already existes in my mind. even if that view differes from mine it doesn't change how I feel.

[truth is life 76]

For much the same reason as silvadel, I can't really say it doesn't affect my perceptions of the characters and their interactions. I read far too much fanfiction compared to the actual show to realistically think it doesn't have some effect. However, I don't think fanon (even my fanon) has any conscious effect on those perceptions, it is more unconscious at most. In general, the interaction between canon and fanon in my mind just consists of going, "Oh, there's that scene everyone mentions" when I eventually watch an episode, eg. the milkshake scene in the Babs Seed song (the CMC gathering in episode 1, Lyra sitting funny, etc.)

[RoseLaflesh 38]

I enjoy the fannon and I think fannon affects my view of the whole fannon universe, but it doesn't affect my view of the show.

 

Other than the search for Doctor Whooves in the background, I can pretty much separate the fannon from the main cannon. I see them as happening in many different universes, with only vague interactions with each other. 

 

 

I spend most of my time in the tumblr based fan MLP universes. My favorite one right now is Discorded Doctor Whooves. It's the perfect combination of two of my fandoms mixed with an anti-hero, I can't get enough of it.

Edited January 22, 2013 by RoseLaflesh

[Phoenix237 353]

Well for me I separate fanon and official material in the show.

 

Personally I don't read a lot of fan-fics, but I will ever do often or so.

 

Someone's in the show I do recognize some characters that have become popular or semi-popular through the fandom. I only include fanon when I want to make some halarious comments as I watch the show.

[Admiral Colt 61]

The only fanon thing that I imagine is the wild adventures that my OC has off screen that don't affect the show at all. Well that and the fact that my OC and Rainbow will EVENTUALLY get together... Give it time, it'll happen. Maybe.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

Good question. Before this year, I was affected very little by fanon. I thought it was all well and good, but I focused mostly on the show.

 

But with me liking you-know-who and exploring more of the fanfiction about her, and helping to interview so many brony musicians and writers over the past months...many doors have been opened for me. I now think about fanon a lot more, and I think more highly of it too.

 

That said, I still refuse to read grimdark and gore. xD

Edited January 22, 2013 by TailsIsNotAlone

[Fridge 382]

I'd say no I'm not. Then again I don't read a lot of fanfic, I tend to be looking at fan art but even then I can separate fanon from canon.

 

Although that being said I don't think I can play fallout with a straight face ever again after listening to Fallout Equestria.

[Bardock 139]

Not really. I separate what I see in the show as opposed to what I see outside of it. For example my favorite ship is FlutterDash and I have an entire folder dedicated to FlutterDash images but that doesn't mean every time they touch each other or talk in the show I'm going to go "OMG LOOKS LIKE FLUTTERDASH IS CANON HURR".

You.

 

I like you. I also have an entire folder dedicated to Flutterdash, which is my favorite ship as well. And I don't go around declaring it's canon, either. Although I wouldn't mind if it did become canon. 

[Fhaolan 4,484]

Sorta, maybe, not really?

 

I mean there are bits and pieces of specific fanworks that I have deliberately adopted into my headcannon for when I do my own fictions and whatnot, because I like the ideas behind them. I do often I start looking at the show harder out of curiousity, trying to find the bits and pieces that sparked the fannon. And in many cases I find the fannon versions of the background characters amusing and wish that the show had the time and resources to delve that deep in characterization as well.

 

But they don't change my opinion on the show itself.

[Throwaway19573639385 764]

Up until now only one fanfic has affected me in a big way. And that fanfic goes by the name of "Simply Rarity". It changed the way I look at Rarity and Sweetie Belle completely. Besides that one I have never really been affected by any kind of fanon. I see stories, characters and art as a separate thing, a little "extra" to the great show that already is, a bit of "What if..?" and random nonesense to enhance my enjoyment of the show. Fanon is great, but I hardly let it affect my view of the show.

[Discordian 6,015]

For a while I was afraid of Pinkie Pie after reading Cupcakes. That changed back to normal after seeing Pinkie with her awesomely happy self in the show though.

 

I do have a tendency to want some parts of the fanon to make it into the show, even if it never does, simply because of how awesome they can be.

 

I'm also a part of the Sonic fanbase and they have amazing fanworks that I really wish were canon like the webcomics Double-U Tee Eff and Ghosts of the Future.

 

I'm sure if someone makes a MLP webcomic (if they already have someone PLEASE link me. I'm a webcomic addict and it would make MLP that much more awesome in my eyes!!!!) I would fall even more into the "fanon should be part of canon" way of thinking.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Discordian

[ZomBrony 347]

Ooh! What an opportunity for me to post here because I have a story about this.

I don't know if I bitched much about it on the forums but I used to have very strong feelings against certain fanon content because I was worried about exactly what you said. I'm not sure if I've ever actually let it change my views of canon but I was worried about it changing canon in come way and a good friend of mine helped me realize that that isn't true. Or at least doesn't have to be.

Actually I think there is one thing that affected my view of canon. After reading Cheerilee's Garden I started to like Cheerilee less and Twilight more.

 

Edit: Just thought of this when one of my favourite songs came on. As I'm typing this I already realize this would be hard or impossible for the animators since it needs to be age-appropriate but I'd like to see canon ships taken a bit further.

Edited January 26, 2013 by ZomBrony

[Freewave 1,145]

I definitely notice fanon and it does create an impression, especially on background ponies and with popular shippings for example. That's not to say that i don't generally move that to the back of my mind when i watch the show.

[AnonyPoni 564]

A lot bit. I dont hate Blue Blood because of Slice of Life. I put Lyra and Bon Bon's cottages next to each other in the MLP game, among  other things that I cant think of right now...

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Fanon has affected my perceptions yes. But only if they work with what's established. Pulling off an extremely convincing crossover wouldn't necessarily work unless both source materials jive well enough for me to believe it could happen when "the cameras aren't running."

 

An example would be Pen Stroke's Creeping Darkness which crosses over with Alan Wake. This actually works a lot better than it would seem because the story takes place after the end of the first game where-

 

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

 

-Alan is trapped in the Dark Place, which while it is presented in a reality that we could conceptually understand. (Cars, telephone poles, electric lights etc.) These are just what Alan decided to use as decoration to keep himself sane. The Dark Place is explicitly described as being outside of our own dimension, that there are others beyond our own.

 

Spoiler end.

 

Equestria is already magical to the point of being visible. Magic is as present of force in their reality as gravity is to us. So this crossover . . . while stretching it COULD happen in my head.

 

The exception to that rule are fusion crossovers. Especially of video games. For some reason, those stories, and those who create them seem to harmonize both sources better.

 

The EPITOME of this is Fallout: Equestria. I sort of discovered how strongly that effected me while reading Project: Horizons. While still not that for into it, I was laughing along with the black comedy of the situation of how Silver Spoon came out beyond the Great War. That's when it hit me.

 

"Holy shit, THIS is the future!" ​I said to myself. Despite being based on an outside source, there's very little in the original or PH that outright conflicts with what's been established in canon. (Sometimes even twisting the canon to something truly terrifying!) So unless they do a "years in the future" episode, that remains the eventual outcome in my head.

 

Depressing? Yes and no. While the heroes we adore and the world we love go to Hell in a hand basket; Littlepip does end up succeeding in saving Equestria. Not only restoring it, but possibly making it BETTER than it was before! (Oddly mirroring the Fallout universe proper, where the world has arguably improved post-apocalypse.)

 

The fanon story that has had the biggest impact on my view of the show in terms of the world is Jetfire's It's a Dangerous Business Going out your Door. Despite the grittier (but not "edgier") and epic scope of the story, everything fits perfectly into what's been established about the world.

 

-Ungulates substitute for humanoids.

-Horned creatures can cast spells.

-Dragons are powerful and sentient.

-Equestria, far from being the "perfect isolated kingdom" is acknowledged globally for it's importance. Cloudsdale's weather factories evidently making the weather for the whole planet without their knowing. And Princess Celestia globally recognized as the one who brings night and day.

 

Hats off to Jetfire, he didn't miss a beat with that one!

 

Apart from stories, background pony fanon has also become a part of my head-canon. That brown pony IS the Doctor as far as I'm concerned. Lyra does believe in humans. Vinyl and Octavia know each other. So on and so forth.

 

So as I said, as long as it doesn't fly in the face of what's been established, my usual response is to simply shrug and say "Sure. Why the Hell not?!"

[Silverstream 51]

i like some of the fan art i see

and with MLP you can also

sort of make your own oc

and put it into the world

and just have fun with others in

writing and role play.

 

also there are some side cannons

that have gotten their own fans

which now have a openning for

em to get some love.

 

I even have three of my own pony ocs

i plan to do some writing on a touch.