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Manifesto on Canon
I. Canon is that which is not open to interpretation.
(aka, your pairing isn't canon unless there is a kiss, a commitment to date monogamously, or a positively-received I love you)
I know it's really tempting to claim something is canon. Hell, everyone does it. Sora/Kairi is canon! Axel/Roxas is canon! Leon/Cloud is canon! But all of those claims are wrong. In fact, the only canon relationships in Kingdom Hearts are Disney characters and Sora/Namine, in his head while he is brainwashed. (One assumes the Replica is also, but no way of proving it.)
There is a fine line between suggested canon and canon. Yes, Sora shows interest in Kairi. That's canon! But their romantic relationship is not. It doesn't matter if he likes her enough to stab himself in the chest for her (and assuming he wouldn't do this for any of his friends, which I consider questionable) -- that doesn't make them in a relationship. If just wanting to be in a relationship made you in one, Namine and Sora would be married.She wanted him to pick her so bad, you guys.
But relationships don't happen by default. Okay, Sora has a crush on Kairi, but he did not tell her that and ask her on a date and receive a happy affirmative of course Sora, I feel the same way! That makes their relationship not canon. His interest in her is canon, but there are any number of reasons why they might not get together. Maybe no one says anything. Maybe Sora realizes he's happier being just friends with all of them after all they've been through together. Maybe Selphie asks her out first or Sora discovers she doesn't wear deodorant or god forbid he grows out of it.
Much as I would love to say that Axel/Roxas is canon, it is not. Neither is your pairing, unless it's Mickey/Minnie, or one of several other Disney pairings.Even Jack/Sally isn't canon.
II. Canon was never intended to be used as a weapon.
(aka, who cares if it's canon?)
A lot of fans are under this bizarre misconception that non-canon pairings are disqualified from some interinternet shipping competition, and unless they can justify it by playing Six Degrees of Canon Separation, Riku/Sora won't win an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. The simple fact of the matter is that canon honestly doesn't give your pairing an advantage over other pairings. It doesn't validate your fanfic automatically, and it certainly doesn't make other people stop disliking your OTP. Yeah, sure, Squall/Rinoa is canon, but I still yawn at your improbable cardboardgame pairing and write Leon/Aerith instead.
This is especially a problem I've noticed from Roxas/Namine fans, who not only feel this sense of entitlement that their pairing is canon, but seem to feel that it's canon mostly because Sora/Kairi is canon. Putting aside that neither is actually canon, and the fact that this reasoning is so wrong on so many levels-- Why do you feel the need to keep saying it? Do you need the director's personal approval to like a pairing? Does it make you feel superior, or are you that threatened by other people's pairings?
If a pairing is canon, it's (hopefully) because there is some purpose to it in the story. Maybe it is the story, as in FFVIII, or maybe it gives a character what they need to do what is needed, as in FFX. It's not because it's somehow superior to other pairings. Locke/Celes is canon, but Square-Enix didn't make it canon because they think that Locke/Terra is stupid and anyone who pairs them must be proven wrong.
And for whether or not that makes them OTP forever-- See above about unexpected discoveries, or changing feelings, or growing up. Chances are, when you're 15, your relationships don't last forever. I'm not even still friends with anyone I knew when I was 15.
III. Canon is not the law of the land.
(aka, write it anyway, noob!)
Okay, so it's not canon, and no one would care if it were. Should you not ship them? Of course not. The canon police haven't come after me yet (well, except to say that Axel/Larxene is soooo canon and he's not into Roxas that way), and lord knows I ship Seifer/Namine, a pairing that no one ever writes with two of the least popular characters who never actually meet. (It's not that she isn't liked, it's just that no one writes about her.)
Your pairing doesn't have to be canon to be valid. There are lots of wonderful pairings that aren't canon. Marluxia/Larxene is amazing, and so is Xemnas/Marluxia. Kairi/Olette is fantastically shiny and sometimes I wish more people wrote Hayner/Roxas. (I think my opinions have changed on that count.) Write horrible Zexion/Riku slash; it didn't happen but it could have! Its not being canon doesn't mean you can't make it awesome if you have the inspiration and the will.
To be honest with you, even Nomura doesn't want canon pairings. He's said in interviews, after all, that he wants the player to be able to interpret things, to see their own relationships. He's been called "cold" by his staff for not allowing more shippy things to get into the game. (He cut short a Sora/Kairi moment in the ending sequence despite protests from the staff.) So there you have it: the director doesn't like canon pairings.
And? Honestly? He knows that the more fangirls he can entice with suggested, almost-canon slash involving unattached characters, the more his game will sell. The Japanese have known this for yeeears.
The man's too smart to make anything canon.
(aka, your pairing isn't canon unless there is a kiss, a commitment to date monogamously, or a positively-received I love you)
I know it's really tempting to claim something is canon. Hell, everyone does it. Sora/Kairi is canon! Axel/Roxas is canon! Leon/Cloud is canon! But all of those claims are wrong. In fact, the only canon relationships in Kingdom Hearts are Disney characters and Sora/Namine, in his head while he is brainwashed. (One assumes the Replica is also, but no way of proving it.)
There is a fine line between suggested canon and canon. Yes, Sora shows interest in Kairi. That's canon! But their romantic relationship is not. It doesn't matter if he likes her enough to stab himself in the chest for her (and assuming he wouldn't do this for any of his friends, which I consider questionable) -- that doesn't make them in a relationship. If just wanting to be in a relationship made you in one, Namine and Sora would be married.
But relationships don't happen by default. Okay, Sora has a crush on Kairi, but he did not tell her that and ask her on a date and receive a happy affirmative of course Sora, I feel the same way! That makes their relationship not canon. His interest in her is canon, but there are any number of reasons why they might not get together. Maybe no one says anything. Maybe Sora realizes he's happier being just friends with all of them after all they've been through together. Maybe Selphie asks her out first or Sora discovers she doesn't wear deodorant or god forbid he grows out of it.
Much as I would love to say that Axel/Roxas is canon, it is not. Neither is your pairing, unless it's Mickey/Minnie, or one of several other Disney pairings.
II. Canon was never intended to be used as a weapon.
(aka, who cares if it's canon?)
A lot of fans are under this bizarre misconception that non-canon pairings are disqualified from some interinternet shipping competition, and unless they can justify it by playing Six Degrees of Canon Separation, Riku/Sora won't win an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. The simple fact of the matter is that canon honestly doesn't give your pairing an advantage over other pairings. It doesn't validate your fanfic automatically, and it certainly doesn't make other people stop disliking your OTP. Yeah, sure, Squall/Rinoa is canon, but I still yawn at your improbable cardboard
This is especially a problem I've noticed from Roxas/Namine fans, who not only feel this sense of entitlement that their pairing is canon, but seem to feel that it's canon mostly because Sora/Kairi is canon. Putting aside that neither is actually canon, and the fact that this reasoning is so wrong on so many levels-- Why do you feel the need to keep saying it? Do you need the director's personal approval to like a pairing? Does it make you feel superior, or are you that threatened by other people's pairings?
If a pairing is canon, it's (hopefully) because there is some purpose to it in the story. Maybe it is the story, as in FFVIII, or maybe it gives a character what they need to do what is needed, as in FFX. It's not because it's somehow superior to other pairings. Locke/Celes is canon, but Square-Enix didn't make it canon because they think that Locke/Terra is stupid and anyone who pairs them must be proven wrong.
And for whether or not that makes them OTP forever-- See above about unexpected discoveries, or changing feelings, or growing up. Chances are, when you're 15, your relationships don't last forever. I'm not even still friends with anyone I knew when I was 15.
III. Canon is not the law of the land.
(aka, write it anyway, noob!)
Okay, so it's not canon, and no one would care if it were. Should you not ship them? Of course not. The canon police haven't come after me yet (well, except to say that Axel/Larxene is soooo canon and he's not into Roxas that way), and lord knows I ship Seifer/Namine, a pairing that no one ever writes with two of the least popular characters who never actually meet. (It's not that she isn't liked, it's just that no one writes about her.)
Your pairing doesn't have to be canon to be valid. There are lots of wonderful pairings that aren't canon. Marluxia/Larxene is amazing, and so is Xemnas/Marluxia. Kairi/Olette is fantastically shiny and sometimes I wish more people wrote Hayner/Roxas. (I think my opinions have changed on that count.) Write horrible Zexion/Riku slash; it didn't happen but it could have! Its not being canon doesn't mean you can't make it awesome if you have the inspiration and the will.
To be honest with you, even Nomura doesn't want canon pairings. He's said in interviews, after all, that he wants the player to be able to interpret things, to see their own relationships. He's been called "cold" by his staff for not allowing more shippy things to get into the game. (He cut short a Sora/Kairi moment in the ending sequence despite protests from the staff.) So there you have it: the director doesn't like canon pairings.
And? Honestly? He knows that the more fangirls he can entice with suggested, almost-canon slash involving unattached characters, the more his game will sell. The Japanese have known this for yeeears.
The man's too smart to make anything canon.
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and SO true about the last bit, that suggested hints of relationship sell more than actual relationships - CLAMP is a master at this as well. Gives you little teeny bits of it, but rarely the actual thing. Sure, it may drive you crazy, but it keeps dragging you along because they know that you just want more.
Good for Nomura for not finalizing anything, I say~
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Telling me your pairing/fic/whatever is canon isn't going to make me like the pairing or read the fic if I wasn't going to! Just-- let it be whatever it is! Who cares. Blah. XD
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And yeah - whether or not a pairing is canon really shouldn't matter in your opinion of the pairing, or in anything. If it's "valid" or not or whatever...like you said: who cares? XD Like what you like and be done with it.
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I love this icon so much and I never get to use it.I totally agree! I just don't understand why people obsess over it and feel this compulsion to "prove" their pairing somehow. If Nomura said, "Actually, Roxas/Namine isn't canon," would you stop liking the pairing? If the answer is yes, I feel sorry for you. :\ If the answer is no, welcome to the fun side of the fandom where we don't care about what's officially stated canon or not; leave your assertions of "zomg canon!" at the door.
Unless it's tongue-in-cheek. Cid/Sora zomg canon!no subject
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Disturbingly enough, ayame the snake found a clip where the author of the English version of Digimon said he wrote one kid and his Digimon's lines with the idea that they were a couple. AND YET HE FEELS CRAPPY JOKES AND FUCKING WITH CANON ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN JUST GETTING THE LINES RIGHT.
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Pfft. In that case, Jesus/Judas is canon. The subtext is totally there.
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But yes, WELL SAID, GAL. In response to this, I need to scan this Seifer/Hayner doujinshi I have. >__>
He's said in interviews, after all, that he wants the player to be able to interpret things, to see their own relationships. He's been called "cold" by his staff for not allowing more shippy things to get into the game.
Dude, you've made the best interpretation of a Nomura interview EVER. GameFAQs have way too many idiots that keep misquoting Nomura that I was starting to wonder if it's just them or did I do that Ultimania translation terribly or what. =_=;
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I mean, it's their job! Their goddamn job! This is why the Digimon dub fails at life. Don't even get me started on character names. I mean, how is "Yolei" more accessible than "Miyako"? HOW?!
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Although ironically, Jesus/Judas is way more canon than most of the things people scream subtext about. XD
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OMFG KAY YOU WIN.
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I totally agree though -- canon pairings are seriously often very nice and all, but it's also fascinating to take characters whose relationship doesn't get much/any screentime and say to yourself, "How would these two react together? Would they be friendly or antagonistic? Would they have hot sex?"
Seifer/Namine is my case in point: they're in the same place for a while, but her being a "ghost" they never interact. But Namine is a depressed "witch" convinced that she has no heart and no one can ever care about her, and Seifer is a stubborn bastard with a canonical tendency to obsess over witches. Ta-da! They're a shiny pairing. I don't need them to be canon to use my brain and just have fun with it. XD
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Hee. ♥ Glad to inspire you. And seriously, I don't know what is up with Gamefaqs, it doesn't surprise me at all that they can't follow a rational train of thought. Some of those people are crazy. XD I think I read your translation too and I'm pretty sure it was really clear to me.
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Also, you're so right, I love experimenting with non-canon pairings. I mean, I love my shiny canon things, but the non-canon pairings are more fun in a way because they're your things, which you came up with, without the canon telling you that they're there.
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Hehe, Seifer/Namine sounds like a good time. I like the challenge of that kind of thing. :) I also think that under the right conditions anyone could get with anyone (for the most part). So, I like finding that set of conditions. *halo*
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In other words, A+++ definitely agree.
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I am so tired of canon arguments and ship wars. I don't care! What really drives me crazy is when people who usually ship non-canon pairings call their pairings canon. "Oh I don't care about Squall/Rinoa, Seifer/Squall is so canon." First of all, what? Let’s forget that statement can’t possibly make sense. Why are you so hung up on canon when you obviously disregard it with the first two? Second of all, I don't care! Yeah, sure, I do think that Seifer/Squall makes way more sense than Squall/Rinoa but that doesn't I'll stop shipping Seifer/Zell. I’ll ship whoever I want with whoever I want. I have very few OTPs and I even break those sometimes.
For a long time I was bewildered as to why people got so stuck on OTPs and canon pairings. I mean, they're fictional characters. Why is it so important that Sora/Kairi stay together forever? Then I realized that people project their feelings on to these characters. Kinda like mary suing but without the OC. It makes sense to me because it also explains why people have to write certain characters OOC.
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