Snowflake: Canon Love

[author_by_night]

Whether it is to fix-it, honor it, or expand upon it, canon is why we are all here. So, let's celebrate canon today and talk about our favorites. Nostalgic, new, problematic, or forever canons are all welcome to be loved, dissected, and discussed. Have a favorite scene? A much-loved character? A much-maligned character? Just love the whole thing epically? Talk about it all or as little as you want!

This is going to be multifandom. Alphabetical order. I'm going to give some brief, slightly random thoughts. Feel free to bounce off of them. Spoilers for Buffy, Harry Potter, Schitt's Creek. I also talk about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but no real spoilers.



Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I've realized, in listening to podcasts, how shafted Anya was. I wish she'd been the one to leave Xander at the altar. I like Xander more than most fans, but while I do think he loves Anya, I don't think he respects her as much as he should, and frankly, I know a few people in that situation IRL. It's horrible to see and Anya deserved better.

Also, unpopular opinion, but I liked Dawn. There. I said it.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Such an underrated show, and I think there's far too little in-depth dialogue about it. I really should do my own analysis. In short, I think that the feminist themes are incredibly important, as are the themes of understanding mental health issues. It's good stuff.

Firefly

A very quick thought: I love how in charge of her sexuality Inara is. Especially for a show in the early 00's. I know some people think the "space whore" thing is demeaning, but when I rewatched Firefly last spring, that's not what I took away from it.

Harry Potter

With some things happening in my country (the US), I look at the books a bit differently now. I always felt JK Rowling drew from her experience working for Amnesty International, which is why she didn't take a more nuanced approach, which is what I think much of fandom would have preferred. (Then again, I remember people talking about Buffy as an example of nuance, and I don't know, the morality on that show tends to be similarly "this is good and this is bad," IMHO. With the exception of Spike, but Harry Potter has Snape, who I see as a similar character.)

Anyway, back to what I read differently. One example is Marietta Edgecombe. I feel a lot less sympathy for her these days. I never quite felt sorry for her, but now I really see the severity of what she did. I'm still not comfortable with a teenage girl being permanently scarred, but... imagine if in the US, someone reported a classmate to ICE. I wouldn't want them permanently scarred, but you can bet I would fully support never speaking to that classmate again, nor anyone who defended their actions.

ETA: In case it needs to be said, I in no way condone JK Rowling's transphobia, nor some of the problems with the canon text. Unfortunately she turned out to be a terrible person. However, parts of her books have always resonated with me, and this one is more recent. Unfortunately.

Schitt's Creek

I was hesitant to get into Schitt's Creek, but I'm glad I did. I love that Schitt's Creek is pure comedy, while also very intelligent. Don't get me wrong, I love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and The Good Place, but it's nice to have a show that just shows how the world could be, as opposed to how the world really is in a sometimes comedic way, sometimes a very serious and scary way. I just wish it weren't over right when we really need it.

Also, I still have no idea what country it's supposed to be in. I've finally settled for the headcanon that either Johnny or Moira is from the US, the other is from Canada, so they lived in New York but Schitt's Creek is a few hours outside Toronto. Though why Alexis wouldn't just move to Toronto... I don't know. Perhaps it's easier not to think about it too much.

Comments

[sperrywink]

I liked Dawn too. And I never thought about it, but Anya could certainly have done better. I kinda remember liking the stories where she dated Giles instead.

Ooohh, good parallels between Marietta and ICE. Never thought about that as well.

I really enjoyed your thoughts.

[lunabee34]

I also like Xander a lot more than many fans, and I like Dawn, too!

[tjs_whatnot]

I haven't finished watching Buffy or Schitt's Creek, but I like Zander and am surprised to hear many didn't? Weird. And yes, on Firefly and Inara owning her sexuality. I think Space Whore is probably demeaning, but I think Whedon does a really good job of turning things on their head and making us look at them differently, and this is one of those things. ♥

And interesting to think that it's never established where exactly Schitt's Creek is. Makes me think even more so that it's Canada. ♥ ♥

[jedi_of_urth]

There should be more love for CXG, also I could stand to listen to some of the songs again, so many of them were really good.

I never quite felt sorry for her, but now I really see the severity of what she did. I'm still not comfortable with a teenage girl being permanently scarred, but... imagine if in the US, someone reported a classmate to ICE

I haven't read the books in a while, but I can't remember if she got hit with truth serum when she dobbed them in. Or at the very least wasn't able to lie to a teacher/authority figure who was questioning her direction. If she sought Umbridge out, then yeah that deserves blame, but I think there is still room for understanding. That said, I never had a problem with Hermione's ploy in story since it seems like something a teenager would think was fitting without weighing the nuances.

[mierke]

Also, unpopular opinion, but I liked Dawn. There. I said it.
Hi! Me too!

A very quick thought: I love how in charge of her sexuality Inara is.
YES YES YES. I never saw the whole demeaning part, really. I mean, sure, Mal looks down on her, but it's also very obvious that that's an issue on his part, probably at least as much to do with the fact that he likes her as it has with jer job.

I really should watch Schitt's Creek some day.

[rhoda_rants]

Yes, to Marietta Edgecomb deserving what she got, but also I'm a lot less sympathetic to Cho Chang now than I was then. Her friend CLEARLY did not want to be there from the get-go. She endangered everyone by dragging her along.

Obviously this doesn't apply to the movie version, where it's heavily implied Umbridge only got information out of Cho by using Veritaserum. In fact, there are a lot of places where the movie and book canons diverge in really interesting ways.

And I liked Dawn too. :) I've talked a lot more people who like her than don't, honestly. I wonder if that opinion has gone by the wayside now?

[spikedluv]

Yay for more squeeing about Schitt's Creek! I love reading it. *g*

[why_me_why_not]

Agree about Inara! Mal tries to put down her profession, but she handles his nonsense and herself in a great manner, and it's very sex-postive and sexworker-positive! (also, how open she and Kaylee are when it comes to discussing sex)