Oh! Ooooh! I like this! He's so right! I think I'm going to repost this! Yeah, I don't hang up on canon questions either, unless it's either in my own work or someone specifically /asks/ for my opinion (and it's just that, an opinion). I also like "dellessa"'s comment about it all being a multi-verse /anyway/, and about Fanon=AU.
I think one thing I would add, in regard to fanfiction, is that depending on the author's intentions, there /is/ a measure of "canon", in a sense. It's definitely true that a fanfiction author can write whatever he or she wants and not necessarily be wrong. If he or she writes in a stated continuity (movie-verse, for example - meaning, they've /said/ "my fic takes place in the BV continuity"), puts her writing out there where others can read, and wants to be taken seriously by fellow fans, I do think there are some things she might want to keep in mind (though she certainly doesn't /have/ to).
For example, I write exclusively (at least for now) in the G1 cartoon continuity. Meaning I choose to base my stories, locations, and characterizations around those found in the cartoon (Megatron's a gun not a T-Rex, Bumblebee's perfectly capable of normal speech, Prowl's a former law enforcer rather than a ninja, etc - the other things aren't /wrong/, just "wrong" for the chosen continuity). Within that, there are some things that tend to be expected by fans in general: the Autobots live in the Ark which is buried in a mountainside (be that in Oregon or SoCal or wherever, since while the comics established that, the cartoon never did). Starscream tends to be screechy. Wheeljack is a straight-up engineer and inventor (LOL he'd probably /hurt/ himself if he tried to pick up a pair of swords...though I realize that'd be more "fanon" than "canon" since there's nothing in the cartoon to support that one way or the other). Point is, if an author states a particular continuity for her fic, readers are going to tend to expect to see certain things. The author certainly doesn't have to deliver on all, or any, of those within the space of the reality she's creating in her fic (like Dellessa said, ultimately all fanon is inherently AU), but generally when a reader comes to a writer's work, unless the work is specifically marked AU, the reader is expecting to get more of the same as what they're used to.
Of course, the only one it /really/ matters to is the writer, what /they're/ wanting to express. Readers can read or skip as they choose. Ultimately, they don't really have a say in whether something is "canon" or not for someone else's work. I try to VERY MUCH be a stickler in the details of my own works, or have /very/ good reasons for how/why I seem to deviate anywhere, but that's my choice. I tend to look for works by authors who do the same, but if someone doesn't, I can choose to not read but I have no place to say "ur doin it rong".
Gah, I've rambled. Ultimately, again, Dellessa's right - "I don't think people should sweat the details. Seriously. It's for fun. =3" I sweat the details for my /own/ works, because that's how I am. I don't for others, though. 9 times out of 10, I'll enjoy something even if it doesn't line up with my own view - it wasn't meant to - and if something just is too different for me somehow, I simply don't read it, but I'm certainly not going to say the author can't write it. =3
no subject
I think one thing I would add, in regard to fanfiction, is that depending on the author's intentions, there /is/ a measure of "canon", in a sense. It's definitely true that a fanfiction author can write whatever he or she wants and not necessarily be wrong. If he or she writes in a stated continuity (movie-verse, for example - meaning, they've /said/ "my fic takes place in the BV continuity"), puts her writing out there where others can read, and wants to be taken seriously by fellow fans, I do think there are some things she might want to keep in mind (though she certainly doesn't /have/ to).
For example, I write exclusively (at least for now) in the G1 cartoon continuity. Meaning I choose to base my stories, locations, and characterizations around those found in the cartoon (Megatron's a gun not a T-Rex, Bumblebee's perfectly capable of normal speech, Prowl's a former law enforcer rather than a ninja, etc - the other things aren't /wrong/, just "wrong" for the chosen continuity). Within that, there are some things that tend to be expected by fans in general: the Autobots live in the Ark which is buried in a mountainside (be that in Oregon or SoCal or wherever, since while the comics established that, the cartoon never did). Starscream tends to be screechy. Wheeljack is a straight-up engineer and inventor (LOL he'd probably /hurt/ himself if he tried to pick up a pair of swords...though I realize that'd be more "fanon" than "canon" since there's nothing in the cartoon to support that one way or the other). Point is, if an author states a particular continuity for her fic, readers are going to tend to expect to see certain things. The author certainly doesn't have to deliver on all, or any, of those within the space of the reality she's creating in her fic (like Dellessa said, ultimately all fanon is inherently AU), but generally when a reader comes to a writer's work, unless the work is specifically marked AU, the reader is expecting to get more of the same as what they're used to.
Of course, the only one it /really/ matters to is the writer, what /they're/ wanting to express. Readers can read or skip as they choose. Ultimately, they don't really have a say in whether something is "canon" or not for someone else's work. I try to VERY MUCH be a stickler in the details of my own works, or have /very/ good reasons for how/why I seem to deviate anywhere, but that's my choice. I tend to look for works by authors who do the same, but if someone doesn't, I can choose to not read but I have no place to say "ur doin it rong".
Gah, I've rambled. Ultimately, again, Dellessa's right - "I don't think people should sweat the details. Seriously. It's for fun. =3" I sweat the details for my /own/ works, because that's how I am. I don't for others, though. 9 times out of 10, I'll enjoy something even if it doesn't line up with my own view - it wasn't meant to - and if something just is too different for me somehow, I simply don't read it, but I'm certainly not going to say the author can't write it. =3
TL;DR FTW. XD;;;