It’s fair to say that fans can take things too far, right? To the point of taking certain facts of a series and canonizing (a _biblical_ term) them, deciding which elements are ‘right’ and ‘wrong’? Or even mixing up canon and tradition and requiring long-running media to follow old rules because that’s the way it’s always been!
In this episode, we dig a bit into what canon means, in fandom, and try to answer the question… as fans, who needs canon, anyway? Also covering topics as:
* Curative fandom, and the appeal of consistency and meaning
* How canon justifies fan investment
* A bunch of nonsense about intertextuality, worldbuilding, mythology, prescriptivism and descriptivism
And more! All in under thirty minutes.
## Episode Outline
**Topics:** Avoiding chaos via canon, consistency and rules in stories, the reality of multiple truths and perspectives, a brief tangent on the origins of the word canon, canon as ‘integrity’ of media, how canon imbues meaning, curative fandom, canon as constraints, being beholden to canon, canon as justification for fan investment, descriptivism vs prescriptivism, worldbuilding vs mythology vs canon, and tirades about Doctor Who and the Legend of Zelda_._
## Where can I get updates?
If you want to follow us on social media, we’ve got you covered:
* Facebook: [facebook.com/fanthropological](https://facebook.com/fanthropological)
* Twitter: [@fanthropologic](https://twitter.com/fanthropologic)
And of course, we can be found where all fine podcasts are found (e.g. [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210?mt=2), [Google Podcasts](https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLnBvZGlhbnQuY28vZmFudGhyb3BvbG9naWNhbC9yc3MueG1s)).
Oh, and here at [fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com)
## What is Fanthropological?
Every week, our podcast, Fanthropological, delivers about an hour of fandom-related "fanalysis" covering a different fandom every week and giving you hard data, history, special guests, and, of course, speculation!
We cover topics spanning the gamut of anime, manga, comics, video games, comics, movies, books, television, and, in general, geek culture.
## Who are you?
We are the Nickscast! Three products of late-80s / early-90s pop culture who love exploring fandom and everything geek … who also happen to have been best buddies since high school, and all happen to be named Nick.
We started the Nickscast as a labour of love, and as a place to entertain and to discuss our love of fans and fandom. We want to help others learn more about different fandoms, and to create empathy with other fans.
If you want to learn more about us, you can follow us on most social media @thenickscast ([Facebook](https://facebook.com/thenickscast), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thenickscast), [Instagram](https://instagram.com/thenickscast)), see all of our projects on [thenickscast.com](https://thenickscast.com), or [email us](mailto:nick@thenickscast.com).
## Credits
* [Pachabel’s Ganon](https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00753) by [djpretzel](https://ocremix.org/artist/4279/djpretzel) from [http://ocremix.org](http://ocremix.org) used under [ocremix.org content policy](http://ocremix.org/info/Content_Policy#If_you.27re_using_our_content_elsewhere_.28.22Terms_of_Use.22.29%E2%80%A6)
* All other music and sound for this week's episode were provided by Nick Green!