... But that's not, well, how it works.
To start with, they aren't even the same kind of fusion.
Piccolo + Nail is two different beings (well, one and a half) fusing. Piccolo + Kami is one single being separated in two halves returning to being a single entity.
Piccolo + Nail is just Piccolo with a power boost, Piccolo + Kami is the Nameless Namekian.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariI don't see how it is a needlessly single visioned philosophy.
It's simply how things actually are. We readers are free to interpret things however we want and ignore things we don't like. Fanon Discontinuity exists. But the canon is what the author says it is.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariIt's only how things are if you choose to let them be that way.
Fiction is, fundamentally, an interpersonal interaction where, like most interpersonal interaction, the rules are arbitrary, and we made them up ourselves for a specific purpose.
We can change those rules, and we often do. They evolve, like language.
Consciously choosing which rules to buy into and which to reject is just social responsibility.
edited 28th May '15 1:10:03 PM by unnoun
As someone who's planning to be an author himself, I'm a little torn on Death of the Author.
I mean, some interesting interpretations can come out of it that enhance the stories in ways the writers didn't consider, but at the same time, people can take it too far in one direction and see things in a way that might actually be detrimental.
I can't think of any serious examples, but I'd argue Shipping obsessions can be a part of it.
But I see where Unnoun is coming from. I figure as long as your are realistic about said alternate interpretation, it's ok.
That being said, be careful people don't see your hero as the biggest villain in the entire story. It can cause problems.
One Strip! One Strip!I actually do think maybe the series was better as a comedy.....
But I also think that moments like Tao-pi-pi killing Bora were too important to ignore.
We've gone over this before, but the biggest problem wasn't whether it was serious, or humourous, but that characters got too powerful (due to Frieza), and some lacked long term arcs (Yamcha's ended during the first story arc, Tien's after he beat Tao-pi-pi) etc, and Toriyama had no clue what to do with some of them besides let them get beaten to paste.
One Strip! One Strip!As someone who is an author searching for a publisher, I absolutely despise Death of the Author. The only time I consider it acceptable is when what the author wrote is not what the author thinks they wrote. However, I acknowledge that people like unnoun exist and that I can say nothing to change their views. I then exercise my right to completely ignore them whenever they go on about it.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!See, the thing is, it doesn't have to have much merit over you.
Because... well, you're not the one who decides what happens and what doesn't in the story.
The author does.
We can sit here and you can argue up and down for millenia, but ultimately, the fact remains that the world is created and controlled by the author. Not the readers. What the author decides goes. We can kick, we can scream and we can set fire to the author's house, but the canon of the story still remains what the author says it is. Our interpretations and headcanon are our interpretations and headcanono, nothing more, nothing less.
There's a reason why we call it Word of God. Regarding the story, the author is an omnipotent God.
edited 28th May '15 1:21:35 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariDeath of the Author is what literary critics invented to make themselves feel more important.
That's my stance on this debate as well.
If God ever existed it would be necessary to abolish him.
You can't have a story without interpretation. You just have ink on a page. Scratches on a rock wall.
Language is interpretation. By its nature.
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Anti-intellectualism is what assholes invented to justify slashing budgets in higher education and making scholars fight amongst themselves for scraps.
edited 28th May '15 1:28:48 PM by unnoun
I don't think "I'm the author and I say so" is tyrannical considering, you know, you're under no obligation to stick around and be subjected to their rule. If you don't like what an author is doing or disagree with their dictation of what's "canon", then just stick with the authors you do like, or better yet write your own story. Because writer to reader IS a one-way street, ultimately.
TL;DR: Don't like, don't read.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!Yeah, no.
Like I said, you can keep arguing about it all day. But it doesn't change the fact that your interpretation is your interpretation.
I support people having their own interpretations and headcanons.
So long as you acknowledge that it is your interpretation and headcanon.
Because when you start saying that what the author says is unimportant, what you're saying is that you know the story better than the author.
It doesn't make you look like a passionate fan. It makes you look like that whiny kid who insists that he or she knows the rules of the game better than the rulebook and thus their rules are the ones that should be followed.
edited 28th May '15 1:32:17 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariStories are made to be interpreted.
Language is made to be interpreted.
There is no fundamental reason that anything you say has to be true.
There's no fundamental reason that anything we are typing means anything at all other than mutual agreement.
And why should I have to use what the author makes for me the way they want me to? I could take it apart, cut it up like newspaper headlines and make whatever I wanted out of it. It's a thing with a historical tradition behind it.
Oh look, somebody's already done that.
Akira Toriyama's interpretation of some ink splashes in a magazine is his interpretation. It's a nice interpretation, and people can listen to it. Still just an interpretation.
Just because he's the author doesn't give him any more authority over the text than you.
I've always loved that kid. Had a lot of fun playing with them. Always made things interesting. And fun.
I personally prefer to be the "whiny kid" that says it's not fair.
Because it's not. It never is.
Or, even better, the kid that constantly asks "why".
And, see, there are plenty of authors that themselves take Death of the Author as their view of things.
And fans try to make rules up anyway even when the person that they say has the authority to make rules says there are no rules.
And that's why I hate canon. Because I view it as a perfect encapsulation of the hypocrisy and borderline fascistic need for authority that pervades too much of mainstream fandom for my tastes.
edited 28th May '15 1:45:00 PM by unnoun
Uugh, I hate it when Lance is right. But he is Unnon. What you're saying is an argument a petulant child would use, not an intelligent fan.
The author is the god. He envisioned the work. He came up with the world. The characters. He is the creator. And depending on the medium or work, there can range from one to many gods in a form of work.
It doesn't matter how salty you or others get over the term canon. Canon is the main continuity compromised of works from any form of media that let us know what events are valid in the context of that stories universe.
Argue and throw a fit all you want, you are a fan. You don't like it, don't indulge in the work. Are some authors weak willed and bend to the whims of fans?
Yes, that can happen, but that is not always the case. The authors are the ones who sent that and put their ideas and thought into form. They are the ones who went to school or whatever methods it took to pursue this career.
They are the ones dedicating their lives to a work or works. It is their passion. It is their means to live or in certain cases hobbies later on in life.
Death of the Author and Fanon Discontinuty are nothing more than jokes created by people who didn't like the course works went and more often than not develop an overinflated ego on how their views of canon would be better when 99% of the time its just a tweak here or there while knowing most of the material they wouldn't have been able to come up or develop on their own.
People go on and on, oh I could have made DBZ better. Its laughable considering a good deal of fans wouldn't have been able to come up with half the content. Especially the westerners whether they be normal like me or weaboos considering you would need knowledge of eastern lore that you can't just pluck off Wikipedia.
Its funny how common on this site so many tropers are clueless about studying characters or lore or accepting the way certain series are handled because of different values across the cultures resulting in a lot of immature behaviors such as calling so many female characters useless or 'oh so and so is so gay' comments when a lot of character interactions and themes make sense when one actually takes the time to speak with other people or pick up a book and learn something.
If you're only exposure to eastern culture is popular anime, then you are highly ill-equipped to handle subject matter immersed in said culture.
That is of course a very broad example. Considering my own knowledge is far from complete and I have much more to learn, I never just dismiss authorial intent without putting forth some kind of research in the matter and even then I respect their craft and respect them as fellow human beings who are flawed and can makes mistakes.
I accept our different life styles and cultures can lead to us having different interpretations of content exposed to.
Which is why one should put a little more thought into such matters before being quick to be dismissive.
That's not what anyone said.
Not sure why it came up. Seems like a non-sequitur.
Quick question, how often when Toriyama has said things in interviews has he prefaced what he said as "my interpretation"?
It's a fascinating trend I've seen. Instances where authors have said things off the cuff, then gotten upset when fans have taken it as fiat. Because the author is entitled to their interpretation, but doesn't feel their interpretation should override anyone else's. Usually.
But fans take it as "canon" anyway. They need to. It strikes me as being like a disease.
Good for them. Not sure why it should matter.
The former was created by French literary scholar Roland Barthes.
When he wrote it, he was actually making a pun on the french title of a collection of the Arthurian legends. Le Morte d'Arthur. La mort de l'auteur.
Puns. Puns might be the reason I like Dragon Ball.
...Wait, where have I been the dismissive one here!?
edited 28th May '15 1:59:19 PM by unnoun
Ultimately, though, the argument is pointless.
'Cause canon is whatever Saiga says it is anyway.
By the by, there's a very, very old rule of the playground, it's one of the first rules that are learned along with "you don't hit girls" and "the one who calls the teacher is a baby".
My game, my rules.
edited 28th May '15 2:03:11 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari

... Uh, no.
The author is the author and the reader is the reader.
The author decides what's canon and what isn't, for good or bad.
Of course, we promptly have the freedom to tell that author to go fuck him or herself because our headcanon is better and the canon is stupid.
Which is why I have no problem acknowledging that Mr. Satan being a super coward is canon, because Toriyama said so, but I also have no problem utterly ignoring that part in my headcanon due to the gigantic pair of brass balls he displays throughout the series.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari