Uh-huh. I think it only really starts to bother me when people start encroaching onto others' fanspace with their pet fanon. I mean, if I'm surfing around and stumble upon a bunch of slashers discussing how John is so very canonically gay, it might irritate me a bit, but it would be the height of rudeness for me to jump in and tell them they're wrong. But if they start going around and entering discussions, bashing characters and ships that interfere with their OTP, *that's* when it goes from being just a group of like-minded fans having fun, to the sort of wank that drags the fandom down for everyone.
I do get a lot more involved with the source texts than the person who wrote that essay. But at the same time, I recognize that canon is the final authority. It's, well, canon. And I might have my own pet theories and favorite interpretations of ambiguity, but if canon comes to contradict me, then I'll just revise my theories in light of the new information, because duh, it's canon. While I do respect other people's right to interact with the source text in whatever ways make them happy, I have a really hard time wrapping my mind around the "My fanon is the one true path to enlightenment" mentality.
no subject
I do get a lot more involved with the source texts than the person who wrote that essay. But at the same time, I recognize that canon is the final authority. It's, well, canon. And I might have my own pet theories and favorite interpretations of ambiguity, but if canon comes to contradict me, then I'll just revise my theories in light of the new information, because duh, it's canon. While I do respect other people's right to interact with the source text in whatever ways make them happy, I have a really hard time wrapping my mind around the "My fanon is the one true path to enlightenment" mentality.