Friday 23 December 2016

Pony names, canon and fanon

How do you feel about Minuette? Or Golden Harvest? Or Muffins? Do you use those names in your own stories, or do you prefer to stick with long-established fanon names like Colgate, Carrot Top and Derpy? Do you take a hardline stance of "if it's mentioned in canon, I use it?" If so, then it's presumably "DJ Pon-3" for you for all time. Or do you mix and match? What about other options, like Ditzy Doo?

For me, part of the answer depends on how the show's handled the name in question. So I stick with Vinyl more than I ever did, partly because "DJ Pon-3" being bashed over my head in "The Saddle Row Review" irritated me so much. On the other hand, it will now always be Minuette for me, since M. A. Larson nailed her character in "Amending Fences" and that blew away everything else.

And then there's Derpy. We know she will never again be called that officially – but I really and truly can't see myself thinking of her as anything else. "Muffins" is actually rather a nice name, and I prefer it to "Ditzy Doo", but for me "Derpy" is her, while "Muffins" is simply a name applied to her. She will be Derpy to me to the end of my days in the fandom, of that I am sure.

Oh, and in case Chris is reading: Carrot Top > Golden Harvest. It just sounds better. I might, with some reluctance, use GH in a canon-compliant fic – but I'd be thinking of her as Carrot Top. Hmm, now I come to think of it, Minuette is about the only relatively recent example where I've changed to using the canon name exclusively. I guess it shows just how great "Amending Fences" was.

8 comments:

  1. An interesting topic. I think I'm pretty much the same as you for the most part - the fan names reign supreme.

    Talking about Slice of Life, one the fandom's best achievements was getting the names 'Doc' and 'Bon Bon' made canon. Not to mention Steven Magnet.. Derpy's always been the awkward one, but it's what pretty much everyone will know her by.

    It's kinda funny; one of the things that made Minuette a favourite of mine was how her fan name came from simply her mane colours. We knew that Colgate would never be made canon though, and Amending Fences just sealed the deal. She's Minuette. :)

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    1. The amount of Ascended Fanon in MLP is amazing, really. Apart from the ones you mention, Octavia and Lyra are both originally fanon names. (Lyra's first blind bag just calls her "Heartstrings".) Steven Magnet will always be the one that most blows my mind, though, seeing as it only exists because of an unauthorised YouTube episode upload!

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  2. Wait, who calls Vinyl Carrot Top? <.<

    I've switched to Minuette full time if only because A) the name is attached to a character now, as you said, and B) Colgate doesn't really work as a pony name since it's based on a real-world company name.

    But Derpy will never be "Muffins". "Muffins" is ass-covering. Rainbow Dash said, "Careful, Derpy!" and that was canon. >:|

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    1. Yeah, I edited the first para and didn't fix the inconsistencies. Though I suspect someone out there does. :P

      The European licensed MLP magazine called her "Derpy Hooves" in a game just the other month. No idea what Hasbro made of that.

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  3. I think Vinyl Scratch is a pretty good name, and it still works well with DJ Pon-3 as a real name vs. stage name. Not sure why DHX wants to just call her DJ Pon-3 all the time. That's strange, but whatever. She'll always be Vinyl to me.

    I have detested Colgate from the second I saw it. It's one of the examples of why I dislike most fandom names. So her name is Colgate strictly because she has a mane that looks like toothpaste? Now she's a dentist because she looks like toothpaste? It's just dumb to me. Even if her name was Toothpaste it would be better. Naming her after an actual product is lame. I've always called her Minuette, so I was very happy that the show did, as well.

    I've never liked "Derpy Hooves" as a name, either. I don't actively hate it the way that I hate Colgate, but it's just doesn't feel like a pony name to me. Ditzy Doo is a great name for her, and already used in canon. I wish they'd gone with that.

    Team Golden Harvest, though I think Carrot Top is a cute name.

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    1. Yeah, I'm confused as to why Vinyl Scratch hasn't been officially adopted in the way that various other names were. My guess is that there's already a toy trademark with either that name or something very similar.

      Was Minuette a dentist in fanon before "Luna Eclipsed" went out? I've always assumed people got the idea from her Nightmare Night costume.

      I wouldn't have minded Ditzy Doo, but it would be third choice for me after "Derpy" and "Muffins". I read an ancient fic recently in which she was "Bright Eyes" and that would have been fine too, except for my background in the Watership Down fandom making me associate the term with a certain Art Garfunkel song! (Which has very little to do with the rest of the WD film, but never mind that now...

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  4. Unless they actually say it on the show, I don't think it can really be considered "canon." That's not to say I have any problem with people using names from comics or toys; only that, seeing as those can be and have been superseded by the show, I wouldn't treat those ideas as having any more or less claim on the title of "real" than popular fan-choices.

    Also, Carrot Top all the way! It's not even that I particularly love the name, it's just that "Golden Harvest" is so awful :P

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    1. Secondary canon, then. (I prefer that phrase to "expanded universe" or whatever, but maybe that's just me.) Though even that is problematic with Derpy, of course, given that that name has been used on the show!

      I can't say I mind "Golden Harvest" particularly. It's just... there. But it doesn't fit as well in my mental picture of Equestria as does "Carrot Top".

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