Forum:The Watercooler

Guys I hate to say this but fanon really isn't the term you are looking for with what you are trying to avoid in the watercooler. The correct term is "crack theories". This is because fanon actually has very little meaning outside of fanfiction. Fanon are inventions of fan fiction authors that for one reason or another appear to have taken the status of a canon within the Bleach fandom. I.e. it is believed that these ideas were put forward by Kubo himself, which of course is not the case. Basically, fanons are born when one fanfiction makes something up for their fanfiction, which then get's picked up by other fanfiction writers and low and behold, unsuspecting Bleach fans are convinced that little titbit of information comes from Kubo himself because they have read it in like 100 fanfiction. >.>


 * Bleach actually doesn't have a lot of fanons, although some are floating around and certainly I am not suggesting removing the line of the rule that says "do not post fanon". I am just saying that doesn't cover what actually happens in the forums. Which is that people put forward groundless speculation or crack theories. Ichigo being a vasto lord would quality as a crack theory. I bring this up because I noticed a topic that by all rights should get the dreaded "candidate for deletion" notice added to it but I couldn't actually do it because under the rules as it is now, I in all honesty can't do it. It's just a very bad theory that will take a moment puncture holes into. It's not fanon, for all I know that guy has never read a fanfiction in his life, let alone write one. Plus I suspect most people are not familiar with the word fanon, although the word crack does seem to be used widely in Bleach fandom and understood to indicate a theory that has no basis in Bleach or at least no basis if Bleach is interpreted correctly. So... perhaps a line about "no crack theories" is in order? Tinni 15:25, November 5, 2009 (UTC)


 * PS. Might I also suggest "No Kubo bashing"? It's alright if others don't agree with me. It is my pet peeve but I do hate it when comment like "except kubos a cheap bastard who has yet to even kill off one of the good guys <_<" (actually comment from a Watercooler thread) it's really uncalled for. It's his freaking manga and he can do whatever he wants with it. We can criticise his chapters and stuff but to bash him... one step too far in my opinion. Tinni 15:25, November 5, 2009 (UTC)

I added the crack theories bit, and added a sentence to explain what that meant. I'm not sure on the Kubo bashing one, although I have deleted forums that are unnecessarily violent in nature (such as an old one on which characters should be off'd). I can ask the other admins about the Kubo thing, though. I believe Salubri is working on an official policy of sorts regarding the what specifically can be included in the Watercooler. Twocents 17:41, November 5, 2009 (UTC)