It is pretty interesting. I prefer Nikki Colon's interpretation, myself; fans can say whatever they want, but the original author has ultimate power over his/her universe.

I see the author as the representative in our world of the canon they "created." Their mind is closer to the real deal than anyone else here can get, so their statements are most likely to be true.

Obviously, there will always be exceptions. As hS said, all authors make mistakes. The entire Left Behind series can't possibly be an accurate adaptation of the world it represents, because the ostensibly earth-like world is full of ostensibly human characters that don't behave like earth!humans. (I wonder if it's really a world full of orcs?)

It's a little trickier with games, since they don't have a single "author," even if you only focus on the story-boarding aspect. I haven't played any Zelda games, but reading through this article, it seems a character called Ruto gives Sheik a male pronoun in the game. That could have been a decision by multiple developers to mislead the player and leave the spoiler as a greater surprise. Ruto could have been doing the exact same thing in-universe, to help keep Zelda hidden.

On the other hand, I would be more willing to trust the pronouns supplied in-game, back when the story was being concepted, than an announcement now, sixteen years later. This announcement could just be an attempt to curb the weird fanart and other weirdness surrounding Zelda's apparent gender bending.

So there's really no easy way to say. I'll leave it to the actual Link fans.

--doctorlit can't leave the village, as he doesn't even have a sword or a shield

Especially about what this person thinks Jesus has to do with Miyamoto or any of this. Is he trying to appeal to authority?

I also soundly agree with 99 and AdmiralSakai. Perhaps The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe tells itself to me in such a way that I am led to believe that the White Witch was the benign protagonist working for the good of the Narnian people. If that's the case, I'm an idiot.

99, that signature is a bit... different.

I mean, what is canon but things the author has said, written, or typed? That doesn't stop when the work is published. It's a lot more dubious when we try to guess a dead or otherwise uncommunicative author's original intent, but clear statements are clear.

I believe that when it comes to canon, the author's word is law. Canon>Fanon. Simple. Except for when the author isn't making a modicum of sense, then the inverse is true. Of course, if there isn't any canon to fill in a gap, that's where the fanon comes in and that's where we get shiddery like headcanons.

If there is canon to tell us what is going on, the fanon is irrelevant. Except for when the canon makes no sense or is absent.

When it comes to the fundamental themes (what the author was trying to tell us), it is completely in the eye of the beholder and they can believe what they want to believe. Besides, the author should be able to get their message across without any mis-interpretations along the way.

When it comes to themes, the author should be able to get their message across and if they can't, what they mean is up to the reader.



T͙̦̞͛ͥ̾̈ͧ͛H̻̅́ͭ̂ͤ̓̅E͓̮͉̣̱͗ͪ̅̑ͫ͆̓ ̤̗͚͔͖̙Fͬͥ͆̍̐ͣA̱͖̟͓̪͍L̬̖̘̼̟̋̂̊S̳͓̩̯ͧͪͫ̃Eͣͦͬͨ̈́̃ ͉͐͒͗̑EM̘̭ͤͧP̖̱͈͇̫̋̾ͭ̄͐ͬ͌E͙ͯ̏̿̀̑͐̈R̯̹̥̼̎ͬͮ͛́̉̚O͌̎͊̈ͦR̭̣̙͚͈̩ ̖͙̞̓ͭ̒H͐̋͒A͖̳̲͓̰͙͍͛͂ͧ̌́͛̏Š̖̐ ̼͇͚̊̉ͧ̓͊̆N̻̱̗͉̪͔̞ͤͫË̠̳̲̠̼̲̰́̎̾̐͑͌̅V̱͈̯̪͙̘E̫͚ͮ̒ͨͣ̐Ṟ̝͔̂ͯͣͯ ̝̗̬̜ͧ̀̅P̯͇͙͈͍͙̣ͭ̔ͪ̃ͨR̉̍O̳̤̽T͕̙E̟͕̗̺ͭĆ͖ͨT̞ͤ̒̊͌E̻͖̤̬̦D̟̣̪̟̊̇̓͐ ͫͨͯͪͭͤA̲̙͗ͭ̂͋N̊̑Y̞͇̼̪̬͕̲ͩͥͩ̓̀ͩȌ͔̙͇͎̻̓̋̋N͙͇̰̺̘̻͔͑̍͐ͭE̍ͬ̆ ͍̠̟̪̳̅ͨ̊̌͐F͎̤͍̱O͉̻̘R̮̰ͩ ̦̙̼̰̂ͣͪ̎H͈̯̤͉͙͎̣E͖̪̬͇͐ͯ͐ ̙̓Ḯ͒ͦ̾ͦͧͧS̺͓̤̎ P̱̹͖͍̓̑̓O͚̼͍͖̓͆̍̒ͯ̎W̞͎͕̥͎͎̓ͮͮ͌̌ͤE͈̟͖̰̎̇R̗̠̲͈͈̳͙͂L̟̳̺͉̫̯ͯE͎̹͉͕̖ͤ̾ͥS̓͐̈́S͕ͣ!̙̞̩̣̀ͅ ̬̫͗̔̐ͥ̐AL͍͔̱̝̲͔̎L̝̱ͪ̚ ̠ͨH̫͔̖̉ͦͨÃ̰̣̾͊̏͐͋I͇̘̫̞L͓̠̣̼͎̥ ͎̥̩̣̲̻̳͆͛͆C̏ͭ̿̃̊Hͭ͗͆̽̊Ấ̙͕̰̬ͧ̀ͅO͖̤̘̲͐͐̂̑ͩS͍͖̹̳̭̙̺̑̋!̩̺ͮ̔ͩ̀̏ͮ