W.I.P~
What is Canon?
The concept of canon is very broad; in a general sense it is referring to being a rule or a body of rules within a story. There are definitions that state it as: “the body of rules, principles, or standards accepted as axiomatic and universally binding in a field of study or art”.
What is MM Canon?
MM Canon, or Mischief Managed Canon, is simply the canon that is to be true at Mischief Managed role play sim in Second Life. Mischief Managed pulls from a variety of sources in order to flesh out details that either aren't mentioned in the books, and thus, provided elsewhere. It is what is approved and accepted to be "true" within MM's role play.
In many cases the Harry Potter books didn't provide enough details to have a functioning role play Hogwarts. There is lots of information provided from JK Rowling. Especially so on Pottermore.com. But not everything has been given information, so until that time, The Admin Collective and the RPD Team must decided what is true for the role play. None of our characters where created by JK Rowling herself, so regardless of any actions or actions taken by our characters, it will never be true Harry Potter canon.
Since Mischief Manged aims to be a dynamic role play of Hogwarts, School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, much information has to be created in order to fill in gaps that weren't relevant to the creation of the novels that sparked it all. The exciting part of this is that the individual role player gets to add to this canon. However, certain rules must be followed and certain things must be pre-approved before it can 1) be allowed to be acted out in role play, and 2) accepted as MM canon. For the most part, individual actions are auto-accepted as MM canon. Unless of course that action is a pretty major one. Asking an Admin for clarification is always a good idea. Anything that may push at or be out of the scope of the rules is something that needs to be brought to the RPD Admin so that talks with the Admin Collective can take place. This isn't an attempt to have control over a player's role play, but instead, to ensure that nobody is inadvertently gaining an unfair advantage and cheapening the role play itself.
An example of something that should seek approval is the case of a student claiming that Godzilla is attacking Hogwarts. Not only would this never be approved, it is something that would greatly affect the sim and it's role players as a whole. Thus it needs approval, which would be submitted through the RPD Department. In small cases the RPD team will approve personal storylines should they need it, and such it is considered MM canon. For larger things, approval for MM canon lies under the jurisdiction of the Admin Collective Team.
Below is a list of Harry Potter sources that Mischief Managed pulls from. As you can see from the extensive list, Mischief Managed has no choice but to have it's own canon, and so... MM Canon was born! This doesn't mean that we disregard canon, it just means that in many cases, the Admin team has to agree on various points in order to flesh out our role play.
Who Decides what is MM Canon?
In many cases the RPD enters into discussions about what what may or may not be canon. This is usually done through extensive research, fact checking, and discussions on whether or not a particular point is something that can legitimately work within a role play environment. In the event that information wasn't provided in one of the below mentioned sources, The RPD will discuss and decide on aspects to fill in gaps. This is generally in regards to how the physics of the "world" itself works, such as spells, potions, and magic in general.
Role Play Consideration
Please keep in mind that Mischief Managed is first and foremost a Role Play. While the RP itself stems from the original sources of Harry Potter, this doesn't mean that what was the case in the books is going to be the case in the Role Play. The reason is that role play in itself is organic. Through RP, things can change, evolve, and grow. Things such as laws and regulations IC'ly through Ministry of Magic character rping, or even such things as the the Head of Hogwarts and Heads of Houses setting IC rules. This is bound to happen in any role play.
An example would be if the Minister for Magic, along with the Wizengamot decided to pass a law that made forbidden curses legal. While they were illegal spells in the books, via role play the IC ministry rpers could essentially vote to change that, and thus it would change in the RP. Why? Because canon is that the Ministry has the IC authority to pass and laws.
If you don't like something that IC characters in IC positions of authority did, then please go through the proper IC channels and deal with it IC. RPD will not under any circumstance meddle OOC with character IC choices, unless it violates the agreed upon "physics" of the world we RP in, or violates RP etiquettes.
Sources for MM Canon
Books
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (UK Edition, Unabridged)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (UK Edition, Unabridged)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (UK Edition, Unabridged)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (UK Edition, Unabridged)
- Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix (UK Edition, Unabridged)
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (UK Edition, Unabridged)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (UK Edition, Unabridged)
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Script)
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Quidditch Through the Ages
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard
- Harry Potter Prequel
- Harry Potter Film Wizardry
- Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey
Pottermore
Movies
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Video Games
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- Wonderbook: Book of Spells
- Wonderbook: Book of Potions
- Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
Harry Potter: Trading Card Game
For the most part, not a lot of the information provided by the card game is used as it brings aspects that simply don't work in a role play, or contradict other, more valid sources. However, we do use a few elements to provide more "meat" to the role play.
Other Sources
Other sources may from time to time stem from such things as Mythology, History, Art, Fables, and Folklore in order to fill in details that aren't provided in any of the above mentioned sources. This is often the case with many of the plots presented at Mischief Managed.