LaraMee's Lair

Hi there!

The Magnificent Seven fandom has surived and flourished for 10 years now.  As we journey together, at times we pick up new friends.  This is a truly wonderful thing, but it can create one issues for the "newbies".  The mythos of M7 has also developed a rather strong "fanon-canon"; those things that were introduced in fanfic, and have become as much a part of this fandom as anything that we saw on the screen.

I was just thinking, then, that perhaps we should create a "scorecard" of a sort, for those who might be confused.  Did it appear on screen, or was it in that story about...?

This will be a work in progress.  If you see anything I've missed (which will probably be a lot) please let me know!  Also, please note.  My definition of canon is IT WAS ON THE SCREEN.  I know that some folks have access to the show's bible but, to me, just because it was a thought on page doesn't make it canon.

Please don't think that this is my way of "controling" the fandom, it's not.  This is just simply meant to be a sort of reference for fen, especially the newbies, to clarify some of the things that are seen in so many fics.  I mean, I've done my part to perpetuate several of the fanon characterizations, and they do make for good reading!  This is just to point out that some things never appeared on the screen.  For instance, I've seen several of our newer fen writing "Ezra P. Standish", as if this was how he and the others referred to him all of the time.  He referred to himself like that once and, in my opinion, it was used in jest.  Most of us refer to the town as Four Corners, but the town was never referred to by name.  

Mostly, I'm just posting this for the heck of it, and invite you to have fun with it!

LaraMee

Begun December 20, 2008

                         Chris Larabee

"Chris fought in the civil war, for the Union":  The closest we know that he came to fighting Rebel soldiers was in the pilot, when the seven fought the "Ghosts of the Confederacy".  The idea probably came from Buck calling Chris "you old war dog" when they first meet up in the pilot.

"Chris and Sarah were expecting a baby":  When he flashes back to his family in Nemesis, she places her hand on her stomach when she waves goodbye.  There's never a mention of her being pregnant.

"Chris was an alcoholic":  We see Chris actually drunk in one episode - Obsession - on the anniversary of the death of Sarah and Adam.  He takes a drink in other episodes, just as most of the others do, and pretends to be drunk in Nemesis.

"Chris hates Ezra":  Chris doesn't trust Ezra after Ezra runs out on the others in the pilot, leaving them to be surprised by the Ghosts.  He doesn't care for Ezra lying to him in One Day Out West.  He dislikes the way Ezra puts money first, especially when he attempts to get Chris to take Lucius Stutz's money in Serpents.  He never physically attacks Ezra, but they do verbally "spar" at various times.

Vin Tanner

"Vin Tanner was a sharpshooter for the Confederacy during the Civil War" Vin was a buffalo hunter and a bounty hunter.  Like Chris, the closest we see him to the Rebels is in the Ghosts of the Confederacy.

"Vin Tanner was an orphan who suffered a great deal of abuse as a child"  It makes great angsty fic fodder but all we know is that his mother died when he was 5, of putrid fever.

"Vin Tanner suffers from a learning disability, or is ignorant" He admits to Mary Travis that he can't read or write.  Historically, though, he wouldn't have been alone in that!  As for ignorant, he creates beautiful poetry and is at times the one that Chris turns to, in making a plan.  Vin's speech is no less proper than the others, with only an occasional less than literate word thrown in for 'color'.  He uses the term 'fer' in Penance, when speaking to the sister in Vista City and the term 'feller' in Collector, when talking to Nettie.

"Vin Tanner is painfully shy and avoids people"  He was working at the store when we first meet him, and he never shows a problem with talking to anyone, although he states in the Trial that he doesn't like to speak in front of a group.  He does often stay in the background but, after all, he is a wanted man!

"Vin Tanner has a strong attachment to his horse"  With apologies to Sue N. and In For a Peso, In For a Pound, he was no more attached to his horse than the others.  After all, Josiah is the only one we see kissing his horse!

JD Dunne

"JD Dunne is a Bostonian"  JD came from 'back east'.

"JD is practically helpless without the others"  JD took care of himself before arriving in town.  He was a 'greenhorn' but did learn to handle himself pretty well, and in many ways changed and developed more than the others.  He is not a sniveling whimp who cries at the drop of a bowler!

"JD has a serious case of hero-worship" You get the sense he had heard of Chris after his comment in the Seminole Village.  He relies on what the others tell him and is willing, for the most part, to learn from them.

Buck Wilmington

"Buck's mother was a madam (and, at times, was killed by a customer)"  He lets JD know, in Working Girls, that his mother had been a prostitute.

"Buck was a sheriff" Buck was 'a lawman before' the seven met up.

"Buck served under or with Chris in the Union Army"  As with the others, we only see him around the Rebels in the first episode.

"Buck left Chris' side after Chris attacked him in a drunken rage (or something similar):  We only know that they hadn't been riding together for an unknown length of time, and met up again in the pilot.

"Buck was in love with Sarah" He cared about both her and Adam, as the family of his friend.  He talks about it to Chris, during the ride in Nemesis.

Josiah Sanchez

Josiah drank to excess in the pilot, the Collector, and Penance, and admitted that at times he "turned to the wrong kind (of spirits)".  There were rumors that he had "killed a lot of men".  He devoted his life to his sister, Hannah, who had been driven to madness by their spiritually preoccuied father and Josiah was devoted to studying both the world and the world's religions. 

Ezra Standish

"Ezra is often abused by one (typically Chris) or all of the others"  There was never a physical altercation between Ezra and any of the others.  Ezra more or less sealed his fate when he chose to ride away during the pilot, even though he did choose to return.  He often placed his desire for money and self-preservation above everything else, at least in the early part of the series.  As time went by, however, he found his niche.  Bottom line, Ezra was a gambler who had been raised by a grifter.  He did his best with what he had, whether that was a selfish or selfless act. 

"Ezra was abused and brutalized as a child"  He confronts his mother during every meeting about her lack of maternal skills.  He confronts her about leaving him with various family members unless she "needed (me) for a con."  He could have slept in a closet or in a satin covered feather bed for all we know!

"Ezra fought for the Confederate Army"  He hints at it.  He knows how to fire a canon and is attracted to wearing an officer's uniform in New Law.  That it is "Union blue", as well as his accent, indicates that he may have fought for the South.

"Ezra P. Standish" Could be his middle initial but, in ODOW we learn that he uses aliases.  The only time we actually see it referenced is in Lady Killers, when he introduces himself as Ezra P. Standish.  "What's the P for?"  "Persuasive".

Nathan Jackson

"Nathan is a mother hen or worrywart"  Nathan takes care of the others when they get hurt.  He did not, however, hover over them, chastising them for getting hurt.  The most obvious 'worrying' was when he walked Vin down the stairs after being 'busted up' in Lady Killers.

Nathan is the only character that gives us a hint as to when the series is set.  During the Trial and in Penance, he and his father give us "markers" that put him at the age of 27, at least toward the end of the series, and the year around 1875.  BUT given things like types of dress and hardware, it doesn't fit.  So, you know, even canon was faulty!!  LOL

Other Things to Ponder

"The town was called Four Corners"  it was never called anything other than 'the town' or 'this town'.  The state was never named, either. 

Many thanks to the following fen for helping out with the page:

Teresa - Vin does get nervous speaking before a crowd.  Well, unless he has his sawed off!

Joan - Buck does refer to Chris in a war related term of the time.

FaraD - Vin does speak intelligently, JD does change, and Nathan is not a smoothering healer.

Lyn - Josiah does not use - or overuse - the term "brother"