Fanon Characterization
So for today's Fanon Friday post, I'd like to talk about characterization in fanfiction, mainly in popslash but it can be broadened if anyone writes in other fandoms. I think popslash is really unique in the sense that we have such a broad and often ambiguous "canon" which can lead to multiple interpretations of someone's character. So, how do you
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I've just posted a thing to my own LJ about canon vs fanon in RPF v FPF, which probably has some bearing. I think with RPF canon, we don't have a known and shared canon in exactly the same way that we do with FPF. When our canon is a show, or a film, or a book, everyone gets the same thing. But for RPF, every fan has a slightly different version of canon, and we get it, often, in an unlikely order.
I remember being baffled by suddenly reading lots of Lance-in-Space stories, only to discover that there was canon for that. Another instance - there was a bit of info revealed by someone who (I think) tutored the boys at MMC and on the bus, who said JC was really good with figures and could have been an accountant had his life taken a different turn. That has, naturally, influenced my perception of JC.
I think that in popslash we do have very strong fanon - I've described it before as a palimpsest of characterisation - and yet it can be quite difficult to decide which elements are canon and which are fanon. Is it true that Justin is a bear until he has had his cereal? Still? There's certainly a canon basis for that, but maybe fanon has pushed it on a bit. Sometimes it's actually nice when someone breaks with fanon and offers a completely different take on a character. Joey using his hugs as a weapon, for example.
With real people, there is so much variety in one person's behaviour, 'characterisation' can involve so much - which is why it's great to have so many stories that vary things. (That's why I don't tend to worry if one writer always writes a certain pairing as having a defined top and bottom - just move to the next writer and they'll switch. It's different in, say, Adam Lambert fandom, where "Adam is a top" actually is canon, and you have to work at it to find something different.)
I don't think any popslash story has become part of my personal canon, but the very first fanfic I read did. It was ST:TNG, it was a very good Data story, and it satisfactorily explained something about the character and made very good sense. I adopted it into my 'personal canon' at once. I suspect there have been other writers who've said something that I adopted into 'who these people are' but I can't remember any other specifics.
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