u/JackOfTheWoods49

So, I may or may not be a Fandom Old based on your interpretation, but I've been around fandom long enough (and got a whole English degree about it) to notice some... patterns that occur in fandom interpretation of characters. It's nobody's fault, and I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum or claim harm, (they're not real, you cannot actually hurt them, lol) but I think it bears discussion how fandoms tend to push and pull on canon in predictable ways. (This circles back to Heated Rivalry I promise.)

I want to put some labels on these trends.These are 100% not academic and just based on my observation, but they might prove useful for discussion. In no particular order,

1. Magnification - a character expresses a preference for something? Now they are OBSESSED with that thing and it's a major part of their personality. Ex. Bucky Barnes and the fucking plums

2. Escalation - that character trait which is just a part of the character and not necessarily elaborated on by the text? Its because of a terrible trauma or a mental illness or both. Basically, the ascribed reason for the trait is escalated from "general personality/cultural environment" to "specific and traumagenic." (Note: cultural environment can be traumagenic, there is nuance here; it's the specificity of event or tip into prosecutable abuse/clinical significance that labels it Escalation) Ex. Shane's anxious traits becoming full-on GAD when that's...not terribly supported by the text.

3. Woobification/Demonification - everybody's favorite. A character's soft/anxious/emotive/submissive or harsh/arrogant/stoic/domineering traits are magnified and most other traits discarded in the name of hurt/comfort or D/s dynamic. Can be accomplished by Magnification and Escalation! Ex. Do I even need to? Justice for Power Bottom Shane.

4. Projection - the character, to the individual audience member, is more useful as a receptacle for everything they like or dislike about themselves. This is a canon event in every weird kid's development, it is morally and ethically neutral (everything on this list is, actually). But it results in fanon characterizations that have more to do with audience needs than an analytical reading of the Canon. May break containment and become genuine Fanon. Ex. Lance from Voltron as a flamboyant bisexual. It was me, I did that.

5. And my personal favorite - Fabrication. A fanon trait that has NO BASIS in canon, can be argued to actively contradict canon, but its still a thing because it's entertaining. Ex. Ilya having an alt Twitter on which he is a Hollanov truther. Horrifically funny; canon Ilya would never.

So anyway, I wanted to open the floor for others to apply these definitions (or contribute your own!) to things you've observed happening within the Heated Rivalry Fandom in regards to Fanon characterizations compared to Canon. I'll be dropping mine in the first comment