Alright this is gonna be a quick “rant” (I hesitate to call it that bc I’m honestly not like angry abt this just more confused ig? And partially find this phenomenon to be kinda interesting?)
But anyways,,,I don’t really understand this fixation that the DC fandom has regarding the fanon vs canon debate. Like I understand that theres a lot of misinterpretations of characters and their dynamics and thats annoying, especially as someone who is a comic reader who likes fanfic myself!! However, if I wanted strictly canon compliant stuff 100% of the time in, I’d just simply exclusively read the comics? Like I feel like some people take it to the point that they don’t understand that fan works inherently will be fanon no matter what? Especially when you bring in non-canon elements like shipping into the mix.
Like again some things I get being mad about because of how common they’ve become and how it is hard to find fics that don’t include a ton of these misconceptions and mischaracterizations that come from non-comic readers. Which obviously effects different characters to different degrees. However, somethings like non-canon nicknames are SO harmless why are we getting angry about it?? Like ok u disagree with the creators interpretation and/or HC, that’s not the end of the world and it doesn’t always mean they’re a “fake” fan.
Like idk fan works will always incorporate the fan’s interpretation of the characters and will include some headcanons!! But I feel like there are a lot of people who are staunchly against this essentially bc “it’s not supported anywhere in canon” which,,,I get for some things and in some contexts, but like most headcanons are like mostly inconsequential or very minor things which barely impact the general overall characterization.
But this divide, like I mentioned, has seemingly made some ppl (mostly on twt from my experience) become downright hostile to any hc-ing or canon divergent elements of fan works at all. Like I genuinely see ppl get upset over ppl creating hc’s regarding music preferences that don’t perfectly align with canon (mostly with Tim since he has an abnormally large amount of references to his taste in music in canon). Like genuinely,,,it’s not that deep,,,,if you don’t agree just leave the person be it’s rlly not worth making a snark post over,,,
It’s also created this phenomenon, which tbh I find quite fascinating, of people creating a new anti-fanon that’s equally as non-canon compliant as the original fanon they’re rejecting. But the posture it as being more accurate despite this? Like I hate using another Tim example but ugh it’s too easy bc there is so many examples,,,anyways, ppl reject the whole “coffee addict he’s so sleep deprived” hc and in turn claim that “he’s not sleep deprived at all in canon” and “he actually gets TOO much sleep”,,,,,which,,,,is simply not true? And a lot of times these ppl bring up panels to support this claim, which most of the time directly reference his sleep depreciation. (Also I think being sleep deprived kinda naturally comes with being Robin lol) Obviously this isn’t the ONLY instance of this it’s just the one that first comes to my mind (and is the easiest to explain bc the whole debate abt his parents is a much more complex and nuanced topic for example).
And again, I don’t want to make it seem like I don’t understand where these people are coming from because trust me I get it! As someone who’s been actively apart of the fandom since 2014/15 and has seen it change and evolve since then!! I totally understand the frustration! But also I think some ppl are taking things a bit too far imo and are becoming downright hostile for no reason/over minor things.
(And before anyone says anything, I understand that the “Tim & Coffee” thing is a general symbol for a specific form of mischaracterization in fanon due to misconceptions, and yes I also find this mischaracterization annoying! But the coffee headcannon in isolation as a simple HC is harmless—if that makes any sense)
Again, fan content is inherently going to be fanon and there’s no-if-and’s-or-but’s about it. It’s not a canon work, and thus is not canon. However, there’s also a lot of versions of these characters just within the mainline comics that people are pulling from for fan content—which can cause a variety of differing interpretations. Just because you don’t like a specific iteration of them and find it to be OOC, does not mean that it’s off limits for others to enjoy and use as inspo for fanworks. Obviously, there are caveats to this as I’m obviously not excusing bigotry found in fan works, whether it has roots in canon or not! Bc obviously that’s not okay! And it’s absolutely worth being upset about and calling out bigotry in fandom spaces! But, that is also not what I’m referring to here either.
Additionally, yall really need to cool it when it comes to some au’s and complaining about mischaracterization in them bc like an au is inherently going to be OOC to some varying degree,,,like obviously depending on the au, certain things should remain consistent, however, most of the time it’s going to inherently require a reinterpretation of a character which obviously will be OOC!! If yall don’t like it, don’t interact with them??
But TLDR; Let people have fun with fanworks and explore au’s and HC’s if they want. No one is forcing you to read or interact with them and so long as they’re not harmful, then just scroll or block and move on if you don’t like the interpretation.
I understand the frustration with the sheer amount of misconceptions and massively OOC content posturing as being accurate to canon found in the DC fandom! However, this isn’t an excuse to be downright hostile to others when they’re genuinely not doing any ACTUAL harm, no matter how mischaracterized you find their post/work to be.
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