They are mostly standards out of habit – its become fanon because everyone is used to reading the characters that way.
I mean, yeah, I get that but I question why these things happen the way they do. I get the Meg thing and the Benny thing (to an extent) but I don’t get the Balthazar thing. Or the Lisa thing. Obviously, no one has to like these two characters but the way I see them presented is so wildly different that I boggles my mind. The common fanon versions of these characters just doesn’t make that much sesne to me. Now, granted, I prefer fanon!Jimmy in all his promiscuous glory. And I *almost* screwed Jo over in a fic I never finished (I did have a recovery plan but I don’t care to actually finish it now) so I’m not exempting myself from this critique. But I just wonder the standard tends to be that past relationships were terrible and now that our characters have found The One it’s all sunshine and rainbow.
Obviously, it’s partly because someone did it one way and then someone else did it the same way and then a popular fic did it and now everyone does it. On one hand, I’m curious about the origin of fanon trends and on the other, I’m curious as to why the trends become popular standards. I actually think it has a lot to do with timing and less to do with “quality” but that’s just my theory. (Also my theory as to why some fics are more popular than others. Though talent plays a role for sure, there are some I’m convinced are a combination of niche and timing.)
It does, however, bug me when it taints other parts of fandom. Like, when I worry about clicking on fics with certain past relationships because I know what they’re most likely going to be and I Do Not Agree. (But the way past and minor relationships are tagged is a whole seperate issue, too, so…)
I totally get that I’m being a picky little shit, but it’s mostly the character thing that bothers me. The character thing is actually a beef I have b/c it’s a pain in the butt to find a fic where some of my favorite minor characters aren’t jerks. I get that you gotta break a few eggs to make an omlet but it always seems to be the same few eggs. I know, I’m picky, and I’ll still read fics where my favorite minor characters aren’t the way I see them if the writing is good but it bugs and makes my multishipping heart sad. And it also bugs me that so many past relationships were either all awful or meaningless.
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