Canon OCs

[phantomtomato]

When I talk about the experience of writing characters like Nott Sr.—characters who are named in the canon but given precious little other description, maybe a role or a general age range—I tend to favor the term “blank slate.” I like that term because it emphasizes what I’m getting out of these types of characters. But it’s not the only thing I’ve seen them called. One of the major other labels for this is “canon OCs.”

Which gets me thinking—I tend to feel like any canon character, no matter how developed they are in the original, becomes my OC after I’ve written them enough. Tom Riddle is fairly flat but by no means uncharacterized in the main HP series, but my Tom Riddle is a different beast, and I do think of him possessively: my Tom, my OC. (It’s why I don’t use “canon OC”—given how I do fandom, every canon character could become an OC.)

Does anyone else feel this way about the characters they write?

Comments

[sweetsorcery]

Definitely. I get very possessive of my versions of canon characters, because I suspect no author of their original version spent half as much time obsessing over every nuance of their personality, their potential, their past and future, their psychology and wants and needs, as I do. The characters I'm most possessive (and obsessive) about rarely get dozens of stories written about them by their original creator, but they can expect that from me, once they've stolen my heart. :)

Just like every reader reads a different version of a story in the same book, I think once we've plucked characters from their dry pages and breathe new life into them, those revived characters are ours. It's all very Pygmalion, isn't it? :D

[phantomtomato]

I suspect no author of their original version spent half as much time obsessing over every nuance of their personality, their potential, their past and future, their psychology and wants and needs, as I do.

Ha, especially when I fall in love with the villains or background characters, I feel this way! I wonder if it would change if I were more routinely attracted to the main characters of series/long-running canons. I sometimes feel like that can be a foundational divide in fannish experiences, though I haven't had a chance to compare notes with someone and dig into it.

Pygmalion indeed!

[yletylyf]

I definitely agree with "especially the villains or background characters." I certainly feel this way when I write blank slates (Lily) or villains the author did not love as much as I do (Voldemort), but not so much when my fav is someone who is quite thoroughly developed in canon (Snape). I also spent most of my Snape fanfic writing era in or near canon compliance (lol), though, so that might be another difference.

[phantomtomato]

See, now I have to wonder whether or not the appeal of canon compliance for Snape was rooted in that investment in his canon development!