seriousfic

Fangirl Psychology is the study of the psychology of characters within a work of fiction. Obviously, it's much less complicated than real psychology. Anxieties can be traced to one defining moment in a character's childhood, psychological ills can be cured by simply "facing your demons," and so on. Apologies if this comes off as pejorative, but before you get offended, it's important to realize that Fangirl Psychology (or Fen Psychology, if you prefer) comes in three important stages.

Stage 1: Canon interpretation. This is the most common kind of Fangirl Psychology. Here, the fans delve into the show's subtext, the actors' performances, interviews with the cast and crew, and so on to form a picture of what motivates a character. Generally, they are not so much reinterpretating a character as "uncovering" him, attempting to get to the heart of the character through the many facets of multiple canon presentations. I.e., the question of whether Batman is mentally unhinged or merely sane with lots of issues.

Stage 2: Canon reinterpretation. This is still a step away from fanwank, although that step can often be removed. Still, this is a perfectly legitimate fandom activity, if a little more involved than Stage 1. Here, fen offer their own theories and interpretations for a character's actions in contrast to a show. They may "show their work" in a fic which depicts how the character would work if presented in a subtly different light, or even reject the show's canon to show their own, quote-unquote superior take on the character. This is especially prevalent in shows that have jumped the shark. I.e., a fan might theorize that Bruce Wayne wishes to die and be with his parents, so his career as Batman is presented in that light.

Stage 3: Canon disregard. The most likely stage to lead to fanwank, here is where canon and basic human nature is completely discarded in favor of what fangirls think is hot. Note that you can also find this in fanboy works, often where Wonder Woman delights in being impregnated and turned into a stripper or something against her will, but for now we'll stick with fangirls. This is where "bad" characters have their actions excused on the flimsiest of pretexts, and "good" characters are crucified for being mean to the baddies. It is also where the more oddball pairings are presented as forevah love. I.e., the villain has raped the hero's wife, killed the hero's son, burned the hero's house down, kicked the hero's dog, spat on the hero's Bible, and left a really negative comment on the hero's fanfic. The hero has defaced the villain's parents' grave, overthrown his empire, killed his mistress/assassin and taunted him about it, tarnished the villain's reputation, and downvoted the villain's YTMND.

Obviously, this is all a sign of their repressed homosexual attraction to each other.

You'll also find many chan pairings in this stage, as it turns out that Batman (who canonically harbors a special contempt for criminals who prey upon children) really just wants to enter into a mind-bogglingly unequal relationship with a thirteen-year-old boy.

As always, these stages often overlap and are frustratingly subjective. Some would say a story in which Buffy and Spike are in true love would be Stage 1 (canon), Stage 2 (fanon), or even Stage 3 (batshit), depending entirely upon the observer (and good arguments could be made for all three at that!). The best thing to do is try to recognize the warning signs for Stage 3 and "veer back on-course" to Stage 2. It'll save you no end of grief.