#canon interpretation

After the "first Vegas", nothing fully breaks, but nothing moves forward either.

And then time passes. Not cleanly, and not entirely by choice.

There’s a gap, summer, schedule, the natural separation of the season.

So some of the distance is circumstantial. But not all of it.

Because “next time” didn’t happen when it was supposed to, that changes how Shane holds it.

Because instead of moving forward while everything is still immediate, he gets distance he didn’t ask for, but convinces himself he needs.

The distance wasn’t all created by Shane, but he chooses to use it.

It gives him space to reset. To reframe it. To tell himself it didn’t mean anything.

That’s where the denial sets in.

Not because he doesn’t want it, but because this is the first point where he has enough distance to pretend he doesn’t.

Shane makes that boundary. Not explicitly, and not by cutting Ilya off, that would be clearer, easier to define.

Instead, he manages it.

He allows contact to continue, but only within limits. His responses are inconsistent, sometimes engaged, sometimes absent, but when he does reply, the tone is controlled and literal.

He redirects anything suggestive into something neutral, flattening it into something that doesn’t escalate. (And he's maybe just bad at sexting!)

That pattern matters. Because it isn’t disinterested. It’s containment.

He stays connected, but prevents it from becoming something he can’t handle.

Ilya operates differently. He treats the connection as ongoing.

There’s no clear shift on his side that suggests it has ended. He approaches it as something that just hasn’t happened again yet, rather than something that shouldn’t happen.

He continues to push toward meeting. Not aggressively but persistently. The intention is always forward-facing.

Over time, the tone from Ilya becomes harder for Shane to neutralise

More direct. Less easy to deflect. Which puts pressure on the structure Shane has been maintaining. Because that structure relies on control, on his ability to keep everything within a defined limit without fully stepping away from it. And that becomes harder to sustain.

I mention this because as someone who posts a lot about fandom I occasionally get hate because my interpretations of certain characters in canon don’t align with other people’s. People will come after me and say my interpretations are wrong, that they can’t possibly be based in canon, etcetera, etcetera, you get the point. However, just because my interpretations of canon don’t align with yours doesn’t mean they’re wrong.

Yes, there are certain parts of canon that are set in stone, we all know this. However, characters are extremely subjective, no matter what anyone says. There is, of course, defining traits and motivations a character will have, but there are often multiple and depending on your own personality and values certain ones will stick out more to you. This makes the canon character ever so slightly unique in your own mind than others.

People will also naturally attach some of their own characteristics to the character in canon because they speak or act slightly similar to them. This means all canon is skewed in the mind of everyone who consumes it which means no two interpretations will be the same, this makes canon slightly subjective in nature.

We can both read the exact same character, but you may define the character as bold, rash and power hungry while I’ll say the character is smart, emotional and desperate. These seem like very conflicting statements, yes? But they really aren’t because this character is all those things depending on how you look at it.

This character is extremely smart and this intelligence allows them to be bold because they are confident in themselves and are able to take risks since they are confident in themselves. This character is rash because of high emotion, this makes them more likely to lash out in high stress situations. This character is power hungry, but it’s out of a desperation to never be powerless again.

These interpretations go hand in hand and are both correct, but because we both picked out certain traits of the character that differ, when we speak about or even write about the character it will be different. When you go into things like character analysis, headcanons and theories, these things can be extremely different because we view the canon character differently.

He’s generally logical and strategic, preferring brains over brawn, however, he can be impulsive and emotional as well. He is repeatedly shown to have a lot of anger inside him and on more than one occasion, someone had to stop him from beating another person to death. There is also occasions where he overreacts and times where he can be slightly too arrogant (though he usually feels guilty afterwards).

Tim is generally forgiving and open-minded, but he can also be petty and judgemental. It’s not common, but it has happened.

Secrets are important for a vigilante, but Tim can be a bit too secretive, although he does generally trust his team mates and family. He also pushes people away when upset, though he usually comes back later.

I could write more examples, but all in all, Tim is flawed. Tim has problems and he does not see himself as a victim on need of protection (even though there is the occasional sign of abandonment issues).

So I was watching the Dragons short again, cause I am working on a big post about Hanzo Shimada that is based in canon and I wanted to smack myself for being stupid and missing something obvious for so long.

The events unfolding between Hanzo and Genji are accompanied by a narrator telling the story of the dragons of the north and south wind, creating a parallel structure between two similar stories. The narrator is not just a random voice over because the narration starts with this.

"My family tells of an ancient legend..."

So, in context, that means that the narrator is a Shimada. The voice also clearly belongs to neither Genji nor Hanzo, so then who is it?

The answer is actually rather obvious for two reasons, one is thematic, the other practical. The practical answer is because there is only one other named Shimada in Overwatch's lore. The thematic answer is revealed when Hanzo says "Life is not like the stories our father told us..."

The narrator is heavily implied to be Sojiro, their father. This makes a lot of sense thematically with the rest of the information that we have about the Shimada family.

A bit of lore that people often forget/ignore is that Genji's bio has this line that describes their father.

Many within the clan considered the carefree Genji to be a dangerous liability, and they resented his father for coddling and protecting him.

This is the most amount of direct characterization we get about the man, that he actively defended Genji, despite how he acted. This, in conjunction with the story he narrates over the Dragons short, paints the picture of a man who valued family above all else. Someone who would grieve the tragedy that had befallen his sons. The story he tells, however, shows his hope that they might reconcile and their family can be whole once more. (Quite the contrast to the normal fanon interpretation of him treating Genji poorly in particular.)

Continuation of my Canon Interpretation Series in preparation for my upcoming multi chapter fic which is still cooking. 🧑‍🍳

🏒 Juniors

From the start, the dynamic is already clear before anything is said.

Ilya is smoking in a clearly marked no-smoking area and ignoring it completely. The sign is obvious enough that he understands the rule even with the language barrier….he just doesn’t really care. That sets him up straight away.

Shane approaches. He knows who Ilya is. How could he not?

At this point, they’re already being framed externally as rivals, but that doesn’t exist between them yet. This isn’t competitive, it’s just… awareness.

Shane introduces himself first. It’s polite, slightly formal, a bit nervous in a way that fits him more than the situation. Everyone thinks he’s unsociable…..no….. He’s just ….”Shane”. He reaches out to shake Ilya’s hand, doing it properly.

Doing things properly, the right way, that’s a big deal for Shane. 

Ilya takes it, but more out of quiet curiosity than anything else. He’s watching him more than engaging, there’s a kind of amusement in it.

Shane points out the smoking, gesturing to the sign. Ilya acknowledges it “ok”.... straightforward, simple, to the point. All the things Ilya will have you believe he is if you don’t look close enough.

He won’t let you look close enough, that mask is there for a reason.

Ilya doesn’t change anything. He keeps smoking. That’s important, it isn’t defiance for effect, it’s just…how he is.

Shane doesn’t push. He shifts instead, compliments him, tries to keep the interaction moving.

Ilya accepts it simply. No modesty, no performance - just Ilya.

The contrast is subtle at first but it's established immediately.

Shane doing things the “right” way, almost seeking approval, a way in. Ilya watching, curious, slightly detached, casual until its something he is sure of.

As Shane leaves, he reaches out again, a second handshake. It’s unnecessary, which is exactly why it matters.

That’s when Ilya’s reaction shifts. He engages properly for the first time. The amusement sharpens into interest. This is the moment Shane becomes something more than expected, something worth paying attention to.

Ilya calls after him, something that sounds like rivalry on the surface.  But it doesn’t land that way,  it reads as light, more testing than competitive.

He’s amused when Shane takes the bait.... this will be fun.

🏒 Draft / Gym

This is the first time it becomes tangible.

They don’t just notice each other this time, they hold eye contact.

There’s no looking away, no pretending it didn’t happen. It’s deliberate now, like they’re actually taking each other in.

And then Ilya makes it physical.

The water bottle. Their hands touch.

The first time… it’s hard to say. It could be nothing. Close proximity, easy to dismiss, something that happens without meaning to.

The second time isn’t.

It lingers just enough. Repeats in a way that removes the doubt. Whatever the first one was, this one isn’t accidental.

That’s the moment it shifts, not because of the contact itself, but because it’s chosen.

Shane feels it immediately. He doesn’t misunderstand what it is, he just doesn’t know what to do with it.

This is the first time Ilya actively closes the distance.

He chooses to bring Shane into this space. That matters, because it removes any sense of coincidence. They’re alone together because he made that happen.

Up until now, everything has sat in looks and brief contact, something that could still be ignored if either of them wanted to. The commercial takes that away. It creates proximity, time, and a kind of contained environment where neither of them can just walk past it anymore.

There’s already an awareness here that this isn’t neutral. Ilya isn’t approaching it like something accidental, he’s put them here deliberately.

Shane feels that, even if he doesn’t fully process it yet.

⸻

🚿 Shower

This is where it stops being avoidable.

There’s no space for distance in that environment. It’s all exposure, all awareness, and no real way to pretend nothing is happening. The tension that’s been building finally has nowhere to go except into the open.

Shane slips. There’s an unspoken rule in that space: you don’t look. And he does.

At first, it’s just a glance, something that could still be dismissed. Then it lingers.

Long enough to register. Long enough to become a choice.

And then there’s a visible reaction.

Ilya sees it.

What matters is that he doesn’t react negatively, there’s no judgement, no discomfort. Instead, it reads as something closer to amusement. A raised eyebrow. Light, almost teasing. A kind of challenge.

Shane reacts to that, embarrassment, immediate, defensive. Fuck off.

But Ilya doesn’t back off. He escalates. That’s the risk point.

Because at that stage, it could still go either way. Shane could shut it down completely, or it could continue. Ilya moves forward anyway, which only works because he’s already read the reaction correctly.

And Shane doesn’t look away.

He keeps looking, because at that point, he can’t not. He’s already crossed that threshold.

That’s where it tips from accidental into active.

And then the awareness catches up.

Where they are. Who they are.

Not here....

That’s the line he says out loud. The internal version lands harder, not at all.

That’s the containment.

Not a rejection of what just happened, but a refusal to let it exist in that space.

⸻

Locker Room

The moment carries through. Shane shuts it down immediately, we can forget that happened.

Ilya doesn’t reset or step away from it. He treats what just happened as something already established, not something uncertain or open to interpretation.

“Is that what you want?”

He can read Shane almost immediately. “Wow… you’re such a bad liar.”

That dynamic sets in early, and it carries forward into everything that follows:

Ilya is perceptive, he knows more than he says, reads more than he explains.

Shane doesn’t always understand it consciously, but he feels it, and he can’t hide it. His expressions give him away. 🥺

This isn’t just a beat within the scene, it’s a pattern being established.

Ilya keeps it grounded, practical. Moves it forward without needing to define it.

That matters, because it removes any ambiguity. It turns what could have stayed as tension into something with direction.

He closes the gap, physically this time, not just in awareness.

And Shane doesn’t stop him.

“What’s your room number?”

Now Ilya is closing the gap out loud.

“1410.”