I do sometimes feel that I'm not seeing the same characters as other fanfic writers and fans see. In my early flush of being a fan of Spike I read pretty much everything and I was constantly amazed at the different Spikes I found, that is part of what prompted me to start writing my own stuff. I wanted my Spike (snarky, sexy, defiant and definitely unbroken) not theirs. I'm with you on the canon thing one hundred percent though. I have my canon and I like it. And there's nothing I dislike more than someone telling me that they have the true word of dog and all others are blasphemers and infidels.