Reflections
If you read this, you're going to be privy to a lot of my personal mindset. In a sense, it's one of the most personal things I've posted so far on this journal, because I feel like if you read it, you're going to see a lot of how I think. And isn't that petrifying, in some sense? Of course, it's not....too private? It's just a lot of words and opinions I generally don't feel comfortable sharing. I'm more of a private person myself.
Quick unrelated thing: I have generally a lot of things to say on a topic, but I've found if I tell anything lengthy and windy to someone who isn't even involved in it, it doesn't really help that much. If anything, it makes me feel annoyed: 1) For just wasting my time talking all of anything out to someone who won't be able to give it back to me, and 2) For putting myself in that position in the first place. I like to think I have a lot of relevant, very good things to say, but at the same time, I'm mostly terrified of being proven wrong and corrected, and I just really long for someone who can handle me when I just want to talk. I've got a friend who really loves intellectual conversation, but I have a personal tendency to be swayed easily, so I'd rather just have it all laid out, I think.
I also am sad about my friend. I wish she was into Star Trek or interested in scifi. I feel like I shouldn't have talked all of that Star Trek to her cause really I let myself down.
I'd like to talk about topics like this. Or just, have someone read it. I think in the end, this thing I want to say isn't really something I want to argue about. I just want to have it out there, in my mind, and worded. I'd love to have a discussion that builds on the entire reason I wrote this essay, though. I'd really love that. So I guess in essence, the first part of this essay isn't necessary--except it is? Cause it explains the background behind why on earth I find this tidbit so fascinating and I love it.
The Fanfiction of Japanese Video Games vs Western TV Shows
(aka, I built up this essay so strong, but ended so weak because my drive to do it left me so w/e I guess, at least it's somewhat out there)
ANYWAY, let's start. To clarify, when I mention Japanese media, I mean a combination of Anime/Manga and their video games. When I say Western media, I mean mostly their TV shows (i.e. Sherlock, Supernatural, Prison Break, CSI). Though I know I should consider with some cartoons (Gravity Falls, Steven Universe), I'm looking at fanfiction/fanart from fandom as I've been in it, which means I primarily and specifically am focused on TV shows when I say Western media, however.
To begin with, there's something I've been noticing a lot lately, and it's mostly because I grew up and participated in fanfiction for Japanese media and then eventually moved onto Western media. There's a huge difference--what Japanese media tends to suffer if it's mostly in Anime/Manga is typecasting, very simplified personality traits, typecasting, and a whole slew of problems when it comes to identifying what a character would and wouldn't do in its fanfiction, its fanart, etc. It's easier to do this in Western media ( because they're reflections of people--they have flaws, they under go challenges, and it's generally written well plotwise--or if not real life, then realistic reactions and careful development and interesting dynamics. The character in A/M will lack such an established ground work--they're caricatures, for the most part, and appeal to only a certain demographic of the population who is willing to suspend belief and not hold same values to these A/M characters they way they would real people. We like the "idea" of these characters. They're like a fast-paced mcdonalds, and they're very relatable, and we don't have to hold them to the same flaws and disappointments of real life people.
That being said, I feel like Japanese video games also go through this, but they benefit from a strong storyline, and also strong characters, as much as some may be typecasted, or, in the case of a series called Kingdom Hearts (which I'll be comin back to, actually because the entire point of this essay was because I wanted to talk about one character in particular because of this one scene. This essay outlines both my working thought proccesses around these concepts, before I can move onto the actual character, and the sheer delight I find in Kingdom Hearts's complex characterization and phenomenal writing.
[There was a chance to talk about it, but I never got to, so I wanted to have it all written down. I have a tendency of forgetting. It's the same in real life, to be honest. If I don't say it right away, I'll forget. But in conversation, a lot of it just kind of sits out, so I wanted to establish what I wanted to say.
Also unrelated: I'm the biggest believer in the fact that the first draft is the best one. (Then again,that doesn't explain why when I write big bangs or stories I'm really concerned about, I write five million versions/drafts.)]
I established with a friend my beliefs about the entire fanfiction vs fanart ic/ooc: Fanfiction, a character or a cast being IC/OOC is more obvious in areas (Japanese specifically), but generally not much touched upon in Western media. I think it has a great deal to do with the fact that we've been getting a lot of kinks up in there (and y'know, with stuff like Kink Memes, it's all essentially popularizing the idea of just getting off with the kink first and not even caring too much about characterization), and by this time, the once and mighty "flame" reviews sort of disappear into this entire abyss. It's easier to find IC/OOC problems in fanfiction, but it's a lot harder in fanart.
Fanart is a larger interpretative artistic field on its own. A character can be drawn OOC be it body type (let's take, for example, an Ursula drawn skinny) or expression. However, there's a huge controversial (is it?) or is it just an argument currently ongoing between how a character is in their source media and how an artist chooses to convey it. I'd call it the Freedom of Interpretation. There's no bound rule that dictates an artist isn't allowed to choose to draw the canon character a different race, and by limiting this interpretation it sort of hinders and at the same time brings to the question about our ability to shape and mould the media as fans versus dictating what it SHOULD be and policing it.
Also should be included is the distinction of fanart's liberty as opposed to fanfiction (I find "Fun" is allowed and shared liberally with both fanart and fanfic because if it's under the name of fun, nobody's supposed to be considered too strict or serious anyway--but let's say we just nod to that and then exclude that for the sake of specifying this point) to do things. People don't think twice about art that puts two characters together. It's a visual medium. I feel seeing something rather than reading it as words--words is a little bit more personal, because it's inevitably you that creates the image; the words prompt. I feel often at times there's more satisfaction with fanfiction versus fanart because of how far it stretches across to soul (writing style, tone, character voice), and how rereading over and over again means so much more and soaks into you, because it's an act you participate in.
So, in essence, IC/OOC means a lot more to fanfiction because at the end of the day: Are you reading for the idea of these characters (OOC), or are you reading for them (IC+Interpretations that make sense ICly)?
Anyway, back to point, the IC/OOC thing of fanart/fanfiction is very important because that's what establishes Fandom. This is what fandom churns out, this is how fandom receives and interprets and churns out the material. I feel these days, we're focusing less on the IC things--I mean sure, it's appreciated, but at the end of the day, it's about mass production. I sound like an old person, but I think it's not a bad thing at the same time, to have more of the things you love. However, that also boils down to the fact that the quality of the things you love that Fandom provides can vary a lot, and that is where the IC/OOC comes from.
Really this part isn't that grand because I've since died out in enthusiasm from the beginning, so let's just say what it is.
I'm impressed. There's a scene in KH in which Axel comes and finds Kairi, and he says, "I tell ya Kairi, you've got a lot of guts, jumping right into the darkness like that." And props to the VA for bringing that element in it. Of sarcasm, mockery. When I heard him say that, saw him coming through the portal of darkness, I felt legitimately terrified in my soul. Maybe, if Vexen had had a heart this was the feeling Axel would have given him. This is the man who has burned a man alive. This is the man who will stop at nothing to turn Sora into a heartless.
Because I know his story in Days, I'm sympathetic to him, but I don't doubt that if I had watched KH2 first or played it, I would have hated him passionately. But because I see Days, I see a lot of things that hurt me. Sora's "Like I care" when told by Saix that Axel is looking for him. Roxas's memory supposedly coming back (or does it actually ever? fully? Is what we see as an audience the same everything Roxas receives) at the end of the prologue when Axel says, "Silly, just cause you have a next life", and that brief moment that Roxas and Axel share. I looked it up a lot and there's a novel someone linked to (http://stray-mikeneko.livejournal.com/952.html#cutid1), and a forum (http://forums.khinsider.com/kingdom-hearts-ii/153096-axels-death.html) that talked about Axel's death, and one particular potent part was:
I was actually under the impression from the story fragments I read that Axel wound up getting completely wrecked by Saix twice, the first time being when Saix stole Kairi from him and smacked him down with one of his shockwaves (after which Namine saves him and Riku calls him a wimp), and the second time being when Axel went back to try to retrieve Kairi from the Organization's clutches and caught a claymore to the chest for his efforts.
...Axel actually spends about half his time in the (translated extra scenes from the) novelization wracked by pain and wondering if he's going to die, actually. D="
Quick unrelated thing: I have generally a lot of things to say on a topic, but I've found if I tell anything lengthy and windy to someone who isn't even involved in it, it doesn't really help that much. If anything, it makes me feel annoyed: 1) For just wasting my time talking all of anything out to someone who won't be able to give it back to me, and 2) For putting myself in that position in the first place. I like to think I have a lot of relevant, very good things to say, but at the same time, I'm mostly terrified of being proven wrong and corrected, and I just really long for someone who can handle me when I just want to talk. I've got a friend who really loves intellectual conversation, but I have a personal tendency to be swayed easily, so I'd rather just have it all laid out, I think.
I also am sad about my friend. I wish she was into Star Trek or interested in scifi. I feel like I shouldn't have talked all of that Star Trek to her cause really I let myself down.
I'd like to talk about topics like this. Or just, have someone read it. I think in the end, this thing I want to say isn't really something I want to argue about. I just want to have it out there, in my mind, and worded. I'd love to have a discussion that builds on the entire reason I wrote this essay, though. I'd really love that. So I guess in essence, the first part of this essay isn't necessary--except it is? Cause it explains the background behind why on earth I find this tidbit so fascinating and I love it.
The Fanfiction of Japanese Video Games vs Western TV Shows
(aka, I built up this essay so strong, but ended so weak because my drive to do it left me so w/e I guess, at least it's somewhat out there)
ANYWAY, let's start. To clarify, when I mention Japanese media, I mean a combination of Anime/Manga and their video games. When I say Western media, I mean mostly their TV shows (i.e. Sherlock, Supernatural, Prison Break, CSI). Though I know I should consider with some cartoons (Gravity Falls, Steven Universe), I'm looking at fanfiction/fanart from fandom as I've been in it, which means I primarily and specifically am focused on TV shows when I say Western media, however.
To begin with, there's something I've been noticing a lot lately, and it's mostly because I grew up and participated in fanfiction for Japanese media and then eventually moved onto Western media. There's a huge difference--what Japanese media tends to suffer if it's mostly in Anime/Manga is typecasting, very simplified personality traits, typecasting, and a whole slew of problems when it comes to identifying what a character would and wouldn't do in its fanfiction, its fanart, etc. It's easier to do this in Western media ( because they're reflections of people--they have flaws, they under go challenges, and it's generally written well plotwise--or if not real life, then realistic reactions and careful development and interesting dynamics. The character in A/M will lack such an established ground work--they're caricatures, for the most part, and appeal to only a certain demographic of the population who is willing to suspend belief and not hold same values to these A/M characters they way they would real people. We like the "idea" of these characters. They're like a fast-paced mcdonalds, and they're very relatable, and we don't have to hold them to the same flaws and disappointments of real life people.
That being said, I feel like Japanese video games also go through this, but they benefit from a strong storyline, and also strong characters, as much as some may be typecasted, or, in the case of a series called Kingdom Hearts (which I'll be comin back to, actually because the entire point of this essay was because I wanted to talk about one character in particular because of this one scene. This essay outlines both my working thought proccesses around these concepts, before I can move onto the actual character, and the sheer delight I find in Kingdom Hearts's complex characterization and phenomenal writing.
[There was a chance to talk about it, but I never got to, so I wanted to have it all written down. I have a tendency of forgetting. It's the same in real life, to be honest. If I don't say it right away, I'll forget. But in conversation, a lot of it just kind of sits out, so I wanted to establish what I wanted to say.
Also unrelated: I'm the biggest believer in the fact that the first draft is the best one. (Then again,that doesn't explain why when I write big bangs or stories I'm really concerned about, I write five million versions/drafts.)]
I established with a friend my beliefs about the entire fanfiction vs fanart ic/ooc: Fanfiction, a character or a cast being IC/OOC is more obvious in areas (Japanese specifically), but generally not much touched upon in Western media. I think it has a great deal to do with the fact that we've been getting a lot of kinks up in there (and y'know, with stuff like Kink Memes, it's all essentially popularizing the idea of just getting off with the kink first and not even caring too much about characterization), and by this time, the once and mighty "flame" reviews sort of disappear into this entire abyss. It's easier to find IC/OOC problems in fanfiction, but it's a lot harder in fanart.
Fanart is a larger interpretative artistic field on its own. A character can be drawn OOC be it body type (let's take, for example, an Ursula drawn skinny) or expression. However, there's a huge controversial (is it?) or is it just an argument currently ongoing between how a character is in their source media and how an artist chooses to convey it. I'd call it the Freedom of Interpretation. There's no bound rule that dictates an artist isn't allowed to choose to draw the canon character a different race, and by limiting this interpretation it sort of hinders and at the same time brings to the question about our ability to shape and mould the media as fans versus dictating what it SHOULD be and policing it.
Also should be included is the distinction of fanart's liberty as opposed to fanfiction (I find "Fun" is allowed and shared liberally with both fanart and fanfic because if it's under the name of fun, nobody's supposed to be considered too strict or serious anyway--but let's say we just nod to that and then exclude that for the sake of specifying this point) to do things. People don't think twice about art that puts two characters together. It's a visual medium. I feel seeing something rather than reading it as words--words is a little bit more personal, because it's inevitably you that creates the image; the words prompt. I feel often at times there's more satisfaction with fanfiction versus fanart because of how far it stretches across to soul (writing style, tone, character voice), and how rereading over and over again means so much more and soaks into you, because it's an act you participate in.
So, in essence, IC/OOC means a lot more to fanfiction because at the end of the day: Are you reading for the idea of these characters (OOC), or are you reading for them (IC+Interpretations that make sense ICly)?
Anyway, back to point, the IC/OOC thing of fanart/fanfiction is very important because that's what establishes Fandom. This is what fandom churns out, this is how fandom receives and interprets and churns out the material. I feel these days, we're focusing less on the IC things--I mean sure, it's appreciated, but at the end of the day, it's about mass production. I sound like an old person, but I think it's not a bad thing at the same time, to have more of the things you love. However, that also boils down to the fact that the quality of the things you love that Fandom provides can vary a lot, and that is where the IC/OOC comes from.
Really this part isn't that grand because I've since died out in enthusiasm from the beginning, so let's just say what it is.
I'm impressed. There's a scene in KH in which Axel comes and finds Kairi, and he says, "I tell ya Kairi, you've got a lot of guts, jumping right into the darkness like that." And props to the VA for bringing that element in it. Of sarcasm, mockery. When I heard him say that, saw him coming through the portal of darkness, I felt legitimately terrified in my soul. Maybe, if Vexen had had a heart this was the feeling Axel would have given him. This is the man who has burned a man alive. This is the man who will stop at nothing to turn Sora into a heartless.
Because I know his story in Days, I'm sympathetic to him, but I don't doubt that if I had watched KH2 first or played it, I would have hated him passionately. But because I see Days, I see a lot of things that hurt me. Sora's "Like I care" when told by Saix that Axel is looking for him. Roxas's memory supposedly coming back (or does it actually ever? fully? Is what we see as an audience the same everything Roxas receives) at the end of the prologue when Axel says, "Silly, just cause you have a next life", and that brief moment that Roxas and Axel share. I looked it up a lot and there's a novel someone linked to (http://stray-mikeneko.livejournal.com/952.html#cutid1), and a forum (http://forums.khinsider.com/kingdom-hearts-ii/153096-axels-death.html) that talked about Axel's death, and one particular potent part was:
I was actually under the impression from the story fragments I read that Axel wound up getting completely wrecked by Saix twice, the first time being when Saix stole Kairi from him and smacked him down with one of his shockwaves (after which Namine saves him and Riku calls him a wimp), and the second time being when Axel went back to try to retrieve Kairi from the Organization's clutches and caught a claymore to the chest for his efforts.
...Axel actually spends about half his time in the (translated extra scenes from the) novelization wracked by pain and wondering if he's going to die, actually. D="
I think I don't nkow a lot of stuff, but I just. It was terrifying. Axel's tone, and that's it.
In fanfiction, I don't doubt that Axel will be kind and caring to Xion and Roxas. And I don't doubt, as fans, we'll tease him, make fun of him a bit (i'm only a teeny tiny bothered when I'm stunned by how powerful a character he is, but then again, we make fun of Riku, so I just need to get over myself). Because it's primarily from a Japanese media that was localized worldwide (and it's one of the longest running fandoms on this side of the earth if we don't look at the FF series and is continually being updated), we have a lot of contribution from Fandom in both topics and throughout the years.
At the same time, I wonder if anyone's written exactly how fucking terrifying Axel is? (If they have, I'll tell you it hasn't been terrifying enough.) And at the same time, wouldn't it be a gem?
I have this thing, too, where....if I want to do it badly enough I'll mentally shit on whatever's out there for it enough because what I'm thinking is better than you did when you were writing it. It's kind of a mean thought, but it's what pulls me through. I like to think of it this way--if I don't have any goddamned confidence in my own writing, what's going to happen to me? I already depend a lot on other people's input of my stories to say they're good or not. I'd rather not remain so reliant when I used to be so independent. I want to be proud of my own works, to be able to point out, yes yes I did that, and not be ashamed.
I don't want to be wrong. I write right.
I write just the right way for me.
Which is why, really, I think everyone should write the fanfiction they want to read, along with just reading it. You may just be surprised I think.
My final line gets away from me because that wasn't even the intention when I started, but I like this. I like having a journal. It's nice. Thank you for stopping by!
In fanfiction, I don't doubt that Axel will be kind and caring to Xion and Roxas. And I don't doubt, as fans, we'll tease him, make fun of him a bit (i'm only a teeny tiny bothered when I'm stunned by how powerful a character he is, but then again, we make fun of Riku, so I just need to get over myself). Because it's primarily from a Japanese media that was localized worldwide (and it's one of the longest running fandoms on this side of the earth if we don't look at the FF series and is continually being updated), we have a lot of contribution from Fandom in both topics and throughout the years.
At the same time, I wonder if anyone's written exactly how fucking terrifying Axel is? (If they have, I'll tell you it hasn't been terrifying enough.) And at the same time, wouldn't it be a gem?
I have this thing, too, where....if I want to do it badly enough I'll mentally shit on whatever's out there for it enough because what I'm thinking is better than you did when you were writing it. It's kind of a mean thought, but it's what pulls me through. I like to think of it this way--if I don't have any goddamned confidence in my own writing, what's going to happen to me? I already depend a lot on other people's input of my stories to say they're good or not. I'd rather not remain so reliant when I used to be so independent. I want to be proud of my own works, to be able to point out, yes yes I did that, and not be ashamed.
I don't want to be wrong. I write right.
I write just the right way for me.
Which is why, really, I think everyone should write the fanfiction they want to read, along with just reading it. You may just be surprised I think.
My final line gets away from me because that wasn't even the intention when I started, but I like this. I like having a journal. It's nice. Thank you for stopping by!