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inkstain_agency made a very good rant/essay about the state of the Legend of Mana fandom, and she(?) raises some very good points. You can find it here.
I wanted to comment, but then I decided to make my response it's own seperate journal entry. Mostly so I could post it around at other places. XD I'll probably end up echoing some of her own points because it's pretty much how I feel as a whole about the Legend of Mana fandom.
I would have to agree with the points made that the fandom, for the most part, largely ignores the depth potential. As the arguement was made here, what happens/happened to the characters before, during and even after the events of their various story arcs is ripe for potential, and never touched upon - both by the game itself and the fandom. I'm sure just about anyone would like to see what happens before, during and after the fact. Heck, maybe one of the Story Arcs could be told from the point of view of a character other than the Hero and Heroine: Escad, Bud and Lisa, Pearl, Larc, Sierra... Maybe even Duelle or Li'l Cactus. The possibilities can be endless here. Not only would be different for a change, but it'd also be a refeshing "breath of fresh air" and add depth to certain characters. That'd be great now, wouldn't you think?
I would also have to agree with the point that there is too much over-emphasise on the Jumi Arc in the fandom. Granted, I like the Jumi Arc as much as the next LoM fan, but it's pretty much over-saturated the fandom and doesn't leave much room for the Fairy Arc, Dragon Arc, or even any of the secondary story arcs. There is also the issue of the World History encyclopedia that has such a rich and in-depth, well, history of the LoM world, and therefore there is countless potential there. Anuella the Puppeteer and Julio Liotte are actually my favorite Encyclopedia characters, even though there is so little of them to be found. Heck, the entire history of the Fairy wars and the Deathbringer wars is, well, let's just say that there's a lot to play with there. XD
And what about less comonly explored subjects? LIke Fa' Diel's politics? Culture? A closer look into the world as a whole? I'd like to see fics about that. And whatever happend to ol' Deathbringer and his big, bad empire? I can think of a lot of things and more.
Heck, I would love to see a few fanfics dedicated completely to Hamson and Skippie, and their assorted misadventures. XD ...Hmm... Come to think of it... Maybe I should write something for them. After all, they deserve it!
My thoughts on the Hero and Heroine, however, are slightly different. I like the fact that the game deliberately made them out to be "YOU" characters, so that fans and players could create their own personalities and backgrounds. This leads to fans and players better relating to the main characters, as well as adding one's own personal touch to the game and making it more real and emotional. Fandom wise, this has lead to varied effects. Some are very good, some are about average, and some are out-right annoying. But I think some things should be taken into consideration - mainly, what is canon about the Hero and Heroine. They are, as far as we know, able to use the magic contained within the Artifacts. They are also connected to the Mana Tree and presumably, the Holy Sword. They are, as far as we may know, very loving and compassionate people at their core. There is at least that much to work with.
With that said, I'll go ahead and say this: I have three different "versions" of both the Heroine and Hero - Heroine being dominant because she is the character that I play the most as. ^^; The "main" version I have for the Heroine and Hero -in both gameplay and my own fanworks - is Anli Bolnivard, the loud, short-tempered fiery Heroine, and Kaleb M'avyare, the quiet, shy, and gentle-natured Hero. For extra fun, there's a "Fire and Water" theme for them, respectively. The other two are Odin and Freyja Valdrasil - a twin brother and sister duo, and Tristan Neheriar and Isolde Laerad. I've yet to really, fully develop Odin and Freyja and Tristan and Isolde as much as I have done for Anli Bolnivard and Kaleb M'avyare, but at least the surnames are a good start. *rambling*
One thing I worry about in doing said fanworks is doing Anli and Kaleb's characters right. Fanart are pretty easy. Fanfiction is not. I'm scared to death that I'll mess them up and turn 'em into more of the same when that's not what I want to do. I want to write the Heroine and Hero as I see and love them. ^^; So yeah. I want to avoid the same ol', same ol' "perfect hero"/shojo-esque romance. ^^; *more rambling*
And hey, since the Hero and Heroine are a part of canon too, they also need good, believable and well-written fanfiction as well. I don't mind the different characterizations. That's what's meant for the characters and that's a fun thing in my view, but they too need just as much respect and (proper) love from the fanbase as everybody else. Putting them in a platonic gen-fic wouldn't hurt one bit.
That said, moving on...
I really don't treat Shiro Amano's manga as a part of the Legend of Mana canon, because it's a doujinshi. A very well-done and funny doujinshi that's fairly well known within the canon, but a doujinshi nonetheless. Unless SquareEnix explicitly comes out and states that Shiro Amano's doujinshi is official material, it is not canon. I am going to treat the canon within the Game, the Ultimania, and any artbook that's released by Square as part of the Legend of Mana canon. Heck, I'll even treat Brady's walkthrough as canon as well. This is the reason why the Ultimania is one of prized fandom possessions. It allows me to remain as close to the canon as I can possibly get.
That said, Amano-san's manga is very entertaining, though, and it does have some material to work with as well. Heck, even I'm influenced by it in my own LoM works. Whoops, I guess that makes me a hypocrite... ^^;;; Oh well. Got me there. Haha.
Moving onto the other characters and pairings.
To put it shortly, character bashing sucks, particularly if it's bashin Escad and Pearl. Please now, people... I happen to LIKE those two characters! It's immature, stupid, and it makes the fandom as a whole look bad. Please, please, PLEASE stop it already.
ElazulxHeroine. Ugh, ENOUGH! I'm so sick of seeing the pairing EVERYWHERE! It's the most annoying thing since modly sliced bread. It's over-written, over-hyped and it's saturated the fandom to the degree where I just... Wann take a rocket launcher and go around blasting these fangirls' crappy fanfiction to shreds. Elazul will never, ever express any sort of romantic or sexual interest in the Heroine or the Hero, and at most, regards them as a friend and comrade. The only person he really came close to expressing that sort of interest was Pearl/BlackPearl and maybe even Esmeralda. As far as the game's canon goes, gettin' hot and heavy with the Heroine is massively low on his list priorities. IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.
To give fans of the pairing some credit, though. I kind of feel for you. All of the bad fanfiction over-whelms the good fanfiction and there's not a lot of good fanfiction for this pairing (out-right nonexistant by this point with the exception of maybe a few fics that I could count on one hand), and I would feel the same sort of irretation if my OTP, EscadxHeroine, had received the same sort of treatment from the fandom. (And if that ever happened, I would be sad, go emo, mope around into my emo corner, slit my wrists and write bad poetry about the darkness of my souuuuuulll... And just be plain bummed.)
Well, I'll end that part of the argument before I start going into an angry tirade. Point made. Also would like to make the point that I happen to ship ElazulxPearl and ElazulxBlackPearl. Don't mind me... I'll just be in my emo-corner, keeping the darkness of my soul company. XD On that note, I for one, would love to see the canon pairings that are already within the game be featured more as well.
Going on to the actual characters... She pretty much already made her points on Escad, Elazul, Larc and Irwin. I'd like to add to that. Do keep in mind that Escad loves Matilda, or at least some has some very obvious affection for her, and is obviously straying down the wrong path in life. (I'm going to have a sympathetic and often biased view on him.) He's also convinced that he's right and Daenna's wrong - just like Daena is convinced that she's right and Escad's wrong. Do keep in mind that Elazul is not suddenly going to ditch Pearl because he is her knight, and he has made the decision to stay by her and protect her in the best way he knows how. Please keep in mind that Larc misses his sister - who is his only known family as far the game's canon goes and as far as we may know. All three, are, essentially "buttheads", and aren't going to suddenly become uber-romantic shojo heroic love-interests for any of the female characters in the game.
Speaking of the female characters... Do keep in mind that Daena, while nice, is somewhat naive, doesn't really come across forcefully in the game, and does care about Matilda. Both she and Escad are both trying to save Matilda and stop Irwin from his little "blow up the world" rampage. She's also convinced that she's right and Escad is wrong. Point made on those two. Sierra is a stubborn woman, and also quite proud at that. She only joined the Hero/Heroine really at the urging of Vadise the White Dragon. Also keep in mind that her brother's behavior is taxing and draining on her, him, and the dragons and whoever else becomes involved. Pearl is NOT, and I repeat, NOT a bitch, brat, whiny, or ditzy. What she is is a sweet, shy, endearingly cute and a very kind person and she DOES get a backbone later on the game. BlackPearl is NOT, and I repeat, NOT cold, calculating, distant nor is SHE some kind of bitch. She is a logical, calm, level-headed person who genuinely cares about the future of the Jumi, Florina and how to stop Alexandrite from going on killing even more Jumi and possibly wiping out the race. She even cares about Elazul, at first urging him to back away from Pearl, but then urges him to come closer instead and help her help the Jumi. And she obviously cares a lot about Florina.
I've already made my point about the Hero and Heroine earlier. Point made. Bud and Lisa aren't featured enough, but when they are, I normally don't many things go awry for their characters. Also, more Li'l Cactus please.
Now on to pairings! Oh yes, pairings! I'll pretty much go for just about anything that's not ElazulxHeroine - whihc is the one pairing that I absolutely hate hate HATE. Just about any good romance that realisically develops the characters, their bond, their problems, how they overcome said problems, how they come to terms with their affections... The whole nine yards. In short, some decent relationship building would be great. I'm okay with fluff, since I like to write it myself (especially for my OTP), just as long as it's well-written luff with some good grammar, spelling... The whole nine yards again.
Pairings I'd like to see and/or lean towards to? Well... EscadxHeroine for one, since it's my OTP (I've mentioned this multiple times), ElazulxPearl, HeroxEsmeralda (like most Hero/Heroine pairings, caution should be exercised), ElazulxBlackPearl, AlexandritexFlorina (I do mean Alex/Sandra)... Pretty much most Hetero pairings.
I also wouldn't mind seeing some Shonen/Shojo Ai pairings, as long as they're well-written out. Escad and Elazul aren't going to suddenly suck face and have hot gay man sex just because they pass each other on the road. That's silly, bad writting, and waaaaaaaaay way waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of character of the both of them. Same goes for the Hero and either one of them, or any other male subplotist. Same goes for any of the female characters two, particularly of y'all slash together two characters from a seperate Story Arc that have never met within the game.
And I really don't see any of the guys and ladies - especially the really strong-willed ones - being submissive. Doesn't fit.
Point made. Onwards to doggin' on the Japanese fandom.
LarcxHeroine. No. EscadxThat Penguin From the Jungle. FUCK NO! BudxHeroine. No. Fucking. Way. Get out of my fandom you creepy bastards. Beastially and Pedophilia-based pairings do not sit well with me. Yes, that includes HeroxLisa too. GET THE FUCK OUT OR I'LL HIT YOU WITH A BLUNT HEAVY INSTRUMENT. Now would be preferreed.
Elazul is not uke. Neither is the Hero, Rubens, Escad, Irwin, or Alex, whoever you slash next. Give 'em back their dignity please.
Dear god, please leave the Heroine alone. I've only seen this once or twice, but it irked me to no end. SHE IS NOT A FRICKIN' HENTAI CHARACTER! Keep her clothes on for god's sake! Same goes for the whole rest of 'em. Yes, I'm aware that this is the internet. Nothing is sacred on the interent.
Well, kudos to y'all anyway for some variety. At least some the minor characters get some well-earned love too. For that, I'm glad. Pokiehl is love.
Well, I've run out things to say for now.
Ending notes. I love Legend of Mana. For the most part, I also love the Legend of Man fandom too. I've been happily participating in it for nearly five and half years now, and I've been a loyal fangirl of the game since I was twelve years old. (That makes it eight years.) I've met some genuinely nice people in the LoM fandom, and I get the feeling we could all use a little break and get something a little different every now and then.
That is all. Have a good one y'all. This concludes my rambling/ranting.
I wanted to comment, but then I decided to make my response it's own seperate journal entry. Mostly so I could post it around at other places. XD I'll probably end up echoing some of her own points because it's pretty much how I feel as a whole about the Legend of Mana fandom.
I would have to agree with the points made that the fandom, for the most part, largely ignores the depth potential. As the arguement was made here, what happens/happened to the characters before, during and even after the events of their various story arcs is ripe for potential, and never touched upon - both by the game itself and the fandom. I'm sure just about anyone would like to see what happens before, during and after the fact. Heck, maybe one of the Story Arcs could be told from the point of view of a character other than the Hero and Heroine: Escad, Bud and Lisa, Pearl, Larc, Sierra... Maybe even Duelle or Li'l Cactus. The possibilities can be endless here. Not only would be different for a change, but it'd also be a refeshing "breath of fresh air" and add depth to certain characters. That'd be great now, wouldn't you think?
I would also have to agree with the point that there is too much over-emphasise on the Jumi Arc in the fandom. Granted, I like the Jumi Arc as much as the next LoM fan, but it's pretty much over-saturated the fandom and doesn't leave much room for the Fairy Arc, Dragon Arc, or even any of the secondary story arcs. There is also the issue of the World History encyclopedia that has such a rich and in-depth, well, history of the LoM world, and therefore there is countless potential there. Anuella the Puppeteer and Julio Liotte are actually my favorite Encyclopedia characters, even though there is so little of them to be found. Heck, the entire history of the Fairy wars and the Deathbringer wars is, well, let's just say that there's a lot to play with there. XD
And what about less comonly explored subjects? LIke Fa' Diel's politics? Culture? A closer look into the world as a whole? I'd like to see fics about that. And whatever happend to ol' Deathbringer and his big, bad empire? I can think of a lot of things and more.
Heck, I would love to see a few fanfics dedicated completely to Hamson and Skippie, and their assorted misadventures. XD ...Hmm... Come to think of it... Maybe I should write something for them. After all, they deserve it!
My thoughts on the Hero and Heroine, however, are slightly different. I like the fact that the game deliberately made them out to be "YOU" characters, so that fans and players could create their own personalities and backgrounds. This leads to fans and players better relating to the main characters, as well as adding one's own personal touch to the game and making it more real and emotional. Fandom wise, this has lead to varied effects. Some are very good, some are about average, and some are out-right annoying. But I think some things should be taken into consideration - mainly, what is canon about the Hero and Heroine. They are, as far as we know, able to use the magic contained within the Artifacts. They are also connected to the Mana Tree and presumably, the Holy Sword. They are, as far as we may know, very loving and compassionate people at their core. There is at least that much to work with.
With that said, I'll go ahead and say this: I have three different "versions" of both the Heroine and Hero - Heroine being dominant because she is the character that I play the most as. ^^; The "main" version I have for the Heroine and Hero -in both gameplay and my own fanworks - is Anli Bolnivard, the loud, short-tempered fiery Heroine, and Kaleb M'avyare, the quiet, shy, and gentle-natured Hero. For extra fun, there's a "Fire and Water" theme for them, respectively. The other two are Odin and Freyja Valdrasil - a twin brother and sister duo, and Tristan Neheriar and Isolde Laerad. I've yet to really, fully develop Odin and Freyja and Tristan and Isolde as much as I have done for Anli Bolnivard and Kaleb M'avyare, but at least the surnames are a good start. *rambling*
One thing I worry about in doing said fanworks is doing Anli and Kaleb's characters right. Fanart are pretty easy. Fanfiction is not. I'm scared to death that I'll mess them up and turn 'em into more of the same when that's not what I want to do. I want to write the Heroine and Hero as I see and love them. ^^; So yeah. I want to avoid the same ol', same ol' "perfect hero"/shojo-esque romance. ^^; *more rambling*
And hey, since the Hero and Heroine are a part of canon too, they also need good, believable and well-written fanfiction as well. I don't mind the different characterizations. That's what's meant for the characters and that's a fun thing in my view, but they too need just as much respect and (proper) love from the fanbase as everybody else. Putting them in a platonic gen-fic wouldn't hurt one bit.
That said, moving on...
I really don't treat Shiro Amano's manga as a part of the Legend of Mana canon, because it's a doujinshi. A very well-done and funny doujinshi that's fairly well known within the canon, but a doujinshi nonetheless. Unless SquareEnix explicitly comes out and states that Shiro Amano's doujinshi is official material, it is not canon. I am going to treat the canon within the Game, the Ultimania, and any artbook that's released by Square as part of the Legend of Mana canon. Heck, I'll even treat Brady's walkthrough as canon as well. This is the reason why the Ultimania is one of prized fandom possessions. It allows me to remain as close to the canon as I can possibly get.
That said, Amano-san's manga is very entertaining, though, and it does have some material to work with as well. Heck, even I'm influenced by it in my own LoM works. Whoops, I guess that makes me a hypocrite... ^^;;; Oh well. Got me there. Haha.
Moving onto the other characters and pairings.
To put it shortly, character bashing sucks, particularly if it's bashin Escad and Pearl. Please now, people... I happen to LIKE those two characters! It's immature, stupid, and it makes the fandom as a whole look bad. Please, please, PLEASE stop it already.
ElazulxHeroine. Ugh, ENOUGH! I'm so sick of seeing the pairing EVERYWHERE! It's the most annoying thing since modly sliced bread. It's over-written, over-hyped and it's saturated the fandom to the degree where I just... Wann take a rocket launcher and go around blasting these fangirls' crappy fanfiction to shreds. Elazul will never, ever express any sort of romantic or sexual interest in the Heroine or the Hero, and at most, regards them as a friend and comrade. The only person he really came close to expressing that sort of interest was Pearl/BlackPearl and maybe even Esmeralda. As far as the game's canon goes, gettin' hot and heavy with the Heroine is massively low on his list priorities. IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.
To give fans of the pairing some credit, though. I kind of feel for you. All of the bad fanfiction over-whelms the good fanfiction and there's not a lot of good fanfiction for this pairing (out-right nonexistant by this point with the exception of maybe a few fics that I could count on one hand), and I would feel the same sort of irretation if my OTP, EscadxHeroine, had received the same sort of treatment from the fandom. (And if that ever happened, I would be sad, go emo, mope around into my emo corner, slit my wrists and write bad poetry about the darkness of my souuuuuulll... And just be plain bummed.)
Well, I'll end that part of the argument before I start going into an angry tirade. Point made. Also would like to make the point that I happen to ship ElazulxPearl and ElazulxBlackPearl. Don't mind me... I'll just be in my emo-corner, keeping the darkness of my soul company. XD On that note, I for one, would love to see the canon pairings that are already within the game be featured more as well.
Going on to the actual characters... She pretty much already made her points on Escad, Elazul, Larc and Irwin. I'd like to add to that. Do keep in mind that Escad loves Matilda, or at least some has some very obvious affection for her, and is obviously straying down the wrong path in life. (I'm going to have a sympathetic and often biased view on him.) He's also convinced that he's right and Daenna's wrong - just like Daena is convinced that she's right and Escad's wrong. Do keep in mind that Elazul is not suddenly going to ditch Pearl because he is her knight, and he has made the decision to stay by her and protect her in the best way he knows how. Please keep in mind that Larc misses his sister - who is his only known family as far the game's canon goes and as far as we may know. All three, are, essentially "buttheads", and aren't going to suddenly become uber-romantic shojo heroic love-interests for any of the female characters in the game.
Speaking of the female characters... Do keep in mind that Daena, while nice, is somewhat naive, doesn't really come across forcefully in the game, and does care about Matilda. Both she and Escad are both trying to save Matilda and stop Irwin from his little "blow up the world" rampage. She's also convinced that she's right and Escad is wrong. Point made on those two. Sierra is a stubborn woman, and also quite proud at that. She only joined the Hero/Heroine really at the urging of Vadise the White Dragon. Also keep in mind that her brother's behavior is taxing and draining on her, him, and the dragons and whoever else becomes involved. Pearl is NOT, and I repeat, NOT a bitch, brat, whiny, or ditzy. What she is is a sweet, shy, endearingly cute and a very kind person and she DOES get a backbone later on the game. BlackPearl is NOT, and I repeat, NOT cold, calculating, distant nor is SHE some kind of bitch. She is a logical, calm, level-headed person who genuinely cares about the future of the Jumi, Florina and how to stop Alexandrite from going on killing even more Jumi and possibly wiping out the race. She even cares about Elazul, at first urging him to back away from Pearl, but then urges him to come closer instead and help her help the Jumi. And she obviously cares a lot about Florina.
I've already made my point about the Hero and Heroine earlier. Point made. Bud and Lisa aren't featured enough, but when they are, I normally don't many things go awry for their characters. Also, more Li'l Cactus please.
Now on to pairings! Oh yes, pairings! I'll pretty much go for just about anything that's not ElazulxHeroine - whihc is the one pairing that I absolutely hate hate HATE. Just about any good romance that realisically develops the characters, their bond, their problems, how they overcome said problems, how they come to terms with their affections... The whole nine yards. In short, some decent relationship building would be great. I'm okay with fluff, since I like to write it myself (especially for my OTP), just as long as it's well-written luff with some good grammar, spelling... The whole nine yards again.
Pairings I'd like to see and/or lean towards to? Well... EscadxHeroine for one, since it's my OTP (I've mentioned this multiple times), ElazulxPearl, HeroxEsmeralda (like most Hero/Heroine pairings, caution should be exercised), ElazulxBlackPearl, AlexandritexFlorina (I do mean Alex/Sandra)... Pretty much most Hetero pairings.
I also wouldn't mind seeing some Shonen/Shojo Ai pairings, as long as they're well-written out. Escad and Elazul aren't going to suddenly suck face and have hot gay man sex just because they pass each other on the road. That's silly, bad writting, and waaaaaaaaay way waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of character of the both of them. Same goes for the Hero and either one of them, or any other male subplotist. Same goes for any of the female characters two, particularly of y'all slash together two characters from a seperate Story Arc that have never met within the game.
And I really don't see any of the guys and ladies - especially the really strong-willed ones - being submissive. Doesn't fit.
Point made. Onwards to doggin' on the Japanese fandom.
LarcxHeroine. No. EscadxThat Penguin From the Jungle. FUCK NO! BudxHeroine. No. Fucking. Way. Get out of my fandom you creepy bastards. Beastially and Pedophilia-based pairings do not sit well with me. Yes, that includes HeroxLisa too. GET THE FUCK OUT OR I'LL HIT YOU WITH A BLUNT HEAVY INSTRUMENT. Now would be preferreed.
Elazul is not uke. Neither is the Hero, Rubens, Escad, Irwin, or Alex, whoever you slash next. Give 'em back their dignity please.
Dear god, please leave the Heroine alone. I've only seen this once or twice, but it irked me to no end. SHE IS NOT A FRICKIN' HENTAI CHARACTER! Keep her clothes on for god's sake! Same goes for the whole rest of 'em. Yes, I'm aware that this is the internet. Nothing is sacred on the interent.
Well, kudos to y'all anyway for some variety. At least some the minor characters get some well-earned love too. For that, I'm glad. Pokiehl is love.
Well, I've run out things to say for now.
Ending notes. I love Legend of Mana. For the most part, I also love the Legend of Man fandom too. I've been happily participating in it for nearly five and half years now, and I've been a loyal fangirl of the game since I was twelve years old. (That makes it eight years.) I've met some genuinely nice people in the LoM fandom, and I get the feeling we could all use a little break and get something a little different every now and then.
That is all. Have a good one y'all. This concludes my rambling/ranting.