By: Rebo Valence
I was prompted to write this by a recent Lemure by Rainbow decrying
what
s/he deemed to be unreasonable restrictions upon the writing of
fanfics. I'm
here to defend these rules because they were made for a purpose, even
if they
are purely optional.
First off, the reason people make the complaints she stated are because they are sick of reading stories where these cliched points come up. After a few fanfics in which Sailor Earth shows up, you really get annoyed with seeing her, whether she's Usagi's mother, Mamoru's lost sister, or the bastard child of Chibi Chibi and Artemis. The biggest problem with
having Sailor Earth is that Mamoru technically IS Sailor Earth-he has
the
star seed for Earth, just as the Sailor Senshi have the star seeds for
their
respective planets. Same for Sailor Sun. These ideas have been
retreaded
over and over again, and there's really only so much that can do with
them.
Sure, some people have pulled off Sailors Earth and Sun with a hint of
originality, but even then most of us are sick of it. Instead of
having
Sailor Earth show up, why not try to think up new sailors? There is an
abundance of celestial bodies that you can cull Senshi from, and don't
feel
that you can't invent your own planets or even create Senshi that have
no
celestial basis whatsoever.
Next, I'm not sure where Rainbow came up with "No Senshi from the
Future," because that's one I haven't seen too often. However, the
break-up
stories are extremely old. Seeing how Usagi and Mamoru have already
had one
major break-up during the course of the show and been separated
innumerable
times, having them do it again is rather unoriginal. Also, most of
these
break-up stories are written by people who have very little grasp of
the
character of Mamoru in the first place. They assume that he broke with
Usagi
because he didn't really love her. They disregard the fact that their
only
break-up was actually caused because Mamoru was receiving nightmares
foretelling Usagi's death if their relationship continued. The other
major
problem with the break-ups is that the reader knows they will
eventually
make-up, seeing as they have a daughter in the future and rule a
kingdom
together. If they don't get back together again, then you'll still
annoy
your reader because they HAVE to get back together because of you're
supposed
to be following canon.
I get annoyed when people tell me that I'm restricting them by
saying
they shouldn't write certain things in a Sailormoon fanfic. If you
want to
write whatever you want without people getting upset, then don't write
fanfics. The whole point of fanfiction is to take a pre-established
universe, with a set story and it's own rules and well-established
characters, and come up with a situation for them. So if Usagi breaks
up
with Mamoru because he's a wifebeater and she starts dating Taiki who's
the
Prince of Cybertron, then you're completely ignoring the universe
you're
writing in. The point of fanfiction isn't making the characters do
whatever you want. Just because you think Ami would be a great goth
doesn't
mean you can make her dress in black and listen to Marilyn Manson.
It's out
of character. That's the price for writing fanfiction-everything your
characters do must seem logical for their established character traits.
If
you want people to do whatever you want, write your original stories
with
your own characters. Sorry if I seem rude, but that's just reality.
Fanfiction offers many possibilities for expanding the universe of
Sailormoon, but it is not a blank slate for you to write whatever you
want.
Comments on this article can be sent to: Rebo Valence.
