the art of OCfying a NPC, and why that fixes me
Let me preface this post with this statement: I grew up online in the Dragon Ball fandom.
If you've ever spent time in this fandom (or any relatively old Shonen Jump fandom for the matter) you've probably encountered instances where people having headcanons of existing characters are harassed and ridiculed for "not following canon" — Goku can't be autistic or asexual, for example. Vegeta can't be trans. Piccolo can't be black-coded because he's an alien (never mind that there's a sick video circulating around where someone dressed up as Piccolo was killing it in a ballroom Halloween party last October).
Now I consider myself pretty canon-compliant, and I'm of the opinion that OCfying an existing character should still be believable in the sense that the fundamental elements of what makes that character who they are should be preserved — however, what those fundamental elements are is going to vary from person to person.
It's always why I feel so strange when people insist that canon must be adhered to, no changes are allowed lest you "ruin the sanctity of the source material". Is it so unbelievable for Ysayle or Estinien to be Duskwights, or for Daidukul to have originated from the Dotharl? Who dictates that Haurchefant must stay dead, or that Thancred can't have a darker skin tone than what we see in game? We're playing a game where the producer himself has a back story for his Lalafell black mage that would have been considered "lore breaking" by the standards of a lot of so-called lore purists.
And here's the writer's own attempt at OCfying Thancred :]
Fiction, and fan work in specific, is by nature transformative. I think to expect people - wonderful humans with an expansive, rich imagination informed by their experiences in life, the communities they live in, the stories they immerse themselves into and enjoy - to strictly adhere to what is considered "acceptable" defeats the purpose of why we create. To treat a body of fictional work like a body of religious scripture1 or a rule book is stifling to the mind and the heart - so there's no reason for anyone to dictate how anyone should write their stories.
In a lot of ways, seeing how this community in general puts their own flair and reshape their favorite NPCs in their WoL/OC stories in this game healed me. By huge contrast to what I experienced before, here people are really exercising their creative muscle to bring to life even NPCs that maybe get 10 minutes total of screen time in this entire game itself; I've even seen people who took event NPCs and made them their own! It's a refreshing contrast to having to see groups of people harassing and bullying others over character interpretations.2
In an age where so many people are more willing to let a machine do all the writing and art for them, the magic of writing stories & making art with one's own imagination and efforts make it much more magical to me. So I hope, despite the horrors, you'll continue to make magic with your own heart and soul. OCfy that favorite NPC of yours now.
The writer needs to emphasize that he's Muslim and his frame of reference when he points out "religious scripture" is the Quran; discussing the nuances of how religious text isn't immune to human interpretation is irrelevant to this post and hopes that people understand this analogy clearly.↩
yes, I know the problems that exist in my previous fandoms with regards to this topic exists in this fandom too, but consider the fact that prior to FFXIV, I've never even dabbled into developing and making OCs beyond designing them at surface level, and "OCfying" a favorite character comes with a resignation that there are people who won't like it and will make it everyone's problem.↩