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Self-Contained Canon
Sep. 24th, 2010 12:24 pmIt's not really fair to expect someone to embark on an all-out research project before 'fic writing, is it?
By which I mean that, when a new game like, say, Fire Emblem (FE7) or Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon hits the shelves out in the wide world, and people play that game and form conceptions about the universe and characters, and then hypothesize or write 'fic, isn't what they come up based on that media text valid even if they don't bring in FE6 or FE3? Do people have to trudge off faithfully to Serenes Forest to read fan-translated scripts and designers' notes before their informed perceptions of a game can be judged acceptable?
Well, of course they don't have to! And while Fire Emblem as a prequel contains clear tie-ins to its predecessor (Eliwood has a son named Roy. No arguments!), no one playing Shadow Dragon can reasonably predict some of the developments in that game-verse any more than someone playing Dark Dragons and the Sword of Light back in 1990 could have predicted plot twists that weren't dreamed up yet. Any more than someone playing Path of Radiance could foresee some of what came their way in Radiant Dawn.
Short form: It was OK to 'ship Ike/Elincia circa FE9. It was OK to imagine a number of possible futures for Eliwood and the gang that don't mesh with FE6, based solely on the text of FE7. And it's actually not a capital crime to 'ship Merric/Linde... or other pairings[*]... based on what FE11 hands to the player. And FE12 still isn't available overseas yet!
Maybe we canon-compliancy freaks need to have a little more fun.
* Specifically I'm thinking Marth/Minerva here because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
samuraiter referenced it recently. That one is totally fair based on FE11, in my personal opinion, and several of my non-LJ gamer friends latched onto it for whatever reason. All these friends were guys, oddly enough. But there is something to it, however unintentional and non-canonical.
By which I mean that, when a new game like, say, Fire Emblem (FE7) or Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon hits the shelves out in the wide world, and people play that game and form conceptions about the universe and characters, and then hypothesize or write 'fic, isn't what they come up based on that media text valid even if they don't bring in FE6 or FE3? Do people have to trudge off faithfully to Serenes Forest to read fan-translated scripts and designers' notes before their informed perceptions of a game can be judged acceptable?
Well, of course they don't have to! And while Fire Emblem as a prequel contains clear tie-ins to its predecessor (Eliwood has a son named Roy. No arguments!), no one playing Shadow Dragon can reasonably predict some of the developments in that game-verse any more than someone playing Dark Dragons and the Sword of Light back in 1990 could have predicted plot twists that weren't dreamed up yet. Any more than someone playing Path of Radiance could foresee some of what came their way in Radiant Dawn.
Short form: It was OK to 'ship Ike/Elincia circa FE9. It was OK to imagine a number of possible futures for Eliwood and the gang that don't mesh with FE6, based solely on the text of FE7. And it's actually not a capital crime to 'ship Merric/Linde... or other pairings[*]... based on what FE11 hands to the player. And FE12 still isn't available overseas yet!
Maybe we canon-compliancy freaks need to have a little more fun.
* Specifically I'm thinking Marth/Minerva here because
samuraiter referenced it recently. That one is totally fair based on FE11, in my personal opinion, and several of my non-LJ gamer friends latched onto it for whatever reason. All these friends were guys, oddly enough. But there is something to it, however unintentional and non-canonical. 
