Dare no Miko Da?
[Or, Why Kristin Disses Fannish Jealousy Over Fictitious Characters]

The miko phenomenon has always boggled me.

Perhaps Fushigi Yuugi is in part to blame for providing such a convenient metaphor, but I think rabid possessiveness among female fans is the real culprit. Does it strike anyone else as rather unhealthy when people adore/admire/lust after a certain fictional character to the extent that they insist on attempting to stake some kind of exclusive claim on him/her? Even worse, when they try to bully others into recognizing that claim as somehow valid?

When I encounter persons announcing themselves to be so-and-so's "miko" or "senshi" or, pardon my eye-rolling, "koibito," especially those who proclaim that they are "official" or "registered" by some authoritative third party, it's difficult not to snigger. To say nothing of certain keepers of LIACs, some of whom seem so determined not to share their prey that Sei-chan would have to be impressed.

Seishirou: Maa, boku ni wa mattaku kankei arimasen kedo... *smile*

Now, I can understand the desire to play with pet characters, and I realize that some of this is done merely out of a sense of fun, but what's the point in trying to lock your favorites in a little box labeled "ORE NO MONO DA!!!" and sitting over it glowering? Current thought on intellectual property, of course, holds that only creators of characters and the publishers who distribute their works have any real rights over those creations. One can also argue philosophically that when a work of art leaves the hands of the artist, it belongs equally to the audience that perceives it, not in any legal sense, but because the viewers/readers make the work partly "theirs" through the act of perceiving and interpreting. If that's the case, then there are as many different versions of a character as their are people who carry that character in their hearts. To deny that or to insist that a single fan has a monopoly on a character is beyond ridiculous.

Thankfully, there are some who have a sense of humor about their possessiveness. I remember a "keeper of Seishirou and Subaru's cigarettes," among other notables, and that sort of thing has definite amusement value. But it's disturbing to see people taking their fandom quite so seriously that they somehow think a character is theirs to lend or deny to others. I'm all for sharing. What if, havens forfend, CLAMP had decided not to share with anybody?

- Kristin
Cleaner of Seishirou's shikigami's birdcage
Kasumi Karen's former pimp
Yue's hair stylist
C ni korosareta yatsura no miko ["Miko of those guys that C killed in the street"]
and
Namiya Tomoaki's porn editor

p.s. Pissed-off mikos are welcome to defend their position by summoning their various deities to smite me from above.