Diversity in fanfic

[jessara40k_lj]

I recently read a comment about where diversity in OCs wouldn't be desirable, and I could only think of three fandoms that it wouldn't really make logical sense to write racially diverse OCs.

In Austen fanfic, if you focus on the same class as Austen did I suspect your OCs would primarily be white.

In racially specific mythological fanfic it would be logical to use OCs from the original culture of the myths.

In Ruroni Kenshin fanfic I'd find it odd to read about any non-Asian OCs.

Does anyone else have thoughts on the matter?

Comments

[idiosyncrasy-z.livejournal.com]

I usually don't have a problem with racially diverse OCs unless there is an obvious feeling that the author just stuck the character in the fic just so that they don't feel as though they're being racist by only having members of the same race in a story.

But that's kind of stupid if you think about it. For most anime fandoms that people write fan fictions about, the ideal local is Japan. Japan just happens to be one of the most racist countries in the modern world but yet fan fiction writers try so hard to be politically correct even when dealing with a culture that praises sameness and crushes unique feelings/looks underneath their heels.

But my feelings on these racially diverse OCs can be summarized pretty well by this: It's not that it would be strange to see an non-Asian (ie, African-American, American) OC in a Ruroni Kenshi fan fic because of the diversity, it would be strange because it doesn't go along with either the established historical timeline accepted by historians now or because canon just can't support the introduction of a new race into a country like Japan.

Take the Twilight series for example: In the first book, there are no other described races besides the white vampires and humans and the Native Americans. In the movie the entire town of Forks has suddenly turned into the "Small World" ride at Disney. There's so much diversity that was uncalled for and even though it made the movie somewhat bearable, it was completely against the canon of the books.

But these are just my opinions and hey...I could be wrong.

[jessara40k.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I agree. I only thought of RK as a Japan specific anime because most of the anime I read fanfic for is either set across the world or has demons.

If Forks is a small town it would be weird for it to have a lot of different races there, wouldn't it?