it's ya boi Lafcadio here with another really weird tag project/question
So, browsing some Webfishing images, I happened to notice that a few editors have taken to treating the player-created characters as fan characters. This feels notably distinct from most uses of the tag, given that fan characters often consist of the likes of Dr. Voir, Sonichu, and Milky Way, characters with notable visual deviations who never appear in their associated series.
At the same time, some games (mostly MMOs) do allow players to make custom avatars of their choosing. Aside from noncanonical proportions, all of the following character tags are pretty normal Final Fantasy XIV player avatars who you can encounter ingame: Mary Muffin, Sabrith Ebonclaw, and Tayelle Ebonclaw, to pick out a few. We also have a Warrior of Light tag for FFXIV's player stand-ins. Plurmp Dankenstein McFlurnten is a Sonic Forces player avatar created by the Game Grumps. We also have a custom character (Sonic Forces) tag for Sonic Forces's player stand-ins.
You can make a "webfisher", talk to people, and get your player avatar drawn with a bus-sized penis. You can make a Hrothgar and he will undergo the Warrior of Light's journey, while simultaneously appearing in a supporting role if somebody else needs to defeat Ifrit, Titan, Garuda, etc. I feel like this distinction is a meaningful difference for tagging purposes, as these characters are all "real", even if your playthrough doesn't put other players' avatars in a starring role. Yet, there still exists design space for "unrealistic" fan characters in both games.
One could easily make a Webfishing OC who is an otter that sells boat rides, or a fish that sucks off anybody who catches it. These are fan characters in the truest sense: unrealistic, unrestrained by canon, and unrelated to a player character. Some FFXIV OCs are anthropomorphic Carbuncles who will never appear in any unmodded capacity, like Naomi (carbuncle) and Kamari (Marvae). Again, unrealistic, unrestrained by canon, and unrelated to a player character.
What's more, some of these games feature "official" player character stand-ins, such as Meteor Survivor for Final Fantasy XIV, and Gadget the Wolf for Sonic Forces. These are not "fan characters" in any sense, but they are player avatars, and you can even recreate them in their respective games.
Tags like Warrior of Light and custom character (Sonic Forces) thus seem to exist in this hybrid state where they can simultaneously represent official characters and the avatars of individual players... but at the same time, these more "realistic" characters are asked to share tags with fan characters who are created separately from player characters.
- final_fantasy_xiv fan_character
- final_fantasy_xiv warrior_of_light
- meteor_survivor
- sonic_the_hedgehog_(series) fan_character
- sonic_the_hedgehog_(series) custom_character_(sonic_forces)
- gadget_the_wolf
On the other hand, no such "player avatar" tag exists for Webfishing... and yet most of the Webfishing posts are player avatars.
Thus, I have a few questions about what to do with fan character/player avatar tags moving forward.
- Should Webfishing have a "webfisher" tag to match Sonic Forces and FFXIV? Do we agree on a policy that each game should have a separate tag for its player avatars?
- Should "Warrior of Light" and "custom character (Sonic Forces)" have aliases or implications for a broader "player avatar", or should they be entirely separate?
- Should specific player characters like Braces Cat and Mary Muffin imply their associated "player avatar" tags, or should these tags be reserved for unnamed/unknown player avatars?
- Should Meteor Survivor and Gadget the Wolf imply "player avatar", since they aren't "fan characters", or should they be separate so that people can search for Meteor/OC and Gadget/OC pairs?
- Should all Webfishing/FFXIV/Sonic Forces/etc. player avatars count as "fan characters", even though some fan characters aren't player avatars?
Updated