“I’m Usagi Tsukino, age 16, in the first year of high school. I’m a bit rash and a crybaby, but I'm actually the agent for love and justice, Sailor Moon.”
-Usagi Tsukino / Sailor Moon, last line of the series.
I have a strong sense of what is important to me, and an internal monologue that loves to rant. These two things often fall together.
When I see injustice, my first instinct is to rant about it to myself: complaining, but also saying how I wish things were different. It formed into something of a speech on how I wish I could use that passion to ameliorate the ubiquitous suckiness. And over the years, it began to sound like a mission.
My rant goes, “I want to stand up for those who actually care about others, because there’s no one to defend the defenders. I want to fight bullies and power-hogs and trolls because they’ve submitted to corruption. There is no excuse for corruption or cruelty, and I won’t allow it. I won’t allow innocent people to be discouraged from doing what they believe in. I won’t let people throw their creative potential away because it’s easier to make fun of those who are actually trying than to actually try for something yourself. The world needs more love, more peace, more freedom, more creativity, more support, more compassion. And I will do all I can to make that happen.”
tl;dr – Mean people suck. I should stop them.
Yeah, it’s unwieldy. But I noticed, if you paraphrase it slightly, it’s a conspicuous parallel to:
“I am the champion of love and justice, here to right wrongs and triumph over evil…”
Growing up, I heard that speech a million times, but I didn’t really “get it.” It sounded like an overly emotional plea and/or bad translation. But coming full-circle, having gone through “battles” of my own, felt those feelings, and independently composed similar words… I get it now.
And suddenly my ranting doesn’t seem so pointless and unwieldy. I’m still passionate – maybe even MORE passionate, now that I know I’m not alone – and now my words are all the more potent. Sometimes I envision of my own speech, and sometimes I substitute it with the one by Naoko Takeuchi. Sometimes it’s enough just to imagine the meatball-headed warrior, and I feel empowered. She’s become my magic talisman. She’s Sailor Rune.
I’m wondering if anyone else out there has had that experience; when they find inspiration in revisiting one of their childhood heroes. It’s not really “copying” them, per se, since the feelings were there before the words or association. And, anyway, if someone wants to fight for truth, justice, and the geeky way, who’s going to stop them?*
It’s like there’s this bonus stage after figuring out what’s important to you. If you figure out who else is fighting the fight alongside you, your power multiplies. Especially if you discover a fandom in which you have a strong emotional investment, you get a “Confidence Power Up.**” It’s not just you alone out there, fighting trolls and lazy peers and meandering bosses. You’re on a superhero team, along with your hero and all your favourite characters, their creators, and your fellow fans.
In “Sailor Moon,” when the senshi power up for a big battle and they all start glowing, I thought of it as an out-there special effect for the sake of having a visual metaphor. Now, when I’m “calling upon the power of the moon,” it’s like I can actually feel that glow. The metaphor has evolved from special effect to potent personal symbol.
I encourage you to tap into the hidden potential of your fandom. Use that pure fan energy, that pure love, to be a multiplier for all the “real world” things you care about. In the Sailor Moon universe, a clumsy schoolgirl became the savior of the galaxy. That potential lives in all of us – and that means you.
*Must…refrain…from…making…supervillain…joke.
**I wonder what colour mushroom that is.
-Tamara Hecht