Essay #2 - by Esther Nairn

Chexyione says: "Esther, this is the best X/F essay I've read in a long time. Great job! To everybody at home reading this: prepare to be 'wowed!'" There's one thing that bothers me about this pairing in its ideal sense, and only one--you have to throw a bit of Slayers canon out the window when you try it. Xelloss is a Mazoku, and by definition, they're evil and unable to love. Filia, on the other hand, is not bound by those restrictions as a character. BUT if you throw away the nitpicky details about a Mazoku's character restrictions, and write Xelloss based on what he shows us about himself in the anime (and maybe the manga, if you can read it), you can actually write an interesting and entertaining romance. There's something about pairing people who are seemingly opposites together in romantic fiction that makes it attractive to people, and I think that's what's driving the X/F pairing crowd. But, since we're throwing out a bit of Slayers canon in that we're discounting the limitations of a Mazoku, consider this: are they *really* opposites? While it's true that Xelloss seems laidback about his plans in the same way Lina and Gourry are (that P in their profiles), Filia seems more comfortable when she's on a pre-defined track. She can adapt and change her plans, but, especially in the beginning of Try, she demonstrates incredible focus and determination in reaching her planned goal: to save the world. It's also true that Filia seems a bit more extroverted than Xelloss; she certainly seems to say more to people than he does. Is that because of his higher plans as a Mazoku, or because he is really not all that inclined to talk to people? I'm not sure, but the point is moot; Filia doesn't seem to be afraid of people, or uncomfortable around them, unless they're disrupting her plans. So are they really opposite in their inherent natures? Xelloss is a pretty observant person, one who is not inclined to rely on intuition to come to conclusions. In the same way, Filia is also very concrete and observant. She only gets off track when something or someone so seriously interrupts her plans that she momentarily forgets them, and even then it seems as if it's only done for comedic effect (ie Filia's Godzilla impersonation early on, and her pottery obsession in the screwball episodes of Try). Like Ameria, she seems idealistic sometimes, but I don't think that's because they necessarily share the same temperament--I think it's more because Filia is so literal and concrete with her plans that they seem like ideals. They aren't general notions, either--they're specific, unlike Ameria's more vague concept of justice. Don't let Filia's zeal to achieve her goals fool you--she really is aware of the world around her, and how it affects her plans. When Lina-tachi make it pretty clear that they don't really care about her particular plans, she picks up on that right away and deals with it. She may turn a deaf ear to some obstacles, like the physical limitations of Lina-tachi on the way to the temple, but it's only due to her obsession over reaching her goal early in the season (which mellows somewhat by the end). Another example: when Filia finds out that the ancient dragons were killed by her race, she systematically tries to find out if it's true, despite her shock, and then accepts it--a very fact-oriented thing to do. Much in the same way, Xelloss sticks to facts, not speculations. He's always the one to calmly point out the obvious, and explain what's going on to others when they don't see it themselves. One example is when Martina cursed Lina. Xelloss pretty much explained that to everyone, in his own way. He quite logically states facts, like when he pointed out to Lina that during a crisis, people always run to their most important possessions. He figured out about Arumace's armor and his nature as an Astral being via his observation, as well. And, you notice, when important things are going on, he's there to observe it firsthand if it makes sense to do so. He goes with what's right in front of his face. Consider also that Filia and Xelloss both like to lead people, each in their own way. Xelloss is much more subtle about it, perhaps due to his duties to his Mazoku master, or perhaps due to his introversion. Filia is very directive, although toward the end of the season she is much less afraid to let Lina lead once she established that Lina and she held the same goal. Notice how Xelloss and Filia fight early in Try? It's not so much because they have different ideas about what everyone should do. Their ideas are actually pretty similar (note their similar train of thought in explaining their motives right after Lina-tachi's first battle against Valgarv), but they simply refuse to agree on the basis that they are Mazoku and Ryuzoku. Notice how they react to being paired together in the marriage episode? They act in the same way! They even say the same thing! Now consider their tendency to size things up rather cool-headedly, instead of warm-heartedly. First, let's establish one thing: Filia doesn't talk to Valgarv, or try to be nice to him, because she's a softy. She has a very strong sense of what's right and what's wrong, and she wants to know who did what wrong and what she can do to rectify the situation. A few examples of Filia's tough-mindedness: when she first persuades Lina to join her and save the world, she coolly assesses that Lina's afraid of her sister, and shows no remorse that Lina went through the shock she did. She makes no bones about the fact that Zel screwed up royally after the train episode, causing even the ever-arrogant chimera to humbly apologize. While Ameria, who IS a softy, isn't afraid to tell people what's right and wrong, she usually considers the feelings of her audience and modifies what she says according to it. Filia is not so considerate. Xelloss, at the same time, is clearly cool-headed. In every situation which he led Lina-tachi down the primrose path, he did so without showing one ounce of remorse--even to the point of mocking Lina by "apologizing" to her with a kiss in the doll episode in Next. He calmly assesses situations and deals with them in the most logical way, regardless of how people feel about it, unless people's feelings would get in the way. Xelloss is more socially aware than Zelgadiss, and he takes into account people's emotions in ways that Zel doesn't, but it's not necessarily because Xelloss cares about people's feelings. I could go on, but I think it's pretty much established by Astra already that Xelloss is a T and not an F. ^_^ So what does this all mean? Why go through their similarities and differences? To point out that, as long as you're not supremely nitpicky about Slayers canon, Filia and Xelloss have some of the ingredients to make a good couple. They're not exactly alike, but they're not the total opposites everyone takes them to be. They already appreciate the same kinds of things: directness of thought, rational, reasonable attitudes, and the practicalities of most situations. They each have a certain loyalty to their own goals, and while Xelloss is more laidback about how he achieves those goals, he is as adamant about them as Filia is adamant about hers. If they could be persuaded to admit it in the first place, I think they would find their understanding of each other's thought processes to be frighteningly refreshing. Their differences also make them a good couple. While Filia is generally tough-minded about things, she does have her tender moments. She genuinely cares about the people who are important to her, and she is willing to forgive (and even offer her life to) her enemies. She's definitely more of a softy than Xelloss, who is as cool-headed about what's important to him as Zelgadiss. I think even Xelloss could soften up to certain people, given that you get rid of a little canon. Filia is less Machiavellian than Xelloss, although she has her 'ends-justify-the-means' moments, too. And she has a much more firm sense of right and wrong than Xelloss. His more reticent nature could also cause Filia to think even more about what she's doing before she does it than she does already. Plus, Xelloss can be very charming, which is not as prevalent in Filia's character, despite her less introverted nature. These things balance each other out, maybe not the same degree to which Zel's and Ameria's differences do, but they do, nonetheless. A big difference between them is their attitude toward their goals, but it helps here that Xelloss doesn't seem quite as laidback about his plans as Lina or Gourry. He does have goals, like Filia. I think they could learn to understand each other's attitude toward goals and how people should reach them, especially since Filia seemed to mellow out a little toward the end of Try. It would probably still be a bit of a sticking point between them, but not to the point where they couldn't get along at all (whereas Ameria and Zel seem like much stronger Js, and would probably end up Fireballing their mates out of pure frustration if they were paired up with Ps instead of fellow Js, and vice-versa). In the end, Filia and Xelloss behave like a lot of people in romance stories you see on the silver screen and read about in books. They start out hating each other because of a bad first impression (sound like any other couple we know?) and major conflicts of interest. Once you throw aside the conflicts of interest, you have two people who would probably fight the idea of being attracted to each other tooth and nail, to the point of vehemently denying even sharing the same ideas with each other, much less mutual interest (like in the warring kingdoms episode in Try). Of course, there could be a lot of humor in the whole situation, which is what is sorely lacking in X/F fanfiction. Eventually, they'd come to see that they can work together, and even work together well (like in the finale of Try). Filia and Xelloss can personify a classic love/hate relationship, complete with lots of competition between the two, but paired with a genuine respect and concern for the other, which can turn very quickly into love. Love would come up fast, so fast that it would surprise and even scare them, but they would accept it, given some thought (emphasis on thought--while Filia would somewhat consider her feelings, and Xelloss would do a little of the same, their reaction to falling in love would be much more thought-directed than blind feeling-directed). Make no mistake--even in love, these two would still bicker back and forth, but do so with the understanding that it's not personal--a cool-headed approach that would suit them both. But their common mindset and their ability to work together when they put their minds to it could be exciting and gratifying, as well as trust-building. I could picture these two snuggled on a couch, discussing issues that are important to them, sometimes agreeing and sometimes disagreeing, but still comfortable with each other nonetheless. But, but, but (some of you may be saying) what about Slayers canon? How can you just blithely throw out the fact that Xelloss is a Mazoku? The answer to that is pretty logical, actually. Make no mistake, I do not, under any circumstances, advocate blindly throwing out parts of Slayers canon to serve the needs of fanfic writers. I believe fanfiction should be as true to the canon of the original series as possible, unless it is specifically meant to be counter-canon (like when people put the Slayers cast in modern settings (which can be very interesting and enjoyable to read, when done right), or when people write strictly humor pieces that exist for entertainment purposes more than anything else). That said, I believe ANY romance fic is, by definition, counter-canon. Why is that? Because there was no real romantic overtones besides the subtle (and, ok, a few not-so-subtle) hints we have here and there (which quite obviously lean toward certain pairings, as Astra has pointed out before). To do anything more than what the Slayers anime (and novels/manga, if you're writing with them as your basis instead of the anime) does in the way of romance is not official. The creator of Slayers himself purposely didn't include much romance, because he said he doesn't write it well. Since romance fics are counter-canon already, in my humble opinion, it's ok to throw out the one piece of Slayers canon that prevents you from writing a good romance, so long as you do it carefully and try to keep the characterization as close as possible. Finally, fanfiction is all about having fun while being creative. While some would disagree with me that writers should try to stick to canon as much as possible depending on the type of fic they're writing, I think we can all agree that we can't take things SO seriously that we can't have fun while being creative. After all, if Slayers wasn't fun to think and write about, then we probably wouldn't be thinking much about these kinds of topics in the first place, would we? Astra's side note: Nice MBTI style analysis, Esther! For those of you out there who care to know, I think Xelloss is an ISTP and Filia is an ESFJ, maybe EST/FJ - haven't decided for sure yet! ^-^ +¬ close