"Jiro Maeda" <hiryu@tri-isys.com> wrote:

Though this tread is very interesting...I really found it interesting
believe it or not... this argument still sums up to one thought... How a
character will act in a stiuation given this and that fact, I can not say
if either or neither of you is right or wrong ( only the person who created
these characters can and neither of you guys are her, right?) Sorry to say
this people but this is a debate that's been in the FFML since I can
remember, and the answer is quite simple: there isn't really a canon on how
a character will act given this set of situations and this set of
difficulties, there is no resl answer just like the debate on which came
first, chicken or egg.  Sorry people but this thing's been getting old.

Jiro, most every kind of C&C discussion doesn't have a definite right or
wrong. (Spelling and grammar stuff is about the only exception.) Who can
authoritatively say whether a given story is exciting or boring, for
example? That doesn't mean it shouldn't be discussed. I don't expect
Nick to necessarily agree with what I say, but I'm glad he is willing to
listen to and consider it.

IMO, there's a ton of difference between this discussion and a "Best
babe" debate. We're talking about whether the events in a specific fic
are believable given the nature of the characters. That's an important
question for fanfiction. If the characters in a fanfic aren't
recognizable as the ones we all know and love, then it ceases to be a
fanfic. Part of C&C is evaluating how believable a story's
characterizations are. If someone were to have a problem with this in
one of my fics, I would want -- no, *demand* -- that they tell me so.


Gary Kleppe
http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics