The flaw in your reasoning is very simple.  You are using your own, HIGHLY
BIASED opinions of Ranma 1/2 (your description of them, not mine) to color
your arguments, and as a result you're stifling the creativity of the
writers of theis ML.  
<snip>
posts that I will point out later tonight.  However, this is the one that
is causing the most damage to fanfic writing, so I feel it necessary to
expound on it.  
<snip>
Fanfiction thrives on the fact that we take the roads that Takahashi
DIDN'T.  It lives on diversity and fresh, innovative ideas on the
characters.  These are the roads you walk, and the roads that you seek to
close to others with your slander.  

I will be honest: I showed no joy in attacking your characterization.  Even
as late as this Sunday, I railed against such behavior.  However, this was
the only way to show the error of your ways.  I showed you what we would
have seen if you had been given the work as a reader to critique.

Mind you, it isn't that we do not appreciate your critiquing; we do.
However, your critiquing, due to several facts (not the least of which
being you post it on a public forum), is causing more harm to fanfiction
than it is good, now.  Fanfiction must be an open field.  Yes, that
occasionally means you get a stinkbomb now and then.  However, that also
means you occasionally get a gem down the line.  You must take the bad with
the good; anything else is a lie.  

Nick, while I'm not unsympathetic towards the position that a critic
should be held to his own standard of criticism when writing, and while I
hold your writing and your commentary in very high regard, I think you're
taking this too far.  The accusation that Gary is "stifling creativity" and
"causing harm to fanfiction" is an extremely serious one.  I would like 
to know why you believe you are justified in making it.  Are there people
who have said to you: "I would have written (x) story, but I thought Gary
Kleppe would tear it down, so I didn't write it," or similar sentiments?  Or
people you know have gone back and made major changes in their stories
in order to fit what they perceive to be Gary Kleppe's ideals?  We are all
affected in some way by the opinions of others, and Gary voices his without
fear on a regular basis, but to say that he is somehow causing harm to 
the overall body of fanfiction writers is a really harsh allegation, and one 
which I would not feel comfortable making myself unless I had some very
compelling evidence.  

I know that your point here is not that Gary should stop writing his critiques,
rather that he should modify his attitude... but the impact you claim he's 
having seems rather more drastic than I would project.  

Gary gives honest, thoughtful critiques, and he does so on a regular basis.
Whether I agree with him or not, I can't ask for anything more out of a 
person on this list.  I am aware that you have read more of his critiques
than I have, but I have never felt that he was "slandering" another author
by stating his honest opinions.  I have never seen him fail to explain one
of his statements when he is asked or challenged to provide more 
clarification.  If you disagree with any of what I've said, please let me
know.  I know that you dislike what you perceive as Gary's attitude 
in his critiques (that you believe he invests himself with greater authority
than any one person merits -  excluding Takahashi, perhaps), but asking
him to tone it down is very different from asserting that he is harming
fanfiction as a whole.

I have to wonder, if you believe that Gary is somehow causing harm to
the overall body of fanfiction, does it really do that much good to fanfiction
to attack him in this way for offering his critiques?  Or might it discourage
others from offering comments and criticism?  Perhaps you believe that
it will help others offer better or more balanced C&C, and I couldn't argue
with you one way or another which is true unless we actually heard from
a lot of people who told us how they're affected by what's been said.  Still,
I think it's something you should consider, given the stance you've taken
about Gary's critiques. 

Grayson Towler
grayson@rigroup.net

http://www.rigroup.com/~grayson/relentless