And just worthless. SI fics aren't even worth being read.

If you don't want to read it, don't read it, gubby.  Don't come crying 

to us.

  Look, I've had enough of you people out there that think that flaming 
Always Man (or whatever he chooses to call himself) is okay. It is NOT. 
It is LOOOOONG passed the time when this little secret war came to a 
close. If you don't like what he's saying, keep it to yourself, or send 
it to HIM, not US. 

In the scale of 'SI-ness', the Foreign Exchange Student premise rates 

a 

3 out of 4, a straight SI being a 4 and inserting North American 
cultural references being a 1. Anything past a 2 is worthless.

Who made this up?  And what constitutes as a 2, then?

  He did. The scale reads from 1 to 4, 1 being cultural references, and 
4 being a blatent self-insertion. 

You could do this exploration much more effectively without resorting 

to 

an SI--but then, the point is that you want to write an SI. The 
'exploring the less talked about characters' is nonsense.

Then "Roses of Shadow" (Lawson) is nonsense, since it talks about 

Kodachi

mainly.  "Nabiki: New Horizons" is nonsense, since it talks about 

Nabiki.

  Ummm.... yeah. 

But let's see... you've just said an SI is pointless, and the 

"exploring

less talked about characters" is nonsense.  

  What IS nonsense is 'exploring less talked about characters,' and, 
judging from the author's list, IS nonsense. Yes, people do explore 
characters like Kodachi, or Nabiki, or Ukyo (how she made the author's 
list is beyond me). 
  The 'less-talked-about' characters are the guys who show up only once 
in the story, and, if they're lucky, a second time. 

Which means you're telling him
not to write anymore because *you* don't want him to.

  You like putting words in other peoples' mouths? He made a suggestion 
that it could have been done better without the self-insertion (be it as 
it was). He's entitled to his opinion. 

You've just contradicted yourself too.  So your C&C is pointless.

  YOUR C&C is pointless (why do I suddenly feel like Blade right now?). 

"That's my story and I'm sticking to it."--JMS, creator of Babylon 5. 
"If you go to Z'ha'dum, you will die."--Kosh, Babylon 5.
"Understanding is a three-edged sword."--Kosh, Babylon 5. 
"Never show your hand until the end."--me, being profound. 

--Razorclaw X
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