Nick Wrote:

    "I felt the idea that Kasumi was [insert plot element here]
    just didn't get developed convincingly, and left the whole
    fic not working for me as a result."

Harsh, yes, but if it's your honest opinion and you're sharing it with
genuine feeling ... it's good commentary for the author.

At the risk of sounding rude, this is not a good way of looking at it.
This falls under characterization interpretation.

Most flamewars that have erupted due to C&C are the direct result of
someone challenging a characterization interpretation.  Each person will
see the characters in a different way, even with the same material; this
is natural, as people have different backgrounds and beliefs.

Hmm. I'd respectfully disagree here.

It's true that there's a great deal of room for interpretation. Kasumi can
be conviningly portrayed as a genius-in-hiding (John Biles), a psychotic
killer (Richard Lawson), a soulless, empty person (Rutsch or Doenime), or
just an ordinary person with a bit of leftover trauma (my personal take).
Or the adance agent of an alien battle fleet (another personal take. ;)

However, the interpretation we're given should fit into the actions of the
character as seen in the manga. Lawson, in 'Appearances', has Kasumi
kbrutally murder several people. Yet her actions jibe perfectly with her
actions in the manga.

Now, let's say we see a fanfic in which Kasumi spends the entire story
screaming at people, making a mess, and using foul language... and none of
the rest of the cast bats an eye.

This is fine, as long as we find out a convincing reason _why_.
(Everyone's been drugged, and Kasumi's possessed by the ghost of Marilyn
Manson.) But if no reason is given, and the author just expects us to
assume that Kasumi would do this - no. Because it doesn't fit with her
past actions in the manga.

It's a matter of comparing past behavior to that in the fic. Based on
Ranma's ego and tendancy to accept challenges, you could make a case that
he needs to feed his self-esteem, that he just likes to fight, that he
secretly has a death wish, that he's highly competitive, or even that he's
an alien from Bogleg V here to scout of the local fighting talent. But you
_can't_ make a case that Ranma never accepts a challenge to fight, because
he clearly does.

Now, if you want to make Ranma start turning down all challenges, you can
do so - if you explain and show why. Ranma accidentally kills someone, and
swears off serious fighting. Ranma is badly hurt, and loses his nerve.
There are any number of reasons that can explain a change in behavior, but
you've got to _show_ the reader.

There are no Fanfic IC Police to enforce any of this, of course. But I
believe that keeping a character within logical or believable bounds will,
for the majority of fics, improve them.

-ML