At 02:27 AM 5/15/99 PDT, you wrote:

Well, as a randomly appearing lurker on the FFML who tends to thrust strong 
opinions where they receive kill-file threats, I'd just like to say that I 
agree with Krista, Gary, and Reid on this. That's it, that's all. ;)

Well, it's good to hear from you as well, and your position is well
respected.  I'm not sure where this fits in, since you haven't taken
issue at all with anything I've stated, but simply have generally
announced support for Krista, Gary and Reid (only one has replied
so far).

Nevertheless, I should take this time to restate the key questions
debated over in this argument.

1) Is it necessary for a fanfic author to adhere to source 
characterization?

2) Does out-of-characterization issues affect the quality of a fanfic?

3) Do a majority of readers use series consistency as a litmus test
when judging the quality of a fanfic?

To the first two question, I have to say that both deal with entirely
subjective matters, dependent on the views of the audience and the 
author.  There is some disagreement on the answer to the last question
(well, actually it's more a matter of "I'm right" and the other side
ignoring the statistical facts on this issue).  I have shown quite
clearly that series consistency has either a very small place in the
sense of a general audience or none at all.  I've pointed out that
a general audience does not include the fandom, and therefore the
general audience may be for the most part ignorant about source 
characterization and other consistency issues.  The other side has...
well, thrown analogies that are far more humorous than they are
relevant.

-The Reverend Prez

*  *  *

+-----------------+-<The Badass Reverend of Funk Prez>---+
|    Presley H.   | Political Science / Computer Science |
|    Cannady II   | and Electrical Engineering Undergrad |
|<revprez@mit.edu>| at the Mass. Institute of Technology |
+-----------------+-<Anime Manga Development Group>------+
+     Author of Liars and Dreamers, a Robotech fanfic    +
+-------<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/1731/index.html>-+
| MIDN 4/c A-2-2 SQD, MIT-Harvard-Tufts NROTC Battalion  |
|_|"The art of war is of vital importance to the state"|_|