steffan wrote:

Frankly, I don't quite see why canon otaku and non-canon otaku
should be so hostile toward each other.  A well-written story is
just that, whether comedy or drama, or WAFF, dark, or lemon.  My
only complaint about any of the stories I've read, and especially
the ones listed above, is that I would really like to see what
happens *next.*  :)

  I think Tangent identifies the problem, that too many authors stray so
far from the manga or anime characterization without any justification
and this detracts from the story.  I've seen fanfics that were well
written, except that the characters were so far removed from the
original that the cognitive dissonance got in the way of the story
telling.  By using a particular character name, the author evokes a
number of related associations.  If I write a story that is not a parody
with a character named Ranma Saotome who is a 3 ft. tall Belgian midget
who dances with the New York City Ballet and has no water-related curses
and no association with martial arts, unless I provide some tie between
my "Ranma Saotome" and the Takahashi "Ranma Saotome", the name of the
character is a distraction.  

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax
materiam possit materiari?

 Tantum materiae quam materietur marmota monax si marmota
 monax materiam possit materiari

 - whimsy
	     .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'