Ordinarily I'd let the author defend himself in a case like this, but since
I was one of the prereaders of this story, that makes it a criticism of my
work, too. Besides that, I think the writer of this story is deserving of a
bit more respect and consideration than you showed in your response.
So... that said, I disagree with your assessment. There is only one point
in this story in which a character is cast in a seriously negative light,
and even at that point, that character has not acted outside of the realm of
behavior demonstrated in the manga. This is not to say that this character
would behave that way under normal circumstances, or even a significant
percentage of the time... but it is certainly within the realm of potential
behavior for that character in what they would classify as a desperate
situation... and the scene in question is one that character would consider
desperate... especially if pressure was being applied (as it is at several
points in the manga) to that character. Thus, while this character was
perhaps portrayed in a villainous role... that role is not necessarily OOC
for that character under the particular circumstances.
Furthermore, when considering the view that one gets of events, one must
consider the character whose viewpoint the events are being observed from.
In this case, the thoughts of the character whose "eyes" are being employed
for this scene certainly would not be the most flattering toward the
character in question. Just because a character thinks something does not
necessarily mean the author thinks that way... and a discerning reader can
see the difference between objective and subjective viewpoints... in this
case, the viewpoint is decidedly subjective. However, it is *precisely*
this character's viewpoint which is essential to making the scene in
question what it is... and the scene is a critical point in the story. As
such, I fail to see how you consider this superfluous.
I don't like character bashing, and I don't like gratuitous OOC behavior.
Since I preread this story, it therefore follows that I saw neither in this
work.
That's pretty much all I can say; anything more would require spoilers, and
since you very carefully avoided them, (an effort which I as a reader
appreciate, even though I am already familiar with this story) I will do the
same.
If you would like to discuss this further, I'd be happy to take it up with
you in private email.
Stormwalker
--opinionated? yes. stubborn? that, too. but only when I think I have a
valid point.
----- Original Message -----
From: "DB Sommer" <sommer@3rdm.net>
To: "Nicholas Leifker" <nightelf@thekeep.org>
Cc: <ffml@anifics.com>
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2002 10:29 AM
Subject: [FFML] Re: [fanfic][Ranma] No Dominion
You know, this could have been a good piece, save for the completely
unneccesary villainization (and OOC behavior) of a character. Most people
probably won't even detect it, since it's been horribly overused to the
point where it's more of a standardized fanfic convention (like the idea
that Akane hits Ranma every time he's obnoxious or the existance of an
'Amazon Cabinet of Love Potions') than having any reasonable basis on the
actual series (which implies the exact opposite direction would be taken).
In 'ND's case it's even worse than most since there's absolutely no reason
for it. It adds nothing whatsoever to the story, other than to go out of
its
way to cast a character in a far more negative light than they ever really
were. Do I think in this case it's bashing? I'm not sure, but probably
not.
I would guess it comes more from relying too much on automatically using
fanfic convention (a sin I HAVE been guilty of on more than one occasion)
than actual antipathy of the character, though I could be wrong.
I will say it's well written and the prose flowed beautifully. Actually
those are probably contributing factors to why I pointed it out in this
piece rather than others it's been used in; it stands out all the more
because it's so terribly out of place. My recommendation, axe them
completely and read through it again. You'll discover the story isn't
changed in the slightest, since what you put in was uneccesary and
gratuitous.
Just my two cents worth.
D.B. Sommer
(Who is tired of seeing fanfic cliches and being told how 'great and
awesome' they are, and will probably get flamed for it)
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