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I figured I should create a post about this and put it on my blogs as a proactive measure so that anyone who sees me refer to "character tiers" down the road will know what I'm talking about.
( What is the tier system? )
( The tiers themselves )
Of course, the thing about the tier system is that it only works in series that actually have ensemble casts. If there's only a few characters in a story, or only a few characters of any importance whatsoever, then the tier system doesn't really apply and isn't necessary to make sense of the cast in the first place. For best results, use it on a series with a large ensemble cast that contains lots of character development and fleshing-out at multiple tier levels (like "Shiki" or, in a way, Harry Potter).
( What is the tier system? )
( The tiers themselves )
Of course, the thing about the tier system is that it only works in series that actually have ensemble casts. If there's only a few characters in a story, or only a few characters of any importance whatsoever, then the tier system doesn't really apply and isn't necessary to make sense of the cast in the first place. For best results, use it on a series with a large ensemble cast that contains lots of character development and fleshing-out at multiple tier levels (like "Shiki" or, in a way, Harry Potter).
My two cents on "canon" in fanfiction
Dec. 13th, 2013 04:53 pmSo, those of you who follow my sporkings may notice that I'm actually not the biggest stickler for canon there is. Yes I'll complain if I see something that contradicts canon (particularly if it's a character behaving in an OOC way), but it's not my primary focus when I spork or otherwise analyze a fanfic. If the fic is interesting enough (for good or for ill), it's kind of an afterthought. For awhile now, in fact, it's been my impression that after a certain point, if a fic is sufficiently interesting or straight-up crazy it kind-of doesn't matter whether it adheres to canon or not (though I do tend to get annoyed if I see a fic where you could replace the names of the characters and locations with anything and have difficulty noticing).
Case in point: sometime ago I found a Pokemon DPPt fanfic that featured, among other things, Saturn and Jupiter as cousins from England and Canada (respectively); Mars turning Saturn into an Eevee for no reason in the hopes that he can escape from Cyrus, who's now an alcoholic; an autopsy on Hunter J in which they discover that she apparently has had sex and is pregnant for reasons that are (near as I can tell) never adequately explained; and a bit in which Pokemon characters (who may or may not exist in canon) travel to Edinburgh, Scotland, to take on a case with the cast of "CSI: New York." It also contains lines like this:
"I think you guys are panicking," I sighed. "I'm breathing just fine, but I do feel a little sick..." the Charizard roared slightly.
"We should pretend that she's a dragon and take her to a vet," Mac blinked.
"Or pretend she's a mutated orange lizard with wings," Stella shrugged.
Needless to say, the story contradicts canon in far too many ways for anyone to name; but at the end of the day, who cares? I mean, what can you really say to a line like that? "Ha ha, this fic's so bad that it has a Charizard interacting with Mac and Stella from "CSI: New York," in which pokemon don't exist?
Case in point: sometime ago I found a Pokemon DPPt fanfic that featured, among other things, Saturn and Jupiter as cousins from England and Canada (respectively); Mars turning Saturn into an Eevee for no reason in the hopes that he can escape from Cyrus, who's now an alcoholic; an autopsy on Hunter J in which they discover that she apparently has had sex and is pregnant for reasons that are (near as I can tell) never adequately explained; and a bit in which Pokemon characters (who may or may not exist in canon) travel to Edinburgh, Scotland, to take on a case with the cast of "CSI: New York." It also contains lines like this:
"I think you guys are panicking," I sighed. "I'm breathing just fine, but I do feel a little sick..." the Charizard roared slightly.
"We should pretend that she's a dragon and take her to a vet," Mac blinked.
"Or pretend she's a mutated orange lizard with wings," Stella shrugged.
Needless to say, the story contradicts canon in far too many ways for anyone to name; but at the end of the day, who cares? I mean, what can you really say to a line like that? "Ha ha, this fic's so bad that it has a Charizard interacting with Mac and Stella from "CSI: New York," in which pokemon don't exist?
Blast from the past?
Dec. 7th, 2013 03:48 pmSo, recently I've run across this little page again, for the second time since I uncovered it two or so years ago.
For what it's worth, I don't actually think I agree with everything the man who wrote it said. I don't think you have to be sickeningly polite, or phrase everything as an opinion, for the person you're critiquing to get it. But I think he's right to say that critique is not and never should be about venting, and that it is possible to come on too strong, even if what you say is factually correct (and he's absolutely right to say that there's a middle ground between "brutal honesty" and only saying nice things).
I also like that he draws a distinction between critiquers, whose purpose is to help a writer improve his/her work, and critics, whose job it is to convince an audience whether a work is worth their money or not.
If I ever write a fantasy series, I may put it through that site before I do anything else with it.
For what it's worth, I don't actually think I agree with everything the man who wrote it said. I don't think you have to be sickeningly polite, or phrase everything as an opinion, for the person you're critiquing to get it. But I think he's right to say that critique is not and never should be about venting, and that it is possible to come on too strong, even if what you say is factually correct (and he's absolutely right to say that there's a middle ground between "brutal honesty" and only saying nice things).
I also like that he draws a distinction between critiquers, whose purpose is to help a writer improve his/her work, and critics, whose job it is to convince an audience whether a work is worth their money or not.
If I ever write a fantasy series, I may put it through that site before I do anything else with it.
(no subject)
Dec. 1st, 2013 09:37 pmLegato is seriously the best name for a male Gardevoir in the history of ever.
*Sigh* In other news, I'm debating whether I should continue to capitalize the names of pokemon or whether I should switch to using the lower-case versions. This just came up because I'm writing a research paper on RL animals, and while some reports capitalize their names (it's apparently quite common in birding circles, for example) most don't. I'm inclined to think I will continue to capitalize them, just because if it's consistency I'm after, it'll look a lot less consistent if I suddenly switch to using lower-case names.
*Sigh* In other news, I'm debating whether I should continue to capitalize the names of pokemon or whether I should switch to using the lower-case versions. This just came up because I'm writing a research paper on RL animals, and while some reports capitalize their names (it's apparently quite common in birding circles, for example) most don't. I'm inclined to think I will continue to capitalize them, just because if it's consistency I'm after, it'll look a lot less consistent if I suddenly switch to using lower-case names.
Aaand, the first ever entry in the Awkward Fanfic Theatre is…
Title: What Pretty Girls Get
Author: GoodbyeCrimson
Fandom: Shiki
Pairings: MasaoXMegumi
Warnings: Abuse
Summary: “MasaoxMegumi.Oneshot.Megumi's always been prettier than Kaori...so why does she get the feeling that the plain-faced girl has something she doesn't? And why is she starting to enjoy hanging out with that creep Masao...?”
( Contains spoilers for Shiki )
Title: What Pretty Girls Get
Author: GoodbyeCrimson
Fandom: Shiki
Pairings: MasaoXMegumi
Warnings: Abuse
Summary: “MasaoxMegumi.Oneshot.Megumi's always been prettier than Kaori...so why does she get the feeling that the plain-faced girl has something she doesn't? And why is she starting to enjoy hanging out with that creep Masao...?”
( Contains spoilers for Shiki )
Awkward Fanfic Theatre: Intro
Nov. 11th, 2013 10:31 pmAwkward Fanfic Theatre is an idea I’ve been kicking around for a little while now, but which I was only recently inspired to actually make a reality.
The basic idea behind Awkward Fanfic Theatre is to give me a venue to discuss those fanfics I found which I thought were awkward or uncomfortable or strange or silly, in some way which I thought was notable but not extreme enough to bear a full-on sporking. I won’t be going through these fics line-by-line—instead you’ll find a lot of commentary interspersed with quotes to help me make my point. Sort-of like the format for my Twisted! sporking but with less summarizing and more commentary.
Additionally, chances are I won’t have as much vitriol for these stories as I do for the sort I normally spork. After all, if they made me that angry on that many levels, chances are I’d just spork them.
Master List
I’ll be running Awkward Fanfic Theatre on and off indefinitely now, and I have a few fics already lined up to put here. If you want to see an entry in particular, you can find it here.
What Pretty Girls Get
Girly Boy
The basic idea behind Awkward Fanfic Theatre is to give me a venue to discuss those fanfics I found which I thought were awkward or uncomfortable or strange or silly, in some way which I thought was notable but not extreme enough to bear a full-on sporking. I won’t be going through these fics line-by-line—instead you’ll find a lot of commentary interspersed with quotes to help me make my point. Sort-of like the format for my Twisted! sporking but with less summarizing and more commentary.
Additionally, chances are I won’t have as much vitriol for these stories as I do for the sort I normally spork. After all, if they made me that angry on that many levels, chances are I’d just spork them.
Master List
I’ll be running Awkward Fanfic Theatre on and off indefinitely now, and I have a few fics already lined up to put here. If you want to see an entry in particular, you can find it here.
What Pretty Girls Get
Girly Boy
