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Slayers Forth; A Slayers fanfic, liek wh0wz3rz
Topic Started: Jan 26 2006, 12:11 AM (485 Views)
monsoon moon


I did all of the 9 remaining chapters in a 5+ hour binge yesterday- the fact that this wasn't in the least bit tedious speaks volumes for the fiction's success, storytellingwise.

Indeed, although the technical inconsistencies prevail throughout, they are pushed well out of one's concentration by the characters and plot; throughout the second half I was barely distracted once, if at all.

The characters... intrigued me, and all the more for the knowledge that you drafted the plot when you were relatively younger/inexperienced: when I'm reading a published book*, I feel (perhaps naively) that the author is in control, and that I am testing out routes of interpretation presupposed in the planning stages. By contrast, while reading your fiction I was constantly aware that I might be inventing this interpretation for the first time**. Here are some of my sentiments on the charaters, which you (soja) may or may not have intended, but it would be cool to discuss.

Kari was my only true hero- he alone remained pure, in innocence and in not irritating me. Rina, by contrast, was too stubborn and too frequent in instigating the verbal repartee she's renowned for. For me this effect worked really well- it made me sympathise with the rest of the world who had to put up with her lip; an excess way more realistic than somebody we love for their daredevil cheeky tongue... everyone goes too far sometimes, and that really came through in Rina. The punching of Kari also got so frequent that I actually was beginning to fear he might just curl up and die one time, like a dog that's been kicked too many times. Judas was perfectly pitched as the hard, indifferent (and hence) liability- well done. Indeed, what with not favouring Rina entirely, Judas' indifference and the Royals' craziness, I was left refreshingly free as to where my own loyalty lay- I think Kari could well be seen as the crucial difference that tipped me in favour of our party against Dragomir- that and Lina Inverse's confirmation that Demon King thwarting really shouldn't be on anybody's bill.

The ending was way more open than I'd anticipated- I didn't see it coming, to be quite honest, but perhaps it was actually better to avoid cheesiness by leaving it to the reader, as to how Saillune eventually settles (and where our party end up).

Overall it made a good read- sufficiently coherent in plot, with characters endearing and yet pleasingly faulted, and a level of reader-involvement that certainly kept the momentum going- I even caught myself referring back to that prologue I was damning yesterday...


*Yesterday, after leaving work and the internet behind, I took a whooping great guilt trip over my critical post on the first half of this story. I pondered why I felt so guilty, as I suspected you would probably brush off criticisms you didn't agree with, and those that you did- well obviously they wouldn't offend you. As I felt I'd only pointed out truths (of the kind of error you're probably now well beyond anyway), I couldn't figure out where the sense of guilt was coming from...

I realised one thing- that it was the first time I'd written a review like that of a fanfiction- perhaps I wasn't ready to deal out criticism to real people like myself***. But it couldn't be so simple as that. Eventually I got there- it's that I approached the review as if it were for a published novel, as opposed to fanfiction.

I contemplated this- the guilt stemmed from the side of me saying "it was unnecessary to lay out such criticism- how could you expect it to be of that kind of standard, when considering how young he started it, etc". But now I'd pinpointed the source it didn't take much to see the other perspective- that rating it against published fiction is in fact a massive compliment.

The fact- that I've not altered my approach to the fiction from the first post to this one- clearly indicates which side won out in the end.


**It is a sad thing that it takes something like that to consider my interpretations of fiction original- I'm positive that I'm being overly cynical, and having identified this intend to consciously push it from my approach to literature.


***-as opposed to publishing authors who are... what, inhuman? what a shitty attitude- I guess I must just be less sensitive to their feelings because they've at least seen their work succeed to some extent, in being published already...
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Soja
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Gentle Water, Crashing Waves

Wow, that's massive.

How shall I put this... the work is ongoing. I intend on putting a nail in the coffin, if I might be so morbid, as I would at least like to resolve this plot loop and give some closure to the enormous amount of mysteries I've sown (some inadvertently). In fact, I've been rubbing and rewriting Ch. XIX over and over for two months. Truth is I only ever planned one chapter in advance while writing it, except in rare exceptions where I planned multiple chapters in advance, and even then I changed a few things before releasing them.

Since I plan on being one of the such mentioned published authors, I believe it is best to get such complaints on how I write and any errors. If I'm to write I should expect a lot of criticism coming my way -- especially of the cold, indifferent and even spiteful sort.

But it astounds me that you didn't find it tedious at all. The whole time I was writing I was maybe half-sobbing because I was afraid I was getting boiled down in details and making the pace too plodding for would-be readers. But it pleases me greatly that you have said this, for it inspires confidence to continue on my present course as far as pacing is concerned. Technical issues aside, this is my magnum opus for now.

I'm afraid to say however that it is not as original as it may seem to someone who has never seen Slayers before, so I must digress that most of the characters are more or less inheriting of their ancestor's personalities, with a few differences. These would be somewhat noticable if you look at the original work and my fanwork side by side, and I invite you to.

It is worth mentioning that authors are very real people who are extremely connected to their works, perhaps obsessively so. If there's any collective of people that are as a whole emotionally wounded, it is authors of fiction. But like I said, some take criticism personally, while others take it as a way to improve. It all depends on how it is delivered, and you, sir, have done me a great service with your critique.
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Mirar on Sep 8 2007
06:08 PM
nigga please
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