Thoughts on the OCC-Assertion

[llybian]

By and large, fanfiction authors try to keep characters well… in character (there has to be a less dumb-sounding way to say that). Sometimes their efforts fail, sometimes they end up basing this “in-character-ness” on other fanfiction which causes character decay, sometimes they don’t even care, sometimes they’re twelve-year-old fangirls who just

Comments

[cmy_47]

So many people who've taken up the label of 'Writer' have disgraced that term in too many ways to count. An' those who'd turned out to have some skill, knack or talent of the craft often become enveloped by their own egos, refusin' to listen to any opinion that isn't their own.
You, llybian, are one of the zero-point-one percent who aren't in either category. You stay true to the anime an' its characters as best you can, yeh never once compromise them for the sake of a scene/moment, an' hey, ye don't lash out at your critics! You actually take the time to listen to them an' give a rational answer to their accusations.
In Slayers fandom, you, llybian, are a legend in the makin'.

Can't give any judgement on Gourry, since I've only seen the anime. But yeah, I think that the moment in the first Revolution episode seemed like it was stretchin' the character limit just so the viewer could have a laugh at Gourry's expense.
Still, he really IS an idiot, though more of an idiot savant, like Coop from Megas XLR(ingeniusly upgrades his giant robot an' addin' all kinds of weapons an' gadgets to it...then forgetting which buttons an' levers do what despite havin' built them in himself), Ron Stoppable from the Kim Possible show(excellent in Home Economics, terrible at every other school subject) or, of course, Shawn Spencer from Psych(he could remember an' re-create every detail of a map from memory, but he thinks that 22:00hrs is eleven o'clock times two).
Gourry Gabriev is defined in Slayers as probably the best human swordsman alive(which should say a lot for Zelgadis if the chimera could keep up with him when the Golden Retriever was until the Hellmaster's control), an' a reputation like that couldn't be established by a complete moron.
I've looked at both your 'sides' for Gourry. The sense is to blend 'em both rather than just use one. Still, a jar of mayo could probably beat him at a game of chess. And a god among men? Really?

In Lina's situation in ALO, I like to think that how ye handled it was that LINA HERSELF was upset that she wasn't goin' to be the one to confront an' finish the Big Boss in the last few chapters/episodes(her ego reached the point where she literially inserted herself into an episode despite being comatose throughout most of it in the First Season). I guess that, seein' as she has the proverbial Ender-Of-All-Skirmishes spells at her disposal(nothin' like a Dragon Slave to cap off twenty minutes of combat), it'll make sense to see her take the center stage.
Well, ye really HAVEN'T written her as a main character as of now, so we'll just have to wait an' see.

I thoroughly enjoyed yer intepretation of Zel, an' AmberPalette, whose opinions an' feedbacks of Zelgadis Greywords far outweigh mine in terms of credibility, seems to support it as well. As the chimera himself, in an almost-breaking-4th-wall-way, despises the romance cliches an' stereotypes, throwin' him straight into one of them an' watchin' his reaction to it is a huge temptation.
A Little Opposition would remain a strong testimony that you are fully capable of writin' a Romance/Slayers story without throwin' off the characters.

(Part Two of Comment)

[cmy_47]

Scary music playin'...y'know, in a story that would be hilarious. Our favourite Cone might start to get annoyed at the unexplained music that plays everytime he makes an appearance via the Astral Plane in front of someone.

Alright, alright, I'll admit that my assessment of the Cone in yer NAAS story was probably off the mark or not even on the wall. I just can't bring myself to LIKE him, per se. Still, it dosen't mean I can't stand readin' about him. Quite the opposite, actually. I may not like Carlton Lassiter from Psych all that much, but I still love SEEIN' him in the show.
Besides, ye can't make Xellos suffer in yer stories if he isn't there.

Some people have evil tendencies while bein' fundamentally good, so who's to say there aren't any people with good tendencies but are, bottom-line, inherently evil?
Sure, he'll bring about the end of the world, but that dosen't mean he shouldn't help the old lady by givin' her directions to the castle(just don't say larks).

I really enjoyed readin' this journal entry'a yours, llybian. An' for me overall statement, I might as well be classified as a llybian-mark an' say I agree with yeh totally.

Lookin' forward to seein' the Flat-Chest an' the Bait-For-Brains in FNO.

Re: (Part Two of Comment)

[llybian]

Oh, I don't know. I have my share of ego problems. My initial reaction to criticism is not always so graceful. My opinion is that writers have a... well, a right to defend their work if only to themselves. The right to stand tall and say "I don't care what you say" say "The ghost scene stays. It's the best I've ever written" :P

Right. It's not like we're saying he's an idiot in the bad way! That's just who he is!

Yeah, that was my main joke with Lina. But some people at least still thought she wouldn't sit by and narrate the battle... even though she did so in the novels and that's what I was thinking of. *shrug*

Someone should totally put a scary music curse on Xellos. It would make it very hard for him to get work done.

Love him or hate him, he's interesting.

You know, what you said about tendencies is really something I've always felt about Xellos and Filia. Filia *is* fundamentally good, but she has a truckload of bad tendencies, and Xellos is fundamentally evil, with a truckload of good tendencies. In that way, they're not so different.

And that's why Xellos fits the affably evil trope to a t.

Thanks! It should be fun having them appear, especially since they showed up in the original too.

Re: (Part Two of Comment)

[harlock999]

The advantage/disadvantage of Xellos is that the anime itself changes his personality. His character is noticeably different in TRY than it is in Next. Any accusations of OOC-ness can therefore be answered by "I'm writing him as in (insert one) TRY/Next".

And Revolution/Evolution-R splits the difference. His general attitude is closer to TRY, but actions speak louder than words. On at least three different occasions he intervenes in a way that will preserve the Slayers gang when they're in trouble. And he seems remarkably happy when he kills Zumma -- could it be that he is secretly fond of Lina and her friends, and takes offense at attempts to harm them?

Re: (Part Two of Comment)

[llybian]

True. For consistancies sake I like to think their are extenuating circumstances to his mood-shifts by series like the fact that he'd already been found out by the time TRY rolled around. And I think the anime has its own 'keeping Xellos in character' deal. Because they float back in forth between the interpretation they've used and then sometimes want to be closer to the novels.

I haven't seen all of Revo/Evo-R yet, but I have definitely heard that. *I* would say that he is fond of Lina's gang, or at least that he would consider it a waste if they died... at least now (and it's always now). I also have another explanation that's no surprise for me to think...

Filia's influence.