if I'll say it elsewhere
1 Mar 2007 03:24 amI might as well say it here. Why the hell not? Since, yeah, I'm irritated -- and disappointed. One of the few, and I mean few RPs I've followed with anything remotely close to consistency has been the AJU RP. It's had its bumpy spots -- both from learning-while-writing, and within the story itself in terms of not letting anyone get an easy ride (which can be a good thing in terms of story-complexity) -- but the most recent developments make me wonder if it's been taken over by pod people.
And I don't say that as a fan of the original series, but as a reader of this story as an now-independent work: I am willing to tolerate plot twists, hell, I enjoy them. But they'd better be justified, and character-driven. Throwing in a random earthquake just so you can shove two characters together, or putting them in a bus accident together, and forcing them to deal: that's plot-driven story development. In small doses, it can work. The rest of the time, we readers require that the story's development be a result of the characters themselves: their hopes, fears, all sorts of complex motivations.
If someone has always gotten up at six am to run, and one day he oversleeps, I need a good reason why, because you've told me -- and I believed you -- that this character is obessive about getting up at six am to run eighty miles. This is fiction: it's not good enough to just 'decide' to do something so strongly out-of-character. If you tell me that a character's highest priority is making sure his friends are happy no matter the cost to himself, and he's used to just taking what he can and moving along knowing it's not enough -- then he abruptly turns greedy and cruel to those friends, I sure as fuck want a good reason. I'll accept "he's been drugged," if I really like the character. Hell, you could probably make me believe he's been possessed by his apartment's former front-door mat, if you worked enough at it. But don't expect me to just believe that one day, he's different. Don't work that way. Fiction, you have to give me reasons.
AJU's been pretty decent at not destroying their characters for the sake of plot. Well, they screwed that pooch with the latest twist.
I wrote much of this elsewhere but it's still on my mind, and I have wood conditioner sitting for fifteen, so what-the-hell, I post. (Don't do it often enough, I know.) Thing is, my reaction to the latest plot twists have little, really, to do with any OTP, and everything to do with reader-expectations and writer-understandings -- of story, plot, and character. That is, my reaction amounts to: okay, guys, there's twists, and then there's... enough already, back this bus the fuck up.
( Spoilers rampant, and may not make sense if you don't follow the RP, anyway. )
Over and out.
( EDIT, I meant to add this last night: concerning Dorothy Catalonia, canon, and AJU/AU. ) Sheesh. Back to work for me, this was way more than enough for now.
And I don't say that as a fan of the original series, but as a reader of this story as an now-independent work: I am willing to tolerate plot twists, hell, I enjoy them. But they'd better be justified, and character-driven. Throwing in a random earthquake just so you can shove two characters together, or putting them in a bus accident together, and forcing them to deal: that's plot-driven story development. In small doses, it can work. The rest of the time, we readers require that the story's development be a result of the characters themselves: their hopes, fears, all sorts of complex motivations.
If someone has always gotten up at six am to run, and one day he oversleeps, I need a good reason why, because you've told me -- and I believed you -- that this character is obessive about getting up at six am to run eighty miles. This is fiction: it's not good enough to just 'decide' to do something so strongly out-of-character. If you tell me that a character's highest priority is making sure his friends are happy no matter the cost to himself, and he's used to just taking what he can and moving along knowing it's not enough -- then he abruptly turns greedy and cruel to those friends, I sure as fuck want a good reason. I'll accept "he's been drugged," if I really like the character. Hell, you could probably make me believe he's been possessed by his apartment's former front-door mat, if you worked enough at it. But don't expect me to just believe that one day, he's different. Don't work that way. Fiction, you have to give me reasons.
AJU's been pretty decent at not destroying their characters for the sake of plot. Well, they screwed that pooch with the latest twist.
I wrote much of this elsewhere but it's still on my mind, and I have wood conditioner sitting for fifteen, so what-the-hell, I post. (Don't do it often enough, I know.) Thing is, my reaction to the latest plot twists have little, really, to do with any OTP, and everything to do with reader-expectations and writer-understandings -- of story, plot, and character. That is, my reaction amounts to: okay, guys, there's twists, and then there's... enough already, back this bus the fuck up.
( Spoilers rampant, and may not make sense if you don't follow the RP, anyway. )
Over and out.
( EDIT, I meant to add this last night: concerning Dorothy Catalonia, canon, and AJU/AU. ) Sheesh. Back to work for me, this was way more than enough for now.