Very interesting post and comments. I, personally, don't like reading character-bashing stories, but that's largely because I don't care for OOCs. Crack!fic, I love, but I like having the characters' reactions to plot devices to be in character. Same with AUs -- if the life experiences of the character have altered some part of their personality, then fine, as long as it's a believable extrapolation and they're still recognizably the original character.
I was just rereading a Buffy xover fic the other day, and commenting to a friend that if only they didn't start bashing Buffy and Willow in the way they did... To me, it didn't serve the plot or [Xander] romance much at all, and there are ways to portray characters in an unsympathetic manner without shoving them completely out of character into screeching-harpy-land.
But yes, those are my own priorities in fic. I hadn't really thought much about how some people like the alternate characterizations on purpose (even though my sister is one). So, thank you for reminding me that fandom is filled with many people with different tastes, and that just because I love or hate certain writing does not mean it holds across the board.
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winterfish
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Date: 2009-10-14 03:15 pm (UTC)I was just rereading a Buffy xover fic the other day, and commenting to a friend that if only they didn't start bashing Buffy and Willow in the way they did... To me, it didn't serve the plot or [Xander] romance much at all, and there are ways to portray characters in an unsympathetic manner without shoving them completely out of character into screeching-harpy-land.
But yes, those are my own priorities in fic. I hadn't really thought much about how some people like the alternate characterizations on purpose (even though my sister is one). So, thank you for reminding me that fandom is filled with many people with different tastes, and that just because I love or hate certain writing does not mean it holds across the board.