Wow! An award!

[liz_marcs]

I'm a bit floored by this one, mostly because I didn't think I stood a chance for this one. Dismay is such an old story.




Also, congrats to booster17, who won runner-up in the same category for his fabulous I Really Don't Like Mondays.

To see all the winners for the Wanton Folly awards, go here

Comments

Question on unreliable character filter.

[caerglas.livejournal.com]

Crawling slowly through your LJ, I've read some interesting bits from you on unreliable character filter/unreliable narrators.

I wanted to respond to some of it, and get your feedback. Normally when I read a story I try to keep in mind the character filter/slant whatever. When I read fanfic, I've noticed that authors will often establish how they've twisted cannon through internal monologues, or through character's descriptions of scenes. This makes it very hard, as a reader, to both suspend disbelief and get the 'what if' deviation from cannon while still looking for how the filter/slant might be unreliable.

You did a really good job of helping the reader keep these separate in "The Heart in Darkness" by having a frame narration, where the narrator expressly stated their filter was off through hindsight. (You did so well that during the story I still kinda thought Xander was a jerk and the Council's concerns had SOME basis in reality. I mean, I bought into the filter even after its unreliability was made explicit.) But take your story, Whisper; while reading it, I thought Willow's submissive behavior at the Magic Box while describing demon attacks and kids, while Xander fumed, seemed a bit... OOC from Cannon, but not OOC at all for a Willow who had a past with Xander. If Cannon Willow had watched as Xander completely changed, and had been lifted from his home, that interaction makes perfect sense. So for me as a reader, it was almost impossible to say "No, that's crap--even with these events, Willow would never act that way" because that event was big enough to alter Willow, and make her go super submissive and silent type. Any disquiet as a reader I just suspended, along with the rest of my disbelief, to further enjoy the story.

Thanks, and sorry for the length. Don't rush in a reply, as I'm not going anywhere.
-Jeff