Oh dear

[owl]

So two out of the three reviews I got for Things We Can't Untie on ff.net accused me of writing St Charlie and Bad Don.

I was more shooting for Confused and Unhappy Don and There Is a Reason I'm Outta This Job Megan. Charlie wasn't even in the fic, although of course the issue was going to come up.

I do hate it when I fail so miserably at getting across what I mean in fic. And of course the negative reviews are all anonymous so I can't reply to them.

I do think that Charlie is closer to right than Don in this case. Don's rulebending is in the direction of interfering with suspects' civil rights, while Charlie's is in support of freedom of speech. Looks like ff.net is full of neo-cons, then.

Comments

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

Well, I just read your fic and I didn't think you portrayed Don as Bad. Of course, I too think Charlie is more right, but in any case I thought Don was very sympathetic here.

[owl]

Oh, good! I'm glad that Don is coming off as sympathetic to someone anyway. Poor thing, he's all hurt and angry and doing that thing where he feels guilty for things Charlie's done (which is canon). And Megan doesn't say anything until Don goes on the defensive and snaps her head off.

And it's not like I don't like Don. I really do, even though I have a slight preference for Charlie. But I find Don easier to write; Charlie's thought process is a little intimidating.

[shallanelprin.livejournal.com]

Wow. I didn't get that from the fic at all. I kinda read Don's ignoring laws that are mostly reasonable and his job to uphold. Charlie's an academic. He may work for the government and in law enforcement a lot, but his 'job' is to question laws, not enforce them. At least that's my view of an academic vs a FBI agent.

[owl]

Yes, good point. Don not only has to do what's right by his own lights, he needs to be seen to be beyond reproach, because he's representing the law to the public.

[houseling.livejournal.com]

I read your fic and several others and I truly didn't see Charlie as a saint, but just following what he believed in. And Don was truly symphatetic and even a bit broken. Maybe even more than in the show. I did only see the finale once, but I know what I saw. And I loved your fic because you showed just how much Don was vulnerable too. And the reason why Megan was leaving. A proper goodbye, so to speak. So don't you worry about ff.net. If the story is good, and yours are, people will get it.

[owl]

Poor Don, he does break so very prettily. I actually started writing this fic from Megan's pov, but Don was coming across as a bit of a jerk, so I had to move inside his head, and that gives me an advantage over the programme.

I did only see the finale once, but I know what I saw. And I loved your fic because you showed just how much Don was vulnerable too.

Yeah, poor boy *hugs*

It's weird, the fic got so much better reception on LJ than ff.net. I've never had that much difference between the two sites before.