Interesting point about OOC. I can see a character doing one thing OOC because we all sometimes do things and wonder what the heck we were thinking because normally we would never have done that. But if everything is OOC then I won't read the story.
Ah, I should clarify my earlier comment on this. I think there's a difference between having a character do something OOC - let's say, just for example, having Clark blackmail someone for cash - and having them do something OOC
with justification.
I've said previously in the past on other posts that I am a HUGE believer in the fact that you can make your characters do anything, absolutely anything, even something that would normally seem completely abhorant to their character, so long as you provide the motivation for it.
So if an author sets up the action properly, takes time to show me why Clark would blackmail someone, then I'll be happy to go along with it. But if an author just has Clark blackmailing someone without showing me how he got to that decision, what his intentions are, and how he justifies it, then I'm probably not going to buy it and just get annoyed at the character rape.
A good example from the show is probably having Clark breaking into and robbing the jewellery store in ATAI. On the face of it, without expanation or set up, a completely OOC thing for him to do. Something you can't ever imagine him doing. But add in the setup that his parents are being held hostage and threatened with death unless he does...and you can understand his motivation and why he did it. So, it works. (Although I'm pretty sure there are several authors who could find an alternative method for him to rescue Martha and Jonathan without him having to commit a robbery. But, hey, that wasn't what was required for the episode plot and the scriptwriters of ATAI took a different route.)
As you say, Nancy, sometimes people just act OOC. It happens in real life, so there's no reason why it shouldn't happen to our favourite characters. But there's usually a reason for it that seems logical to the person or character at the time, even if the rest of the world can't understand what is motivating them and even if they subsequently change their minds and realise they were acting loony tunes.
So, authors, show me the reason
why a character is acting OOC in any given situation and I'll probably go along with the premise quite happily. But I usually do need to know what prompted such unusual or irrational behaviour for it to work for me.
And I believe that is why there is so little controversy in the community no shipwars etc. I can understand those who find this conformism stifling though, I’m actually amazed with myself that I can still find enjoyment in a love story that I’ve read a thousand variants of.
You're right that ship has never been a point of contention in FoLCdom, Arawn. The flame wars and 'intense debates'
have usually been about elements of fanfic. For example, there was a time - as I've mentioned previously elsewhere and in the past - where to even mention the word nfic, let alone recommend or discuss nfic stories, was liable to spark off flames. There was a time when a section of FoLCdom virulently objected to angst as a genre. That one provoked many a bitter debate for a time.
And, of course, to someone like myself, who wrote fanfic for some decades before doing so for LNC and so was used to such genres being written and talked about as the norm in other fandoms, where they never provoked even the thought of controversy, that was somewhat restrictive. (Although, as you may have noticed by now, it never stopped me (or several other authors) writing nfic or angst.
)
LabRat
