 Carol 5/11/02 . chapter 3 Hi Allison! I'm not sure how this whole review thing works, but I'll just assume it means offering an honest opinion and so I'll give it a whirl! I'm a college creative writing/visual arts major who grew up with Sonic SatAM and who has always considered it one of the most emotionally and intellectually sophisticated cartoons ever produced-right up there with Disney in its glory days and Dreamworks now. When, to my great frustration (understatement), they cancelled SatAM, I tried to cope by reading that Archie comic, but, ehh, well, as we all know, it's kind of crumbled into nothingness, too. So I got into fanfiction whenver my mind drifted to all things Sonic. When I finally ran across your stuff, I was truly impressed! I know you say fanfic's your favorite genre, but you really ought to write on an even more varied scope. If you're pre-college, I hope you decide to major in creative writing too.
So what do I particularly like about your fanfics? I have actually discovered someome who loves the character "Snively"! Yay! He's my absolute favorite, too. I think your work is so successful because you pick up on the fact that his character has the most potential for growth and development, for breaking beyond that dangerously one-dimensional realm that makes other characters lack interest or credibility. He really can't be pinned as merely a villain or a "good guy;" rather, he's a mixture, and you picked up on his complex psychology mnarvelously! It's also a great technique for a unique narrative viewpoint. We're used to hearing the protagonist's side of the story, but now we have to digest the world from Snively's distorted, jaded viewpoint! Awesome, man! And finally, someone noticed those amazing, disturbing, beautiful eyes of his! I would always read fanfics featuring him in the past and be grititng my teeth thinking, how can these authors neglect his eyes? Perfect visual representations of his personality? You also captured other characters's traits, eg. those of Geoffrey (yes, I also hate him), beautifully. I sure hope you get that skunk's hindside walloped in the next part of this fanfic. What a jerk! :) Of course, I get the notion you don't like Good King Max too much, nor Princess Sally. I dunno if that's deliberate, but maybe they ought to get a little more smpathetic in the reader's eyes as they begin to accept Snively (which I really hope they do :) )
Okay, now for "constructive criticism." Wahoo! Um, this is just my personal reaction, so it may or may not matter, but I'm not too keen on the overtly sexual scenes-at least the more protracted ones-because frankly I don't see that they add much emotionally or mentally to the impact of your story-they just kind of get in the way of my reading of the plot, interrupt it, y'know? Anyone can write a sex scene and the rest of your stuff is so uniquely excellent that I really don't think you need so much kinky stuff. I mean, I know sometimes it's necessary for the plot, as in Snively's attraction to Bunnie (by the way, a very peculiar, but interesting, twist), but otherwise, nah! Also the stronger of your curse words-eg. the big bad "F word"-just kind of startle me more than add anything vital to my experience of the story-so I guess you could say I'm more like Tails than ol'Snively in that aspect! :) Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to censor you or anything, it's just my honest reaction.
So anyway, that ended up long! Sorry! :) You're a great writer, Allison! I'm eager to read your next "Fissure" installment! I love Snively and SatAM, so if you ever feel like chatting about those subjects, email me!
-Carol |