Sorry about the knees - been commisserating with my mother who got a torn minscus on the tennis court and is getting halcogn treatments next week. And I think back in 96 or 97 - I ended up with tendentitis in both knees - what solved the problem was physical therapy on my back - oddly the back caused the knee problem. I was sitting incorrectly at work and sleeping incorrectly (ie. on stomach not side or back, and on footon - very bad idea). Then the knees going out ten years back on a tread-mill which ended hopes of running. So, I emphasize and hope you feel much better soon, at least you have an excuse to avoid housecleaning or order the neat-freak tenant to do it.
Regarding Bash-fic? I think there are two major mistakes fanfic or any writer makes - and that is a) idealizing/overly romanticizing the character or b) bashing the character and making them the mustach twirling villian. I've seen incredibly good writers bash Buffy to the extent that I am pulled out of the story and rolling my eyes. Actually, I'd have to say the characters I've seen bashed the most are oddly the ones that have also been idealized the most - Angel, Buffy, Spike. (Course I've seen every single character in the show bashed at some writers hands, one of the funniest was actually Willow at one time. The writer, who I won't name mostly because it was too long ago and can't remember who the person was anymore just the fic, really had it in for poor Willow.
I think Whedon says something on the Wild at Heart Commentary that addresses your point succinctly - and it is an offhand comment to a question Seth Green poses. "How do you write villains and make them interesting?", "Well," states Whedon, " the thing to remember is that the villain doesn't see him or herself as a villian, they are the hero of the piece. I mean you don't go around thinking I'm a villain and twirl your moustache evilly. In your head - you are the hero, the protagonist, the other guy - the obstacle is the villian. As a writer you have to remember that. Not very interesting to me to make them all dark and horrid, that's dull. I want you to root for them a bit." (Okay that is by no means a direct quote, it's my paraphrasing of something I vaguely remember him saying...but, if you look back at the series, both series and ask yourself which antagonists (better word than villain) were the most interesting or really grabbed you - you'd discover they were the ones that weren't predictable, were multifaceted and didn't always fall completely into "evil or black and white" connotations. The one's who did, we were more or less happy to see the last of.
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timeasmymeasure
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Regarding Bash-fic? I think there are two major mistakes fanfic or any writer makes - and that is a) idealizing/overly romanticizing the character or b) bashing the character and making them the mustach twirling villian. I've seen incredibly good writers bash Buffy to the extent that I am pulled out of the story and rolling my eyes. Actually, I'd have to say the characters I've seen bashed the most are oddly the ones that have also been idealized the most - Angel, Buffy, Spike.
(Course I've seen every single character in the show bashed at some writers hands, one of the funniest was actually Willow at one time.
The writer, who I won't name mostly because it was too long ago and can't remember who the person was anymore just the fic, really had it in for poor Willow.
I think Whedon says something on the Wild at Heart Commentary that addresses your point succinctly - and it is an offhand comment to a question Seth Green poses. "How do you write villains and make them interesting?", "Well," states Whedon, " the thing to remember is that the villain doesn't see him or herself as a villian, they are the hero of the piece. I mean you don't go around thinking I'm a villain and twirl your moustache evilly. In your head - you are the hero, the protagonist, the other guy - the obstacle is the villian. As a writer you have to remember that. Not very interesting to me to make them all dark and horrid, that's dull. I want you to root for them a bit." (Okay that is by no means a direct quote, it's my paraphrasing of something I vaguely remember him saying...but, if you look back at the series, both series and ask yourself which antagonists (better word than villain) were the most interesting or really grabbed you - you'd discover they were the ones that weren't predictable, were multifaceted and didn't always fall completely into "evil or black and white" connotations. The one's who did, we were more or less happy to see the last of.