Review: Ben Guevara's "The Burden Hardest to Bear"

This is the first of my fanfic reviews, the specific fic chosen because Ben was so willing to host my reviews, even though I ultimately decided not to go that route, and use my own site.

Review: The Burden Hardest to Bear, by Ben Guevara

Overall: ***1/2

All around, decent fanfic. Not the best, but not bad, either. I'd recommend it to someone looking for a good fanfic to read. Available at Ben Guevara's site, "The Depths of Shallowness," at http://members.xoom.com/QuinnM17/Quinn.html

Oh, and Ben, if you're reading this, I'd suggest renaming "Quinn.html" to "index.html" to avoid making it too easy to get a complete picture of your directory structure by simply entering "members.xoom.com/QuinnM17", which either defaluts to index.htm, or just shows an ftp style list of files, if there is no index.htm

Alt.tv.daria Rebuttal: Not yet rated

This is where you guys come in. I'm dead certain that not everyone will agree with my reviews (due to the sheer diversity of Daria's fanbase). Well, tell me what you think of the reviews, and the fanfic. Give me your own "overall rating" for the fic, and tell me how much you think my review sucks. ;) It's a four star system (with a fifth star for only the most exceptional of fics). I'll avarage out the ratings that get sent in.

Please send these via e-mail, unless you have a particularly detailed rebuttal; then send it both to the group, and via e-mail. Remember, remove NOSPAM to reply.

The rest may be considered a

s p o i l e r

Don't need a whole lot of space, but the specific categories may go into too much detail for someone who's never read the fic.

Characterization: ***

Not bad, not great, but decent. The characterizations weren't totally off, though there were a few things I would've done differently. Sandi seemed to have the upper hand in her rivalry with Quinn, which is unusal. And Quinn's particular thing for Cory isn't something I see easily, either. Daria's reaction to Quinn's death was a little overdone, as well. Sure, it was death, it was her sister, but I see Daria as the sort that, rather than giving such an emotional reaction, would, instead, be completely stunned. Then she would go into a deep depression, only allowing it to break the surface when it finally overwhelmed her, probably to Jane, or Helen.

Still, I think Staci, Kevin, Brittney, Helen, Jake, and maybe even Quinn, were very well done. Three stars.

Coherance: ****

It started out a little bumpy, but I know how that is. Beginnings are hard, since you have to draw the reader into the little world you're trying to make before fully immersing them in it. Anyway, it was good. I didn't have much trouble reading it, except for Quinn's little diatribe at the beginning, but that's good characterization, not bad writing. And the use of the word "Im" without proper punctuation ("I'm") is a little annoying, but overall, very well written. Four stars.

Story: ***

Though it focused on Quinn, rather than Daria or anyone else the story usually focuses on, it was a decent story. Pretty well done, and actually fun to read. Though killing off a major character in your first fanfiction is generally a bad idea, I suspect Ben is going to write standalone "what if's" from here on. And these can be fun, if done well. Three stars.

ultimately decided not to go that route, and use my own site. I would still like to put some up from the ones that are on my site if thats allright

is that out of 4 or 5 stars?

Thanks for the review. I've gotten mixed feedback so far. Nothing bad and most of it saying it was good.

If you haven't read it or are going to please let me know what you think to help me in any future stories I write.

Thanks, Ben The Depths of Shallowness http://members.xoom.com/QuinnM17/Quinn.html

On Wed, 11 Aug 1999 05:02:23 GMT, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from "Ben Guevara" , and it said:

Go ahead. :)

Four stars. Four star will be the theoretical upper limit, but if I ever find a fic that is _clearly_ better than the other four star fics, a fifth will be added. And the Overall will probably never be more than four stars, anyway, since most fics are weak in one area or another.

I've noticed that quite a few Daria sites have fanfics. I've almost made it through the transcripts for series one and two, and between those and the conversations going on in this newsgroup, I'm starting to get a handle on the characters. So it's only a matter of time (as soon as I find some) before I start reading the fanfics. Are there any fanfics I should look at first? Are some sites better than others? Is there a central place where they're all kept?

Bill.

"We are now entering hell. Please keep your hands and elbows inside the car." -- Daria

Outpost Daria has a huge selection. Then there's <self-promotion mode on> MY SITE, which is linked in my sig, which has a link page to other good sites, including several all fanfic sites. Someone (Tarvok?) is supposed to be doing reviews of all the fanfics on Outpost Daria to help you select tho ones you like. I'd do it myself, but, as you'll recall, I'm increadibly lazy (Plus I'm trying to write a few more of my own). Of course your enjoyment of a fanfic will depond on whether or not you're a "shipper"(person who wants to see Daria and Trent get together) Many fanfics have a high "Shipper Factor" (a rating from 10 - -10 which tells you how much stuff takes place between Daria and Trent)

again I THINK someone who posts here regularly is planning/has done a web page with his ratings of fanfics, maybe he will post here & tell us where to find it.

Of course, MY SITE is a good place to start! :>}