I've been reading DueSouth fanfic lately. One thing that is in DSfic all the time that I just cannot stand is the 'Mountie Mask.' That claim that a character is always hinding behind a mask to protect their true self irritates the fuck out of me.

Personally, I think if you hate a character so much that you have to pass off all their behavior as a mentally unhealthy fiction and then completely rewrite who they are, you just shouldn't write them.

In the case of DueSouth, I think Fraser is the polite super-Mountie because he authentically cares about other people. A lot of authors seem to think good manners and dedication to justice are obviously signs of an extreme inferiority complex and it's all an act trying to make people like him and make up for some imagined guilt. Which in my opinion totally eviscerates the character by making him basically self obsessed.

I'm not saying Fraser has to be depicted as 100% the perfect hero. He's a complex character with plenty of flaws. There was the Victoria situation. He could get down right snippy with the Rays. From canon events accusations of overconfidence and pushiness would be perfectly plausible too.

However, if you're going to dismiss 90% of Fraser's onscreen behavior as a 'mask,' not who he really is--then you're pretty much into original character territory. And stealing a character I love's life and handing it off to some stranger just does not sit well with me.

And this isn't confined to DSfic. I've seen it in Queer as Folk fandom where Brian is hiding his true desire for commitment, monogamy, a couple kids, and long discussions about his feelings behind his playboy 'mask.' Or in Stargate: Atlantis fandom where John is highly traumatized by his military career, extremely lonely, and either a cutter or a total slut or both but hiding it behind a 'mask' of martial competence and having friends... or something.

Basically, if a fic has the words 'hiding behind a mask' anywhere in it (outside of Halloween or a costume party), it's got to suck. It's either written by an author who totally missed the point of a character or a manipulative ploy to get people to read an original character by subbing them as someone we actually like.