I think we have a slight miscommunication here: I'm not trying to excuse Akatsuki. Amane Eiji is not part of Akatsuki, and he doesn't know their ultimate plans. He just knows that they're potentially willing to help him destabilize the system of hidden villages and shinobi clans that backs up the feudal power structure of the region, and helps keep infrastructure small and limited, among other things.
I will try to make that more clear in the story!
The link between the characters in Tengai and the canon characters is tenuous at the moment. You see, I had two choices. Either I didn't introduce Eiji until Yukiko reached Tengai, by which point he would feel very much like an afterthought, or I introduced him before any canon characters (or previously established OCs) met him, and risked having people wonder why they should care. As you can tell, I chose the second option. This is because I wanted to humanize Eiji, so that it's hard to write him off as a 'bad guy' whose death is completely justifiable, and because I wanted to explore the ramifications of the shinobi system, and it's helpful to have a viewpoint character who stands 'outside' the system and points out its flaws.
Now that I have most of my characters and situations introduced, I have time to slip in more subtle characterization as the story progresses. I hope that will make the OCs feel less 'telegraphed' to you.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-01 07:10 pm (UTC)I will try to make that more clear in the story!
The link between the characters in Tengai and the canon characters is tenuous at the moment. You see, I had two choices. Either I didn't introduce Eiji until Yukiko reached Tengai, by which point he would feel very much like an afterthought, or I introduced him before any canon characters (or previously established OCs) met him, and risked having people wonder why they should care. As you can tell, I chose the second option. This is because I wanted to humanize Eiji, so that it's hard to write him off as a 'bad guy' whose death is completely justifiable, and because I wanted to explore the ramifications of the shinobi system, and it's helpful to have a viewpoint character who stands 'outside' the system and points out its flaws.
Now that I have most of my characters and situations introduced, I have time to slip in more subtle characterization as the story progresses. I hope that will make the OCs feel less 'telegraphed' to you.