Hmmm, so Oren was designed to annoy me, huh :-p
A bit more seriously, the problem I had with Oren was not the fact that he wasn't the cream of the ethical crop. What made me sit up and notice was the reason why he had these opinions. If you know that someone has Tourette syndrome you won't be surprised at a cuss word that's out of context. But Oren lacks quite a bit of intrinsic motivation, so the reader has to make assumptions as to why he goes off on a rant and why he has some of these opinions.
It occurs to me while writing this, that Oren is a character that is anti-something, but not necessarily pro-anything. In other words, Oren defines himself by what he is against---not what he is in favour of. Which actually makes sense out of a lot of his behaviour. I'm curious whether you intended that.
I had briefly contemplated whether he was supposed to influence events, but that's so rare in fanfiction that I immediately rejected it. But if Oren defines himself by what he is against, it makes sense that he hardly influences events.
It doesn't really help that I read this story from start to finish. It makes it appear as if Oren is flipflopping.
Thanks for your reply.
Author's response
When you wrote this review I wasn't sure how to comment on it without giving spoilers. Let's see:
I think the best I can do is to say that because Oren is a semi-antagonist to most of the other primary characters, I'm not writing about every single thing he does. (If you actually want spoilers, private message me. I don't have too many plans for Oren in the immediate future of the story, so many details will take a very long time to come out, both at the rate I'm writing and in word count.)
On the other hand, it's his story, or at least it is supposed to be 1/4 his story (there will be four time travelers eventually, one for each house). Besides the pieces of plot he has obviously driven (e.g. Tonks' inability to get a complete collection of horcruxes), I have used him for exposition and for humor, and I want him to be well-characterized beforehand at those times when I need to involve him in the plot.
On the third hand, the things Oren really, really cares about probably have a lot to do with art, and I expect to work them into the story only with great difficulty. :P I have spent a lot of words characterizing him and it's still woefully inadequate. (May all my characters have that problem!) More seriously, the fact that Oren has no real will to power or competitive spirit is very deliberate (e.g. he will always have some tension with Voldemort's faction, since Oren can't even imagine what it's like to give a damn about taking over the world).
As to reading the story from start to finish, I really appreciate knowing that! I value that kind of review very highly (although I appreciate all reviews!). :) Thank you!