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Post by Author By Night on Feb 10, 2009 16:44:20 GMT -5
What some of your biggest pet peeves in fanfic and fanart?
One of mine is definitely when a character is drastically changed for the plot. Hermione will never, under any circumstances, become a chain smoking goth chic, no matter necessary how it might appear to be for the plot. (Not to mention that as of book seven, she's not even a teenager anymore.)
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Post by siriusgirl on Feb 15, 2009 17:44:44 GMT -5
I have a few Changing a character for story purposes IS one of them. I remember on SQ someone said there were a number of "George commits suicide" fics! Um NO, George may have trouble coping but since when is he suicidal. WTF ships are one of them, ships that are WAY off canonically. Draco/Hermione, Ginny/Hermione, etc. Remus/Sirius pairings annoy me because it seemed so--- assumed.
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Post by Author By Night on Feb 15, 2009 18:28:04 GMT -5
I have a few Changing a character for story purposes IS one of them. I remember on SQ someone said there were a number of "George commits suicide" fics! George, kill himself? I don't see it. I mean, I certainly see him being considerably distraught, but I actually think that of all the characters, George would be one of the ones trying his best to keep everyone cheerful. Maybe that's just me, though.
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Post by vegablack on Feb 15, 2009 18:46:11 GMT -5
I don't think story's where the characters don't resemble the original ones are worth reading. If the writer wants to write new characters she should do so, or use HP characters that would act the way she wants them to.
I have a different Pet peeve and that is sticking so close to canon that the characters never grow and act forever like teenagers. I hate it when the writer is writing a post hogwarts fic and gives equal credence when planning the characterization to the character's behavior as an eleven year old as they do to the characters behavior as a 16 or 17 year old. I'm sorry but Hannah Abbott probably no longer wears her hair in pigtails. Earnie is probably no longer as interested in Chocolate Frog cards and if he is the reason is worthy of mention.
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Post by siriusgirl on Feb 15, 2009 21:07:26 GMT -5
George, kill himself? I don't see it. I mean, I certainly see him being considerably distraught, but I actually think that of all the characters, George would be one of the ones trying his best to keep everyone cheerful. Maybe that's just me, though. I know! I never read those fics but I remember it being discussed in SQ. vega- I know, I never read those type of fics, but characters grow and mature, that is part of canon too. I doubt Hannah wore her hair in those pigtails in TDH never mind in her thirties
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Post by maraudercat on Feb 16, 2009 6:35:17 GMT -5
My two least favourites are OCs that are obvious attempts by the author to insert themselves (and often their friends) into the middle of the story. especially when they claim its a cannon story.
the other is crossovers with twilight. its bad enough that so many people have fallen for what is in my opinion one of the worst ever tween fantasy series, but sullying the good name of HP with it??
no offence to any twilight fans, but this is my opinion
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Post by Author By Night on Feb 16, 2009 7:08:18 GMT -5
Twilight and Harry Potter are two completely different books with contradicting universes, so I'm not sure how you could merge the two anyway. Twilight werewolves are more shapeshifters than people who turn into wolves once a month, and Harry Potter vampires don't sparkle.
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Post by doctoraicha on Feb 16, 2009 12:05:31 GMT -5
I really dislike crossover fics and I hate fics where the characters are suddenly out of character - and they try to justify the OOCness by saying "it's an AU!". Blech. Both of them I dislike because I don't want the characters and books to be changed just for fic.
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Post by mo on Feb 16, 2009 15:10:21 GMT -5
I'm bothered by a lot of canon violations, but am particularly offended by those that contradict the foundational themes of the whole series. You know: Magic is hereditary! Your ancestors determine your SUPER! Powerful magic! (This almost always includes a storyline where we learn that Hermione is not Muggleborn after all! She is actually adopted! And the Heiress to a great magical inheritance!) or even worse: Dark magic isn't all bad! It's part of the balance! Um...no. Dark magic is evil because the evil intent is what makes it dark. The books are pretty clear about this. Dark magic is not merely the misunderstood Goth teen of the magical family.
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Post by Author By Night on Feb 16, 2009 16:58:53 GMT -5
Dark magic is not merely the misunderstood Goth teen of the magical family. Very well stated. I think a lot of people - teenagers and adults alike, but especially younger fans - see themselves as misunderstood, and decide the Death Eaters, too, are misunderstood. But there's a very big difference in sometimes coming across the wrong way to people and sometimes murdering people.
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Post by birdg on Feb 16, 2009 23:57:38 GMT -5
I generally agree but there are some instances where we see Dark Magic being used for good or just "not evil" like Harry using the Imperius Curse when the Trio was in Gringott's and one could make the argument that Snape used the Killing Curse for "not evil" when he killed Dumbledore as per Dumbledore's wishes. Also, while looking up information on Polyjuice Potion, I noticed it was classified on some HP Wiki sites as a Dark Potion - which makes sense when you think about it. You are stealing another person's identity. And yet, the Trio used it all the time.
Something like the Entrail-Expelling Curse which sounds like a Dark curse and can be used as one was actually invented by a Healer. Something like Sectumsempra could theoretically be used beneficially for magical surgery though it was not created for that. And then there are things like Stinging Hexes which I see no use for but to harm people but it's not classified as a Dark Curse. Though something with a "hex" in the name is probably worse than with a "charm" in the name.
Then there's something like Crucio which I can never see as ok. And I am really off-topic here.
Stories like these are just offensive to me. The whole point of Hermione being the "brightest witch of her age" is that she's a Muggle-born who proves that the Death Eater stance on Muggles and Muggle-borns is codswallop. Changing that just invalidates the entire reason Hermione exists!
Also a big, big fanart pet peeve of mine is when people draw Ginny and Lily to look the same. Ginny has bright red hair, Lily has dark red (auburn) hair. Ginny has freckles, Lily is never mentioned as having freckles. Ginny has brown eyes, Lily has green. Ginny is described as short (and it's implied she takes after the Molly/Charlie/Twins side of the family) whereas we're never told how tall Lily is (though her sister Petunia sounds like a stringy type). How on earth do people draw them as looking the same? It's just laziness and feeds into the whole "Ginny = Lily" argument that I hate.
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Post by mo on Feb 17, 2009 11:28:13 GMT -5
BirdG, your points on Dark Magic are well taken...and I agree...In my peeve, I'm more thinking of those stories that basically try to paint the Death Eaters as oppressed and misunderstood misfits who are just as much victims as anyone. In canon, they are the magical equivalent of the most vile Nazis and White Supremacists. Their position is not redeemable, and the only way to redeem the individuals involved is for them to completely repudiate their former ties, a la Snape. And,, even then, there will always be a certain mistrust and distance. (Stares daggers at Draco/Hermione ickiness.)
Lily had red eyes? Oh god, SHE'S VOLDEMORT. Hee. (I know you meant green. I kid because I love.) Your point though, is absolutely correct. Lily and Ginny don't both have red hair because of some creepy Oedipal thing. JKR has actually said that she just really likes red hair, and that's why there are so many redheads in the books. As one who has wished for ginger tresses since I read Anne of Green Gables at 10 years old, I'm totally down with that.
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Post by Author By Night on Feb 17, 2009 21:25:50 GMT -5
I never understood the red haired logic myself. As you pointed out, mo, they have different kinds of red hair, for starters. Secondly, they're in the UK; that's a country filled with redheads!
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Post by vegablack on Feb 19, 2009 15:15:07 GMT -5
Even more to the point the characters are witches and the red-headed witch is an old stereotype in myth and literature. A witch is supposed to have red hair. Like the old crone the young red headed witch girl is used by JKR to create her world of witches. The wizards ride broom sticks have traditional familiars, (though they aren't called that), brew potions in cauldrons and are able to turn themselves and others into animals. Even poor Neville's ordeal at the hands of his uncle matches the ordeal by which witches were tested -- trial by water. Neville is tossed into the sea by his uncle to force him to use magic to keep afloat.
The red hair just fits into the world that JKR created that used the lore around magic traditional to our culture.
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Post by MWPP on Feb 22, 2009 15:44:38 GMT -5
I agree with all of the above, but would like to add (and this has been touched on above) ~
One of my biggest pleasures in reading Potter has to do with the story being "less than gritty". There is violence, but not so graphic as to promote disturbing images. However, I've run across stories where very violent OOC-for-JKR-stories scenarios have been focal points.
In some ways it could count as a Mary Sue therapy session, wherein the reader can easily see that the writer had gone through something similar and needed to exorcize their demons. (I've run across at least four that focused on Hermione and rape situations, and several more that focused on child abuse... all of which are so completely out of canon that the story would be better served as an original with no connection to Potter-verse.)
The problem I have with this sort of story is that the reason I read Potter is because I like the focus being on content, not on saliciousness. I like "plot-driven", not shocking or disgusting or depressing driven. In some ways writing such is taking the cheap inadequate way out, it shows more about the writer and the writer's abilities, than providing a good story.
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Post by mo on Feb 22, 2009 18:26:22 GMT -5
Oh, YES, mwpp. I remember stumbling across one that had Hermione becoming and anorexic "cutter" during the LavLav era. Mmmm. Yes. She'd do that, she would.
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Post by birdg on Feb 22, 2009 18:45:51 GMT -5
I was wandering around FF.net the other day and found an entire series of "Draco cuts himself" fics.
Aside from the utter hilarity of the boy who was once viciously maimed by a hippogriff cutting himself there's also the oddness of Draco - or anyone - doing something so Muggle. Draco has magic, why would he need a razor blade?
On the other hand I once read an interesting slash fic that had a character get addicted to Patented Daydream Charms till the point they started losing it and retreating more into the charms than deal with reality. Makes sense, the Daydream Charms are like mini-Mirror of Erised but better because they're interactive in a way, relying on one's imagination.
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Post by visitor on Mar 6, 2009 9:36:32 GMT -5
I have noticed a lot (it seems to me the greatest percentage is done in this style) of anime style fan art, and I am appreciative of the style, but where is the more realistic fan art.... I really prefer that to anime.
I noticed there was very little comment on fan art.
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Post by Author By Night on Mar 15, 2009 9:52:29 GMT -5
I never understood Harry Potter "cutter" stories. At the very least, make it a character who could be a cutter. I can see an insane character accidentally self-harming... I can't think of anyone who would intentionally self harm.
I've never understood the anime style myself, but I think it's because there's a fairly large crossover between anime-related fandoms and the Harry Potter fandom. People are influenced by anime, and so that's what they draw.
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Post by Ilene Bones on Mar 31, 2009 20:19:05 GMT -5
vegablack, it hadn't occured to me that it is a traditional stereotype to have witches with red hair. That's a great tidbit! Hmm, I wonder if Trelawney becoming drunk on cooking sherry has a deeper meaning as well, since in many traditions Seers ingest various hallucinogens (such as peyote and magic mushrooms) to help them connect to the spirit world.
Author By Night, I do recall a fic like that. Unfortunately I don't recall the author or title, but it was about Bellatrix's descent into (further) insanity while in Azkaban. What happens is that she, in her madness, comes to think that her own reflection in a mirror is not her, but some other witch, who she thinks must be in the next cell, and the mirror is actually a glass window between them. For what Bellatrix sees in the mirror is not the young beauty she recalls herself being, but a thin, haggard, aging witch dressed in rags. One day she tries to attack the "other witch" by banging on the mirror, and winds up injuring herself badly with the mirror shards. That I found very believable.
Anyway... in general, I heartily dislike any fics that attempt to shoehorn the world of Harry Potter into the standard American-suburban-HS teenage world. Yes, "Write what you know" is an old adage, but I think a better way to word this would be to apply what you know. In the Bellatrix-in-Azkaban story, she is deprived of her wand, and the Dementors seem to suppress magical ability as well. So I could see how she'd resort to physical violence. But I think that in general, a depressed magical person would not use a knife to self-harm, but might, like Ariana, have magical outbursts that could injure self or others. I actually think of Ariana's episodes as being like magical panic attacks.
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