~~grumble grumble.
Jan. 4th, 2003 08:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkai suppose i've realized the obvious peril of reading too much fanfiction. i guess it was always blatant, but for some reason (probably to do with reading vaguely good fic most of the time), i haven't seen it this clearly. this isn't really a problem with fanfiction alone. all fiction does this to some extent.
repetition. repetition of theme, repetition of exact situation, repetition of motives and characterizations and everything, just, everything. why anyone feels the need to repeat jk rowling's own pattern of temporal progression-- dursleys, train, great hall, new teachers, and then suddenly (in a h/d fic), malfoy, malfoy malfoy, is beyond me. my brain hurts. i want entertainment, i'm not asking to be made to think and ponder the nature of the universe or draco malfoy for that matter. but this is just too much.
people should just slap themselves before they write an interlude with the dursleys unless it's -really- important to the story and can't be achieved in any sort of glancing reference or dialogue/monologue on harry's part. this goes even more with a scene on the train. why god, why.
is this why people gravitate towards writing/reading about tom riddle or the marauders or the twins or anyone but harry? because they've -read- about harry, and trying to read a bad version of book five from harry's point of view (again) is just too much?
none of my favorite fics do this except for one (`sins of the father' and probably `princes of fire and ice'), and that only barely. it seems 80% of the run-of-the-mill hp slash fic is trying to write book five. it makes me want to hit my head against the desk. repeatedly. i mean, being canonically correct is one thing. mentioning harry's relationship with dudley and voldemort and hermione and ron and sirius and mrs. weasley and cedric and ginny and -everyone- just to be thorough is quite another.
i suppose it's my own fault for reading it. *sigh*
EDIT: reading one badfic, and laughing out loud at the first thing for -ages- it seems, it struck me. sherlock holmes!draco is THE funniest premise for a fic. just hilarious. dammit, someone has to write it. someone...? anyone...? bueller.....?? and nonono, i don't mean ``malfoy, p.i." obviously. more like, a regular canon draco, in hogwarts, overcome with the seduction of deduction. awww, c'mon, it'd be funny. he could skulk about and look for Clues and shoot morphine and blaise could be his sidekick. he could somehow interfere funnily with some Quest of the trio's, and make them see him in a new light, except he's just having a bit of fun with logic puzzles. and then, he could save the day without dirtying his hands, and shoot some more morphine. it's perfect..! *laughs*
repetition. repetition of theme, repetition of exact situation, repetition of motives and characterizations and everything, just, everything. why anyone feels the need to repeat jk rowling's own pattern of temporal progression-- dursleys, train, great hall, new teachers, and then suddenly (in a h/d fic), malfoy, malfoy malfoy, is beyond me. my brain hurts. i want entertainment, i'm not asking to be made to think and ponder the nature of the universe or draco malfoy for that matter. but this is just too much.
people should just slap themselves before they write an interlude with the dursleys unless it's -really- important to the story and can't be achieved in any sort of glancing reference or dialogue/monologue on harry's part. this goes even more with a scene on the train. why god, why.
is this why people gravitate towards writing/reading about tom riddle or the marauders or the twins or anyone but harry? because they've -read- about harry, and trying to read a bad version of book five from harry's point of view (again) is just too much?
none of my favorite fics do this except for one (`sins of the father' and probably `princes of fire and ice'), and that only barely. it seems 80% of the run-of-the-mill hp slash fic is trying to write book five. it makes me want to hit my head against the desk. repeatedly. i mean, being canonically correct is one thing. mentioning harry's relationship with dudley and voldemort and hermione and ron and sirius and mrs. weasley and cedric and ginny and -everyone- just to be thorough is quite another.
i suppose it's my own fault for reading it. *sigh*
EDIT: reading one badfic, and laughing out loud at the first thing for -ages- it seems, it struck me. sherlock holmes!draco is THE funniest premise for a fic. just hilarious. dammit, someone has to write it. someone...? anyone...? bueller.....?? and nonono, i don't mean ``malfoy, p.i." obviously. more like, a regular canon draco, in hogwarts, overcome with the seduction of deduction. awww, c'mon, it'd be funny. he could skulk about and look for Clues and shoot morphine and blaise could be his sidekick. he could somehow interfere funnily with some Quest of the trio's, and make them see him in a new light, except he's just having a bit of fun with logic puzzles. and then, he could save the day without dirtying his hands, and shoot some more morphine. it's perfect..! *laughs*
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no subject
Date: 2003-01-04 07:45 pm (UTC)And I agree with you on the repetition issue. I tend to avoid most fics that have the same linear structure as the books, because the idea grows tiresome. If that were what I wanted, I'd read the books again. As for book five, I'm patient. I'd rather see fanfiction writers being experimental and innovative, creating something new out of an existing universe. For me, that's the challenge.