~~stories can't be sinful, can they? why, -yes they can-!

[reenka]

it occurs to me that when you really care about something, it's easiest to completely get burnt out and apathetic and against it. ok, obvious. but still. there are some things that i read that make me almost -hate- harry/draco. hate it. hate it. i hate that they do this to my precious. *laughs* i want to renounce it and say, this is not my precious! gah! is not! i don't like anything like this and it's just all wrong, and is -that- what i was going on about? is -that- what people think this -is-??! because if they do, i just want to never hear of it again.

but the only thing worse than -hating- a fic with your favorite pairing, and wanting to never read anything like that again, is not being able to really hate it, because you are so in love with their love that you can't help but care about these ciphers that are really in no way "harry" or "draco". they aren't, and yet i can't quite convince myself enough so that i don't care what happens to them. completely insane. i mean, i hate this fic. i hate it. and yet i -care- about them, and i bother to feel upset at the way this fic treats them in the first place. i mean, i think this fic exemplifies everything that can possibly be done wrong with this pairing. everything. i didn't think that'd be possible, but here it is.
    when you would easily call something "the worst h/d fic ever" and yet you still feel emotionally attached to the characters just because of the stupid associations in your head that have nothing, really, to do with the fic, you know there is a problem.

i mean, ok. this is the person's first h/d story. i should be gentle. but to hell with that. it's my problem, of course, that any time i find an hp fanfic author i think might be interesting, the way i test them is by reading an h/d fic, if they ever wrote one. i can't even -judge- any other type, not as thoroughly. i can't tell you if your sirius/remus fic is the most brilliant thing ever-- i can't compare it to much of anything and i'd be guessing if i said the characters sounded off and sirius would -never- do this or that.
    i used to be like this with art. it didn't matter what you usually draw to me, i just wanted you to draw a princess in a pretty dress. this was when i was little. but still, same idea. i could judge princesses. i couldn't judge slime monsters, not really.

i should've just stopped reading when it started with draco crying. because a draco that cries is so uncool as to be in a whole new universe of uncoolness, and honestly, just how cool was he to start with?? obviously i have no sense of self-preservation. sigh.

EDIT: ok. things that make me cry in horror and defeat, as far as characterization, aka, Worst Sins Imaginable:
    
- draco cries. harry cries. hermione cries. REENA CRIES
- draco (or, rarely, harry) is a sensitive intellectual. NOT. please no. please.
- draco is open and honest about his feelings, and says he's sorry.
- harry is a doormat, always understanding and forgiving.
- draco is of course, flamboyantly gay, while harry is "straight-acting"
- draco is a slut. harry is a slut. *reena tears hair out*
- ron is the stereotype for all homophobes everywhere.
- they call each other by first name almost immediately
- they are soulmates, but It's Not Meant To Be.
- harry has forgotten that he's ridiculously well-adjusted, all things considered, and becomes the posterchild for depression. cue draco, being sensitive.
- harry is gay, gay, gay. harry and girls don't mix, never have, never will.
- draco's behavior is all lucius' fault. if lucius "went away" it'd all get better.
- draco mellows with age, and becomes "reasonable", because people change drastically for no reason other than being a few years older.
- harry crumples after draco leaves him, and that sends him over the edge and he just -has- to leave the wizarding world and become a muggle. that, or he kills himself.
- their love isn't meant to be. thus suicide is the only option. harry is the suicidal sort, didn't you know? that, or homicide.
- harry soon cares about draco more than anything, more than life or his sanity or his best friends. draco is his everything. ron and hermione just have to understand (but usually they don't. shocking.)
- draco is actually a very smart and powerful and important wizard. as powerful as harry. who knew?
- draco is the sexiest thing on two legs and everyone thinks so (not just draco. -everyone-. except ron.) harry is second place.
- two words: leather. pants.
~~

P.S. - am i reccing a really weird-but-cool buffy/faith smut fic? why, yes i am. `strawberry road'. mmm. what fic -should- be like, pairing be damned (says the buffy/spike shipper, mind you).

Comments

[wellington.livejournal.com]

Did you see the note at the bottom? Ron/Harry is so much cuter? What can you expect when the author herself doesn't care much for the pairing. I can understand writing a pairing you hate to sort out why you hate it...to make a point...but, to write a pairing you are indifferent about is going to give less than spectacular results, since the reader can actually feel the apathy about the situation and the outcome of the relationship.

You know, I can't write decent H/D anymore? I've thought about trying, just for the sake of doing it, but every attempt feels so stale and false...you can just feel it in the writing. Bah, I was going to say so much more, but I think I just depressed myself somehow. But I can agree about finding fics that just mess it up -- that seem to lack a certain brand of effort -- yet being so immersed in the characters or one's own spectrum of perceptions of how characters should be, you just can't help but care...can't help but want to see it fixed. Happens to me all the time with my R/D. :)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

you weird, weird strange person with your r/d ahahah. one day i might read it, y'know~:) especially since i'm getting this feeling that you're never writing h/d again ><;;
and you never even finished any! *cries*
i've become mellow in my old fandom age, y'know. and more cynical. i'm more open to non-h/d, more closed to bad h/d to the point of almost seriously really disliking it.
but. i'm still painfully otp about them and i can't see getting a -new- otp in the same fandom. it'd just be wrong. like marrying the brother of my dead husband or something, y'know?
even if i one day cease to find anything joyful or alive about h/d, they'd still be together in my head-- dead, but together.

ahaha i'm such a romantic >:D

Re:

[wellington.livejournal.com]

:) Nothing wrong with that. We're a fandom full of romantics (isn't that just the dumbest thing to say...every fandom is full of romantics).

[franzeska]

I hate to say it, but Hermione crying is not an OOC thing. She cries far more than I think she ought to. Granted, they are stupid tears of happiness and what have you, but she does cry. I agree about all of your other points though, especially Ron. Why do people hate Ron so much? I do not understand. Yes, he is a prat and possibly deserving of hatred, but why only Ron, why not some of the other annoying characters? Argh. Perhaps I will restrain myself from ranting on your lj... uh... anyway...

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

why only Ron
ahahahahaha oh, that's too good. oh, oh. snape. draco. harry. a hate-fest!! oh.
the possibilities!!
*ponders hermione's not crying*
perhaps there should be a clause for improving upon characterizations that were lacking in the original ;)
hee. but yes. am silly. now remember the huge hermione-crying-in-the-troll-infested-bathroom debacle.
oh yes. hermione is a crier. damn. well, actually, that's not very utilized in fanon, come to think of it, which is why i shudder in horror when it does happen. funny how fanon takes over one's mind. of course, i'm not above appreciating leather pants on occasion, either.

oh, the shame ^^;;

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know! I love Ron. I love best friend!Ron, who after having been through basilisks and giant spiders and flying cars and all the rest of the crap with Harry that they've been through together, who was the Thing Harry Would Miss Most, who's practically his family, does not find a trivial thing like Harry's being gay (or even a less trivial thing like Harry's loving Draco) as nearly sufficient reason to abandon him.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

hee. well, i can see ron being irked, since he -hates- draco. but like... why is harry -so- much more reasonable? just because he feels something for draco doesn't mean he can't understand how ron feels anymore, 'cause he used to feel like that too, and stuff, so they should still be able to understand one another.
i can see why people do the things they do, but that doesn't mean they should do it. i think ron isn't the most reasonable person ever, obviously, but ... it's actually hard to say what the most "realistic" scenario would be.
he certainly wouldn't "just accept it", any more than harry would just accept it in himself.
maybe... just... as long as he's not all ready to run the other way immediately and think harry is insane, i guess.

yah.
like, what would a friend do?
"You're -insane- Harry. Don't say I didn't warn you, 'cause I did. You're -insane-. He's -Malfoy-, Harry. Malfoy!"
"Er. Yeah, I know...." *holds head in hands* "Maybe I am nutters, but I can't seem to you know-- stop."
*sigh* "It's OK, Harry. I -think-. Just don't ... um... mention it too much, OK?"
"Yeah, OK"

ahahaha ~:)

[wellington.livejournal.com]

Hehe...that's too adorable. It almost makes me want to go back to H/D if I'll get exchanges like that out of it...aww..too cute. You are brilliance!

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

*has vague suspicion you're just saying that 'cause it was a quasi-ron/dracoish moment* ^^
hee. but yes.
come back! come back into the fooold, mah prettie >:D< we've been waiting for youuuuu :D

h/d doesn't -have- to be schmoopier and goopier than ron/draco. most people do make it that way, though.
ahahah. i've just got this semi-plot-bunny for ron/hermione/draco.
now -that- would have some interesting dialogue...
poor harry, though ^^;;

Re:

[wellington.livejournal.com]

Oh my god...you must e-mail me, if that ever gets written. I would read it with copious amounts of sick fascination...

And I'm working on an H/D fic right this moment(quality undetermined). Gah, what have you done to me!

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Doom. Death. Despair.
Mea culpa.
*puts face in hands and cries*
draco is the sexiest thing on two legs and everyone thinks so (not just draco. -everyone-. except ron.)
*writes Ron/Draco to cleanse herself*

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

nah, ron/draco is actually a much greater sin than a sexy draco, who is annoying when written casually, as if it's a -given-.
you -make- him sexy, which is a quite different sort of thing >:D<
eheheheh. you're special ~:)
you are one of the Chosen Ones who are truly in touch with the real source of The Sexy :D
i mean, he -is-. it's just, you have to ... show it, not just use it as a given. i mean, as a draco lover, obviously i think he's pretty and witty and gay, eheheheh. but. it's annoying when people just -say- it as if it was always obvious to everyone, y'know?

yah~:)
it wasn't even always obvious to -your- harry. no need to write ron/draco. that would just scar us both needlessly~:)
*giggles*

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

Gotta love the way Maya cleanses herself by making *everybody* in the world attracted to Draco. ;)

More to the point, Reena, I think I'm having similar problems to you. H/D, while remaining my OTP, is becoming increasingly hard for me to read as I have so many expectations for it. Other pairings are intriguing me a lot, though usually only in ficlet form. But like you, H/D will always be my OTP, even if I stopped reading it altogether.

[pingviini.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear, that list. Hahaha. While I agree with you on practically everything, I realise I'm also guilty of some of the crimes listed.
You know, I think I'll keep a copy of that list next to me when I write. And after each chapter I'll go through it and tick it off, item by item: "Draco, flamboyantly gay? Avoided. Harry, a doormat? Avoided. Leather pants? Definitely avoided. Easily avoided. Draco cries? Uh....hmmmm. Guilty."
:D

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

... you realize that's just my -personal- pet peeves, right? ~:)
and so naturally, i forgive most of them if they're done by my favorite writers.
er. you would be one of them ^^
it's naturally possible to write anything well, and to create a draco that wears pink dresses, if you -really- wanted to. although, that might be going a bit far. heh.
the crying thing is a particular pitfall, just because people use it as an excuse to get someone all emotional and open, like getting them drunk or really really horny. and that annoys me.
people -can- have a reason to cry, even draco, but it's unforgivable to have snarky mean characters become weepy crybabies just to avoid writing them as who they're supposed to be in the first place.

like, i don't think you'd ever have "harry sees draco cry, and realizes draco isn't so bad, since he can weep too. wow, friendship begins." ahahah
that's just bad writing ^^
in truth i think people's reaction to other people crying can just as easily be confusion, discomfort, fear, various types of feeling disturbed and taken aback. no reason to have harry go, "ohhh, let me cuddle you, drakey-poo". i know -i- wouldn't say that, and i -like- draco ^^
hee.

[nefeleo.livejournal.com]

I agree with you in all of your pet H/D peeves. I mean, there are always exceptions where some of them do work -- Draco crying, for instance, can be set up well given a skillful author -- but generally they are all incredibly annoying.

...And as far as the given name situation goes, I am happiest with fics where they NEVER use 'Harry' or 'Draco' unless they are in the wanton throes of passion, and even then it strikes me as slightly OOC.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

*laughs* whoah, you're more hardcore than me.
i mean, it depends on the fic. it'd be weird if there was still "potter" and "malfoy" in luw, and awww, harry & draco calling each other that in `underwater light'. awww.
not saying it's necessarily in-character, but y'know. woobie. ^^

i actually defended crying!draco once, to ishuca when she said he'd impossible. i mean, he's possible. everyone cries -sometime-.
but i just hate the use of it as a cliche plot device, and stuff.

ahahah it's just funny for harry to call out "malfoy" in the throws of passion. i mean, he's more sentimental than that. i think, anyway.
but yah. funny how everyone agrees with me but the in-character fic isn't exactly falling from the sky ^^;;

[nefeleo.livejournal.com]

LOL!

Personally, I tend to like it when there is still a lot of animosity involved in their passionate throes. :D I have a thing for angry sex... possibly? So I think the brusqueness involved with 'Malfoy' and 'Potter' could be quite sexy!

*laughs at self*

I do agree that it wouldn't do for most fics (UL, Origins, etc..), though.

Yeah, crying in general really sucks as a plot device. It always smacks of Mary-Suism, to me. As if the author wishes she could simply cry, and get her crush to notice her (like Harry often does with Draco). Or maybe I am being too harsh, I dunno.

*opens umbrella upside-down, hoping to catch some IC fics*