o_0 i'm just in that kinda mood.

these are the things that amuse me. it's really pretty sad, isn't it? ha, but priceless. i was just innocently looking at weatherby's journal, and boom! harry-as-kevin-arnold flashed before me in a stroke of brilliant light, the likes of which haven't been seen since yesterday at the earliest..!
    it's hilarious, because ohmigod, i can so see it..! yes. malfoy as dorky older brother. perfect..!
~~
was thinking randomly, on bus. thought of the word `spell', immediately rhymed it with `well'. spell well..! erm. so like, i get this plotbunny about a well that you can dip into, and you get a spell (ahem), except there's no telling what it'll be, big or small, useful or destructive or barely-noticeable.

this made me notice that i'm actually wrong about my lack of plot-making prowess (the good plot issue nonwithstanding). it's just-- i usually get world-building or magic-use or weird-situation ideas. most of them wouldn't fit into the potterverse, or if they did fit it'd be a stretch, fitting them. it would probably help to actually finish reading the books of course. >_<;;

and like, i don't even -want- to stray too much, 'cause i like the world like it is, i mean-- i've read about people who write harry into siberia or whatever, as an exchange student. erk. i want to laugh at them. ha..! ha..! that just totally seems like a limitation, that you need to "write what comes naturally" or what you know, or whatever. why don't you make harry russian and a girl and chubby, while you're at it?? hee~:)
um. disclaimer: i'm sure those people are all brilliant (not). my fun is my own, thankyouverymuch :>

worlds & universes & bias

so, i guess my last post could be seen as anti-alternate-universe. (heh. funny, being against other universes, isn't it? shall i hunt them down, and stomp on them? wheeeeee~!)

and... i'm not, in theory. actually, i'm vaguely against alternate-worlds, as far as my own personal reading tastes, and also a lot of them suck (because a lot of fiction sucks, and here, you get the chance to suck because you're not using a pre-made non-sucky world). i like fanfic -because- i like alternate universes spreading like spores from a single one. malicious, but yummy. or not. everything i seek out actively in fiction tends to be -based- on something i already like, so in a way i just want the same thing yet different enough so i'm surprised as to what happens. my love for fairy-tale retellings is eternal testament to that, because i just NEVER tire of them.
    but, 'tis true. i enjoy morphings of canon situations, i enjoy all sorts of weirdness to an extreme degree, but-- if it's going to be a completely different world, you really have to sell me. first of all, i'll have to like that world. whereas usually i read stuff purely on the strength of the author's talent and my love for the characters they use, in an AU fic, there's no telling if the world will be my cup of tea or not. it's a big job-- here you are, basically disregarding all the help rowling's world has to offer you, and basically barely even touching upon all the obvious markers of what "draco" and "harry" are. you have to work really hard for them to still be themselves.

fics like `snitch!' and `dreams of enchantment' (which are great) avoid the wholeness of this problem by having it be an offshoot of the original world, containing plenty of inter-world interaction, some of the same characters, and many references. whereas, if you just take harry and plop him in a totally different environment, without any direct ties to his old life or any of the old characters (as i can't see all of harry's friends suddenly being transfer students, too, and even if so, it'd only be ron and herm, probably, so everyone else is out)-- it's just a different sort of thing. hogwarts isn't the whole of canon, as far as i know, so you can change the setting to muggle london or durmstrang or malfoy manor or romania (probably. erm.)

naturally, you can change the setting to anything. point is, to not do it for the sole reason that it's not rowling's world you want to write about/in, it's yours. if that's the case, why write fanfic? a full AU is different than just changing the setting while staying in the same universe.

it's a strange, mind-boggling sort of question.
why would i seek out re-interpretations of base story-elements, yet have a problem with the send-harry-to-siberia people.
well, that's just it. re-interpretation, vs. reinvention. it's a fine point. re-interpretation keeps the good stuff, but changes some elements, to throw it into a different light-- it's like, largely the same face, with different make-up and lighting and mood, ideally. it keeps what drew me to the `face', to start with.

truth is, i'd like to send harry to faery.
in fact, please, please, please, someone, send harry & malfoy to faery, i would be your love-slave, i promise (*snerk*). rewrite tamlin with harry and draco, and keep them in character, and you'll be my god.
so. the difference is...
well, it should be obvious. if you're going to throw out the world i love, you better replace it with another world i love just as much >_<;;

hee. you knew this was going to be biased, didn't you ^.^
~~
case in point: red. *shivers in remembered pleasure* see, that's definitely deviating from canon, yet remaining in canon, also definitely. see how paradoxical it all is? there are oodles of things you can change, yet remain the same. it's just hilarious, i think, that you can make harry and draco lust after each other when they're bloody 13, and not change their characters or behavior patterns. i mean. isn't that just priceless??! that story proves once and for all, why harry and draco are -so-, plausible and canonical *grins maniacally* yeay..! heh. heheheh. gahd. i wish all these insane things made less perfect sense to me-- or maybe i just wish they made sense to everyone, and then we could all be insane together.

and then. and then. gack. chiriko's dudley/harry... now that should've never even BEGUN to make sense to me. it's all mistful's fault. she's the one who wrote that first dudley/harry wasn't she? erk. i know i made a mistake as to the authorship before... but like. it's not a pairing i like to see, but i can't help but see it...! it's so ... (dare i say it??!) canonical. *facepalms* sort of like the way i feel about tom/hagrid right now (*looks at amalin in consternation*)
obviously, if you want conclusive, clear arguments, here is not the place to be ^_^;;

but if you want to hear someone say how they like icky-fat-cousin incest.... read on...! :D

~~
read this review at FA for `luminary' and i'm just dying [with laughter]:

``impressive. h/d slash never fails to impress me... except for the fluffy kind. fluffy stinks. angst rocks."

ahem. the public hath spoken.
i stink..! and i'm impressive. just like everyone else :D