~~ bastards r us.

[reenka]

I really like mockery. I mean, I don't go to fandom_wank that much, but in ideal it has my smirking admiration, as long as they don't take themselves too seriously. I think comedians have always been somewhat cruel; that sort of explains Fred & George, as far as I'm concerned. They mean well, but I don't think they mean nicely, and that's all right with me. Bastards are okay, aren't they? There are more important things.

I'm the sort of person who's both oversensitive about being mocked and able to take it pretty well, I think, depending on how I feel, though I almost never indulge in it. I like it because while it's often perpetuated by the self-deluded, it is still a form of hardcore brutal honesty even if there's no truth in it, and I often hold honesty above mercy as a virtue. My ideal would be mercy that didn't announce itself too loudly; that was understated and implicit rather than preachy and earnest; that was hidden beneath brashness and sarcasm, perhaps. I know all too well that kindness & politeness aren't the same thing, and politeness is merely a societal requirement, not a virtue. Brutal mercy would also be nice and that perhaps says more about me than most things I could possibly say.

So for people like me, there are several different bastard characters to choose from:

People who like effete, lightly sarcastic flouncy bois with a simple & elegant grudge (all bark, v. little bite) would go for fanon!Draco;
    "Whee, look at this shiny pretty boy! Look at him make cutesy remarks that aren't really mocking so much as witty, act sophisticated and mature, and make every girl & boy swoon!"

People who like sadistic, intellectual mocking men with a twisted & complex grudge would go for Snape;
    "Wheee, he's such a deluded bastard; look at him, led around by his emotions all the time! Watch him make one ill-advised, underhanded, desperate mistake after another! And yet, he's snarky and really needs someone to love him if only he knew what to do with it!"

People who like fiery taunting bastards with a burning grudge would go for Sirius;
    "Whee, he's such a hot-blooded bastard! Watch him growl and tear a leg off a chap for looking his way wrong! Why taunt when you can prank? Why glide when you can swagger? Indeed, why do you need anything else when you're Sirius Black??

And people who like fiercely teasing, earnest boys with a righteous grudge that needs Righteous Vengeance, I suppose, would go for Harry. Harry can also migrate into both fiery taunting and withdrawn brooding if you push him; that's why he's cute in OoTP, but I know I'm not speaking for the majority in this. However, Harry above all others symbolizes the idea of 'brutal mercy', or at least that's where I think he's heading in canon. Wah <3 (And yeah, so milquetoast Harry... seems pointless to me, kinda.)

I think I like fiery mocking bastards with a twisted grudge-- haha, some sort of mix of Sirius & Snape, and actually I could see Draco like that (so you see where the effete fanon starts to grate unless he's redeemed by being really funny). I think my complaint against effete, elegant & sophisticated boils down to 'not nearly hardcore enough, baby. not nearly'. But I guess being hardcore is a fringe characteristic for a reason (though I mean, I'd say plenty of stupid people are pretty stupid hardcore, but that's neither here nor there.)
    I think most people still want likable bastards no matter what flavor, and I do too, though perhaps I have a rare enough idea of what's 'likable'. I guess the most popular notion is that a 'likable bastard' has a heart of gold-- I just like them to have a heart of blood.
    Given that bit earlier about twisted mockingness, perhaps I should've been into Snape all along, since twisted mocking Draco isn't so much in evidence? (and I would've been if not for him being old, greasy and... did I mention old?)

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

You mention likable and Snape in the same sentence.

Please don't?

[nothingbutfic.livejournal.com]

...Draco isn't a fiery mocking bastard with a twisted grudge AFTER ALL?

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to conflate the two :)) I'm nearly asleep, or rather woke up just to write this, so I'll um, edit that for clarity :>

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Did I say that? Ahaha, man I'm out of it. I usually edit my posts like 5 times after initially posting, but um... I think he is, but was frustrated most people don't want him to be :> Though I think it's more of a simple grudge currently (not too many layers).

[nothingbutfic.livejournal.com]

Well, no, it is simple in terms of its complexity; for me the twistedness boils down to the wrongness and pigheaded of it. I mean, for me, his grudge is essentially "OMG POTTER YOU STOLE MY SPOTLIGHT. EVERYONE WOULD LOVE ME AS THEY SHOULD IF NOT FOR YOU."

Which you know, he has no right to say, really.

(omg, are we agreeing on something?)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think of it as twisted too, but twisted in a different way than Snape's, say, and I didn't think long enough to make up a new word, quite. He's so affection-starved; I think in the end I like him rather than Snape 'cause I can't resist that sheer desperation which Snape has repressed so thoroughly it's not even that interesting to me to dig beneath it. I mean, he must be calcified by now -.-

(are you sure you're not -trying- to disagree more than we are? :>)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

Heh, well you still do, but don't mind me, I am tentatively going on a rampage against him now that I am freee of the HPdom.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

....free... of the HPdom....?? And yet... rampage against HP characters? *giggles*

[nothingbutfic.livejournal.com]

Snape is so bitter and brittle; he's like salt taffy.

(I am not! dude, it is a good day for me and h/d and agreeing with people.)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Salt taffy! :D I would've thought him having some resilient stretchy bits that you could chew & chew & chew and they'll just leave stains on your teeth and never really yield much flavor. Um.
(Heheh I just never knew we had this past of disagreement & woe.)

...I'm tempted to ask GM!Draco something but all that comes to me is light teasing about biscuits....

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I think maybe I fixed the conflation now :>

[nothingbutfic.livejournal.com]

Maybe he is licorice?

(not disagreement really. I just felt ignored omg, my man-author-pain.)

...You READ GM?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

*lol* you make me really guilty for hounding you over that little paragraph, mwah, and you being sleepy and all *guilty* :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

*nods happily*

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

heheh I wouldn't want to traumatize you :)) I'm not much with the uh, bastardy mockingness myself, I guess -.- *shame*

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Licorice sounds almost sexy, somehow o_0 Then again, I hate licorice, especially licorice-flavored sodas. Blech.

(Ahhh I forget about the man-author-pain in my girl-author flightiness. Apologies?)

Heheh, yeah, it's like the only game in town as far as I know now that the_leaky!H/D's gone underground. And I'd only read it a few days ago, all at once :> Now I keep refreshing in the usual way :)) But yeah, I'm not much for community participation or anything, but I've always had a fondness for your Draco :> And his Australian adventure, it seems :)) ...And the preaching to Harry is cute. Kinda, y'know, in a hypocritical sort of way -.-

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

*g* actually that's what I thought as well, that you say you only like very little kindness and much of the mocking but aren't that bad yourself, as definitions vary. I am glad you are not out to traumatise me XD

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Ahahah I don't think I've ever met anyone who'd thought I was mean o_0 I do think I'm all about being attracted to my opposites though, and wanting the explore things outside of myself, etc. And I think most of my brutality ends up being in my fiction ;> Everyone needs an outlet :D

[nothingbutfic.livejournal.com]

I am allergic to licorice. So it IS snape! -.-

(Accepted. bookshop commented to some of my fic tonight. Between you reading GM and her, I shall like, die of bwee.)

LOL it is a game in town? (Sorry, GM got flamed the other week and so I am a little 'haha ha some people do not hate us!111 LOL' plus I dunno, I don't think of GM as being like, known? :-? It is just this t00by thing I started with ash based on an AU of one of my fics.)

Oh, my Draco is a huge hypocrite, so you are not wrong there.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

See, that's very commendable! :)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Either that or I'm well on the road to repression :))

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I think obviously a lot can be forgiven when it's funny. But then, wanting to be a likeable bastard and being one are two different things. There are times when F_W spends more time telling everybody it's funny than actually being funny, for instance.

Or the twins, for instance, are sometimes actually funny in canon and sometimes just stupid. If you find it hilarious when someone breaks out in boils maybe they're a riot but, uh, not all that witty to me. Draco occasionally hits the mark, often is just embarassing (with the embarassing parts sometimes funny and sometimes repulsive). Snape can be funny, but also hurtle headlong into pathetic.

I don't know how much self-honesty this sort of thing requires, actually. It seems like it should require some, but maybe it doesn't always. I mean, I was just in, like, 2 conversations about motivation and I said, in response to judging people by their own value systems, that I find this difficult because people usually lie about their value systems. What they claim they are doing is often not what they're really doing. Often they've just dressed up something needy and petty as something honorable or worthy, you know? I think the twins telling themselves they mean well or are righteous often hurts their humor, for instance. Draco and Snape do that too, but maybe it's just so tranparent with them you can laugh it off more (though I think that's often why the few times they do so genuine passion and emotion about something important I take it seriously).

Not that there's one way to do humor well. You can be funny while passionately believing in things or funny while believing in nothing. Self-delusion can be funny and so can self-awareness.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I heard of the wank/mock/whatever it was, and that was just one personal, right, while you have a whole community of people who're enjoying the game :)) I dunno how well-known it is, but I checked it out 'cause of that, probably & also I was just curious; I'm not aware of H/D RPs beyond that, the_leaky & the mpreg one. I'm particularly enamoured of Harry's gruffness & loserishness (yeay!) & Draco's total clueless posturing <3 I think most silly/unpretty aspects of them would just endear them to me in a twisted way :>

(ahahahalkfjasl;kj Dude are you thinking of me & Aja as some sort of commenting game in town?? *dead*)

[nothingbutfic.livejournal.com]

It was one person, but considering the scope of their post - "omg no-one should like this!" it was pretty damn wanky, imho.

Hmm. I dunno if it counts as an RP cause of the epistolary style? It's more...cowritten fic in my head, anyway.

You should join in the discussion at times! Some of the stuff is very deep. We are v. impressed.

(Not a commenting game so much as...if I want the deep analysis of h/d, I know where to go, you know? If I want detailed crit, I know you two can bring it.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

Nah, as long as you rant you are alive.