~~ mmmpretty
Jun. 28th, 2005 01:52 amOmg, this Marauders pic by
leelastarsky is too amazing, seriously. This is what AU fanart-- and maybe even fanart/illustration itself-- is all about. Seeing the subject in a new way; that feeling of oh!, that startlement where things flip from head to toe & yet make more sense than they ever did before, because that image both deeply alters and reconstructs one's conception of a singular fictional reality-- the one in the reader's head. Omgsqueeyes!
(Leela's gen pics-- like this one of Harry & Ron & the Malfoys with the omg-so-bratty!Draco with his vicar's collar of LURVE & hee, Godric!!... and Celtic!R/Hr seems obvious somehow-- and seriously, now I'm shipping her version of Arthur/Molly o_0 ...They all tend to make me happy in general, but. Man.)
This is pretty much everything I feel defines the Marauders, exaggerated and reforged and put into complete crystalline focus, all at the same time. Dude. Dude!
Perhaps it's because I feel we -are- our wild, primal, wicked (Dark? no, not quite) selves. We are our shadows, moreso the more righteous we think we become. And I think while the four of them were ultimately on the 'right' side, they were clearly forces of chaos and half-wild play (except Remus, who knew too much & said too little, and Peter, who played 'follow the leader' more than anything).
All four of them, wicked in their own special ways. Peter was only cunning-wicked (which is one of those weaknesses necessary for survival); that just means James was righteous-wicked (the least chaotic, most focused-- and yeah, trying to resist 'heroic'-- king in training? something like that). Sirius was rageful-wicked (pretty much your archetypical pirate boy and/or god of war) and Remus was (obviously) beast/berserker-wicked. Perhaps it's most correct to say they were all beastly in different ways, then.
I just really love it; re-envisioning things, that is. It seems to me the very food of my imagination. It's like, if something is worth telling, it's worth retelling, and no two retellings could (should?) be exactly alike.
I'd seen someone refer to this mindset as being of the 'bardic tradition' recently in regards to the Robin Hobb fanfic kerfuffle, and maybe it is-- but to me it's just natural. I've loved both fairy-tales and retelling them since I'd learned to read. Possibly, truly complex/filled-in (lived in) stories are more limiting; they possess the full specificity of their time and place and maybe feel more like histories than history does. I wonder if this has something to do with me not liking most fiction set entirely in the here-and-now; without the element of fantasy & the unknown past/present/future/other, I am reminded I really have a minimal interest in people's lives at times. Maybe I'm just an escapist bitch who -likes- her canon!Draco 2D, actually, thankyouverymuch. He's freer that way. Also, I feel I know how JKR thinks on this subject by now well enough to realize if he gets more developed, he pretty much gets the boot-in-the-ribs treatment.
(And yes, I realize I've become v. picky & anal about the lil D in fanfic post-OoTP, but that's mostly my frustrations with a lack of dealing with the Issues I care about rather than any specific no-no about characterization. Except mebbe nice!Draco, who's just hell no, perfect-Slytherin!Draco who makes me sick after repeated exposure to him with Blaise and/or Nott and/or him topping Harry, and smooth-yet-rational!Draco who makes me want to smack him and shove him head-first into a hurt/comfort fic with het!Harry. Oh yes, I am a cruel mistress, Draco baby.)
It seems like archetypes-- heavily symbolic stories & characters (like the Marauders)-- beg for multiplicity. Their uniqueness may in fact lie in their very adaptability, their flexibility in storytelling use. It is probably because the HP books come to close to the roots of old legends that I feel such ease in playing with them. I can almost smell the left-over smoke from borrowed fires as I think about them.
(Leela's gen pics-- like this one of Harry & Ron & the Malfoys with the omg-so-bratty!Draco with his vicar's collar of LURVE & hee, Godric!!... and Celtic!R/Hr seems obvious somehow-- and seriously, now I'm shipping her version of Arthur/Molly o_0 ...They all tend to make me happy in general, but. Man.)
This is pretty much everything I feel defines the Marauders, exaggerated and reforged and put into complete crystalline focus, all at the same time. Dude. Dude!
Perhaps it's because I feel we -are- our wild, primal, wicked (Dark? no, not quite) selves. We are our shadows, moreso the more righteous we think we become. And I think while the four of them were ultimately on the 'right' side, they were clearly forces of chaos and half-wild play (except Remus, who knew too much & said too little, and Peter, who played 'follow the leader' more than anything).
All four of them, wicked in their own special ways. Peter was only cunning-wicked (which is one of those weaknesses necessary for survival); that just means James was righteous-wicked (the least chaotic, most focused-- and yeah, trying to resist 'heroic'-- king in training? something like that). Sirius was rageful-wicked (pretty much your archetypical pirate boy and/or god of war) and Remus was (obviously) beast/berserker-wicked. Perhaps it's most correct to say they were all beastly in different ways, then.
I just really love it; re-envisioning things, that is. It seems to me the very food of my imagination. It's like, if something is worth telling, it's worth retelling, and no two retellings could (should?) be exactly alike.
I'd seen someone refer to this mindset as being of the 'bardic tradition' recently in regards to the Robin Hobb fanfic kerfuffle, and maybe it is-- but to me it's just natural. I've loved both fairy-tales and retelling them since I'd learned to read. Possibly, truly complex/filled-in (lived in) stories are more limiting; they possess the full specificity of their time and place and maybe feel more like histories than history does. I wonder if this has something to do with me not liking most fiction set entirely in the here-and-now; without the element of fantasy & the unknown past/present/future/other, I am reminded I really have a minimal interest in people's lives at times. Maybe I'm just an escapist bitch who -likes- her canon!Draco 2D, actually, thankyouverymuch. He's freer that way. Also, I feel I know how JKR thinks on this subject by now well enough to realize if he gets more developed, he pretty much gets the boot-in-the-ribs treatment.
(And yes, I realize I've become v. picky & anal about the lil D in fanfic post-OoTP, but that's mostly my frustrations with a lack of dealing with the Issues I care about rather than any specific no-no about characterization. Except mebbe nice!Draco, who's just hell no, perfect-Slytherin!Draco who makes me sick after repeated exposure to him with Blaise and/or Nott and/or him topping Harry, and smooth-yet-rational!Draco who makes me want to smack him and shove him head-first into a hurt/comfort fic with het!Harry. Oh yes, I am a cruel mistress, Draco baby.)
It seems like archetypes-- heavily symbolic stories & characters (like the Marauders)-- beg for multiplicity. Their uniqueness may in fact lie in their very adaptability, their flexibility in storytelling use. It is probably because the HP books come to close to the roots of old legends that I feel such ease in playing with them. I can almost smell the left-over smoke from borrowed fires as I think about them.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-28 01:23 am (UTC)Doesn't everyone? *clueless face*
Also, HAHA OMG HAVE YOU EVER READ HANAKIMI?! *is currently taking teh crossdressing-girl-in-prettyboy's-school-crack in very large doses* It's like... all the crackiest woe-iest fluffiest mary-sueiest fics all rolled into one big ball of happy shoujo love. Umeda. UUuuummmeeeeee-DA! *is going to make a long-ass post about it when she's done with all 23&1/2 volumes*
no subject
Date: 2005-06-28 01:38 am (UTC)...I've been kind of scared of Hanakimi, as I tend to be of all/most uber-popular things. I haven't watched (the rest of) Utena or read/watched probably more than half the popular stuff on purpose, kinda. I like the art & have been kinda-sorta planning on reading it, though. It -is- longass and man, I haven't even gotten through Legend of Basara yet. Le sigh.
Possibly if I read W Juliet I'd be more psyched about the cross-dressing/genderbender thing, which I tend to avoid in shoujo. Hehe, but I hear there's a cute gay doctor :))
no subject
Date: 2005-06-28 02:01 am (UTC)Hahaha so emo. *sits on you* Didn't stop you when it came to HP, now did it?
OMG! UMEDA! U-M-E-D-A! Hanakimi is totally worth his hot doctor arse. *drools all over the place* And Mizuki always catches him when he's about to get nookie too XD. It's hilarious. And Nakatsu is so Ron it hurts. Especially when he's freaking out cos he thinks he's 'a homo'
and a little 3 year old kid he's babysitting calls him 'a homo' as well!. XD XD XD *dies* I love it when the Japanese use that word.Sorry, I'm just stuck in pathetic fangirl mode right now. I should be more attentive to the topic at hand.
Most people are weird. How can you not like canon!Draco? He's so... canon. Yes, I guess I am weird. *le sigh... goes back to
UmedaHanakimi fangirling*