[diiiiie, my pretties...]
Jun. 27th, 2006 01:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaYou may think this is weird... and it probably -is- really weird... but I'm pretty excited by the news of extra extra deaths in book 7. Yesh. Ever since I heard (the possibility it'll be Draco especially) 5 minutes ago I've been smiling sort of manically. Grinning, even. And no, it's not the prospect of all the wank, 'cause that's -always- been something to look forward to.
Well, it's just... okay, this is one of the areas I actually like canon better than fanfic, 'cause... fanfic writers are so obvious with whomever they kill off (if they do). First of all, it's a depressing 'serious' fic (a deathfic); secondly, it's always either a) a nameless or really minor unimportant character used as a plot-device; b) a main character that everyone loves to up the angst or conversely the 'most beloved' or 'most platonically beloved' to up the guilt/angst with the protagonist's 'most sexually beloved', whichever; c) the villain. And if it's one, it's generally not the other (though the villain -always- gets it if it's not a darkfic from the start). That's how it works, right. Regardless of who dies, the fanfic will generally -focus- on that death as soon as it happens, and the better ones will foreshadow it, too. You can't miss how major it is and how much it affects everything. In HP canon-- death is a plot point in a similar way to love. It's just... used, which allows me to view it more as an opportunity or a twist rather than reacting directly emotionally. Though all bets are off if it's Harry-- because you literally could not go on with the story if it was, so.
I mean, the truth is, death really is a plot-device to end all plot-devices, to the point where it's easy to overuse it or use it carelessly (which is why I've always been spare with it). Death equals drama, pure and simple. You don't -need- any other plot if you've got a death and a halfway decent method/motive/etc, plus no one mocks you the way they do if you use love or sex the same way (like, love-stories being 'genre' whereas stories-with-death are 'mainstream').
What I love is the unpredictability of canon ('unintended' deaths! even JKR didn't know it all! man, that makes me pumped!) combined with the large body of knowledge one can go by in terms of precedent-- which is the sort of thing that tells me personally that Harry isn't likely to die and neither is Ron or Hermione (because what's the use of saving one without the other-- no way is that awkward romance stuff gonna be useless, plotwise-- it's not like JKR did it 'cause she so loves writing awkward romance-- at least, it seems to me). So this is the sort of thing that allows for guessing, projecting, all that happy fan stuff-- I mean, there's nothing quite so geekily fannish (to me) as sitting around taking friendly bets as to who'll get it in the next book. I still remember the pleasure of reading![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tillytilly's ancient post taking bets on who'll die. Man, I'm with her all the way (esp. on the part where Lucius' death is key to Draco's redemption, and Draco actually being 'safe as houses' in the death dept-- not that I won't be vaguely amused in a meanly voyeuristic way if he dies). Regardless, I love HP at least in part 'cause people actually die.
This actually makes me want to include more deaths in my Death Eater!Draco fic, but the fact is (I just now remembered), there are already a few, shall we say. 'Cause there's still something to be said for doing it yourself :D
Well, it's just... okay, this is one of the areas I actually like canon better than fanfic, 'cause... fanfic writers are so obvious with whomever they kill off (if they do). First of all, it's a depressing 'serious' fic (a deathfic); secondly, it's always either a) a nameless or really minor unimportant character used as a plot-device; b) a main character that everyone loves to up the angst or conversely the 'most beloved' or 'most platonically beloved' to up the guilt/angst with the protagonist's 'most sexually beloved', whichever; c) the villain. And if it's one, it's generally not the other (though the villain -always- gets it if it's not a darkfic from the start). That's how it works, right. Regardless of who dies, the fanfic will generally -focus- on that death as soon as it happens, and the better ones will foreshadow it, too. You can't miss how major it is and how much it affects everything. In HP canon-- death is a plot point in a similar way to love. It's just... used, which allows me to view it more as an opportunity or a twist rather than reacting directly emotionally. Though all bets are off if it's Harry-- because you literally could not go on with the story if it was, so.
I mean, the truth is, death really is a plot-device to end all plot-devices, to the point where it's easy to overuse it or use it carelessly (which is why I've always been spare with it). Death equals drama, pure and simple. You don't -need- any other plot if you've got a death and a halfway decent method/motive/etc, plus no one mocks you the way they do if you use love or sex the same way (like, love-stories being 'genre' whereas stories-with-death are 'mainstream').
What I love is the unpredictability of canon ('unintended' deaths! even JKR didn't know it all! man, that makes me pumped!) combined with the large body of knowledge one can go by in terms of precedent-- which is the sort of thing that tells me personally that Harry isn't likely to die and neither is Ron or Hermione (because what's the use of saving one without the other-- no way is that awkward romance stuff gonna be useless, plotwise-- it's not like JKR did it 'cause she so loves writing awkward romance-- at least, it seems to me). So this is the sort of thing that allows for guessing, projecting, all that happy fan stuff-- I mean, there's nothing quite so geekily fannish (to me) as sitting around taking friendly bets as to who'll get it in the next book. I still remember the pleasure of reading
tillytilly's ancient post taking bets on who'll die. Man, I'm with her all the way (esp. on the part where Lucius' death is key to Draco's redemption, and Draco actually being 'safe as houses' in the death dept-- not that I won't be vaguely amused in a meanly voyeuristic way if he dies). Regardless, I love HP at least in part 'cause people actually die. This actually makes me want to include more deaths in my Death Eater!Draco fic, but the fact is (I just now remembered), there are already a few, shall we say. 'Cause there's still something to be said for doing it yourself :D
