[woeeee...! or, H/D ITSELF IS NOT CRACK!!1]

[reenka]

Ahh, I think I've finally figured out what's wrong with me and why I can't happily read most H/D fics. I mean, I even find one I enjoy, and there's always something to obsess over. Something that reminds me of a million -other- fics that made that same choice that annoyed me then, and that somehow annoys me more 'cause it's so constant and it seems like no one cares 'cause everyone seems to do it like it's nothing (and often enough, it comes down to giving Draco Special Powers™ of any sort, yes, especially if it's not a crackfic written for the sole purpose of playing with that idea in a silly way).

Anyway, my point is that it's all about suspension of disbelief. Everyone and their brother suspends disbelief especially when they read an unlikely (everyone says!) slash pairing like H/D, right? The name of the game, right? It's what you're supposed to do, right? Especially if you ship them, right?? No. Well, not me.


    And, you know, there's my problem. Of course I suspend my disbelief too, but maybe 25-50% less than other people do. I have a number of kinks-- things I'm willing to go very far for if they're included in the fic-- but I have ten zillion squicks which throw me out of the fic spitting and clawing at the air. Ten gazillionty million, and at least half to do with how I -don't- want Draco to be & especially in terms of what effect that would have on Harry. :/

I think it goes beyond 'I just want them to be IC', 'cause while it's -true-, I think the real thing that bugs me is certain sorts of fanon which are perfectly valid (that is, possible), but I just know (in a meta sense) what they're meant to -do- in the fic 'cause I've seen it ten trillion times, y'know? It's a plot-device that makes me feel... dumb or something, like the writer is saying 'you don't deserve any better' or 'what, do you expect this to make sense?? fool!' and that's just depressing, especially-- even-- in the midst of a cute crackfic. I dunno how to explain it, really.

Crackfic or not, I just don't want the fanon bits to feel... desultory, like tossed-off little pseudo-reasons for things. Like, insane things (Draco sprouts wings!) are actually much more acceptable to me than too-sudden mundane things (Draco's suddenly become a much better wizard than Harry!)

I think I became really bitter when I realized what I wanted was both an escape (just like everyone else) and porn & snark (yeay!!) but also... something that didn't make me do the work, in terms of virtually the only kind of HP fic I read (which is H/D, though I go through S/R phases repeatedly). With decent S/R, for instance, things just don't work this way-- things don't get tossed off randomly, like 'oh, and by the way, Peter had an evil twin who actually was the one to join Voldemort' as an aside. I dunno. Things are more normal & make more -sense-, even in cracky wacked-out fics about how Remus and Sirius grew breasts and wanked each other immediately. If it's any good, that means it's still going to be Remus and Sirius, and it feels like the writer's less likely to feel they can randomly mess with some significant portion of their character & dynamic right off the bat. I dunno.

Maybe I'm just being ridiculous in comparing a pairing that makes sense even to canon-whorish-type people and a pairing that people say has CRACK written across its forehead in big bold letters.

Maybe that's what's been pissing me off for the last 3 years, too. That very idea, that H/D has to = crazy crack, that's what annoys me. And every time I read a fic that has a wacky/cracky premise (yeay, great-- man, I don't even like overly serious fics) but also lazy little fanon excuses (nooo), I remember how people say it's because H/D itself is impossible that they -have- to do this, and I just get upset because that's not true, it's wrong, it's just been perpetuated by lazy fanon. But it's NOT TRUE.

I mean, it's just a little voice at the back of my head, you know, telling me 'but people don't even realize it doesn't -have- to be like this' that can ruin my enjoyment of what's otherwise an innocuous plot-device. That is, I consciously refuse to suspend my disbelief just because I have a chip on my shoulder, I guess. Something to prove. I want my ship to be... I dunno, normal, because & in spite of how abnormal it is in concept. Like the normality & logic would be there to support the crackiness of it & make it valid. Is that weird?

In a way, maybe it's just that I think the one thing that -makes- a cracky premise (pairing-wise or plot-wise) even work in the first place is a more rigid adherence to the known & established. I think if you're writing something wild and out there (and in a sense, the very idea of H/D is crack enough in itself, forget Veela!Draco or whatever), you're even more bound by the necessity of grounding the action in characterizations that stick to the basics, the known quantities.

It's like, I need that feeling that 'this is them' to go and suspend my disbelief about bigger things in the story. And it's especially hard when a certain plot-device is just so common it's taken for granted, as if it -has- to be this way, as if the relationship couldn't work if -something- wasn't out of whack in the regularly-scheduled-reality dept. That just makes me sad, man. And I don't read crackfic to be sad :/
~~

EDIT - Nevermind, got cheered up reading one of Jei's cute Heero/Duo ficlets. Ahhh, I love friendship-about-to-turn-into-love stuff done right ♥.

Comments

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

Tell me what the things *are* that throw you out specifically.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I've actually said it, though not directly 'cause I don't wanna point at specific fics (and fic-writers), and also I've made lists of these things before... like ages ago, I've even put 'em up here (http://reenka.expecto-patronum.net/_characterization.html) at one point. But... okay, this time it's the thing where suddenly Draco's stated to have become a Much Better Wizard Now, fully competitive with Harry but actually just -better-. I think 'cause I see it as part of an overall fanon campaign to Make Draco Better (make him win the Snitch, make him sexier, make him more self-possessed than Harry, etc). It always gets to me 'cause it's just so transparent (and also stupid if you mean to say someone -has- to be a Sex God to be attractive to Harry, but anyway).

Another thing is when Draco is really not into the whole following-Lucius or trying-to-make-him-proud or Death Eater youth thing AT ALL, and he's quite reasonable about it ('well, Voldemort won't win, so I'll just decide to take a nap and forget it'). Like, no soul-searching, no angst-- he's just so pragmatic it hurts. That makes me laugh, actually, but it's also very annoying.

Another thing is just when their suddenly-civil or suddenly-interested behavior is completely explained away either by age or sudden complete and utter gayness. Like, Harry's not bi, he's got to be FLAMINGLY GAY and history gets casually rewritten in an aside like 'oh, that didn't mean anything' or 'oh, well, then he realized Ginny was just a silly bit of self-delusion' or whatever. Not even that I can't take gay!Harry, but rather that tossed-off casualness of the fanon cliche explanation to obviously (sooo obviously) pave the way for the slash. Or like they're suddenly all mature and civil and first-name-basis 'cause neither of them have a tendency to hold grudges, obviously, 'cause it's like 2 years later (that drives me up the wall).

I can really make a huge long list but I was trying to restrain myself :))

[blacksatinrose.livejournal.com]

SOMEONE THINK OF THE BISEXUALS.

(I'm SERIOUS.)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

WELL, THAT'S JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG, BUT YEAH!!

...*also serious!*

[blacksatinrose.livejournal.com]

hahahhahaha

Well, I don't know enough about H/D fic to comment on the specific cliches you mention, although I will say that's a problem in every fandom and one of the many reasons I don't read as much fanfic as I would if it didn't all... seem like the same story written over and over and over and... OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

Whenever I come into a new fandom, I find I can read a lot of fic for around a week and the next thing you know I just feel like I've already read everything. Because everyone hangs their stories on the same fucking conventions, and it's annoying enough when the conventions are based in canon. I can't imagine how it feels when the conventions are sort of like, random and cracktastic fanon tropes.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah, I should've known you'd feel my pain if no one else did. Though I just... keep reading 'cause sometimes there -are- really good writers that can do something different (like, I hadn't read actual violently-tense&angry!R/S smutfic before kabeyk) or at least something similar without the annoying fanony stuff 'cause, y'know... well, some people are good :> And sometimes by -chance-, almost, they don't happen to include the stuff you can't stand, especially in a short enough fic ^^;;;

I don't even mind the overall -idea- of a fanon convention, but when they're just sort of tossed out in a lazy fashion 'cause it's clear the person's just too lazy to come up with something else less INSANE... then I get pissed. And it's even more depressing that it's -not- because it's H/D that's too difficult ('cause I know there's tons of bad/lazy R/S I've avoided 'cause I hadn't read widely enough) but like, just common-sense writing itself is 'too difficult'. Now THAT'S annoying :/ And it's even more annoying that other people rec these things and lap 'em up like it doesn't matter.

I just saw someone rec a popular H/D fic on their rec website by saying that the stuff that happened within the fic followed its own characterization givens well, or something like that. And I was like NO FUCKING SHIT, EXCEPT THOSE GIVENS WERE FUCKING CRAZY-ASS FANON CLICHES OKAY. *breates* :))

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I've been reading some S/R too and I think one of the advantages to the pairing is we have such a fuzzy idea of the way things were. To some people it's crazy to put them together without dealing with the Prank or they don't think they can be together because of the Prank and because of the way canon has the big bond being between Sirius and James, and also there's Tonks etc.

With H/D I think sometimes the problem is not only do we have the actual problems right there in canon but that people thin they know even more than they do. Like pre-HBP people would have adamantly said hey, Harry's a much better wizard than Draco, period. I mean, in a way that some of the things in HBP would be fanon, But JKR has no problem having them fight in the bathroom in a way that's even.

Not that I think that's what you're talking about--it seems like you're talking about Draco being *better* than Harry, which is different than just the idea that Draco's a good student too so he can be perfectly competent. It's more like when he's this great wizard just so that Harry has an easy thing he can admire and be blown away by and find sexy. Really it's more interesting, to me anyway, if Harry retains all of his special gifts so he's not just a big fanboy. But then Draco can still have his own talents without being spectacular. Like Neville being really good in Herbology doesn't make him perfect in everything or make Harry amazed by him. Draco is a natural at Occlumency and Harry is hopeless at it--but that can be presented as just an aspect of Draco without being made into "Draco has access to all sorts of subtle Slytherin magic that Harry can't begin to understand and that makes him much cooler."

I guess it's the whole Mary Sue thing again. Instead of making the character valuable for himself he can have a special power that fixes things for him. To me that's kind of a waste too because I just love Draco so much the way he is, even if I'm honestly not yet sure how to make Harry see him the way I do. I think it can be done, it's just...not quite the way it usually is.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's probably true-- there's more room for flexibility in R/S-- but at the same time, it's like... the best R/S fics have a sense of familiarity, like... the guys just seem normal-- you can write them normally, also because there's no Big Quest going on in Hogwarts except what concerns -them- (Remus' being a werewolf & the pranking of everyone), but there's magic. H/D -has- to touch on these Big Issues, so like, people get more awkward writing it, maybe, more high-brow and wooden.

Like, I know I go on about how I want Draco to be believable, blah blah, but I really don't want to read all these Omg Serious fics with Omg Huge Plots. I like plot, I mean... just, I like fun adventure plot, not ponderous 'I'll pretend I am/am subverting JKR' 'cause that just makes me all :/ :/ :/ and also :T My favorite fics for H/D are everyday-life fics like potions/detentions/Quidditch/etc-- the stuff of their -life- because that's what makes me feel like I know them. That's a lot more default with Marauder-era R/S, and, I mean, it's understandable but still frustrating 'cause AAARGH I don't want to read another epic that tries to fit H/D into canon without focusing on their relationship/character issues.... :/ People think they can write about H/D by writing about everything -around- Harry & Draco and everything that surface-looks like Harry or Draco (Harry The Rogue Auror or Draco The Sophisticated Pureblood Wizard) but... these things just aren't THEM. Draco just isn't a super-wizard even if he -was- great at something 'cause that's not what defines him-- it doesn't even define Hermione. But it doesn't work as a throw-away line even more somehow.

Another thing that's been really bugging me is how post-HBP, everyone takes Harry's obsession wth Draco, his paying attention to Draco, totally for granted. It's like they don't even realize it's fanon anymore, like it really IS there in HBP that Harry wants Draco's ass & just doesn't know it yet. I mean, it's not as bad as in OoTP (sad as that makes me) but the obsession has really always been mutual & had a wax/wane cycle and basically revolved around them both having unhealthy suspicions/prejudices about each other... holy god, maybe there's subtext but it's very much SUB. *sigh*

[ravenna-c-tan.livejournal.com]

Hmm, while I agree with you totally about the desultory aspects of fanon H/D I don't agree that the "only way" to get these two adversaries together is through some cracky premise, which seems to be some people's motivation behind their cracky premises. Don't get me wrong, crackfic has its place, but it's usually not my thing, and I get annoyed that people say they must resort to crack to get H and D into bed together when to me... it's really not that far-fetched!

Okay, sure, all slashfic has to suspend disbelief in one aspect, usually that the characters are gay or bi. Fine, I accept that as a necessary condition, but it doesn't have to go all the way to "and then one day Harry woke up and realized he was gay and WANTED DRACO MALFOY'S BODY..." (or vice versa). I think maybe that's why I tend to write the H/D relationship as a little more singular--like maybe it's not that they are "gay" so much as attracted to each other despite their gender.

I try to write H/D (and other pairings too) that makes a little bit of sense, where the attraction and the accomodation the characters come to is at least a tiny bit believable. It's why I write them 19 years old and older a lot of the time, because I have to project them forward just a little to keep them in character yet changed just enough that it isn't a stretch. The canon has some wiggle room but not that much...

One of the problems with the "Draco suddenly becomes a much better wizard" fics is that in the canon JKR doesn't really give us much of an indication as to how powerful either Harry or Draco are. Harry thinks of himself as average and as much of the book comes through the Harry-filter I doubt he thinks of Draco as much better. we don't really have an objective idea of how Draco and Harry compare. (And Draco fans who want to undo his inferiority complex, and yes, he has one in the canon, overcompensate.)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Umm, hi! Btw, I dunno where I said that the 'only way' to get H&D together is through a 'cracky premise', honestly! I was kind of... arguing against that the whole time, saying that it annoys me when fics make up ridiculous excuses for things that don't need them, implying things wouldn't work without them. Or something like that. Anyway, that was my point :)

I too, write H/D as 'more singular'... though that's also 'cause I don't want to go through the whole 'gay awakening' shtick, as it gets old.

It's true that the books are through a Harry-filter, but he'd probably notice really obvious things even about someone he couldn't stand (like, he doesn't tell himself Voldemort's incompetent or whatever). And Draco fans' tendency to overcompensate is just one of those pet peeves of mine, too. :>

[ravenna-c-tan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, exactly. I wasn't disagreeing with you so much as with the authors who use that as a justification for their premise.

the whole 'gay awakening' shtick... gets old.

oh yeah. I do still sometimes enjoy a good coming-out/coming-of-age fic, but ... sigh... the "established relationship" cliches for H/D can be just as hard to stomach sometimes.

I think half the reason I like to write Snape/Draco is at least there is some unexplored territory there (not to mention that the events of HBP make it less cracky-seeming).

Here via metafandom

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I think the reason S/R is easier in that regard is that they're already friends. It's not that hard to go to lovers from there. I mean, hey, at least they already like each other! Whereas with H/D, they don't. They really, really don't like each other at all. And you kind of have to find a way that makes that work and it takes work on the part of the author and a lot of authors just aren't willing to do that work. So they handwave it. And for some people that's all they need and now they can enjoy it. But I'm like you; I just can't suspend my disbelief. I need the story to convince me.

Re: Here via metafandom

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Man, I've spent long enough in fandom that I realized 'difficult' or 'hard to write' is all in the eye of the beholder/writer. Logically speaking, it's obvious S/R should be 'easier' to write convincingly without reliance on crazy fanon and H/D a lot more difficult, but.... I think it depends on the writer more, because there's a lot of outrageous fanony fluff (I've heard and know for myself to some extent) in S/R fandom, just as there -are- many people for whom H/D just comes more naturally as a dynamic (like, I can't write S/R naturally even though I love them-- just can't). Does that mean natural writers who're drawn to H/D are just lazier?

Anyway, obviously Harry & Draco 'don't like each other at all', and perhaps it's this gap that makes people scrabble for lame explanations for why they suddenly like each other, but there are lots of lazy things people do in other pairings-- friendship pairings-- that I've read in other fandoms. It's just that instead of focusing it on that, they use it to maim the characters some other way. I was mostly just saying the good R/S seems to involve less fanon crutch-use than good H/D, which perhaps involves extensive familiarity with examples of both types of fics to know what I mean... :)

Re: Here via metafandom

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Oh God, yeah. I was definitely not suggesting S/R is better overall. It's my OTP yet I can barely stand to read anything in the fandom. :p