MWPP tl;dr -.-;;

[reenka]

Anyway, the point I wanted to make before I posted the Lamoid S/R Fic I Shall Not Mention in the Future is that it's odd how I -want- to write other things but I'm completely intimidated-- sometimes near-terrified-- by the huge obstacle of Voice (see, it's bolded & capitalized 'cause that's how it is in my head). I have a very hard time getting the Marauders' voices correctly-- and as I rant at myself while reading good RPG userinfos like this this Remus' or this James' or just a number of the better MWPP fics, they -do- seem to have a consistent sort of English-boyishness in terms of their speech patterns that I can never quite achieve.

    Actually, there is a sort of unifying 'tonal' quality to fics in most fandoms-- which is why I love the BtVS-verse and have never felt comfortable writing in it-- I just can't remotely achieve 'Joss-tone' where others can. Similarly, a lot of HP gen and gennish het (and MWPP fic) have different flavors of (young peoples') Britspeak which I adore but can't imitate for the life of me. Strangely, Harry/Draco and say, Harry/Snape don't have a unifying tone in terms of speech (though they do in subject-matter, of course). Perhaps you get more of this phenomenon when you write fics that inevitably focus on more than just two people (as you would with both Trio-fic and MWPP-fic), because it becomes a in-joke type thing rather than just one character's stereotypical style.

Basically, I don't know if people have noticed this-- they probably have-- but it's why my S/R crack!ficlet felt so blindingly wrong to me, besides the merely unlikely/cracked-out things they said/did-- it's somehow much more damning to just know they don't talk like that. At all. -.-;;;
    I find it really interesting that there's no similar 'lingo' associated with the Trio, not in the same way. Hermione has her stuffyisms like 'honestly!' and is much more precise in her speech (which is easy enough to imitate since it's subject-related) and Ron says 'wicked' and 'brilliant' and is effusive (in fanfics!) and Harry's just... normal (whereas almost any type/version of snark passes as 'Draco' fanon for most people in a way it wouldn't for say, James). I feel like for (good) MWPP fics, things are more subtle, maybe; the type of humor/lingo generally used is less based on pure character stereotypes & more based on the types of speech-patterns real people have, or something, which is a lot harder to do for someone who doesn't speak like that.

It gets to the point where I think you could write a really OOC fic and be effectively IC if you had the four of them speak a certain way-- and conversely, I feel like no matter what I write about them, if they don't speak like proper English boys, it's just rubbish. I'm not sure why I have no such hang-up about Harry & gang; maybe in the end, as real as he is to me, he's too real. Maybe a character should be as free of the weight of meta and symbolism as possible-- should just be a person, which is something both hard to appropriate (as a fan) and to easily recreate. I know I have this... I dunno, respect for the independent personhood of Mssrs. Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail & Prongs that I don't have for Harry & Draco, who're my loves but in some ways also my bitches. Hm.
~~

PS: It also sort of terrifies me that things I've really liked (Song of Ice & Fire, Nobuta wo Produce, Sandman... it goes on) have online fandoms o_0 Just the fact that people feel the need to like, join a fandom for everything they really like *___* I will never be used to that *____* But then, I'm constantly reconvinced I'm not really fannish overall, just sort of... obsessed with things asocially. :> Unless you count HP :>

Comments

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

Of course, the tonal thing can go too far in the canon, to the point where we get Firefly where Every Single Character Talks Like Joss.

I think you worry too much. We see very little of young MWPP (though gold, gold, gold without flaw it was!) and crucially, we don't know where in Britain they come from. Pretty sure none of them are Scots based on the way they talk as adults, but you can never be sure...

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, this is actually pretty fanon-- the whole sort of lingo people make them use, but it rings right to me? They sound like boys anyway (more than that glimpse in canon, which I did love), which is something I'm always starry-eyed about). Mostly, good MWPP fics have them be lamely jokey with how they speak to each other or whatever in the way any group of vaguely intelligent boys their age would be, probably-- and I'm worried less about specific accuracy and more about tonality & feel... at least not being lamely American :))

But yes! You're right. I did need to hear that, 'cause I agree I worry too much :> With both Joss & Kevin Smith, I get the feeling that they're just sort of consciously meta about that now, 'cause the alternative is just too ridiculous to contemplate ^^;