a thought and a meme

[jlh]

So I read this from Ruby, and I read this about how fandom works on LJ, and I'm thinking that maybe the way that LJ works, where we all know each other's personal business and not just our fandom opinions, actually saved this part of the fandom after book 5. Just a thought.


1) Your HP nickname: Clio.

2) Do you write fanfiction: Yes.

3) Draw fanart: No.

4) Review much: I try to when I read.

5) Read too many fics: Not lately mostly because I'm writing, and I
don't like reading a lot when I'm writing.

6) Favorite house: Gryffindor, probably.

7) Favorite Gryffindor student: Harry, but also Seamus.

8) Favorite Slytherin student: Draco, but really, do we have much canon about any of the others?

9) Favorite Ravenclaw student: Padma, ditto.

10) Favorite Hufflepuff student: Ditto

11) Favorite teacher: Remus Lupin

12) Favorite overall character: Harry, but also Remus and Seamus.

13) Favorite adult: Remus.

14) Canon/fanon Draco: I don't really find canon Draco to be all that interesting as such, so I suppose in that sense fanon Draco, but more because there are lots of writers trying to get behind the facade, not because he's suddenly Mr Wonderful.

15) Canon/fanon Snape: Neither.

16) Voldemort or Dumbledore: Dumbledore.

17) Cho, annoying or not: Poor kid. I think she gets a rotten break.

Shipping:

18) Your OTP: Well, it's a funny question. I am not a canon shipper (except probably Sirius/Remus). If there's a ship I want to read lots of and for people to write more of, it's Seamus/Dean, so that's as good an answer as any.

19) Other ships you sail: Again, these are fanfic preferences for reading and writing, not canon hopes, but Harry/Hermione, Draco/Ginny, Ron/Padma, Percy/Oliver.

20) Intruiging ships: Harry/Draco when it's done well.

21) Disliked ships: I have yet to see a Ron/Hermione or a Harry/Ginny where I don't want to strangle one or both of them (huge exception: Naked Quidditch). Snape having sex with anyone as I find him just completely unpleasant.

22) Ships hated with a passion (erm... this is optional :X): Harry cross-gen. Let him play with his own friends, not his father's.

23) Het, slash or femmeslash: All three.

24) H/Hr or R/Hr: H/Hr.

25) D/Hr or D/G: D/G.

26) H/D or H/SS: H/D.

27) Older gen, younger gen or cross-gen: I'm not a big fan of cross-gen if the younger person is younger than, say, 25. After that, whatever, we're all adults. I do like older gen and younger gen as adults because I like reading about adults.

Fanfiction:

28) Canon or AU: Well, I think that GoF AU I'm pretty fine with, clearly. And there are some strict AU stuff that's pretty good. So I'd say I'm not a fanatic about this.

29) Fluff or angst: Either. As long as something happens, really.

30) Darkfic: Call me a lameass chicken, but no.

31) OOC or IC: IC.

32) SuddenlyVeryPowerful!Harry: Um, isn't he already Very Powerful in canon?

33) One-shot or chaptered: Chaptered. I've never liked short stories in any case.

34) Novel-length: Absolutely.

35) Gen, het or slash: Any, though I'm a big romance fan and not a big adventure fan so I'm not so much with the gen.

36) Drabbles: See above re short stories. I want to know more!

37) SuddenlyVerySexy!Draco: Is he not already? Also, this actually does happen at that age--people develop and come back from the summer and you're like, what the hell happened to THEM?

38) Fanfiction Pet Peeves: Shoving adventure into the last act of a romance, or having a bad guy turn up right after the characters have declared their love and killing one of them off to make sure that Harry Is Always Alone. Making Hermione into a SuperWitch! if you're shipping her with Harry--she is already the brightest witch of her generation; isn't that enough? Not having a romance take place in the context of the character's lives--secret affairs seem exciting but at some point you have to come out into the light, and also, these people, they have friends that they talk to about their love lives! Making the third person in a love triangle a jerk or an asshole--even Ralph Bellamy gets better treatment than that.

39) Canon or Fanon: If we were all about being canonical, why would we be writing fanfic? JKR is going to write book six; I don't want it from fanfic.

40) Many ships in one fic: Of course!

Books:

59) Cried for Cedric: Not really.

60) Cried for Sirius: Buckets. Hell, I cried for him again at the end of PoA both times I saw it!

61) Dark or Light Side: Light.

62) Did the explanation of the prophecy satisfy you: God, no.

63) Which character needs some more development: I'd like to get more insight on the Ravenclaws, and also Draco and Remus.

Fanart:

64) Favorite artist(s): Sidhe, Marta, Yasmina and Ali. I'm sure there are others but I am naughty and forget to note who is doing what on hpart/hpsmart.

65) Favorite drawing style: I think I like a traditional illustration style only because there is so little of it in fandom; same with coloring that isn't on the computer but by hand (though I do have a true love for colored pencils). That said, I do like anime style as long as things aren't too extreme, but I also like the boys to be somewhat muscular (except for Harry of course). I don't really have a love for the boys looking like girls. There are girls in the books, you know.

66) Love fanart of: Smut, but not necessarily rampant cocks and all of that. I like art of a moment, that is in context, rather than just endless portraiture. I really love seeing backgrounds.

67) Fanart Pet Peeves: Boys looking like girls. Boys in drag. I just don't find Draco being a girl all that interesting.

68) Stick art. Yes or no: Sure.

69) Shiny: What?

70) Anime/Manga style: Sure, but you know, within reason.

71) Realism: Please.

72) Cartoon: More please!

73) Gen or shipped: Both.

Misc.:

74) Blaise's gender: I really never cared that much, so whatever.

75) Tom Riddle's eye colour: Dunno. Blue maybe?

76) Luna fan: Eh. She's fine as far as she goes; she doesn't irritate me, anyway.

77) OC's, done or not done: No.

78) Liking Weasley ships with 'Flame' or 'Fire' in the name: Ugh, I hate ship names.

79) Weasley love: Not in that, oh I love that big family way, but I like some of them just as I like other characters. Hate Molly, though.

80) Malfoy love: Not really, no.

81) Potter love: Yes, all three please.

82) Is Lucius really 49: I though it said he was 42?

83) Brilliant ship name (Don't need to ship it, though!): Ugh, I hate ship names.

84) Plain stupid ship name: Ugh, I hate ship names.

85) Voldemort. Bald. Yes or no: Likely.

86) The power He-Knows-Not and the power that saved Harry is: It's always love, isn't it? Does that disappoint you?

87) Your view on Hufflepuff-ies: Brava to those who write about them.

88) Should Ron say 'Bloody Brilliant' more then once? Why not?

89) Hermione. Pretty. Am I right: I think she's attractive enough. Everyone can't be a model.

90) Best HP fanfic ever: Please, there are too many.

91) Rec the 2nd best, too: Ditto.

92) Did HP change your life dramatically: Sort of as PZ said, the books no, the fandom very much yes.

93) Marauders. Like or dislike: Love!

94) Prongs, Moony, Padfoot or Wormtail: Moony, but I'm very intrigued by Prongs I must say.

95) Could Lily have been an animagus too: Why, just because James was? Can't she have her own bag of tricks?

96) What animal Lily would've been: See above.

97) Did Harry pass his Potions' OWL's : Yes.

98) Did Ron: Why not?

99) Is Harry going to die or will he survive: He'll live.

100) What gives you the most warm fuzzies in your stomach in the whole HP-verse: The details, and the importance of friendship.

Comments

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

Damn, that's a long essay on the fandom on LJ. It looks like there's some good stuff in there, but OMGLONG.

So, why do you hate Molly? There are so many good reasons to hate her, and my own feelings about her are very complicated. I love the different reactions to her; she seems to inspire real affection, strong dislike, or both.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I find her to be really controlling and her-way-or-the-highway about everything. It seemed to me that her reactions to the way Sirius was treating Harry wasn't so much that she thought Sirius was doing a bad job but that he wasn't doing things exactly as she would do them. She both infantilizes and expects too much of her children. I just always get a sense that she doesn't really know or understand them as people, but only as extensions of herself, and instead of celebrating their differences she wants them all to be the same. Possibly like Bill.

But even Bill and Charlie--there is a reason they live abroad, you know? I think that's why Ron is so insecure--I mean, he was worried about measuring up before he even got to Hogwarts, and since they were homeschooled all that rah rah about Bill had to come from his mother. Also, I think it makes Percy not sure where he fits in and makes the twins even more rebellious. I think Ginny just tries to stay off her radar screen.

More often than not her first instinct is to yell at them when they've scared her which I don't think does them much good--note her reaction to Ginny in CoS. Not, oh my poor baby's mind was taken over by a boy destined to be the evil mastermind of our time, but "Ginny, let me remind you of my lecture #145." No wonder the kid never talks about it. Would you?

I understand how frightened she is in OotP, but my problems with her extend far beyond that, really.

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

LOL that was really good rant.

See, I think that Molly is just classic ESFJ - she is deeply conservative and very tied into external authority. I don't even think she wants them all to be like Bill (although I suspect that you're right, he probably was the golden boy at the beginning), as she's always on his ass about the hair and earring thing, and I suspect she's on him to be closer to home, as well. No, I think that at this point she really wants them all to be like Percy, which is part of what alienates him from his brothers so much. I think that poor Perce has tried so hard to do just the right thing by her standards for so long, and I think that's part of what's going on with him right now. And now she's feeling terribly betrayed and, being Molly, she can't see that she has created that in him.

What bothers me most about her is her inability to accept her children for themselves and to love them on their own terms. What I love about her most is how very deeply flawed but obviously well-intentioned she is; she is honestly loving them the best way she knows how, but she's emotionally arrested. I wonder if Arthur realizes that about her, and if he works at all to mitigate it with the children. And what I find most intriguing is the family mythology about her, and by extension the fandom reaction to her. I have all these great hopes for her and her emotional development, and keep being drawn back to her character because she is truly at a moment of life crisis right now. And that's why I keep writing her, trying to find a way to like her. :D Plus, there's the recurring problem of the Disappearing Adult Witches in JKR's world, and she's one of the few that we actually spend any time with.

And, of course, she reminds me an awful, awful lot of my mother-in-law. ;-)

This is the greatest thing about the Weasleys, the texture she's given the family. I could play "let's psychoanalyze Percy" for hours. :))

[jlh.livejournal.com]

That's a really great point about Molly having created that in Percy. I really do feel rather badly for him; he seems to be pretty lost.

Probably it isn't so much Molly, as much as that whole OBHWF assumption that of course Harry would want to be a member of that family, and that whee, let's make he and Hermione honorary Weasleys. I guess it's that cult of the Weasley family. It does seem to be a remarkably functional family, all things considered, but I can't imagine that there is a lot of ambivalence there just as there is in any family.

So, as usual, one ends up reacting against fandom.

But even more interesting that it was you and Julie that commented here. It tempts me to ask what Heidi and Dionne think of Molly.

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

Very interesting... thank you for posting the links.

I'll be posting my answers to the meme shortly :-)

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

It's up :)

[tocomfortyou.livejournal.com]

Those were both interesting links, thanks for posting them! Nice to know others are having my thoughts as well.

[adjudicated.livejournal.com]

Hate Molly, though.

I'm not a fan of Molly either, and I can pinpoint it to a single occurrence: The dress robes for Ron.

I'm a mother; plus, I was once a teen, and there was that moment in time where it was my turn to experience my first formal dance. As a mother, I know I could be homeless and living in my car (at Washington Square at 3 a.m. . . . can I get some crack?) and there are just certain things that I would sell my soul to the devil himself to ensure my children received.

Never in a million years would I with deliberation send my fourteen year old into a formal social gathering with inappropriate and embarrassing clothing. I would do whatever I could to get my child a formal outfit that he/she could feel proud and attractive in -- not shamed, and dirty, and poor. Of course, this the dress robes themselves are purely metaphorical -- it's that Molly doesn't hear Ron when he -- legitimately -- protests. She doesn't hear him. She doesn't even try. She doesn't listen.

This is my personal opinion, but I am not a great fan of women who pop out 5, 7, 9 kids, who are then lauded and canonized purely because they did so. I have two kids -- I barely feel adequate, and I'm a very hands-on mother. There is no way one woman can meet the emotional needs of that many children. I expect it becomes easier to operate on autopilot when you have a gaggle of kids. Yet kids get lost in a crowd. In that sense, I do not find the Weasleys endearing at all.

I agree with your other points on Molly as well.

[ceilidh]

The dress robes thing really bothers me too. It isn't so much that she bought him secondhand robes, but it was the way she gave them to him. She sort of halfhandedly shoved them on him, then went on and on to Harry about how the green would look nice with his eyes. That makes it pretty damn obvious that she put a whole lot of thought into Harry's robes (not a bad thing in itself) but zero thought into her sons. She's made out to be a very domestic mother - why the hell didn't she get rid of the ugly lace? Maybe sewing charms aren't permanent or something, but what is wrong with good old hand sewing? I find it hard to believe that the Weasleys are so broke that she could not have found a little bit of manly looking trim, some sort of gold braid or something and fixed them up. At the very least she could have removed the lace. And if not... she should have taken Ron aside and told him the situation and not basically said 'here, yours will have to do, but oh HARRY WILL LOOK SO NICE IN HIS.' It was just rude.

I'm also sure Ginny's robes were not the least bit horrible.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Funny that we don't really hear about Ginny's robes. Huh.

It's odd, as you'd think she might have just made him some damn robes rather than giving him something so horrible, but I think she not only wasn't paying attention but also didn't really think of Ron as growing up. She's not that good with the growing up bit.

Though, again, I'm sure part of this for me is a reaction to the Molly, or OBHWF, worship that goes on in certain parts of fandom.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I don't find the Weasleys endearing as such. I like them individually but I think that half the reason I'm not a fan of H/G (and certainly not OBHWF) is the assumption that of course the solution to Harry's loneliness is to be a Weasley in all but name! But I don't think Harry really wants to be a Weasley, really. So some of my eh about Molly is probably a reaction to a certain fandom perception of her.

Great point about the robes. She really, really just doesn't listen. Note what tea_and_toast said above about her need to look to certain sorts of external authority and rules.

What is really interesting to me is that it was you two who commented here; I'm very sure if I were a mother myself she'd push even more buttons for me.