Back to life

[jlh]

Well, it's Monday. Back to work, FAP is open again, NA may be stirring. ali_wildgoose is taking the day off; I wish I could, but maybe getting back to real life things is better at this point. (By the way, if you need some cathartic art, check out her journal; both spoiler and non-spoiler art available.)

Spent most of yesterday at a picnic-turne-houseparty at the Avocado. Saw all the gang—ali_wildgoose, epicyclical, rubydebrazier, gehenna1 and two of her friends, bhanesidhe and her mom (who couldn't have been cooler), plus evil_erato and ladylisse who were around for the weekend and are just leaving today. We split into still-reading folks gathered around the table upstairs, and finished folks who sat in the basement and tried not to scream too loud. Once again I'm so, so glad that I came into the fandom when I did; I can't imagine reading this book on my own, without the catharsis of talking about it to bunches of pals. *hugs friends* I think Ali and I have spent the last two days clinging to each other and wailing. I'm also glad that the LJ has served as a similar catharsis/discussion space for those of you not lucky enough to have local fandom folks.

While we were together, we purchased our plane tickets for Nimbus. Non-refundable plan tickets, and non-refundable hotel rooms; we're in. And I can't wait. How fitting that MWPP are the mascots of Nimbus, eh?

I'm envious of those of you who can either re-canonize your fics, or have bunnies abounding. I don't. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't really absorbed the book yet, or because I was working on the next segment of EWFS so much right beforehand that those characters are sitting there staring at me saying, "Never mind them! Write about us!" Or maybe I'm just brutally tired.

Okay, so a couple of little things--Seamus/Dean, of course of course of course, and maybe that pairing will become more popular; and Sirius/Remus of course of course of course. I owe Ivy some S/D, but I think it will be a bit happier and further in the future to introduce people, and I also owe something to the SBRL FQF, which I had already been working on and will be so not canon.

And on that tip: We've been really rigid, brutally rigid, about canon accuracy in this fandom, so much so that AU's are fairly unpopular, MPI not withstanding. I'm not sure if now, as we try to grasp everything that was in OotP, AU's become just the tiniest bit more acceptable. At the very least, I don't think I'm looking for someone to write a 6th year fic out of this book, but I'm a bad person to ask. I've never been about schooltime fics, always more about futurefic or Maraudersfic or at least about characters that you don't see much of in canon.

I have a feeling that as I try to work my way through all these issues, through the book itself and my writing and my place in the changing fandom, there will be infinitely more navel gazing here. Of course this makes me a bit self-conscious. But as I said above, hey, it's my journal.

Comments

[jessindistress.livejournal.com]

Once again I'm so, so glad that I came into the fandom when I did; I can't imagine reading this book on my own, without the catharsis of talking about it to bunches of pals.

Totally, D00d. ((hugs))
And I completely felt for you when Ginny said she was seeing Dean. I was all, "Noooo! That's so wrong!" *sighs* Ah well, maybe it won't last that long... *looks hopeful*

~Jess

[fiatincantatum.livejournal.com]

Maybe she (and JKR) was just winding us up? After all, she was talking to Ron...maybe she was teasing...

[ali-wildgoose.livejournal.com]

I really wish people didn't feel the need to canonize their fics. I really really do. I have no intention of doing so, obvioiusly, and the fandom historian in me wants to be able to remember how it FELT to be an HP fan before this weekend. So much has changed in so little time....frankly, I'm not ready to forget about how things used to be, and I don't know if I'd ever want to.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

I don't think any of us want to forget. I think that there are some that are so gleeful about having new canon, no matter what it is, that they aren't being very thoughtful or kind about expressing that glee. I certainly don't want to forget!

[marysiak.livejournal.com]

I love to be canonically correct but only from the point I choose to take, I'm not utterly rigid about these things. My fic is GoF era canon, that's fine by me, I will continue to write it as such and not worry about whether events in OotP get in the way.

Part of the fun for me is reinterpreting the canon without invalidating it, so ignoring canon altogether would spoil that. Taking things somewhere I know they won't go but making it utterly believable that they could have, that's what I like.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

So, are you saying that one could, for example, continue a fic that was GoF canon and as long as it was accurate to that canon (and of course AU but what isn't) then it would be acceptible, and not, say, denialfic? Because that is what I'm mostly worried about. Of course I wouldn't ignore canon altogether, and I would likely put aspects of OotP into the story, but I've already posted a year 5 and half of year 6, so it's like, continue in that universe or scrap altogether? That's my current question.

[marysiak.livejournal.com]

It's not denial fic even vaguely if you are continuing a story or series you already started. It's only denial fic a little bit if you are starting an entire new fic and ignoring any developments from OotP. There's nothing wrong with wanting to do a "What If" from a certain point. I just hope that those who have put a lot of energy into their ideas for 5th-7th year can also bring themselves to accept JKR's version.

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

What Marysia said. She's right. You don't fall in the category of denialfic. I, however, do, with MPI.

[marysiak.livejournal.com]

MPI is AU not denial!fic, AU is a perfectly acceptable if slightly odd genre

Re:

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

Hm. Perfectly acceptable if slightly odd... that kind of describes me, now that you think about it. So many fics are going to be AU now... DT, LUW, etc.

[marysiak.livejournal.com]

It's not true AU if it started when it wasn't.

To me AU!fic is taking characters you like and building an entirely new universe for them to play in, as you have.

Taking off in a different direction from a recentish historical point is What-If!fic. Of which the main genre at the moment will no doubt be What If Book 5 hadn't happened.

So the Draco Trilogy is shunted into What If, but not AU.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Nancy, I don't think you're denialfic. You aren't denying one specific thing in canon and taking the rest. Rather, you fucked rather fundamentally with the universe by changing a key element. You are a true AU. Maybe, a what-if, but only when that what-if is about events in book 1. More I can't say here, but I think you know what I'm saying.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

You've made me feel a ton better about the sequel to EWFS. Thanks!

Personally, I feel that canon is canon. JKR's version of years 5-7 isn't even a version; it's what actually happened. So it isn't even for me to decide to accept; I must accept.

Not only would I never have gotten anywhere close to what she has done/will do, but I also am not particularly interested. I'm not an action writer. I was trying to write what she would never make explicit, using characters that aren't her focus. And really, that's what I like to read--things that are additive to, not substitutes for, her story.

[glissando.livejournal.com]

To me, the book itself was just one giant piece of catharsis, but I agree that there really is a need to purge all of your feelings by talking to fandom people (my family just don't get it at all, unfortunately). RE: plot bunnies/re-canonizing - I have a need to write, although not particularly inspired by new canon, and am most happy that a piece that I planned out pre-OotP will still hold with our new canon.