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That one really interesting DH subplot
Mar. 11th, 2017 09:03 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
star-dragon5.livejournal.comWe all know that DH is an unholy mess of stuff being dropped on the readers' heads that were neither mentioned nor hinted at anywhere in previous books. But there's one subplot I wish had been introduced earlier, because it carries a lot of potential for conflict, and with conflict comes plot and character development and all that. I am referring, of course, to Dumbledore's backstory.
What if Harry had found out about Ariana and Gellert and the rest while Albus was still alive? Would he be able to look his Headmaster in the eye, knowing young Albus had once plotted world domination with the future Dark Lord Grindelwald? Would he realize how narrowly he'd escaped going mad, like Ariana, after living with magic-hating Muggles for ten years--Muggles that Albus placed him with, no less? (Seriously, why did no one catch that plot hole? Even I didn't see it until![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
guardians_song pointed it out.) How would this change things?
But we can't have any of the above, since the plot of DH depends on Harry obeying Dumbledore absolutely. (I've been meaning to write something about how post-GOF Harry fails at the Hero's Journey. Remind me, will you?)
There's also so much potential for fanfic, and I don't mean just the Grindledore variety (though one can never have too much of that! *Grindledore shipper*). We've all seen those dreadful fics tagged "Powerful!Harry", "Independent!Harry", "Super!Harry", "Dark!Harry" or whatever, in which Harry becomes a Gary Stu of the highest order, usually with super-powerful wandless magic. Well, guess what? Thanks to Ariana, you can still have a Harry with super-powerful wandless magic, he'll just be mad. And I don't know about you, but I'd LIKE to read about mentally-ill!Harry.
So what do you think? The possibilities are endless!
What if Harry had found out about Ariana and Gellert and the rest while Albus was still alive? Would he be able to look his Headmaster in the eye, knowing young Albus had once plotted world domination with the future Dark Lord Grindelwald? Would he realize how narrowly he'd escaped going mad, like Ariana, after living with magic-hating Muggles for ten years--Muggles that Albus placed him with, no less? (Seriously, why did no one catch that plot hole? Even I didn't see it until
guardians_song pointed it out.) How would this change things?But we can't have any of the above, since the plot of DH depends on Harry obeying Dumbledore absolutely. (I've been meaning to write something about how post-GOF Harry fails at the Hero's Journey. Remind me, will you?)
There's also so much potential for fanfic, and I don't mean just the Grindledore variety (though one can never have too much of that! *Grindledore shipper*). We've all seen those dreadful fics tagged "Powerful!Harry", "Independent!Harry", "Super!Harry", "Dark!Harry" or whatever, in which Harry becomes a Gary Stu of the highest order, usually with super-powerful wandless magic. Well, guess what? Thanks to Ariana, you can still have a Harry with super-powerful wandless magic, he'll just be mad. And I don't know about you, but I'd LIKE to read about mentally-ill!Harry.
So what do you think? The possibilities are endless!
Lessons in Immortality
Aug. 25th, 2015 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunnyskywalkerCondwiramurs, Terri, Sweettalkeress, and the rest of you are just too inspiring. I had plans for last night (okay, probably involving silly pictures of cats, but still), and instead all your brilliant commentary inspired me to write a short fic. Your punishment is to suffer the results. (Er, but only if you want to.)
Lessons in Immortality
Characters: Albus Dumbledore, Tom Riddle
Categories: Gen, PG
Word Count: 972
Summary: Albus is determined that his NEWT alchemy students not be lured onto any of the tempting, dark paths to immortality. Especially not Tom Riddle.
Fic this way
Lessons in Immortality
Characters: Albus Dumbledore, Tom Riddle
Categories: Gen, PG
Word Count: 972
Summary: Albus is determined that his NEWT alchemy students not be lured onto any of the tempting, dark paths to immortality. Especially not Tom Riddle.
Fic this way
'Young Wizards' superiority acknowledged?!
Mar. 8th, 2015 12:58 pmmadderbrad.livejournal.comI think some/many of us here abhor Rowling's immense commercial success because it wasn't truly 'earnt' or deserved. She was fine with the early books for the kiddies in waving her hands about and fabricating a whimsical magical universe in which things happened because MAGIC! but when it came down to the crunch in writing a satisfactory conclusion to her series, where the hero had to win in a way that made sense and not BECAUSE, she showed us all that she'd put very little thought into what she was doing ... and that she couldn't properly finish what she started.
I've always compared Rowling's series with another young-adult set of books - the 'Young Wizards' series by Diane Duane. The latter being novels where the author *has* done her homework, *has* actually thought things out ... where magic makes sense and the wizards have to put serious effort into their spells, versus waving a stick and shouting a couple of nonsensical faux-latin words.
I've mentioned the 'Young Wizards' series in this community a few times, and I know from their comments here that Terri Testing and Mary J are big fans of Duane's work too.
Anway ... a mammoth HP fan fiction story, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Less Wrong is making some waves in the fandom at the moment because it's (finally!) nearing completion. It's a great story - I think it's the most-reviewed story on fanfiction.net/the planet - but could be seen as one where the author has hijacked HP as a vehicle to float a lesson on principles of logic and science - 'rationality' - and sometimes gets bogged down in the pedagogy. The I.Q. of the fanfic exceeds my own but I've enjoyed reading it anyway (and learnt some things along the way).
The story is nearing its conclusion; just the aftermath of the big final battle to go. In the confrontation between Harry and Voldemort chapter 109 included a very satisfying acknowedgement of Duane's 'Young Wizards' series:
'So You Want To Be A Wizard' is the first volume of Duane's series.
I reckon there's something of a put-down of Rowling's work, a statement avowing the 'Young Wizards' novels' superiority, in that mention. Magic with a capital M ... it's good to see others note Rowling's failure for what it is (and isn't).
'Methods of Rationality' itself is one of those fanfics wherein the author is putting Rowling to shame in plot, logic, magical mechanics and most other things, although it's perhaps too clever/complicated for its own good.
Duane has noted the mention here.
I've always compared Rowling's series with another young-adult set of books - the 'Young Wizards' series by Diane Duane. The latter being novels where the author *has* done her homework, *has* actually thought things out ... where magic makes sense and the wizards have to put serious effort into their spells, versus waving a stick and shouting a couple of nonsensical faux-latin words.
I've mentioned the 'Young Wizards' series in this community a few times, and I know from their comments here that Terri Testing and Mary J are big fans of Duane's work too.
Anway ... a mammoth HP fan fiction story, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Less Wrong is making some waves in the fandom at the moment because it's (finally!) nearing completion. It's a great story - I think it's the most-reviewed story on fanfiction.net/the planet - but could be seen as one where the author has hijacked HP as a vehicle to float a lesson on principles of logic and science - 'rationality' - and sometimes gets bogged down in the pedagogy. The I.Q. of the fanfic exceeds my own but I've enjoyed reading it anyway (and learnt some things along the way).
The story is nearing its conclusion; just the aftermath of the big final battle to go. In the confrontation between Harry and Voldemort chapter 109 included a very satisfying acknowedgement of Duane's 'Young Wizards' series:
- "Wow," Harry whispered, and meant it. This was Magic with a capital M, the sort of Magic that appeared in So You Want To Be A Wizard, not just a collection of random physics-violating things you could do with a wand.
'So You Want To Be A Wizard' is the first volume of Duane's series.
I reckon there's something of a put-down of Rowling's work, a statement avowing the 'Young Wizards' novels' superiority, in that mention. Magic with a capital M ... it's good to see others note Rowling's failure for what it is (and isn't).
'Methods of Rationality' itself is one of those fanfics wherein the author is putting Rowling to shame in plot, logic, magical mechanics and most other things, although it's perhaps too clever/complicated for its own good.
Duane has noted the mention here.
jademoonleader.livejournal.comIt was mentioned on a previous thread that there is a creepy double standard in the series about how love potions are considered to be somehow OK if a witch uses them. For instance, we get Molly whom JKR wants us to love, giggling about brewing a potion that turns people into lust fuelled zombies. Did she actually slip the potion in question to someone? I really do wonder what JKR could have been thinking (if she thought at all).
The author of this fanfiction (link below) clearly adopts JKR's idea that love potions are alright for witches to use. The character Daphne Greengrass (who is only mentioned in the books, but never appears) slips Harry a love potion and then rapes him in order to curry favour with Voldemort, but bizarrely, all the characters, including Harry himself, blame Harry. What is stranger still, is that the author tries to curry sympathy for Daphne even though she had violated Harry for Voldemort. I discovered the fanfiction on the tv tropes double standards webpage.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8499608/1/Fun-with-Potions
The author actually writes in an author's note at the end of chapter 2: "I don't see why people are getting on my case for Daphne raping Harry. If anything it is just repeating how Merope Gaunt conceived Tom Riddle."
Does this series convince many that rape using love potions is not really rape?
The author of this fanfiction (link below) clearly adopts JKR's idea that love potions are alright for witches to use. The character Daphne Greengrass (who is only mentioned in the books, but never appears) slips Harry a love potion and then rapes him in order to curry favour with Voldemort, but bizarrely, all the characters, including Harry himself, blame Harry. What is stranger still, is that the author tries to curry sympathy for Daphne even though she had violated Harry for Voldemort. I discovered the fanfiction on the tv tropes double standards webpage.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8499608/1/Fun-with-Potions
The author actually writes in an author's note at the end of chapter 2: "I don't see why people are getting on my case for Daphne raping Harry. If anything it is just repeating how Merope Gaunt conceived Tom Riddle."
Does this series convince many that rape using love potions is not really rape?
Psychology, depression, etc
Dec. 10th, 2011 11:44 ammary-j-59.livejournal.comI do feel uncomfortable when we start speculating about J.K. Rowling, the person. OTOH, I also think it's perfectly okay to look hard at the way she presents emotional, as well as moral, issues in her text. And nobody has taken a harder look, with funnier results, than starcrossedgirl! Look here:
http://starcrossedgirl.livejournal.com/322471.html#cutid1
http://starcrossedgirl.livejournal.com/322471.html#cutid1
Why I Dislike Straight!Harry Fics
Nov. 15th, 2011 02:21 pmdanajsparks.livejournal.comIn my opinion, Harry is a character who can be written convincingly as gay, straight, or bisexual. I've noticed, however, that I tend to dislike fan fiction that features Harry in a heterosexual pairing. For a long time, I believed that this was simply because I just generally prefer to read slash romance stories. But after reading several Severus/Hermione fics that I thought were absolutely wonderful, I decided to take a closer look at my distaste for straight!Harry fics.*
I realized that my aversion to these stories has less to do with Harry being in a het pairing and more to do with how these stories tend to treat certain other important characters. More specifically, I really dislike how Ron, Draco, and Severus are treated in many of these stories. ( Read more... )
*To be clear, I'm referring mainly to fics where Harry's relationship with a girl (or sometimes multiple girls) is a major part of the story, not stories where Harry happens to get a girlfriend along the way.
I realized that my aversion to these stories has less to do with Harry being in a het pairing and more to do with how these stories tend to treat certain other important characters. More specifically, I really dislike how Ron, Draco, and Severus are treated in many of these stories. ( Read more... )
*To be clear, I'm referring mainly to fics where Harry's relationship with a girl (or sometimes multiple girls) is a major part of the story, not stories where Harry happens to get a girlfriend along the way.
danajsparks.livejournal.comWhat do you consider to be the best HP fics, the ones that are especially memorable or exceptionally well-written? I feel like I'm running out of good stuff to read, but I'm sure there's more out there. All lengths, ratings, pairings, etc. are acceptable. Please also feel free to advertise your own stories.
ETA: Don't panic if your response doesn't appear right away. Livejournal is making me approve any comments that include hyperlinks.
ETA2: WIP's are also fine.
ETA: Don't panic if your response doesn't appear right away. Livejournal is making me approve any comments that include hyperlinks.
ETA2: WIP's are also fine.
DH Chapter 11: The Bribe.
Mar. 16th, 2008 12:50 amelanor-x.livejournal.comFic recommendation, HP poems and new Summery Executions.
Ever wondered why Florean Fortescue was taken by the Death Eaters? Heard of the mysterious Voldy's Deathpants, "in bold letters like that"? What's a Dark Lord to do when things don't go your way and what even the most malevolent maniac can't stand? Read to find out!
DH Chapter 10: Kreacher's Tale.
Jan. 25th, 2008 11:23 pmelanor-x.livejournal.comChapter 10: Kreacher's Tale.
Summery Executions 7
Summery Executions 7
2 short fic recommendations:
1) Dangerous Creatures
Summary: Kreacher’s new, filthy werewolf Master has received a letter. Kreacher wonders what it is? Kreacher hopes it’s something nasty. Kreacher is right.
"Dangerous Creatures is an original, clever one-shot, a true quality fic, entirely written from Kreacher's point of view. This story tells how he views one Remus Lupin, the Order's resident werewolf, and Kreacher's new master. The whole fic is so in canon you would think J.K wrote it herself. And in the end, there is a nasty surprise."
2) Swinging the Vote
Rating:
Genre: Wizarding Society, General - Main character(s): NarM, RL, SB - Ships: None - Era: 1970-1981 (Including Marauders at Hogwarts)
It's election time again, and Remus Lupin has a reputation for being a tough voter to win over. Why is this, and will anyone ever succeed? Inspired by
