Fanfiction For Grownups-THE POINT

[frances at forever.u-net.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., puddlemereunited at y... wrote:

> I asked why there was not more Fanfiction about more mature themes. 
> THE POINT AGAIN: WHERE ARE GOOD MATURE FANFICTIONS FOR GROWNUPS?

I had bowed out of this debate, but the above comment has made me 
decide to join in again. I'd like to ask what do you consider to be 
mature themes?

One of the most profound themes we all have to deal with in our adult 
mature lives are relationships. How we relate to each other is the 
basis for everything we do, say and feel. Today, I have contact with 
loads of people and each of these will be a relationship of some 
description. There is the relationship with my family, with my 
colleagues at work, with people in shops, on the streets. Even how I 
relate to the news on the television counts. Have you ever got angry or 
sad at a news item? That is all to do with relationships. Everywhere we 
go and everything we do is government by this interaction with people. 
Even my cats have a relationship with me (I feed them and they don't go 
off to find a better home!)

It is this aspect that I think fanfiction deals with so well. Within 
the electronic pages of URLs such as FictionAlley the whole gamut of 
human life is played out – friendship, romance, hatred, love and even 
just the downright nasty. And we as the readers (or writers) can 
approach them at many levels, from finding something very profound and 
moving to something which lightens an otherwise sad, boring or lonely 
day.

Take for instance Al's series Snitch!. I found this by mistake, read 
the summary and didn't bother. It contained swearing in vast quantities 
and this was something I don't like. But a few weeks later I went back 
and found one of the most innovative adult works in HP fanfiction. It 
is a brave person who has Harry turn to drugs, believe me. But within 
this series we get to follow a Harry (who is in his early 20 and thus 
an `adult') who has been let down in almost every relationship he has 
ever managed to build. Even his safe haven at Hogwarts is taken away 
from him and he is abandoned by his own friends (relationships). And 
yet it is his relationship with Draco that somehow keeps him sane. Now 
that relationship might look like it is based only on sex to start 
with, but as you read on there is something more profound and deep 
building between the two. This remains as one of my all time favourite 
stories for its comedy, wit, drama, pathos and emotion.

And what about Cassandra Claire's Draco Trilogy? Here are the HP 
characters as young adults (about 17 – old enough to marry, legally 
have sex and children, to join the armed forces, but surprisingly not 
to vote or drink in pubs!), who deal with a set of circumstances that 
draw them closer together because they have to work together to solve 
them. The relationships that they have built up over their previous 
years at Hogwarts are put to the test as old enemies have to learn to 
work together and long-term friendships are put under strain. Again, it 
is the way that Cassie has drawn the threads of these lives together 
that makes this interesting reading. It  is funny, sad and, in parts 
extremely moving.

I could go on. Lori Summers' The Paradigm of Uncertainty (my first 
introduction to HP fanfiction) has the characters again in their 20s 
and coping with relationships and adult themes. They not only have to 
deal with the war raging about them, but also with the `wars' more 
intimate relationships bring. Heidi Tandy's Surfeit of Curses brings us 
a younger Draco (14 or 15) and shows how he copes with the 
relationships that families have to cope with. How he manages to deal 
with the lies that surround him and still have trust in his father is 
handled with a sure hand. I could go on and on listing fiction which 
isn't about 11-year-olds and which deals with adult themes. These are 
mature fanfictions written in a mature way.

Even those little `tonsil-hockey' plot?-what plot? Stories manage to 
give insight into how the characters act and react to each other and 
their situations. And, I would point out, on the whole the authors 
place the characters in an `adult' time frame, eg, over 16. 

This is not to say that I haven't read some pretty dire things in my 
time!

And what about JKR? Read those books again and they are just bursting  
with relationships. Harry and his adoptive family. His friendships with 
Ron and Hermione. His animosity to Draco. His dealings with his 
teachers. Even his relationship to Voldemort. These are all there and 
it is that which drives the books and makes them just as interesting to 
adults as to children. And yes, there is romance in them. One only has 
to look at the whole Yule Ball section of Goblet of Fire to see how JKR 
is building up the hormonal levels of the main characters. Harry and 
Ron are still at the `Yuk girls!' stage of existence before the ball 
and don't even consider Hermione to be a girl – she is just `Hermione', 
a different species altogether. But afterwards, you can see the 
hormones beginning to kick in and you just know that these boys are 
going to be in trouble before long.

Adult themes don't have to be about sex. Mature writing covers a 
multitude of ideas. But relationships do include sexual ones as well as 
friendship and hatred. They are all part of the great tapestry of life. 
None are exclusive and all help to make HP fiction worth reading and 
enjoying on whatever levels you choose to read it.

Thanks for your time. Oh, and I apologise is the line breaks for this 
message are all over the place. No matter what I do, I can't get them 
to break correctly.

Frances

Celebrate Harry's 21st birthday!
http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Frances_Potter/Coming_Of_Age/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HP_comingofage