Fanfics with slash & sex...I don't get it

[ER <ression@hotmail.com>]

Just catching up with this thread ...

"bel" wrote -

>I'm also curious where you got the impression that I'm a guy. <grin> 
(At least, I THINK that was the implication in number 3 above.) 
Definitely female. Over 40, and happily accepting applications for 
romance from any males age 21-60. No age discrimination here. <VBG>

Hey, hope for us semi-oldies yet! Though I suspect the 61-year-olds 
are feeling a bit down right now ...



"Heiditandy" wrote - 

>Look, if we required warnings for books, so the reader didn't have 
to risk seeing anything upsetting, would we have this for Goblet of 
Fire?

>one scene takes place in graveyard, underage character is tied to 
tombstone and subjected to bloodletting,

Well, being tied to a gravestone is a whole lot better than being 
super-glued or stapled to a gravestone. And, as I'm sure we all know, 
the doctor always says "keep still and it won't hurt", so being 
immobile is probably a good thing in this case. If I'd been MC-ing 
the graveyard gig, I'd have used a Shatter Charm on his legs. That 
would slow the little blighter down and make wand-duelling scenarios 
a lot less likely. You can't fault JK's kindness.

>a spider is killed

A common bathroom scenario, despite earnest female entreaties for 
clemency. Would that it weren't, but they're the very devil to catch 
(spiders that is).

> four characters are made unconscious and tied to a rock under a lake

If one _has_ to be popped into a lake for an hour or so, being 
unconscious is a jolly good state to be in. And if they hadn't been 
tied to the rocks then, heavens, they might have gone a-bob-bob-
bobbing off to goodness knows where. Probably have bumped into the 
giant squid or something equally horrid. Again, you see, JK is being 
as merciful as possible.

>some alcoholic beverages mentioned and consumed (off page) by horses

As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make 
him drink. Little alternative therefore (coffee generally not 
considered suitable for temperamental quadrupeds)

What is this nonsense leading up to? My view is that one should warn 
about the things that are _likely_ to upset or offend the _majority_ 
and, rightly or wrongly, quite a lot of people get upset by 
descriptions of homosexual sex. Thus IMHO it makes sense for slash 
stories to carry a prominent warning, but "normal" stories need not.  
Under age-sex may offend, so it too should be pointed out. Pairings 
that parents would object to (teacher/pupil) should be trailed. Then 
those that want to read such stories can read them and those that 
don't can avoid them.

I'd also go further and say that FanFics should follow the spirit of 
the original story (it doesn't matter if it's not what would happen 
in real-life, the story is the thing). JK's books are designed to be 
read by children and I think the "violence" is pantomime stuff. Maybe 
upsetting to very young children, but otherwise just part of a fairly 
gentle story. Cedric was killed (very cleanly and painlessly as far 
as the reader is concerned), but big deal. Who cared about him? If JK 
had given (say) Ron his ticket to the next-great-adventure the story 
might be considered a little darker. But what did we know about 
Cedric? What little we did know was (I suspect) popped into GoF just 
to make him slightly less of a minor-character when he did get killed.

I suspect many parents would like their children to go to a school 
like Hogwarts. The pupils are all very well behaved (pranks and high-
spirits are not bad behaviour), they are polite to the teachers, flog 
dutifully through their homework (though it's obviously very 
interesting homework) and the teachers seem to take good care of 
their charges and push them academically. Even Snape tried his best 
to stop Harry falling off his broom (Snapettes may cheer now). Board 
and lodgings seem more than adequate. There doesn't seem to be any 
sustained bullying - such contretemps as we see are mainly one-on-one 
and not sustained or grinding like real bullying. It's all very 
pleasant and has a faint England-in-the-1950s feel to it. Just an 
intriguing bit of hokum (if that's the word I want), a little like 
the films of the 40s and 50s - total nonsense, but a good way to 
while away an hour or two. It's certainly got me hooked and I shall 
give a small cheer when Book-V turns up! 

Anyway, I think that HP FanFics that deviate markedly from this norm 
should also carry a warning - "this ain't what you think it's going 
to be"! I've no objection to people writing non-canon stuff, but I 
feel they ought to be polite enough to point it out. In this, I 
suspect, I side with Diana et al, though I'm not going to let counter-
practice stop me getting a good night's sleep :))


ER - who notes that people keep noting things after their signatures.