The Difference Between TBAY and FF (WAS FF: Speculation; Fanfic is like TBAY

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 39024

Wonderful discussion, and wonderful post, Cindy.

I must admit that, after some skepticism, I've come to really like 
fanfic. Not so much the huge uber-fics about what happened to Harry 
after school, or how Hermione and Draco's relationship progressed. I 
finally read Cassandra Claire's "Draco Dormiens" and enjoyed it, but 
not because I thought it was a reasonable extension of Rowling's 
universe, but because it was damn funny with the Evil Bake Sales, 
Lucius Malfoy's bottomless pit, Harry as Draco and Draco as Harry, 
and Goyle with a picture of Crabbe under his pillow. I don't think 
it's meant to be taken that seriously. And that's the first point of 
fanfic. Some of it's there to make you laugh, whether through a 
dramatic and very funny tale such as Cassandra Claire's or an 
outright parody, like Firewolf's brilliant "Win Some, Lose Some 
More." 

But what I love about fanfic is the character pieces, the short 
analyises of a character. Tess's "Ghosts I Keep", for example, is a 
wonderful little piece told from the POV of Barty Crouch Sr. and was 
the inspiration for my mega post on Crouch. She challenged me to look 
at the guy differently than I had before. Far from taking me away 
from canon, the story sent me to canon, where I spent hours 
catologuing references to Crouch, and came to the conclusion, besides 
other more important things, that he was dead sexy. :-)

And, some stories are just.... well... mindblowing. Emily 
Anne's "From Out That Shadow", for example, has Snape and Avery as 
you've never seen them before. (Avery is a sweet little eleven-year 
old, who stands up to Lestrange, and becomes Severus's best friend.) 
I don't know if it adds to one's understanding of Snape to read this 
novel-in-progress, but it's just so good that no-one should resist 
it. This might cover a lot of fanfic. 

And, err..., yes, I know I should review the stuff I've been 
reading.... Sorry to all you authors on the list for not doing so, 
but I value my internet privacy. Still, I should at least leave 
reviews as 'Unregistered.'

HOWEVER, I do think that FF is, in a way, somewhat dishonest as a 
method of theory persuasion.. To take the ever popular Cassandra 
Claire, there is no way that Harry and Draco will discover they have 
super powers in JKR's universe. That's a great twist in a fanfic, but 
for some strange reason, some readers have taken this as a likely 
thing in JKR's universe, because Cassie is such a good writer. I know 
Cassie herself is the last person to believe this, but it shows that 
fanfic can persuade people of theories that really aren't possible. 
Do people really truly convince themselves of out-there theories in 
theory discussions? I don't really think so. Sure, we love to play 
with scenarios in which the BAD aurors tortured Frank, then were 
interrupted by the Penseive Four, minus Crouch Jr. and plus Snape and 
Lucius Malfoy, who then put a memory charm on Frank, because he 
really was a Death Eater, after all, and left Neville alive because 
Neville is going to be the Next Dark Lord and Lucius was sleeping 
with Gran. But, the nature of the discussion keeps people from 
forgetting that such scenarios have no canon. If you make up 
something new, someone waves a yellow flag. If you leave something 
else, someone brings it up. You are continually questioned, however 
creative and colourful your props. 

> Indeed, I think "The Night The Jobberknoll Screamed" would make a 
> decent fanfic if you added in a whole bunch of new canon facts.  I 
> mean, wouldn't it be nifty if I added some sort of MOM panic button 
> that Frank lunges for as Mrs. Lestrange enters?  I mean, that would 
> allow all manner of Aurors to storm the place and would give Mrs. 
> Lestrange a reason to flee before she gets a chance to kill the 
> Longbottoms.  I could solve huge gaps in canon (Why weren't the 
> Longbottoms killed?) with that sort of creativity.  

You know, you should go over to Fiction Alley and ask if someone 
would take a jab at writing it. The moment I read your post, Cindy, I 
was thinking "What a great fanfic!"

Eileen