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

[dicentra63]

No: HPFGUIDX 39030

To Cindy's arguments on the differences between FF and TBAY, I'd like
to add the following:

Perhaps the most notable difference between TBAY and FF lies in WHO
and WHAT is being dramatized.  With FF, the characters from the HP
universe are dramatized, in exactly the same way they are in canon. 
With TBAY, the presenter of the theory and the theory itself is
dramatized, in a metaphoric universe that does not exist in HP.  

For example, if you were presenting the Stoned!Harry theory in FF, you
would put dialog in the mouth of a reasonable facsimile of Harry
Potter, creation of JKR.  He would move and speak at Hogwarts, or at
the Dursley's, or in any other space that appears or could appear in
the HP universe.  He would interact with HP characters.  On the other
hand, Stoned!Harry in TBAY is this dazed kid who can walk on water and
who wanders around, speaking directly to the dramatized persona of the
presenter of the theory.  Stoned!Harry's characteristics derive in
part from a play on the word "stoned" and from whatever the theorizer
wants Harry to do (usually silly, admittedly).

Here's a demonstration:

TBAY Harry:

"What marvelous acoustics! Here she is, several hundred yards from
shore, and yet Dicentra can hear Laura's conversation with poor
Stoned!Harry as if they were right next to her. But Dicentra needs to
speak with Laura about something Stoned!Harry probably shouldn't hear
(again), so she gestures to Laura to toss the snitch across the bay
again. Laura does, Stoned!Harry obliges by stumbling off after it, and
Dicentra cups her hands around her mouth...."

"Laura," she calls. "Remember when you said..."

"Dumbledore only created Harry for the *potential* of immortality. The
same potential Tom Riddle was born with."

Laura nods.

"Why do you think Dumbledore created Tom in the first place, if that's
what he did? Do you think it had anything to do with defeating
Grindelwald in 1945?" 

<snip>

"We're pretty sure that Sirius didn't get expelled, because he's
allowed to practice magic like anyone else, which means he finished
school. That means that Dumbledore gave him a Second Chance. And if
anyone should understand Second Chances, it's your beloved Snapey-poo!
How dare he continue to condemn Sirius when both of them are 'Redeemed
Sinners!' I mean, where does he get off....!"

"Dicentra's rant is cut short when Stoned!Harry, curious about the
shouting, ambles over, points his wand at Dicentra, and mutters
"Petrificus Totalus." Dicentra's entire body immediately goes rigid
and she tips over, right into the drink. Stoned!Harry reaches down
and grabs her hair before she sinks, holding her face above water, and
tows her back toward the Big Bang."

The characters in this passage are Dicentra (a theorizer), Laura
(another theorizer) and Stoned!Harry (a theory).  The space in which
they operate is Theory Bay, which does not exist in the HP universe. 
The dialog (when it's not silly) is a direct exposition of the
theories at hand.  If at some future point someone wanted to cast
aspersions on the validity of the Stoned!Harry theory, the TBAY-er
could describe the Stoned!Harry character as sinking into the bay. 
But Stoned!Harry and Harry Potter are not the same people, glasses,
green eyes, messy hair, and affinity for snitches notwithstanding. (I
should note that the Stoned!Harry theory itself was elaborated before
the character was created.)  

Here's Stoned!Harry in FF:

Harry was determined to end it here, end it now.  Voldemort, who was
not affected at all by Harry's Reducio spell, narrowed his red eyes.

"I'm growing weary of battling you, Harry Potter," he croaked.  "I
believe it's time for you to die...."

Voldemort reached into his robes and pulled out a wand that Harry had
never seen before.

"Since my wand can't defeat his brother, I'm going to use this one. 
Good-bye, Harry Potter."

Before Harry knew what was happening, Voldemort raised the new wand
and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"  Harry heard the rushing sound and saw
the green flash.  Then everything went black.

And then Harry opened his eyes.  He couldn't tell how much time had
passed, but he seemed to be lying at the same spot where he fell.

"See, I always said you were immortal," he heard a familiar voice say.

"Albus..." Harry whispered as he struggled to sit up.  He turned and
saw a fuzzy outline of a man with a long, red beard.  

"You are the Stone, Harry," he said.  "It's what I've been trying to
tell you all these years.  It's no accident that your father's and
mother's animagus forms were what they were..."

Harry squinted. Behind Dumbledore's ghost were two shining animals, a
stag and a unicorn.

ETC.

Needless to say, the FF takes much longer to elaborate than the TBAY
version, but as you can see, this "Stoned!Harry" is Harry Potter with
the addition of the characteristics the theorizer wishes to set forth.
 There are also other modifications to the canon universe that in TBAY
would draw a yellow flag, such as Dumbledore's death, Voldemort's
second wand, Lily as animagus, and Harry being on a first-name basis
with Dumbledore.

Furthermore, the FF passage could be used to demonstrate the
theorizer's theory, but it cannot be used to support the argument. 
The TBAY theory can, because canon is cited as canon and speculation
is labeled as such (with myriad qualifiers).

Now.  I mean only to demonstrate a difference between FF and TBAY.  I
am not registering an objection to using FF in this forum.  If you
want to *demonstrate* a theory using FF, go right ahead, as far as I'm
concerned.  I just can't accept FF as a way to *support* the argument,
whereas with a TBAY theory, I will, as long as the theory isn't
bristling with yellow flags.

--Dicentra, who is not going to write FF about Stoned!Harry, no matter
how much you beg me to