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

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 39043

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...> wrote:
> Here's where I think we get to the hair-splitting thing.  People 
have 
> their own thoughts, opinions and interpretations regarding the HP 
> characters.  Based on those, people can create backstories in their 
> minds about what may have occured in the past (Snape loved Lily) or 
> what might occur in the future. (Redeemed Draco.)  A writer may 
> decide to write the definitive Snape/Lily Hogwarts love story, 
> complete with mushy dialog and foaming-at-the-mouth murderous 
Sirius 
> who steps in trying to get rid of Snape for James and Lily's 
> benefit.  None of which is in canon.  However, I think a well-
written 
> story could support this theory as well as any TBAY post.

Here I must disagree. A Snape/Lily story is by definition all about 
how Lily felt, and how Snape felt, and what James knew. The author's 
portrayal of the emotions, convincing or otherwise, is the point. In 
a TBAY Good Ship LOLLIPOPS post, however, despite the "decorative 
prose", the point is to list points of canon that support LOLLIPOPS, 
point out canonical problems that it answers, and list literary 
parallels. There may be a lot of prose about Tabouli hanging Elkins 
from the yard arm, and what George is doing while Tabouli is talking, 
but the main point is to set forth an ordinary theory, which will be 
treated as an ordinary theory in response. No-one responds to a TBAY 
post by saying, "Your portrayal of Snape's bitterness was refreshing 
and original. I almost felt sorry for him." (which is the way people 
respond to FFs) Instead, admist a narrative of escape from LOLLIPOPS, 
someone will point out literary reasons for avoiding LOLLIPOPS and 
canonical problems in LOLLIPOPS.

Furthermore, the decorative prose is often quite self-referential, 
adding a further layer of meaning to the posts. Elkins' latest attack 
on Cindy is a clever spin on her T.S. Eliot-Neville post. As an 
English student, I enjoy this sort of cleverness, the moments when 
one goes - "Oh, that's what the author's up to!" The worm who hopes 
not to turn, but is forced to, a concept Elkins was discussing, is 
here made concrete. This is not fanfic, but a form of fictionalized 
literary analysis, that, I have noticed, many academics love to 
write. I was early introduced to the genre by a classicist who taught 
me in junior high the basics of English, World History, and Latin. 
His twenty pages on Vergilian meter would have done Theory Bay proud. 
Yet, they were no way comparable to historical fiction about Vergil 
and Horace, even though both Vergil and Horace had TBAY-like 
appearances. He was a very good and entertaining teacher. 

>If you 
> don't buy the Snape/Lily thing, no story will convince you.  If you 
> don't buy the Snape/Lily thing, no amount of theorizing will 
convince 
> you, either.

Err... I don't know about you, but did you come to the HP fandom with 
all your pet theories already formed and laid out? Fanfic has not 
changed my mind on anything, but theorizing has made all the 
difference. I joined LOLLIPOPS because of canon discussion in TBAY 
surroundings, and left it because of canon discussion in TBAY 
surroundings. Before I joined HPFGU, I never even considered Neville 
having a memory charm, for example. The reason one doesn't buy 
Snape/Lily is one doesn't think the evidence is anywhere near 
adequate. This has a lot to do with personal preferences etc. but 
it's going a little too far, imho, to say that theorizing has no 
impact at all. If so, what's the point of having this discussion 
group?

> Honestly, the only difference I see between FF and TBAY is that FF 
> takes the theory and fleshes it out.

Well, then, wouldn't it be as accurate to say that the only 
difference between FF and all HPFGU posts is that FF takes the theory 
and fleshes it out?That seems to me a large difference. Bones are 
bones, but bones with flesh makes a body.

Eileen