Sexy Draco(was: Elkins' Draco Malfoy Is Ever So Lame. Yet Sympathetic.)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 124635


>>Northsouth: 
>Just to make sure I've gotten it straight - hurt/comfort is not the 
reason we find bad boys attractive, thats a kind of determined 
DIYism. All h/c does is give us maternal, non sexual feelings. (Which 
does not require that we get off on sadism. Oh well, it was a spicy 
thought...)<

Betsy:
Oh no, hurt/comfort is all about the Sexy.  It's not linked to bad 
boys though.  I mean, it can be a bad boy going *through* the 
hurt/comfort, but it can be the hero as well.  Actually, the hero 
*has* to go through the hurt/comfort to *be* the hero.  (Pick an 
action film, any action film.) It's not sadism though -- that would 
be, erm, just plain hurt. :) 

I don't know why h/c does it for us womens (proof of virility, 
physical endurance?), but it does.  That's why every romance, every 
fairy tale, has the hero go through some kind of physical challenge 
that he doesn't get through *too* easily.  That's why so many young 
girl fanfic keep throwing more and more outlandish dangers at their 
hero.

>>Northsouth:
>My problem is that Draco is not only sympathized with, he is also 
often found to be sexually attractive. Whether or not he gets h/c is 
irrelevant in this case, beacause that's not what does it.<

Betsy:
Don't throw the h/c out too quickly.  It seriously helps.  Because by 
having Draco endure his physical trials (of which he has many) with 
the stoicism girls demand of their hero's, he starts to come across 
as, well, slightly heroic.  Throw in some bad boy vibes and some 
underdog sympathy and you've suddenly got some seriously sighing fans.

>>Northsouth 
>Unfortunately, canon Draco has nothing in the way of Bad Boy-DIY-
Makeover-Guy going for him either. (You just don't end up with 
anything worthwhile even once he's been fixed up). All this sexual 
attraction it seems is not for canon Draco, but rather for the badboy 
Draco constructed by Fanon.<

Betsy:
But fanon is not created in a vaccum.  True, most Sexy!Draco fanfic 
has to fastfoward a few years down the line, to a place where Draco 
has been redeemed (and is old enough to be defined as sexy without 
breaking some serious moral codes).  But it's building off of a 
foundation given to us by JKR.  (And no - it is NOT Tom Felton.) 
Draco is loyal, intelligent, witty, pretty, and tenacious.  And 
that's all from canon. So you *do* end up with something worthwhile 
at the end, *if* you take Draco in the proper direction.  

>>Northsouth:  
>Why is there so much sexually attractive Draco in fanon, when there 
isn't so much of Ron or Harry, for example, or Neville or Percy.<

Betsy:
I'd say Harry and Draco run about even, though the badboy or DIY 
stuff may push Draco up a little.  For some reason JKR has held back 
in portraying Ron heroically.  He goes through most of his h/c scenes 
off stage.  And when they do occur on stage (like the Aragog scene) 
Ron pukes.  As for Neville, his stock might have started rising since 
his part in the battle at the DoM.  (Though he's hampered by the 
almost... clownish quality of his injuries - so maybe not.)

Betsy, who snipped Northsouth's post up, and can't remember where the 
snips all occured.  Sorry!