(no subject)
As usual when working on a story, once I've got the first draft down, I googled the characters to check I didn't have any basic facts wrong. This time it was Hannah Abbott, and what's the first line of her bio on the site that comes up? "Hannah Longbottom (née Abbott) is a half-blood witch..."
I have no problem with JKR giving out titbits like Neville marrying Hannah in interviews - I like the fact that it's there to use or ignore when I'm writing. But to make a marriage that is mentioned in only in interviews the defining aspect of a character's name strikes me as really off. Not to mention the fact that we don't know whether Hannah would have taken Neville's surname or kept her own, just as we don't know whether Ginny Weasley will become Ginny Potter, or Luna Lovegood Luna Scamander.
OTOH, seeing "Lily Evans Potter" all over the place irritates me, too (yes, there is no pleasing me). Pick either Lily Evans or Lily Potter and use it, fine, but it's highly unlikely that Lily would use her maiden name as a middle name once she was married (and in those days, she and James would have to have been exceptionally modern for her to have kept her maiden name once they married).
Oh, well. That's why I'm writing the kind of story I'm writing, I suppose.
I'm also wondering about the sexual politics of the word "wizard". JKR seems to start out using "wizard" for males and "witch" for females, but somewhere along the way, "wizard" becomes a generic term for men or women - sort of the way "actors" has become the preferred term and "actress" has become politically incorrect. That said, she isn't consistent, and I'm fairly sure "witch" is still used occasionally in the later books (not to mention things like Witch Weekly. In HP stories, I tend to use "wizard" as a generic term (ie for both men and women), but now I'm wondering whether I am correct in this. What do the rest of you think?
Finally, Remix! Last time I did Remix was three years ago, and I was a much callower writer then. I really don't think I produced a very good Remix (I found the process very intimidating). This time around, it's a completely different (if still slightly scary) experience. I'll be amazed if anyone guesses which remix is mine, but feel free to guess if you like. *g*
As for my remixed story, the author has taken a ficlet I wrote years ago, set immediately post-HBP, in which Snape offers Draco a choice, and drawn it out to encompass DH canon. Draco has made his choice, and the results are not what he expected. Poor Little Lamb (The Draco's Choice Remix) - check it out! There's added Neville, in case that persuades anyone. :)