Badfic, why must you hurt me so?
I've been reading a lot of Harry/Draco and Hermione/Draco fanfic lately, and have quickly discovered my limits when it comes to characterisation. I've reached the point where I can tell from the fic summary and/or the first few paragraphs whether I'll need to quickly back-button out of a story. The Hermione/Draco hurts me in my soul a little more than Harry/Draco--I've never been one to believe this old excuse for slash, and I still don't in general, but there's definitely some truth to liking slash more than het because het is just too damn sexist. More than half the "recommended" Hermione/Draco fic out there involves a Harlequin romance cliche that makes me want to vomit.
Don't get me wrong, I like a good cliche now and then. But not when they're in earnest. These stories? There's no crack, no tongue-in-cheek, no subverting of expectations. It's the same-old, same-old power dynamics, as though the war never happened. *gouges eyes*
How NOT to write Hermione/Draco or Harry/Draco fanfic:
I keep wanting to point out TBQ's good ol' Two Step Theory of Fanfic. It's bad enough that a so-called "romance" starts with a rape--I'm not someone who automatically back-buttons if a story includes rape, but I do require that it's handled properly. The first few paragraphs gave me hope, but then there's a kidnapping (inadvertent) compounded by omissions of truth, schemes to lay claim to an unborn child, and assault. There's probably more, only I've already stopped reading.
Readers can't suspend their disbelief indefinitely! Start with a strong, coherent premise and build from there. It's not that you can't colour outside the lines--but if you do go outside the lines in one area, keep your story anchored in canon as much as possible everywhere else. Your characters should still feel like themselves, feel natural, and not as though AU elements have been pasteded on yay. I mean, presumably the author wants me to root for Draco to get the girl, but instead I want her to slap the entire Malfoy family with assault charges, pour gasoline on their stupid Manor, and light the match. Ewwww.
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Don't get me wrong, I like a good cliche now and then. But not when they're in earnest. These stories? There's no crack, no tongue-in-cheek, no subverting of expectations. It's the same-old, same-old power dynamics, as though the war never happened. *gouges eyes*
How NOT to write Hermione/Draco or Harry/Draco fanfic:
- Post-war Draco is rich, powerful, and devastatingly charming. He throws around his influence to coerce Harry or Hermione to do something for him, a favour or a job, or to work with him on a project, which has the virtue of not making me want to vomit quite as badly. And in the course of Harry and/or Hermione's forced interaction with Draco, they fall in love with him. Essentially, Draco is every godawful Harlequin romance alpha male cliche ever written. Excuse me while I go stick my head in a microwave.
- Post-war Draco is soooo mistreated and downtrodden by the Ministry and the Wizarding World in general. He had to go to prison for his crimes! He's ~suffered~ and is practically a martyr. He's lost all his money! And the Manor! Poor Draco! At first, Harry or Hermione believe that Draco has gotten his just desserts... but soon they realise that the Ministry or other forces are conspiring against Draco, that it's really very unfair that he's lost so much, and in the course of helping restore him to his proper place, they fall in love. Just... no.
- A Draco who is just way too Muggle. I'm sorry, but there have to be other ways to show he's a badass besides dressing him in ripped jeans or motorcycle gear, okay? He's not Dean Winchester! (Also, Draco isn't actually a badass, in canon. Sorry, ladies.)
- A Hermione who actually thinks Alpha!Draco is sexy and wants him to sweep her off her feet. Dude, this girl is way too much of an activist to fall for patriarchal crap like that.
- A Harry who feels too sorry for Draco. I can see Harry recognising that Draco was in a tough situation and making peace with him, and maybe, maybe slowly building a friendship that leads to sex and/or love (or skipping the peace and friendship, and going straight to hate!sex), but Harry will never believe the Malfoys got a worse deal than, say, the Weasleys or Luna or Dean Thomas or Andromeda. He might feel pity or sympathy for Draco, but it will always be in proportion to what others have suffered, and he'll never make decisions or take action in a way that disproportionately helps the Malfoys versus the victims of Death Eaters. (Not that compassion or assistance is necessarily a zero-sum game, but I think you get my point.)
I keep wanting to point out TBQ's good ol' Two Step Theory of Fanfic. It's bad enough that a so-called "romance" starts with a rape--I'm not someone who automatically back-buttons if a story includes rape, but I do require that it's handled properly. The first few paragraphs gave me hope, but then there's a kidnapping (inadvertent) compounded by omissions of truth, schemes to lay claim to an unborn child, and assault. There's probably more, only I've already stopped reading.
Readers can't suspend their disbelief indefinitely! Start with a strong, coherent premise and build from there. It's not that you can't colour outside the lines--but if you do go outside the lines in one area, keep your story anchored in canon as much as possible everywhere else. Your characters should still feel like themselves, feel natural, and not as though AU elements have been pasteded on yay. I mean, presumably the author wants me to root for Draco to get the girl, but instead I want her to slap the entire Malfoy family with assault charges, pour gasoline on their stupid Manor, and light the match. Ewwww.
I prefer comments on Dreamwidth |
comment(s)