A Friendly but Earnest Challenge - Finding the GQFs!
Ok, why is it so hard to find Harry Potter fics I like!!?! The unfortunate thing is, I've seen some excellent writing... but often for pairings or plotlines that I can't at all see happening and therefore don't read. The unlikeliness factor/disturbance factor just nags at me relentlessly until I stop, despite the quality of writing. This is what I've found in my experience:
Good Quality Fanfiction = (mature writing style) + (in-depth grasp of the canon material plausible events) + (plausible events) ± (plausible pairings) - (plotholes)
And because I don't think one-shot fics are bad by default, I don't include "novel-length" in the equation, though I tend to forget short fics over novel-length ones, as I much prefer the latter. Oh, what the heck? I want stories that span out over time and don't tease me with camera-shots of the Potter-verse. In a few cases I've seen many shorter stories that work within one over-arching storyline and Potter-verse (see jediboadicea's work for an excellent example of this), and in a few cases, this works, though that's not to say one author must be bound to the first Potter-verse (s)he works in. It's simply a good device when the author doesn't wish to fill in every detail of the characters' lives. In cases where that Potterverse is inherently flawed, it doesn't work to have all the shorter fics in it. It's a risky thing, but I know that once I become fondly acquainted with a Potter-verse in a story, I want to know more about it. Therefore, my equation needs revising:
Good Quality Fanfiction = (mature writing style) + (in-depth grasp of the canon material plausible events) + (plausible events) ± (plausible pairings) - (plotholes) + (substantial or novel-length) + (worked out plan of the story and direction)
Am I too demanding? Am I a fic snob? Is being a fic snob an inherently good or bad thing? I don't know!! Sometimes I think I should shut up and put my money where my mouth is and write fics that will at least bravely attempt to adhere to my equation of a good fic to satisfy *me*... but then part of the fun of it is gone. There's little element of surprise or angst when you pan it out and know what will ultimately happen. I don't mean that all the authors out there are inadequate. They're not. But for all the fanfic out there, you'd think you'd find SOME that's plausible, well-written, and follows the directions of canon. I don't necessarily want a Book 6 in fanfic, because I don't really think JK could be matched in her craft and in her world, but just some good exporation and fleshing out of ripe ideas and all that good stuff. There's so much demand, but so little material to satiate it! And I know I'm not alone in these thoughts! Is this a common reason for which people begin writing their own fanfics? Because they see few/none in the fandom that quench their thirsts?
It seems that a lot (though not all, I'm sure) of the big-name authors that were abundant a few yrs ago have all but disappeared and have moved on to other things... But if any remain... where are they?! And what are they writing?!
Now, I must admit, I have my biases and my irks. These are:
Factor in the Fanfic
Good/Bad
Except When...
Harry/Ginny
Good, when both will have grown and matured after a few yrs (ie. Late book 6, or better yet, book 7)
Turned into romance for the sake of romance. This pairing is too often blown waaaaay out of proportion and turned into generic sappy, fluffy romances that reflect nothing substantial of either one's characters, or even worse, insert traits into the characters that aren't there, just to speed up events and have them satiate the authors' desires.
Ron/Hermione
Good, when both will have grown and matured. (They have a head start on H/G with regard to their interest in each other)
Beaten over the head with an Obvious Stick. Dude, they're still only 15, and neither are geniuses at love, nor will they be overnight.
Harry/Hermione
Bad. I still marvel that people hold this view, though considering people stick to their beliefs more doggedly when attacked and end up believing them more so afterwards with no further support for their own side regardless, I’m not surprised. Way too much of the "Ick! Brother/sister incest!" for me.
No exceptions. Thankfully my numerous psychology classes have helped me understand a little of the psychology behind this pairing.
(Again, my opinion here, but a very strong one at that.)
Remus/OFC
Sirius/OFC
(OFC = Other Female Character)
Good. Because Remus and Sirius are straight. They are friends. Even brothers, you could say. But that's all. They had lives outside of the Marauders. Remus/Sirius is only a mild, occasional guilty pleasure when written tastefully and skillfully, and even then, I have trouble believing it. It's plausible in canon, yes, that could be argued, but it is also very unlikely as far as canon goes. So while Remus/Sirius is ok for short fics or one-shot fics where demand calls for it (and there’s a lot), Remus/Sirius is not canon to me.
When the OFCs are Mary Sues (aka a quick way to commit fic-suicide). When either of the men are players. When the angst is overdone OR downplayed with regard to Remus being a werewolf.
(Mary Sue = the quickest road to fic-suicide, aka sickeningly idealized female)
Remus/Tonks
Bad. In my opinion, this is not only unlikely, given their combined personalities, their ages, and their histories, but simply not appealing, though I love both characters.
No exceptions, except when Tonks’s real form is of the same age and maturity as Remus, and that makes for a bad fic to begin with with plotholes and grasping at straws. So no exceptions.
Slash
Bad, only in the sense that I don’t see it happening in canon. It’s just not likely that JK will choose to explore this in her series, with the exception of the minute possibility of Sirius and Remus, and that’s VERY minute.
It’s bad except when the author acknowledges that it’s not a canonical probability and is simply exploring the idea. There’s a large demand for slash, so it doesn’t hurt anyone who heeds the warning ahead of time.
Prof/Student relations (or overage/underage relations, generally). Other illegal "activity" and relations.
Bad. Always bad. And wrong.
No exceptions.
Ron-is-Dumbledore-type theories.
Bad. Always bad, far-fetched, and blatantly ignoring JK’s frequent admonitions that these are wrong.
Always bad, except when Moody was Barty Crouch Jr. JK wrote it skillfully and tastefully. It’s crucial to the whole story. Just because a theory *can* work does not mean it will, nor that it SHOULD.
One-dimensional characters at either the drôle, dark, stupid/useless, or heroic extremes.
This goes for all characters, but especially: Sirius, James, Peter, Snape, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Draco, Neville, Ginny, Dumbledore, etc.
BAD. Always, always bad.
Ie. Draco neither wears leather and acts like a player, nor does he mope around hating his father and having earth-shattering insight into himself and realizing the error of his ways. Extremes are very vexing in fics
You are writing a very deliberate parody or satire.
Snape is hot.
Bad. Have you ignored that he’s greasy, needlessly cruel, unattractive, childish, condescending, sarcastic and romantically unappealing? Have you ignored that JK herself has said all these things and that they’re not purely my judgements? Snape is not hot, and he's not really sweet beneath that cloak of a vile personality.
No exceptions. He’s not hot. In some aspects, he’s a respectable person. In some ways he’s wise, and in many ways, he’s useful. But he’s not an object of lust or empty flattery.
Peter is always a traitor/wimp/useless bag of skin, if he’s present in the fics at all.
Bad. Refer to the comments on one-dimensional characters. Don’t forget the other Marauders and Lily loved and trusted him enough for at least a decade or so before he betrayed them. James, Sirius, Remus and Lily are not all blundering idiots who cannot read people. Peter had good moments and virtues too. He got into Gryffindor for something - he wasn’t always without courage.
No exception. Peter doesn’t deserve to be forgotten and cast aside from the Marauders' history.
Pairings made for the sake of originality or shock.
Bad. Cho will not now go out with Barty Crouch Jr., I don't care how desperate she is for attention.
Except when they create guilty pleasures that don't interfere with the above restrictions. Ie. Draco/Ginny works. Lucius/Ginny does not.
(Again, my opinion here, but a very strong one at that.)
PWP
(Porn without Plot, or various similar acronyms)
Bad, when searching for substantial fics that have plots and add to the fleshing out of the Potter-verse and the characters in it. Very bad when you want anything in-depth. Bad, except when PWPs are your thing. I don't get this, but if it pleases you, ok. Who am I to judge? Real fics with real potential that are abandoned. Bad. They tease and taunt me. BUT. I do understand that it happens and I understand why the authors must sometimes abandon them. I don't blame them. I'm just stating that it makes me sad and leaves me wanting the end even more! The more well-written the fic and the more skillful and creative the author, the more upsetting this is, in that non-blaming way.
Bad, except when another author can seamlessly pick up the story and keep it going. Or when the same author returns to it at a later date and completes it.
(Why is it the fics that are abandoned are often, though not always, those of the highest quality? Is it because they take more time and energy?)
Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind. Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind. Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind. Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind. Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind. Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind. Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind. Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind. Space reserved for more irks as they come to mind.
So, having said made these claims and arguments, I invite any- and everyone to guide me toward good fics. Fics that follow my equation for the ideal Good Quality Fanfiction. (GQF)
Good Quality Fanfiction = (mature writing style) + (in-depth grasp of the canon material plausible events) + (plausible events) ± (plausible pairings) - (plotholes) + (substantial or novel-length) + (worked out plan of the story and direction)
Consider that an invitation or a challenge. Either one is good. I just want good fics to read!!! If you know me and are unsure if I've read a really great fic, please assume innocence! If at the end of this, I'm still very much unsatiated, I might have to write my own.