Harry and Draco -- But the little girls understand

[themostepotente]

WARNING -- SERIOUS FANDOM RANT

Is anyone as sick of pointless, plotless, inane, and tritely written Harry/Draco like I am?

I mean seriously, why the fuck do most people who attempt to write this pairing insist on following the SAME GODDAMN BORING outline?

Sound familiar?

Boy meets boy
Boy hates boy
Boy crushes on boy
Boy ends up fucking boy
Boy angsts
Boy still hates boy

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

What...the...fuck?

What about this pairing zaps the creativity from some people?

Where is it written that *gasp* established H/D with plot is a big fucking no no?

I don't profess to be the best H/D shipper. Far the fuck from it, but at least my H/D stories were different from the norm.

Oh fucking wheee, let's use the same fucking story and just change the kink. I see it all the time. I see the same shitty H/D authors being recced.

Fuck this.

If you hate seeing this as much as I do, voice your opinion. To the creative H/D writers - you KNOW who you are. Give me a shout out, hmm?

If you hate this pairing, tell us all why.

Really disgusted.

--P

Comments

[loony-moony.livejournal.com]

Hmm. It's hard to answer a rant like yours, because when I try, 2 things pop into my mind:

1. The H/D shipper in me begs to yell at you "TRY HARDER HOR, I KEEL YOU NOW!" which obviously I won't let it do since I HATE ship wars and wanks even more than that, but I'm sure you'll understand me. ;)

2. What you describe does seem to be the latest H/D fic writing trend. I think we've finally reached the overdoing phase of post-OotP H/D fics. Do you remember the same time this happened after GoF? The overabundance of leather fics and Harry and Draco getting together during Hogwarts and then happily moving in together, having lovely lives as Unspeakables? Now it's just post-Hogwarts, they're still mad at each other but the sex is still terrific. (how very _hdcomic of me ;D) My best advice for you in this is either a) go to the best reccers and look for pre-OotP fics or b) Pray and hope this ends soon. :/ I myself have no particular problem with this cliché, but that's because I'd probably take more H/D than none at all. Hell, I've even had the Vampire!H/D and Veela!H/D phase. So, my vague point being: Go to Amy and read her H/D, go to Maya and read hers. You can't fall with the classics. And meanwhile, maybe consider contributing your own talent to the fandom and write what you think should be the "good" H/D fic. :)

*blushes* *flees*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

1. The H/D shipper in me begs to yell at you "TRY HARDER HOR, I KEEL YOU NOW!" which obviously I won't let it do since I HATE ship wars and wanks even more than that, but I'm sure you'll understand me. ;)

LOL -- and with a megaphone, no less!

Friend wankstar's seekertoseeker. I predict good H/D from there :-)

[acciojosh.livejournal.com]

Hiya. I was pointed here by dorrie6 through beren_writes... I personally lost most interest in H/D for several reasons, one of which being just what you're talking about. Most H/D fics are so similar and also so FAR from canon. It's not that I think fanon should be EXACTLY canon, or perfectly in synch with it, but I don't like it when they take Draco and turn him from 'asshole' to 'snarky git'. I can see him that way in the future, because eventually he's bound to grow up and see the error of his ways if Lucius is removed from the picture.

I'll admit I've realied my interest in Harry/Draco was mainly due to Tom Felton, and it was Jo herself who actually pointed this out to me (with the help of hownovel) and made me realize just how silly I was being. I had been giving so much leeway to fic-writers with Draco's character and letting them convince me that Draco and Tom were not much dissimilar. Really, Tom is a very nice lad with a good heart and a pretty face whereas Draco is a cold-hearted slime who grew up under the rule of, and the teachings of hate and biggotry. Picture him not as Tom, but instead as that guy that you knew in school who used to beat up everyone he could get his hands on just because they were different.

Now, since those same guys usually grow up and change, I give Draco the same hope and belief, so I can still stomach H/D future-fic and future-fic established relationships. I have no problem with established because I can put two and two together and figure out how these two might come to love one another without the help of the thousands of similar stories that already tell the tale.

I have moved on, though. I'm now obsessed with Zacharias/Harry, but there isn't much of that around. I'm trying to write more to help, but alas...

Well, hope that helps =o)

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Now, since those same guys usually grow up and change, I give Draco the same hope and belief, so I can still stomach H/D future-fic and future-fic established relationships. I have no problem with established because I can put two and two together and figure out how these two might come to love one another without the help of the thousands of similar stories that already tell the tale.

So can I :-) Thanks for comin 'round and leaving your two knuts!

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Fuckity fuck fuck! I LOVE YOU. PLEASE use this word more often. I'm serious. It's rather refreshing to hear someone really rant. ;>

I think what bothers me most about that particular plot-line is that NOTHING HAPPENS. Boy hates boy at the beginning. Boy STILL hates boy at the end. Where's the payback? The development? The introspective exploration? Fucking someone is definitely going to change the way you look at the person, regardless of if it makes you love them or not. So Harry may still hate Draco, or vice versa. But there has to be more to it. Otherwise, who cares? The story may as well have not been written.

Maybe he hates him more. So write that.

Maybe he falls for him. So write that.

Maybe he ends up killing him but regretting it. Write that.

DON'T just write that they go back to the exact same fucking relationship they had before the fucking! It makes no sense.

Anyway. Wow, look, I started ranting, too! Yay! Thanks. It's a good topic.

Oh yeah, and I hate when the author gets so wrapped up in the hating that the characters go OOC. I don't mind a little change-up in their mindsets. After all, they are both experiencing some hard stuff in life and that's bound to make you a little crazy. But I need to be convinced that Harry would grab Draco and fuck him against a wall somewhere. I need to be convinced that Draco would try to slit his own wrists. Right now, I just don't see either of those scenarios happening with the real characters.

Okay. That's my spiel.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Anyway. Wow, look, I started ranting, too! Yay! Thanks. It's a good topic.

Heh -- see how easy it is? This pairing is evil I say!

[september1967.livejournal.com]

I've figured out that the only H/D fics I can read, no matter how many times a fic will be reccd, are AU fics in which both characters are older than 21. Otherwise, I barf;) A huge kiss and hug to PainlessJ for pointing me to her list of H/D recs which she personally distinguished the AUs.

Yes, there are cliches in all walks of fandom life, including rant and wankdom. I've come to the conclusion there are a good portion of people out there who will say they hate a certain type of fic but then the next month (if not the next day) rec a similar fic.

Everyone has their own personal tastes and likes. The only way to avoid stuff you don't like is to follow recs by people you know have similar tastes to your own.

Bertina

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Everyone has their own personal tastes and likes. The only way to avoid stuff you don't like is to follow recs by people you know have similar tastes to your own.

For the most part, yes -- but I have been disappointed before.

C'est la vie I suppose, Bertina.

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

Avid H/D shipper here. I really don't mind the boy hate boy/boy fucks boy/boy hates boy formula; it's the fluffy! H/D that gets me. I don't see either of the those boys ever getting fluffy or schmoopy. Harry's pretty repressed emotionally -- look at his failed relationship with Cho. And no crying, please. Unless somebody dies, those boys aren't going to be crying.

That's why I don't like the established relationship fics so much, they are too darn fluffy. I don't know how many fics I've read where they are all lovey dovey, sharing a house and trying not to wake the children with their hot sex or hosting a dinner party for a confused Ron who is, of course, bi-curious.

Lately I have been seeking out more Ron/Draco fics because I am a little burned out of H/D, but H/D is still my favorite pairing.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Lately I have been seeking out more Ron/Draco fics because I am a little burned out of H/D, but H/D is still my favorite pairing.

I do love a good Ron/Draco! I don't have the best voice for Ron though.

[generalmanda.livejournal.com]

Ahoy,

I have to say that I agree with your rant. I'll go through and start a story and get a few lines in and know just where it's going to end up. No guessing. No fun. No twists. Maybe that's why I haven't read one in a while... well 'cept Naadi's Checkmate but I'll keep reading that til she's done and then probably reread it... Gotta say I love that fic. Anyway, I made the attempt to write one (http://www.fictionalbricabrac.com/sundays.html) myself that was somewhat out of the norm, but I'm afraid it falls into the angsty type. I guess I'm still in search of the equivalent of the HP/SS "Mirror of Maybe" for H/D.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you haven't written more. I adore Sundays, and printed it out and put it in my holy H/D notebook, where I reread it frequently - by this I mean weekly. There's so much innovative and unique and absorbing about it.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm still in search of the equivalent of the HP/SS "Mirror of Maybe" for H/D.

Not a big fan of MoM. And I don't think it was ever finished. I just couldn't get interested in it.

[veryshortlist.livejournal.com]

This is precisely why I've moved out of the Harry/Draco fan camp.

At first, when slash was really subversive there were really good writers writing the forbidden pairing. There was Aja, Cassie Claire, and Rhysenn, and a few others. And the fic was good, well written and beta-ed. But now there are too many squeeing fangirls, most of whom do not have the talent nor the inclination to craft a well thought out, and believable plot. With many H/D fics you can clearly see through to the reasoning behind the fic. "Wouldn't it be great if two hot boys had buttsecks?" That shouldn't be the driving force behind fic writing in my opinion.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

"Wouldn't it be great if two hot boys had buttsecks?" That shouldn't be the driving force behind fic writing in my opinion.

That's where the 'backspace' key comes in handy :-)

This is precisely why I've moved out of the Harry/Draco fan camp.

I'll always love H/D, but Snack is what truly makes this girl happy.

[dementedsiren.livejournal.com]

Damn, I'm coming late to this.

I started out your typical rabid H/D shipper, cliche's and all. I read all the big fics, most of the small ones, and loved quite a few.

And then I read more. And more. And they all became exactly the same. Seriously, the same three or four cliches repeated over and over again until I could tell you after a thousand words or so how a 20 chapter fic was going to end.

Then I started writing fanfic, and while I've dabbled in H/D (mainly in humor, actually, and not much recently) I found that I really don't like writing it. I'm not sure why, but as much as I came into the fandom on the H/D wave, I don't write it. Go figure.

And now, I find myself skipping H/D fics unless there from author's I know and already like for their merits, and not for the pairing.

So thank you for having the balls to point this out to a fandom that tends to avoid saying that it's fics can be crap.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Damn, I'm coming late to this.

Bah -- you're never late to the party :-)

So thank you for having the balls to point this out to a fandom that tends to avoid saying that it's fics can be crap.

Heh -- me and my big cyber balls are never afraid to speak out in the name of improving (or at least attempting) the H/D ship.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

To the creative H/D writers - you KNOW who you are.

Um, if these creative authors are like all the other authors, they're all thinking they're the ones meant by this comment:

the same shitty H/D authors being recced.

I know I automatically put myself in the latter category, although I managed to write 3 H/D fics that didn't follow the pattern. I'm still as insecure as the next gal.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Seconding this. I sort of assume if people are getting rec'd a lot, then there's probably some merit to their writing and if I don't like it, it's not because it's shitty, but because it doesn't meet my own desires in some way. I remind myself of that when I'm rec'd, even, because I'm terribly insecure as a writer, so a comment like that makes me all kinds of paranoid.

*clings to you*

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

I don't hate this pairing. I think I'll be a diehard H/D fangirl until the day I die. But there's things with the pairing a lot of people do that I do hate. Like bitchifying Harry. It's a common occurence when anyone is paired with Draco, because people don't want to try to develop his character, so they reduce the character of the one who he is paired with.

I think you see the most plot development in a lot of futurefics, though yeah, there are quite a few shit ones of those as well. Lets face it. Left My Heart is popular not for any real plot, but the bloody hot sex that everyone reads it for.

There's just not much you can do with them still at Hogwarts. Apart from kill off Lucius or Narcissa, which happens over and over and over afuckinggain and is probably up there on my Uber Hate list with bitch!Harry. But yes, I do hate the cliches when they are pumped out time and time again. I just do my best to avoid them, unless they have some well-written smut somewhere that'll stop me from hitting the back button.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I think you see the most plot development in a lot of futurefics, though yeah, there are quite a few shit ones of those as well. Lets face it. Left My Heart is popular not for any real plot, but the bloody hot sex that everyone reads it for.

Who wrote this? Have a link handy?

[willysunny.livejournal.com]

As an H/D shipper, reader, writer, I understand where you are coming from. I often wonder how my stories are perceived. There is SO MUCH one can do with this pairing. I particularly enjoy fics that are a bit out of the box - while sticking with the originality of the characters. I'm a huge fan of ivyblossom's fics, and the first H/D story I ever read was Tissue of Silver. Both authors (along with many others) have been able to tease out characteristics that just blow me away.

And when I come across an H/D story that's not of my liking, I just click out of it and move on. I sometimes think recs are the best way to go.

I don't know. I'm probably just rambling now. I hope the above makes sense.

*hugs*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

As an H/D shipper, reader, writer, I understand where you are coming from. I often wonder how my stories are perceived.

Same here. Something tells me we need to stop worrying though.

Good to see you at seekertoseeker, Willy :-)

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

AND THE QUIDDITCH-TONED MUSCLES NEED TO STOP, PEOPLE. REALLY.

*dies*

You are funny! I think I'm friending you :-)

Dissenting Opinion?

[pookayasha.livejournal.com]

You didn't really ask for disagreement but ah well. I, actually, love the pairing. It's the only one I ship in the Harry Potter fandom. In truth, most ships are tied down by the boring "established" plots. I have been burnt out by the pairing before and stopped reading the stories. Now, I'm just very picky about what I read. So while yes, I get what you're saying, I've never experienced the problem. If I find myself reading a crap story, I stop reading. It's really that simple for me.

Also, this problem exists in other fandoms. It's so annoyingly common that I don't really think it's a ship thing. Maybe just the popularity of this particular pairing is what draws crap writing to it. Like the good stuff is there but it's hard to find. Another way to get around the boring "plot" is to read stories where the pairing is featured but not really central to the story. It makes things more interesting. That's just my two cents, I suppose.

- JNoan

Re: Dissenting Opinion?

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

You didn't really ask for disagreement but ah well. I, actually, love the pairing. It's the only one I ship in the Harry Potter fandom. In truth, most ships are tied down by the boring "established" plots. I have been burnt out by the pairing before and stopped reading the stories. Now, I'm just very picky about what I read. So while yes, I get what you're saying, I've never experienced the problem. If I find myself reading a crap story, I stop reading. It's really that simple for me.

Sometimes I'm a glutton for punishment -- what can I say? *grins*

[shagsthedustmop.livejournal.com]

For me the problem with established H/D is it's so far from canon that I can't buy into it without the explanation of how they got over the intense hatred part. So from that perspective it may seem important to writers to explain how they got together.

I don't actually write the ship or read it all that often, so perhaps that is why I haven't minded the stories I've read. I've been much more annoyed lately with how similar many of the SS/HG stories are sounding but that's probably because I've read so many of them. I've gotten very picky about what I read there as a result. I think any ship may get old after awhile. Right now, I'm on a big Snupin kick and reading as much of that as I can find ;) But honestly, most of them are somewhat similar too for the same reasons - the author has to explain how Snape got over the Lupin hate.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I don't actually write the ship or read it all that often, so perhaps that is why I haven't minded the stories I've read. I've been much more annoyed lately with how similar many of the SS/HG stories are sounding but that's probably because I've read so many of them. I've gotten very picky about what I read there as a result. I think any ship may get old after awhile. Right now, I'm on a big Snupin kick and reading as much of that as I can find ;) But honestly, most of them are somewhat similar too for the same reasons - the author has to explain how Snape got over the Lupin hate.

I don't think Snape hated Lupin nearly as much as Black or Potter. Makes getting over the 'hatred' that much easier.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

I loved it when I first started reading the fic around Christmas '02. Then I got sick of the angst.

Because it was just non-stop, dreadful, dark, gloomy ANGSTANGSTANGST.

Stories with Draco killing Harry or some shit like that.

Nowadays I still read, but only if it's recced and only if it seems good. I like different flavours in my H/D.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Now see I live for the angst. But for God's sake, make the story interesting. Is that so much to ask? *chuckles*

[phasera.livejournal.com]

Is this discussion over? It probably is. I always arrive too late, dernit. *snaps fingers* Ah well. Forgive me, please, for coming in when you're no doubt bored with this thread already.

I see the same shitty H/D authors being recced.

Errr... like who? Truly, I'm curious. From the depth of your rage, I'm thinking it's more than just a handful. Perhaps we ought to compile a List, and post it somewhere very prominent, like on the homepage of Pure Magnetism or something? That way, everyone could avoid the badfic! much easier and be happy, happy people.

For surely, if one person thinks a particular author's stories are crap, all the other people with functioning brain cells will feel the same way?