I don't really think so, but I can sort of see what you mean. Rowling's universe can be rather childish at times, especially in earlier books. and some people can be rather put off by that.

However, I cannot bring myself to be more involved with a fanwork then I am with the original series. Fanfiction to me is a rather lazy form of writing, where one doesn't really have any freedom to create characters or worlds. The things you call 'good' fanfiction simply take what the author perceives to be 'wrong' with canon, and fixing it. It doesn't really involve much talent at all, in other words.

It's sometimes interesting to look at fics and wonder 'what if that actually happened?' But in the end, it never would have. We have a good series that I like very much, and no fanfiction will ever replace that.

 

Seriously? Have you read anything on DLP? Just off the top of my head I could name five stories that have created new "characters and worlds" without "fixing" canon.

Let's see here...
Circular Reasoning
An Unfound Door
Forests of Valbone
Both of Taure's serious fics
And, dare I say it, for the most extreme example, the Alexandra Quick Series.

 

I'll check them out, okay?

 

Uh... yeah, go fuck yourself.

I think the biggest differences between fanfic and original fics can be described using the analogy of a carpenter who has an existing toolset and materials, and a carpenter who must fashion all of his tools and collect all of his materials himself. The latter might require more work and preparation, but it still requires talent and far more work to assemble them into anything worth a damn.

Yes, HP is good and layered, and provided fanfic writers a great sandbox to work in. But to imitate accurate characterizations, or improve upon them, or craft original characterizations/characters that fit the setting, not to mention writing intriguing plots with conflict and depth that makes your readers empathize with characters, all of these require just as much work and care.

Or to put it like Vash did on one occasion, 'just because it's original doesn't mean it's not shit.' The recent success of Twilight and Fifty Shades of Gray are abundant proof of this.

 

Maybe I missed something due to my running on three hours sleep, but if you think like that... then why the fuck are you on a Harry Potter Fan Fiction website?

 

I like fanfiction, obviously, but have yet to run into one that was more...hmm. Impactful than canon, let's call it.

I've read fanfics that were more internally consistent than canon, sure. I've read some that were more epic. Some were more adult. Some were more realistic (so much as you can measure realism in a story with magic, anyway).

The analogy I've used before is the Dome of the Rock on top of the remnants of the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock is newer. Shinier. But it could not sit where it does if not for what was built long before. Similarly, HP fanfiction sits on top of a million words of canon.

I don't agree with the newbie's description of fanfiction ("lazy," "talentless,"), at least not when referring to the best stories out there. But when I read those works I can't help but to step back sometimes, and acknowledge the foundation that made it all possible. Those million words that allow fanfic authors to move on to the stuff that really interests them, without getting bogged down in building a world from scratch. Even some of the most dramatically AU fanfics lean on the canon, to implicitly establish the readers' preconceptions and expectations.

So here's to you, HP canon. You inconsistent, flawed, charming, magnificent bastard. :awesome

 

There are people who don't Harry Potter on this site: I feel entitled being one who doesn't really care for Harry Potter Fanfiction.

Anyway, I'm honestly only here because I like some of the discussions about Canon, but I can't really get into fanfiction myself.

Honestly, I think I went a little too far calling it 'lazy' and that was my bad. I tend to exaggerate a bit while online, but whatever.

I Agree with Blazzano, actually. Fanfiction can be nice, but you canon has a place in everyone's heart.

 

Shame, because you're really missing a lot from talented people.

 

Silens, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Each of those is most definitely your mileage may vary, at least in the realm of how one person's good is another's bad (for example, I simply could not get into the Denarian series, but I adore the Timelands series), but I will not argue the point that DLP has a host of talented people, yourself amongst them.

 

Could you post summaries next time, Silens? Well, thanks. I was going to ask somone to post links, but I'll have a look at those when I have time.

All I'm saying is that I have never read a Potter fanfic I have liked. I have trouble finding them, to be honest.

 

Can't blame you for that. If you have any standards at all, finding fanfiction to read is difficult. You have to be able to turn off those standards long enough to trawl through a massive pile of manure to find the few gems.

Or you can let others do the trawling and look at what they found instead.

 

Skitterleap is an AU which assumes the point that Grindlewald won his war (iirc, this is divergence, but I'm not sure, it's been years since I read Skitterleap)

Renegade Cause is a story that diverges the night Harry receives the letter from the ministry in his fifth year. Dumbledore doesn't get to the ministry in time to intervene, and the Ministry sends some Hit Wizards to bring him in for questioning, doubtless a publicity move by Fudge, but I digress. He chooses to flee instead of going quietly, and shit just spirals from there.

There's a point at about the 20th chapter or so that just murdered my interest in it, but as I said, your mileage may vary.

HP and the Boy Who Lived is a classic Other!BWL story. Harry more or less stands in his brother's shadow, and when he tries to prove himself to be equal to his brother, he is ignored. Frustrated, he seeks alternative education and ends up enrolling at Durmstrang.

The Denarian Renegade is the first story in a series that is a crossover between The Dresden Files and Harry Potter, wherein Harry discovers a Denarian's coin at the age of something like seven or eight (I'm not sure). As with the Renegade Cause summary, it spirals from there.

Circular Reasoning is a timetravel story, where Harry travels back in time from an apocalyptic future and attempts to fix the past and prevent the future.

HP and the Wastelands of Time is story that is, in a word, epic. It's another timetravel story, but of a different sort. Each time he dies, he travels back to a specific date during the summer after Sirius died, and he's done this so many times that he has the the events of the first few days mapped out perfectly in his head. And then something throws a wrench in the plan, because it doesn't follow the plan, and it knows about his time travelling.

 

Yeah, serenadeofhatred, you really are missing out on some really amazing fics by amazing authors.

Am I doing it right, Silens?

 

You know, I just realized all of those stories you mentioned have girls examining themselves in the mirror. Strange that I just now picked up on that.

 

Not sure if these have been mentioned, but as I've only read this thread and not the others that came before it, here goes:

Reviews that have nothing to do with the chapter/story being reviewed.

Reviews with horrible grammar.

Flames or dissenting opinions based on the genre of a story rather than specific problems with the story in general. If I want to write a story where Harry is raised by James' relatives rather than Lily's relatives and this fundamental divergence changes how Harry reacts to his fellow students at Hogwarts, it is my prerogative to do so. It may very well be somebody else's pet peeve to have a story written from a pureblood perspective, but if you don't like those types of stories, don't read them and keep your opinion of that style of writing to yourself.

Mistakes in canon so blatant that it is obvious that the writer is either writing based on the movies alone and has not read any of the books. (spelling Dumbledore incorrectly, etc)

Overly childish Harry.

Stories where Harry shows up at Hogwarts already married, where Harry gets married (usually to Hermione) by the end of 3rd or 4th year WITH the consent of Hermione's MUGGLE parents, stories where getting married or having sex gives Harry superpowers.

And in a number of painful to read cases, stories where Harry has been treated as an adult by his mentor/guardian for the 10 or so years before attending Hogwarts, stories where wizards enter Hogwarts fully invested as members of the political arena, stories where there is no difference between an 11 year old and a 16 year old (physically or mentally)

Also, stories where Dumbledore either advocates for or is complicit in the abuse of a baby Harry Potter by James, Lily or both. This includes abandonment, outright abuse, neglect or those other stories where there is usually a twin or a sibling who is the supposed Chosen One. As far as I can recall in any instance, Harry is not referred to as the 'Chosen One' until he finds out about the Prophecy at the end of OoTP. Certainly not as early as before the Potters were attacked by Voldemort. This irks me to NO end, as to what kind of parents do you assume James and Lily are to willfully and purposefully abuse or neglect their own son while advocating for and supporting equal rights? Not only that, what kind of people would continue to follow and support a man, no matter how powerful, who suggested that it would be a good idea to do this with an INFANT?

Sorry if I'm not doing this right...

 

'Connexions', as opposed to 'Connections'.

Really gets my goat.

 

The author who does this defends their spelling using a dictionary and correct Latin etymology. I decided to let them be. Much better than Radaslab's inability to use "an" (at all!). Of course, if that was the only thing wrong with Radaslab's stories...

 

A simpler and better defense is "I'm British and this is how I've always spelled it." It seems to me that this is no different from the pants/trousers, elevator/lift, jail/gaol, color/colour differences.

As for not using "an" anywhere, that is most certainly not etymologically correct, seeing as "an" comes from "one" and used to be used in all cases. The -n in "an" disappeared before words with an initial consonant sound.

 

Not directly related, but: Times New Roman on FFN. At the font size I prefer, all the serifs stand out like fuck and it just makes it difficult to read. I always change it to Arial and it pisses me off big time that, unlike preferences for indent and font size, it doesn't get saved and I have to do it with every chapter I'm reading.

 

I didn't even realize changing the font was an OPTION on FFN. Everything I've read is in that standard font, whatever it is.

Maybe it's the browser?