Ron bashing is my single least favourite cliché among fanfiction. Made me stop reading at the first chapter of Bungle in the Jungle seven times- as well as countless other fics. In particular I hate stories that gloss completely over Harry's many flaws, while accentuating Ron's to a ridiculous degree.

Guys, Harry wasn't a perfect human being. Stop pretending like he is.

 

It's baffling how people forget that HP is about teenagers who often end up in extreme situations. Everyone calling Ron out on his jealousy should take a look in the mirror. Teenagers can be shitty people.

 

Just once I'd like for Harry to call pseudo-OC on their bullshit when they 'inform' him that Ron is actually a bad friend.

"Have you stood up to a mass-murderer for me lately? No? Then don't talk about things you know nothing about."

 

Or one in which Harry changed friends as he does in those fics, then when shit hits the fan his new friends don't raise up to the task and he is saved by Ron and Hermione? Because that goes into one of my peeves: When something is solved exactly the same way than in canon but replacing one character for another. Like in philosopher stone when they just put another student winning the chess game and sacrificing himself or when they put Harry in another house and give him a smart friend and a bro friend to replace the trio. I find it unrealistic in the sense that it is pretty damn rare for friends to be willing to sacrifice themselves for others as readily as the trio, especially at eleven/twelve and knowing each other for less than a year.

 

I just want to read a fic where his friends refuse to go help him because its crazy and dangerous. Like I'm not fucking going down into the dark lost chamber with the 60 ft basilisk. Kthnxbai.

 

Does anyone know if the books actually say it's 60 feet by the way? Or did fanon make this one up and it stuck. I don't really care if it's made up or not, just curious.

 

No idea, I just threw the number out there.

 

It's the number used in every fic that uses a number though.

 

When an fic- usually towards the end- loses all cheerfulness and fully embraces the grimdark. The reason fics like Bungle in the Jungle and the Denarian trilogy are so good is because they let themselves have pointless scenes and throwaway lines that- whilst not actually progressing the plot- help to break up the monotony of constant worrying and sadness.

It's especially galling when the story is set at Hogwarts. Kid, you're learning magic for fucks sake, lighten up. The original series was so good because it didn't take itself seriously constantly- it was allowed to laugh at the absurdity of the Wizarding world.

Also, the words "Veela" and "mate" mentioned anywhere near each other.

 

"Hey Mate, is that a Veela or what?"

Agree about the grimdark. Some authors go for the deep end and make Hogwarts and the wizarding world this bloody,grim,drak and hateful world. I mean, it's not sunshine and carebears but come on...

 

When authors say that James' parents are Charlus and Dorea Potter.
1) JKR said that his parents were very old even by wizards standards. Dorea died at 57.
2) That would make James Walburga's cousin (as in, first cousin). Sirius in OoTP bothered to explain how he was related to the Weasleys. Why wouldn't he mention it if Harry was his second cousin?

Plus, most of the time, it's used as a prelude for "Lord Harry James Potter of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black". Just no.

 

I think it's a rather plausible theory. JKR didn't say that "his parents were very old even by wizards standards", she said that James was born when they were old, presumably around age 40. Maybe Sirius didn't want to talk with Harry about James because he thought the matter will upset him. Flitwick said in PoA that James and Sirius looked "like brothers".

Then there's a certain resemblance that Harry and James share with other Blacks like Sirius, Regulus, Tonks, and Bellatrix - aside from the black hair, all were especially reckless and powerful, always going against the odds with no fear.

But maybe I'm just imagining things simply because I think the Blacks are awesome, and having Harry as part of the family can help certain plot lines. And I'm not talking about "lordship". Overall, I don't know why it bothers you so much, since aside from the Evanses, the Blacks are the only family that we know has married with the Potter family in recent generations, and it's really the only clue we have on James' parentage.

 

This was pretty much my exact thought as well

There's time it works, depending on the set up. Hogwarts 7th year is one of those times, and Thanfiction did a pretty good job of it, but then again, his entire fic wasn't grimdark, either. I'm teetering on the edge of it in my fic, both in the chapter I'm writing now and the one that follows, but there's a very long lead up to it as well.

All in all, if it makes sense within the storyline and was built well, I'm okay with it. But to do it just to do it? I agree, not worth reading.

 

I have to agree that it's not that far fetched. As we know, many of the pureblood families were related at some point - actually could be fanon, not sure - it's not unreasonable to think the Potters and the Blacks were too. The only thing stopping that from happening is the fact that the Blacks were very dark and probably didn't like the Potters at all. But black sheep aren't actually uncommon in that family, see Sirius and Andromeda. It's possible that somewhere further up the line someone else was similar and ended up marrying a Potter.

Yes it usually means the story is segwaying into some terrible Potter-Black title, but that's not the fault of who his relatives might have been, that's the fault of the author.

 

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-3.htm:

Emphasis mine. Plus I don't really consider 40 to be that old an age to have a child, especially for wizards, but that may be because my mother was 36 when she had me.
But yeah, it's not really that I find it impossible, I just don't like it.

 

Don't want to take the thread off topic but 40 is quite old for a normal human - female - to have a child.

 

Actually, not really. Not anymore at least.

And, common human age doesn't match wizarding age. It seems everything can be extended by at least a third or half or more. Dumbledore's how old? 150? And there's others who were his age or even a bit older.

 

Didn't JKR change that later to somewhere around 110?

She's really inconsistent when it comes to these things.

 

Well if she wants to be inconsistent I'm gonna pick 150, because awesomeness scales with time I guess.

 

She said 150 in an interview, but then made him 120 in DH.

As books > interviews, I go with the 120 figure.