Harry Potter and the Case of Fannish Overinvestment

[extemporally]

Alllllll I have been doing lately (besides, obviously, eating food and seeing people and trying - but failing - to revise) is reading ALL THE HARRY POTTER FIC IN THE WORLD. Man, you guys, it's so true, you never get over your first fandom! I started lurking hardcore on LJ in 2005 when a bunch of my favourite fanfic authors moved over from FictionAlley, and now I'm rereading all my old favourites (nearly everything a_t_rain writes is gold -- she doesn't use many tags, but her stuff can be found here! and also, om nom nom nom Tonks meta) and thinking about how I was totally that weird kid who read all the gen in the world (here is where I do another subtle link-droppy thing; hello omniocular!) because a) I actually liked all the canon ships, and in fact identified hardcore with Ginny Weasley and b) I was so ridiculously fascinated with the universe, and also JKR has this way of writing characters where she positively delights in caricature without ever letting them just be that, and it's just, good! It's all about light touches, duders.

Really now that I look back on it that was the start of everything. Fandom, politics, feminism, and -- man! A couple of months ago I was thinking about how there might probably be nothing as huge (in fandom terms) as Harry Potter ever again and making myself all :( :( :( about it, because I like fandom! I like how creative it is and how egalitarian it is, in some ways I guess, and how it's been inspiring and fun-making and educational all at once. And from my admittedly biased point of view, it seems like everyone started out in Harry Potter fandom. WHAT IF WE NEVER HAVE ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN :(

I loved HP 7 so much I watched it twice -- once in England with a whole bunch of people who all wore robes to the theatre, and once in Singapore with two friends I've known a long long time. I really liked it! I can't quite tell, of course, if that's because it's a genuinely good movie or because I just went in thinking, "Well, it'll be a fun ride" instead of "the actors don't look like my mental images of the Potter characters, everything is ruined forever" like the overinvested teenie I used to be. (I used to be capable of reciting whole passages from the books, hahaha oh man.) And, aw man! I can't believe the Potterdamerung ends forever this summer, at least until JKR releases a Harry Potter encyclopaedia or something of the sort. So much of my early adolescence was wrapped up in these books, I think, and that was a pretty happy period of my life. Ah, fandom nostalgia!

Tl;dr -- HEY YOU GUYS DID YOU READ HP FIC TOO WHAT WERE YOUR FAVOURITES

Comments

[hapakitsune.livejournal.com]

THE PARLIAMENT AU

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

:DDDD thank you!

[hapakitsune.livejournal.com]

I APPROVE OF THE ICON YOU CHANGED TO

[andnightsgrow.livejournal.com]

SHOEBOX PROJECT FAVORITE FOREVER

also maya's (real name sarah rees brennan, she went legit and took down all her fic but i can still get you a pdf :3) draco/harry, but esp the futurefic au where they're aurors together, and if i can remember my ff.net account i'll try and find everything else

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Dude, I would lovvve a PDF! ALL THE FIC FOREVER PLEASE AND THANK YOU

[blindmouse.livejournal.com]

Ooh, have not read any of a_t_rain's fic - I missed most of the HP gen, I think, it never showed up on the rec lists I read from. Am reading one of them now; is terribly charming :)

(Speaking of Maya, btw, I have a couple of her novels as word docs if that would be easier to read than the one big pdf.)

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Oh, do! I'm glad you like them -- they're so funny, I think, and also the characterisations are incredibly thoughtful. That's where I got all my fondness of the Marauders and Tonks from. I reread all the one-shots over the past couple of days, and maybe I'll make a start on the really long ones soonish! \o/

(Ooh, that's awesome! It'd be lovely if you felt inclined to share, :D?)

[ancabell.livejournal.com]

I had shoebox printed and bound and now its in my library in two volumes :)))
i loved HP7 so so much! :)

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Hahaha yes it's a fandom classic! I actually read those pretty late in my fannish career, I think, but it was so so good.

[lemniciate.livejournal.com]

HPPPPPP

I got through days where I dig out all my old bookmarks and reread EVERYTHING. They tend to be Harry/Snape though so uhh, it may not be your cup of tea XD

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Yes, maybe not my cup of tea! But that's what I loved about HP fandom -- there was something for everyone.

<3!

[lemniciate.livejournal.com]

That's true! It was so huge. I mainly just stuck to my own little corner and even then there was far more material than I could handle XD

[kuteki.livejournal.com]

I always go back to reading HP fic around Christmas time, it's so comforting. I am a harry/draco girl through and through, even though when I was actually in fandom I read absolutely everything, but my nostalgia tripos always bring me back to the h/d.

I think the movie was genuinely good, I went it without any expectations and waa absolutely blown away.

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Gahhh, I've been rereading all the second half of the series (except GoF, I used to have a copy but it got increasingly battered over the years -- held together with sellotape, seriously -- until in a fit of madness I threw it away DDD:) and my god, this was my childhood! Augh.

[perculious.livejournal.com]

I came to LJ from FictionAlley too! I can still probably quote bits from memory of Underwater Light and Beautiful World. And the Shoebox Project! /o\

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough I only read the Shoebox Project this year -- I've always been slightly out of sync with these things! It's marvellous though :D

[nova33.livejournal.com]

I am so amused that you're getting back into HP and I've just randomly managed to find three new fandoms. (And I am possibly writing fic, Li, what the hell? I have been back home for a WEEK.)

How is life, btw?

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

ELENA ARE YOU ONLINE NOW

[foxing.livejournal.com]

I just want to thank you for taking me down a particularly lovely memory lane--oh Harry Potter, you definitely were my first fandom. I never read much on lj, but ff.net was where it was at, whoobaby.(I didn't know lj existed hahhha)

*clutches books and stories* I MUST READ EVERYTHING!!!

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, no problem, dude! I just keep remembering how I loved this series so much; it's such a wonderful memory for me too. I'm one of those really earnest people who're like, fandom changed my life, and by extension Harry Potter too, I guess!

I want to reread GoF but don't have a copy. THIS IS AN UTTER TRAGEDY

[forochel.livejournal.com]

MWPP~~~~ and also all the weird Ron!ships. RON. RON. RON. AND SIRIUS. SIRIUS! I still maintain that the reason I crapped up the PSLEs is because SIRIUS DIED. happy fandom nostalgia is THE BESTEST. I remember reading this epic AU by Robin4 on ff.net called the Promises Unbroken universe. Never actually finished reading it because ffffffffff talk about depressing. I liked her other fics, though! they always did have awesome!Sirius in them. /PRIORITIES. I also have like a soft spot a mile wide for Ron/Draco fics? kkkksfljkgjs but MWPP OF MY HEART ALWAYS ♥~~

(also I am going to COMPLAIN And be all FUCK YOU HATTON CROSS HDU HAVE A FIRE ALERT NOW I CAN'T TAKE THE PICCADILLY TO HEATHROW FFFFFFF)

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

I still really want that weird Harry/Ron/Hermione fic I told you about, the one culled from a plot idea I found floating about the Internets. Also AHAHAHA that is the best excuse I have heard for doing badly on the exams, you are amazing! Although Ron/Draco is silly, I maintain! SILLY.

(CROSSED FINGERS FOR THE FLIGHT)

[forochel.livejournal.com]

I will say that until my dying day. "why didn't you go to rgs?" people will ask me on my deathbed in an attempt to rile me into living on. "because," I will say peaceably, "jk rowling killed sirius black."


that's only because you haven't tasted of the AMAZINGNESS that is ron/draco!

[apples]

I think there will be something as big as HP!!! I mean - not for a while (probably), but if you think about it... Star Trek was huge. Star Trek invented slash, it doesn't get much bigger than that. The only reason I think HP is maybe more expansive is that the Internet makes fandom stuff so much easier. It's basically the perfect medium for fandoms, okay! Zines are cool but also take a whole lot more dedication, which means a whole lot less people will make them. But anyone can have a website!

I love HP fanfic! I read HP fanfic before I read the books, oh man, I'm so awful. But it's such an awesome, interesting fandom! Before I read the books I was hugely into Draco/Harry, because Tom Felton is so attractive. But after reading the books Draco as a character stopped interesting me as much (he's such a jerk! And okay, his character is REALLY sympathetic but also there's nothing in his characterization that grabs me and makes me want to read about him more.) But after reading the books I am SO INTO Snape. SNAPE SNAPE SNAPE. I just want him to be happy! Which means I'm endlessly interested in reading stories about him. Especially Harry/Snape (though I think Harry & Snape friendship gen would be EVEN BETTER but I've never run across anything good) because I think Harry is the only person who could offer Snape any sort of closure or absolution re: Lily and James. Because Snape could never be friends/lovers with Harry unless he'd moved past Harry's parents influence, so any story where Snape can see Harry as his own person is ALSO a story where Snape can finally be happy.

...Can you tell how much I think about this, oh man.

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Dude, I love yr thoughts! I really do hope that something as big as HP comes along, and that it comes along soon. Also, totally agreed on how the Internet enlarged fannish culture, YAY INTERNET!

It is quite interesting that the books decreased your interest in Draco! Fanon Draco is... quite different from himself in canon, of course. But I HAVE TO DISAGREE on Snape, in the sense that I thought Book 7 didn't really make his redemption an interesting one? Like, so he was in love with Lily! That doesn't change the bit where he bullied his students for six whole books! Still though, YMMV. a_t_rain wrote a few stories about him, and I liked those! I enjoy pretty much any well-written fic regardless of how different it is from the books.

♥♥♥

[apples]

WE JUST HAVE TO WAIT. It may not be until our kids get on the Interwebs, though! It'll be their Big Fandom. ...I will probably still want to play even if I'm old.

He was OBSESSED with Lily! Which I think is interesting, because it couldn't have REALLY been love at that point. She was long dead and he hadn't had much contact with her since school... so it was just regret, I think. And he was unable to move past the things that happened to him as a young man, which... made Snape a cranky, grumpy, bitter old man. But he was still a tragic, cranky old man--his having to be a triple agent for Dumbledore and Voldy especially breaks my heart, since it was probably one of the reasons he COULDN'T move on. He was continually faced with his past, and the decisions that he regretted... over and over and over again. He had to watch and Voldy hurt people and probably had to hurt people himself. And pretend to be loyal to the thing that had ruined his life.

So I can like Snape even though he bullied his students for six books. He's a flawed man, and it's not okay to bully kids, but everything about his life sucked. I would be mean to children too. At least they wouldn't be mean back.

I mean mostly I just want to read about Snape being happy, because he was NEVER HAPPY, and all of his nastiness I think stems from the fact that he's the SADDEST, LONELIEST MAN IN THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD. I don't like when people are sad. :(


/snape fangirl

[apples]

Also, I definitely interpret differently from J.K here, but I don't think Snape's obsession with Lily is ~romantic. And I don't think it was ~love that kept Snape loyal to Dumbledore.

But then again I disagree with a lot of J.K's notions about love? Like HOW CAN GINNY BE HARRY'S SOULMATE WHEN SHE HAS A PRETTY BAD CASE OF HERO WORSHIP? Because she never makes ME believe that the moment Harry's not Important and The Chosen One won't be the moment Ginny looses interest. :/

I actually read this really great story where everyone wants Harry to be Minister of Magic, and he's like, "I just want to be left aloneeeeeeeeeeeeee." (which is what I think Harry would want!) and Ginny is like, "Well, okay. :/ :/ :/ I'll just sit her at home with you. Alone. :/ :/ :/ :/ It sucks not being important." And, like, I don't think that makes Ginny an asshole, even though the way I wrote that makes it seem like she was in that story.

[nikibee.livejournal.com]

What a coincidence! I just got back into reading HP fic too! I was into the fandom in 2007ish and I've been mainlining it again for the past month. Personally, I've been really into next gen characters (any combination of James, Albus, Scorpius, Teddy, Draco, and Harry) and have gone through painless_J's recs, the next gen fest, and the entire nextgen tag at crack_broom. Since I appear to have run out of material, I am now going through the H/D tag at crack_broom. H/D was my original OTP so it's interesting to reread some of the classics now.

I like fandom! I like how creative it is and how egalitarian it is, in some ways I guess, and how it's been inspiring and fun-making and educational all at once. YES! Agreed. I love this description.