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He farts rainbows and is ded from snake. - Minor fic-recommendation Slytherwank from TVTropes
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| | Subject: | Minor fic-recommendation Slytherwank from TVTropes | | Time: | 02:59 pm |
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| Okay, so, this was really just an isolated incident, but I had to post it here because the fic he's recommending sounds exactly like the kind of thing we're dedicated to mocking.
So, in TVTropes's Harry Potter thread, we were having a discussion about whether or not Hogwarts should've taken in baby Harry rather than sending him off to the Dursleys to protect him. This led to one member describing Dumbledore (not in a derogatory way) as a "superb troll," citing the scene in the first book where he gives the House Cup to Gryffindor at the last second. On this topic, he says:
I've seen people actually criticize him for this. Like those Nazi wannabes didn't deserve it.
"Nazi wannabes" of course being the Slytherins. To this, Cthulboohoo says...
Maybe they wouldn't have all been nazi wannabes if they hadn't all been treated like nazi wannabes.
JK's making a large house of children always chaotic evil racists is one of the most glaring flaws of the entire series.
Okay, fair enough, I for one am fascinated by Slytherin House and wish we could've learned more about it, and I really don't like that typo in the final battle scene. However, then, in comes The Handle, who recommends a fic dealing with this very subject to Cthulboohoo, and, well, get a load of this synopsis:
Alianza is a fic in spanish that goes about the adventures of Albus and Scorpius in postwar britain, and drives that point very firmly into the ground. After the Third War, Death Eaters didn't enjoy all the luxuries and advantages they had gotten right after Voldemort died, and were in fact outright oppressed (even those who had finished serving their nightmarish sentences at Azkaban) by the new regime, becoming practically pariahs. The Malfoys managed to garner some mercy, and didn't lose their wealth, but damn it took a long time for them to be readmitted into society.
Thankfully Harry is The Hero through and through, and challenges these preconceptions for the sake of doing the right thing. Though it costs him his marriage: turns out some Weasleys are as bigoted against ex Death Eaters as Death Eaters used to be themselves.
Because Death Eaters are just SO OPPRESSED, aren't they? Poor, POOR Death Eaters. And OF COURSE the Weasleys are the bad guys, too. It's not like the Death Eaters would've had them and everyone who thought like them executed, or at least had their rights greatly restricted, right?
Anyway, this later turned into a frankly quite interesting discussion about whether it's possible for fanfic to be better than canon, and if writers of fiction should take public opinion on their work into account while writing at all (which I contribute to, by the way; look for the Wither avatar), but I won't go into detail about that since it's not very Snapefenish. There is one rather wanky comparison of Deathly Hallows' quality to that of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in there, though.
Anyone know anything about this fic, and if it's as bad as it sounds? | comments: Leave a comment     |
| | I always think fanfics say a heck of a lot more about their authors than about JK Rowling. I think the people who write about say Slytherin like this see themselves as the 'outcasts'. Kind of goes without saying, really. I really don'u understand this 'drive' to justify Slytherin though. I've alway maintained that Slytherin House isn't intrinsically evil. It had some rotton eggs and was very poorly led for years. Slughorn was rather selfish and Snape just didn't bother. The kids paid the price for this neglect. I think though that people who blame the other Houses instead of the Deatheaters for Slytherin House's loss of prestige don't read the books very well. Nobody outside of the school really gives a damn about what House anybody was in, we never hear a single adult outside of Harry's circle mention what Houe they were in. It's like the adult population are 'grownup' and put their schooldays behind them. Perhaps the adult readers of Harry Potter should do the same thing. | | (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| | You know, I actually don't even think all the Death Eaters were Slytherins. I think there were probably Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in there, too. Probably not Hufflepuffs, though (although it's my headcanon that Hufflepuff actually produced something WORSE than Death Eaters: Umbridge). | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| Alianza is a fic in spanish that goes about the adventures of Albus and Scorpius in postwar britain, and drives that point very firmly into the ground. After the Third War, Death Eaters didn't enjoy all the luxuries and advantages they had gotten right after Voldemort died, and were in fact outright oppressed (even those who had finished serving their nightmarish sentences at Azkaban) by the new regime, becoming practically pariahs. The Malfoys managed to garner some mercy, and didn't lose their wealth, but damn it took a long time for them to be readmitted into society.
So let me get this straight. After Voldemort dies, thus ending the Second War, Death Eaters get to enjoy 'luxuries and advantages'. There's a Third War at some point in the future, that apparently the Malfoys and many ex-Death Eaters involve themselves in. They are seen by society as bad people because of this, but luckily they aren't oppressed into losing their WEALTH (oh no, not that, anything but that!) but into losing their position in polite society. Because of course your average Joe Schmoe on the street would never, ever treat a known supporter/participant of a racist terrorist group who had gone back to their racist terrorising ways multiple times and still got to keep their money as a pariah unworthy of polite society. Not unless they were bigots with an unreasonable prejudice against privileged racist terrorists. And Ginny Weasley would never, ever have a valid, non-bigoted reason to hate Lucius Malfoy and consider him untrustworthy scum, or resent that her husband chose supporting such people over her.
Uh-huh.
Look, even if they mean the Second War instead of this 'Third War' and they're complaining about the ex-Death Eaters being viewed by society as Death Eaters... nope, still fail. Harry fighting to make the unpleasant consequences of being a racist terrorist easier and more palatable for said terrorists is not 'doing the right thing' or 'challenging preconceptions', it's blatant 'oh, those poor perpetrators, their lives have been RUINED by ruining other's lives! Oh the humanity!' BEING DISLIKED AND MISTRUSTED FOR SOMETHING UTTERLY FOUL YOU DID IS NOT OPPRESSION, OKAY? Being a racist terrorist (in Lucius' case, doing it twice) is enough to lose any decent person's respect. | | (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Reminds me of that silly "The Golden Age" fic where Arsinoe de Blassenville makes Harry look like an idiot for wanting, oh, I dunno, a little of the lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key.
Gosh, I wonder whyyyyy. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| Yeah, like the discussion that Harry had with Snape's portrait in that fic:
"Actually, sir, people convicted of serving Voldemort are going to lose their right to vote or hold office."
"How convenient for you and your friends. I strongly suggest you not abuse your advantage, or you'll have a major uprising on your hands in the next generation. If you try to make serfs of the Slytherins, they will find a way to undermine you."
Why yes, it is indeed convenient for most people when racist terrorists who have proven that they will abuse whatever power they hold have the right to wield power over others removed from them. Funny, that. Also, being punished for misusing power by denying the perpetrator the right to wield significant amounts of power is not oppression. Not being allowed to vote might be pushing it a bit, but really, are they trying to argue that 'Cannot Play Nicely With Others, Therefore Not Allowed To Help Make Laws For Others Anymore' = serfdom?
The Slytherpologist moans of 'ZOMG Slytherin oppreshun!1' drive me NUTS because to a Slytherpologist, the Malfoys and Snape being expected to treat other people with equality and respect is oppressive. Being expected to check one's privilege is oppression. Being expected to actually reap the consequences of what you did instead of foisting it off on someone else is oppression. Is it any wonder they get indignant and complain about being persecuted for liking Snape the moment someone asks them to check their privilege in a fandom discussion when they've already proven how they view such expectations applied to fictional characters they identify with? | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| Not being allowed to vote might be pushing it a bit,
That happens in real life though. Convicted felons can't vote while incarcerated at all, and (at least in the U.S.) most states restrict voting rights to some degree after release. They have to go through a program to have it restored. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | True. What I meant was that if I tilt my head and squint, I can sort of see why not being able to vote for the people you want to be in charge of you and to represent your interests could be seen as unfair. But not being trusted to be in charge of others or representing others' interests ever again is kind of 'Well, yeah, did you expect anything else?' | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | Seriously. I really can't understand these "death eater" defenders. They completely blow my mind. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | I was kind of with them (in a "I'd read this" way, not a "that sounds like what would happen" way) up until the "it costs him his marriage" bit. | | (Reply to this) (Thread) |
![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif) mcity | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2012-05-10 02:14 pm (UTC) |
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| >JK's making a large house of children always chaotic evil racists is one of the most glaring flaws of the entire series.
Except she doesn't. Of the three most prominent Slytherin - Voldemort, Snape, and Malfoy - two are portrayed as complex and layered characters, as are others. Slughorn's just kind of self-centered. Harry's viewpoint is the central one, and he's biased. And so on.
>After the Third War, Death Eaters didn't enjoy all the luxuries and advantages they had gotten right after Voldemort died, and were in fact outright oppressed (even those who had finished serving their nightmarish sentences at Azkaban) by the new regime, becoming practically pariahs.
Which seems fairly reasonable. Look at the prejudice against Japanese and Germans during and after WW2.
>Though it costs him his marriage: turns out some Weasleys are as bigoted against ex Death Eaters as Death Eaters used to be themselves.
Sure is convenient how one of the bigots happens to be Harry's wife. And it's not like Death Eaters killed people by the dozen, or anything.
>whether it's possible for fanfic to be better than canon,
Tiberium Wars fic vs Tiberium Wars book, say people who've read both.
>and if writers of fiction should take public opinion on their work into account while writing at all
Yes, to a reasonable degree, or they risk pandering, the path which leads ever down to stagnation. | | (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Here is my opinion about taking public opinion into account while writing:
Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. ~ Kurt Vonnegut
It's likely there are some other people in the world who will like what you write, if you like it. It is also likely that some other people will hate it. Write what you want and pay for it.
I don't trust a description of a fic by a random person on the internet. I've seen far too many people describe fiction and media and get it totally wrong, but persuade a bunch of people who've never seen the thing in question that it is horrible through that completely incorrect description. | | (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| WTF did I just read? You can dislike a canon plot point all you want, but you can't fucking veto a major plot point like Lily's blood protection just because you find it "absurd," and want to make Dumbledore look like a massive tool. Lily's sacrifice, and blood protection are plot point #1. It's the reason there is a Harry Potter, for there to be a Harry Potter series.
As for the "poor woobie Slytherins/Death Eaters," I agree the Slytherin students got the short end of the stick in the narrative. Death eaters however? LOL, no. Many of them were the upper crust of the magic society. They grossly abused the power they'd already had, or gained following Voldemort. When someone abuses power, especially in the way the DE did that power needs to be taken from them. They also need to do a fuck ton of work to regain a place in society if they should even be allowed back into society at all. DE were not members of a bridge club, they were members of a fucking terrorist group. | | (Reply to this) (Thread) |
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He farts rainbows and is ded from snake. - Minor fic-recommendation Slytherwank from TVTropes
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