Scales and Tales

My prompt for the 13th was supplied by blnchflr, who asked me to talk about "Characters who are Good whom you like (unless you don't like any Good characters)."

I spent about three days trying to work out an answer to this one, only to belatedly realise that I may be overthinking it -- I kept trying to figure out the difference between good and Good, and it only occurred to me yesterday that maybe the uppercase was just an attempt to distinguish "a morally good character" from "a good character" in the sense of well-written. *facepalming* blnchflr, feel free to chime in with your intentions!

( Some thoughts below the cut! )

Well, that got long, and kind of turned into a "discuss two tropes you've grown to hate" meta more so than one on good characters and goodness! Sorry. *sheepish* In summary: I have a lot of ~feelings~ about the notion of "Good People" and characters who think they belong in that category, most of which are bound up in the very shallow, platitude-y way that many canons apply it.


Edit: Just discovered my HTML was borked, and half this entry never showed up! Welp. Fixed now, and I did a bunch of editing, too. Hope somebody notices!

Her prompt:
Has Fandom changed since you joined it? Do you have the same feelings about Fandom now as then?

Wow, all right, I think the real answer to this -- after meditating on it for a day and a half -- is: my fandom experience has shifted so much that I can't possibly compare then and now in a relevant way.

( Three Points on my Fannish Timeline, For Reference )

To me, my fandom experience(s) have been so disparate from fandom to fandom that I don't really think of them as a progression, where change might be observed and attributed to Fandom rather than to quirks of a particular fandom. For one, I seem to zigzag across the book/film and anime/Western animation lines quite a lot, making it very hard to tell cultural differences from progressive changes; Gundam Wing and TPM weren't all that far apart in my personal timeline, but the "culture" of each fandom was quite different, which I attribute more to the community (and perhaps the greater connexion and the medium than to evolution of fandom itself.

I feel pretty lucky about the breadth of my fandom experience! I have been to a SF/F con, an anime con, and HP midnight book releases (in costume); I have met fandom friends ranging from teenagers to grandmothers; I have a basic comprehension of a number of fannish cultures, from the mainstream (HP, Star Wars) to the obscure (Lois Bujold, Eroica) to the obscure-within-the-mainstream (HP/SS in Harry Potter). I know how to read a manga page and where to find fic for a tiny novel-based fandom. I can compare slash and yaoi, have friends in both camps, and enjoy both styles, as well as where they overlap.

Now, post-HP, I'm in that odd limbo of "looking for a fandom," which is interesting and aggravating. (I got entangled in Loveless for a while, but the author's lack of updates means the fandom is evaporating.) I worry that I'll never find another huge and thriving and engrossing fandom like HP; and I'm not sure what will happen then. Can I go back to small, disorganised fandoms? Can I manage without a steady stream of fic to rec? If so, I clearly can't be "a reccer" -- so what will I become? Will I ever be more than a lurker again, even if being an unknown reccer is only a slight step up? :D

In lieu of actual content, I give you a meme. A-at least it's a fannish meme? *quavers*

The Big Fannish Meme; set dial to Harry Potter!

( 01. First Character I fell in love with )

( 02. Character I never expected to love this much )

( 03. Character everyone else loves but I don't )

( Character I love but everyone else hates )

( 05. Character I used to love )

( 06. Character I would shag anytime )

( 07. Character I want to be like )

( 08. Character I'd like to slap )

( 09. A pairing I love )

( 10. Two pairings I hate )

( 11. Favourite character )

( 12. Six favourite characters )

( 13. Five least favourite characters )

If you've been missing Sushi's HP fic, I have great news! Go and read Time And Again. (Try not to wibble as embarrassingly as I did, though.) Since Sushi doesn't give away the pairing/s, I shan't either, but be warned that there are het overtones. (Don't let that stop you, though!)

Cost of Living has one of the most original premises I've encountered in HP fiction; and yet, it makes so much sense. After all, Voldemort is striving for a particular prize; if he loses, Harry wins, and, well, they do say that to the victor goes the spoils.

Sansa does exactly that: Severus and Harry realise that, as the ones responsible for slaying Voldemort, they have inherited the immortality he sought. Harry shows up to consult Snape about a cure for their strange condition, and slowly develop a friendship amidst the strangeness of their new lives.

The best part of this fic is the sense of time it's imbued with, the heavyness of centuries, the moments of singular clarity that seem to stand still, and the rushing flow of years that begins to seem far away, like a river glimpsed through the trees. Harry and Severus are at once outside of time and occupied by it, barely noticing the centuries while obsessed with how fast they pass.

Briar's story "Truth, Like Light" hit me like a punch. Solid, dense emotion; you want so much, so hard, to believe in Snape, and in Harry, and in futures. The writing is beautiful, and Snape is cunning, competent, human and hurt. I love this story so hard.

"Fifty Days" by Hikaru is a pleasant read -- a light, funny, sweet story with a Snape and Harry who manage to be not only real, but often outright funny. :D

Senility has set in, because I could have sworn I recced this already, back when it first appeared. Nonetheless, Black Story is worth reading again. Jay Tryfanstone writes the most fabulously real Snape and Harry; wounded, heart-hungry, with sharp edges and unpleasant truths and need. "Black Story" is a tale of mending: of Snape, desolate and desperate and deeply wounded; of Harry, haunted and hiding; of books and lives, as well as bodies. Very sensitive readers should beware; there's a pretty graphic, if brief, scene involving (child) sexual abuse.

While you're waiting eagerly for updates to "The Price of Magic", wander over and read "Commonplace Magic", Acid and Sinick's alternate-reality spin-off story. It would stand alone, if you haven't read PoM for some reason; you'll miss the small references to PoM, but the story is definitely a whole, contained piece nonetheless, and beautifully done. Harry, a local Uni student, works as a waiter in a London restaurant, and slowly comes to befriend one of his regular patrons. Dour Professor Snape introduces him to Shakespeare, the importance of umbrellas, and, eventually, love.

Oh, my. Somebody hand me a fan and some ice cubes!

"Shattered Glass" (anonymous artist artist revealed! the lovely and talented lizardspots) is the hottest fanart I've seen in a year! I'll let the artist's own description sum everything up:

So it's the summer after Harry's 5th year, and Sirius has died. Harry and Remus are still at 12 Grimmauld Place. In the night, Harry's anger and unhappiness gets the better of him, and in a rage he smashes a picture of Sirius, as well as his own glasses. Remus hears the crash from his room next door and hurries into Harry's room, wand at the ready. Only to find Harry sobbing on the floor, surrounded by bits of broken glass and a mangled picture frame...

I'm continually finding new details to love, but in particular I keep coming back to Remus's hair, Harry's stomach, the fabric of Harry's pyjamas, and the textures of the room -- the grain of the floor and walls, the drape of the bedclothes. Amazing. emmagrant01 is one lucky fan!