I've been a fan of fanfiction since I was a kid, and am old enough to remember when Fanfiction.net first came online and still had flavors. I've dabbled in Star Trek, Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter fanfiction, though I've only taken the latter seriously.
I've made something of a minor academic study of fanfiction and consider it a genuine literary genre, albeit one that one cannot make money from (and rightfully so!).
In the summer of 2004, I got rather sick and ended up stuck sitting around doing nothing for several weeks, so I glutted on Harry Potter fic. I was then bit by a Harry/Ginny plotbunny, despite my then-preference for Harry/Hermione fic.
I started writing, and wrote feverishly for a couple of months, got about 100,000 words of a story written, then got dumped by my then-fiance. Turned out she made the right decision for the both of us, but at the time, I was pretty broken up about it. At the time, I had quite a few friends who were very fond of the story I was writing, and I got asked about it from time to time.
A couple of years later, I got the urge to finish writing Harry Potter and the Unforgiven. So I pulled it out, dusted it off, and re-wrote it in just a few weeks. Much happier with the story, I gave in to my ego and posted it on Fanfiction.net and Wizardtales. However, after some personal uncomfortableness and a few bad reviews, I decided to take some time off and deal with the personal issues.
When I came back to the story at the beginning of October of 2007, I decided I would write and finish the story for myself. I was enjoying writing it. However, my good and true friend, Elusive Evan, convinced me to continue posting it. So, I am. As of 10-24-07, I've updated all of Fanfiction.net (even posted a couple of new chapters) but I haven't had a chance to HTML the new stuff for Wizardtales.
To answer a few random questions I've been asked -
- Gracie McAllister is NOT based on anyone I know, have seen in a book/movie/fic. She's my own creation, and my favorite original character.
- Harry's martial arts training is based off of real martial arts and real martial arts training. As a martial artist myself, I figured I might as well make things real.
- If there is any character who might be a 'Mary Sue' for me, it would be Ron Weasley. Though only in a few, slight ways. (Oddly enough, he's my least favorite of the trio in the books.)
HPU is a dark fic with a lot of dark emotion running around. I'm writing the characters from the mentality of them being veteran survivors who have been through hell and back. Whereas JK Rowling wrote a fairy tale (and a wonderful fairy tale it was!) and had set about to do just that, I am writing a story about surviving and finding hope in a dark time when it seems just about everyone is out to kill you. I'm exploring several themes and ideas and seeing how they work. It might turn out well, it might not. We'll have to see.
I also want to address one thing said by reviewers here. Yes, I am 'forcing' the plot along certain lines. Every author does so, to some extent. If you don't like the way the story is moving - don't read. Won't hurt my feelings any. Having the plot go your own way is one of the joys of fanfiction.
And I will finish this story if it kills me.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I enjoyed Order of the Phoenix a great deal. While not my favorite book, I think it was probably the most interesting in terms of character and world. We saw the Ministry of Magic and how it can be just as evil as Lord Voldemort. I think the Ministry as an enemy for Harry and his crew is something that needs more exploration. I also think we saw sides to Albus Dumbledore that were not seen in the other six books - even the last two. Unlike many, I don't see Dumbledore as evil (though he is manipulative) - I see him as a powerful man used to being able to help people and being able to do good and save the day, if not the world, but is helpless in the face of helping Harry. Order of the Phoenix humanized Dumbledore, and many in the fandom never forgave him for being human.
The other thing Order of the Phoenix offered was my favorite innovation of Rowling's, and one I was disappointed not to see more of. Dumbledore's Army. The DA. I would have preferred to call it the 'Defense Association', but I still love the concept, and the DA will play a major role in HPU.
We also finally saw a hint of how powerful Albus Dumbledore really is, and why he's the only wizard Lord Voldemort ever feared.
Relationships and Characters
This is where I get m'self in trouble, I fear.
I'm not a fan of Lupin/Tonks - and not because of the age thing. It was never really developed well. One moment, they were members of the Order. The next, Tonks has a werewolf Patronus! I think Tonks, with her attitude, would be better suited to one of the Weasleys. I chose Bill because he's my favorite of the Weasleys.
Bill is a character who I think would have tremendous power and knowledge. He crawls into the deep, dark places of the world and does battle with - breaks - ancient magics. This is a guy who has it going on.
I'm not against Bill being with Fleur. I am not a fan of the character of Fleur and never have been, and I am a fan of Bill. So I thought it would be fun to see what would happen if - for some reason (I'm not revealing THAT particular detail yet) - Fleur left Bill for Charlie. I put Charlie and Fleur together for the same reason I think Ron and Hermione work well. Opposites attract, and I think Charlie would pamper Fleur how she wants to be pampered while still being able to be the macho Dragon Tamer for her.
(As a side-note, Charlie and Fleur are not evil; they just don't have all their facts right. Don't loose faith in 'em.)
I like the Ron/Hermione relationship. I've noticed Ron is the only person who will consistently stand up to Hermione (even if he does it for the wrong reasons and about the wrong things), but I think Ron is her polarity. He can and will keep her grounded, keep her focused, and keep her steady. He can give her support and give voice to the side of her that enjoys breaking the rules and being a little crazy every now and again. He just needs a bit of maturity first.
I'm writing Harry/Ginny because it is a challenge for me. In the books, JK Rowling doesn't really explore Ginny much. We see the basic shell of character and we occasionally see some of what's underneath. Those few glimpses intrigued me. It's a challenge to build a person from those glimpses and a challenge to build a romance when I have two hurting and broken people who desperately need love and comfort.
I hope you enjoy my efforts as much as I have. If you don't, well - I would say sorry, but I'm not.
I see a lot of fanfic writers redeem Draco Malfoy, and I applaud them for this. I don't like him. So instead of redeeming him, I'm going to give him what he's always wanted - power and prestige and a chance to show Harry (and everyone else) up. I wanted to see what Draco could do as a first-class Big Bad.
Instead, I decided to redeem the one character who almost always gets a bad rap. Dudley Dursley is as much a victim of Petunia and Vernon as Harry is. He's spoiled, hasn't ever had to work for a thing in his life, and probably hates himself. As a fat man,I can understand what it feels like to be the fat guy who loves his food - but also hates being fat. (Maybe being a fat guy gives me a bit of empathy for the guy.) I also think coming face to face with a pair of Dementors probably changes a bloke. So I decided to give Dudley a bit of a chance in my fic and see what he did with it.
So far, so good.
Severus Snape. Possibly one of the most controversial characters in literature. He's an amazing character, and one I admire as a character. As a human being, he's not worth the shit I scrape off my shoe.
He's a bully and he abuses his power to torment children. Those who are in his power and come to him for an education. Those he is responsible for - and he breaks them or coddles them by turns. He treats Harry like trash because of his father.
So James Potter was an ass. Harry Potter never knew him. And what's with his treatment of Neville? Or Hermione?
He might be a force for the good, but the good never had any say in it. He might have played his part, but he didn't redeem himself. (Nor did James, but that's another topic for another time.)
If you're a parent (and I'm not) imagine Snape teaching your child. Imagine him teaching a normal kid, one who isn't the hero of a Prophecy or one of said hero's friends. Imagine what it would feel like to have a teacher destroy your sense of self-worth. Some of you probably do know.
Sorry. I have very little sympathy for Severus. He'll get a fair shake in my story, but don't expect me to be kind to him.
Albus Dumbledore is a character who suffers from an acute case of Stupid Mentor Syndrome. So I looked at all he had done, and asked myself - "What if he had a real reason to do all that?" I then came up with reasons and have since turned it into a fanfic. So though Dumbledore may seem to be acting foolishly at times, he has good reasons.
I just find it hard to believe a man of such power and knowledge and skill would make so many dumb mistakes with Harry, regardless of his being blinded by love and affection for him.
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