I have friends who write HP and IY fanfiction and so I do read some
of the HP and IY fanfics on ff.net and glance over at least as many
as I read. With regards to both of these categories, Sturgeon was an
optimist and Gresham's Law dominates. The problem with both IY and
HP fanfics in my opinion is the demographics of the writers. A
disproportionate number of the fanfic writers in both of these
categories are teenage girls, especially so in HP fanficdom. That,
by itself, is not a problem except for these writers' lesser
experience with realities of life. The problem arises because within
this group are found almost all of the Sesshoumaru fangirls and the
Draco fangirls who write fics that exemplify extreme OOCness, overall
poor character development, and general plot implausibility. They
are the ones who write Sesshoumaru or Draco as sexy badboys who are
really hidden romantics and far superior to wimps like InuYasha or
Harry Potter, and they don't care how Sesshoumaru or Draco are
portrayed by Takahashi-sama or J K Rowling, or that JKR has
criticized the fascination that so many young women have with Draco
(whom she describes as a bigot, a bully, and a snob) which she
ascribes to them confusing the character Draco with the actor Tom
Felton. They are the ones who write the atrocious "you raped me, I
love you" fics and the stories with bad cliched premises, e.g. Draco
and Hermione are Head Boy and Girl and are living in a suite set
aside for them where love blooms despite Draco's bigotry and the
years of insults towards her and her friends, or Kagome has an
argument with insensitive two timing oafish InuYasha and runs away
from him into the loving arms of Sesshoumaru who reveals his secret
desires for her.
I am NOT saying that teenage girls should be kept off of any reformed
FFML. The Sess fangirls are a minority of the IY fanfic writers and
probably a minority of the young women who write fanfiction. I'm
less certain whether Draco fangirls are a minority of HP fanfic
writers on ff.net. There are many young female fanfic writers who
show real talent, care about the integrity of the storyline, and
don't operate purely off of their adolescent sexual fantasies. I am
simply stating that the bad (which most of them are) fics featuring
Sess/Kagome, Draco/Hermione, and certain other pairings are primarily
written by young women in their teens and early twenties and if that
portion of writers could be discouraged, there would be much less
cause for concern of HP or InuYasha taking over the FFML and of the
quality of the fics.
- whimsy
On Jun 14, 2006, at 5:23 PM, Bob Schroeck wrote:
Ah, but that's the obvious choice, isn't it? Choosing Harry
Potter is
hardly a fair example, since Harry Potter fanfiction these days is
practically synonymous with "omg crap."
Not terribly fair, that. Just like all other fanfic, HP fics are
subject to Sturgeon's Law -- 90% crap, 10% gold.
Unfortunately, the crap is far more in-your-face than the gold.
-- Bob
======================================================================
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Bob Schroeck http://www.eclipse.net/~rms
rms@eclipse.net
======================================================================
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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