What's Wrong With HP Fans?

[penfold_x]

Read furiosity's post regarding the number of Harry Potter fans who not only don't read gen fic, but claim to hate it. Lots of comments remarking on the scarcity of HP gen fic, something I've noticed in my own (mostly fruitless) search for readable, enjoyable HP gen fic. Which leads me to ask:

What the hell is wrong with you people?
No, really, what's wrong with HP fans? I've been in quite a few fandoms, and I've never had this much difficulty finding gen fic. While I am, as one person described, a "militant genner," I have quite a few slasher and shipper friends in my various fandoms, and I've spent time exploring sites and communities outside of my reading interests, so I think I have a pretty good picture of what's out there. In every case, be it Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate SG-1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Real Ghostbusters, The Sentinel, Magnificent 7, Man from Uncle -- virtually any current fandom -- there is a large, active gen fiction community. I cracked open the program from last year's Media*West Con to check my perception against the list of last year's premiering zines: of about 100 new zines, approximately half were gen. Even Lord of the Rings, home of crazed RPS ficcers, had at least two gen zines last year.

One factor might be the lack of "old time" fans in HP fandom (this would neatly explain the lack of print zines as well). I can't say that I've examined this in any scientific way, but I get the impression from LJ the and few HP lists I've subscribed to that HP has a higher percentage of youger fans and people for whom this is their first fandom (compared to fandoms like Stargate or The Sentinel). I don't recognize a lot of the pen names I've encountered. Of course, this is a hard thing to gauge in a fandom that seems to be much more diffuse than other fandoms (a result of so much of the fandom being located in LJ?).

Others might argue that HP has an inordinatly large number of canon characters, several of whom are in canon relationships, or for whom JKR is dropping anvils, which leads to the relationship-heavy nature of HP fic. However, none of these canon relationships take up a great portion of canon; JKR doesn't spend pages delving into the Malfoys' marital angst or the Weasleys' after-hours action. Even the Ron/Hermione relationship takes up relatively little space, considering they're the two principle supporting characters. One can argue that some canon or near canon shipping is to be expected, but canon pairings don't account for the vast majority of ship and slash. What of the reams of fic written about "Draco turn[ing] into a godlike were-leopard by way of buttsex with Mrs. Norris" and other similarly remote, bizarre ship and slash fic? HP fans seem to delight in pairing characters that have never appeared in the same chapter, let alone exchanged three words. Most of the pairings in other fandoms seem to arise out of fans' perception of UST. Almost all of the HP pairings have no canon UST. Not a shadow. Not a shred. Not a scintilla. And few fans even bother to argue that they perceive any. So I don't think that can be it.

All I want is sharks with laser beams a little decent gen. Character studies, missing scenes, alternate endings, meta commentaries, a little hurt/comfort. Throw me a frickin' bone, people.

Comments

[kayling.livejournal.com]

here via DS as well.

I completely understand where you're coming from. Before HP, I was in Buffy, and there's a nearly endless supply of gen or at least non-ship-focused fics there. While I've been in HP a rather long time (since 2001), I still search out gen fic every now and then when I get fed up with seeing crazy shit like Lily/Squid or Padfoot/Whomping Willow.

For a bit of fic pimping:
copperbadge writes a wonderful mostly gen AU fic called Stealing Harry. It's got slash as the "main" couple, but their relationship is not the major focus of the fic. I definitely recommend it: http://oojahs.snoo.org/frontpage.htm

[kayling.livejournal.com]

gah, that's supposed to be 'copperbadge writes...' stupid LJ tags.

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec!

More recs and lists that might be helpful

[nairolie.livejournal.com]

I whole-heartedly agree with this recommendation. It's a great series of stories. I was going to recommend this too, but decided to read through the comments first and see if someone else had. As popular as the Stealing Harry series is I would have been surprised if someone didn't mention it.

Also you might want to check out Realizations by Wishweaver, another AU that's very good http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1260679/1/ . I found it through GatewayGirl's recommendations after reading and loving Blood Magic. This one is still a WIP and the author is a bit slow with updates, I think she's having RL problems, but she does still update.

If you're in the mood for some serious angst there's Sunday Bloody Sunday by Indarae http://www.fanfiction.net/s/558652/1/ Which I don't remember as well but I don't think it was very much about the relationships, much more about the war. It's a post-hogwarts fic that left me crying my eyes out. It's a completed fic.

Another AU that I recommend is Never Alone Never Again by Bored beyond belief http://www.fanfiction.net/s/750576/1/ it's also angsty but very good and complete as well.

Also a couple of C2 communities to check out on ff.net that are centered primarily around gen fic are
Potions and Snitches http://www.fanfiction.net/c2/182/0/1/

AU fanfiction http://www.fanfiction.net/c2/567/0/1/ (this one isn't actually all gen, but it does exclude slash)

Different People, Different Places, a Different Harry Potter http://www.fanfiction.net/c2/2179/0/1/

I don't know if you're familiar with C2's or not, but each has a description. You can also see a listing of all the C2's currently open in the HP fandom here http://www.fanfiction.net/c2l/224/0/1/ so you can find any that fit your needs/wants.

I hope this helps, have fun. :)

Re: More recs and lists that might be helpful

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, what a long list. Thank you!

oops...forgot one

[nairolie.livejournal.com]

Alright, one last one that I meant to put in the last post and then I'll leave you alone. :)

One Good Turn by empathicsiren http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2099079/1/
It's yet another of the snape mentors/fathers harry type fics but a bit different from alot of the others I've read (that's been my recent kick so I've read ALOT of them over the past several months).

[midnitemaraud-r.livejournal.com]

Someone else who classified SH as gen! I was beginning to think I was part of a very small group! Because I define genfic moreso by the focus of the plot, rather than whether there's any subplot romance in the story. This story is about Harry - and the consequences Remus and Sirius face by stealing him from the Dursleys. That's the plot. Any romance is subplot

Oh - and penfold - Sam has 'kid friendly' chapters for those chapters that are R rated, if you don't want to read about the more explicit aspects. And if you like Stealing Harry, he's got sequels: Tales from the River House (http://oojahs.snoo.org/stealingharry/riverhouse.htm) which are short stories that take place in the two years following SH, and then Laocoon's Children (http://oojahs.snoo.org/stealingharry/children.htm), which are Harry's years at Hogwarts. Both are WIP's, and he's currently in the middle of Harry's second year in Laocoon's.