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H/D: A Ramble
I hate the OTP mindset and as much as I joke that Clark/Lex is my Smallville OTP, it really isn't. The OTP mindset encourages mediocrity in the name of volume and terrible characterization in favour of hitting the writer's kink for hot boysex.
*points at icon*
I'm sure there are very good H/D fics out there. Somewhere in the trenches of the fandom there's a brilliant and unappreciated H/Der who's doing amazing and original (and IC) things with the pairing that would shock us all into submission, but not OTPing, because she's the kind of writer that makes you appreciate the story and the characters before the sex and cuddles. So far as I've noticed, there are few popular H/D writers who come even close to this dream of mine - the majority are writing wildly OOC, bizarrely Harlequin-esque faux epic romances that suck all the fun from the source text and shunt it off into otherspace in favour of melodrama and paint-by-numbers tales of True Love.
I've long wondered about the appeal of the pairing, at times putting it down to aesthetics and alternately to the uber-fun that is enemies slash, but there are problems with both suppositions because you see, H/D isn't pretty and they aren't archenemies.
Draco is described as pointy-faced and pale. Ferret like.
Harry has messy hair, huge glasses and a facial scar.
Neither appears to be a target of mass-romantic affections in the series and neither is described as being particularly attractive. Many H/D stories emphasize The Pretty and play up the boys' physical differences (i.e. hair colour). It seems a bit thin to hang a OTP on, but anime fandom has done worse.
As for the grand enemies angle, well, the older they get, the more obvious the gap between Harry and Draco becomes. Increasingly, Draco is insignificant to Harry - an annoying insect who complicates his life, but has no lasting effect. Harry sees Draco as beneath him. Draco is the Hogwarts version of Dudley. Why not ship the other form of H/D and have all that super-kewl incestuous fun?
All of this is justification of my own deep and abiding hatred of the pairing and amounts to so much mental masturbation with at the least, a mercifully low word count. But here's the thing, the above is the both the worst of the pairing and what is most common to H/D fic. Show me a H/D that rises above The Pretty and The Passion and I'll dance a fucking jig because ladies and gentlemen, good lord, we have something other than shipfic, which is all too rare for romantic fanfiction, especially in the more popular pairings.
The OTP mindset allows an already unlikely pairing to become farcial, with its pretensions to destiny, parity and equality. It allows H/D to descend to the level of cheap, cracker-jack romance because hey, at least it's H/D, right? The community nature of fandom works to make the OTP mindset a form of textual feedback, circling the same ideas around and around, but slowly degrading in quality like the fandom version of broken telephone. But that's ok, because hey, it's H/D, right?
*points at icon*
I'm sure there are very good H/D fics out there. Somewhere in the trenches of the fandom there's a brilliant and unappreciated H/Der who's doing amazing and original (and IC) things with the pairing that would shock us all into submission, but not OTPing, because she's the kind of writer that makes you appreciate the story and the characters before the sex and cuddles. So far as I've noticed, there are few popular H/D writers who come even close to this dream of mine - the majority are writing wildly OOC, bizarrely Harlequin-esque faux epic romances that suck all the fun from the source text and shunt it off into otherspace in favour of melodrama and paint-by-numbers tales of True Love.
I've long wondered about the appeal of the pairing, at times putting it down to aesthetics and alternately to the uber-fun that is enemies slash, but there are problems with both suppositions because you see, H/D isn't pretty and they aren't archenemies.
Draco is described as pointy-faced and pale. Ferret like.
Harry has messy hair, huge glasses and a facial scar.
Neither appears to be a target of mass-romantic affections in the series and neither is described as being particularly attractive. Many H/D stories emphasize The Pretty and play up the boys' physical differences (i.e. hair colour). It seems a bit thin to hang a OTP on, but anime fandom has done worse.
As for the grand enemies angle, well, the older they get, the more obvious the gap between Harry and Draco becomes. Increasingly, Draco is insignificant to Harry - an annoying insect who complicates his life, but has no lasting effect. Harry sees Draco as beneath him. Draco is the Hogwarts version of Dudley. Why not ship the other form of H/D and have all that super-kewl incestuous fun?
All of this is justification of my own deep and abiding hatred of the pairing and amounts to so much mental masturbation with at the least, a mercifully low word count. But here's the thing, the above is the both the worst of the pairing and what is most common to H/D fic. Show me a H/D that rises above The Pretty and The Passion and I'll dance a fucking jig because ladies and gentlemen, good lord, we have something other than shipfic, which is all too rare for romantic fanfiction, especially in the more popular pairings.
The OTP mindset allows an already unlikely pairing to become farcial, with its pretensions to destiny, parity and equality. It allows H/D to descend to the level of cheap, cracker-jack romance because hey, at least it's H/D, right? The community nature of fandom works to make the OTP mindset a form of textual feedback, circling the same ideas around and around, but slowly degrading in quality like the fandom version of broken telephone. But that's ok, because hey, it's H/D, right?
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Exhibit A - In Which I Try To Write An IC H/D
The ground under Harry's feet squelched as he slowly made his way towards the Quidditch pitch. A damp fog had settled over the school late in the evening and had flatly refused to move since then. Thoughts turned to Quidditch as he vaguely wondered whether it would be unsporting to attatch foglights to his broom.
(Normal so far, right? Look closely at what happens when Draco enters the scene)
He had barely made it halfway across the field when his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a sneering voice. Harry turned, his head swimming with potential insults when he saw...
Draco, standing in the middle of the field, his hair, the colour of spun gold, flowing the wind. His green robes were unbottoned to the navel and his snowy skin gleamed with the power of a thousand-watt bulb. He looked like some kind of heavenly saint and Harry briefly toyed with the idea of founding several churches in his honour. His voice, which was like silk wrapped in precious jewels.....(and so on)
You see? It is unavoidable! Even I, the Great Cynic of Fandom, could not stop myself from embracing Their Almighty Passion (TM). I dare you to try it yourself! :D
(This concludes today's incredibly random post)
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You know, I do think it's possible to write an IC H/D story but as I generally don't read the pairing, I've yet to come across one. I think it would have to focus on the power imbalances inherent to the relationship and be very unhealthy. But that's just me.
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Yeah, that's probably true. But gee - it's fun to generalize, isn't it?
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All R/Hr writers are Vanessa Carlton fans.
Whee!
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Can you show me if/when it's done?
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Latest entry, behind the cut tag "H/D Parody"