Pilgrims gave me flu!

[blamebrampton]

No, seriously! Months after their orange backpacks left the Emerald City, Sydney is still feeling the impact of the WYD pilgrims' sharing natures. THEY LEFT US THIS FLU! Bastards! And look, even the Catholic News says it's true! Well, likely at any rate.  Apparently the three-week-plus flu that turns to bronchitis is knocking people out across the city, and has been since July, so I am not alone in my feebleness.

Honestly, it was bad enough when it was just nuns trying to plough me to the ground.
 
Bryoney opined that I have been talking too much sport and not enough fandom lately, so three links to make her feel loved. The first is to a very interesting question posed by bewarethesmirk  in her post here. She asks what it is about some styles of writing that immediately succeeds in drawing the reader in. I've blathered on at length in a comment, as have several others, and I think that we're edging towards the total picture, but I am sure that more brains, particularly brains as big as you lot have, will get to the actual answer. Alas, it's flocked, but if you're not on her flist, feel free to chat here.

My dear jadzialove  wrote a story recently in which Weasley brothers engaged in activities of an adult nature only suitable for readers over 18. With each other. We both squealed in a frightened fashion, she even while writing. However, that was nothing compared to this story from The Times. To quote their head and standfirst:

I had sex with my brother but I don't feel guilty

A woman slept with her sibling for years and has good memories. Not many people understand their relationship, she says

I can't say I'm surprised to hear that.

For maximum bemusement, you have to read the comments.

Thirdly, Maya has posted the last chapter of Quality of Mercy, and 

there have been many posts along the lines of OMG, it's not H/D! To which I have to say, der! There was never any pairing specified, Harry and Ginny's relationship has been written as genuine and developing the whole way through, Harry has been protective and fraternal in his relationship with Draco and Draco has been someone desperately trying to forge actual relationships in his world, rather than just getting what he wants. Why would a writer ditch all of that worldbuilding for a ship in which she has only written some of her fics? 

I sometimes wonder if people actually read fics as actual creative works or just go through them ticking off their internal preference list. "Yay, there's a cool one-liner, there's an insight into canon, there's a good spot of fanon, excellent UST, and ... and ... THAT'S IT? NO SMEX? YOU SUCK!" On bad days, I suspect the latter.

Oh well. A happy fandom aside: 2500 words of Darkfest written, 1700 of them even consecutive!

And, my final Paralympics moment, Australia lost to the US in the rugby, but Kurt Fearnley won the marathon! YAY!
 

Comments

[sarcasticpixie.livejournal.com]

As RE: the internal preference list -- yes, people definitely do that, and in many situations, I'm one of those people. It's generally when you're dipping your toes into a little-explored fandom or pairing, and you're trying to gobble up everything you can get. I find my internal preference list works a bit differently, though; I'll put up with quite a bit just to feel validated that someone's written something I thought only existed in my bizarre little brain.

As RE: the mad OMG HET ONOZ posts... I get it, to an extent, in that I also felt a bit disappointed. The ending was definitely rushed, but the epilogue was delightful. I think my own disappointment stems from how very, very well Maya (although I suppose she's Sarah these days) has always written H/D -- it's compulsively readable and heartbreaking and funny and fantastic, all at once. I was expecting that moment, and it never came in QoM.

I'll also agree with another commenter who pointed out how very, very much the UST figured into the story -- of course it's entirely believable that two seventeen-year-old boys would have mixed-up feelings RE: each other that didn't end in smex0rz, but I didn't think this story was one of them, because of the attention paid to the UST and the longing glances and the compatibility... of course, the events of the last two or three chapters easily could have been spread into seven or eight but for the obvious time constraints.

In short -- and incoherently, since I spent the day sitting in a retirement plan implementation meeting and the evening cleaning carpets -- it's still an enjoyable, remarkably well-written story. But I get the disappointment on a level other than the visceral.

[novembersnow.livejournal.com]

I sometimes wonder if people actually read fics as actual creative works or just go through them ticking off their internal preference list. "Yay, there's a cool one-liner, there's an insight into canon, there's a good spot of fanon, excellent UST, and ... and ... THAT'S IT? NO SMEX? YOU SUCK!" On bad days, I suspect the latter.

It kind of amazes me how people in fandom (or people in general, I suppose) sometimes refuse to entertain the possibility that their expectations might not be fulfilled. I spent two years chipping away at a long fic and posting it sporadically as a WIP, and I warned readers from the outset that it would never go above PG-13. I still ended up with a lot of readers who felt disappointed that there was no sex (or even, actually, a kiss, because I am just that evil).

As for QoM, I really loved the ending. I loved the happiness and the hope of it, but perhaps above all I loved the ambiguity of it. Yeah, Harry's with Ginny, but things are at present unsettled. Maybe he will end up sharing a lifetime with her. Maybe they'll grow apart and Harry will turn to Draco at last. Or maybe he won't end up with either, since he is, after all, only a teenager with his whole life a beautiful blank page before him. I love that she doesn't absolutely resolve things. And I really need to go back to her LJ and re-read the chapter so I can tell her in more detail just why I did love it so much. ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

YES! I think exactly the same things!

In the first case, after thinking about it last night, I do take many people's point that Maya may have deliberately allowed people to assume H/D. I wasn't one of those people, but I can see how anyone who reads her as an H/D writer would have read QoM in ways that reinforced their intentionalist stance. And I can see why they were surprised, I was surprised at the end of DH when there was no rapprochement with the Slytherins, because I had always assumed there must be.

But the things you loved about the ending are the elements that made it succeed for me. I think that action and plot-wise it was a little rushed, but you have perfectly described what worked, and how well it did!

Heh! Go you and your resistance to peer pressure! Not every story needs porn!

Re: Thanks for the discussion

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

No hate at all! in fact I am LOVING the way that people are discussing this! I seriously believe that I have one of the smartest and most grown-up flists around, probably only matched by those of most of my friends ...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Not incoherent at all, in fact I think that you probably cover the key points of the discussion most succinctly of all of us! And I agree with you that the action and plot parts of the chapter seemed very rushed and under-formed.

I wonder if there would be the same sense of outrage if it was a story that fandom had come to with different expectations? Because I am sure that my reading of it was very informed by the fact I'd been reading Sarah het just before I began this one. I'm loving this discussion, everyone has such interesting viewpoints to add!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

That's fine, the reason I don't tend to flock is because I always want this to be a place of open discussion and sometimes debate. And Justin/catapults is HILARIOUS!!!! I hope to have time to read that whole thread tonight, it's intriguing.

[novembersnow.livejournal.com]

I do take many people's point that Maya may have deliberately allowed people to assume H/D.

She really didn't, though. I remember assuming during the first few chapters that it was going to be H/D, but then she made a point (several times, I think) of reminding people that she'd never actually posted a list of pairings for the fic (which made me realize that, oh, right, she hadn't) so people shouldn't assume it was going to be H/D. It was only because of her comments to that effect that I was not expecting to see the story end with Harry and Draco together (although I confess, I still felt a sad little flicker of hope going into the final chapter, which may be why I'm clinging so fiercely to the ambiguity of it all *g*).

Re: Thanks for the discussion

[kestrelsparhawk.livejournal.com]

What a coincidence! I feel that about my (much smaller) f-list too. ;)

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

I do not wish to be the Annoying Writer rushing around the place saying 'Let me tell you of ze symbolism!' but I did want to say thank you for the very thoughtful post, I'm really enjoying the discussion! (Sometimes wincing, but this is par for the course when you put something out there.)

I knew people were hoping for H/D and I was braced for disappointment but I felt my first responsibility was to write the best story I could. I was sorry to disappoint people, but I would've felt I was letting them down very badly by writing the wrong ending. I realise you didn't think the end was perfect (sadly, I have never ever written anything perfect, though that's no reason to stop trying) but I am glad you were okay with the pairing: thank you for the thoughts and provoking the discussion!

Re: Thanks for the discussion

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Yours is perfectly formed. (Oh I have had the flu for far too long and am now making single-entendre jokes ... I should probably just shoot myself) Okay, off to answer more comments more sensibly ;-)

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

I haven't (yet?) read QoM. So, is there a connection between you saying that in the fic, you saw Harry and Draco primarily as each other's family and the fact that, in the same post, you link to an article about someone having happy and fulfilling sex with her brother for years? :P

Oh, and you know what? Whenever people post about their progress re:fic writing, they manage to make me nervous about my own lack of progress. This post is the first that hasn't. :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

HA! Not an intentional one, but there may be a subconscious one!

That's because I'm incredibly slow, isn't it? ;-)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. For my part I spent my young adult years as a chronic sleeper in other people's beds but often just so that I wasn't sleeping alone, with no shagging involved, so that seemed perfectly natural to me. But I was raised partially hippie, so things that seem normal to me often aren't! (Though if I think someone is odd, they're probably writing for The Times about shagging their brother, and are therefore quite odd indeed!)

But I do think that Ginny's role in the second half of the story was very much trying to become worthy of Harry. It was easy to lose track of that, though, because it was so much off camera. I think we can agree that the characterisation and dialogue were both very fine all the way through!

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

No, because I have whole 500 words more than you. *G* Never before happened. :P

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I think it will remain the case! (Is slow!)

Re: i apologise for this absurdly long comment ;(

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA! I hear you on the Snarry! That does make sense, and when I think about it, I am very unlikely to read some stories due to their pairings. Now I'm wondering why! Though I will say that I make exceptions for authors whose work I have always enjoyed. Pushdragon even made me read Harry/Lucius. Never thought that would happen!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am shaking my fist at it, too!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for some of the ones I know are on your flist to weigh in! It's such an interesting discussion!

And I have to say that yes, he's certainly not all fraternal, and that I can agree that H/G might fail in future and H/D come about, but I did like the H/G in QoM far more than that in DH!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I saw your post today, but at lunch so ran out of commenting time. Yeah, I think it's entirely fair for people to say "Oh I wish she had H/D, because it was the way I was hoping it would end!" I just disagreed with the idea that it had come out of nowhere.

And I do agree that the ending chapter was off for pacing, but I think this is a separate issue to the pairing issue. If Sarah had pulled of a bravura H/D ending, I think that a lot of people would have glossed over the battle's rushed side, but it would still have been rushed!

I do like the fact that everyone's so reasonable here!

And there will probably be a huge rush of F1 posts over the next few months unless Massa starts driving off the racetracks again ...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I have the BEST mental image of a little mouse standing on a rooftop overlooking Paris and singing her heart out!

And yes, I think you are totally right about the end not being the whole end! That's what I liked about it being set so closely to the battle scene, they were left young and open to change, not middle aged and still with their old prejudices.

Hope you're feeling better, Moo!

[beatnikspinster.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that we can agree on easily. :)

RE: touching, senual and non
Now see, I was raised hillbilly. That means no one touches, ever, unless they're fucking their sibling. ;D But seriously, it's not that far from the truth. I still have a hard time with anything outside a brief handshake.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Well, at least it's comparatively subtle symbolism; Justin's catapults could have been cannon ...

As I say, I think that the ending of the story came naturally out of what had gone before. And the pacing issues through the battle were a natural consequence of time. There's only so much effort you can put into fic when there is original writing to be done. And it certainly wasn't *bad*. The relationships between the characters were beautifully drawn, and I loved the dragon -- of COURSE! (And I am now wondering why Charlie Weasley didn't just turn up with a bomber wing of giant reptiles in DH. Probably because JKR had visons of the film version looking like Battle of Britain.)

I have very much enjoyed the thoughts that your writing provokes. From Harry's guilt over Nagini to the questions of what makes a family, it's been an original journey. As an editor, I spend a lot of time despairing about the future of narrative writing, but you're one of the people who cheers me up.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

There were times when, surrounded by massaging hippies and patchouli oil, I'd have traded places with you in an instant!

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

Gah! But I have two fest fics to write this autumn and I already feel time slipping out of my hands. *sniff*

Re: I'm with you on this

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Don't feel guilty! If we all thought exactly alike on everything it would be very boring after a while! And I can see the argument that you make. I don't agree wholeheartedly with that reading, but I do think it's a valid reading.

I DO wholeheartedly agree that Sarah constructed better relationships between all the characters. My great disappointment in DH (and J's, too, when he read it) was that there was never any resolution with the Slytherins. That felt so unbalanced to me, and threw the last third of the book off on both my first and second reads. Sarah's interpretation was SO much more satisfying on that note!

And I agree that the ending felt a bit rushed and scrabbled. I think it was just the standard too many plates in the air problem that besets many writers. DDG has only a small tea service, not an entire dinner setting, so it should be fine ;-)

I think that is a BRILLIANT rule of thumb, BTW.