Time after time

[blamebrampton]

Before I embark on today's chatter, anyone who has an interest in next-generation HP fic should go and read Cal's post here. It's a brilliant new plan that should be supported! And I'm not telling you about it, go and read!

Now onto a little thinky bit. It's not a rant, more a tip. I've been going back over some of the AS/S fest stories I missed, slowly slowly. And something that's occurred to me is that pretty much all of my  favourite stories  had a real sense of time to them. 

The Epilogue to DH is set in 2017. That's eight years in the future. Eight years does not sound like a ong time, but it is. Think about what life was like in 2000: I bet most of you had never heard of Osama bin Laden, the iPod was still on the drawing board, Windows 2000 was cutting-edge and Hillary Clinton was having a year of political successes. Eight years from now, things will have changed just as much.

Now it can be hard to play speculation, believe me that I know this to be true! So I understand why some people choose not to go there. But for stories set in classic HP era, or even Marauders era, why do some people not think back 10 or 20 years to what life was like, what people wore, and how people spoke?

Note that it's some. There are people out there who do an amazing job of researching or remembering their eras. For the rest, the internet is your friend. Vintage television series are easily come by (takes a brief mental pause for visions of a wave of Professionals-inspired H/D, decides that would be quite funny, moves on), and everyone has novels from the 1990s, '80s and '70s on their bookshelves.  Embrace them.

And, there's no gentle way to say this, try and research what was happening in Britain at the time. It's not what was happening in America. Well, except for the fact that Reagan and Thatcher were both making us all very nervous indeed.

Comments

[violetage.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I think perhaps it's important to remember that any Marauders' era fic would only have say glimpses of late 70's early 80's rl stuff is one that refers to Muggle clothes or Muggle music etc.

The Wizarding World has its own stuff and that tends to be both anachronistic and with barely any references at all to the Muggle world. My assumption often is that as a matter of rebellion James and Sirius in particular might wear bell bottoms and longer hair, might listen to Hair or even Led Zeppelin, might smoke pot occasionally and spread these Muggle inventions to Wormtail and Lupin especially given James' undeniable crush on Lily who is Muggleborn. Otherwise, I don't really see how Muggle events (whether based on real world history or not) would have much of an affect or a point of reference in a Marauders era story.

I can't imagine that from the time the Marauders were at Hogwarts to the time that Trio were there that styles of dress, behavior and so on would change that much in the Wizarding World and perhaps that's part of the tragedy. To an extent there's a stagnation going on in the Wizarding World. Those pure bloods so intent on their supremacy don't realize that they need those Muggleborns to bring new ideas, new thinking in almost like foreign exchange students or something.

Just my 02.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Absolutely, but he'd not say "Awesomesauce" or be obsessed with fashion brands. It's those anachronisms thrown in from the future that really give me grief.

[violetage.livejournal.com]

That's true. He might say Groovy or Dig it or something lol. Yeah, I agree that some of these assumptions especially by writers who weren't alive then can be a real fic buster. *g*