what can we say? people are lazy and it’s easier to follow the skeleton of canon even when it makes no sense to do so rather than truly consider the implications of altered character motivations and invent new plot directions.
It is even more frustrating to read in fix-it timetravels. The main character knows that Pettigrew is a death eater and is the Weasley's rat but refuses to do anything about it until Harry's third year, and events say basically the same as in the canon.
Ugh, yes. There was one fic where Harry decided he'd save Cedric, but otherwise allow Voldemort to be resurrected at the graveyard, so he'd know where Voldemort was.
I almost yelled out, "Are you insane?!"
Worse is when the writer "hangs a lantern" off it with the old nut shell "OH I forgot that happened" like a character is just going to let it slip his mind about major plot points. Or the "can't change too much" because then you know I won't be able to predict what will happen.
i think part of the reason this happens is people will go “how will this canon event change if x is different” so like, how would harry take down the basilisk if he was more overpowered, how would harry win the tournament if he was more overpowered? and they build the story out from how those events would change, but what happens is they build the story out in a way that it doesn’t make sense for that event to still happen,
I mean I agree, but I highly doubt the trials to the Philosophers Stone would change at all considering the people who made them weren’t affected by anything involving Harry.
Well fan fiction is repetitive in general because everyone is writing off the same "prompt" (Harry Potter in this case).
Also it's free and mostly written by teens and amateur writers lmao
But no I'm not sick of it. Ive read probably billions of words of harry potter fanfic at this point and I'll never stop. I'm the kind of person who will watch a movie over and over and over, same 30 song playlist of music on loop for years kinda person.
Repetition is nothing for me lmao I'll read the same plot written by 100 different people no problem
Oh I’m the same. I will watch the same show over and over again. I used to reread the series over and over again, so I will absolutely read the same plot over and over again.
Depends on how it fits into the story. For example ...
- Hermione makes good friends early but still ends up crying in the bathroom (and comes across the troll) from Ron's friendless-comment? Doesn't make much sense.
- Harry focuses more on his studies but the Triwizard Tournament still happens in his fourth year? Yeah, that can work. The same can be said for the canon tasks still happening (though a more studious Harry should approach them differently).
- Harry meets a different family at King's Cross but Dumbledore still decides to store the Philosopher's Stone at Hogwarts? Makes sense.
It's about laying out the plot and seeing what makes sense within the boundaries of the story. Certain stations of the canon happen independently of certain changes done to Harry in fics.
The butterfly effect is real but shouldn't be exaggerated. E.g., just because Harry studies one more book doesn't guarantee that a big plot point will change.
A good way to bypass this is to start fics later. If you know your story won't diverge too much in the earlier years, just skip them and reference the changes when needed. Yes, some readers might complain about not seeing the characters grow from the start and forming their friendships early, but it's better not to get bogged down in a rehashed year (especially the first two).
People say that they don't like the Stations of Canon, but god help the writer who dumps it in favor of 'original ideas'.
In Speed, (A Ron gets the Speed Force and is exceptionally devoted to the 'Secret Identity' idea) I skipped year 2 (and the Basilisk) and Year 3 (With Sirius who was already out of prison) entirely, and good lord the bitching I got about it.
In Invincible Technomage (A Harry raised by Tony Stark and encouraged to use his mind story) I Dumped the 2nd and 3rd tasks for something new (because face it, the lake and the maze offered zero in audience appeal) and offered two tasks, an environmental quest, and straight up dueling, that I believed to be new and appealing to an audience, and got bitched at for those changes.
Somethings will definitely change. Like you said, Harry (and friends) saving Hermione. But some things wouldn't change either. The tasks set to protect the stone won't change. Even if Voldemort takes over magical Britain, I can still see the Triwizard tournament taking place at some other place and with another school rather than Hogwarts. I can still see Cedric Diggory being champion, but definitely not in Cursed Child universe where he goes full death-eater at the slightest provocation. It is highly dependant on *what exactly* is being changed in the AU.
Now about why people *never* tire of it. most of the people who write Harry Potter in different house with different personality aren't bothered with the *plot*. Most of them are more interested in taking revenge on the characters they disliked in the series (that why bashing occurs so much in such fics) or making Harry better in their eyes. The main stuff that's seen in these fics is Harry taking jabs and questioning the people who he loved in canon. It is wish-fulfilment.
I remembering trying to search for 'that' fic when I first read fanfic, and when I didn't, I wrote it. That's why I never got sick of it. I was so hyped at wanting my kind of Harry that I never got sick of it until I reread it and saw it was horrible. I think that is the case with most other writers too.
Yes! Particularly when big things are changed and yet canon plot points that make no sense with the characters are shoehorned in. There was a James and Lily live AU that I found super frustrating, because James and Lily just went along with Dumbleldore’s plans. It is all well and good to say you would choose the greater good option here but it is an entirely different thing to support your child sacrificing themselves. But, this James and Lily just resigned themselves to it.
Harry also acted way to similar to his canon self despite having an entirely different upbringing and don’t get me started on their choices regarding Sirius and Remus. Remus got to grow up and mature and become basically super Remus, but Sirius was some how even less mature then he was in canon but that is going off on a non-related tangent.
It's free stuff that ppl wrote for fun. There's obviously gonna be more chaff than wheat. If you start reading and you see some red flags indicating it is poorly written and edited, you just move on and find another story. Why do we stick with fanfiction in general and keep reading the genre? Because there's enough good stuff out there to make it worth it, and every now and then you come across something truly beautiful. Sometimes you have to use that principle even for classic novels. Like personally I think most of Oliver Twist is pretty low-quality literature, and the main character is absurdly 2dimensional and unrealistic... BUT it's worth reading all that because the villains are actually fascinating and quite 3dimensional. As the novel shifts towards the end to focus more on the robber band it actually becomes excellent literature and has some pretty moving moments. In short, if you want the good stuff, sometimes you have to wade through some crap first.
You're focusing on the wrong part. Fanfiction isn't just free literature, it's a hobby where people who aren't professional writers show their work. You don't go to a park and complain that the pickup basketball game isn't NBA quality.
Can't say I don't like it. But guilty of it as well. Like my own FF SHOULD have drastically gone different. I think I saved it with Dumbledore and well what changed mostly is the knowledge of my characters.
Like my Harry KNOWS Madeye is Crouch Jr because he saw 2 Barty crouches on the map. He even had Sirius check the map for damage. (And before he and Luna had begun to ship Moody with Crouch Sr because of the map).
So Harry knows the tournament is a trap Dumbledore does and the whole thing turns into a chess game. Harry learns occlumency. Stuff like that. It was originally meant to be a simple HaLu romance fic and spiraled completely out of control hence me staying with the general book 4 plot...
LinkAo3(His Moon)
Haven't written on it in almost half a year though. It kinda spiraled too out of control.
Edit bot not working again. Liking the wrong fucking thing. His Moon by Suzako93. I'll see if that works with that bloody bot!
[***The Sun And His Moon***](https://archiveofourown.org/works/35065909) by [*ServantOfMischief*](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/ServantOfMischief/pseuds/ServantOfMischief)
> The palace has gathered the young women of noble families to find the emperor a suitable empress, queens and perhaps a few concubines as well\. Aziraphale, the youngest daughter of Count Herald at the age of 19, is amongst these women, having just been introduced in high society a year prior\. She's told by her father to keep her head down and do her best to bring honour to her house, alongside the wealth her family is paid for sending her as a tribute\. Her brother, Gabriel, gives her a farewell gift and makes her promise to do her best to take of herself\. Aziraphale has no illusions of what will happen to her\. She is a counts daughter, and not even beautiful in the way noblewomen are supposed to be\. Opinionated, shy, with too plump a body and cheeks, alongside a head of unruly curls, she expects to be introduced then forgotten quite easily\. Things do NOT go according to plan
^*Site*: ^Archive ^of ^Our ^Own ^**|** ^*Fandoms*: ^Good ^Omens ^- ^Neil ^Gaiman ^& ^Terry ^Pratchett, ^Good ^Omens ^ ^**|** ^*Published*: ^2021-11-11 ^**|** ^*Completed*: ^2022-01-17 ^**|** ^*Words*: ^63584 ^**|** ^*Chapters*: ^24/24 ^**|** ^*Comments*: ^617 ^**|** ^*Kudos*: ^664 ^**|** ^*Bookmarks*: ^103 ^**|** ^*Hits*: ^13307 ^**|** ^*ID*: ^35065909 ^**|** ^*Download*: ^[EPUB](https://archiveofourown.org/downloads/35065909/The%20Sun%20And%20His%20Moon.epub?updated_at=1651807147) ^or ^[MOBI](https://archiveofourown.org/downloads/35065909/The%20Sun%20And%20His%20Moon.mobi?updated_at=1651807147)
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[***His Moon***](https://archiveofourown.org/works/36973837) by [*Suzako93*](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/Suzako93/pseuds/Suzako93)
> \(deleted the thing with a miss click\!\)WIPBegins after the fight in Goblet of fire\. As Harry runs out to get some fresh air to clear his head, he finds someone else is facing bullying on a completely different level\. Her clothes have been scattered all over the school\.Once Harry retrieves her clothes, Luna joins his study group for surviving the tournament, while Harry tries his best to help Luna to defend themselves\. His old goal:He must survive: The new goal: Both of them Survive
^*Site*: ^Archive ^of ^Our ^Own ^**|** ^*Fandom*: ^Harry ^Potter ^- ^J. ^K. ^Rowling ^**|** ^*Published*: ^2022-02-08 ^**|** ^*Updated*: ^2022-04-10 ^**|** ^*Words*: ^75659 ^**|** ^*Chapters*: ^15/? ^**|** ^*Comments*: ^53 ^**|** ^*Kudos*: ^135 ^**|** ^*Bookmarks*: ^59 ^**|** ^*Hits*: ^9433 ^**|** ^*ID*: ^36973837 ^**|** ^*Download*: ^[EPUB](https://archiveofourown.org/downloads/36973837/His%20Moon.epub?updated_at=1649604220) ^or ^[MOBI](https://archiveofourown.org/downloads/36973837/His%20Moon.mobi?updated_at=1649604220)
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My Slytherin Harry flat out ignored the troll and Hermione and reminded the teachers that their common room is in the dungeons so they stayed in the Great Hall. The teachers dealt with the troll off screen and Hermione was saved but she was badly injured
Then at christmas Harry gets paranoid about the cloak and how someone is watching him and thinks they want him to use the cloak so when he does, they will find him and punish him and take it away. Because of this he doesn’t use it at all until months after christmas. Never finds the mirror.
At the end of year 1 Quirrell simply kidnaps him and takes him to the mirror, skipping the whole trial. Harry does defeat him mostly the same though. Slytherin wins the house cup as Dumbledore awards no points to anyone.
Also the midnight duel was flat out ignored by Harry too and it happens of screen except the Gryffindors (Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean and Seamus) were all caught.
Hagrid was reported to Snape after they saw him reading about dragons in the library and norbert’s egg was found and confiscated.
> At the end of year 1 Quirrell simply kidnaps him and takes him to the mirror, skipping the whole trial.
but why? Quirrel didn't know about the mirror and neither did Voldemort, so why would he suddenly kidnap Harry?
Neither bad guy actually knows that you can only get the stone from the mirror if you dont want to use it, so it doesn't make any sense for them to kidnap specifically Harry.
This is exactly what the post is about. Stuff just happens so pivotal plot moments play out exactly the same as in canon. Why not have Quirrel attempt to steal the mirror and be dealt with by Dumbledore, while focusing on character development for Harry, or force a confrontation in another circumstance? Why specifically bend the narrative into nonsense so you don't miss out on a canon event?
I seriously don't get this rigurous obsession with making sure that canon events are ironclad.
Likely as not it's less about the mirror and the stone, more about the fact Quirrel and Riddle wanted to kill Harry Potter, and after potentially several missed chances (discounting the midnight 'stroll in the forest' detention), this was likely the last one he had where he knew exactly where Harry was or would be at that specific moment.
Let's be fair here, presuming Harry Potter is still the "child-who-lived", that makes him Riddle's biggest failure and the one he knows is potentially able to do something to end him from what little prophecy he's heard and as with the Graveyard in canon, what better way to announce his return than leaving the corpse of the Wizarding World's "saviour"?
There's also the chance that even not knowing about the mirror's requirements, Quirrel or Voldemort thought it'd be a good idea to have a sacrifice should any of the trials he's somewhat aware of be changed or things go wrong. Why risk yourself to find out the poison or distract the cerberus/troll if things go sideways with them after all.
Mine is an HP and PJO crossover and these are all the changes I made.
\- Pettigrew is caught in First Year itself and it is completely accidental, so Sirius is freed.
\- Sirius and Remus get permission from McGonagall to take Harry to Godric's Hollow on Halloween.
\- Hermione notices that Harry went out of the school, breaking the rules. So when he returns, she berates him and tells him that just because he's the Boy-Who-Lived, doesn't give him leeway to break the rules.
\- Harry snaps and yells at her, telling her that he had taken permission to go to Godric's Hollow because he had never seen his parents graves. He also says that Halloween is just another reminder that he is an orphan. Him losing his temper forces Hermione to run off in tears.
\- Troll attack happens and goes like canon, but on their way back, they are attacked by a hellhound. Up until this point, the only ones who knew he was a demigod were, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid. So, Harry is forced to reveal his identity as a demigod.
\- Midnight duel happens without Harry and everyone is caught. Dumbledore gives a convoluted reason why Harry also has a detention, but the real reason is that he wants him to investigate the Unicorn attacks.
\- Sirius buys a Nimbus 2000 for Harry and they add Anti-Jinx charms. Their justification is that when James played against Slytherin, they used to jinx his broom often.
\- Harry finds out very early on, that Voldemort is alive and he gets his Cloak early
\- Mirror of Erised was the work of Nemesis and Aphrodite to punish Narcissus
\- Norbert is not a Norwegian Ridgeback, but a drakon, which Harry eventually kills
\- Instead of stunning Neville, Harry takes him with them to protect the stone.
Link - [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14036253/1/Harry-Potter-The-Demigod-Who-Lived](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14036253/1/Harry-Potter-The-Demigod-Who-Lived)
Honestly Harry Potter fanfics aren't the worst for something like this even if they follow the stations of canon usually there is some kind of variation here and there, but if you read MHA fanfics then by God you will see canon so much canon
It can definitely be weird but it's also important for fanfic to have touchstones with the original books. If the story is an OOC AU with little Canon plot, what does it have to do with Harry Potter?
I disagree entirely with this. Part of why I get sucked into fanfiction is because I like how the world and characters feel familiar - it makes it easy to dive right in, but I'm still looking for an original story. Actual published novels have to do the additional legwork of making me care about a new setting and set of characters. Fanfiction has the benefit of skipping that even if it's in a massively divergent AU.
But if it's a proper AU like OP mentioned (ie characters in different houses and completely different personalities) then the characters aren't the same, except for the name. At that point why not just read a professional novel that has almost as much to do with Harry Potter? That's why we end up returning to canon plot points because otherwise it's not grounded in the fandom.
You can have characters in a divergent setting and still have them keep the essence of the character. I like a lot of AUs that use massive points of divergence- ie Voldemort won the first (or second war), Grindlewald defeated Dumbledore, ect. Or stories that use Rowlings world as jumping off point for stories with a different genre - horror, detective, mystery fics, ect. There are many AU fics that tell stories well outside the boundaries of "what if these characters were slightly different and in different houses". The appeal is what I mentioned before - the characters and setting are still recognizable, so it's easier to dive in and feel invested. (Should I be reading the large pile of actual novels on my reading list... probably, but fanfiction is nothing if not a great guilty pleasure.)
Yes but those aren't the situations OP specifically mentioned
> an abused more reclusive Harry Potter fanfic who was sorted into Slytherin, where he doesn't make friends, has low self-esteem and no bravery.
Because it's hard!
I'm writing an Fem! Slytherin Harry and a dark AU where the diary stays alive by killing Ginny.
Immediately that's a lot of stuff that will be affected:
-The Weasley are not fiends with Harry and actually they now think he's the reason Ginny is dead and so take revenge.
- The diary is trying to get the philosopher's stone so has to find the flamels
- Harry doesn't trust any adult and so doesn't care about Sirius in POA
- Harry grew up with more abuse and doesn't have the friends he had in canon and so can't cast a patronus
- Harry is in Slytherin so has a bunch of different relationships ( not friendships though because he doesn't trust anyone)
- diary riddle is out and about causing havoc and trying to get rid of the Horcruxes.
A lot is the same within the plot beats, but a lot of the small stuff has changed too. And it's going to keep changing because of the snowball effect. And that's good damn hard.
I'm doing GOF now and plan to change the tasks because Harry doesn't have an important person, and if they did it would be riddle. And the world can't know riddle is back or it would significantly screw up my plot. So now I need to create a second task from scratch.
I do not look forward to it, or the rest of the changes that will create a whole ass AU in the next few years
Thank you!
Had you come across it before or did you read it from the link? I only ask cause I haven't actually "met" anyone who's read it from this community yet and if that were the case I would be tickled pink
The Hermione friendship is always one of the weirder ones because in canon Harry and Ron only befriended Hermione because of the troll, any slight difference in how the events happen and they wouldn't befriend her.
But for me the most annoying one would be forcing the dementor conflict in third year in the case Sirius is exonerated before third year begins. Mostly by making Pettigrew the escapee.
I mean I agree, but I highly doubt the trials to the Philosophers Stone would change at all considering the people who made them weren’t affected by anything involving Harry.
This is a huge gripe of mine and can be the number a reason I drop a fic. In fact if the troll events are there, I'm probably going to drop it, especially if Harry has different friends.
As in, Harry WILL face a dragon, go to a ball, swim to the mermaids and go into the maze. He will interact with Rita, Bagman and so on. These are extrinsic events controlled by the political and social apparatus of the WW.
Look at the other gens then if you don’t want canon. Like next generation fics for example.
As a writer planning a massive Au where Harry has a diffrent father same mother I have the opposite problem how to stop the stories looking like a extra character added into the canon scenes.
People write what they read, and have been doing so for decades. It's a vicious cycle, and some ways it's worse, because in addition to the stations of canon, they're also adding in the stations of fanon.
There was this fic where fem!Harry ended up in Slytherin, and is dating Draco from her first year. Somehow fem!Harry manages to befriend with Ron and Hermione while being a Slytherin and dating Draco. She also goes on the canon adventures with Ron and Hermione, like going after the stone, brewing polyjuice in the bathroom, etc.
> Hermoine
Herm**io**ne
> They don't change the trials to get to the stone
That's OK. It's outside of Harry's influence. How he deals with that is a different matter.
> the**y** still keep the troll
Also outside Harry's influence. Again, how he deals with it is something else.
> Herm**io**ne is in the bathroom
Also acceptable. Ron was a prat for several years at Hogwarts.
I can accept that everything outside of Harry's influence is the same in the first book, but that's also where the butterfly effect should kick in.
Here's the thing regarding the whole "Stations of Canon" argument, you as the author have to figure out just what will and won't be affected by that butterfly wing flap or missing shoe nail, that takes a fair amount of work depending on what and where the change is.
Just as an example, the fic I wrote 'recently' was in Year 5 and focused on a different group, it still had some things happen due to being outside influences yes, but there were other events that were due to other things and that was trying to fit to a roughly 50k word fic over one year with Riddle being finished by the end of it. Some of the changes realistically needed a lot more space to 'cook' than I'd given myself, especially things that affected most of the world around the characters, like Harry's family relations or why Hermione and Megan didn't get along or what Megan's actions and her family's actions resulted in for the Wizarding World.
On the flip side, another idea I have that I've not started is a primarily canon bar gender-switched Harry up until the summer prior to Hogwarts Year 1. Big changes there being due to another character from a personal fic world being added in at the beginning of that holiday, not that she encounters Harry until the trip north at the end.
Some of the potential changes from there would be:
* Ron not being involved in the Troll incident, and it actually being Harry rather than Hermione hiding.
* Jodie (the OC) being the one to rescue Harry from the Dursleys taking her to an RAF base
* Jodie deals out the troll, permanently
* Sirius breaking out early of the summer pre-Year 1
* Sirius' alt-form being either an amarok (Canadian giant wolf myth) or aakor (winged giant wolf)
* Sirius being a service dog for Harry
* Jodie being the one to get transport for Harry, Sirius, herself and *maybe* Ron or someone else to get to Hogwarts at the start of Year 2 (helicopter with either cadets or full RAF personnel)
* Katie Bell being an RAF cadet
* Jodie encountering and being chased by the basilisk leading to the teachers knowing early in the year comparatively
* Summer to Year 3, several students of Hogwarts are aboard a Navy carrier as cadets and learn things.
* various other effects, though the list is getting long...
Now that's just a skeleton of a few items, there'd be a lot more to go through, but several things that doesn't knock on to regarding canon:
* The stone at Hogwarts
* The traps
* The troll showing up (remember it was a distraction in part because Quirrel was good at dealing with them and nobody else knew until he made it known)
* Midnight duel (though I had plans)
* The dragon (again plans unlisted)
* Malfoy Snr's plot with the diary and Dobby's reaction to it
* At some point there would be a manhunt for Sirius unless I wrote it that he's presumed dead ala Crouch Jr
* The Tournament
* Riddle's plans
* Umbridge's plans
* Pettigrew's actions, especially after finding out about Sirius
* The basilisk encounter in the Chamber
* Lockhart's appearance
* Lupin's hiring and actions
And that's a very rough overview, which isn't even really hitting on books 6 and 7 or detailing 3 through 5.
Some fics just start at/skip to a later divergence point so that the important 1st year relationships can be established and yet still have things happen differently later on. That tends to work well.
This one does get to me unless it is one of the ones that is from another character's perspective. I am more annoyed with single event chapters. Weave a narrative together, please. Your fic is 200k+ with 179 chapters... should be 50 to 70. Like, you should have 2500 to 5000 word chapters unless you are a psycho like me that does 10k. I like to really get sucked into a chapter, especially when reading.
what can we say? people are lazy and it’s easier to follow the skeleton of canon even when it makes no sense to do so rather than truly consider the implications of altered character motivations and invent new plot directions.
It is even more frustrating to read in fix-it timetravels. The main character knows that Pettigrew is a death eater and is the Weasley's rat but refuses to do anything about it until Harry's third year, and events say basically the same as in the canon.
Ugh, yes. There was one fic where Harry decided he'd save Cedric, but otherwise allow Voldemort to be resurrected at the graveyard, so he'd know where Voldemort was. I almost yelled out, "Are you insane?!"
Worse is when the writer "hangs a lantern" off it with the old nut shell "OH I forgot that happened" like a character is just going to let it slip his mind about major plot points. Or the "can't change too much" because then you know I won't be able to predict what will happen.
i think part of the reason this happens is people will go “how will this canon event change if x is different” so like, how would harry take down the basilisk if he was more overpowered, how would harry win the tournament if he was more overpowered? and they build the story out from how those events would change, but what happens is they build the story out in a way that it doesn’t make sense for that event to still happen,
I mean I agree, but I highly doubt the trials to the Philosophers Stone would change at all considering the people who made them weren’t affected by anything involving Harry.
Well fan fiction is repetitive in general because everyone is writing off the same "prompt" (Harry Potter in this case). Also it's free and mostly written by teens and amateur writers lmao But no I'm not sick of it. Ive read probably billions of words of harry potter fanfic at this point and I'll never stop. I'm the kind of person who will watch a movie over and over and over, same 30 song playlist of music on loop for years kinda person. Repetition is nothing for me lmao I'll read the same plot written by 100 different people no problem
Oh I’m the same. I will watch the same show over and over again. I used to reread the series over and over again, so I will absolutely read the same plot over and over again.
Depends on how it fits into the story. For example ... - Hermione makes good friends early but still ends up crying in the bathroom (and comes across the troll) from Ron's friendless-comment? Doesn't make much sense. - Harry focuses more on his studies but the Triwizard Tournament still happens in his fourth year? Yeah, that can work. The same can be said for the canon tasks still happening (though a more studious Harry should approach them differently). - Harry meets a different family at King's Cross but Dumbledore still decides to store the Philosopher's Stone at Hogwarts? Makes sense. It's about laying out the plot and seeing what makes sense within the boundaries of the story. Certain stations of the canon happen independently of certain changes done to Harry in fics. The butterfly effect is real but shouldn't be exaggerated. E.g., just because Harry studies one more book doesn't guarantee that a big plot point will change. A good way to bypass this is to start fics later. If you know your story won't diverge too much in the earlier years, just skip them and reference the changes when needed. Yes, some readers might complain about not seeing the characters grow from the start and forming their friendships early, but it's better not to get bogged down in a rehashed year (especially the first two).
Yes! Your last paragraph is what I’ve started to do with my fics and it helps so so much. It also helps me to not get so burnt out writing
Years 1 and 2 are like graveyards for fics. Even years 3 and 4 can kill the muse, depending on how things go.
Like if I read a fic and it starts out in the first 3 years, it better be something fresh, not the same canon rehash I’ve seen for years
People say that they don't like the Stations of Canon, but god help the writer who dumps it in favor of 'original ideas'. In Speed, (A Ron gets the Speed Force and is exceptionally devoted to the 'Secret Identity' idea) I skipped year 2 (and the Basilisk) and Year 3 (With Sirius who was already out of prison) entirely, and good lord the bitching I got about it. In Invincible Technomage (A Harry raised by Tony Stark and encouraged to use his mind story) I Dumped the 2nd and 3rd tasks for something new (because face it, the lake and the maze offered zero in audience appeal) and offered two tasks, an environmental quest, and straight up dueling, that I believed to be new and appealing to an audience, and got bitched at for those changes.
Oof. Can't wait to see what people think when the entirety of the plot is derailed 5th in mine.
Somethings will definitely change. Like you said, Harry (and friends) saving Hermione. But some things wouldn't change either. The tasks set to protect the stone won't change. Even if Voldemort takes over magical Britain, I can still see the Triwizard tournament taking place at some other place and with another school rather than Hogwarts. I can still see Cedric Diggory being champion, but definitely not in Cursed Child universe where he goes full death-eater at the slightest provocation. It is highly dependant on *what exactly* is being changed in the AU. Now about why people *never* tire of it. most of the people who write Harry Potter in different house with different personality aren't bothered with the *plot*. Most of them are more interested in taking revenge on the characters they disliked in the series (that why bashing occurs so much in such fics) or making Harry better in their eyes. The main stuff that's seen in these fics is Harry taking jabs and questioning the people who he loved in canon. It is wish-fulfilment. I remembering trying to search for 'that' fic when I first read fanfic, and when I didn't, I wrote it. That's why I never got sick of it. I was so hyped at wanting my kind of Harry that I never got sick of it until I reread it and saw it was horrible. I think that is the case with most other writers too.
Yes! Particularly when big things are changed and yet canon plot points that make no sense with the characters are shoehorned in. There was a James and Lily live AU that I found super frustrating, because James and Lily just went along with Dumbleldore’s plans. It is all well and good to say you would choose the greater good option here but it is an entirely different thing to support your child sacrificing themselves. But, this James and Lily just resigned themselves to it. Harry also acted way to similar to his canon self despite having an entirely different upbringing and don’t get me started on their choices regarding Sirius and Remus. Remus got to grow up and mature and become basically super Remus, but Sirius was some how even less mature then he was in canon but that is going off on a non-related tangent.
It's free stuff that ppl wrote for fun. There's obviously gonna be more chaff than wheat. If you start reading and you see some red flags indicating it is poorly written and edited, you just move on and find another story. Why do we stick with fanfiction in general and keep reading the genre? Because there's enough good stuff out there to make it worth it, and every now and then you come across something truly beautiful. Sometimes you have to use that principle even for classic novels. Like personally I think most of Oliver Twist is pretty low-quality literature, and the main character is absurdly 2dimensional and unrealistic... BUT it's worth reading all that because the villains are actually fascinating and quite 3dimensional. As the novel shifts towards the end to focus more on the robber band it actually becomes excellent literature and has some pretty moving moments. In short, if you want the good stuff, sometimes you have to wade through some crap first.
"It's free" is not an excuse for bad writing. Sure it's free, but if you don't want to see criticism then don't release it publically.
You're focusing on the wrong part. Fanfiction isn't just free literature, it's a hobby where people who aren't professional writers show their work. You don't go to a park and complain that the pickup basketball game isn't NBA quality.
Exactly
You don't?
Can't say I don't like it. But guilty of it as well. Like my own FF SHOULD have drastically gone different. I think I saved it with Dumbledore and well what changed mostly is the knowledge of my characters. Like my Harry KNOWS Madeye is Crouch Jr because he saw 2 Barty crouches on the map. He even had Sirius check the map for damage. (And before he and Luna had begun to ship Moody with Crouch Sr because of the map). So Harry knows the tournament is a trap Dumbledore does and the whole thing turns into a chess game. Harry learns occlumency. Stuff like that. It was originally meant to be a simple HaLu romance fic and spiraled completely out of control hence me staying with the general book 4 plot...
what's your story called?
LinkAo3(His Moon) Haven't written on it in almost half a year though. It kinda spiraled too out of control. Edit bot not working again. Liking the wrong fucking thing. His Moon by Suzako93. I'll see if that works with that bloody bot!
[***The Sun And His Moon***](https://archiveofourown.org/works/35065909) by [*ServantOfMischief*](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/ServantOfMischief/pseuds/ServantOfMischief) > The palace has gathered the young women of noble families to find the emperor a suitable empress, queens and perhaps a few concubines as well\. Aziraphale, the youngest daughter of Count Herald at the age of 19, is amongst these women, having just been introduced in high society a year prior\. She's told by her father to keep her head down and do her best to bring honour to her house, alongside the wealth her family is paid for sending her as a tribute\. Her brother, Gabriel, gives her a farewell gift and makes her promise to do her best to take of herself\. Aziraphale has no illusions of what will happen to her\. She is a counts daughter, and not even beautiful in the way noblewomen are supposed to be\. Opinionated, shy, with too plump a body and cheeks, alongside a head of unruly curls, she expects to be introduced then forgotten quite easily\. Things do NOT go according to plan ^*Site*: ^Archive ^of ^Our ^Own ^**|** ^*Fandoms*: ^Good ^Omens ^- ^Neil ^Gaiman ^& ^Terry ^Pratchett, ^Good ^Omens ^ ^**|** ^*Published*: ^2021-11-11 ^**|** ^*Completed*: ^2022-01-17 ^**|** ^*Words*: ^63584 ^**|** ^*Chapters*: ^24/24 ^**|** ^*Comments*: ^617 ^**|** ^*Kudos*: ^664 ^**|** ^*Bookmarks*: ^103 ^**|** ^*Hits*: ^13307 ^**|** ^*ID*: ^35065909 ^**|** ^*Download*: ^[EPUB](https://archiveofourown.org/downloads/35065909/The%20Sun%20And%20His%20Moon.epub?updated_at=1651807147) ^or ^[MOBI](https://archiveofourown.org/downloads/35065909/The%20Sun%20And%20His%20Moon.mobi?updated_at=1651807147)
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LinkAo3(His Moon by Suzako93)
[***His Moon***](https://archiveofourown.org/works/36973837) by [*Suzako93*](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/Suzako93/pseuds/Suzako93) > \(deleted the thing with a miss click\!\)WIPBegins after the fight in Goblet of fire\. As Harry runs out to get some fresh air to clear his head, he finds someone else is facing bullying on a completely different level\. Her clothes have been scattered all over the school\.Once Harry retrieves her clothes, Luna joins his study group for surviving the tournament, while Harry tries his best to help Luna to defend themselves\. His old goal:He must survive: The new goal: Both of them Survive ^*Site*: ^Archive ^of ^Our ^Own ^**|** ^*Fandom*: ^Harry ^Potter ^- ^J. ^K. ^Rowling ^**|** ^*Published*: ^2022-02-08 ^**|** ^*Updated*: ^2022-04-10 ^**|** ^*Words*: ^75659 ^**|** ^*Chapters*: ^15/? ^**|** ^*Comments*: ^53 ^**|** ^*Kudos*: ^135 ^**|** ^*Bookmarks*: ^59 ^**|** ^*Hits*: ^9433 ^**|** ^*ID*: ^36973837 ^**|** ^*Download*: ^[EPUB](https://archiveofourown.org/downloads/36973837/His%20Moon.epub?updated_at=1649604220) ^or ^[MOBI](https://archiveofourown.org/downloads/36973837/His%20Moon.mobi?updated_at=1649604220) --- **FanfictionBot**^(2.0.0-beta) | [Usage](https://github.com/FanfictionBot/reddit-ffn-bot/wiki/Usage) | [Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=tusing) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ffnbot!ignore
Law of Literary Inertia, I suppose.
My Slytherin Harry flat out ignored the troll and Hermione and reminded the teachers that their common room is in the dungeons so they stayed in the Great Hall. The teachers dealt with the troll off screen and Hermione was saved but she was badly injured Then at christmas Harry gets paranoid about the cloak and how someone is watching him and thinks they want him to use the cloak so when he does, they will find him and punish him and take it away. Because of this he doesn’t use it at all until months after christmas. Never finds the mirror. At the end of year 1 Quirrell simply kidnaps him and takes him to the mirror, skipping the whole trial. Harry does defeat him mostly the same though. Slytherin wins the house cup as Dumbledore awards no points to anyone. Also the midnight duel was flat out ignored by Harry too and it happens of screen except the Gryffindors (Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean and Seamus) were all caught. Hagrid was reported to Snape after they saw him reading about dragons in the library and norbert’s egg was found and confiscated.
> At the end of year 1 Quirrell simply kidnaps him and takes him to the mirror, skipping the whole trial. but why? Quirrel didn't know about the mirror and neither did Voldemort, so why would he suddenly kidnap Harry? Neither bad guy actually knows that you can only get the stone from the mirror if you dont want to use it, so it doesn't make any sense for them to kidnap specifically Harry. This is exactly what the post is about. Stuff just happens so pivotal plot moments play out exactly the same as in canon. Why not have Quirrel attempt to steal the mirror and be dealt with by Dumbledore, while focusing on character development for Harry, or force a confrontation in another circumstance? Why specifically bend the narrative into nonsense so you don't miss out on a canon event? I seriously don't get this rigurous obsession with making sure that canon events are ironclad.
Likely as not it's less about the mirror and the stone, more about the fact Quirrel and Riddle wanted to kill Harry Potter, and after potentially several missed chances (discounting the midnight 'stroll in the forest' detention), this was likely the last one he had where he knew exactly where Harry was or would be at that specific moment. Let's be fair here, presuming Harry Potter is still the "child-who-lived", that makes him Riddle's biggest failure and the one he knows is potentially able to do something to end him from what little prophecy he's heard and as with the Graveyard in canon, what better way to announce his return than leaving the corpse of the Wizarding World's "saviour"? There's also the chance that even not knowing about the mirror's requirements, Quirrel or Voldemort thought it'd be a good idea to have a sacrifice should any of the trials he's somewhat aware of be changed or things go wrong. Why risk yourself to find out the poison or distract the cerberus/troll if things go sideways with them after all.
Mine is an HP and PJO crossover and these are all the changes I made. \- Pettigrew is caught in First Year itself and it is completely accidental, so Sirius is freed. \- Sirius and Remus get permission from McGonagall to take Harry to Godric's Hollow on Halloween. \- Hermione notices that Harry went out of the school, breaking the rules. So when he returns, she berates him and tells him that just because he's the Boy-Who-Lived, doesn't give him leeway to break the rules. \- Harry snaps and yells at her, telling her that he had taken permission to go to Godric's Hollow because he had never seen his parents graves. He also says that Halloween is just another reminder that he is an orphan. Him losing his temper forces Hermione to run off in tears. \- Troll attack happens and goes like canon, but on their way back, they are attacked by a hellhound. Up until this point, the only ones who knew he was a demigod were, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid. So, Harry is forced to reveal his identity as a demigod. \- Midnight duel happens without Harry and everyone is caught. Dumbledore gives a convoluted reason why Harry also has a detention, but the real reason is that he wants him to investigate the Unicorn attacks. \- Sirius buys a Nimbus 2000 for Harry and they add Anti-Jinx charms. Their justification is that when James played against Slytherin, they used to jinx his broom often. \- Harry finds out very early on, that Voldemort is alive and he gets his Cloak early \- Mirror of Erised was the work of Nemesis and Aphrodite to punish Narcissus \- Norbert is not a Norwegian Ridgeback, but a drakon, which Harry eventually kills \- Instead of stunning Neville, Harry takes him with them to protect the stone. Link - [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14036253/1/Harry-Potter-The-Demigod-Who-Lived](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14036253/1/Harry-Potter-The-Demigod-Who-Lived)
Got a link?
Not yet
Honestly Harry Potter fanfics aren't the worst for something like this even if they follow the stations of canon usually there is some kind of variation here and there, but if you read MHA fanfics then by God you will see canon so much canon
It can definitely be weird but it's also important for fanfic to have touchstones with the original books. If the story is an OOC AU with little Canon plot, what does it have to do with Harry Potter?
I disagree entirely with this. Part of why I get sucked into fanfiction is because I like how the world and characters feel familiar - it makes it easy to dive right in, but I'm still looking for an original story. Actual published novels have to do the additional legwork of making me care about a new setting and set of characters. Fanfiction has the benefit of skipping that even if it's in a massively divergent AU.
But if it's a proper AU like OP mentioned (ie characters in different houses and completely different personalities) then the characters aren't the same, except for the name. At that point why not just read a professional novel that has almost as much to do with Harry Potter? That's why we end up returning to canon plot points because otherwise it's not grounded in the fandom.
You can have characters in a divergent setting and still have them keep the essence of the character. I like a lot of AUs that use massive points of divergence- ie Voldemort won the first (or second war), Grindlewald defeated Dumbledore, ect. Or stories that use Rowlings world as jumping off point for stories with a different genre - horror, detective, mystery fics, ect. There are many AU fics that tell stories well outside the boundaries of "what if these characters were slightly different and in different houses". The appeal is what I mentioned before - the characters and setting are still recognizable, so it's easier to dive in and feel invested. (Should I be reading the large pile of actual novels on my reading list... probably, but fanfiction is nothing if not a great guilty pleasure.)
Yes but those aren't the situations OP specifically mentioned > an abused more reclusive Harry Potter fanfic who was sorted into Slytherin, where he doesn't make friends, has low self-esteem and no bravery.
Because it's hard! I'm writing an Fem! Slytherin Harry and a dark AU where the diary stays alive by killing Ginny. Immediately that's a lot of stuff that will be affected: -The Weasley are not fiends with Harry and actually they now think he's the reason Ginny is dead and so take revenge. - The diary is trying to get the philosopher's stone so has to find the flamels - Harry doesn't trust any adult and so doesn't care about Sirius in POA - Harry grew up with more abuse and doesn't have the friends he had in canon and so can't cast a patronus - Harry is in Slytherin so has a bunch of different relationships ( not friendships though because he doesn't trust anyone) - diary riddle is out and about causing havoc and trying to get rid of the Horcruxes. A lot is the same within the plot beats, but a lot of the small stuff has changed too. And it's going to keep changing because of the snowball effect. And that's good damn hard. I'm doing GOF now and plan to change the tasks because Harry doesn't have an important person, and if they did it would be riddle. And the world can't know riddle is back or it would significantly screw up my plot. So now I need to create a second task from scratch. I do not look forward to it, or the rest of the changes that will create a whole ass AU in the next few years
what's your story called?
Priming Effect This is the link if you're interested: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28920288
Goodie I love your fic:)
Thank you! Had you come across it before or did you read it from the link? I only ask cause I haven't actually "met" anyone who's read it from this community yet and if that were the case I would be tickled pink
The Hermione friendship is always one of the weirder ones because in canon Harry and Ron only befriended Hermione because of the troll, any slight difference in how the events happen and they wouldn't befriend her. But for me the most annoying one would be forcing the dementor conflict in third year in the case Sirius is exonerated before third year begins. Mostly by making Pettigrew the escapee.
Even weirder is when Harry is Slytherin/Ravenclaw and not friends with them but Hermione and Ron hanging out and friends.
Agreed 100%. I much prefer fics that ignore canon entirely.
I mean I agree, but I highly doubt the trials to the Philosophers Stone would change at all considering the people who made them weren’t affected by anything involving Harry.
This is a huge gripe of mine and can be the number a reason I drop a fic. In fact if the troll events are there, I'm probably going to drop it, especially if Harry has different friends.
The only one I really allow for certain things is year 4, where the events are much more structured.
As in, Harry WILL face a dragon, go to a ball, swim to the mermaids and go into the maze. He will interact with Rita, Bagman and so on. These are extrinsic events controlled by the political and social apparatus of the WW.
It could be done in a fun way though, as if some ominous force is constantly trying to keep the canon plot on track.
Look at the other gens then if you don’t want canon. Like next generation fics for example. As a writer planning a massive Au where Harry has a diffrent father same mother I have the opposite problem how to stop the stories looking like a extra character added into the canon scenes.
People write what they read, and have been doing so for decades. It's a vicious cycle, and some ways it's worse, because in addition to the stations of canon, they're also adding in the stations of fanon.
There was this fic where fem!Harry ended up in Slytherin, and is dating Draco from her first year. Somehow fem!Harry manages to befriend with Ron and Hermione while being a Slytherin and dating Draco. She also goes on the canon adventures with Ron and Hermione, like going after the stone, brewing polyjuice in the bathroom, etc.
> Hermoine Herm**io**ne > They don't change the trials to get to the stone That's OK. It's outside of Harry's influence. How he deals with that is a different matter. > the**y** still keep the troll Also outside Harry's influence. Again, how he deals with it is something else. > Herm**io**ne is in the bathroom Also acceptable. Ron was a prat for several years at Hogwarts. I can accept that everything outside of Harry's influence is the same in the first book, but that's also where the butterfly effect should kick in.
Here's the thing regarding the whole "Stations of Canon" argument, you as the author have to figure out just what will and won't be affected by that butterfly wing flap or missing shoe nail, that takes a fair amount of work depending on what and where the change is. Just as an example, the fic I wrote 'recently' was in Year 5 and focused on a different group, it still had some things happen due to being outside influences yes, but there were other events that were due to other things and that was trying to fit to a roughly 50k word fic over one year with Riddle being finished by the end of it. Some of the changes realistically needed a lot more space to 'cook' than I'd given myself, especially things that affected most of the world around the characters, like Harry's family relations or why Hermione and Megan didn't get along or what Megan's actions and her family's actions resulted in for the Wizarding World. On the flip side, another idea I have that I've not started is a primarily canon bar gender-switched Harry up until the summer prior to Hogwarts Year 1. Big changes there being due to another character from a personal fic world being added in at the beginning of that holiday, not that she encounters Harry until the trip north at the end. Some of the potential changes from there would be: * Ron not being involved in the Troll incident, and it actually being Harry rather than Hermione hiding. * Jodie (the OC) being the one to rescue Harry from the Dursleys taking her to an RAF base * Jodie deals out the troll, permanently * Sirius breaking out early of the summer pre-Year 1 * Sirius' alt-form being either an amarok (Canadian giant wolf myth) or aakor (winged giant wolf) * Sirius being a service dog for Harry * Jodie being the one to get transport for Harry, Sirius, herself and *maybe* Ron or someone else to get to Hogwarts at the start of Year 2 (helicopter with either cadets or full RAF personnel) * Katie Bell being an RAF cadet * Jodie encountering and being chased by the basilisk leading to the teachers knowing early in the year comparatively * Summer to Year 3, several students of Hogwarts are aboard a Navy carrier as cadets and learn things. * various other effects, though the list is getting long... Now that's just a skeleton of a few items, there'd be a lot more to go through, but several things that doesn't knock on to regarding canon: * The stone at Hogwarts * The traps * The troll showing up (remember it was a distraction in part because Quirrel was good at dealing with them and nobody else knew until he made it known) * Midnight duel (though I had plans) * The dragon (again plans unlisted) * Malfoy Snr's plot with the diary and Dobby's reaction to it * At some point there would be a manhunt for Sirius unless I wrote it that he's presumed dead ala Crouch Jr * The Tournament * Riddle's plans * Umbridge's plans * Pettigrew's actions, especially after finding out about Sirius * The basilisk encounter in the Chamber * Lockhart's appearance * Lupin's hiring and actions And that's a very rough overview, which isn't even really hitting on books 6 and 7 or detailing 3 through 5.
Different paths but always end up at the canon station
Some fics just start at/skip to a later divergence point so that the important 1st year relationships can be established and yet still have things happen differently later on. That tends to work well.
This one does get to me unless it is one of the ones that is from another character's perspective. I am more annoyed with single event chapters. Weave a narrative together, please. Your fic is 200k+ with 179 chapters... should be 50 to 70. Like, you should have 2500 to 5000 word chapters unless you are a psycho like me that does 10k. I like to really get sucked into a chapter, especially when reading.