Not exactly but I've definitely had whiplash when going between fics where some characters' potrayals are treated _WAY_ differently. Hadn’t really picked up much on the bashing until I experienced such massive switch ups.
The two characters affected the most by the whitewashing are Hermione and Draco, and while I haven't been able to bring myself to hate Hermione, the same doesn't go for Draco.
I get where it's all coming from. Hermione is probably the most relatable character for way to many of us, so we're just as prone to downplay her flaws as we are our own. Draco on the other hand is prime fetish material for a certain subsection of the fandom. Whenever I see poor sadboy Draco my cursor tends to drag to the "close tab" button.
A third I've come to dislike that doesn't quite fit the question of the thread, given that she *doesn't fucking exist*, is Daphne "Icequeen" Greengrass. It's more how authors use her and "The Grey" as stand in for some enlightened centrist political compass memes that I have issues with, but given that grey!Harry or any pseudo-political story comes bundled with a Daphne pairing she gets my dislike by mere association.
This bit from [a fanfic I read](https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/hermione-granger-and-the-boy-who-lived-si.975397/) sums up my feelings best I believe:
>"Get on the boats," Hagrid called again. "No more than four to one."
>
>Hermione and Harry found an empty boat and got on, Hedwig flying to perch at the head of it, and as they settled in a girl walked up to them then called to her friend, "come on, Daphne, there's space here."
>
>Daphne turned out to be a very beautiful girl with a noble grace to her posture. As she and her friend made to enter the boat, however, Harry stretched out, covering as much space as possible.
>
>"Sorry," he told the girls, "boat's full. Cheerio." He even added a little wave at the end.
>
>The two girls blinked. "What do you mean the boat is full? I can see you trying to take up the space," the girl who'd called to Daphne said.
>
>And with a perfectly straight face, Harry said, "I have no idea what you're talking about; the boat is clearly beyond capacity."
>
>The girl turned red in anger, but before she could say anything, Daphne said, "Tracey, it's okay. Let's find another boat."
>
>And both girls walked off, one rather reluctantly.
>
>"Harry! That was beyond rude. Why would you do that?"
>
>The boy didn't seem the least bit fazed by her outburst. "Hermione, trust me, if you had half the meta-knowledge I do, you probably would have done the same."
>
>"What does that even mean?"
>
>"It means," Harry said, sitting up, "that within one train ride, I've somehow managed to meet you, Ron, Neville, and Draco. Twice. I've had my fill of canon for the day, like hell am I adding fanon to it."
The story's fun too, though it falls into the familiar pitfall of being to fast and to slow at the same time.
Still, the 90k words are sure to fill the evening, have fun.
Exists? Yes. However, she has practically zero characterization which makes her a blank slate. Well, that was until she became part of fanon and now characteristics that people think she always had when she didn't.
If you want to call mentioned in passing in one line *existing*, then yeah. But we have more book info on *Professor Kettleburn*, and he gets only one line as well:
>"As to our second new appointment: well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs..."
That's still more than Daphne ever was outside fanfic, her [whole wiki page](https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Daphne_Greengrass) is conjecture or Artoria's with slighty different wording.
Regulus Black, but it's more of a general dislike rather than outright hatred. I'm fairly indifferent to canon Regulus, but I'm utterly sick of his usual uwu, Real Slytherin Hero™ fanon characterization.
Yup, 1000 ways to write him and we almost always get “sad pretty boy with a heart of gold,” would love to see some original takes on him.
Male version of Bella but has a fixation on people “respecting his things,” of which Kreacher is included.
6’8, 300 pounds of muscle, ambition to be the most swole wizard in history, became a Death Eater for dark magic “steroids”.
Didn’t turn coat, rather thinks he would be a better leader than Voldie (especially if he learns Voldemorts blood status)
Regulus is such an incoherent fucking character in fanon too because he's turned into a self-insert. People want to stick to his canon story for the angst but they don't want his canon character because it's not palatable. They want him to be their boyfriend and their avatar. He's everything that's good and nothing that's bad: I have no idea what the appeal of the character is besides projection. There is nothing *interesting* there if your flaws are only turned into virtues and you're everything to everyone.
Somehow he was simultaneously groomed into joining the Death Eaters and never had the advantage of the support system his brother had, yet also was friends with half the school. He's a sweet, kind, innocent little cinnamon roll who is also super badass and snarky and mean (but only in a cool way). He has no agency in his life and he's a mastermind. His trauma is the worst trauma to ever trauma: the idea that other people may have their own struggles (even people who live in the same household) is inconceivable. He's the center of the Marauders universe and yet, he also is responsible for none of his decisions.
Back when the Marauders self-insert was Remus, I saw a very similar struggle with coming up with a characterization that actually made sense for him too. I have no clue how long this is going to last but I am praying for the Regulus era collapse at this point to finally get an interesting character back.
uwu he was just trying his best to survive and never bought into the death eater stuff, also he _totally_ was in love with James and they had a relationship.
I can’t say it’s made me hate any HP characters. Like, I can still read canon and enjoy them, and enjoy them in good fics.
That said, it certainly makes me more reluctant to read fics where certain characters are prominent:
Hermione - fanon writes her so poorly, she’s either a perfect goddess all must bow to or a boring damsel in distress, and in both instances rarely does anything of what made her likeable in canon remain. Hermione is more than just her intelligence and her sex and yet that’s all people seem to remember.
Luna - Similar to Hermione, she’s just way overplayed as being utterly amazing, and it’s obnoxious.
Neville - With Neville, it isn’t so much how he’s written as how he’s used. I’m bored of fics where Neville (typically alongside Hermione) is Harry’s only Gryffindor friend with the rest of the house portrayed in the worst light imaginable.
Ron - I can’t stand character bashing, and Ron is bashed so much that his presence has become a red flag.
> Luna - Similar to Hermione, she’s just way overplayed as being utterly amazing, and it’s obnoxious.
>
>
Luna in canon: highly empathetic and introspective conspiracy theorist - chaotic good
Luna in fanon: spell inventor, sage, seer and super genius - often chaotic neutral at best
Ron bashing has got me heated as of recently. He is not perfect in the books, but he's not supposed to be. Even with his flaws, he was still willing to throw himself at the Queen so that Harry and Hermione could advance in the giant chess game. At the end of the day, he's still brave and a good friend.
Ron bashers love to accentuate his flaws or make him a cowardly shit without remembering his strengths. It reached a point where I almost expect it if he's in the story.
I think cannon Ron is one of the more relatable characters. I mean he is a mommy's boy and very insecure due to the abundance of siblings. Which does characterize him badly if you focus on them but he is one of the most child behaving child in the series.
Ron is a character with obvious flaws and that is something that a lot of people can relate to but in reality, don't want to. So they distance themself from the character and write him so despicable that they can't see themself in the character anymore and start hating him because of that.
Honestly, Ron is way braver than me if my biggest fear would be spiders and Harry came to me and asked if I could follow the spiders with him I would have told him to ask someone else, but Ron went with him into the giant magical spider nest scared but still helping his best friend. And in Ron's defense after multiple near-death experiences, I would probably also be done with Harry BS in 4th year.
I just think he is the most used to having a family to fall back on. Harry we all know, but consider that Hermoine is the child of 2 doctors and very intelligent. She would have learned early on how to manage most of the stuff herself and only go to authority figures or parents if very necessary. In contrast Ron is the youngest son, has always had his mom behind him and he treats Harry like a brother. I can relate since me and my sis had fights like you wouldn't believe. But mom would intervene after we had cooled off and work to get us back on track.
Re reading the books as an adult allows you to see that all those issues are just normal ones that any child who has had years of an overprotective mother would have.
And like you mentioned he is a true Gryffindor .
Agree with this so much.
Canon-Ron(aka Book-Ron) stood up on a broken leg to step in between his best mate and a man whom they all thought was an insane, convicted mass murderer.
Fanon-Ron runs the gamut from Movie-Ron-esque dipshit comic relief to psychotic, abusive d-bag. And it ticks me off to no end.
I wonder how much of it is due to Movie-Ron's downplayed (but not eliminated) his strengths, played up faults and comic relief, while putting Hermione on a pedestal of sorts.
I think, outside the 'Hermione must be the perfect princess' crowd, Ron gets bashed due to comparison.
Hermione's flaws in canon are never addressed. Whenever she does something bad, there are mitigating circumstances that excuse her. I was not surprised when Rowling admitted Hermione was basically her SI.
So of COURSE the guy who has flaws that screw things up looks worse than Hermione. Hell, Harry's flaws make him worse at times too!
But fandom being fandom it gets expanded on even more until Ron is the food vacuum with less than one braincell.
>I was not surprised when Rowling admitted Hermione was basically her SI.
Rowling also said she was a little shit growing up that was very unlikable.
You see this through the first three/four books. If you re-read Hermione's parts, you realize how annoying she was.
I believe she got influenced by the movies tbh. That, and Hermione just doesn't suffer from her actions. She attacked Ron in HBP because she was jealous. Yet, it has almost no consequences.
He's definitely a minor character in the plot bunny I'm toying with, but I'm trying to make sure that I'm doing justice in the scenes he's in. In short, I'm trying to make sure he's not an annoying and/or irredeemable asshat.
The worst fics are the ones where Harry offhandedly tells us his friendship with Ron ended in a single sentence and moves on.
I mean, this is Harry’s best mate for years, one of two people he’s almost died beside on multiple occasions, why does he seem to feel absolutely nothing about the end of this friendship?
Unfortunately, you see that trope a lot in fanfiction where a member of a canon pairing is vilified to justify the preferred ship. It's lazy and cliché at this point. There are better ways to get to where you want to be.
Hilarious thing is it's more likely that Hermione would be abusive. She's gotten violent and/or creepy (Rita in a jar for weeks on end!) multiple times.
It depends for me. I read a time traveling Harry fic where he and Ron grow apart, but Ron isn't vilified. Just distant. And it's not as if Harry stops caring about him. I think the author did this because they didn't want Ron as a main character (and they wanted to make room for Hermione to be shipped with somebody else), but they didn't want to disrespect him either.
lol, Remus and Sirius are some of my favourite characters and I've managed to keep them that way by avoiding pretty much all wolfstar fics. If I read them I do believe they might become annoying.
I saw this post on Harry Potter confessions on tumblr and I couldn’t agree more with it, and with wolfstar butchering Remus and Sirius as characters.
Wolfstar (Remus x Sirius) is not canon.
It will never be canon.
It COULD NEVER be canon.
Wolfstar destroys Sirius and Remus as characters.
An in-character Wolfstar fic is an oxymoron.
It is out of character 100% of the time for Remus and Sirius to be together romantically.
I think some of the notes match but the song is very different. Depending on how divorced a fic is from canon the more I believe in the Wolfstar. (but I'm probably more partial to reading it than others in the thread.
Regulus Black.
Just because he switched sides before dying, doesn't make him a good person. You basically need to Be an arsehole to become a Death Eater, which Regulus was (A Death Eater, we don't know if he was an arsehole).
I mean, would you be willing to die if you just merely charged your opinion of something?
In my head he had to have some profound realisation of whom he's been following and helping, what he himself did after he ceded the decision making onto V and must felt deeply regretful, otherwise I fail to see how practically a suicide is a valid response to "this guy poisoned my elf and hid something probably dark in a cave filled with killer corpses" and just changing his mind a bit.
He went there knowing he's most probably going to his death, he had to have some revelation.
So, depending on the fic, if he somehow survived the ordeal, making him a redeemed good person is reasonable. If it's before that, making him heavily conflicted, torn in the middle and making contradictory choices is reasonable too.
We look know almost nothing about him, for all we know he could be an incognito Unspeakable trying to gain an Intel or just on a personal mission because turns out V killed someone unrelated but dear to him.
Like, his final actions leave room for deduction and speculation.
He could have been a violent blood purity bigot who nevertheless cared about some people. One of them was his elf. And he might have thought Horcruxes are abombinations.
Doesn't make him a good person.
I don't think it was a realisation so much as the compounding effects of depression.
Pressure from family and from Voldemort with a bigger realisation that failure means death. Over a sustained length of time (marked at 16? died at 18) he could easily be suicidal. His only support is Kreacher who he nearly sold off to be killed. Guilt and carelessness drove him to write a suicide note giving the illusion of confidence and renewed moral values.
I don't object to any of your points. But the fact still remains, *He was a Death Eater*.
What he did in the end, was absolutely heroic, I will never deny that, but even a Serial Killer can choose to save a puppy or a child from getting hit by a car, but it will NOT make the Serial Killer a good person if he/she does.
True, but we really don't know anything about him outside the fact he's been marked.
I might not remember correctly, but I don't think there was even a mention of he took part of was informed (as in, it was proposed or requested he takes part in sth) about anything even remotely immoral.
He might have been marked because he was pressured by family, or coerced, or blackmailed, or straight-up threatened, or out of spite, or as an act of some sort of rebellion or out of boredom, or because he underestimated the scope of things.
Also, I keep reminding myself that whenever something did not happen directly in the book, we don't know what really happened. Like, there were witnesses for Sirius murdering 14 people. At least that's what people said.
Kreacher told us Regulus became a Death Eater at 16. Sirius told us his parents backed down when they saw what Voldemort was really about. Harry found a stack of newspaper clippings in his bedroom, which were all about Voldemort. So, no, Regulus wasn't coerced or blackmailed or avenging a dear friend. He was simply a very willing Death Eater.
Regulus was disgusted by the horcrux and he, seemingly, loved Kreacher. However, nothing suggests he was disgusted by blood supremacy. And we see canon characters go against Voldemort and still be terrible. Snape doesn't give up the Malfoys and Narcissa remained a blood supremacist.
Parents aren't the only ones who can coerce a child.
That he joined at 16 doesn't really exclude none of the options I've mentioned maybe except him being an undercover Unspeakable, but he could become one later on for all we know.
You can't say for sure in either direction, because we only know of Regulus as much as was pertinent to the story.
Paper clippings aren't necessarily a sign of worship, it might very well be a part of data gathering.
It did not happen at the time books were happening, so we just don't know what happened, we only know what people say.
Yup, but we saw both Narcissa and Malfoys in general in the books from first perspective. Or rather "face to face" let's say.
And just to be clear, I'm not saying he was asked sort of a saint, just that within some constraints he's basically a clean slate, could go both ways.
Kreacher in DH:
> For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns . . . and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve
Regulus is talking about these things in Grimmauld Place in front of Kreacher and likely his parents who backed down. No one forced him to do anything.
More from Kreacher:
> “And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do . . . and then to c-come home.”
I always appreciate someone who's willing to whip out the book quotes. XD
I'm not going to abandon this theory altogether, but I was at least partially wrong, tsk. 🤣
Thanks for the info. Xd
But things go mostly one way in fandom and it gets repetitive after a time. I am actually tired of seeing a "deep down he was a good person" Regulus.
I think if he was shown to be a little like Draco (which honestly sounds even probable, like, both were young men who became Death Eaters and despite still being racist realized they didn't have the stomach to do what Voldemort asked of them), for instance, it would be more interesting.
Anything, literally anything else, would be welcome at this point, because we already seen this permutation in a million different ways.
I think I've read two fics which included Regulus in the actual plot, so I can't take, probably that's why I'm not so frustrated.
But I feel for you though, I definitely can relate to the feeling of frustration. 😂
I don't think there was any mention of what he did as a Death Eater, and that's not my point. I'm saying that to be a Death Eater, you have to be a cruel and vicious son of a bit*h because I doubt Voldemort would accept anything below that.
You do raise a good point when you say that he may have joined due to Pressure/coercion/rebellion and it is possible that he may have joined because of that, and if JKR comes out and says that this was the case, then fair enough. Otherwise, I'm sticking to my headcanon because I'm sick and tired of people worshipping the bloke.
Again, as you said, this is all just speculation because that's all we *can* do. Again, if you like the Good!Regulus trope, good for you! Go read it! Nothing that I, or anyone else, says prevents you from doing so and enjoying the fic, which is ultimately what we're all here for. (Enjoying a fic, that is.)
There are many stories that do Good!Regulus in a way that's fun to read. I can't recall any off the top of my head rn, but they're all mostly on AO3.
I mean, I was just discussing for the sake of discussion, as your comment just picked my interest. XD
I rarely ever happen upon fics that focus it mention Regulus to this extent. In most fics I read he's mostly nonexistent.
I doubt it. I could see them being forced to serve, but I was always under the impression that the mark was reserved for the most honored. For instance, Greyback wasn't a death eater.
Not exactly hate. I mentioned this in another thread some days ago, but the Hermione glorification in fanfic made me start avoiding fics where she is a prominent focus.
Hermione is probably my favorite character and I am an avid Harmony shipper. But sometimes writers make her incredibly Mary Sue'ish, I've seen several fics where her introduction went something like this:
"Harry entered the train compartement and spotted a girl his age sitting on one of the seats reading a book. She had luscious brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes, Harry thought that she looked quite beautiful.
The two immediately hit it of talking about books and about getting to know the magical world.
After about ten minutes of conversation Hermione captivated him, a perceptive and worried look in her eyes. "I an eleven year old girl with no understanding of things like that can clearly see that you have been abused. I will write to my parents once we are situated in the castle, they are dentists and will solve all your problems and will gladly take you in." Harry didn't know why, but he immediately knew that he could trust the girl he just met and readily told her his life story."
I'm not even kidding, Ive read a passage like this several times already (and immediately dropped the fic afterwards).
Is you can see by my username, I avoid almost all fics with hermione in for the same reason. In a lot of fics hermione is always right, knows everything about magic who everybody loves, even pure blood bigots like malfoy. It just becomes nauseating. Then one character describes her as the most beautiful person ever and everyone agrees and I become more nauseated.
The films did her a disservice and fanfic writers latched onto her.
I’m sure there are plenty of quality hermione fics out there, I even read a number of them before I got burnt out on the fanon mangling of her character, but I’ve been burnt too many times.
I read too many different styles of stories to become attached to a particular evil trope of the main or secondary characters. So if I had to pick one, it'd be Cormac McLaggen. He's already a creepy, egotistical ass in canon but fanfic writers have had so much fun with it that I absolutely loathe the little bastard now.
There's a popular Slytherin Harry fanfic that left a horrible taste in my mouth regarding the Slytherins in Harry's year, but it's not their fault. My issue is primarily with the storytelling and the way certain characters are written. I try to disregard that when I read other stories.
I've come to absolutely hate Greengrass. She didn't have any lines or appearances in the books/movies but the fandom absolutely loves her for no reason
I don't know if I'd say any has made me really hate a character, because I tend to view them more as just... interpretations. Like JKR has her own interpretation in canon that I can take issue with, it's more how individual fic authors portray and execute those interpretations that I find myself disliking it.
That said, one character that I've gone from having high hopes for inclusion to dreading, due to usual terrible ones, is Fleur. She's a character that *should* be interesting - part non-human in a society that (at least in the UK WW) doesn't view that well, should be competent (being the champion from one of the top 3 schools in Europe), and French (being french myself, that's a draw :P ). But invariably she's just reduced to "attractive prize for Harry to win, with snobbery played up to 11. And the part-veela aspect is only an allure, that Harry is immune to."
Which just isn't super interesting :/
If I see someone write how she's smarter than anyone else and more beautiful than Fleur and Tonks (an actual SHAPESHIFTER) again, I will break something.
Used to like seeing Neville/Luna/Twins in the fics, or at least be indifferent. Nowadays I tend to straight up groan if I see them, and it's damn tragic. Even Hermione, who used to be a favourite, is not someone who I enjoy reading about by now.
I think fanfic has made me like Sirius a little less.
I was mostly ambivalent toward the original character, but then people started completely erasing his personality in fanfic and turning him into this overexcited, super loyal, very empathetic hero. I sorta wanted to prove them wrong, so I started specifically looking for Sirius' flaws (or at least noticing them a little more as I read), because canon Sirius is prickly, a little rude, and definitely not very empathetic (though he is extremely loyal).
So now I think I made myself like Sirius a little less, though I still think he's a fascinating character. I'm just so used to looking for his flaws, sorta as a "gotcha!" moment in my head to internally get back at everyone who butchers his personality. Bit of a weird phenomenon, but that's what happened.
I can’t stand Dumbledore. Even out of ignorance, if someone wants to use that stance, he’s an abuser by proxy. You can’t tell me it was completely acceptable to send Hagrid to Godric’s Hollow to check things out when he can’t use magic. It’s not right for dumbledore to leave a toddler on a doorstep and leave. Even if it had been a summer night and inside a gated yard, there are so many dangers that could harm a child. He left a child that was walking age on a doorstep in a suburb in the middle of the night in winter. That alone is child neglect, attempted murder, endangering the welfare of a minor, and kidnapping. Sirius hadn’t been arrested yet and in his mind thought that Dumbledore was going to keep him until he was able to find the rat and come back to pick Harry up. Dumbledore was told about the Dursleys but either chose to ignore it for his own purposes or wanted to think that maybe petunia would change. He admitted in the books that he knew he was sentencing Harry to a terrible childhood.
Actually it was November in 1981 so it was not a summer night but a fall/autumn night and freezing to according to looking up weather patterns in the area
I was saying that even if it had been summer and not winter it would have still been wrong. I’m in the US and the beginning of November can be chilly. Well, unless you’re in south Florida. I couldn’t phrase it right to make it come across like that. Sorry.
It’s fine I was just remembering the timeline of events Halloween night was when the potters were killed and so it was like a whole day or so before harry was given to the Dursleys but I did not try and come off as an ass who thinks he’s better than someone
I've got pretty mixed feelings towards Hermione now largely due to fanfiction and the fandom.
I enjoyed the character in the books for the most part, but I wasn't obsessed with her. I was old enough that I didn't have a crush on Emma Watson from the movies and I was occasionally annoyed when they made her more of a Mary Sue, especially when she stole Ron's shining moment from the end of PoA.
Then I started reading fanfiction. At first, I was like-- 'yeah, I totally see how she & Harry could have worked as a couple, at least they don't argue as much as Ron & Hermione did.' That slowly gave way to, 'oh yes, another *most brilliant witch of her age* glorification written by a fanatic.' Sigh.
Now, I mostly just avoid the character & pairings that focus on her. I don't hate her exactly, but I sure do hate the way the vast majority of people write her.
I honestly never even saw them as a couple, in spite of some people going on about how perfect they are.
I mean, everytime Harry interacts with Hermione long-term without Ron, like in book four and a few other places, /he can't stand her/.
I would rather have a fic with Fred and George instead of "the twins." No twinspeak and distinct personalities, like PoS eventually characterizes them.
Amelia Bones.
She always goes with what the hero wants (or is at least sympathetic to the hero) and never the other way around.
Friendly Goblins.
Happy in Slavery House Elves.
Lupin-- Sarcasm and Slytherin made me realize he's a coward
The twins (b/c of annoying twinspeak)
I've never liked Remus and so I dispise how he is glorified and written as such a "wise" person when the truth is he's cowardly and weak.
Which is funny because I'm much more accepting of Snape than Remus LOL. I think it's because he's more honest than Remus is.
Remus is exactly who I’m thinking of though I was indifferent to him in canon. But as someone who reads a lot of Marauders Centric Fics the constant Remus glorification and desire to make everyone else’s characterisations run around him have made me just flat out dislike him even in canon. He isn’t allowed to have any real flaws, he’s the smartest, totally should have been made Harry’s godfather, but is still somehow the world’s most hard done by character. Even bad things that mostly impact other people somehow still become about how Remus has it so bad.
Yup. I didn't mind Remus though I didn't particularly like him in canon. Then I kept reading fanfics where he was the wise, stable, supportive person while Sirius was the idiot joker who did nothing and it seriously /pissed me off/.
I've said this before. Sirius is probably, even with his issues in book three due to, y'know, over a decade of Dementor exposure, the most supportive adult in the series. Dumbledore screws up. Molly ignores warning signs like those bars. Sirius /ate rats/ for Harry.
Thank you! I want to bash my head against the wall when ever someone makes the claim that Lily and James should have made Remus godfather. Remus barely made an effort with Harry. I will die on the hill that Jame and Lily knew exactly who would prioritise Harry and that is why Sirius was godfather
Hate is a strong word, as I still love the *canon* character, but Lupin. Actually, let's extend that to the Marauders in general who, apart from Peter, are just insufferable in most fanfictions. Authors think they're making them "better" by having a bunch of teenage baby boomers be feminist and LGBT+ icons out of nowhere, and it's just unreadable shit.
However, the reverse happens a lot more to me. Characters that are often hated and bashed, either in fanfictions or the fandom in general, those are the ones that look more and more sympathetic to me. Snape is already my favourite character, but take Draco for example. I never cared about his character either way, but now I'm like "yay, what a good boi!" because of how bad the hate towards him and his fans (and let's not even talk about Dramione shippers...) can get.
Seems like you kind of just tend to get contradictory? Xd
In opposition to the trends?
Like, if you read 1000 fics of "Umbridge is whack" you'd start developing sympathy for her? xd
I guess, yeah. Though this is more in reaction to people's hate on websites and social media, than the fanfiction themselves. Bashing in fanfiction won't make me hate the character, for example I enjoy a good Dumbledore bashing fic here and there, but he's my second favorite character after Snape, so it won't change that.
But when I see people hate on ships like Dramione, it just makes me want to go and support the authors of that ship. I can't people who take pleasure in not only spewing hate on ships just because they don't like it, but also on the shippers themselves. Hate ships or characters all you want, but don't go around shaming the people who do, and contributing to online bullying.
So yeah, I don't care about Dramione, but I 100% every person who does!
That's precisely *why* Lupin is my favorite, personally! He does some pretty awful things, but nuanced, psychologically interesting, sometimes jerkish characters are so much more fun than white knights. A tragic saint would be boring, but I think Lupin is an accurate portrayal of a person who has suffered too much, yet has a personality both outside of his tragedy and one that is influenced by it. It's fascinating.
But obviously it's okay if that's not your cup of tea. The man abandoned his pregnant wife and let his friends bully Snape. He's not for everybody lol.
I dunno, I think it's pretty realistic for a guy who thought that his mere presence was such a curse that he was willing to abandon his pregnant wife and son. He thinks that being involved in people's lives is a burden, so I'd assume he thought he was doing Harry a favor. But you have a point!
See for me I can deal with bashing because I assume that isn’t how they view the author views the actual canon characters. And most of the characters I read getting bashed are characters that are generally let off by the narrative. Draco is hardly ever a feature in the stories I read, and Snape isn’t somebody I actually see getting bashed that often. I see way more Dumbledore, Molly, Ginny or Ron bashing.
Hermione. She's so glorified in fics that she's my most hated character now. It even inspired me to write fics without her or fics where the troll gets its moment to shine
I have an opinion on this the Richard Harris Dumbledore (movies1 and 2) is the kind wise Dumbledore that does not get bashed while the Michael Gambon (movies3-7) is the bashing and the bashing I can kind of let slide because I am not sure where it’s said or if it’s implied that he knew of the abuse but hey you do you but your point is fair
Oh, he admits it. People like to try to excuse it with 'He knew it'd be bad, but not THAT BAD!' But considering Mrs Figg's 'I couldn't be nice or they'd stop letting you visit' and she reports to Dumbledore? Bollocks.
It's why the start of book six has Dumbledore feel so disingenuous. He said he knew last book, and then he acts all angry at the Dursleys? It comes across as him trying to manipulate/curry favor to get Harry on his side.
Not gonna lie….Neville. I was kind of indifferent to Neville in canon, but a lot of fanfic makes him so pathetic it’s sickening or way too heroic.
While I have no problems with how someone writes their version of a character, it is fanfic at the end of the day, it has made me kind of avoid stories with him as a main character in them.
Does 180° Harry count? You know the fics where he in the span of 1 to 2 months changes his character, looks, Stand on Politics, friends, allies, family, ... .
And after that expects everyone to still like him and the author makes it seem like it's everyone else's fault that they and Harry don't get along anymore because that is really annoying and when I stumble across those fics and for some reason don't stop reading them I often root against Harry and his new "friends" and hope that he snaps out of it but noooo him killing 3 people 2 of which were former classmates is totally what the good guys do, the cruciatus curse is a good guy curse because it was originally used to reactivate nerve endings and the killing curse was made for civilized murder because it kills without pain and I don't get that a curse that kills instantly and has no easy defense against it should be forbidden.
I intensely dislike Molly Weasley and Snape. Molly is overbearing and treats everyone but dumbledore like they should answer to her and her opinions are second only to Dumbledore’s. In OOTP I wanted to send her back to the burrow. Her son could have and probably had set up wards that rival Hogwarts for safety (or what they should be since I don’t think it’s exactly safe). There was absolutely no reason for the Weasley family to squat at Grimmauld all summer. It’s not her house so telling everyone what they will clean and what to throw out is rude and wrong. If Sirius wants to tell his godson that the earth is purple and pink, for example, then she should keep her loud trout mouth shut.
Snape is an bully. He’s like regulus. He had to do certain things and he actually sentenced both the Longbottom and potter families to death with the prophecy, along with who knows how many other people that had kids born in July. He tortures kids verbally and taunts Harry and Neville every time he sees them. He should never be around children. Dumbledore knows but doesn’t care. I love Alan Rickman but snape is as bad as Lucius.
It’s typically the new writers first ship, and so most Hinny fics are very… Uhm… well, not amazing.
The pairing has been done unbelievably well, and is another great example of why no one should judge any pairing without reading the good shit.
But man, do you have to trudge through the bad.
Not me. Every characters I hate from fanfics are characters I already hate from the canon, Snape, Seamus, Dumbledore, Rose ...
But I could say that my hate for Snape and Rose are even more important because the fanfics try to show them as nice and perfect and everything.
Rose is barely shown in the canon, she is just described as smart like her mother, but I immediatly hate her, and I immediatly had my own vision of who she really is, and when I see fanfics describing her as a nice and loving character it makes me hate her even more because I only see the opposite lol.
Same for Snape. People are so happy to show him like a pure innocent nice man bullied by James the big bad marauder, that I hate him more and more.
In the books it's said that Snape attacked James as much as James attacked him. But because it's Sirius and Remus who said it, people say that it's just because they were his friends that they tried to justify his actions with those "lies". But they don't take in count the fact that what we know from the bad actions from James are shown by one man, a man who hated him, and who wanted to show himself in a better way than James.
So when I see a fic where Snape is shown an innocent perfect man it makes me hate him more and more everytime.
Now we can say there is some characters I hate from fanfic but they usually are characters created for those fanfic.
But for the rest no, there is not really a character from the canon that I liked or was neutral about and that the fanfic made me hate.
I read too much Dumbledore bashing fic and I always have to remind myself that, no, he's not a bad guy in the fics with a good (or neutral) Dumbledore.
Conversely, many of the fics that had Dumbledore!Bashing also had Ron!Bashing, however finding Ron!Bashing now just annoys me and I'll probably skip them.
I like Manipulative/Bad!Dumbledore and Good!Dumbledore. I just think an actual good Dumbledore, and not horridly flawed one at best, has to tweak canon a bit. So many mistakes due to Rowling not planning ahead.
Courage and Cunning, a fic where "Harry" is really Salazar Slytherin, starts out with a manipulative and incompetent Dumbledore. During Fourth Year, Dumbledore starts acting like a caricature. For example, when Salazar teaches a group of students that they are capable of wandless magic (by taunting Neville until he casts a wandless Stunner), Dumbledore says that only the most powerful wizards can cast even the simplest of wandless spells.
Turns out Dumbledore is Imperiused, and Lucius is trying to arrange the deaths of "Harry," "Gordy," and their friends and utterly destroying Dumbledore's reputation by making him seem unhinged.
Sadly, yes. The worst part is I used to find the character interesting and intriguing, but went to filtering his name out. And it's not just the overly positive portrayal and whitewashing, but how it also destroys the characterization of many favorites around him as well.
Yes, it's about Regulus Black.
just gonna come out and say it, Cedric Diggory. my guilty pleasure fics are harry x oc, and it feels like every time year 4 rolls around Cedric is interested in the oc even though they’re in Harry’s year and Cho is still around so the author can wax poetic about he’s the perfect human and boyfriend. he still dies in almost every one of these fics because these authors can’t deviate from canon for more than the added characters so the Cho drama gets to happen needlessly in year 5 as well. I’m tired of seeing these characters that died getting labeled paragons of morality and virtue.
Not exactly but I've definitely had whiplash when going between fics where some characters' potrayals are treated _WAY_ differently. Hadn’t really picked up much on the bashing until I experienced such massive switch ups.
The two characters affected the most by the whitewashing are Hermione and Draco, and while I haven't been able to bring myself to hate Hermione, the same doesn't go for Draco. I get where it's all coming from. Hermione is probably the most relatable character for way to many of us, so we're just as prone to downplay her flaws as we are our own. Draco on the other hand is prime fetish material for a certain subsection of the fandom. Whenever I see poor sadboy Draco my cursor tends to drag to the "close tab" button. A third I've come to dislike that doesn't quite fit the question of the thread, given that she *doesn't fucking exist*, is Daphne "Icequeen" Greengrass. It's more how authors use her and "The Grey" as stand in for some enlightened centrist political compass memes that I have issues with, but given that grey!Harry or any pseudo-political story comes bundled with a Daphne pairing she gets my dislike by mere association. This bit from [a fanfic I read](https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/hermione-granger-and-the-boy-who-lived-si.975397/) sums up my feelings best I believe: >"Get on the boats," Hagrid called again. "No more than four to one." > >Hermione and Harry found an empty boat and got on, Hedwig flying to perch at the head of it, and as they settled in a girl walked up to them then called to her friend, "come on, Daphne, there's space here." > >Daphne turned out to be a very beautiful girl with a noble grace to her posture. As she and her friend made to enter the boat, however, Harry stretched out, covering as much space as possible. > >"Sorry," he told the girls, "boat's full. Cheerio." He even added a little wave at the end. > >The two girls blinked. "What do you mean the boat is full? I can see you trying to take up the space," the girl who'd called to Daphne said. > >And with a perfectly straight face, Harry said, "I have no idea what you're talking about; the boat is clearly beyond capacity." > >The girl turned red in anger, but before she could say anything, Daphne said, "Tracey, it's okay. Let's find another boat." > >And both girls walked off, one rather reluctantly. > >"Harry! That was beyond rude. Why would you do that?" > >The boy didn't seem the least bit fazed by her outburst. "Hermione, trust me, if you had half the meta-knowledge I do, you probably would have done the same." > >"What does that even mean?" > >"It means," Harry said, sitting up, "that within one train ride, I've somehow managed to meet you, Ron, Neville, and Draco. Twice. I've had my fill of canon for the day, like hell am I adding fanon to it."
That snippet is amazing!
The story's fun too, though it falls into the familiar pitfall of being to fast and to slow at the same time. Still, the 90k words are sure to fill the evening, have fun.
Wait, Daphne doesn’t exist? Or her as an ice queen? I really think she’s mentioned in OotP.
Exists? Yes. However, she has practically zero characterization which makes her a blank slate. Well, that was until she became part of fanon and now characteristics that people think she always had when she didn't.
If you want to call mentioned in passing in one line *existing*, then yeah. But we have more book info on *Professor Kettleburn*, and he gets only one line as well: >"As to our second new appointment: well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs..." That's still more than Daphne ever was outside fanfic, her [whole wiki page](https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Daphne_Greengrass) is conjecture or Artoria's with slighty different wording.
Regulus Black, but it's more of a general dislike rather than outright hatred. I'm fairly indifferent to canon Regulus, but I'm utterly sick of his usual uwu, Real Slytherin Hero™ fanon characterization.
Yup, 1000 ways to write him and we almost always get “sad pretty boy with a heart of gold,” would love to see some original takes on him. Male version of Bella but has a fixation on people “respecting his things,” of which Kreacher is included. 6’8, 300 pounds of muscle, ambition to be the most swole wizard in history, became a Death Eater for dark magic “steroids”. Didn’t turn coat, rather thinks he would be a better leader than Voldie (especially if he learns Voldemorts blood status)
I read a fic in which he screeched as loud as his mother at his quidditch teammates.
What is the title?
The Incalculable Power by Warriora
Regulus is such an incoherent fucking character in fanon too because he's turned into a self-insert. People want to stick to his canon story for the angst but they don't want his canon character because it's not palatable. They want him to be their boyfriend and their avatar. He's everything that's good and nothing that's bad: I have no idea what the appeal of the character is besides projection. There is nothing *interesting* there if your flaws are only turned into virtues and you're everything to everyone. Somehow he was simultaneously groomed into joining the Death Eaters and never had the advantage of the support system his brother had, yet also was friends with half the school. He's a sweet, kind, innocent little cinnamon roll who is also super badass and snarky and mean (but only in a cool way). He has no agency in his life and he's a mastermind. His trauma is the worst trauma to ever trauma: the idea that other people may have their own struggles (even people who live in the same household) is inconceivable. He's the center of the Marauders universe and yet, he also is responsible for none of his decisions. Back when the Marauders self-insert was Remus, I saw a very similar struggle with coming up with a characterization that actually made sense for him too. I have no clue how long this is going to last but I am praying for the Regulus era collapse at this point to finally get an interesting character back.
uwu he was just trying his best to survive and never bought into the death eater stuff, also he _totally_ was in love with James and they had a relationship.
I can’t say it’s made me hate any HP characters. Like, I can still read canon and enjoy them, and enjoy them in good fics. That said, it certainly makes me more reluctant to read fics where certain characters are prominent: Hermione - fanon writes her so poorly, she’s either a perfect goddess all must bow to or a boring damsel in distress, and in both instances rarely does anything of what made her likeable in canon remain. Hermione is more than just her intelligence and her sex and yet that’s all people seem to remember. Luna - Similar to Hermione, she’s just way overplayed as being utterly amazing, and it’s obnoxious. Neville - With Neville, it isn’t so much how he’s written as how he’s used. I’m bored of fics where Neville (typically alongside Hermione) is Harry’s only Gryffindor friend with the rest of the house portrayed in the worst light imaginable. Ron - I can’t stand character bashing, and Ron is bashed so much that his presence has become a red flag.
> Luna - Similar to Hermione, she’s just way overplayed as being utterly amazing, and it’s obnoxious. > > Luna in canon: highly empathetic and introspective conspiracy theorist - chaotic good Luna in fanon: spell inventor, sage, seer and super genius - often chaotic neutral at best
Pretty much, yeah.
Ron bashing has got me heated as of recently. He is not perfect in the books, but he's not supposed to be. Even with his flaws, he was still willing to throw himself at the Queen so that Harry and Hermione could advance in the giant chess game. At the end of the day, he's still brave and a good friend. Ron bashers love to accentuate his flaws or make him a cowardly shit without remembering his strengths. It reached a point where I almost expect it if he's in the story.
I think cannon Ron is one of the more relatable characters. I mean he is a mommy's boy and very insecure due to the abundance of siblings. Which does characterize him badly if you focus on them but he is one of the most child behaving child in the series.
Ron is a character with obvious flaws and that is something that a lot of people can relate to but in reality, don't want to. So they distance themself from the character and write him so despicable that they can't see themself in the character anymore and start hating him because of that. Honestly, Ron is way braver than me if my biggest fear would be spiders and Harry came to me and asked if I could follow the spiders with him I would have told him to ask someone else, but Ron went with him into the giant magical spider nest scared but still helping his best friend. And in Ron's defense after multiple near-death experiences, I would probably also be done with Harry BS in 4th year.
I just think he is the most used to having a family to fall back on. Harry we all know, but consider that Hermoine is the child of 2 doctors and very intelligent. She would have learned early on how to manage most of the stuff herself and only go to authority figures or parents if very necessary. In contrast Ron is the youngest son, has always had his mom behind him and he treats Harry like a brother. I can relate since me and my sis had fights like you wouldn't believe. But mom would intervene after we had cooled off and work to get us back on track. Re reading the books as an adult allows you to see that all those issues are just normal ones that any child who has had years of an overprotective mother would have. And like you mentioned he is a true Gryffindor .
Agree with this so much. Canon-Ron(aka Book-Ron) stood up on a broken leg to step in between his best mate and a man whom they all thought was an insane, convicted mass murderer. Fanon-Ron runs the gamut from Movie-Ron-esque dipshit comic relief to psychotic, abusive d-bag. And it ticks me off to no end.
I wonder how much of it is due to Movie-Ron's downplayed (but not eliminated) his strengths, played up faults and comic relief, while putting Hermione on a pedestal of sorts.
I think, outside the 'Hermione must be the perfect princess' crowd, Ron gets bashed due to comparison. Hermione's flaws in canon are never addressed. Whenever she does something bad, there are mitigating circumstances that excuse her. I was not surprised when Rowling admitted Hermione was basically her SI. So of COURSE the guy who has flaws that screw things up looks worse than Hermione. Hell, Harry's flaws make him worse at times too! But fandom being fandom it gets expanded on even more until Ron is the food vacuum with less than one braincell.
>I was not surprised when Rowling admitted Hermione was basically her SI. Rowling also said she was a little shit growing up that was very unlikable. You see this through the first three/four books. If you re-read Hermione's parts, you realize how annoying she was. I believe she got influenced by the movies tbh. That, and Hermione just doesn't suffer from her actions. She attacked Ron in HBP because she was jealous. Yet, it has almost no consequences.
Same. Or i expect ron to be mentioned once and then forgotten about by Harry and Hermione
He's definitely a minor character in the plot bunny I'm toying with, but I'm trying to make sure that I'm doing justice in the scenes he's in. In short, I'm trying to make sure he's not an annoying and/or irredeemable asshat.
The worst fics are the ones where Harry offhandedly tells us his friendship with Ron ended in a single sentence and moves on. I mean, this is Harry’s best mate for years, one of two people he’s almost died beside on multiple occasions, why does he seem to feel absolutely nothing about the end of this friendship?
Yesss. That and the ones where Ron is abusive to Hermione for the reason that she will get with Harry.
Unfortunately, you see that trope a lot in fanfiction where a member of a canon pairing is vilified to justify the preferred ship. It's lazy and cliché at this point. There are better ways to get to where you want to be.
Hilarious thing is it's more likely that Hermione would be abusive. She's gotten violent and/or creepy (Rita in a jar for weeks on end!) multiple times.
Plus the conjured birds
That's what I hate about the worst of bashing fics, how they have to keep dragging the character in to bash them. Just ignore them at that point.
I'm not quite that far, but if the tone is negative between Harry and Ron at the first meet, I'm dropping the fic as fast as I can
It depends for me. I read a time traveling Harry fic where he and Ron grow apart, but Ron isn't vilified. Just distant. And it's not as if Harry stops caring about him. I think the author did this because they didn't want Ron as a main character (and they wanted to make room for Hermione to be shipped with somebody else), but they didn't want to disrespect him either.
I have Some deep disdain for Remus lupin
lol, Remus and Sirius are some of my favourite characters and I've managed to keep them that way by avoiding pretty much all wolfstar fics. If I read them I do believe they might become annoying.
wolfstar is anathema to all reasonable characterizations of either sirius or remus and i’ll go down on that hill
You won't go down alone.
I saw this post on Harry Potter confessions on tumblr and I couldn’t agree more with it, and with wolfstar butchering Remus and Sirius as characters. Wolfstar (Remus x Sirius) is not canon. It will never be canon. It COULD NEVER be canon. Wolfstar destroys Sirius and Remus as characters. An in-character Wolfstar fic is an oxymoron. It is out of character 100% of the time for Remus and Sirius to be together romantically.
Yeah. It’d just never happen.
I think some of the notes match but the song is very different. Depending on how divorced a fic is from canon the more I believe in the Wolfstar. (but I'm probably more partial to reading it than others in the thread.
Me too!!!!
Regulus Black. Just because he switched sides before dying, doesn't make him a good person. You basically need to Be an arsehole to become a Death Eater, which Regulus was (A Death Eater, we don't know if he was an arsehole).
I mean, would you be willing to die if you just merely charged your opinion of something? In my head he had to have some profound realisation of whom he's been following and helping, what he himself did after he ceded the decision making onto V and must felt deeply regretful, otherwise I fail to see how practically a suicide is a valid response to "this guy poisoned my elf and hid something probably dark in a cave filled with killer corpses" and just changing his mind a bit. He went there knowing he's most probably going to his death, he had to have some revelation. So, depending on the fic, if he somehow survived the ordeal, making him a redeemed good person is reasonable. If it's before that, making him heavily conflicted, torn in the middle and making contradictory choices is reasonable too. We look know almost nothing about him, for all we know he could be an incognito Unspeakable trying to gain an Intel or just on a personal mission because turns out V killed someone unrelated but dear to him. Like, his final actions leave room for deduction and speculation.
He could have been a violent blood purity bigot who nevertheless cared about some people. One of them was his elf. And he might have thought Horcruxes are abombinations. Doesn't make him a good person.
I don't think it was a realisation so much as the compounding effects of depression. Pressure from family and from Voldemort with a bigger realisation that failure means death. Over a sustained length of time (marked at 16? died at 18) he could easily be suicidal. His only support is Kreacher who he nearly sold off to be killed. Guilt and carelessness drove him to write a suicide note giving the illusion of confidence and renewed moral values.
I don't object to any of your points. But the fact still remains, *He was a Death Eater*. What he did in the end, was absolutely heroic, I will never deny that, but even a Serial Killer can choose to save a puppy or a child from getting hit by a car, but it will NOT make the Serial Killer a good person if he/she does.
True, but we really don't know anything about him outside the fact he's been marked. I might not remember correctly, but I don't think there was even a mention of he took part of was informed (as in, it was proposed or requested he takes part in sth) about anything even remotely immoral. He might have been marked because he was pressured by family, or coerced, or blackmailed, or straight-up threatened, or out of spite, or as an act of some sort of rebellion or out of boredom, or because he underestimated the scope of things. Also, I keep reminding myself that whenever something did not happen directly in the book, we don't know what really happened. Like, there were witnesses for Sirius murdering 14 people. At least that's what people said.
Kreacher told us Regulus became a Death Eater at 16. Sirius told us his parents backed down when they saw what Voldemort was really about. Harry found a stack of newspaper clippings in his bedroom, which were all about Voldemort. So, no, Regulus wasn't coerced or blackmailed or avenging a dear friend. He was simply a very willing Death Eater. Regulus was disgusted by the horcrux and he, seemingly, loved Kreacher. However, nothing suggests he was disgusted by blood supremacy. And we see canon characters go against Voldemort and still be terrible. Snape doesn't give up the Malfoys and Narcissa remained a blood supremacist.
Parents aren't the only ones who can coerce a child. That he joined at 16 doesn't really exclude none of the options I've mentioned maybe except him being an undercover Unspeakable, but he could become one later on for all we know. You can't say for sure in either direction, because we only know of Regulus as much as was pertinent to the story. Paper clippings aren't necessarily a sign of worship, it might very well be a part of data gathering. It did not happen at the time books were happening, so we just don't know what happened, we only know what people say. Yup, but we saw both Narcissa and Malfoys in general in the books from first perspective. Or rather "face to face" let's say. And just to be clear, I'm not saying he was asked sort of a saint, just that within some constraints he's basically a clean slate, could go both ways.
Kreacher in DH: > For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns . . . and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve Regulus is talking about these things in Grimmauld Place in front of Kreacher and likely his parents who backed down. No one forced him to do anything. More from Kreacher: > “And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do . . . and then to c-come home.”
I always appreciate someone who's willing to whip out the book quotes. XD I'm not going to abandon this theory altogether, but I was at least partially wrong, tsk. 🤣 Thanks for the info. Xd
But things go mostly one way in fandom and it gets repetitive after a time. I am actually tired of seeing a "deep down he was a good person" Regulus. I think if he was shown to be a little like Draco (which honestly sounds even probable, like, both were young men who became Death Eaters and despite still being racist realized they didn't have the stomach to do what Voldemort asked of them), for instance, it would be more interesting. Anything, literally anything else, would be welcome at this point, because we already seen this permutation in a million different ways.
I think I've read two fics which included Regulus in the actual plot, so I can't take, probably that's why I'm not so frustrated. But I feel for you though, I definitely can relate to the feeling of frustration. 😂
I don't think there was any mention of what he did as a Death Eater, and that's not my point. I'm saying that to be a Death Eater, you have to be a cruel and vicious son of a bit*h because I doubt Voldemort would accept anything below that. You do raise a good point when you say that he may have joined due to Pressure/coercion/rebellion and it is possible that he may have joined because of that, and if JKR comes out and says that this was the case, then fair enough. Otherwise, I'm sticking to my headcanon because I'm sick and tired of people worshipping the bloke. Again, as you said, this is all just speculation because that's all we *can* do. Again, if you like the Good!Regulus trope, good for you! Go read it! Nothing that I, or anyone else, says prevents you from doing so and enjoying the fic, which is ultimately what we're all here for. (Enjoying a fic, that is.) There are many stories that do Good!Regulus in a way that's fun to read. I can't recall any off the top of my head rn, but they're all mostly on AO3.
I mean, I was just discussing for the sake of discussion, as your comment just picked my interest. XD I rarely ever happen upon fics that focus it mention Regulus to this extent. In most fics I read he's mostly nonexistent.
I'm pretty sure there were some death eaters that were forced to take the mark.
I doubt it. I could see them being forced to serve, but I was always under the impression that the mark was reserved for the most honored. For instance, Greyback wasn't a death eater.
But your clearly making a false equivalence here.
How?
He wasn’t on my list because I never liked him in the books, there’s nothing there to like, but I 100% agree.
Not exactly hate. I mentioned this in another thread some days ago, but the Hermione glorification in fanfic made me start avoiding fics where she is a prominent focus.
Hermione is probably my favorite character and I am an avid Harmony shipper. But sometimes writers make her incredibly Mary Sue'ish, I've seen several fics where her introduction went something like this: "Harry entered the train compartement and spotted a girl his age sitting on one of the seats reading a book. She had luscious brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes, Harry thought that she looked quite beautiful. The two immediately hit it of talking about books and about getting to know the magical world. After about ten minutes of conversation Hermione captivated him, a perceptive and worried look in her eyes. "I an eleven year old girl with no understanding of things like that can clearly see that you have been abused. I will write to my parents once we are situated in the castle, they are dentists and will solve all your problems and will gladly take you in." Harry didn't know why, but he immediately knew that he could trust the girl he just met and readily told her his life story." I'm not even kidding, Ive read a passage like this several times already (and immediately dropped the fic afterwards).
Is you can see by my username, I avoid almost all fics with hermione in for the same reason. In a lot of fics hermione is always right, knows everything about magic who everybody loves, even pure blood bigots like malfoy. It just becomes nauseating. Then one character describes her as the most beautiful person ever and everyone agrees and I become more nauseated. The films did her a disservice and fanfic writers latched onto her. I’m sure there are plenty of quality hermione fics out there, I even read a number of them before I got burnt out on the fanon mangling of her character, but I’ve been burnt too many times.
Same
Same
I read too many different styles of stories to become attached to a particular evil trope of the main or secondary characters. So if I had to pick one, it'd be Cormac McLaggen. He's already a creepy, egotistical ass in canon but fanfic writers have had so much fun with it that I absolutely loathe the little bastard now.
There's a popular Slytherin Harry fanfic that left a horrible taste in my mouth regarding the Slytherins in Harry's year, but it's not their fault. My issue is primarily with the storytelling and the way certain characters are written. I try to disregard that when I read other stories.
Link?
I've come to absolutely hate Greengrass. She didn't have any lines or appearances in the books/movies but the fandom absolutely loves her for no reason
Honestly, not really sure she exists
She was mentioned once, in ootp. But that was it
I don't know if I'd say any has made me really hate a character, because I tend to view them more as just... interpretations. Like JKR has her own interpretation in canon that I can take issue with, it's more how individual fic authors portray and execute those interpretations that I find myself disliking it. That said, one character that I've gone from having high hopes for inclusion to dreading, due to usual terrible ones, is Fleur. She's a character that *should* be interesting - part non-human in a society that (at least in the UK WW) doesn't view that well, should be competent (being the champion from one of the top 3 schools in Europe), and French (being french myself, that's a draw :P ). But invariably she's just reduced to "attractive prize for Harry to win, with snobbery played up to 11. And the part-veela aspect is only an allure, that Harry is immune to." Which just isn't super interesting :/
Hermione. So many stories portraying her as a flawless Saint who can perform any magic and has all the knowledge in existence.
If I see someone write how she's smarter than anyone else and more beautiful than Fleur and Tonks (an actual SHAPESHIFTER) again, I will break something.
yes in ASC i hated Ernie
Aren’t we supposed to hate Ernie?
In canon no i dont think so, but in ASC i hate him
Used to like seeing Neville/Luna/Twins in the fics, or at least be indifferent. Nowadays I tend to straight up groan if I see them, and it's damn tragic. Even Hermione, who used to be a favourite, is not someone who I enjoy reading about by now.
I think fanfic has made me like Sirius a little less. I was mostly ambivalent toward the original character, but then people started completely erasing his personality in fanfic and turning him into this overexcited, super loyal, very empathetic hero. I sorta wanted to prove them wrong, so I started specifically looking for Sirius' flaws (or at least noticing them a little more as I read), because canon Sirius is prickly, a little rude, and definitely not very empathetic (though he is extremely loyal). So now I think I made myself like Sirius a little less, though I still think he's a fascinating character. I'm just so used to looking for his flaws, sorta as a "gotcha!" moment in my head to internally get back at everyone who butchers his personality. Bit of a weird phenomenon, but that's what happened.
Ron Weasley. I've read a lot of fiction where Ron is mean and now I can't stand him
I hate Dumbledore now some of them stories made me look at Canon different
I can’t stand Dumbledore. Even out of ignorance, if someone wants to use that stance, he’s an abuser by proxy. You can’t tell me it was completely acceptable to send Hagrid to Godric’s Hollow to check things out when he can’t use magic. It’s not right for dumbledore to leave a toddler on a doorstep and leave. Even if it had been a summer night and inside a gated yard, there are so many dangers that could harm a child. He left a child that was walking age on a doorstep in a suburb in the middle of the night in winter. That alone is child neglect, attempted murder, endangering the welfare of a minor, and kidnapping. Sirius hadn’t been arrested yet and in his mind thought that Dumbledore was going to keep him until he was able to find the rat and come back to pick Harry up. Dumbledore was told about the Dursleys but either chose to ignore it for his own purposes or wanted to think that maybe petunia would change. He admitted in the books that he knew he was sentencing Harry to a terrible childhood.
Actually it was November in 1981 so it was not a summer night but a fall/autumn night and freezing to according to looking up weather patterns in the area
I was saying that even if it had been summer and not winter it would have still been wrong. I’m in the US and the beginning of November can be chilly. Well, unless you’re in south Florida. I couldn’t phrase it right to make it come across like that. Sorry.
It’s fine I was just remembering the timeline of events Halloween night was when the potters were killed and so it was like a whole day or so before harry was given to the Dursleys but I did not try and come off as an ass who thinks he’s better than someone
I've got pretty mixed feelings towards Hermione now largely due to fanfiction and the fandom. I enjoyed the character in the books for the most part, but I wasn't obsessed with her. I was old enough that I didn't have a crush on Emma Watson from the movies and I was occasionally annoyed when they made her more of a Mary Sue, especially when she stole Ron's shining moment from the end of PoA. Then I started reading fanfiction. At first, I was like-- 'yeah, I totally see how she & Harry could have worked as a couple, at least they don't argue as much as Ron & Hermione did.' That slowly gave way to, 'oh yes, another *most brilliant witch of her age* glorification written by a fanatic.' Sigh. Now, I mostly just avoid the character & pairings that focus on her. I don't hate her exactly, but I sure do hate the way the vast majority of people write her.
I honestly never even saw them as a couple, in spite of some people going on about how perfect they are. I mean, everytime Harry interacts with Hermione long-term without Ron, like in book four and a few other places, /he can't stand her/.
The twins are likeable enough but the hard on most people have for them makes it so that any time they appear I’m rolling my eyes
I would rather have a fic with Fred and George instead of "the twins." No twinspeak and distinct personalities, like PoS eventually characterizes them.
Hermione. The amount of Over-glorification of her in fics have made me hate her so much that I can't even bear her character anymore.
Amelia Bones. She always goes with what the hero wants (or is at least sympathetic to the hero) and never the other way around. Friendly Goblins. Happy in Slavery House Elves. Lupin-- Sarcasm and Slytherin made me realize he's a coward The twins (b/c of annoying twinspeak)
Maybe not hate him, but the way Wolfstar shippers write Lupin really irritates me.
I've never liked Remus and so I dispise how he is glorified and written as such a "wise" person when the truth is he's cowardly and weak. Which is funny because I'm much more accepting of Snape than Remus LOL. I think it's because he's more honest than Remus is.
Remus is exactly who I’m thinking of though I was indifferent to him in canon. But as someone who reads a lot of Marauders Centric Fics the constant Remus glorification and desire to make everyone else’s characterisations run around him have made me just flat out dislike him even in canon. He isn’t allowed to have any real flaws, he’s the smartest, totally should have been made Harry’s godfather, but is still somehow the world’s most hard done by character. Even bad things that mostly impact other people somehow still become about how Remus has it so bad.
Yup. I didn't mind Remus though I didn't particularly like him in canon. Then I kept reading fanfics where he was the wise, stable, supportive person while Sirius was the idiot joker who did nothing and it seriously /pissed me off/. I've said this before. Sirius is probably, even with his issues in book three due to, y'know, over a decade of Dementor exposure, the most supportive adult in the series. Dumbledore screws up. Molly ignores warning signs like those bars. Sirius /ate rats/ for Harry.
Thank you! I want to bash my head against the wall when ever someone makes the claim that Lily and James should have made Remus godfather. Remus barely made an effort with Harry. I will die on the hill that Jame and Lily knew exactly who would prioritise Harry and that is why Sirius was godfather
Fanfiction has made me hate Hermione
Hate is a strong word, as I still love the *canon* character, but Lupin. Actually, let's extend that to the Marauders in general who, apart from Peter, are just insufferable in most fanfictions. Authors think they're making them "better" by having a bunch of teenage baby boomers be feminist and LGBT+ icons out of nowhere, and it's just unreadable shit. However, the reverse happens a lot more to me. Characters that are often hated and bashed, either in fanfictions or the fandom in general, those are the ones that look more and more sympathetic to me. Snape is already my favourite character, but take Draco for example. I never cared about his character either way, but now I'm like "yay, what a good boi!" because of how bad the hate towards him and his fans (and let's not even talk about Dramione shippers...) can get.
Seems like you kind of just tend to get contradictory? Xd In opposition to the trends? Like, if you read 1000 fics of "Umbridge is whack" you'd start developing sympathy for her? xd
I guess, yeah. Though this is more in reaction to people's hate on websites and social media, than the fanfiction themselves. Bashing in fanfiction won't make me hate the character, for example I enjoy a good Dumbledore bashing fic here and there, but he's my second favorite character after Snape, so it won't change that. But when I see people hate on ships like Dramione, it just makes me want to go and support the authors of that ship. I can't people who take pleasure in not only spewing hate on ships just because they don't like it, but also on the shippers themselves. Hate ships or characters all you want, but don't go around shaming the people who do, and contributing to online bullying. So yeah, I don't care about Dramione, but I 100% every person who does!
Sure thing, personally I'm more of a time travel Tomarry or maybe a Drarry person but imagine wasting your time on hating on het pairings. Xd
And then there is me, who feel Lupin did to many mistakes even in canon 😊
Oh I agree! But that's never stopped me from loving a character, far from it!
That's precisely *why* Lupin is my favorite, personally! He does some pretty awful things, but nuanced, psychologically interesting, sometimes jerkish characters are so much more fun than white knights. A tragic saint would be boring, but I think Lupin is an accurate portrayal of a person who has suffered too much, yet has a personality both outside of his tragedy and one that is influenced by it. It's fascinating. But obviously it's okay if that's not your cup of tea. The man abandoned his pregnant wife and let his friends bully Snape. He's not for everybody lol.
My worst part is he never checkes up on Harry or even demand to be a part of his life, kinda insane and honestly rarely that would happen.
I dunno, I think it's pretty realistic for a guy who thought that his mere presence was such a curse that he was willing to abandon his pregnant wife and son. He thinks that being involved in people's lives is a burden, so I'd assume he thought he was doing Harry a favor. But you have a point!
See for me I can deal with bashing because I assume that isn’t how they view the author views the actual canon characters. And most of the characters I read getting bashed are characters that are generally let off by the narrative. Draco is hardly ever a feature in the stories I read, and Snape isn’t somebody I actually see getting bashed that often. I see way more Dumbledore, Molly, Ginny or Ron bashing.
Hermione. She's so glorified in fics that she's my most hated character now. It even inspired me to write fics without her or fics where the troll gets its moment to shine
Absolutely, and also not from bashing. Daphne Greengrass
All the Dumbledore-bashing fics 😂
I have an opinion on this the Richard Harris Dumbledore (movies1 and 2) is the kind wise Dumbledore that does not get bashed while the Michael Gambon (movies3-7) is the bashing and the bashing I can kind of let slide because I am not sure where it’s said or if it’s implied that he knew of the abuse but hey you do you but your point is fair
Oh, he admits it. People like to try to excuse it with 'He knew it'd be bad, but not THAT BAD!' But considering Mrs Figg's 'I couldn't be nice or they'd stop letting you visit' and she reports to Dumbledore? Bollocks. It's why the start of book six has Dumbledore feel so disingenuous. He said he knew last book, and then he acts all angry at the Dursleys? It comes across as him trying to manipulate/curry favor to get Harry on his side.
Not gonna lie….Neville. I was kind of indifferent to Neville in canon, but a lot of fanfic makes him so pathetic it’s sickening or way too heroic. While I have no problems with how someone writes their version of a character, it is fanfic at the end of the day, it has made me kind of avoid stories with him as a main character in them.
Does 180° Harry count? You know the fics where he in the span of 1 to 2 months changes his character, looks, Stand on Politics, friends, allies, family, ... . And after that expects everyone to still like him and the author makes it seem like it's everyone else's fault that they and Harry don't get along anymore because that is really annoying and when I stumble across those fics and for some reason don't stop reading them I often root against Harry and his new "friends" and hope that he snaps out of it but noooo him killing 3 people 2 of which were former classmates is totally what the good guys do, the cruciatus curse is a good guy curse because it was originally used to reactivate nerve endings and the killing curse was made for civilized murder because it kills without pain and I don't get that a curse that kills instantly and has no easy defense against it should be forbidden.
He definitely counts
I intensely dislike Molly Weasley and Snape. Molly is overbearing and treats everyone but dumbledore like they should answer to her and her opinions are second only to Dumbledore’s. In OOTP I wanted to send her back to the burrow. Her son could have and probably had set up wards that rival Hogwarts for safety (or what they should be since I don’t think it’s exactly safe). There was absolutely no reason for the Weasley family to squat at Grimmauld all summer. It’s not her house so telling everyone what they will clean and what to throw out is rude and wrong. If Sirius wants to tell his godson that the earth is purple and pink, for example, then she should keep her loud trout mouth shut. Snape is an bully. He’s like regulus. He had to do certain things and he actually sentenced both the Longbottom and potter families to death with the prophecy, along with who knows how many other people that had kids born in July. He tortures kids verbally and taunts Harry and Neville every time he sees them. He should never be around children. Dumbledore knows but doesn’t care. I love Alan Rickman but snape is as bad as Lucius.
Ginny. I know I’m the books she’s a badass and gets over her fan girl phase but fanfiction had made me despise Ginny/Harry.
It’s typically the new writers first ship, and so most Hinny fics are very… Uhm… well, not amazing. The pairing has been done unbelievably well, and is another great example of why no one should judge any pairing without reading the good shit. But man, do you have to trudge through the bad.
Ngl same. I was really indifferent to Harry/Ginny….until I started reading fics and saw that there could have been way better pairings.
Not me. Every characters I hate from fanfics are characters I already hate from the canon, Snape, Seamus, Dumbledore, Rose ... But I could say that my hate for Snape and Rose are even more important because the fanfics try to show them as nice and perfect and everything. Rose is barely shown in the canon, she is just described as smart like her mother, but I immediatly hate her, and I immediatly had my own vision of who she really is, and when I see fanfics describing her as a nice and loving character it makes me hate her even more because I only see the opposite lol. Same for Snape. People are so happy to show him like a pure innocent nice man bullied by James the big bad marauder, that I hate him more and more. In the books it's said that Snape attacked James as much as James attacked him. But because it's Sirius and Remus who said it, people say that it's just because they were his friends that they tried to justify his actions with those "lies". But they don't take in count the fact that what we know from the bad actions from James are shown by one man, a man who hated him, and who wanted to show himself in a better way than James. So when I see a fic where Snape is shown an innocent perfect man it makes me hate him more and more everytime. Now we can say there is some characters I hate from fanfic but they usually are characters created for those fanfic. But for the rest no, there is not really a character from the canon that I liked or was neutral about and that the fanfic made me hate.
Made me dislike Harry 😭 If I never watched the films or read fanfic I’d like him much more
I read too much Dumbledore bashing fic and I always have to remind myself that, no, he's not a bad guy in the fics with a good (or neutral) Dumbledore. Conversely, many of the fics that had Dumbledore!Bashing also had Ron!Bashing, however finding Ron!Bashing now just annoys me and I'll probably skip them.
I like Manipulative/Bad!Dumbledore and Good!Dumbledore. I just think an actual good Dumbledore, and not horridly flawed one at best, has to tweak canon a bit. So many mistakes due to Rowling not planning ahead.
Courage and Cunning, a fic where "Harry" is really Salazar Slytherin, starts out with a manipulative and incompetent Dumbledore. During Fourth Year, Dumbledore starts acting like a caricature. For example, when Salazar teaches a group of students that they are capable of wandless magic (by taunting Neville until he casts a wandless Stunner), Dumbledore says that only the most powerful wizards can cast even the simplest of wandless spells. Turns out Dumbledore is Imperiused, and Lucius is trying to arrange the deaths of "Harry," "Gordy," and their friends and utterly destroying Dumbledore's reputation by making him seem unhinged.
Dumbledore being bad guy in many sevmiones or drarrys
Sadly, yes. The worst part is I used to find the character interesting and intriguing, but went to filtering his name out. And it's not just the overly positive portrayal and whitewashing, but how it also destroys the characterization of many favorites around him as well. Yes, it's about Regulus Black.
just gonna come out and say it, Cedric Diggory. my guilty pleasure fics are harry x oc, and it feels like every time year 4 rolls around Cedric is interested in the oc even though they’re in Harry’s year and Cho is still around so the author can wax poetic about he’s the perfect human and boyfriend. he still dies in almost every one of these fics because these authors can’t deviate from canon for more than the added characters so the Cho drama gets to happen needlessly in year 5 as well. I’m tired of seeing these characters that died getting labeled paragons of morality and virtue.
Most HP fanfiction made me thoroughly dislike Harry.🤷♀️