The Last Good Name Left (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} thelastgoodname) wrote,@ 2008-01-29 22:46:00 |
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Epilogue? Who Cares.
I've read several posts over the last few months about the Harry Potter Book Seven Epilogue. (I don't know if it's because all the people I'm reading are more or less monofannish or what, but any identifying information seems to be mostly lost in translation, because it's usually just called the Epilogue and left at that.)
Most of these comments express dissatisfaction with the Epilogue, because it's canon and thus icky (I may be parsing a little bit wrongly here).
This response does not reflect my experience.
Yes, canon is important. Despite the fact that Hermione/Ron is canon and has been since Book One, I much prefer to read about either Hermione or Ron with Pansy than with each other. I don't have to deal with the fact that they got married any more than I have to deal with the fact that Pansy wanted to sell Harry out to Voldemort to save her own skin.
If I wanted to, I could, but I don't have to. (And I will eventually write the story of Pansy's complete ostracization from the wizarding world for that stupid 17-year-old thing to say, and it will certainly feature either Pansy/Ron or Pansy/Hermione, but it will probably not feature Hermione/Ron.)
I can hold multiple contradictory thoughts in my head at once.
This is actually one of the reasons I like fandom so much — I can read 100 or 1000 stories about a character, and believe all of them to be true at the same time, no matter what differences they may suggest about that character. I can write multiple stories at a time, and selectively choose my canon, and I can remember what Rowling has said and I can also imagine ten or twelve different backstories for any character — and they can all be true at the same time.
Does this make my story AU? Well, that kind of depends on your definition of AU. According to my definition — anything goes so long as it is mostly recognizable as the accordant universe to the casual fan — it doesn't. But then, I'm not a fan of labels for fanfiction.
This is not to say that my multiple versions should bear the same weight as "canon"; what Rowling said is what Rowling said. But I don't have to listen.
(I did not like the Epilogue. I didn't like an awful lot about all seven books. I don't like much of what Rowling has said in any of her interviews, those since Book Seven was published and those that came before. But I am capable of using my imagination, and I don't always have to think about things that I don't want to think about.)
I've read several posts over the last few months about the Harry Potter Book Seven Epilogue. (I don't know if it's because all the people I'm reading are more or less monofannish or what, but any identifying information seems to be mostly lost in translation, because it's usually just called the Epilogue and left at that.)
Most of these comments express dissatisfaction with the Epilogue, because it's canon and thus icky (I may be parsing a little bit wrongly here).
This response does not reflect my experience.
Yes, canon is important. Despite the fact that Hermione/Ron is canon and has been since Book One, I much prefer to read about either Hermione or Ron with Pansy than with each other. I don't have to deal with the fact that they got married any more than I have to deal with the fact that Pansy wanted to sell Harry out to Voldemort to save her own skin.
If I wanted to, I could, but I don't have to. (And I will eventually write the story of Pansy's complete ostracization from the wizarding world for that stupid 17-year-old thing to say, and it will certainly feature either Pansy/Ron or Pansy/Hermione, but it will probably not feature Hermione/Ron.)
I can hold multiple contradictory thoughts in my head at once.
This is actually one of the reasons I like fandom so much — I can read 100 or 1000 stories about a character, and believe all of them to be true at the same time, no matter what differences they may suggest about that character. I can write multiple stories at a time, and selectively choose my canon, and I can remember what Rowling has said and I can also imagine ten or twelve different backstories for any character — and they can all be true at the same time.
Does this make my story AU? Well, that kind of depends on your definition of AU. According to my definition — anything goes so long as it is mostly recognizable as the accordant universe to the casual fan — it doesn't. But then, I'm not a fan of labels for fanfiction.
This is not to say that my multiple versions should bear the same weight as "canon"; what Rowling said is what Rowling said. But I don't have to listen.
(I did not like the Epilogue. I didn't like an awful lot about all seven books. I don't like much of what Rowling has said in any of her interviews, those since Book Seven was published and those that came before. But I am capable of using my imagination, and I don't always have to think about things that I don't want to think about.)