Varying degrees of reality

[pauraque_bk]

robkaiote, a RL friend of mine, has a post about the time he was expelled from school for witchcraft.

*

So... is it just me, or is there no RPS in HP? I've only come across it once, and given the vastness of the fandom (and its proclivity for taboo-busting), that seems strange. Is there a seamy underworld of HP RPS that I just don't know about?

If there isn't, why not? einini suggested that the lack may stem from the young age of the primary actors, but... knowing this fandom, I frankly doubt that would stop anybody.

Any thoughts?

*

In case anyone's missed it, villainny is hosting a mass anonymous crush confession. If you're an HP person, it's worth a look, 'cause it's already up to 589 (!) comments, and one of them just might be about you.

Orgy organizer: You just named me in the same sentence with three phenomenal writers, maybe in the top ten of the fandom. Do you have any idea how good that makes me feel? Whoever you are, you rule. And I'm glad my writing makes you feel... like that. ;)

Timidly in the wings: *smooch*

Good speller: Maybe I should have a mnemonic song, like Mississippi. Do you think that would help?

Paranoid stalker: The calls are coming from inside the house!

Person who is possibly less anonymous than she could be: *lick* The fact that we don't live closer to each other is wronger than a wrong thing.


Dude, so many people have crushes on switchknife. Switch is the coolest kid in school.

Comments

[snitchnip-chill.livejournal.com]

There's Rankinstaff out there, Chris Rankin/Sean Biggerstaff slash.
Chris Rankin has even read some, and finds it funny.

Just for one example:
Once Upon a Time, and the Rest of the Tale by Fleur (http://breaksforquidditch.net/fleur/onceupon.html)


I've heard of Rickman/Radcliffe RPS, but it scares me.

[pauraque]

Rankinstaff

Now that you mention it, I have heard of that. I think my brain lumped it in with Marcus/Oliver, another thing I always forget exists.

[norah.livejournal.com]

You can find it at jade_rps and cimorene111 has written some too.

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

There's also at least one LJ community dedicated to HP slash, but I gave up in defeat when I tried to do a search for you and saw how many HP-related communities there were. *g*

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

I mean, of course, one *other* LJ community *g*

[pauraque]

Actually, I think you meant one community dedicated to HP RPS, not HP slash, which of course has many communities dedicated to it. *g*

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Didn't I say...

:::looks:::

...oops!

You're right, of course. *g*

-Beth, who apparently has too much slash on the brain. :)

[(Anonymous)]

*blushes at the smooch!*

*faints*

[pauraque]

*gets the smelling salts*

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks!

*timidly waves stage left*

[switchknife.livejournal.com]

There isn't much RPS here... jade1x2 put up some TRULY sordid Alan/Daniel smut a while ago (a series!) which, predictably, I read. And salivated over. Wildly OOC, as slash featuring these two must be, but who the hell cares.

I think the reason we prefer FPS in this fandom is because the book's characters are just so much more interesting. I mean, can Rickman possibly measure up to Snape? Of course not. (Well. Jade's Nabokovian version was quite tasty, but...) And Daniel, while quite the sweetie (and also quite the jailbait--er, you didn't hear me say that, it's just my fetish for virgins speaking), can't possibly measure up to Harry Potter in terms of the angst, the prophecies or the we-have-to-have-sex-before-Voldemort-kills-us desperation. :D

Also, I was a fan long before the movies came along, and for a while I felt as though the actors were encroaching on holy territory. Yeah, I know. Pathetic. I got over that, and have learned to get some joy out of the movies regardless of the fact that my characters (the ones in my head) look so different from the ones on screen.

As for the crushes... woah. Perhaps being gender-neutral is more of a turn-on than I imagined. *blinks* In any case, I'm trying to be courteous and reply to everyone, and am hoping to get some answers out of people as to why everyone thinks I'm an unequivocal top. They're right, but that's what scares me. How do they...?

[pauraque]

I think you and lolaraincoat are onto two sides of the same explanation: The actors in the HP movies just aren't that interesting. They're certainly not more interesting than their characters, as you point out, and they're not even especially interesting compared to other actors, as Lola points out.

I'm usually hesitant to explain any Slash Paucity with "those people/characters just aren't slashy/interesting", because that frequently seems to be no object. Especially in HP fandom, which culturally likes to write things just for the hell of it, *because* they're off the wall.

On the other hand, I read the article on LotRiPS at crack_van, and was forced to admit that, hey, those actors really do behave in a slash-conducive way, and the story of how they came to make those movies really is a pretty interesting one. That phenomenon isn't as random as it first appeared, and the same rules wouldn't generate a similar phenomenon in HP.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

HP-RPS- I tried out the same hypothesis the other night (not on LJ), and was told oh no, there's lots, including several communities, and lots by young writers about the teens. But I haven't gone on the search yet.

Someone in that thread on Isis' journal about the size and structure of the fandom linked to a comm that tracks & lists archives. Also I know there's been a link recently to a list of all LJ HP comms: probably in my memories.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I've seen quite a bit of HP RPS, and immediately averted my eyes. Does nothing for me. jade1x2, as some people have mentioned, and also thisveryinstant has written some.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Re the RPS and HP: if you were going to write RPS where making a movie was a big part of the backdrop, so much more interesting to use LTR, because they were all there together over a very long period of time and so many of them were so far from home and there's such interesting things they could do in their off hours, aside from boffing each other I mean. There seems to be a lot of surfing in LotR RPS for instance.

[pauraque]

Aye. I addressed this stuff in my reply to switchknife above.

[nicolthewhore.livejournal.com]

random request. your dinosaur icon. would you write a fic about it? we're just curious to know how it would turn out. the Royal We.

[caesia390.livejournal.com]

hi, pauraque!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D did you read our porn???????

[nicolthewhore.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, read the new hook porn.

[pauraque]

I... don't have a dinosaur icon. Perhaps you are thinking of someone else? If you mean the dragon fetus, someone's already requested that.

[nicolthewhore.livejournal.com]

sally is suggesting over my shoulder that you make it an albino dinosaur and write a drabble about it anyway. i am simply hanging my head in disappointment and awaiting the day the dino-dragon fetus drabble is finished.

[pauraque]

If you want one of my other faaaabulous icons, you're free to request. But I've already got the dragon fetus one written in my head, so you shouldn't have to wait too long for that.

[nicolthewhore.livejournal.com]

hawt.

sally is still disappointed with the lack of dinosaur-ness. she's threatening to bitch later. be warned.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

There's RPS, just has to be well hidden for legal issues.
I don't lock mine on principle though, and that's archived at my journal.
Three (http://www.livejournal.com/users/roxannelinton/8783.html)
different (http://www.livejournal.com/users/roxannelinton/8598.html)
fics! (http://www.livejournal.com/users/roxannelinton/8299.html)

There's also an open community (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=hp_rps) (see how well we do at the whole well hidden thing? ;) with an accompanying website and mailing list.

If you would like any recs, let me know, I'm pretty on top of things in that small corner of the fandom ;)
If you were just asking out of curiousity, feel free to flame me!

[pauraque]

Ah, see, this starts to answer my question. You guys are there, you're just hiding out.

So, what can you tell me about the world of HP RPS? What are the main pairings people write? What are the seminal fics? What is there in the way of fanon? Do most of your writers also write FPS?

I'm asking out of curiosity, just because I'm interested in the structure of the fandom, and of fandoms in general. Though I don't really read RPS, I'm interested in the different ways fandoms deal with it, how marginalized it is, etc.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

Ok...
Main pairings: Tom/Dan.
Although I've also come across Dan/Alan, Tom/Jason, Bonnie/Emma, Alan/Gary, Tom/Rupert, Dan/Elijah Wood (don't ask me to explain it, I don't understand it myself!), Chris/Sean, Tom/Emma, Dan/Rupert, Alan/Jason, Alfonso/Daniel and Kenneth/Rupert (phew...)

Seminal fics...it's such a small community that there aren't any as such, imo, but the ones that have been around the longest are probably stuff by lunadeath02 and jade1x2. Oh, and marysia's one off.

Recently the quality has improved somewhat (not to be snobbish, just imho) - thisveryinstant, veuki, emmagrant01, hautemonde, slytherinpride and paranoidkitten have all written lots of hp stuff you may have heard of (?) Depends where you lurk.

As far as I know, everyone (including me) also writes hp fic. Veuki, hautemonde (Rube, now deleted), and emmagrant01 also lurk in different fandoms, but if you want to know more about any of the authors, the names I've used are their ljuser ones (too lazy to type in code.)

Fanon? None that I know of. Information basically gleaned from interviews (If anyone asks me about something referenced in mine, I usually provide a link to said interview/media.)

If you want to know anything else, feel free to ask!
Although I'd advise you to read some - like hp, there's a variation in quality, but it's such a small fandom, it'll take no time, and really fill you in.