It'd be easier to answer you if I knew which weird think I called IC, heh, though I realize I have lots of off-color and just plain idiosyncratic preferences with H/D-- though I do read other pairings I'm probably more normal with (er...). If you mean the rage!Draco thing as one example, most of that-- and a lot of my pet-peeves-- was a total backlash against complete wet-noodle who laid back and took it!Draco. And so it is that I only know what I want to see when I see its direct opposite being very stupid.
With H/D, at least, I'm a lot more certain of the things that -don't- make sense -because- I see them all the time. It's likely enough I don't have any better ideas, but at the same time, the things I do see are just so ridiculous I can't stand it. It's not that the writers are claiming it's canon (though sometimes they are), but that no one bothers to try harder, to do something more real, to face the issues, etc. It was never that I wanted anyone to face the issues -my- way. It was always that I wanted the fics to acknowledge the ugly spots, the dirty spots, all the difficulties. So basically, it's when things just fall into place-- when things are too easy and the characters too pliant and ready and sexy-- that's when I know I'm reading about someone's fantasy space more than canon-derived characters.
Like, I think it's a misunderstanding if you think I've ever told people what to write to be IC or some other reason-- though I admit I've come rather close to telling them what -not- to write, at least as much, because there's just so much of it and it annoys me and I rant. But. The main thing I think is 'wrong', basically, is white-washing and glorifying both circumstances and characters-- that's what makes it purely wank, OOC, whatever. At the same time, I also hate to see blant projection of out of place gender roles onto characters that don't remotely fit them-- and that's the whole feminization phenomenon. There's also purely wish-fulfillment things which do enter into a supposedly canon-based fic-- that is, one that starts after 5th year, say-- that ruin it for me, like Harry waking up one day to realize he was always gay and Draco was always hot, or even suddenly, boom, looking at him in a new light just because he's dancing in a night-club with Pansy or something. Whatever.
Bottom line, I think if you pay attention, these sorts of things-- unrealistic swerves not just from canon but from -reality-, basically-- do stand out. And yeah, I'm fully ready to admit, and always have, that what really gets me isn't OOCness per se but blatant wish-fullfilment fantasy masquerading as a 'serious'-- not pure parody or smut-- fic.
I mean, obviously the writer isn't directly telling you worshipful!Harry is IC and canon and all that, but at the same there's no link to 'reality' there, and it's just accepted-- and it wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't -everywhere-. All I really want isn't some formulaic fic where Draco is beaten up by Harry and then fall happily/angstily in love but rather an honest exploration of issues without any sudden moments of-- TADA! And here you thought this was a -problem-! Problem, what problem! ...If that makes sense.
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With H/D, at least, I'm a lot more certain of the things that -don't- make sense -because- I see them all the time. It's likely enough I don't have any better ideas, but at the same time, the things I do see are just so ridiculous I can't stand it. It's not that the writers are claiming it's canon (though sometimes they are), but that no one bothers to try harder, to do something more real, to face the issues, etc. It was never that I wanted anyone to face the issues -my- way. It was always that I wanted the fics to acknowledge the ugly spots, the dirty spots, all the difficulties. So basically, it's when things just fall into place-- when things are too easy and the characters too pliant and ready and sexy-- that's when I know I'm reading about someone's fantasy space more than canon-derived characters.
Like, I think it's a misunderstanding if you think I've ever told people what to write to be IC or some other reason-- though I admit I've come rather close to telling them what -not- to write, at least as much, because there's just so much of it and it annoys me and I rant. But. The main thing I think is 'wrong', basically, is white-washing and glorifying both circumstances and characters-- that's what makes it purely wank, OOC, whatever. At the same time, I also hate to see blant projection of out of place gender roles onto characters that don't remotely fit them-- and that's the whole feminization phenomenon. There's also purely wish-fulfillment things which do enter into a supposedly canon-based fic-- that is, one that starts after 5th year, say-- that ruin it for me, like Harry waking up one day to realize he was always gay and Draco was always hot, or even suddenly, boom, looking at him in a new light just because he's dancing in a night-club with Pansy or something. Whatever.
Bottom line, I think if you pay attention, these sorts of things-- unrealistic swerves not just from canon but from -reality-, basically-- do stand out. And yeah, I'm fully ready to admit, and always have, that what really gets me isn't OOCness per se but blatant wish-fullfilment fantasy masquerading as a 'serious'-- not pure parody or smut-- fic.
I mean, obviously the writer isn't directly telling you worshipful!Harry is IC and canon and all that, but at the same there's no link to 'reality' there, and it's just accepted-- and it wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't -everywhere-. All I really want isn't some formulaic fic where Draco is beaten up by Harry and then fall happily/angstily in love but rather an honest exploration of issues without any sudden moments of-- TADA! And here you thought this was a -problem-! Problem, what problem! ...If that makes sense.