Bored, bored, bored....

[lls_mutant]

Y'know, November 27th would be a perfectly good day for a birthday....

::sigh::

Oooh- the fic commentary meme is going around again! Does anyone have a request? I will happily do commentary on anything I've written except Mentors, Accio Bananas, and Lesson for Lily, simply because I did those before. (I'll dig up the links if anyone wants them.) Given that I write novel length, I'll happily do commentary on scene or chapter. (There's no way I'll make it through all of Deny Thy Father or Accidentally In Love.) Frankly, I love that meme.

Anyway. I was putzing around my f-list and was vastly entertained by shaggydogstail's rant about things she can't stand in fanfiction. One of her comments was that she was sick of Remus's scars, which I can totally empathize with.

Scars, amber eyes, long fingers and feet, an overly big nose, the Lord of the Rings, Sirius-the-Auror (although I like that one myself), Sirius the incompetent housekeeper... the cliches go on and on. We all know them. (Although Sirius in black leather is a completely 100% acceptable cliche, because I think we can all agree that even if he didn't wear it, he should have.) But I've ranted about that before. I was working on my top ten "different" characterizations, details and other stuff type list, but I got bored.

Anyway, I'm curious- what are some of people's favorite characterizations that aren't canon, but just FIT? One that caught my eye recently was krabapple's version of Sirius teaching Astronomy and completely panicking at his first class (in Mischief Managed). My other current favorite, which has been used by myself, ignipes, and juliette_kelley, is either of the boys (but generally Sirius) reading bodice-ripper novels. (Or in ignipes's case, where he writes them.) Anyone got any others?

Comments

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

Remus liking chocolate. We never do see him eating it, do we?
I've always thought it'd be hilarious if JK told us he's diabetic and can't eat chocolate at all.
Sirius and Remus with dog collars. Is that characterization? Dunno, but well, you mentioned the leather...

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Oh my God. Someone so needs to write that. Do you mind if I steal that for the James one-shot I'm working on?

And yeah, dog collars is, well, ALWAYS good.

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

I'll second Sirius-in-a-dog-collar because...guh. It's just hot.

I also love the bodice-ripper thing, because it's so funny.

I like Sirius being good at cooking, because I like a nurturing, caring sort of a Sirius, especially when he's fussing over Remus after the full moon.

Although it is at least slightly canon-based, I do love Sirius with animals as well. I particularly like Sirius fussing over his pet owl/kneazle so much that Remus is actually jealous of it.

I love a sarcastic!Remus, or even just a sardonic sense of humour.

Remus trying to be cross and disapproving of Sirius but failing miserably works nicely as well.

I also like a cool, calm, collected sexually provocative Remus, who makes Sirius get all flushed and stammery in public just with a look.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Sirius in a dog collar, much like Sirius in black leather, is one of those cliches that can completely take over fandom as far as I'm concerned, because there's NO reason for that to change.

I like Sirius being good at cooking as well. He's a bright guy- there's no real reason he shouldn't do that.

And while Sirius with animals IS canon-based, no one ever seems to do anything with it. ::sigh::

I like

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

nyxfixx's characterisations of Lupin and Black. Sirius' passion and the fact that he can do 1000 things before breakfast!

I like franticbabbles's Sirius as well. Although he can be gooey at times, and Black can be cruel. I like Cate (sheafrodean?)'s Sirius, the one that reads the gossip columns in the Wizarding Papers.

Could go on, but gotta bounce.

Re: I like

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I was so glad you recced nyxfixx's Feast In Azkaban- I don't know that I would have found it if you hadn't, and that was one of the best written pieces ever.

Heee. Gossip columns. :)

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I want to write another bodice-ripper R/S story, just because it's so much silly fun. I'm thinking he's going to do a wild west story next, because it's the season for that, right? =D

I love it when Remus is the irresponsible one. Bonus points if he blows up the potions lab -- on purpose.

I also love it when Sirius has an aspect of his personality that distinctly channels Molly Weasley. Fussy, overprotective, interfering, tea-and-toast-making. I think those two have an awful lot in common, though they would both hate to admit it. But for both of them, their primary goal in life is to protect the people they love, so, really, it's not a stretch.

I also like it when Remus is the one who gets horny and feisty and jumps Sirius' bones. Just 'cause. ;)

Also, Remus loves the motorbike and Sirius is a huge geek hidden under a cool exterior.

And I could go on about non-canon characterizations I love forever, so I'll just stop there. *g*

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Sirius Black's version of Brokeback Mountain. This I need to see :) (I can just see him pouring on the angst.)

I agree that Molly and Sirius have a lot in common- I think that's why they rub against each other so easily. They're too much alike on certain things. I'd love to play more with their relationship- I have the theory they really respect each other, and they enjoy blowing up at each other, but they just can't manage to get along too well. Both of them need the outlet.

And if I were Sirius and Remus never jumped my bones, I'd be highly offended :) Why, oh why, does this fandom so often assume lust is BAD?

[aome.livejournal.com]

Oooh, you're making me wish I could write the "Remus blows up Potions on purpose" one, just for fun. Alas, my Muse apparently stayed in Germany with my Lost Years fic and never came back. :-P

[venilia.livejournal.com]

Sirius in a collar. Oh yes.
Sirius as a healer, or healer in training during the first war (I don't know when it became fanon that he be an auror.)
Sirius as a complete innocent when it comes to relationships. (In the book he doesn't even notice the girls looking at him - not doesn't care to notice, just plain old oblivous to it.)
Remus being protective of Sirius, especially before they become a couple.
Remus as the mastermind behind the Marauder pranks.
Remus being stronger than your average boy because of being a werewolf - because the boy has to have some trade off.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I solemnly swear never to complain at Sirius in a collar :)

I like Sirius the innocent, too, and I agree he was completely oblivious. I think he was clueless when it came to romance. (Sometime, I want to write a scene with Ron asking him advice about Hermione. It could be really funny.)

[jackielupin.livejournal.com]

amber eyes
I hate the "Amber eyes" thing. He's not a wolf when in human form. So, my question is, why can't people just say they're brown? Hm? Ugh.. thank you for distracting me from my english paper. ;)

Jackie

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

You're welcome :)

I admit I'm guilty of giving Remus amber eyes, but that was because I decided that Scrimegeour's description belonged to Remus's father, and he had yellow eyes, and Remus looks a lot like Damien. Does that get me off the hook? :)

But yeah, I get sick of it too. One day I'm gonna give him blue eyes. Just to be totally different.

[juliette-kelley.livejournal.com]

This is a bit off-topic, but I just spent my entire day re-reading Deny Thy Father, Mentors, Accidentally In Love, and Cooking Lessons. It took me quite some time (I started around noon, and with some breaks I finished now at 2:20 am) but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. It never fails to amaze me how plotty and solid your fics are. Your characterizations are dead-on, and you flesh out the more minor canon characters-- i.e. Damien Lupin and Caradoc Dearborn-- to the extent that I feel this is the canon of the real Potterverse.

One thing that really struck me is what a brilliant job you've done with Peter. In most fics where Peter isn't outright ignored, it's usually heavily foreshadowed and obvious to the reader that he's OMG THE TRAITOR. But in this series I find myself just as trusting of him as Remus, Sirius, and James are, so when I see the well-placed snatches of foreshadowing his betrayal is a shock because I actually like him. I'm so utterly engrossed in your universe, and can't wait for your next update! :D

When I was reading, I noticed your author notes that you plan on writing a PoA/GoF era epilogue. I found myself hoping you'd write both Remus's and Sirius's POV during PoA. It would be so interesting to see how Sirius's experience as an Auror tracking down fugitives would affect his plans during PoA, and Remus's reaction-- god, it hurts to even think about it, that's how vivid your characterizations are.

Anyway, this really incoherent review is the product of a day spent sitting in front of my computer screen, devouring your words and forgetting the chaos that is Real Life. Thank you for the much-needed and much-appreciated holiday! Reading your fics is like a breath of fresh air. :D

*loves*

[juliette-kelley.livejournal.com]

And to actually talk about the content of your post... *g*

I have to agree with shaggydogstail that Remus with a wry and sarcastic sense of humor really seems to fit.

One characterization I see a lot of in fandom is Sirius shagging a few girls, usually not very seriously, and Remus being jealous and pining for him souper sekritly. It annoys the hell out of me because I think it's a very shallow characterization of Sirius and lazy way of explaining how they go together-- as venilia points out, he's outright oblivious to the girls in OotP. I like a sexually naive Sirius, because as fiercely loyal as he is to his friends, I'd imagine him being a very faithful lover who takes his relationships seriously. (Though a few writers, notably mackittenx, can write variances of this scenario very well!)

As I pointed out on shaggydogstail's latest post, with some dissent, I actually like the idea of Remus having superhuman abilities that come with his lycanthropy. This could just be because it's a not-so-secret kink of mine, but I like the idea of unusual strength, healing capabilites, and proclivity towards recognizing/defending against Dark Magic. It has no basis in canon, but when a good author chooses to go that route, it really works for me (i.e. copperbadge allowing Remus to survive Avada Kedavra in his Stealing Harry universe).

I also really like Sirius as a bit of a closet intellectual. I think he'd read for fun and enjoy tinkering with spells both at Hogwarts and with his flying motorbike.

I also like Sirius as having a very dark past with his family that has lasting effects on him during the war. I think a lot of authors gloss over it, but as you've shown in Deny Thy Father, disowning your family (or being disowned by it) is not easy by any means. I like Sirius to have issues with that to work out, although in canon he doesn't dwell on it in front of Harry.

I love Remus travelling during his lost years. We know nothing about those years in canon, but after reading so much of ignipes brilliant fics, I have a mental image of Remus traveling the world trying in vain to forget about Sirius and his past. It could just be because I'm a hopeless romantic, but I don't see Remus ever "getting over" Sirius during those years. I think he may have come to an uneasy peace on a day to day basis, but I don't think the wounds ever healed because there wasn't any true closure. He was left wondering "why?" for all those years, which culminates beautifully in PoA (one of the books JKR did right, dammit). That's why I love krislaughs's Paper Wings premise so much.

As for the scars and amber eyes... I honestly don't have a huge problem with that, unless the author is being lazy and writing a generic fic, in which case I probably wouldn't bother reading it anyway.

My goodness, I've just babbled on and on... again, sorry for the incoherency (let's blame it on the early hour, lol). :D

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

First, thanks for your first comment. ::Blushes:: I wonder if that might be part of what's contributing to my writer's block with that universe- just how ugly it's going to get. ::sniff::

I agree that Sirius-the-slut is a shallow characterization. Every now and then I see it done really well, but it's rare. The best actually was Mysid's Lovers for Tonight series, because I felt like she actually understood why someone might be a slut, and I felt like her Sirius genuinely cared about Remus, but was complicated enough that he couldn't deal with it.

I'm not a fan of Remus having secret powers or anything, but it depends how it's done. I agree in the Stealing Harry universe it was done really well. But so often I get the feeling that people took Stealing Harry as canon and do it out of laziness. If someone thought about it (or even better, came up with their own powers), I'm okay with it.

I like traveling Remus as well, and I agree that he never completely got over Sirius- PoA points to that pretty clearly- at least that he never accepted it.

And I'm glad you babbled- I enjoy reading it :)

[aome.livejournal.com]

Er *shuffles* I wrote a Lost Years fic (for lupinslittlesis, in fact), where Remus is in Germany and sort of moving on after Sirius, but he certainly hasn't forgotten. If you're interested.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Good Luck!!

And I like the fanon of traveller!Remus during the lost years. I don't *think* there's anything to support it in canon.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

There's not in canon, but there is in movie!canon, amazingly enough. When you click on the tour of the DADA prof's office, they mention how much Remus traveled. So either the DVD producers or Cuaron or Kloves (or all of them) agree with us, or JKR mentioned Remus traveled a lot during the lost years.

[ladyblack888.livejournal.com]

Ten Galleons. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!