Why I’m not interested in Out Of Character fics

[nny]

(thoughts on Remus Lupin, David Thewlis, and OMCs)
I was always a Lupin fan. I pretended, for a little while, that I was a Sirius fan, a Snape fan, but I always came back to Lupin because there is something about his character that I’m drawn to. I identify with him in many ways, and I aspire to be like him in others. Though, I admit, I have no desire to be a werewolf.

Initially, I protested against the casting of David Thewlis. I… still do to an extent, I suppose, but you can mark my decision down as Pending. I am willing to be converted.

Somewhere between the third and fifth book, I fell in love with a literary character. I don’t know precisely when it happened, but when I read OotP I found myself wriggling happily when Remus was “on-screen”, as it were. So provided the performance is good, provided I believe that he is Remus, I would accept anyone that was cast.

That’s the thing about fanfiction, you see. It is- in my opinion- written because there’s something about the characters that resonates. Something that niggles at you until you have to write it. Some little snippet that made you want to explore further. I can understand that fiction about a TV series, a film, might be a purely lusting exercise; you want to see the actors together, but can’t bring yourself to write RPS. But slash based on a book? Surely it’s the characters that draw you in?

So I don’t understand OOC fic. What is the point of writing fanfiction if you change the very thing that identifies it as such- the characters? In my opinion there is not a fanon Remus. There are certain things that are free for interpretation, but when it comes to character traits there is Remus and there is Not-Remus. Not-Remus is all very well; he’s an attractive guy, a dark guy, a better-dressed guy… but he isn’t the character I want. You might as well give him another name and make him an OMC. I have nothing against OMCs. I just protest when they’re wearing another character’s face.

I can accept OOCness when the fic is a parody. I can accept it when the writer takes the time to explain. I can accept when the writer is just that good. Some people can justify OOC behaviour, and they can pull me in and remove all my doubts. Some people can’t. Some people shouldn’t bother.

Feel free to argue that my writing isn’t particularly in character- I accept this as a just criticism… it’s because I’m not a great writer. Newsflash, huh? But I like to think I’m improving. I like to think that I am learning from my mistakes and always striving toward a character you can recognise.

So I reserve judgement on Thewlis as Lupin until I’ve seen the film. And I separate the film Remus entirely from the Remus I carry around in my head. The Remus I fell in love with.

Comments

[mousapelli.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of us are going in with that "All right, here I am, so convince me already" mentality. It says something about the fandom at large that we trust JKR enough to wait until we see the finished product before we freak out totally (although whining is probably okay).

I think that same faith is what keeps many fans from staging mass burnings of OotP.

*stares at JKR expectantly*

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

So I don’t understand OOC fic. What is the point of writing fanfiction if you change the very thing that identifies it as such- the characters?

Amen! I am a characterisation-nazi as well, and as you said - the reason for reading (and writing) fanficiton is because we want to explore the existing characters in depth.

I don't mind different interpretations of the characters as long as they are believable. Your "Hidden" Remus shows an aggressive behaviour we've never seen in the books, but for many authors as well as readers (myself included) the aggressive potential is a believable aspect of his personality. We expect him to snap at some point.

On the other hand, there is the large group of HP recipients who read Remus as the "shy bookworm" type, which is legitimate as well unless it leads to feminisation and virginisation and general sappiness and whatnot. It is not my interpretation but I can accept it within a sensible range.

The problem with too much fanfiction and, in consequence, too many fanon views on a character is that the canon characters sometimes seem wrong. Rowling's Lupin disappointed me in OotP by being the notorious, understanding shoulder-to-cry-on. Also OotP Filch, whose brilliant characterisation in Ozma's Squid series left an immensely deep impression on me, seemed absurdly OOC simply because Ozma's stories are a prime example of how a talented writer can completely change the view a reader has on a character without contradicting canon.

So, to draw a conclusion, the task of a fanfiction author is to create a plausible interpretation of what we know from canon by fleshing out a character where canon doesn't.

[slytherin-dream.livejournal.com]

I am always interested to see people's takes on certain characters. I have always been, from the very first look at him in the first book, a Snape fan. I don't like him because he's a tortured soul, because I can 'relate to him', or because he's sexy - he's not any of those things. I probably could relate to him on some levels, but I am *not* Snape. I think there are a lot of fangirls and plebes out there who live under the utter conviction that they are soooo like Hermione or Remus etc. Nothing will annoy me more than someone introducing themselves by saying 'Hi, I'm so and so and I like Harry Potter - I am so like Hermione! All my friends think I am, anyway..'

No one is 'like' Hermione but Hermione herself. She is an undoubted genius.

I am straying drastically from the point.

Remus is not a genius, he's not a wonderfully outstanding person. But he is a werewolf, and the way he puts up with that and the prejudice it brings does buy a certain amount of respect from me - that and his ability to play peace-maker.

The second thing I hate in writers, aside from the conviction that they are the character they are writing, is this -

The way some writers try and put in all the things *they* want to be into an HP character. It's bad enough when they put their own, 'super-self' in and become Sues, but when they make Remus Lupin some sauve ladykiller, or perhaps a tortured soul who spends his time weeping over the fact that he was a werewolf... then I want to kill something. I read exceptionally little fanfiction now, if it hasn't been recommended, written by a friend or on SS_FF (quite a haven for GoodFic). Why? Because if one cares to step into FFnet or FA, or any such place, one is met with a sea of BadFic.

And I hate BadFic.

...well, I rambled lots ^^;; Mostly about things only vaguely concerning your post, but I never have been able to keep on subject.. Anyway.

David thingy should be..interesting. We were lucky with Snape, IMHO, though I would have liked to have seen Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Ah well.

And your writing is not bad, dammit!

[blacksatinrose.livejournal.com]

I'll buy slash if the characters remain in character. I'll buy anything if they do. AND I am more than happy to get into other people's views of characters, because that's what makes the world go 'round, but there really is a limit to what can be called interpretation versus what can be called a tangent.

Ahem, now, err, mind if I friend you, because I am digging on your rants, and your HP100 took my breath away. :)

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Always love to be friended. Thank you kindly! =)

[villainny.livejournal.com]

PS: nothing personal, but I am not friending anyone new right now. I don't have a regular connection at Uni, and don't have the time to wade through my friends list. As soon as I get a job and my own 'net connection, that will all change... *rubs hands gleefully*

[blacksatinrose.livejournal.com]

Color me unoffended. :) I'm a lunatic to friend anyone anyway, as I can't keep up with what I've got now. :D