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Apr. 9th, 2006 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusPet peeve time!
I confess, kids in fanfiction bug me.
It's not that I don't like kids. We get along just fine, kids and I. It's just that there's a certain -- certain... people write the kids like they're extensions of their parents.
They look like their fanfiction parents.
They act like their fanfiction parents.
They have similar talents as their fanfiction parents.
They aren't treated as if they are OCs, when really, they ought to be.
Why are they written this way?
Folks, the human method of procreation is designed to mix and match our DNA in such a way that we have a random slice of our parents' genetic code. In addition, that randomization expresses different dominant and recessive traits. Additionally, while I do not believe in Tabula Rasa (no insult to the fine fanfiction writer of that name) I do believe that our experiences do have an impact. There is no way that the fanfic kid's experiences are the same as their parents, so their personalities are going to be radically different.
Why the hell do people go ga-ga over fanfic kids who look or act like their fanfic parents? I'm not into the ga-ga over kids thing anyway, kids are just people as far as I'm concerned, but there's something troubling in the fact that writers forget this fact.
I actually brought my MPreg Reunion to a screeching halt over this issue. Someone sent me a photomanip of what the baby (which I never promised would ever exist) would look like, combining traits from Ron and Draco. Augh!
An entire chapter of that story was devoted to creating kids that were real people and not just one-dimensional extensions of the fanfic parents. Ron's four kids were not cute. Not a single one was like Ron. His youngest little girl was pampered and hurting and a little angry over his divorce, demanding his attention when he was trying to talk to Harry. Ron couldn't control his two oldest -- he was too mellow a parent -- and the third middle child was bright, quiet, and simmering with resentment. They had little lives of their own, and they were pretty miserable.
When Draco's daughter turned up, you were going to find a rigidly correct little stick, wan and smothered by the expectations of her Dad. She didn't have Draco's feisty rebellious spirit so the same parenting that led to Draco's constantly forgetting his father's advice and battling Harry turned her into a virtual paper doll.
But I couldn't battle the kid-lovers. They wanted Ron and Draco's kid to be just like them, ignored the real kids, and panted after the baaaaaby.
Sometimes I strongly suspect that people love babies because they can project their own image of who that person is onto them. Which is precisely why I like young kids over babies: when they're that tiny it's hard to tell who they are.
I confess, kids in fanfiction bug me.
It's not that I don't like kids. We get along just fine, kids and I. It's just that there's a certain -- certain... people write the kids like they're extensions of their parents.
They look like their fanfiction parents.
They act like their fanfiction parents.
They have similar talents as their fanfiction parents.
They aren't treated as if they are OCs, when really, they ought to be.
Why are they written this way?
Folks, the human method of procreation is designed to mix and match our DNA in such a way that we have a random slice of our parents' genetic code. In addition, that randomization expresses different dominant and recessive traits. Additionally, while I do not believe in Tabula Rasa (no insult to the fine fanfiction writer of that name) I do believe that our experiences do have an impact. There is no way that the fanfic kid's experiences are the same as their parents, so their personalities are going to be radically different.
Why the hell do people go ga-ga over fanfic kids who look or act like their fanfic parents? I'm not into the ga-ga over kids thing anyway, kids are just people as far as I'm concerned, but there's something troubling in the fact that writers forget this fact.
I actually brought my MPreg Reunion to a screeching halt over this issue. Someone sent me a photomanip of what the baby (which I never promised would ever exist) would look like, combining traits from Ron and Draco. Augh!
An entire chapter of that story was devoted to creating kids that were real people and not just one-dimensional extensions of the fanfic parents. Ron's four kids were not cute. Not a single one was like Ron. His youngest little girl was pampered and hurting and a little angry over his divorce, demanding his attention when he was trying to talk to Harry. Ron couldn't control his two oldest -- he was too mellow a parent -- and the third middle child was bright, quiet, and simmering with resentment. They had little lives of their own, and they were pretty miserable.
When Draco's daughter turned up, you were going to find a rigidly correct little stick, wan and smothered by the expectations of her Dad. She didn't have Draco's feisty rebellious spirit so the same parenting that led to Draco's constantly forgetting his father's advice and battling Harry turned her into a virtual paper doll.
But I couldn't battle the kid-lovers. They wanted Ron and Draco's kid to be just like them, ignored the real kids, and panted after the baaaaaby.
Sometimes I strongly suspect that people love babies because they can project their own image of who that person is onto them. Which is precisely why I like young kids over babies: when they're that tiny it's hard to tell who they are.
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Date: 2006-04-09 08:55 pm (UTC)I think the problem you've experienced is inherent in mpreg though. Your particular reasons for writing Reunion were excellent ones, because you were exploring the characters and the practical problems involved, and that was how you managed to get me to read Ron/Draco mpreg. Believe me, for no other reason or person would I have done that *grin* If the story takes the route of mpreg being a serious, practical problem to be solved and investigates the issues around it thoroughly, it can be very interesting. I recently challenged a friend to write an mpreg of that kind and also challenged myself to it - not in HP fanfic, but an original story.
But I think many mpreg authors write it because of the, er, cuteness factor. They're writing - in their own mind, if no one else's - a death defying romance and romantic writing in western society has a history of deathless romance = marriage + babies. The fact that their romantic story involves two blokes is just a hurdle to get over, and in HP fanfic there's the ready solution of magic. I don't think the issues are an issue (so to speak) for these authors; they are writing Romance and a baby is just an accessory to that romance, a part of the fluffy cuteness that is the main characters' Twoo Wuv, for like-minded readers to coo over.
I don't go for that kind of thing personally, because I'm not particularly romantic. Or not romantic in that way, anyway. I'm too busy wondering how (a) a bloke gets knocked up in the first place, (b) what orifice, if any, it'll be born from, and (c) the difficulties involved in a male pregnancy, not least of which would be dealing with the reactions of everyone around him. (c) is usually the one I wonder about the most. I suppose you could spend the whole nine months sequestered at Malfoy Manor, but personally I think that's a bit of a cop-out ....
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 09:22 pm (UTC)Myth #1: the pregnancy is all about the baby.
Nope. This story was all about Ron and Draco.
Myth #2: by becoming pregnant, the pregnant character is suddenly special and the center of attention.
Here, Ron's mostly getting attention because he's in the middle of divorce from his wife and his job is going to shit. The baby's pretty much irrelevant.
Myth #3: all the real world concerns vanish to make room for the holy baby.
Oh no, the real world problems are the reason why Ron and Draco try this bone-headed stunt and continue regardless.
Myth #4: the baby is the product of a special connection between the two lovers (one of whom is often conveniently dead).
They're having the baby for stupid reasons. Ron wants nine months off of the chaos of his current life. Draco wants to free himself from his current wife.
Myth #5: having the baby is a noble and wonderful thing.
It's probably a big mistake for two guys from such different backgrounds to attempt this for such selfish reasons.
Myth #6: the process of pregnancy is extremely important and the world will stand aside and marvel.
No, most people will think Ron's an idiot for trying while his friends worry he's being used.
Myth #7: the pregnancy initiates the pregnant into a mystery of the universe.
Nope. It's just uncomfortable, messy, and the rest of life goes on around him regardless.
Myth #8: the relationship either stabilizes, becomes strengthened, or fades into the background during the holy pregnancy
Oh god this couldn't be further from the truth, if anything the impending baby highlights all the problems and makes them worse.
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 09:57 pm (UTC)They're having the baby for stupid reasons. Ron wants nine months off of the chaos of his current life. Draco wants to free himself from his current wife.
This was one of the things I loved about Reunion. Their reasons for doing it were completely and utterly bonkers.
*grin*
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 10:47 pm (UTC)I'm all for giving up my seat on the bus for the Pregnant One, but someone still has to do some work while everyone else is standing aside and marvelling.
As far I've noticed, people gawk, but there isn't the air of "specialness" that a lot of young women (at least the ones writing MPreg) seem to expect.
Icarus