Oh, no, fandom always distrusted JK Rowling from her very first interviews. People got on JKR for everything, even pretty small things that were seriously not that big of a deal. Not just the books as a text, JK Rowling herself. I actually used to defend her a lot on LJ; unfortunately... well, you've seen my other posts. It's gotten harder in more recent years, let's just say that. Even beyond the more legitimate complaints, which have always existed as well, JK Rowling has had a very complicated relationship with fandom. Everyone had their own "headcanons" (although I don't think that was a word back then?), their own fanon, their own expectations... it was impossible for her to please even without her flaws as a writer.
But I do think you're right that even people who were always dismissive of the pettier stuff (basically "she ruined my headcanon/fanfic, she's a poo-head" or... words significantly harsher than "poo-head") started to see where her writing had failed, beyond more minor criticisms here and there. A lot of even her defenders felt betrayed. And yeah, even in that context there were definitely people who went overboard - certain fans of Snape (Snapewives) seemed to believe she'd literally murdered the guy. No. She wrote a story arc and they didn't like it, which was their opinion and that's totally fine - but that doesn't make her a murderer. However, a lot of us noted the flaws in her writing, and again, it's not like we hadn't noticed other flaws before.
Remus/Sirius was more the other way around for me, where I said "huh, I can see it" when I came across it in fic and discussion. If it had happened in canon, I would've totally been on board.
I think Tonks should have been introduced earlier, honestly. This may have given JKR more time to flesh her out. But I don't know how she would have been relevant to their lives before that. In a lot of ways, I think Fleur got more of the storyline Tonks was meant to have, going from being perceived as one thing, then that being subverted, and the story carrying on from there. Which I don't object to, I love Fleur's arc, but I can see where that took up space Tonks might have flourished in.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2019-11-03 01:13 pm (UTC)But I do think you're right that even people who were always dismissive of the pettier stuff (basically "she ruined my headcanon/fanfic, she's a poo-head" or... words significantly harsher than "poo-head") started to see where her writing had failed, beyond more minor criticisms here and there. A lot of even her defenders felt betrayed. And yeah, even in that context there were definitely people who went overboard - certain fans of Snape (Snapewives) seemed to believe she'd literally murdered the guy. No. She wrote a story arc and they didn't like it, which was their opinion and that's totally fine - but that doesn't make her a murderer. However, a lot of us noted the flaws in her writing, and again, it's not like we hadn't noticed other flaws before.
Remus/Sirius was more the other way around for me, where I said "huh, I can see it" when I came across it in fic and discussion. If it had happened in canon, I would've totally been on board.
I think Tonks should have been introduced earlier, honestly. This may have given JKR more time to flesh her out. But I don't know how she would have been relevant to their lives before that. In a lot of ways, I think Fleur got more of the storyline Tonks was meant to have, going from being perceived as one thing, then that being subverted, and the story carrying on from there. Which I don't object to, I love Fleur's arc, but I can see where that took up space Tonks might have flourished in.