Where's the canon love?

[author_by_night]

As far as fandom is concerned, canon is an endangered species.

As I read fics and essays, there seems to be little appreciation of it. 

Now, I have nothing against meta or AU fics, nor disagreeing with JK Rowling. (Well, okay, the last one depends on the reasoning. Will get to that). But it seems like people have forgotten canon, period. I see more fics about the romance between Sirius and Remus than the friendship between Sirius and James, even though the latter is far more a significant plot point. While Remus/Sirius can make for a great fic, it seems that there's more of that, and less of James. If James and Sirius are focused on, they have to be lovers. Why so few stories that show them as brothers?  *

Speaking of love, it also strikes me as ironic how we have all these fanon ships (yes, ones that weren't 100% canon until HBP count), yet you don't see a lot of writing on the canon ships. Arthur and Molly - they love one another so deeply, don't they? Yeah, okay, nobody wants to write smut about two people possibly older than their parents - but honestly, smut isn't everything. And what about Bill and Fleur? That would be a great relationship to explore. And they're not so much older or younger than a great number of the fans! 


Then there's mentors, or lack thereof. I see a lot of fics where Hagrid's importance to Harry is minimized to an
 extreme. Now, you may see him as irresponsible - up to you. But to Harry, Hagrid is the world. He was
 how Harry found out he was a Wizard, and although Harry knows Hagrid's irresponsible at times, he 
won't laugh about it at a bar.

Other mentor relationships never get explored either. James's parents and Sirius, Andromeda and Sirius (though 
that gets more emphasis than others, especially in the "Tonks writers" circle - we're actually a bit obsessive about it), 
Remus and Dumbledore, Dumbledore and Hagrid... all of those. They have such potential, yet nobody seems to 
explore it.

Then there is the sect of fans that have rejected JKR altogether, decided she doesn't know what she's talking about. 
Not to be harsh, but how is that possible, given that she wrote the books? It's one thing to say you wish she'd gone
a different direction, but when people claim they know, say, Lucius Malfoy better  than her... that disturbs me, it really
does.

So, why the lack of canon? I'm honestly interested. And I have to admit, alot of the points I made are things I've recognized myself not looking at. I've been a Remus writer for years, yet it wasn't until his anguish in HBP that I really
thought through his devotion towards Dumbledore. And quite honestly, I really didn't see Bill and Fleur actually 
staying canon. Why?

Is it because we've gotten into fanfic/fandom? Because we've grown up and subconciously moved away from certain
elements? 

I'm interested to see what everyone thinks. Generally, I feel in some cases it's fandom, and others, simple taste. 
So, what do you guys think? Is this even an issue to begin with?

* I am in no way, shape, or form saying James and Sirius can't be with people. Lily, anyone?
Not to mention I'm in an  RPG where Sirius also has a girlfriend, one he's not getting rid of 
anytime soon. ;) I am only saying that I'd like to see Sirius and James explored, as well as their romantic
relationships if it is part of the plot.

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

It seems like there's two completely different ideas being conflated here: writing stories that you'd like to read and not liking canon. Sirius/Remus slash, for instance, is based on canon--it's based on the two characters and their relationship through romance or whatever. It is, for me personally, a far more interesting relationship and more important canonically than Remus/Tonks (and I'm not an R/S shipper). So I don't think to write one ship over another shows any lack of love for canon, just lack of interest in writing certain stories. If somebody wants to write an interesting story about Andromeda and Sirius that's great, though I'm more interested myself in something about Sirius and Regulus. Both stories would be equally canonical and un-canonical given that neither Andromeda and Regulus have actually appeared in canon so it's all made up.

I guess I just tend to be more wary of "I'm writing canonical fanfic!" than "I'm writing something different than canon!" Because while both groups can write equally bad stuff or have ideas I don't agree with, it's the first group that is claiming to be writing something official or "just a little closer to the actual books!" when they're not, and maybe more likely to start insisting that they're interpretation of canon is canon when it's not.

[yeats.livejournal.com]

I really like what you said at the end, about people assuming the mantle of JKR's official interpreters. I think a lot of people who enjoy writing ships that appear in the books get a sense of superiority out of it - as if that somehow makes their stories of a better quality than everyone else. Which I think is silly, because writing skills do not equal reading skills, and questions of interpretation aren't the same as either. So yes. I think you're in the right. *salutes*

[trobadora]

You said everything I'd have said, only better. ;-) A shame the OP doesn't reply to comments - I'd have liked to read an actual discussion about these issues.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

*Cringes* I'm sorry! But I honestly don't know how to reply to an opinion. I can't attack people for them if I disagree, and I feel like agreeing to only some... well, this is a survey, you know?

I may do an entry similar where there will be discussions. Really. I'm sorry if I offended you.

[trobadora]

Not offended at all! I just thought there were a lot of interesting opinions, and I'd have liked to actually talk about them. But I feel kind of rude to talk over someone else's head in their own LJ, you know? It was a bit rude of me to even post that remark, and I'm sorry about it. But if you do start a discussion post I'd be very interested in it.