Page of Pentacles

canon-based Drarry | mostly meta | liking canon Drarry doesn’t mean I agree with or support JKR

[bvckbiter]

“is this character good or bad” “is this ship unproblematic or not” “is this arc deserving of redemption or not” girl…

[blorger]

we know draco cares so much for his family which is why he even bothered killing dumbledore with the necklace and wine and fixing the cabinet so why not just sell out harry? when lucius was in azkaban draco even stomped on harry because he cares for what happen to his dad. does draco think even if he said yes that their 'de status' won't return either way?

Without going into wether Voldemort would even want Harry served on a platter at that moment in time (I'm doubtful, he still needed to find a solution to the twin wand thing in 6th year) I don't think Draco would have even thought of it. Like, to me it seems like the deeper socio-political implications of being on Voldemort's side never even crossed Draco's mind before joining up.

Draco doesn't have the DE manifesto in mind is the thing, he's thinking of the whole thing in terms of what it can do for him (bring him glory, restore the family to its former status) not of what he can do for the cause, since he likely hasn't given much thought to that at all. I feel like the whole sordid business is very much streamlined in his own head to "my family belongs at the top" which means "muggleborns are at the bottom" which means "we are on the side of whoever will keep us at the top" which means "Voldemort is our guy".

As to wether Draco ever stopped to consider that Voldemort's promises were empty, it's up to interpretation. My take on it is that year six is when shit gets real for Draco, right up until that he's been seeing the whole thing from a very naive angle so when he agrees to the mission he probably hasn't thought of the possibility of the plan not working (either not managing to kill Dumbledore or killing Dumbledore not restoring his family's status) right up until he's hit with the harsh realities of executing the plan.

That's more or less what I think but I'm open to alternative interpretations

xoxo

[cluelessascanbe]

Draco comes off very naive and sheltered rather than truly hateful . He parrots a lot of shit he hears at home but he doesn’t truly get it which is why i always have to put an asterisk when I say he wanted to be a Death Eater. Like you said, what he wanted was to make his father proud and restore his family’s status, with sticking it to Potter as a bonus. For all he knew, Voldie could provide that for him and by the time shit hit the fan it was too late to back out.

[blorger]

Can Draco kill or not? It seems like as long he isn't directly facing them or isn't violent he is able to? Because he went for poisoning and a cursed item and also I think he didn't like when he was being forced to tortue someone. Also everyone assumed he can't kill Dumbledore Or using the poisoning and cursed item method because he really can't and was really stalling?

Also do you think if Draco was tasked to kill someone else would he be able to do it as they think he couldn't kill because they see Dumbledore is stronger than Draco?

This subject is very much up to personal interpretation since canon doesn't really expound on Draco's thoughts and motivations. To me Draco's various appearances through canon show us that he's just not a violent person, because of things like what you mentioned (he is shown very much not enjoying torturing Rowle) and also because of what he doesn't do (he never once initiates a physical confrontation and never orders Crabbe and Goyle to do so either, his whole bullying style is very "I'm gonna get you in trouble with the teacher" and not "I'm going to beat you to a pulp").

According to Dumbledore, a generally reliable source of information and also a known jkr mouthpiece, Draco's various attempts on his life were both desperate (showing his helplessness) and feeble (showing his aversion to the idea of murder):

We're basically supposed to think that Draco wasn't really onboard with his mission but felt like he had no alternative so he tried some long shots, which he didn't ultimately think would work. This is very much a reach but the only other plan he thought of (the cabinet) was actually a way of removing himself from the equation, an alternative to murder; Draco's mission was never to let DEs into Hogwarts, this is something he chose to prioritise instead of a serious murder attempt, perhaps in the hope that the DEs would kill Dumbledore in his stead.

As for why everyone - from Voldemort all the way to his mother- thought Draco wouldn't be able to kill Dumbledore I think the biggest factor that influenced their opinion was definitely the power differential between the two, like, Voldemort definitely didn't consider any other outcome. I think maybe Narcissa also factored in things she knew about her own son, aversion to violence and all, but she also would have been mostly influenced by the fact that Dumbledore was one of the most powerful wizards out there and Draco was a schoolboy. That said, had Draco been tasked to kill anyone else like, say, Neville, I think a lot of people would still have thought it impossible. Looking at Draco superficially there's many factors (pampered rich boy, risk averse, the magical school version of a theater kid) that point to him not being able to commit murder, without even going into wether he would be capable. I actually think the person who'd take Draco most seriously of all would actually be Harry, just like we see in HBP. Harry never once thinks Draco isn't dangerous, he takes him seriously from the get go.

I kinda went off topic for a while but I think I answered your question, take care friend.

xoxo

[chilledcitrus]

I feel like a lot of people always assume Draco is prim and proper because of his pureblood status. Sure, he might become more graceful as he grows up, but he definitely wasn’t the elegant, aristocratic prince people often imagine.

[saintgoodlove]

so many drarry fics retcon both characters. like they have to make either draco or harry an angsty, apologetic uwu when the best thing about a potential draco and harry dynamic is the SASS turned up to 1000000%. like both draco and harry have confidence and arrogance big enough to rival gods. harry "no need to call me sir, professor" potter and draco "i know my parents lives are at stake and that i'm failing but i don't want your help snape because the glory is mine and i can do it better than you anyways" malfoy. draco is really intelligent while harry is insanely talented when it comes to magic. the moment you try to top/bottom them or have some kind of power imbalance, you've missed. because they're evenly matched in ego, wit and will and NEITHER of them have inferiority complexes. draco just likes to peacock in front of harry and harry's constantly trying to squish the annoying bug that will not die which is draco. they are each other's perfect torment because they have what the other desires and that will always make them stupid with rage, unable to stop thinking about each other. they are each other's mirror of erised.

like you get it or you don't

[nyxelestia]

I've been on a bit of a Harry Potter fanfic kick after having mostly drifted out of the fandom nearly twenty years ago.

One amusing thing I've noticed is that fanfics nowadays have characters needing to cast spells to check the time or using their wands to wake them up.

Amusing because like…ya'll. Did an entire generation of fanfic writers just forget that watches exist? And alarm clocks? Literally there was a whole-ass scene about Harry getting a watch from the Weasleys because a nice watch is a traditional birthday gift for wizards on their 17th birthday. One of the Weasleys' most iconic family relics is a device designed to look like a clock.

It's just very funny to me how apparently so many people have gotten SO used to exclusively using their phones for time-keeping that they forgot back when we could just look at this piece of jewelry to tell the time without any magic at all.

(Or, mildly disconcerting to me, is how many grown-ass writers now apparently grew up already so deeply entrenched in the ubiquity of smartphones that they just never used or potentially even saw a watch or clock at all.)

[shiodidadi]

I want to talk about the privilege of being an asshole in a storyline, because recently I’ve read some Drarry fics where Harry is a complete jerk to Draco yet always forgiven without any real consequence. He’s constantly biased and bigoted toward Draco, accusing him of things he never did and treating him like a lesser human being — and sometimes this happens while they’re already in a relationship.

Even though a lot of the things Harry does would be considered major red flags in real life, the moment you express any discomfort or criticism of his behavior, some readers immediately jump in to defend him, insisting it’s reasonable because Draco was a bully in canon.

And if the justification is “canon,” then I have to ask: do you really think canon Harry would ever do things like that? Would he punish someone through sexual encounters or use their feelings just to taunt them?

But the truth is, they don’t actually care whether canon Harry would behave that way. To them, it’s not about characterization at all — it’s about Harry “deserving” to treat Draco however he wants.

So Draco’s suffering gets reframed into “he deserves it,” “this is karma,” or “he was a bully as a kid.” Meanwhile, Harry’s harmful behavior gets downplayed and rationalized as “he’s been through so much,” “it’s trauma,” or “he has every right to act this way.”

Within this narrative framework, Draco is no longer a character with flaws, growth, and an independent emotional arc. Instead, he becomes a tool for Harry’s story — someone to absorb the hurt, someone to be punished, someone to validate Harry’s suffering, or someone to facilitate Harry’s growth.

And that imbalance strips Drarry of the mutual tension and transformation that make the pairing compelling in the first place.

[saetr]

One thing I find endlessly exhausting about drarry fics is how Harry-centric the entire moral framework is.

Draco must hate everything and everyone Harry hates, must disvow everything and everyone that Harry doesn't like or think is good. Draco has to show his bravery in a Harry approved manner (by running head first into danger and confronting it in a big show) to prove that he is not a coward. He must prove he has changed in ways that are legible to Harry’s worldview.

The narrative revolves around Harry and how he sees the world. Even in cases that we've seen are wrong, or not as black and white as canon suggests.

It's understandable that this happens in canon because we're looking at everything through Harry's eyes and there's not much room to challenge this. But it shouldn't be so in fics. Harry and Draco are two different people. Draco doesn't need to change his entire identity and adopt all of Harry's to prove that he is a better person than he used to be

[chilledcitrus]

what would drarry be like as parents

To be honest, I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of kidfics so I’ve never really imagined them as parents but I’ll do my best to answer.

For Draco, I think he’d be quite similar to Lucius in some ways. He’d be the kind of parent who’s very open with his child, talking to them, telling them stories, sharing new information, and even giving them tips and tricks for school. He’d definitely spoil them a lot, but at the same time he’d also worry about them easily. I think it’s only after becoming a parent himself that he’d truly understand why his own parents used to worry about him so much.

As for Harry, while he might not be as openly expressive as Draco, he’s a much better listener. He might not say much, but he genuinely listens when his child talks or complains about something and he never cuts them off because he knows how important it is to have someone who listens. He also loves giving gifts. He’ll randomly surprise his kid with something they wanted, and when they ask how he knew, he’ll just say, “You mentioned it before.” He might not spoil them as much as Draco does, but he’d make sure his child never feels lacking in anything.

While Draco can be a bit of a worrywart, Harry’s the type who puts complete trust in his child because he knows how capable kids can be. Their parenting styles may differ, but fundamentally, they share the same belief, which is allowing their child to live with freedom. They want their child to grow up happy, unburdened and free from the kind of overwhelming expectations and responsibilities they themselves once had to carry.

So yeah I think that's how I see them as parents. Sorry if my answer’s a bit boring, but thanks for the question!

[chilledcitrus]

Imagine calling the Malfoys ugly because of inbreeding when JKR herself clearly stated that the family eschewed the practice and would rather marry a half-blood than follow that tradition. At this point, people just believe whatever fits their narrative instead of accepting the facts right in front of them.

[yumeurl]

time stops in tumblr because how is it that i don't visit here for awhile and "draco is ugly" discourse are still up and thriving

[chilledcitrus]

That’s exactly how I feel. Just came back to tumblr after a hiatus, hoping for a new meta or some interesting discussion and instead it’s just another “Draco is ugly” post. Ugh, give it a rest already.

[wisteria-lodge]

About Lucius and Draco and their aversion to violence. I thought Lucius hunted and tortured Muggles, at least during the first ww? I assumed that was a key difference between father and son and might have even lead to friction between them. Or did I mix up character traits? It has been a while since I read the books.

Going by the books? We know almost nothing about what Lucius Malfoy was up to doing during the first Voldemort war. He got a Dark Mark at some point. He (or maybe his father??) was given the Diary for safekeeping. Super debatable if he knew what the Diary did. (he definitely didn't know it was a horcrux.) Voldemort calls him "Lucius, my slippery friend" - whatever that means. Lucius was "cleared" after pretending to have been under the imperius curse, and has a pile of cursed artifacts that aren't exactly legal.

From there, you get into fanon and headcanons. What did Death Eaters in general get up to during the first war? Were there requirements of some kind? (people also have these discussions about Snape.) I've heard references to a JKR interview where she talks about Death Eater specialties? (I do not know if this interview exists, I haven't been able to find it.) Jason Isaacs has headcanons about Lucius.

I'm really interested in, I guess fandom history. I like keeping an eye on what we started with (the books) and then what is - supplementary material, popular fanon, film canon, JKR ret-conning things after the fact, etc. Like, it's so interesting to me that 'Lucius was physically abusive to Draco' was a piece of fanon that used to be everywhere; now I can't remember the last time I've seen it.

[thephiesintheforest]

One thing we do know with relative certainty is that Lucius participated in the torture and humiliation of the muggles at the Quidditch world cup. I don't have my book here cause I'm at work (*cough*) but having recently revisited the chapter "the death eaters" in book 4, I know for a fact that Voldemort alludes to Lucius participating in those riots and Lucius not refuting him.

This imo suggests that Lucius has, at minimum, no aversion to violence towards muggles. My own reading leans more towards the notion that he actively enjoys it, much like a hunter enjoys the chase of a deer through the woods. The death eaters take the implicit doctrines of pureblood society, wizarding supremacy and blood purity, to its logical conclusion: Muggles are less than human and thus, like animals, they can be hunted and hurt for sport. (And given that hunting is such a common pasttime for the aristocratic society the malfoys are mirrors of that metaphor is the one i come back to.)

This is also why I'm ambivalent towards the question if Lucius physically abused Draco. On the one hand, physical violence towards those persons that are deemed less than human in a particular ideology means that those subscribing to this ideology can still think they are acting humane even while they're committing atrocities. Draco is part of the in-group that is deemed human and worthy of dignity. So Lucius being violent towards muggles doesn't necessarily translate to him being violent towards his child.

On the other hand and quite disconnected from that point, physical punishment was (and is) incredibly normalised in British upper class education and child rearing. I find this to be a much more compelling justification for Draco having experienced violence at the hands of his family.

[wisteria-lodge]

It's normalized in Harry Potter too -- "I remember Mum walloping [Fred] with her broomstick" and everything.

I would say that for the world cup, the books do draw a line drawn between how far Lucius is comfortably willing to go, and how far, say, Barty is willing to go. Like, as far as Barty is concerned, Lucius & Co. are all tiny babies who aren't going far enough:

"They were merely making sport of Muggles. (...) I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it."

Like *I* know Lucius is torturing them, I know psychological torture is obviously torture. But Barty's got physical torture on his mind, he blows his cover because he wants Harry to give him a play-by-play of how Voldemort tortured his death eaters "I expected him to punish them. I expected him to torture them. Tell me he hurt them, Harry..."

But we don't get that kind of stuff from Lucius. I think the Malfoys (Lucius and Draco anyway) are supposed to read as... fickle, wishy-washy, weak, cowardly. Which doesn't really fit with a violent streak, (if you're JKR, anyway). 'Muggle-hunting' is 100% a canon thing, and it makes sense it would appear in this universe... but it gets associated with the Blacks (Walburga's cousin Araminta Meliflua, who wanted to make it legal...) who absolutely do have this very old-school gothic, Wuthering Heights-esque streak of violence to them.

[winn-wynn]

no offense but how does molly weasley give off toxic boy mom energy (like lowkey I feel like she was praising her sons way in a weird way like the whole fleur and bill situation) but also really wanted a daughter and kind of praises her for her gender but also is misogynistic at the same time

[arkadijxpancakes]

I'd say it's Rowling misogyny speaking. Rowling treats all her female characters awfully in some way or another. They are all held to an unreasonably high standard, where they have to perform femininity just right to be considered acceptable.

At the same time, she uses Molly as a mouthpiece quite regularly - which causes Molly to share her same beliefs. Which then results in her holding other female characters (including her daughter and any potential daughter-in-law) to unreasonable high standards, too.

I doubt Ginny would be allowed to deviate from this very thin line of acceptable femininity. If she put more effort into her looks or had hobbies that are too girlish, she would get chastised for that (if not by Molly herself, then by her brothers - remember how Ron reacts to her dating habits? Yeah. That.) But if she was genuinely masculine and/or tomboy-ish? That sure as hell wouldn't fly, either.

I'm also sure that any woman who marries into the family will be subjected to intense scrutiny. We see this in how Molly treats Hermione in GoF and we see it in how she treats Fleur in HBP. She clearly has this mindset, where any woman who shows (real or imagined) interest in her boys is considered to not be good enough - as if they were out to use and abuse them and where they can't be imagined as "proper wives". And that hostility only fades, when they either denounce the relationship (Hermione) or they settle into the role of housewife that serves her husband and the family (Fleur).

And we also see this in how the narrative treats the female characters. Fleur is not just targeted by Molly (and Ginny), she gets targeted by the narrative herself. Girls like Lavender and Parvati get treated the same way. (And in their case, it's often Hermione who serves as Rowling's mouthpiece in a pretty similar fashion.)

It also affects Ginny in a major way: She is important in CoS, where she serves as a damsel in distress for Harry. But after that plot is resolved, she is dropped like a hot potato. Rowling only digs her back out, when she needs her as a love interest for Harry, who will one day marry him and become his housewife and the mother of his kids.

And that's the only real role Ginny is filling in that narrative: Effortlessly feminine (not too girly like Lavender or too emotional like Cho, but also not mannish like the girls from Slytherin) and supportive, without being demanding. Someone who will be there for Harry when he needs her, but who doesn't demand attention or support herself. And also someone who doesn't demand main character status, who doesn't need to be included into the main plot and who can rot away at homeHogwarts, while Harry and his friends do the important protagonist-stuff elsewhere.

[dutchbabey]

I’m an ugly Draco Malfoy truther. You’re telling me this pure blood fucker who has generations of inbreeding in his blood is good looking? Come ON. The only reason we think he’s attractive is cuz we got Harry’s gay ass narrating the whole thing.

[hsvh-hp]

JKR’s writings on the Malfoy family:

The Malfoys have always had the reputation, hinted at by their not altogether complimentary surname, of being a slippery bunch, to be found courting power and riches wherever they might be found. In spite of their espousal of pure-blood values and their undoubtedly genuine belief in wizards’ superiority over Muggles, the Malfoys have never been above ingratiating themselves with the non-magical community when it suits them. The result is that they are one of the richest wizarding families in Britain, and it has been rumoured for many years (though never proven) that over the centuries the family has dabbled successfully in Muggle currency and assets. Over hundreds of years, they have managed to add to their lands in Wiltshire by annexing those of neighbouring Muggles, and the favour they curried with royalty added Muggle treasures and works of art to an ever-expanding collection.

Historically, the Malfoys drew a sharp distinction between poor Muggles and those with wealth and authority. Until the imposition of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, the Malfoy family was active within high-born Muggle circles, and it is said that their fervent opposition to the imposition of the Statute was due, in part, to the fact that they would have to withdraw from this enjoyable sphere of social life. Though hotly denied by subsequent generations, there is ample evidence to suggest that the first Lucius Malfoy was an unsuccessful aspirant to the hand of Elizabeth I, and some wizarding historians allege that the Queen’s subsequent opposition to marriage was due to a jinx placed upon her by the thwarted Malfoy.

With that healthy degree of self-preservation that has characterised most of their actions over the centuries, once the Statute of Secrecy had passed into law the Malfoys ceased fraternising with Muggles, however well-born, and accepted that further opposition and protests could only distance them from the new heart of power: the newly created Ministry of Magic. They performed an abrupt volte-face, and became as vocally supportive of the Statute as any of those who had championed it from the beginning, hastening to deny that they had ever been on speaking (or marrying) terms with Muggles.

[thalthanmadanus]

adding this too:

From the imposition of the Statute of Secrecy onwards, no Malfoy has married a Muggle or Muggle-born. The family has, however, eschewed the somewhat dangerous practice of inter-marrying within such a small pool of pure-bloods that they become enfeebled or unstable, unlike a small minority of fanatic families such as the Gaunts and Lestranges, and many a half-blood appears on the Malfoy family tree.

Mind you Draco is also a Black, and his mother has very good looks so..

and if he was ugly Harry would say it

I just want to focus on the line of The Malfoys finding life with Rich Muggles enjoyable lol

[chilledcitrus]

Finally back after taking my much-needed break from HP and the Drarry fandom. After spending time diving into a lot of other fandoms, I’ve noticed the biggest difference and that’s in how they treat the characters. In those fandoms, people take what’s in canon and build their fanworks from it. They work with what’s there and shape it into something that feels like the characters we know. Which is the complete opposite of Drarry spaces, where it’s common to say “fuck canon” and make something entirely fanon. And that’s where I start losing interest. I love canon and I love that satisfying feeling of seeing people take what we already have and turn it into something new without losing what makes the characters who they are.

Even when other fandoms do AUs or popular tropes, they still keep the characters’ canon personalities intact. Sure, you can never completely escape mischaracterization and OOC moments, but it’s never to the point where you can’t recognize them. In Drarry, it often feels like writers skip that entirely and instead of asking, “How would canon Harry and Draco behave in this scenario?” they just rewrite their personalities to fit the trope. At that point, it’s not Harry and Draco anymore. It’s two completely different people wearing their names.

And honestly, another thing that’s been pushing me away is how many Drarry and HP writers seem to treat fanworks purely as a stepping stone to gain recognition. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get known, but when a fic feels like it’s been written as a calculated career move rather than out of genuine love for the characters or the story, you can tell. And for me, that’s a huge turn-off.

[thalthanmadanus]

They don't like the canonical characters, It's what I always say. Harry is just an empty head bland plank for people to self-insert into, and Draco is a racist killer.

I'm also in other famous fandoms where the popular ships are literally between killers and very morally grey characters and they're liked.

I wanna bring up jjk because the worldbuilding is kinda similar to hp. In jjk, there exists sorcerers who kill curses and they're a hidden small community. So they protect non-sorceres but non-sorcerers don't know what. And Sorceres keep dying. Apparently, non-sorceres are the reason curses exist in the first place. gasp

Enter Geto Suguru, a guy who decided in his teens to kill all non-sorcerers and free the sorcerers and basically break the stupid system. This guy also calls non-sorcerers " monkeys" btw. (the funny thing is that Geto's group of villains is the most diverse lol. has a gay guy, a black guy, teenage girls (his adopted daughters)) and Geto dies. he's killed by his best friend.

And the thing is, even with Geto's beliefs and this whole "monkey" thing (Like he's literally a genocider) people still love him, including non-shippers and even dudebros. yes even poc too. The most famous cosplay is of a black girl cosplaying as him.

While stsg fics are a lil bit huh too, you won't find this whole dichotomy of pathetic guilty geto redeeming himself like some catholic wtf.

I realize that first this has to do with the authors and how their narrative treat the characters. Yes, Geto is a genocider but the narrative is kind to him (it kills him but the other characters involved don't hate him for his views) and understands where he is coming from and that allows for a more kind and nuanced takes on him.

Jkr is the opposite, she doesn't wanna understand why people do things, they just do, they're just evil and that kind of just harsh stupid narrative will push peopke to be harsher on her characters too.

There is also the fact brought up many times by other meta writers. Geto died, Draco didn't.

Death to people equals redemption. You're forgiven if you're dead and now we can write fanfics about you without having a catholic guilt inside of us telling us we're sinning for not writing a 12 year old, who said the world mudblood, tortured.

Most people in this fandom haven't read the books in a long ass time or never. They think that their views on characters are gonna stay the same relative to how they view them when they were 11.. baby.. if you still view the world the same as you were 11 I'm afraid you gotta go touch grass.

Read canon and read meta, guys. I swear your headcanons about who tops and who bottoms won't change just because you realize now that Draco isn't as pathetic as you "remembered" him to be under jkr's narrative spell or that Harry us a Dumb himbo jock. Maybe the Spell of Migratory Slash fandom will also slowly disappear and stop tormenting us with putting every ship they like in this template

[chilledcitrus]

Finally back after taking my much-needed break from HP and the Drarry fandom. After spending time diving into a lot of other fandoms, I’ve noticed the biggest difference and that’s in how they treat the characters. In those fandoms, people take what’s in canon and build their fanworks from it. They work with what’s there and shape it into something that feels like the characters we know. Which is the complete opposite of Drarry spaces, where it’s common to say “fuck canon” and make something entirely fanon. And that’s where I start losing interest. I love canon and I love that satisfying feeling of seeing people take what we already have and turn it into something new without losing what makes the characters who they are.

Even when other fandoms do AUs or popular tropes, they still keep the characters’ canon personalities intact. Sure, you can never completely escape mischaracterization and OOC moments, but it’s never to the point where you can’t recognize them. In Drarry, it often feels like writers skip that entirely and instead of asking, “How would canon Harry and Draco behave in this scenario?” they just rewrite their personalities to fit the trope. At that point, it’s not Harry and Draco anymore. It’s two completely different people wearing their names.

And honestly, another thing that’s been pushing me away is how many Drarry and HP writers seem to treat fanworks purely as a stepping stone to gain recognition. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get known, but when a fic feels like it’s been written as a calculated career move rather than out of genuine love for the characters or the story, you can tell. And for me, that’s a huge turn-off.

[hsvh-hp]

I’ve been feeling a certain kind of way for a while about the Drarry fandom, so I want to shout into the void to see if there are others who’ve noticed this.

Long story short, I feel increasingly like a content creator instead of a writer. Stay relevant. Write more. Advertise/self-promote. Join a fest to find an anonymous in to ‘making it’. Network, especially with other prolific writers. Complete your fic, otherwise the vast majority of readers won’t even bother to open it. Patreon? Thank god writers literally can’t do that legally, otherwise I’m sure that would be as much of a phenomenon as yet another Drarry artist starting one up.

That’s not to say I haven’t seen writers using Drarry fandom as a testing pool or promotional area for their original works.

Conversation and meta have died. Maybe it’s because there’s no new official content, but who’s even asking for that? I myself am dreading the new HBO show, and I’d rather JKR not come anywhere near Drarry in any capacity whatsoever.

Even the conversations we do have feel reminiscent of the post-ATYD Marauders fandom. We’re not discussing the actual material anymore. I’ve watched in real time the cultural shift on places like Reddit and Discord where we went from ‘concrit is only fine if requested’ (valid) to ‘it’s fine to suggest someone add a tag’ (also valid) to not even being able to say you don’t enjoy a trope without catching flak. ‘Stop being so NEGATIVE, what if someone who likes/writes that sees this and gets discouraged?’

I don’t know what’s going on. Has it always been like this, and I just didn’t notice? I’ve always written stories for my own enjoyment firstly and been happily surprised when/if I found a community, but so then why do I feel like I’m doing fandom wrong? Is this the effect of the slow creep of capitalism with a dash of purity culture? Or is it just me?

[chilledcitrus]

Nah, you’re absolutely right about how the Drarry fandom has so many people who use it for clout and networking rather than genuinely liking the ship. I’m not a writer, but as a reader I can tell when something’s written with sincerity and when it’s just made to get engagement.