[personal profile] hackthis_archive

The Almost Legend of Draco Malfoy
For Kassie


Draco Malfoy never wanted to do great things: they required too much effort. Great things took time and dedication, and inevitably were extraordinarily messy. Voldemort had been required to kill several hundreds of people before anyone noticed him, and Draco wasn‘t interested in doing that much work. Blood was impossible to get out any sort of quality robes, and Muggles simply weren’t that important to him. Draco didn’t have any great cause that fired his blood or called for him to use the Forbidden Curses. He certainly never wanted to be anybody’s hero – the word alone had so many negative connotations that Draco would have been appalled if anyone had even used it in the same sentence as his name. All Draco really wanted was to do what he wanted, when he wanted, with the minimal amount of fuss on his part and the maximum amount of pain to everybody else.

Draco was never ‘good.’ He was never ‘confused’ or ‘concerned.’ He never had a crisis of conscience or faith.

Draco never had faith to begin with.

At the end of the day, he didn’t give a toss.

Draco looked out for himself, and everyone else was irrelevant.

++++

When Draco was in school he did what was required, when it was required, and left it at that. Harry Potter was a boogie on his sleeve that he simply couldn’t wash off, but Draco didn’t stay up late at night wondering how to best him or how to bring about his downfall. Potter annoyed him, and Draco took great pleasure in mucking up his daily life, but that was what children were expected to do at that age, so that’s what Draco did. No more or less.

Potter was an insufferable git who simply got lucky more often then he should have. If he lived past his twenty-first birthday it would have been a miracle from Merlin, nothing more. Potter wasn’t that smart, but Draco really didn’t care one way or the other. The issue known as Harry Potter was his father’s business, and Snape’s livelihood, and Draco just wanted to get through the entire schooling business with as little effort as possible while accumulating as many minions as he could.

All schooling was a popularity contest, and Draco never went out of his way for anyone. He never gave consideration when it wasn’t – or was, due.

Draco did what was best for Draco. Full stop.

+++

He was born on the 12th of April at 4:20 in the afternoon. It was a Tuesday of no particular importance or accord. It rained slightly in the morning, but there was nothing memorable about the day. The day of his birth was almost as unremarkable as the day of his death, and perhaps if his mother had known how things were to turn out in the end she wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of giving birth. As it was, however, Draco very much did not want to come out into the world, so perhaps Narcissa should have had a clue.

Draco’s mother was in labour for almost 37 hours, and despite the remarkable staying power of the Practically Painless Pregnancy Potion (TM) up until that point, when it came time for Draco to be born, he was virtually immovable. Lucius smote several house elves in his rage, but Draco refused to budge. In the end, amongst threats and curses and hexes, Draco finally appeared. His mother was relieved, but his father was more than a bit beside himself. It might have had to do with Draco’s complete lack of hair. For all intents and purposes, Draco still looked like a half-cooked foetus; and the first time Lucius held his son, Draco urinated on his robe.

+++

Draco’s life for the first eleven years was relatively incident-free and easy. He was spoiled and cosseted and raised to be an insufferable brat. The idea of friends was foreign, as all non-Malfoys were acquaintances or minions-in-training. Draco was the sole interest of his mother, and she took great interest in his looks and his deportment.

Manners were for others; Malfoys had pride.

Draco was always a Malfoy.

+++

When the war finally came, Draco did the minimum amount required to keep himself in the graces of those in power. In fact, he would have been an excellent politician, but Draco never wanted to work for the Ministry – they were so common, and even less inspiring than his father, which sadly wasn’t saying much. Not that Draco didn’t respect his father, but whereas Lucius had belief in the cause, Draco was much more pragmatic. He was just doing what needed to be done. T

he first Muggle that he killed was a young girl with mousy brown pigtails and a battered-down doll.

The first wizard Draco killed was Terry Boot, and it was simply chance that Draco happened to know his name. If they hadn’t been in the same year, Draco felt sure their worlds would never have collided prior to Boot's demise. That night, when Draco went home, he didn’t fall to his knees in disgust and fear, or ecstasy and delight. He simply went home and slept a dreamless sleep as he had always done. However, later on in the war, he did take great satisfaction in killing one of the Weasley boys.

Draco wasn’t there at the last battle, and he certainly didn’t wind up in Azkaban. By the time all that mess came to a head, he was long gone. Firmly ensconced in a villa just outside Positano with a garden and a pet niffler. In the light of day, and in the dark of night, Draco stood by his father because that was what he was expected to do. He took no pleasure in it, but he wasn’t entirely disgusted either. Draco never had any incentive to side with the Forces of That Git Who Wouldn’t Die, but he cared about Voldemort and his lot even less.

It really was a matter of choosing between two evils, and all that ‘better the dark lord you know’ business.

Draco knew how to be practical.

+++

Love was always something for other people. It was a trap and a word: a vague concept to be used to make other people bend to Draco’s will.

Much like a Forbidden Curse.

Draco never loved anyone.

For sex there were boys and girls and more boys. Companionship was of no importance when Draco had minions, and he never missed or needed what he didn’t have.

To Draco, sex was power, and love was for the poor.

+++

There were no mourners when Draco Malfoy died. No one exalted, but no one cried. He would not have been surprised. In death, as in life, he was alone - a choice he made when he was young and fell for the wrong sort of partner. And as such, in the end, if anyone had shed a tear - honest or not – no one would have been more shocked than Draco, even if he was dead. As it happened there was no one even there to care either way. Draco’s mother had long gone, and his father was locked away, not that he had been in touch with them in ages regardless. In his mind, Draco had always been on his own, and perhaps that’s why things were the way they were. He died alone in his old age, and was buried with only ravens as witnesses and a Muggle caretaker in charge of his bones.

And as such there was never any legend to speak of.

-finis-

Date: 2002-12-02 09:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jeannie81.livejournal.com
There were no mourners when Draco Malfoy died. No one exalted, but no one cried. He would not have been surprised. In death, as in life, he was alone - a choice he made back when he was young and fell for the wrong sort of partner. And as such, in the end, if anyone had shed a tear - honest or not – no one would have been more shocked than Draco, even if he was dead. As it happened there was no one even there to care either way.

This got to me bad. I've sometimes wondered if there actually are people who believe they're just on earth to live. You know, nothing more or less, just go through the days. Because, well, most people believe their own greatness is just around the corner. Or is that just me?

Anyways great story.

Date: 2002-12-02 12:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
This got to me bad. I've sometimes wondered if there actually are people who believe they're just on earth to live. You know, nothing more or less, just go through the days. Because, well, most people believe their own greatness is just around the corner. Or is that just me?

I think there are quite a few people like this particular version of Draco in the world. I don't think it's a lack of ambition, only being ambitious in terms of wanting different things. There are all kinds of greatness, you know? :)

Date: 2002-12-02 09:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fleegull.livejournal.com
That poor, evil (very evil) guy.

In depth character study. Nicely done.

Date: 2002-12-02 12:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
That poor, evil (very evil) guy.

::grins:: he's not evil, he's just misunderstood. that's the problem with legends of course. just look at lex!

Date: 2002-12-02 09:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wyoluvr.livejournal.com
the first time Lucius held his firstborn, Draco urinated on his robe.

::snicker::

that was fab. thank you.

Date: 2002-12-02 12:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
the first time Lucius held his firstborn, Draco urinated on his robe.

::snicker::

that was fab. thank you.


that just seemed so perfectly malfoy that i couldn't resist.

Date: 2002-12-03 06:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] marysiak.livejournal.com
definitely the best line

Date: 2002-12-02 09:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] holographis.livejournal.com
Hurrah. I like this Draco. He is like me. There is no call for all this extraordinarism when you can just be. Besides, he pissed on Lucius' robes, and I feel there is no greater deed than that. He quite obviously could not have surpassed that in his lifetime. Plus the Forces of That Git Who Wouldn’t Die has made me laugh so hard I nearly fell off my chair.

I love it even though I hate Draco. Damn your talent.

Date: 2002-12-02 12:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
Hurrah. I like this Draco. He is like me. There is no call for all this extraordinarism when you can just be. Besides, he pissed on Lucius' robes, and I feel there is no greater deed than that. He quite obviously could not have surpassed that in his lifetime. Plus the Forces of That Git Who Wouldn’t Die has made me laugh so hard I nearly fell off my chair.

I love it even though I hate Draco. Damn your talent.


A Draco you like? Stop the presses! As for the urinating and the Git..., well, you know, just because it's a character sketch doesn't mean it can't be humourous. Humour is good.

Date: 2002-12-02 10:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] esorlehcar.livejournal.com
There's a line in The Virgin Suicides (the book - I don't know if it made it into the film) that goes something like "bound for unhappiness only dimly perceived - bound, in other words, for life" and this story made me think of that. So simple and believable and utterly, utterly tragic. This just made me ache.

Date: 2002-12-02 01:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
There's a line in The Virgin Suicides (the book - I don't know if it made it into the film) that goes something like "bound for unhappiness only dimly perceived - bound, in other words, for life" and this story made me think of that. So simple and believable and utterly, utterly tragic. This just made me ache.

I've never read the book or seen the film, but I can appreciate the sentiment wholeheartedly. Life is tragic, but death is tragic as well. I think the idea of comedy is all about point of view.

Date: 2002-12-02 10:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] impudent-rabbit.livejournal.com
Dude, stop pouring out all of these brilliant stories.

Date: 2002-12-02 01:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
Dude, stop pouring out all of these brilliant stories.

::kicks rabbit in shin:: whatever yo. why do you guys have me saying 'yo' again? that's so mid-90s. damn you. when are you going to write something non-ginny related, she gives me the hives. wait, didn't you just drabble? my bad.

Date: 2002-12-02 10:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] opprobrium.livejournal.com
Whoa, that was harsh....but seriously awesome.

Date: 2002-12-02 01:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
Whoa, that was harsh....but seriously awesome.

Harsh is good, I think I was aiming for something like it. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Date: 2002-12-02 01:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sheselectric.livejournal.com
Hullo, I'm just some random goonie who read the story you posted on snitchfiction and found your LJ via it and I just wanted to comment on how good this story was! I'm reading your other fics now and I really think you are a great writer! I can't wait to read the rest and more to come! I loved how you wrote Draco in this story.. it was really great :)

Date: 2002-12-02 02:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
Hullo, I'm just some random goonie who read the story you posted on snitchfiction and found your LJ via it and I just wanted to comment on how good this story was! I'm reading your other fics now and I really think you are a great writer! I can't wait to read the rest and more to come! I loved how you wrote Draco in this story.. it was really great :)

GOONIES! I love Goonies. Best Spielberg movie ever. I'm glad you enjoyed the story, thanks!

Date: 2002-12-02 02:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sheselectric.livejournal.com
Yep best movie ever :D
Ah I read *all* your stories and I think I died about 1,000 times. I dont ship Draco/Harry but your stories tottally change my mind! Awsome. Can I add you as my friend would you mind?

Date: 2002-12-02 03:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
Ah I read *all* your stories and I think I died about 1,000 times. I dont ship Draco/Harry but your stories tottally change my mind! Awsome. Can I add you as my friend would you mind?

you died 1,000 times? i hope they gave you a discount at the funeral home then ;) - i have no objections to being friended if you like.

Date: 2002-12-02 03:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sheselectric.livejournal.com
lol of course they did ;) ah and thank you lol sorry if i like fangirled you to death or anything hehe.

Date: 2002-12-02 02:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barely-bean.livejournal.com
I am not reading HP. I am not reading HP. Damn...I'm reading HP. Gah! you!

You keep making me fall in love with Draco.

Date: 2002-12-02 03:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
I am not reading HP. I am not reading HP. Damn...I'm reading HP. Gah! you!

You keep making me fall in love with Draco.


hahahaha! you are getting sleepy, you are getting sucked into the vortex, soon you will be going to hell with the rest of us... i adore draco. fucked-upness and all, same reasons that i love lex. yes, i do remember lex. don't get snarky.

Date: 2002-12-02 02:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladyvyola.livejournal.com
Whoa. Talk about the banality of evil. There's something so relentless and remorseless about his determination to remain detached and apart. At least Voldemort and his father are understandable in their ambition. But Draco's chilling in his lack of human awareness -- ah, color me moronic! You've just described a sociopath, someone with anti-social personality disorder. You can't change them, you can't influence them, you can't make them connect with the rest of us. There's no there there. They go through life leaving ruined people behind them and you never see them coming because their camouflage is so good.

Date: 2002-12-02 03:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
Whoa. Talk about the banality of evil. There's something so relentless and remorseless about his determination to remain detached and apart. At least Voldemort and his father are understandable in their ambition. But Draco's chilling in his lack of human awareness -- ah, color me moronic! You've just described a sociopath, someone with anti-social personality disorder. You can't change them, you can't influence them, you can't make them connect with the rest of us. There's no there there. They go through life leaving ruined people behind them and you never see them coming because their camouflage is so good.

I read so many fics where Draco turns towards the good side and sees the error of his ways and upbringing yada yada yada or goes meglomanical that i wondered what would happen if he just didn't give a toss at all. I like it!

Date: 2002-12-02 04:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yourpoison.livejournal.com
*smiles* only you can really do this draco justice, out of all the hp writers i know, with your dry humor and your wry matter and your true third-person remove~:) i mean, anyone else would throw in some angst or some pathos or something. but yah. this is just so held back and matter of fact and unemotional, just like the character is describes~:)

on the other hand, the power of this piece comes partially from the reader's investment, doesn't it? i mean, you yourself wouldn't be as likely to write it if you didn't think draco malfoy is actually more interesting & more emotionally vibrant than that (in your head), would you?

i mean, it's because we don't believe it, don't want to believe it, that it attains its full impact. i see some people who don't read hp and/or don't like draco liked this too, but....

if i myself didn't give a damn, and -draco- didn't give a damn, and the -narrator- didn't give a damn, what's left? i suppose, identification with not giving a damn and pleasure at the skill of the writing, heh.
no one truly is like that, i don't think-- i mean, plenty of people -act- like that and -think- like that, but no one is truly that emotionally dead unless something is really truly wrong with them. ie, they're in heavy denial or they're psychotic (ie, their brain chemistry and/or structure is messed up). and here goes reena, over-analyzing -again-, hee.

of course, the coolness of this is because it -challenges-. it challenges you to believe or disbelieve or to have a -reaction- whereas the story itself is smug in its lack thereof. i don't think this draco is entirely in-character, though it's a very believable sketch. i would say in canon he definitely has strong emotions. negative emotions, but he definitely seems to have them. this unemotionality, "malfoy restraint" seems to me to be largely fanon. even harry's restraint isn't very canon. i was reading CoS and was struck by how mean and out-spoken and biting harry is a lot of the time.

plus the whole initial harry/draco interaction-- draco approaching harry in the robe shop, wanting to be friends, etc. i don't think he wanted harry as a minion, heh. but this is just to say, yah. thank goodness this isn't really the most in-character draco can get :D otherwise, we're kinda doomed. well, not that we weren't doomed already (blah, good, evil, blah).

i have no idea why i go off on these tangents instead of just responding to your -writing-. hm.
but yah, it was funny and well-wrought and brought a smile to my face (strange, i guess) as usual.

while accumulating as many minions as he could.
eheheheeh. i love this >:D the idea of draco collecting them is just adorable :D

For all intents and purposes, Draco still looked like a half-cooked foetus;
*giggles*

and all that ‘better the dark lord you know’ business.
oh, good one :D

a choice he made when he was young and fell for the wrong sort of partner.
ahahaha~~!!!

ok, don't go telling me i got it wrong.
this just makes me smirk and think, ah~! -now- the truth comes out :D
oh baby, we all know you did :D

~reena

Date: 2002-12-02 04:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
*smiles* only you can really do this draco justice, out of all the hp writers i know, with your dry humor and your wry matter and your true third-person remove~:) i mean, anyone else would throw in some angst or some pathos or something. but yah. this is just so held back and matter of fact and unemotional, just like the character is describes~:)

you are truly something else with the feedback, you know that? if [livejournal.com profile] addictedkitten is my cheerleader, then you are like my voice of 'yeah, but what about..' I'm not sure what to call you yet, I will think on it and get back to you. ;)

of course, the coolness of this is because it -challenges-. it challenges you to believe or disbelieve or to have a -reaction- whereas the story itself is smug in its lack thereof.

with regards to this version of draco being a bit, errr, sociopathic i believe is what [livejournal.com profile] ladyvyola called it, i can certainly see that being one angle of it. when i sat down to write this, it wasn't with the intention of going with fanon one way or the other, only trying to figure out where, if draco was to keep on the way JKR seems to depict him, he would end up. i find in my reading that people seem very determined to either make draco into voldemort mark II or the greatest repenter since the christians got reborn. i didn't want that for this piece. i simply wanted to lay down some ideas and see what people made of them, and if, as you're saying, it challenges people to believe, or take the time to disbelieve, then i am very happy.

i have no idea why i go off on these tangents instead of just responding to your -writing-. hm.

well, i'm glad you do as you certainly give me something to think about.

Date: 2002-12-02 07:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ethrosdemon.livejournal.com
i mean, it's because we don't believe it, don't want to believe it, that it attains its full impact.

I think that is true for some people, but I tend to think *this* Draco is the one from the book. That's why I slobbered all over CG when she sent this to me. This isn't the fanon guy who needs a loving hand or a spark and he's all redeemed and hopeful. This is the guy JK paints who is born into this life, who is so removed from life and reality that he *is* a sociopath. When I told you about the whole defence of evil for evil, this is sort of what I am talking about. It's not pretty, but it's real. This sort of person exists, and I think Draco in the books is this sort.

no one truly is like that, i don't think-- i mean, plenty of people -act- like that and -think- like that, but no one is truly that emotionally dead unless something is really truly wrong with them. ie, they're in heavy denial or they're psychotic (ie, their brain chemistry and/or structure is messed up).

Actually, what's scary is that there *are* people like this. And I think the way the books present Draco, he is totally this way. He *is* the persona. He is a construction of his life experience and his environment. If you were raised by an unrepentant killer who idolizes a murderous demigogue, and you're instilled with not only your inherent superiority and your absolute lack of value beyond being a name and a place filler (in Draco's case the heir, the cypher for his father reborn, the child raised to be nothing but a follower and the next in line to carry on the hatred of others), then your connection to the world is only *in* the divorcing of human beings from containing any sort of value. If you're raised on the concept of muggles and mudbloods as less than human, how are you to perceive your own humanity? This is the rule of the fascist and the ethnic superiorist. What's frightening is that it is all *too* real.

. i would say in canon he definitely has strong emotions. negative emotions, but he definitely seems to have them. this unemotionality, "malfoy restraint" seems to me to be largely fanon.

I think if you look at this story as the template of the adult Draco, you can see his outbursts and high emotionality in the books as childhood passion. It passes when the agent reaches adulthood and full separation from Others as anything but tools or means to ends. This sort of awareness of the world is an adult perspective, and has to be cultivated.

plus the whole initial harry/draco interaction-- draco approaching harry in the robe shop, wanting to be friends, etc.

Ah. Now, this can be spun. Whatelse would Lucius Malfoy's son see in Harry Potter but the most perfect victim to present to his role model? He had to have been raised on a steady diet of bile and venom directed towards all Potters, and the Boy Who Fucked Over Voldemort the most. So, ensnaring Harry would be the ultimate coup.

i have no idea why i go off on these tangents instead of just responding to your -writing-.

To spur me to reply? lol







Date: 2002-12-02 07:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yourpoison.livejournal.com
gah~! stop, stop..! *snatches poor dwakey-koo away from you* eeee~~
he can't heeeeear youuuuu... la..lala..lalala...*puts hands over his ears*
you're not going to grow up like that, -are- you, dwakey??

"yes mother" dwakey says obediently.
er.

"agent" hee~:) i like that.
"childhood passion" ahahah
erm. more follows.

Date: 2002-12-02 07:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yourpoison.livejournal.com









um. *coughs* right then. yah i know there are people like that, i was just saying--er-- they're-- er-- not `normal', and i like to think that while jkr makes some people -mean-, i think she just means them to be mean schoolboys, not psychopaths, per se. unless you're voldemort.
i like mean!draco, yes. but evil!draco or psychopathic!draco makes it into a whole 'nother story. 'cause that raises the question of the psychological fitness of -all- of them-- i mean-- they're all messed up then, and then it's a -really- different story.
i mean, ginny?? yarg, does -that- girl have problems. harry? ouch.
and what's with hermione and her extreme booklust, anyway? we all know nerds are insane :D ahahaha
plus, ron's jealousy and temper tantrums and low self-esteem might get him to do desperate things one day, and lead to extreme alcoholism and wife-beating or something.

i mean, harry has had a very rough beginning, too. i mean-- y'know, growing up with the dursleys, he should by rights be er... really disgusting. like them.
and if early experiences shape you irrevocably (which they do), then ginny's kind of doomed-- and i don't -think- that's how it's gonna pan out, in the actual books. could be wrong ^^
anyway, malfoy's a bastard, but he's an unthinking, petty crook, not an evil sociopath-- he plays pranks for attention and he whines a lot. now-- yes, he's just a child, still.
but like, a -lot- of kids are that cruel, -without- a death-eater father. kids are cruel in general. yea as cruel as malfoy. without being evil. who grow up "fine".

i mean-- there's nothing saying that he's going this way, is what i mean.
and i don't think in this case he's evil-- he just seems really amoral and unemotional.
and if you -are- a psychopath you tend to be even -more- icy as a child-- before you learn to play by society's rules and mask your weirdness and act like is expected of you. when you're a child you aren't as good of an actor.
i mean-- well, i'm thinking of jeffrey dahmer here, who is supposedly a textbook sociopath.

now -tom-, by all accounts, is what a sociopath is really like.
he was always good at acting, at fooling people. he made people like him. he was smooth and he really never cared and he never lost control or made blatant faux-pas in terms of pissing the wrong people off at the wrong time.
for these people, by the time they turn teenagers, it's already all about control. all about power.
what i'm saying is, this draco seems like he -just doesn't care-.
usually, with this depth of withdrawal and apathy, you have a measure of -meanness-. and draco -is- mean, that is just essential to his characterization-- in fact, that's why jkr made him as far as i can tell. but this draco isn't mean.
he's just blah. couldn't care less.

i find that to be the spark that makes it not quite in-character.
he's mean and ornery and whiny, because he wants to be. he cares about his comfort and he's pissed off he's not getting enough attention. harry potter doesn't deserve what he's getting because draco wants it.
sociopaths aren't mean-- they can't -feel- the pain they're causing. whereas this draco progresses to this, he didn't used to be like this. and emotions this basic don't just -switch off- without some sort of deep trauma to cause it.
in canon, draco knows/hopes that what he does will get to harry or ron or hermione-- he's trying to push their buttons. he's trying to piss them off. he wants hermione to cry because he called her a mudblood. he wants harry to feel bad because he wore that "potter stinks" badge-- thus he -understands- the idea of feeling bad.
-he- seems to feel bad, to feel jealous, about harry's fame, to feel inadequate because he's not getting the grades, to feel lesser without the newest broom, and so on. jkr -tells us- that he's jealous, that he's whatever. that sort of thing doesn't just evaporate into thin air, for no good reason other than you're a nazi now.
the scary thing is-- nazis were people too, with feelings, with passions, with jealousies, with families.
even hitler-- was screwed up to be certain, but he was an emotional sort of guy. he felt bad about his lot in life.

Date: 2002-12-02 08:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yourpoison.livejournal.com
anyway, if i believed in this draco as the `real' draco, i'd never write another fic with draco in it, probably, and you know how sad that'd make that'd make all my fangirls :D ahahah

plus i probably wouldn't have a huge reason to be in the fandom, since well, i think the books kinda suck.
*weeps*~:)

Date: 2002-12-03 06:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] marysiak.livejournal.com
what she said, all of it

Date: 2002-12-03 09:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ethrosdemon.livejournal.com
and i like to think that while jkr makes some people -mean-, i think she just means them to be mean schoolboys, not psychopaths, per se.

The problem with any debate based around what JK intends for the future of her series is that it is a children's book. So basically, her skill level is only a three on the real writing scale (while her talent ideas is a 12). Therefore she *does* write Draco as a budding psychopath, but she works from the perspective of someone writing for children with no intention of explaining to an adult audience what they should know by reflex (children's stories are not real, and analyzation of them based on RL paradigms is sort of silly...but that doesn't stop *us*). In the great tradition of lit crit, we continue talking out our asses with undefensible positions that stem from our own world views which we present as universal.

(this is a pre-coffee post, btw, if it sounds rude, I am not trying to be, but you know me, so I think we're cool)

As to the psychologic fitness of the whole crew: welcome to my HP world. Sit down, we have coffee, biscuits and PAIN! *g* Everything you say about that sounds about right to me (although I see Ron as more of a bar room brawler than a wife-beater), and Hermione is the stereotypical Smart Girl. There is something really kinky going on underneath somewhere. (Harry is just simply insane, I don't think he would be like the Dursleys. They always told him he was unwanted and not one of them. I mean, really, imagine that. Every single blasted day of your life you are told your parents were losers and you're nothing but a burden on your only family. Then one day you find out you're the second most famous person in the Wizarding World. This is not what makes a stable individual)
Do I think LJ says any of this? No, but she presents the children with all their issues and scars, and I say "What would that person *really* be like as an adult?" Mainly, it's not very sweet.


but like, a -lot- of kids are that cruel, -without- a death-eater father. kids are cruel in general. yea as cruel as malfoy. without being evil. who grow up "fine".

I like how you qualified fine. A lot of those people grow up to be giant assholes who beat their kids and cut me off in traffic, too. Some kids are cruel because of social pressure, to fit in and be accepted themselves. That's Crabbe and Goyle, not Draco. He's the instigator, the impetus. He's a v mean brat, and that doesn't just fade away over night. Yes, he *could* be somehow reformed, but it would take something a whole lot bigger than teenaged love.

Good point on the sociopathic childhood. How about instead we just say Really Big Ass? RBA? lol Draco really is a mini Lucius. Except Lucius bought into the rhetoric. I tend to think I disagree with Z on that point. Draco buys into that stuff, too. About his own superiority and the natural order of things. You can only hear that every second of every day of your life and get it embedded in the back of your thoughts.

and emotions this basic don't just -switch off- without some sort of deep trauma to cause it.

Trauma for one person isn't so much for another. We could postulate some sort of horrible event in Draco's life that made him like this. But I tend to disagree and think that some people just spring fully formed like this. Have you read or seen Apt Pupil?

The thing about *all* the characters in the real books is that JK does just tell us whatever crap she wants us to see. So, she tells us Draco's jealous. He's Harry's foil, and Harry is the perfect hero (in the archetypical way), so naturally Draco is jealous. The ff or lit crit angle is for us to say 'why'? Why is Draco reacting this way? That's what Z told us, her sickles on that. It might not really even be her opinion on it, though lol All in all, JK gives us hollow, paper characters, and we insert what we want as their real story. You see goodness where some others of us tend to see lint and grease.



Date: 2002-12-03 12:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yourpoison.livejournal.com
*laughs* a whole lot bigger than teenaged lurve, eh >:D<
i wanna see your idea of what it would be :D hee~!
draco reformed, the Kassie Way, would be priceless :D

and sometimes i wonder if secretly, you think i'm just a big wuss ^^ since you know, it's not like i'm some sappy `draco is really a dearheart' person, but um...yah. i tend to like people's shinier sides at least as much as their dingier sides-- i mean, without the other, one is sort of dull, to me.
i like people who are -both- heroes and losers.
i think i like draco because he has the potential to be both at the same time, and so does harry.

i mean, this is the person who liked heero/duo and thought they could be wuffly bunnies who shared an apt somewhere cozy, and y'know. heero and duo really -are- remorseless killers :D ahahah
yah so obviously my bias is large and in charge ^^

i also think that True Love (ahahah) is um, the same whether it's teenaged or middle-aged ^^ probably -more- powerful when teenaged and emotions are more extreme. that's also the years where things hit your harder, and you're still changing.
i don't think love alone would redeem draco-- sorta like spike.
but i think it could be the first stone in his glass house. if he -was- able to wake up, it'd give him the first, biggest reason.
w00t! carebears unite :D

Date: 2002-12-02 07:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cirakaite.livejournal.com
But that everyone should have such a well-written obituary =-) That was a beautiful story. Short, and you went into so much depth with Draco.

Do you mind if I friend you?

~Amanda

Date: 2002-12-03 09:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
But that everyone should have such a well-written obituary =-) That was a beautiful story. Short, and you went into so much depth with Draco.

Do you mind if I friend you?


I'm glad you liked it, and no, I don't mind at all if you 'friend' me. :)

Date: 2002-12-02 09:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] metro99.livejournal.com
Wow.

I really like how you didn't make Draco overly dramatic and all that. Like at the part about his first killings and stuff. You see fics where he goes wonky after that, and this is a nice refreshing change. I liked the way he was self-centered and all he cared about was his own safety. Wah... I just liked the portrayal of Draco in general.

Date: 2002-12-03 09:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
I really like how you didn't make Draco overly dramatic and all that. Like at the part about his first killings and stuff. You see fics where he goes wonky after that, and this is a nice refreshing change. I liked the way he was self-centered and all he cared about was his own safety. Wah... I just liked the portrayal of Draco in general.

I think what I like the most about this piece is how matter-of-fact and removed it seems. I'm glad you liked it.

Date: 2002-12-04 06:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] phatphatkitty.livejournal.com
Well, there's hardly anything I can say that's original, but I've avoided reading the other reviews in the faint hope that this may be quality crit. But it isn't quality crit. It's just awestruck dumbness in the face of your considerable talent.

The air of detachment in this piece is very well done. You're forcibly holding the readers at arms length - much like the deliberate distancing in the films of Antonioni or Jarmusch. Doing it with words is so very difficult, but you've managed it beautifully. Will go sulk now.

Date: 2002-12-06 04:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hackthis.livejournal.com
But it isn't quality crit. It's just awestruck dumbness in the face of your considerable talent.

The air of detachment in this piece is very well done. You're forcibly holding the readers at arms length - much like the deliberate distancing in the films of Antonioni or Jarmusch. Doing it with words is so very difficult, but you've managed it beautifully. Will go sulk now.


I'm honored you think so highly of this piece, thank you very much for all your kindness.

Date: 2003-11-20 03:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] singtoangels.livejournal.com
God. Herd!Draco is a horrible concept. I do prefer the I'm-only-looking-out-for-myself-the-rest-of-you-bugger-off Draco, but this took even that down several notches. The scary thought is that I know people like this. Nothing really affects them. They read Danielle Steele (and enjoy it in their cow-like way) and collect porcelainangels and watch reality television. God. Someone needs to make Mad Cow Disease for people and swipe out the herd. Death to the herd! Mooo!

Cheers,
Sing

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