Would you people PLEASE stop raping Draco Malfoy's personality?

[Supersonic Bitch]

Because I couldn't put this on words better, I just have to quote Lorielen, a very skilled fanfiction writer:

(the source: http://www.geocities.com/gssdark/foyer.html )

"I've taken the time to create such a topic basically because Draco Malfoy is my favourite character in the whole Harry Potter series and he's evilly trashed about daily by millions of pseudo-fans who just wanted a good-looking wizard to pair with their Mary-Sues. So they commit the grievous blasphemy of calling 'Draco' a fluffy, sensitive and inherently nice little blond boy who hates his father. Which is immeasurably wrong as far as canon and sense go. Whilst Fluffy!Draco isn't completely impossible to write, it's notoriously hard to find one that is In Character. Within this topic, I have tried to make an analysis of how I perceive Draco. I have read all books, written several works of fiction featuring him, plus have Role-Played him for close to two years now, so I feel I am fairly acquainted with Draco's psyche and behaviour and entitled to express my extreme disappointment at and the absurdity of some of the common Out Of Character Dracos that we get to see around the net. Split in four items, on which I attack some of the issues that are most appalling to me.

Item One: he happens to be a git

And immensely pleased with himself, at that. So should a fan be - not that being a fan implies instant quitting of one's critical sense, there is much that could be improved on Draco. However, what draws attention the most in him is that he fits in the Slytherin stereotype, in the evilness department. That given, why go and change specifically his chief feature?

Many people dedicate a lot of time and effort to that. From what I gather, they attempt to make him more human, and I honestly have no idea of what could be the whole point of it, if usually what happens is a distorted version of Draco falling for a Mary-Sue and all of a sudden going against his Father and his inner beliefs and everything he fought for his whole life and built his personality upon. Unreasonable to the brick of nausea. He would hardly change his attitude, when he has spent the whole five books of the series boasting about it. For more on this see The (infamous) Slytherin Redemption Issue, One: Draco Malfoy, bellow.

No reason to re-shape him to quiet and introspective, or sensible and fluffy, when his witty lines in the books have captured your heart. Much to Ron's dismay, he can even rhyme.

No motive to butcher Draco into being helpful and chivalrous, if that arrogant look suits him so well - and you know it. Why have him as the poor little boy who’s victim of parental abuse and in desperate need of help from the noble Gryffindors when we all know so well that it just isn’t true, that he gets expensive presents from home, that his father got a hippogriff killed and a professor in Azkaban just because of a cut to his arm. And, most importantly, why make him nice if you became a fan of Draco's because he’s the series’ bad boy?

Why pervert J. K. Rowling's work while claiming to be a fan.

If you're here and reading this nonetheless, you probably like Draco, even though he is an insensitive git, a total jerk who knows just the wrong thing to say at the wrong time to make someone feel miserable and inferior. Even if he’s an insufferable brat, spoilt rotten by his father, weaver of lame ways to climb up the power ladder. He has Crabbe and Goyle beat people for him so that he won’t mess his hair. There are some times we feel seriously tempted to tell him to take his stupid pride and beloved Malfoy name and just shove them. Even though he's sourly incompetent at times and has been hexed successfully by Ginny Weasley, one year his junior.

That I am able to expand on Draco's faults doesn't make me less of a fan. The devil's advocate tactic simply brings out that, instead of trying to shape him into a nice Gryffindor with blond hair, I accept Draco the way he is. A little bastard. So kisseable. There’s no need for him to change.

Needless to say he has got good traits as well. Canon Draco is Slytherin, dream-like in beauty, intelligent, and can be trustworthy if he wishes so. He's selective, true to his history and traditions, and that of his family and world. Protective of his aims. Ambitious. Builds a safety network to reach to when he's in trouble, knows better than to get caught. He's witty, pleasantly sarcastic. Gifted when it comes to Potions, as well as Quidditch - maybe not as much as Harry, but the final match is always against Slytherin, which testifies in favour of his quality. He's Harry Potter's more than worthy counterpart. In the hands of a good writer he can be wonderfully deep, with internal struggles that warrant for heart-twitching during the read."

[canterro]

wisdom spoke through your words

I rarely read fanfiction and this is mainly because authors rarely stay faithful to original characters.

[DarkInuLord]

Without reading anything in the original post.

Ya'know.

Just putting this out there.

You could always just opt to not read Harry Potter fanfiction. I think every other fandom I can understand. But the Harry Potter fandom baffles me.

[shinigamiinochi]

Ok, so I'm not a fan of Harry Potter, and I certainly don't read the fanfiction, but leaving something just because a few people are butchering it is no way to live. "If you don't like the rules then get out". Um, no thank you. It's just so... defeatist. It is a very valid point, to stay in character, and you shouldn't just leave the fandom because some people don't want to stay true to the work. But, it's also something you can't change, so just don't let it get to you and focus on those wonderful writers who can follow a story while still remaining creative.

[JayDee]

Well, I guess it's not just the fluffy daddy hating stuff... I wrote the lad as a baby selling rapist and that's not really the essence of Draco either... but I don't think I'll be doing it again, so I guess I'm stopped!

Uh, ooops.

[greenwizard]

As always.... if you don't like, don't read. Actually, it really ticks me off when people whine about characters being non cannon because keeping a character perfectly cannon is pretty much impossible. You know, if you've been writing and role playing him the way you think that character would really act, then great. But how can you be so sure that if J.K.R. herself were writing that story or role play thread she wouldn't have the character act differently?

The only characters that have any depth at all in the Harry Potter books are Harry, Ron, and Hermione; and it mostly focuses on Harry. The only glimpse we get of Draco and his personality is when he's having a go at Harry. If you were to actually pay attention to how Slytherins are described, they are scheming, backstabbing little fuckers. Weakness is a death sentence, same as it is as a Death Eater. So who's to say that when Draco is being a prat it's not an act so he can survive in the snake pit? Are you the original author?

And let's not forget books 6 and 7. Draco was smug the whole way through book 6, but at the top of that tower he couldn't do it. If I remember right he was actually crying. Then at the end of book 7 the Malfoy family is curled up together on the floor.

Even after all I've just said... the most important thing to remember is that this is a place where people can get creative and write what they want about their favorite book, movie, or TV show. Yes, there have been some really bad HP fics, but you don't hear me bitching. If I start reading and I don't like it I go find another one. I repeat the process until I find one I do like. It's a very simple process.

[Remetan]

While I agree that a fluffy Draco makes me squick, I do not agree that changing the nature of someone else's character is verbotten. I think it is part of the challenge of fandom to work within the confines of someone else's rules and take it to a new place. I've read some remarkable Draco/someone stories that do exactly that. They take the evil git who is just that and turn him into a fantastically self-centered but not quite so evil git, and I've loved them.

I haven't written Draco yet, but I have written Snape. And I have attempted to do that exact thing.

The beauty of writing fanfiction is that we get to create the deep internal struggles and motivations for characters that don't have it in canon, while at the same time playing with those personality traits that made us want to write them in the first place. We get to explain why they do what they do. We get to decide where they go after canon story lines end. And then, we get to write another story, in which nothing of the like happens and they stay the same evil gits they are, and those are fantastic as well.

A well written fanfiction, in my opinion, is one that is written in such a way as to make you truly believe that the original character would do exactly that, for exactly those reasons. That's why it's so fun!

And, to quote Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, "Because Allah loves wondrous variety."

[xAingealx]

I understand your fustrations with people raping Draco Malfoy's personality. I however know how hard it is to keep a character true to the story, people are complex so writing about them and tweaking them to work with your plot without completly changing them is equally hard.

But if it bother's you so much, don't read it. Its just that simple.

But other times its just fun to make a supposed evil character into the complete opposite-and no I do not believe Draco Malfoy is evil.

So I think that you really need to look into the character's history. The Malfoy's were all crying together at the end of book seven-they love each other which was pointed out before. But as you yourself pointed out, Draco's father went as far as he could go to the point where it was ridiclous just because of a little cut.

Draco Malfoy isn't just a git. Though most of us believe his veiws are predjudiced there is times where we can munipulate what happened to him and change make it fit our story better, changing his attitude even just slightly.

[Guest livid fire]

Well, how about opening a topic with a story list where Draco stays in character?

Anyone?

I'd like to see that.

Writting evil/selfish character is much harder then mindless slash horny boys or fragile pale 14ish 16ish boys with their leather daddies.

[kisakimiko]

OK, come on now. We all rape the characters we write about to a certain extent. Some fictions are better than others and not every person wants the same cup of tea.

You may benefit from issuing a few requests or challenges in lieu of a weapons purchase. You could be assured that the character is written the way you prefer. But that is the operative word there prefer. Preference it is a wide and varied thing.

Often I have seen characters in fandoms develop some of their more latent personality facets, it can be very interesting. I agree it gets tiresome when it is just a partner for mary sue/stu. Those stories show what they are fast and I don't read them.

It also sounds like the HP fandom is plagued with this kind of thing. But it also has a lot of writers so you should be able to find more things to your taste. Unfortunately that means more that are not as well