April Fandom of the month

This months fandom write up is by the lovely Mezz Meriseme!

Sit back and enjoy!! xx Tgb.

What do you think when you hear the name Harry Potter? Harry Potter is one of the best-selling books around the world. It has grossed more than $6.3 billion dollars and it isn’t even close to being over. With seven books, eight movies, and millions of fans, this creates a huge fanbase in many different networks, one of them being fanfiction.net. Harry Potter is the number one fandom on fanfiction.net when it comes to the selection of books with over five hundred thousand fic options. There are any numbers of pairings available when you have as many options in a fandom as Harry Potter does. There are canon stories, non-canon stories and even slash stories. You can pretty much pick your favorite characters and you are almost guaranteed to find a story with them in it. With such a large fan base, it is excitingly understandable that we would have at least some members on FFA who are beloved fans of the series. When we asked our members what their reasoning for loving the series was, these were their answers: Susan Cribbs wrote that she loved the Harry Potter series for the drama. “JK Rowling put so much underlying tension throughout all of the books and still made it an easy read. (Other than the HBP, that one took me forever!) I also love how she had the mindset to bring every little aspect of foreshadowing and prophecy together at the end. Not many authors have the talent to do that, so it's a real pleasure when everything works out. I love her characterization and how she humanizes even the most evil people. And the emotion she portrays just blows me away. I was honestly crying for the last couple chapters of Deathly Hallows.” Constant Comment Tea wrote that she loved the creativity. “[J.K. Rowling’s] sense of humor makes me cry from laughing so hard because she's so good at the little surprises that catch you off-guard. She created some truly awesome characters (McGonagall is one of my favorites), and she created something that people can unite over for decades to come. Harry Potter is the world I wanted to live in when I first started reading the books (just as the third book came out), and it gave me a blissful, hungry escape. All the time I spent lost in her world have not been wasted--not a second.” Katie Luvsonehundredmonkeys wrote, “I love the fact that the movies follow along so closely to the books. That’s one of my favorite things because it’s like this, you can read the books and then later watch the movies and be like ‘oh yea, I remember reading that!’ lol” Jay Nordmann said, “It would take too long to say every little thing that I love about the Harry Potter series, but I can say this: Rowling has created a universe of dramatic plotlines that draw you in and never let you go. The details that go through all of the seven books, it's well crafted and thought trough, and it amazes me that in the large span of years this series was created how Rowling never lost the initial feel for her characters or their meaning. Details written and loved in the early years of an awkward pre-teen developed into a mature young man who would sacrifice himself to save others; portraying a true Gryffindor who will shine of bravery through his fears. It brings up so many aspects of 'real life:' discrimination, war, the lives of young adults, hate, feelings of abandonment and rejection, and most of all the importance of love and the belief that it will conquer all threats. Bex-chan Fanfiction loves Harry Potter because “It has everything; action, angst, romance, tragedy, fantasy, originality, a moral...just everything. The imagination that went into the series just astounds me. To make it so familiar, yet incredible to the reader is simply genius.” Rae Marie loves the Harry Potter series for how J.K. Rowling wrote the series. “Seemingly insignificant details from the early books would become vital. She evolved her characters throughout the years. She didn't approach the wizarding world as an new creation, but as an established world. But the reader never really felt lost or bored because everything was explained in dialogue, not exposition. Her word is so realistic; I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there were wizards living among us.” Heather Bella wrote, “[J.K. Rowling] created a world you could believe in, and then she populated it with characters you want to believe in. There is something so beautiful about the honour shown by so many in the books. The desire to do right above all else that overcomes whatever their allegiances or character flaws. That is a huge part of what makes the characters work on the page; they are so very flawed, all of them, yet, these are the things that make them human and lead to their victory or downfall. The character arc of the three leads is so complete that you can't help but be totally emotionally invested in them. She makes them not only words on a page but the friends you wished you had.” Muriel Gaylee loves Harry Potter “Because he was such a real character. He had to grow into himself from the moment he found out he wasn’t just the abused/neglected nephew of the Dursleys. He didn't always get things right and he didn't always know the right places to look for guidance, but he LOVED those he connected with and sometimes that didn't always lead to the best decision making! I totally adored that so many who cared for his parents came to know and love and protect him too; Sirius, Remus, Albus, Minerva, the Weasley family, even the Longbottoms to a point. They all started out protecting "The boy who lived" but ended up caring for a nice kid who tried his best despite his circumstances. I like that JK didn't sugar-coat the realities of conflict and fighting for what is right over what is easy and even though he'd been neglected and treated poorly all his life, he still cared for Dudley at the end and took a moment to say Goodbye. Stephanie Lvtwilight Matyszczyk said that she fell in love with the books. “The way they were written, it was like I could imagine everything that happened in my mind, and then when the movies were made, to see how perfectly the movies matched with what I had imagined...it was perfect.” Erin Barker told us, “I think it is perfectly written. Like other books I read, I felt like I was experiencing everything that they were. It made me laugh, cry, and completely pulled me in, and I love it. It is just AWESOME!” Fanfic Reader gave us a list of her reasons for why she loves Harry Potter and ‘the boy who lived.’ Her reasons were: “1) The world JKR created - magical creatures, pictures that have characters move, things like polyjuice potion, etc. etc. 2) The intricate story line - how you go from one book to another and a later book references something that happened earlier and you go aha!! 3) Kick ass female characters. Hermione more than any character is the real 'hero' of the book so to speak; McGonagall; even Bellatrix and Umbridge are fierce female characters. 4) The tension/drama element. You were never sure how things would end until the very last moment. She killed some beloved characters and that, I think, is staying true to the story and her vision rather than what would sell. 5) The basic 'we are friends, we do anything for each other, no questions asked' angle. 6) Voldermot - he is evil in the purest form. He has no conscience, is completely unapologetic, straight up and in your face. 6) How it made me live and feel everything like that characters did. 7) And lastly, the style of writing. It didn’t falter or become dated or anything. There are many great opinions in FFA on why the members love and adore the series, as there should be with so many people interested in a series. Not everyone loves the same things and that helps keep things interesting. There are many similar opinions here, but also many different ones. Imagine if we had gotten into asking what people what the best (and their favorite) pairings were ;) I can only imagine the debate that would spark. Whether you are a fan of Harry Potter, only somewhat interested in it, or not a fan at all, you can still appreciate the following the series has created. J.K. Rowling has done an amazing job writing her books and creating a world where people can go to escape. There are no limits to what the magical world can hold and I think that is one reason why so many people love Harry Potter. I watched the movies before I read the books and admittedly, I have yet to read much HP fanfiction, but I am slowly working my way there. I fell in love with the movies first and then when I didn’t totally understand what was going on, decided to pick up the books. I had never been a big reader, but the Harry Potter books excited me and I felt were a fairly easy read. They were exciting, adventurous and different from what I was used to reading. I hope that everyone will give this series a chance because it very much deserves it.

Happy Harry Potter month! Mezz.