Blood Wards

[fantasy]

Azaelia is currently working on a new HP story, but neither of us can remember when Harry found out about the blood wards. Was it at the end of the fifth book or did he find out before that? Does anyone remember?

[Kitty279]

Blood wards as such were never ever mentioned in the books - I can't remember even to have seen the word 'ward' in that meaning. When I started reading fanfic, it irritated me quite a bit in the beginning.

Well, after the Quirrell incident, Dumbledore mentioned the protection to explain why Quirrell couldn't touch Harry, though I can't remember the exact words. She might want to look that up.

[fantasy]

Thanks, though Az just told me that she found the answer in book five. *shakes head* Probably should have looked there first before asking.

Thanks for your help anyway:)

So how did that ward irrate you when you started reading? Was it because it wasn't mentioned in the book or something?

[Kitty279]

In my experience, when you look for it, you can't find the line, even if you go over the page three times. Then you ask, and *then* you suddenly find what you had been looking for

Yeah, it felt like people had invented something that wasn't mentioned at all, and it was confusing to find that expression used all over the fanfiction world. Later a friend told me the expression is commonly used for that sort of thing in fantasy literature in general; hadn't known that, as I barely read fantasy save HP and LotR, and they are the only ones I did read in English anyway. So the word was new for me, too. By now, I've made my peace with the frequent use of it

[fantasy]

I've had that happen to me too, though that also happens when I've misplaced something or when I used to do maths. It's funny and annoying how that happens.

I can understand that. At least you've made peace with it. There are people who still haven't made peace with certain things. One of Az's friends told her about a group of people who are "pure fans" or something along those lines who never make peace with anything new. Fanfiction needs to be completely canon with pairing, events, etc.

[Kitty279]

Glad I am not the only one

My problem was probably that it was so commonly used as if it was a canon fact, while I couldn't remember it being used in the books. As a rule, I don't think a story needs to be canon. What would the fun be with that? I love it when, for instance, people save Sirius, or when Harry grows a backbone and stops being Dumbledore's good little pawn. And I certainly don't mind different pairings (well, some - we all have our likes and dislikes) or some Dumbledore, Molly or Ginny bashing.

These rabid fans can be annoying, I know. On another board I know someone who's the same for LotR - was skipping all his posts for months because if I had to read one more essay about the length of Gandalf's beard in the movies, I'd have gone to strangle that guy!

[fantasy]

I know. That's the whole point of fanfiction, after all. Most people love to read about different things and authors enjoy writing outside canon. I've found that most of the stories i have enjoyed reading have absolutely nothing to do with the canon.

If Gandalf's beard length was all he had to worry about, I envy him. lol. In my opinion, i think people need to lossen up a little about differences between books, movies and fanfictions. When I was looking for deltora quest tv episodes online, I came across the fist episode on youtube and 96% of the comments were going on about how it was different to the books, etc.

[Kitty279]

Yeah. When I want to have everything like in the book, I don't need fanfiction, then I can read the book! To me, fanfiction is there to explore different possibilities. That's why I keep rolling my eyes about the reviewers who complain about every derivation from canon. Why do they read fanfiction at all when they can't bear any changes?

Always thought that guy should grow himself a beard the length he wanted Ian McKellen to wear and see how practical it is in everyday life
While I hate it when a movie changes a book so much that they only have the title in common, I know that there are things who work in a book, but not in a movie and vice versa. You have to accept that this or that *has* to be changed. Sure, there are often things where you can argue about if they were necessary that way, but as long as the movie keeps as close to the book as possible and changes are logically to explain, I have no problem.

[fantasy]

I know. It doesn't make any sense.

lol.

At first I was like that where I didn't like it when things changed so much, but in the end I find that I am able to look passed all of that and I just look at the movie as a whole, with no books attached. For it's like you said, certain things cannot be done in a movie or a book. I also look at it as though a movie is sort of like a fanfiction in a way, if you know what I mean. While it keeps to the canon, it also can add something.

[Kitty279]

I guess it depends on how much I love a book, too. At least I want to still recognise the story! If they basically invent the whole movie and only use the names, that's a bit too much for my taste. Then I'd prefer them to change the names to something originial, too, and don't try to ride on the success of the book to sell a movie that has nothing to do with the book.

But some changes to make something clearer, to leave out unimportant stuff, that sort of thing I have no problem with. Or to change something because it can be told in a book but won't work on film. You just can't put a book 1:1 into a movie, period. But some people don't get that, sadly. Or they get hung up about tiny details that are completely irrelevant.