I found myself reading fanfiction, and original web-fiction a fair number of years ago, at first it was just an enjoyable pastime. These days it's more of an obsession enacted to avoid anxiety and depression. Inevitable, really, that I would come to start working on inflicting my own diseased mind and ramblings upon the world.

Hopefully they'll amuse.

As I lately have been reading Harry Potter fanfiction, that is where my focus is for the moment. I've seen a fair number of people put their opinions on characters or pairings here, so I'll follow suit.

Hermione: I personally am a fan of Hermione Granger; her personality (before she became a pod-person in book six) is largely reminiscent of mine as a child, Bossy, Bookish, Eager. I never had self confidence issues, but instead had anger issues and was not such a kind person, unlike Hermione. I find she could do well with many, except Billius, who lives up to his name, and Malfoy, the childhood bully. Both of those pairings are demeaning to women, and imply that being browbeaten and insulted into submission is somehow romantic. Gaslighting comes to mind.

Harry: Harry is the titular character, and despite his many, many flaws, he is legitimately a good character. Albeit one who is forgiving to a fault, and seriously needs to understand that trust and respect is earned, not taken with a sudden declaration of 'I'm you best mate!'. Putting him with the fan-girl Ginny is an insult to his character, since he is supposed to hate fame, after that I dislike large age gaps; I find them creepy. Hermione and Luna are favourites, but a fleshed out Katie, Susan, or other minor characters can work.

Luna: Luna is fun, she's loyal, brave, clever, strong. For a character introduced late I feel she is the second most developed female character in the Harry's age range, and one who it is very difficult to hate. Personally, I love her, spunky and weird little Luna can insert humour while being completely serious and insightful. Luna and Billius feels like a punishment to Luna, for much the same reason it does for Hermione.

Billius: I refuse to refer to the third member of the 'golden-trio' by his first name here, his middle name is far more accurate. Slothful, Envious, Greedy, Gluttonous, Lustful, Angry and Prideful; he's a walking avatar of the seven sins. I find him inherently unlikable, and everytime I see a 'redeemed' Billius I find him disturbingly out of character; one does not spend seven years without a mote of emotional growth then suddenly become mature.

Ginny: Ginevra is a cardboard cut-out we get told is sexy in book six, and learn has had several boyfriends. Outside of this she used to be Harry's biggest fangirl, and plays quidditch. The extrapolated tropes of Crazy-Stalker and School-Broomstick exist for a reason; there's honestly not much else there to base her off of. She can be a good character, but it can't come out of nowhere or it's weird.

Snape: Having never watched the films my view of Snape comes solely from the books; I've heard that Alan Rickman made him likable. Well, I have to say, book Snape is not likable. If you want Snape to be a redeemable character you need to start before book three, where he ruins Harry's life by trying to have Sirius executed. At that point he might theoretically be on Harry's side, but he isn't a good person nor is he deserving much kindness. A childhood sob story does not forgive attempted murder, or ruining the lives of any number of children.

Albus: Albus is either Evil, Manipulative, or Incompetent. You get to pick one, or more, and run with it, turning him into a good guy requires completely rewriting the story from start (placement at the Dursleys) to finish. I've seen this with The Real Us by Seel'vor (Read it) but outside of that he falls into some combination of the three.

Other characters tend not to have as strong variations in fanfiction, so I won't bother with them. I will be writing Harmony stories, if I manage to post anything, and am unlikely to ever be kind to Billius. If you dislike this, understand that my mind is not yours, and my opinions have equal value to your own.

As a final note: I read something on old-crow's profile that I am trying to take to heart - I cannot promise to review everything kindly, nor can I promise to review everything, as I do not always have thoughts to share, but if I ever feel anything for a story, I will share it.