A lot of smirking and megalomania from eleven year olds?

I'm the biggest Daphne stan out there, but christ it's infuriating.

 

My favorite Daphne Greengrass is from Contract Invalidation by R-Dude, just have her characterized like that and we’re good.

I usually prefer beautiful, posh, politically savvy (mind you no first year politicians), well dressed, rich, pragmatic and clever to boot - basically everything opposite of Harry.

I have also come to appreciate her being motivated by curing Astoria’s Blood Malediction Curse. It seems like a great driving force for a character and I have seen it work well in a fic like Teleology.

Oh and I have fan cast her in my head as Blake Lively and there’s no changing that, I’m afraid.

 

On the siding scale of fanonicalness, contractual invalidation is probably the one most close to perfect for me too.

When there are divergent daphnes , it's obviously preferable to see creative characterization, but my preference would be for it to not be completely independent of the fanon concept. Something completely original would clash to much with the existing impressions everyone has, so "redraws" of the character would ideally be mindful of fanon and work off of that or subvert it, but not be in a vacuum completely independent of it.

Vlad's story (can't remember the name) with a dumb blonde daphne springs to mind, although that was primarily subvertive, as opposed to having her as a character in a story.

 

It would very much depend on the writing quality, for me. Assuming the quality is similarly well polished, I would prefer an original spin on things.

I've read bunch of fanon-take fics, and I have to admit that the fanon-compliant interpretation is interesting and enjoyable, but can fall flat with poor execution. When done reasonably well, it becomes easy to enjoy, sometimes a bit like comfort food. You know the tropes and the expectations of the fanon-Daphne and you can enjoy the subtle differences while keeping the main formula.

I tried my hand at a near-fanon take in 2012, and if I were writing the same story completely from scratch* now, I'd try to figure out something more original that that regular take.

The curse of the very prominent fanon-compliant staple is that all the original Daphne's become, in some way, subversions of fanon-take, coming with yet another set of expectations from the readers, who, obviously, know the expected fanon-Daphne takes as well as the writers.

In the end, its still surprising that a character with barely a mention or two in the books has such a well-defined role in fandom mythology that everyone knows the expected trope So much so, that there are no competing tropes surrounding the same character. Unless Dizzy Daphne becomes as popular

*I've been away from fanfic writing for a while (and don't yet have an idea for how long I will stay / can write these days) and it's hilarious that I've come back to update my single Daphne fanfic (so far only on Wba, ff.net still has old version), and only after posting I realize that there's a Daphne resurgence in discussions and fanfics on WbA.

 

Duality by Anda Faith has IMO a pretty nuanced take on her character that while not Ice Queen, is very Slytherin. Doesn't scratch the itch if you want an aloof cold character, but you get more dynamic interactions and a game of shadows from the start. That being said, in that story she's dark-haired and half-blood.

 

I'm not actually that picky, in theory.

1) no ice queen, and I mean actually describing her as an ice queen.
2) Daphne's parents weren't friends with Harry's

Those are really my only criteria, and they're both pretty much the same, essentially just being lazy characterizations.

If there is one trope I prefer, it's the secret friend or dating-in-secret trope.

 

I've read a cute romance forced-marriage fic once where Daphne is chubby, shy, friendless, and scared of Ginny who lies and manipulates her. That was awesome just for the breather that was that Daphne.
Obviously can't stand the Ice Queen bullshit anymore, nor political savvy parents, parents being friends with Harry's, bff Tracy Davis who hooks up with Neville/Ron/Hermione... the endless cliche list can go on.

 

Someday, I'd love a Dapne with a characterization closer to this one:


than a fanon one.

 

Personally, I've always kind of been taken by the turtle-loving, Wednesday Addams-esque Daphne from What's Her Name in Hufflepuff.

 

I thought it was a super interesting take on the character at the time, but I also felt that the character sorta veered off into territory that I probably would've found way too OOC if I wasn't like... 15.

I do, however, think that having a physical description in your headcanon that is immutable for a character like Daphne is pretty stupid.

 

@Dark Syaoran is like 90% of the way there already. We just need a post-Voldemort mystery in America where they're vacationing in Kansas or some shit, and Ditzy Daphne hears about a talking tornado, remembers that she got a D in OWL Care of Magical Creatures, shrugs, and wants to get to the bottom of it anyway. But, just as she's about to barge, wand-ready, out of the motel, she trips and gets caught in the weather. Long story short, but it was Harry's revised vacation plan to rescue the damsel in distress from the sentient swirly talking tornado-man, after it turns out it was Harry's wind charm (he just couldn't abide the high winds after he had just left the Scottish Highlands for Merlin's sake) gone awry the whole time.

It would have all worked out if it weren't for that meddling Statute of Secrecy

 

In Harry's haste to follow Daphne out of the motel and aid her in solving the Malevolent Wind Mystery, he forgets to cast a sticking charm to his glasses. Hermione had always been the meticulous one when they were in school--she had spelled his glasses impervious during that fateful Quidditch match with the Dementors. It was that kind of obsessive planning that made her a bit annoying to have on holiday. So when Daphne, a cute red-headed Slytherin known for her trademark ascot and perky attitude, had suggested a quick getaway to Kansas, Harry had eagerly agreed.

When Daphne trips outside their motel, she's taken away by the storm. It's clearly the work of the mysterious Tornado Man to get the primary detective on the scene out of the way in order to advance his swirly-twirly plot. Harry attempts to catch Daphne, gesticulating wildly to coordinate her rescue. As his Seeker reflexes kick in, he reaches for Daphne's wrist, only for her to swing wide and strike his face. Harry, stunned, stumbles backwards, and his Auror-grade specs are carried aloft on the wind all the way to Oz.

"I can't see without my glasses!" Harry says.

What will Harry do next? How will Daphne fare at the center of the storm? Who is the mysterious Tornado Man?

Find out next week on Scooby Doo! A Harry Potter Mystery...

 

I'd like if someone characterizes her akin to Lara Raith from the Dresden files. Clever, ambitious, beautiful and dangerous as hell.

 

As I don't really enjoy reading about plot relevant ocs in the HP fandom, I prefer it when the author borrows elements of Daphne's character from fanon. Still, I don't usually enjoy her as a main character at all, although there are exceptions.

 

I've been thinking about a Daphne fic for a while and I've considered this. I've never really settled onto a concept though.

I wanted to stick to ice queen Daphne on the surface. My thought was a Daphne who either secretly wants a different life, or a Daphne who once she gets a taste for the "wild side", looks to jump on board. At the same time, I wanted to keep the ice queen façade, sort of like the rich white girl hiding her "unsuitable" boyfriend from her family.

Perhaps a Daphne that is embarrassed that she like the "low brow" things poorer witches and wizards enjoy? You could have a story about Daphne unlearning the coldness taught to her by her family.

One thing I hate though is how there's only two options for her family. Either they're the worst sort of death eaters and die horribly, or they are a "grey" family (who are in actuality progressive or some rot) and Harry gets on swell with them.

I want a story of a true "grey" Greengrass family, who are middle of the road, boring conservatives who Harry can not get along with, who secretly agree with Voldemort but detest what his war is doing to their business interests. I want a story that ends with Daphne not being on speaking terms with her parents, but at the same time they're not a fanatical inner-circle Death Eater. Parents that are not traditionally abusive, but still cold and unloving, more worried about the family image than the family. The stories are normally too black and white for such nuance however, either going full psycho or end with a loving making up scene.

Edit:

I wouldn't mind a few inversions too. Say a Mr Greengrass who links he's this politically savvy mastermind, when in actuality he's a small-minded bumbling fool. Or a Mrs Greengrass who think she's a social queen when she's actually just a transparent narcissist.

Narcassist Greengrass family could work now I think about it. Perhaps a golden child Daphne who eventually becomes self aware of how emotionally stunted her parents are and how being the golden child has fucked her up too. So, the story becomes an escape fic where Daphne secretly tries to relearn basic social skills without a narcissistic bent and then tries to escape the situation.