I'm just curious. I have seen (not on here, but frequently on other websites) forums that feature people's least favorite tropes.

Mine is Dark Harry Potter. Yes, I know that within these Harry is, essentially, an original character by everything other than name and appearance. However, I love anti heroes with a passion. All of my favorite media feature anti heroes - Dexter, Breaking Bad, The Vampire Diaries, and more I can't think of on the top of my head. By Dark Harry, I just mean a morally gray Harry who uses dark magics for either his own benefit or a select few.

So, what's your favorite Harry Potter fanfiction trope? And why?

 

Sorry about the confusion - I didn't specify. I just meant that I had seen tons of threads featuring least favorite tropes, but little to do with favorite tropes. I am sure they are out there somewhere, but I haven't seen them. Reading over it, I can see why you're confused. I wrote that right after a very long meeting so I wasn't thinking clearly.

I have begun the Downward Spiral Saga, but I didn't get very far into book one. It's just, well I know Harry is only 11, but I hate how easily he's manipulated. It makes me feel like his choices are not his own because I assume it goes like this: he was young and impressionable, the wrong people ingrained biased beliefs in him (not that Dumbledore isn't biased against Slytherin, but he doesn't directly harm them) and he eventually, as a result of manipulation, becomes evil. And he's not sane in the slightest. Again, these are just assumptions, but that assumption of the plot is a real turn-off for me.

As for the trio fics, I haven't read many like that. I am sure I have at some point, but I can't think of them at the top of my head. However, for the mentor/apprentice fics, I really like Severitus. I just like Severus Snape. I am not saying he's a good person, but I do think he's a good character. Probably because of the anti-hero thing, and in my opinion, he fits the bill.

 

The Downward Spiral is a great saga to read when you're feeling unreasonably happy at life and in general and you decide that you just can't have that.

 

I wouldn't say there are any tropes I unconditionally like. If they're executed badly, I'll still walk away. But there are some tropes that are much more likely to get me to check out a fic.

1. Talented Harry. Ranging from "talented like his parents" to "talented like Voldemort". This is more or less a necessary prerequisite for me to read a fic.

2. Fem!Harry. Really hit and miss. I'm not interested in tomboy fem!Harry or fics where fem!Harry is just the same as Harry only with longer hair. If you're turning Harry into a girl, there should be something about the story/character which couldn't have been done with male Harry.

3. Wizengamot politics. This one is almost always a disappointment, because 99.9% of these "political" fics are just Harry inheriting a ton of political power and then throwing it around without any challenge.

4. Gen fic. Usually a good sign that the story will attempt to have some semblance of a plot.

5. M-rated fic with any of the following pairings: Harry/Fleur, Harry/Susan, Harry/Parvati, Harry/Daphne, Harry/Pansy, Harry/Romilda, Harry/Ginny, Harry/Hermione, Harry/Luna, Harry/Astoria, or Harry/Gabrielle.

6. If there is an indication that the story does not include expendable magic/magical exhaustion, that will increase my interest.

7. If there is an indication that the story recognises the supremacy of magic over technology, that will increase my interest.

 

For a while, I've read only the fics that start in Harry's 4th year or above, but more recently I found fics closer to canon much more to my likings.

I don't know what trope to put it under, but I like reading about young Harry being a child with other kids, exploring magic, and having a sort of mystery to work with (like in canon). You know those cute little fics that make you smile a little without even realizing it? Well, that's my favorite trope.

I suppose most of those are canon rehash, but if the author tweaks it just enough, and is a decent writer, they can work wonders by changing only a few little things and butterfly it into a decent, but still new intrigue all while keeping Harry in character. I don't care who Harry's crowd is as long as they act their age.

 

I'm a big fan of outright Evil!Harry. Something about him being warped by Dark Magic is appealing to me.

 

I've read very few fanfics about Harry's generation, but the ones I have read have been time-travels of varying quality as well as a few one-shots. So I suppose time-travel would be a trope I'm somewhat fond of, although I haven't read any I was completely happy with. I want the characters and the world to be as close to canon as possible, and most tropes I've come across don't interest me.

I've tried reading post-Hogwarts fics and ones about Harry's kids but I suppose the characters don't interest me enough. Marauders era I do read and write, write more than read nowadays. With those stories again it's the characterization that draws me in more than any trope, but i suppose some fanon characterizations do become tropes after a while, so in that sense I'll avoid anything that makes any character romcom clueless and whiny to the point where they only care about their love interest, or dumbs them down or levels them up in intelligence or magical ability from what's in the books. I like a bit of violence and sex in fics, but there's some scenes I feel I've read variations of dozens of times, so less good guys vs bad guys on the cobblestones of Hogsmeade and awkward fumbling in broom cupboards scenes would be great, I'm sure that must be tropes across all HP fics. I'll also avoid anything that adds a lot of new werewolf lore to HP.

 

Ok, you got me. I'm VERY guilty. If the main character is getting a wand, I actually love when it's teh spechul unique wand of destiny. I don't give a crap whether it makes sense that the core is dementor's cloak or mountain dew. It's just fun.

 

I like timetravel/ timeloop fics regardless of fandom. When done right, nothing beats this class of story. Immersion is a top priority of mine and these stories tend to offer that. Conversely, it is because of the same reason I generally despise stories with a focus on the muggle world; they tend to tear down the wizarding world and make a muggle clone.

I look out for fics with immortal wizards, though there seem to be no good completed/updating stories of this type.

I also keep an eye out for fics with multiple factions duking it out.

 

I'm more likely to read fics without romance than with them. I don't care about it at all.

I'm into adventure/mystery and time travel.

 

I'm still an absolute sucker for a talented, powerful, political Harry. And for anything that does a lot of world building, even where its completely unnecessary for the the rest of the fic - for example, I love a good shopping trip to Diagon Alley, so long as it isn't bland and generic, but actually tries to give some flavour to the world.

 

1. Harry is betrayed by everyone, Ron and Hermione burn his photo album in front of him, he is sentenced to Azkaban, etc
2. Harry finds a Dark Arts teacher (diary, portrait of slytherin, etc) and trains under the nose of Dumbledore
3. Poor orphan Harry is disparaged at Hogwarts, but he is actually the most powerful and talented student and everyone claps at the end
4. Marriage Law fics
5. Animagus forms
6. Manipulative villainous Dumbledore

 

I've always been a sucker for Harry suddenly gets memories/magical skills fics. It's just fun to read about Harry increasing his ability exponentially and surprising everyone with his newfound skill.

 

I love all of these - well, most. I haven't read many marriage law fics. For the second one, I really want to recommend one. It's one of, in my opinion, the best fanfictions in the fandom. It's a little dark, but I think you would like that.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10937871/1/Blindness

If you do end up reading this, please tell me what you think. The author is a genius. I know this wasn't originally a rec, but this fanfic is worth it. To me, at least.

 

I like these as long as the magical abilities/memories come slowly. Development is important to me - if he's powerful from the get-go, that's one thing. I am personally fine with that. But if he is weak one day and then gifted with tons of abilities, I am not the biggest fan.

 

I swear I already dislike both of you, unless you are joking of course.

 

There are a lot of people out there that only read Marauder's era fics, almost always featuring Sirius/Remus or Snape/James. It's huge on Tumblr and AO3. I suspect there's next generation fics like that too.