Interesting! I agree with you, but I have other squicks as well.
1. I don't enjoy mpreg. Even if it's a good writer (and I must say I read a good one, I get the feeling they wanted a girl. It borders on Mary Sue. For me, it 's just another way of over-feminizing Harry or Draco. But, that's in no way a judgement on the author's talent. Just not my kind of scenario.
2. What is not my cup of tea as weel are long sessions of torture, dehumanization, humiliation. Major Squick. Now, I understand that in the context of a war or aftermath of war, dangerous and ugly things can happen. I enjoy hurt and comfort, I want the heroes to face adversity. Torture and horror happen in canon, too. It's just that in some stories, some writers seem to revel in awful details for the sake of shock value, or even worse, kink value. Sorry, Abu Graib as entertainment doesn't work for me. There is this good story that has some nasty flash backs; I just have to skip them.
As a corollary, I'm not strong on one of the protagonists tortures and humiliates the other as a part of their relationship. Not cool. Yes, the Harry/Draco dynamcis are based on a power struggle and it's fascinating, but I don't beleive in one chracter or the other accepting to be treated this way. I get even more uncomfortable when the author seems to find it cool and sexy. Mind you, I will accept a bit of S/M in slash-fic if it's mild and chracter-driven, not when it comes out of the blue.
3. The total demonization of the Weasley clan. It starts from the pertinent observation according to which, there is bad blood between the Malfoys and the Weasleys and that Harry being in love with Draco might prove awkward to say the least. That's true! But then, some writers who idealize Draco will decide that anybody who dislikes Draco is wrong and evil. Next thing we know, Draco was right that fateful day on the train when he said that some wizard family are better than others. Harry was wrong : the Weasleys are all demented bastards, which explains why they are wary of Draco. It's not because he and his father have been obnoxious in the past tried to killed different members of the family and so on. I must say, I enjoy the angsty and uncomfortable situation that Harry's love for Draco creates with his surrogate family. But let's remain a bit in-character here.
4. Finally, since the Potter series are recent in the literary landscape and was first aimed at kids, we sometimes get teenage stuff I don't enjoy, but that's just me. I certainly don't want to smack of ageisme here. A lot teenagers are talented writers. I just tend to click on the return button, when Harry and Draco are transformed in - like OMG - caricatural teenage girls.
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I agree with you, but I have other squicks as well.
1. I don't enjoy mpreg. Even if it's a good writer (and I must say I read a good one, I get the feeling they wanted a girl. It borders on Mary Sue. For me, it 's just another way of over-feminizing Harry or Draco. But, that's in no way a judgement on the author's talent. Just not my kind of scenario.
2. What is not my cup of tea as weel are long sessions of torture, dehumanization, humiliation. Major Squick.
Now, I understand that in the context of a war or aftermath of war, dangerous and ugly things can happen. I enjoy hurt and comfort, I want the heroes to face adversity. Torture and horror happen in canon, too.
It's just that in some stories, some writers seem to revel in awful details for the sake of shock value, or even worse, kink value.
Sorry, Abu Graib as entertainment doesn't work for me. There is this good story that has some nasty flash backs; I just have to skip them.
As a corollary, I'm not strong on one of the protagonists tortures and humiliates the other as a part of their relationship. Not cool.
Yes, the Harry/Draco dynamcis are based on a power struggle and it's fascinating, but I don't beleive in one chracter or the other accepting to be treated this way. I get even more uncomfortable when the author seems to find it cool and sexy.
Mind you, I will accept a bit of S/M in slash-fic if it's mild and chracter-driven, not when it comes out of the blue.
3. The total demonization of the Weasley clan. It starts from the pertinent observation according to which, there is bad blood between the Malfoys and the Weasleys and that Harry being in love with Draco might prove awkward to say the least.
That's true!
But then, some writers who idealize Draco will decide that anybody who dislikes Draco is wrong and evil. Next thing we know, Draco was right that fateful day on the train when he said that some wizard family are better than others. Harry was wrong : the Weasleys are all demented bastards, which explains why they are wary of Draco. It's not because he and his father have been obnoxious in the past tried to killed different members of the family and so on.
I must say, I enjoy the angsty and uncomfortable situation that Harry's love for Draco creates with his surrogate family. But let's remain a bit in-character here.
4. Finally, since the Potter series are recent in the literary landscape and was first aimed at kids, we sometimes get teenage stuff I don't enjoy, but that's just me. I certainly don't want to smack of ageisme here. A lot teenagers are talented writers. I just tend to click on the return button, when Harry and Draco are transformed in - like OMG - caricatural teenage girls.