Salutary Feedback

[snorkackcatcher]

Background: a little while ago, one LoonySpectre contacted me via Fanfiction.net messaging to ask if they could translate The Dark Side of the Moon (the Remus-is-Luna's-real-father "use a badfic trope in a non-badfic way" challenge story) into Russian for one of the HP fansites there, and naturally I agreed. That's the kind of Russian contact I like (the spambots, not so much).

Anyway, LS supplied me with translations of some of the feedback comments, and it's interesting to note that they have a rather different feel to them -- mostly positive, but in some cases quite critical, and in several cases bringing up surprising takes or points I hadn't even considered.

It might be cultural differences, of course, but I'd be inclined to speculate that it might equally be a side-effect of feeling able to be a lot more blunt if you don't expect the author to be reading the thread and possibly stomping off and taking their ball home with them. In which case, it would be nice to know how to get that effect without going through a translation process, because really, most of us just plain don't review if we don't like a fic, do we? And it definitely gives a slanted impression of how good or bad it is -- criticism can be salutary.

For the record, the comments (my notes italicised):

"A good idea about Luna being named for Remus' 'little furry problem'."

"Too sentimental. [Have to agree, really.] The Lovegoods are very unpleasant. Remus reflects a bit too much for me. I liked the fic's structure, those past/present changes."

"A great fic, the Bollywood motives [Not sure what's meant here, but my knowledge of Bollywood films is poor, I'm afraid] fit in perfectly. Though I couldn't understand why Luna had to be 'let go'." [Pretty much to fit in with no-one showing any sign of knowing in canon, to be frank, but I knew I was skating on thin ice character-wise for plot purposes there. Interesting to see the point raised]

"Stunning... and an unexpected ending. And then Lupin dies, sadly..." [Yeah. ): DAMMIT JO.]

"Very interesting themes, but I'd like to argue on some." [I don't blame you!]

"The detail about 'spinning Tonks round' seems a bit inappropriate, Tonks is very pregnant at the time so I can't imagine such carelessness from the future father." [Ah. Good point. That is about eight months in, isn't it? Er, let's say he did it in a Very Careful Way.]

"Is there a sequel of sorts? Luna shouldn't remain ignorant... or should she?" [I thought about Remus leaving a "open this only upon my death" note for Harry the way Marie left one for him, but ... went for the more angsty/no-canon-problems-y option instead. Maybe I shouldn't have. (It would provide a hook for a sequel, but as the last fic I posted showed, extending your own ficverses can be very lame.)]

[And a full-scale review from an online fanzine:]

"This is a wonderful story with very captivating characters. No, I don't think of Marie and Xenophilius Lovegoods as 'unpleasant'. They are more like common people, holding the same prejudices as the most inhabitants of the wizarding world. That's probably the irony of the situation: the 'eccentric' Lovegoods turn out as too common. [I like that. I didn't think of it, but I wish I had.] A woman yearning for man's warmth gets involved in an affair with someone she barely knows; a man who learns of his wife's pregnancy doesn't wonder what caused it; [Ulp. Another weak point: I tried to skate over this by insinuating that Xeno and Marie's marital relations were occasional rather than nonexistent, but never had either her or Remus raise this as a possible problem] then Marie, as all the mothers, thinks of her baby, while Xenophilius, as too many father, thinks of his work. Also, I disagree that Lupin's behaviour is cowardly. For all his life, he would hear: it's a disgrace to be a werewolf, it's a disgrace to be friends with a werewolf... He craves for happiness and he cares about those around him, and they gladly accept his care. And Remus gets used to think that it's the only right thing. [Since I have considerably more sympathy with his canon attitude to getting involved with Tonks than many people do, and think he has a fair point, I'm glad to see this!]

Also, the author raises another important issue between parents and children. Marie cares about the child's interests; Remus cares about the child interests; but who asked the child what here interests are? The 'child' is almost seventeen in the fic's finale; why Lupin so easily makes decisions about the fate of someone who's almost of age? The author doesn't say this explicitly, but the fic implies these questions. [I didn't say it explicitly because it probably wasn't deliberate, sadly, but yes, this is implicit in the situation. It's fairly typical Remus, and I'm not sure he's wrong, but ... it did seem a bit sad that Luna didn't know.]

Thanks to both author and translator for such an interesting version of canon events."

Comments

[shiiki.livejournal.com]

because really, most of us just plain don't review if we don't like a fic, do we?

I admit I'm guilty of this, as I generally don't tend to finish fics I don't like anyway. Also, you never really know how criticism, no matter how well-meant, might be received. Even with a fic I like overall, I tend not to point out the bits that didn't work for me unless I know the author and they specifically asked for concrit. (And even so, I'm a bit iffy about saying it in a public comment/review because you never know ... even if the author is happy to receive the comment, I've seen cases around where friends of the author jump on the reviewer.)

I think the point is that fandom can be crazy and you just can't predict reactions to concrit so most of us just want keep that can of worms well closed. Pity.

[snorkackcatcher]

Yes -- occasionally I come across a review on some site I've not heard of and it usually contains criticism as well as appreciation. Trouble is, because of that I tend to discount all reviews that aren't actually detailed squees, if that makes any sense!

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed reading through these comments--I think you're right about both the cultural differences and the fact that the commenters felt more free to express their criticisms. Interesting! M.

[snorkackcatcher]

Thanks. Maybe there should be some sort of anonymous submission thing outside of fests. :)