Character List

[mw_mod]

So it seems like there's a lot of interest in another round of Malfoy-Weasley! That's great! We'll still leave up the poll, though, in case others have more input.

That being said, it's come to our attention that there has been some more debate over our character list. It has been argued that Ginny's children should be allowed because they are no

Comments

[teenage_hustler]

i voted yay on ginny's kids. they're weasleys by blood after all, if not by name. As for the others, well... if they're married to a Weasley or a Malfoy, then maybe. But if they're divorced aren't they removing themselves from being a Weasley or a Malfoy? Therefore meaning that they aren't a Weasley or a Malfoy any more? I think one needs to be careful about this, because if not you could allow any character in and this fest would stop having its unique feature, as it were.

[peskywhistpaw]

We decided to include "divorced" because some women, after divorcing, keep their ex-husband's last name. I don't really get it, but I know it's what my own mom did after she and my dad got divorced. And she and my dad may not get on amicably, but my dad's parents still consider her part of the family, and talk to her on the phone a lot. But that's just an exception - although I can imagine a similar scenario if, say, Ron and Hermione divorced.

But I agree. I'm really hoping that, while we expand the character list, we can still keep it reasonably down so that the fest stays unique.

[entrenous88]

Sorry to jump in here, but it seems appropriate to include divorced men and women, not only because some women keep their ex-spouse's last name, but because separated/divorced partners are often still part of the family to some degree: they may have had children with their partner, in which case there's an inescapable connection; they may share property or other common resources (say a business venture or the direction of an organization/foundation) that require them to deal with one another; and even after a divorce, they may maintain relationships/friendships with each other's family members.

[terrayn]

Earlier, I suggested either doing bloodline (by which I mean genetically related to the oldest Malfoy and Weasley on the list: not Hermione or Asteria) or doing bloodline AND marriage/widowed/divorced (Ginny's kids AND Molly). But how about just "being part of the family"? I would argue that Harry and the Potters aren't just Weasleys through Ginny, but they're also family in every sense that really matters.

I realize that this makes things broad and open to interpretation (what about Teddy since he's essentially been adopted?) but maybe that could be a theme of the fest, the idea of family. If a case can be made that certain characters are family (be it through marriage or adoption), then I think they ought to be included. So if Molly's in, then so should Asteria just to be consistent

[celandineb]

For consistency, if that is your intention, if you allow some spouses you should allow all. Likewise the next-gen kids should be allowed regardless of surname, if there is the genetic relationship. So Ginny's kids are as much part of the family as Ron's kids.

On the other hand, some of that depends on whether or not you want to take the epilogue on board or not. If you ignore the epilogue, then the only spouses would be Molly and Narcissa, and there are no next-gen characters at all.

[wwmrsweasleydo]

I only write male/male slash, so I probably shouldn't be allowed an opinion on the women because I'm not going to be writing or reading them anyway.

So, that leaves Harry and his kids. I feel instinctively that there are a lot of other opportunities for fic with Harry in it and that it would make for a more interesting fest to exclude him. If the same criteria is used on male and female spouses, then that might dictate excluding the wives. As has already been said, though, the mods can actually be as arbitrary as they want to.

I can't make up my mind about James and Albus. There is a lot of AS/S already out there, though, and one thing I liked about this fest last year was that I got to read some more unusual pairings. It's a shame to lose James, but he might be a sacrifice worth making.

[chimbomba]

I voted for everyone except Harry, who I feel is a bit out of place here. Hermione is iffy... I feel she's slightly out of place herself, but I said yes to her for the same reasons I said yes to Fleur, Astoria, etc. The list is in dire need of women, plain and simple. Those who wanted to write het or femmeslash in last year's round had a much more difficult time than those who preferred slash. I see no reason to pick and choose which females "make the cut" -- this would only limit the possibilities this exchange could create.