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all 8 comments

[–]gwern 6 points7 points  (2 children)

But - why Daphne?

[–]EliezerYudkowskyGeneral Chaos 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Blank-slate Slytherin female.

[–]gwern 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hm, maybe. The closest to an explanation I can find is http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OCStandIn

Blaise Zabini gets special mention here since from his name appearing in book one until he got a physical description in the book six, half the fanfic writers assumed he was a girl, since "Blaise" is more commonly a girl's name in some places. (They've since taken to writing about Daphne Greengrass or Tracey Davis when they need a generic Slytherin girl.)...Daphne Greengrass also gets a lot of attention when authors need a sympathetic Slytherin girl, as she's rarely if ever mentioned in the same negative light as Draco or Pansy in the books (and probably because Draco hooks up with her sister after his Heel Face Turn). Typically she's said to come from a neutral wizarding family or otherwise isn't connected with the rest of her house, possessing the same traits that Slytherins are known for but without invoking Ambition Is Evil.

[–]EliezerYudkowskyGeneral Chaos 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What fascinates me about this graph is the obvious cliche effect. Is Hermione a less interesting character than Hedwig? No, but if you're just starting out and about to write something that sinks forever into obscurity, you're much more likely to write a Hermione-centric story than a Hedwig-centric story.

[–]robin-gvx 1 point2 points  (1 child)

You meant "starred" instead of "stared". Your post was really confusing until I realised that.

Also, I wonder about fics that include George but not Fred.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]deskglass[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Yeah, those would be interesting things to look into. I'll contact you when I have results. That'll probably be some time in late July. Also, thanks for pointing me to /r/HPfanfiction, I went ahead and crossposted this to there.

    [–]bbrazilSunshine Regiment Lieutenant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Weird, your post got caught by the spam filter again after I'd approved it.