slumber

First, off:

Belated Happy Birthday, arimunami and heliopath!!! :D

heliopath, I remember friending way back when in Unredeemed.Net, and running into again in OOTF. It's a pretty small world, after all. XD

arimunami is the single good thing I found on fanfiction.net. She made all the badfic-readings worth it. I am so glad I found you, because you're simply brilliant. :P

Oooohhh, I've got a poll!!! Mostly it's the whole thing with RPGs that made me think this, and all, but I was wondering at how Blaise Zabini has become such a big fandom property--JKR gave us the mold (Name, House, Year), and then we were allowed to create him (yes! It's a him!) into whoever we wanted him to be, and I don't know about you guys, but I like that he was made that way. I'm looking forward to HBP because we apparently get to know more about him, but in a way that I'm only looking forward to it if he's actually going to fit fandom conception of him. ;P

Anyway, point is from that one line in Sorceror's Stone, Blaise Zabini has shot up from being an obscure character to someone slightly more known and written about. Suuuure, I still run across people who've never heard of Blaise Zabini before (and tried to keep myself from strangling them, too, because OMG BLASPHEMY! *giggles*), but the general impression I have of Blaise in the fandom is that, you know, he's got a niche. Draco/Blaise is becoming more popular, and so is Blaise/Hermione, in that more and more people are writing fics with these ships and they aren't as obscure as they originally were.

So Order of the Phoenix came out last year, and, I don't know, I think there's so much potential in there for a new Blaise Zabini. Or I don't know, is it just me and obscure characters? Because I think more than Luna Lovegood and Nymphadora Tonks, more fic should be written of plent of other new characters, and I'd like to know what you guys think on this.

Before you check on the poll, though, bit of brief explanations per person should be in order. :P

Theodore Nott

We know he's in Slytherin, we know he's a DE's son, and we know Draco thinks he's an equal. He's a loner, doesn't think highly of being with peers, and there just seems to be so much potential in him. Unlike some, I believe he was the thin weedy kid who can see thestrals, and I wonder why people aren't exploiting him as much as they are already. For one thing, and I've heard people say this, since he's more intelligent than Draco, he could be Hermione's rival from Slytherin. For another, Draco thinks of him as an equal--something so far only Harry has been, and, well, Harry/Draco happens to be a very popular ship. There's also the thing with Theodore being a Slytherin, and, the fact that we hardly know anything of him and Blaise ought to lend itself well to potential shipping. (I mean, is it just me, or is Blaise/Theodore the natural path of many a slashy RPG?)

Michael Corner

I know, he sounds like a complete arse from OotP, but I find it interesting that he's dated the two girls who've been romantically inclined towards Harry.

maegunnbatt's take on this in

isolation_tower was interesting--perhaps he wanted to be the hero for the girls, or something like that, yes?

If Michael Corner were ever to be slashed with anyone, I'm more inclined to go with Terry Boot. (*runs away from

siobhanohare*) I mean, clearly, in OotP, they were friends. Ginny dragged Michael to the first DA meeting in The Hog's Head, and Michael dragged Terry with him, or something like that. Of course, Michael reeks straightness as of now, but, you know, that's never stopped anyone before.

Zacharias Smith

Okay, fine, so he isn't as obscure. Zarry is, I think, gaining popularity. Or at least, there's a steady rise in the number of Zarry fics out there, which is always a good thing. I like that he seems to be the non-stereotypical Hufflepuff, and though he was snarky and often unimpressed with Harry, I like the way they interacted.

I've put in Zacharias/Draco and Zacharias/Justin in the options as well. Draco/Zacharias, because, well, similarities. Plus, a while back

mistful wrote a trilogy and perhaps some people got hooked on it. I haven't seen any new D/Z fics lately, but the idea's still there.

As for Zacharias/Justin? Well, it can happen. I've seen two fics so far, both very well done, and, you know, it isn't a bad idea.

Anthony Goldstein

We know he's a prefect. Fine, I've got to admit, I'm not as interested in Anthony as I am in Michael, Zacharias, or Theodore, partly because we haven't got a lot on him, except, you know, I bet I wasn't the only surprised that Terry didn't make prefect. Sure, we didn't know a lot about Blaise Zabini also, but, er, part of Blaise's appeal for me was the beautiful name. Anthony Goldstein, I'm sorry to say, sounds like a wrestler.

BUT. If someone's interested, there could be plenty of possibilities for him too. And there are. The thing with him getting prefectship, for one. I've got ideas of competition within Ravenclaw boys for these, and, you know, there's potential in that. Also with Michael Corner, who could be his friend as well. If people find Goldstein an appealing enough name, he's the closest we have to Blaise Zabini's status when SS was first published.

I want to know what you think now. Who could the next Blaise Zabini possibly be?

[Poll #361256]

Reason no. 5 for liking LJ:

5. Spiffy polls.