I'd like to read a Harry Potter book...
told from the point of view of a minor character like I can picture Dean Thomas going,
“Dear Diary, today everyone got woken up at two in the bloody morning because Harry and Ron ran off to go fight the Weeping Willow or something. Then the headmaster got called in and ONCE AGAIN we had to sit around in the common room for six straight hours until Dumbledork came back from giving Harry some motivational talk and said the Golden Trio had saved the world AGAIN, like it’s some BIG SHOCK, and apparently Hermione could time travel. Maybe she can send me back to SIX HOURS AGO.
WHEN I WAS TRYING TO SLEEP.”
There seems to be an idea shared by a few (not all) in fandom, that if your favorite characters don’t include at least one of the main characters, you’re somehow doing ‘fan’ wrong. Not only is there no such thing as doing fandom wrong but there’s nothing wrong with loving minor characters the most and I’ll try to explain why.
For me, a show is like a road trip. The main characters? They’re the road and the car. Without them the show can never happen just like without a car and a road, you’ll never get far on your trip. But the best part about a road trip is all the experiences you have in between. It’s the House on the Rock and the World’s Largest Bull’s Head and the Corn Palace or the Winchester Mystery House or some random tourist attraction with furniture on the ceiling. It’s greasy diners and trying a fried egg on your burger for the first time or living off of Twinkies. That’s what minor characters are like.
You love the main characters because they’re what takes you there. (And it’s okay to yell at them or wish things were different or even, honestly, not like them that much because after nine hours on the road your back is hurting because the seat is uncomfortable. You can’t do being a fan wrong.) But the real treasure is the journey along the way.
And that’s okay. It’s okay to love the road-side attractions and bad-in-a-good way food more than you love the car. You know the car is why you’re getting to these places but it doesn’t have to be your favorite part of the trip.
