Post by Eilonwy on Jul 26, 2005 17:12:57 GMT -5
I don't know if this is appropriate for the forum, but I'll post it anyway and I'm sure Magentia will let me know if I need to take it elsewhere 
SPOILERS AND RANTINGS BELOW. READ IF YOU DARE.
R/T: YES! One of my favourite OTPs is REALLY an OTP!!! YEEESSSSSS!!!
The canon H/D was almost scary. Who woulda thunk? I would have expected Miss Rowling to sink that 'ship right in the beginning. It was abused enough before she gave all the ficcers canonical evidence that the 'ship could really sail. Redeeming Draco and everything? Phew. That almost read like the work of a rabid H/D ficcer with enough time on his/her/its hands/tentacles to write more than 100 pages of obsessed!Harry.
As for H/G.... WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?
Wow... it was really sudden, really pointless, and pretty pathetic. "Oh, Harry! I've loved you forever!" and "Oh, Ginny! I couldn't stand to see you snogging another guy because it made this weird monster start to eat me from the inside! It was scaly and it had claws and I find that it's telling me to snog you senseless!!!111 Oh, by the way, I can't be with you because Romilda would be jealous you could DIE!!!1"
Really, a lot of the characters were far too OOC (I'll get to that in a moment) and I'm SURE I've read every little bit of plot as unlikely fanon. I mean, Inferi? A friend of mine mentioned thinking "that sounds very Tolkein" and I think she's right. She also said that Rowling's description of the Inferi in the water is THE SAME as Tolkein's description of the marshes. Also, there was so much that just sprang from nowhere - I had trouble believing some of it. I mean, if it was so important, why did she not mention it earlier? Stick with what you already have, I say! Make sure that all works out before you give over the entire storyline to bringing in a million random things that probably don't matter.
Alright, the OOC. I was just shocked. I mean, I know pregnant!Rowling wrote OotP, but the change from Ootp to HBP was just too much. Angst!Harry to mature!Harry to lovestruck!Harry happened far too quickly. Yes, Sirius's death would have been a harsh blow, but really! He did get over it pretty quikly. He's upset until he gets Dumbledore's letter, but he doesn't dwell on it enough during the school year. Ah! I don't know!! Too much happened far too quickly. MarySue!Potter, anyone?
Now, Tonks. What was THAT all about? I couldn't believe that Tonks spent something like 600 pages being depressed because the man she loved turned her down. That was just...disappointing. I'd always thought of her as something of an independent spirit, you know? Yes, I've heard that love can do funny things to people, but that was just ridiculous. Get over it!! Yes, I know that I've already said that R/T is one of my favourite OTPs and that I'm glad that Rowling made it a reality, but I would have preferred it to have happened in any other way. Lovestruck!Tonks was, as far as I can tell, really not that important to the storyline. Making us feel sorry for her because we thought it was guilty feelings that were depressing her rather than...love...was NOT FAIR! The guilt was IC, the depressed love was not. Of course, Rowling writes the books, not I, so I should probably stop complaining. It is she who writes the books, after all. I should just try to accept that she really does know what she's doing...though I shall be grudging about it.
Moving on to Hermione. I did expect girly!Hermione to come into being eventually, but that change was also very sudden. Hormones can be blamed to a certain extent, but the rest of it... I am still wondering from whence that all came. There was just far too much UST to attribute solely to hormones. I'm sure the R/Hr will happen (someday), but I think nothing will happen until they stop being total idiots. If we get another "Oh, I've loved you forever, but have been too scared to say anything" I think I'm going to scream.
On that note, what in the world was the Won-Won/Lavender thing about!? I know I said there were a lot of hormones flying around in this book, but wow. Hermione makes fun ofWon-Won Ron for never having snogged someone so he reaches out, snags the girl nearest him that isn't Hermione, and snogs her until he's sick of it. Maybe things are different in Britain...and if they are...well, let's just say that I know some girls who will want to start booking their flights to London.
Rowling's hints that Harry and Ron suddenly transformed into highly attractive men is also implausible. I thought it just added to the whole Mary Sue image Rowling was conjuring in my mind. I could care less about how they look. It's a book, for goodness sake! She does not need to transform her characters to fit those of the movie! If there are discrepancies between books and movies... Well...I could care less. If they're too similar it's not that much fun anyway.
Snaco. No. Wow, no. It's just...not good images. *shudder*
I'm done ranting about hormones, but I do have something else to say.
The man is a genius and I have quite a few reasons to support my belief that he, too, is "Dumbledore's man".
1. Dumbledore trusts him and I, like a friend, believe that Dumbledore is a much harder person to fool than Voldemort. Dumbledore is aware of the many facets of a person's character while Voldemort tends to underestimate anything that has naught to do with violence, hatred, greed, and all those other negative emotions. He trusts only because he thinks it might benefit him to do so, but it is my opinion that he would much rather not have to share his plans with anyone at all - that would be too much like sharing power and letting others take credit for things he did almost completely on his own.
2. The answers Snape gave to Bellatrix for all her questioning were still very vague. I'll admit that they frightened me a bit and I thought myself a fool for trusting him, but then I read the bit where he takes credit for Sirius's death. Yes, maybe he did weaken Harry's defences enough to allow him to have the false vision, but Sirius's death was really an accident. If the battle had not moved to the room with the dais, then Sirius would not have died. His death was not a part of Voldemort's or Snape's plans, though I'm sure neither was too upset by his death. Bellatrix should be taking full-credit for the fact that Sirius is no longer by Harry's side, but I think that her internal struggle over what she believes and what her master asks her to believe forces her to overlook her murder of her cousin. She claims not to trust Snape, but she does trust Voldemort. It is also my opinion that she would rather believe her master is in the right.
3. Dumbledore and Snape had an argument. (Hagrid told Harry that he had overheard it.) This would mean that Snape lets his mask of cool indifference disappear while he is in Dumbledore's company. He gets passionate about something and Dumbledore respons accordingly. They both trust each other enough to let down their guard a bit around each other. Now, I think that Snape told Dumbledore about the Unbreakable Vow that he was forced to take. It is also my belief that Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him rather than let Draco do so. (Necessary for a redeemed!Draco to not commit murder.)
4. Snape did kill Dumbledore. Now, hear me out before you accuse me of being off my rocker! This goes back to what I think the argument was about - Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him. It's also how Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him that makes me believe that Snape was unwilling to do so and only did it because Dumbledore ordered him to. "Severus, please." (The two little words that caused all the D/SS shippers to wet themselves as they scrambled to their computers to squee about it.) Anyway, Dumbledore does not seem the type to beg for his life ("Death is but the next great adventure."), so I am not going to hesitate when I say that he must have been telling Snape that it was time. The man has been dying for 600 pages, for crying out loud! Better to be killed by a friend than an enemy, anyway (I forget who it was that said that).
SPOILERS AND RANTINGS BELOW. READ IF YOU DARE.
R/T: YES! One of my favourite OTPs is REALLY an OTP!!! YEEESSSSSS!!!
The canon H/D was almost scary. Who woulda thunk? I would have expected Miss Rowling to sink that 'ship right in the beginning. It was abused enough before she gave all the ficcers canonical evidence that the 'ship could really sail. Redeeming Draco and everything? Phew. That almost read like the work of a rabid H/D ficcer with enough time on his/her/its hands/tentacles to write more than 100 pages of obsessed!Harry.
As for H/G.... WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?
Wow... it was really sudden, really pointless, and pretty pathetic. "Oh, Harry! I've loved you forever!" and "Oh, Ginny! I couldn't stand to see you snogging another guy because it made this weird monster start to eat me from the inside! It was scaly and it had claws and I find that it's telling me to snog you senseless!!!111 Oh, by the way, I can't be with you because Really, a lot of the characters were far too OOC (I'll get to that in a moment) and I'm SURE I've read every little bit of plot as unlikely fanon. I mean, Inferi? A friend of mine mentioned thinking "that sounds very Tolkein" and I think she's right. She also said that Rowling's description of the Inferi in the water is THE SAME as Tolkein's description of the marshes. Also, there was so much that just sprang from nowhere - I had trouble believing some of it. I mean, if it was so important, why did she not mention it earlier? Stick with what you already have, I say! Make sure that all works out before you give over the entire storyline to bringing in a million random things that probably don't matter.
Alright, the OOC. I was just shocked. I mean, I know pregnant!Rowling wrote OotP, but the change from Ootp to HBP was just too much. Angst!Harry to mature!Harry to lovestruck!Harry happened far too quickly. Yes, Sirius's death would have been a harsh blow, but really! He did get over it pretty quikly. He's upset until he gets Dumbledore's letter, but he doesn't dwell on it enough during the school year. Ah! I don't know!! Too much happened far too quickly. MarySue!Potter, anyone?
Now, Tonks. What was THAT all about? I couldn't believe that Tonks spent something like 600 pages being depressed because the man she loved turned her down. That was just...disappointing. I'd always thought of her as something of an independent spirit, you know? Yes, I've heard that love can do funny things to people, but that was just ridiculous. Get over it!! Yes, I know that I've already said that R/T is one of my favourite OTPs and that I'm glad that Rowling made it a reality, but I would have preferred it to have happened in any other way. Lovestruck!Tonks was, as far as I can tell, really not that important to the storyline. Making us feel sorry for her because we thought it was guilty feelings that were depressing her rather than...love...was NOT FAIR! The guilt was IC, the depressed love was not. Of course, Rowling writes the books, not I, so I should probably stop complaining. It is she who writes the books, after all. I should just try to accept that she really does know what she's doing...though I shall be grudging about it.
Moving on to Hermione. I did expect girly!Hermione to come into being eventually, but that change was also very sudden. Hormones can be blamed to a certain extent, but the rest of it... I am still wondering from whence that all came. There was just far too much UST to attribute solely to hormones. I'm sure the R/Hr will happen (someday), but I think nothing will happen until they stop being total idiots. If we get another "Oh, I've loved you forever, but have been too scared to say anything" I think I'm going to scream.
On that note, what in the world was the Won-Won/Lavender thing about!? I know I said there were a lot of hormones flying around in this book, but wow. Hermione makes fun of
Rowling's hints that Harry and Ron suddenly transformed into highly attractive men is also implausible. I thought it just added to the whole Mary Sue image Rowling was conjuring in my mind. I could care less about how they look. It's a book, for goodness sake! She does not need to transform her characters to fit those of the movie! If there are discrepancies between books and movies... Well...I could care less. If they're too similar it's not that much fun anyway.
Snaco. No. Wow, no. It's just...not good images. *shudder*
I'm done ranting about hormones, but I do have something else to say.
I trust Severus Snape.
The man is a genius and I have quite a few reasons to support my belief that he, too, is "Dumbledore's man".
1. Dumbledore trusts him and I, like a friend, believe that Dumbledore is a much harder person to fool than Voldemort. Dumbledore is aware of the many facets of a person's character while Voldemort tends to underestimate anything that has naught to do with violence, hatred, greed, and all those other negative emotions. He trusts only because he thinks it might benefit him to do so, but it is my opinion that he would much rather not have to share his plans with anyone at all - that would be too much like sharing power and letting others take credit for things he did almost completely on his own.
2. The answers Snape gave to Bellatrix for all her questioning were still very vague. I'll admit that they frightened me a bit and I thought myself a fool for trusting him, but then I read the bit where he takes credit for Sirius's death. Yes, maybe he did weaken Harry's defences enough to allow him to have the false vision, but Sirius's death was really an accident. If the battle had not moved to the room with the dais, then Sirius would not have died. His death was not a part of Voldemort's or Snape's plans, though I'm sure neither was too upset by his death. Bellatrix should be taking full-credit for the fact that Sirius is no longer by Harry's side, but I think that her internal struggle over what she believes and what her master asks her to believe forces her to overlook her murder of her cousin. She claims not to trust Snape, but she does trust Voldemort. It is also my opinion that she would rather believe her master is in the right.
3. Dumbledore and Snape had an argument. (Hagrid told Harry that he had overheard it.) This would mean that Snape lets his mask of cool indifference disappear while he is in Dumbledore's company. He gets passionate about something and Dumbledore respons accordingly. They both trust each other enough to let down their guard a bit around each other. Now, I think that Snape told Dumbledore about the Unbreakable Vow that he was forced to take. It is also my belief that Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him rather than let Draco do so. (Necessary for a redeemed!Draco to not commit murder.)
4. Snape did kill Dumbledore. Now, hear me out before you accuse me of being off my rocker! This goes back to what I think the argument was about - Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him. It's also how Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him that makes me believe that Snape was unwilling to do so and only did it because Dumbledore ordered him to. "Severus, please." (The two little words that caused all the D/SS shippers to wet themselves as they scrambled to their computers to squee about it.) Anyway, Dumbledore does not seem the type to beg for his life ("Death is but the next great adventure."), so I am not going to hesitate when I say that he must have been telling Snape that it was time. The man has been dying for 600 pages, for crying out loud! Better to be killed by a friend than an enemy, anyway (I forget who it was that said that).
)
