(no subject)
ONE MILLION YEARS LATER:
06. Your favorite characters?
Harry Harry Harry. I love his rages, his dry sense of humor, his stupid glasses, his saving people thing, his stumbling attempts at human relationships. I don't know how people can love this series and not love Harry.
And yeah, Draco. He seems so realistic, which I realize sounds insane, but okay, like, you are a kid in the middle of a war, raised on stories of the burning times, what do you do? Try to help your family, right? Try to protect the only way of life you understand, not really comprehending the consequences, what death really means. It's so easy to empathize with him, I think, and I love that this character, who could so easily be dismissed as Harry's token schoolyard nemesis became so important, so sympathetic, even if that sympathy takes the form of pity/revulsion. No easy choices!! He'll kill my whole family!! Also yo the little bastard is pretty hilarious. What can I say, I like the mean kids.
And Parvati and Lavender, real talk, I would so want to be buds with them. Magical beauty and fashion!! That is where it's at, guys.
Narcissa won my heart in HBP/DH. Protecting her family while playing her part so well, ahh, what a badass.
There are so many characters I like but only because of fic, so idk if they really belong on this list? Like Pansy, who is just the greatest in Underwater Light and other Maya fics, and Remus!! who is forever in my heart thanks to Shoebox, but who I would probably really hate if I was just going by canon (even though he is amazing in PoA) given his, uh, weirdness in DH (SERIOUSLY, WHO LEAVES THEIR KID ALONE WITH HIS RECENTLY WIDOWED GRANDMOTHER [WHO ALSO HAS A LOT OF ENEMIES AMONG THE DEATH EATERS] TO FIGHT IN A DANGEROUS BATTLE, ughhhhh).
And I'm not even getting into Hermione and Ron and Hagrid and Zabini and Ernie McMillan and Cho and McGonagall and Fleur and and and
07. Drink that reminds you of HP?
Coffee forever, especially when in a flask or stirred with a spoonful of nutella~
08. Your favorite ship(s)?
I remember feeling soooo smug shipping OBHWF. Knowing history would one day prove me right. Ahh, youth. R/Hr fics were my favorite. I remember filling with this intense glee reading fics on the SugarQuill about them getting locked in Hagrid's cabin in a snowstorm, among other classics. And H/G just seemed so nice, right. So easy. Harry and the Weasleys forever and always, new sweaters every year~. Getting into H/D (thanks, Ella) made me question H/G a lot and now I am a little creeped out about it (sorry), but I don't think anything will ever shake my love for R/Hr and their hideously haired children.
Before I start ranting about H/D, I think I should mention I have a soft spot for Harry/Luna. Not really as a long term thing? idk the idea of Luna being around all the time forever is really distressing sldfkj sorry, but god, how exhausting. However! The idea of them being buds and having a nice little summer fling after the war is really nice. sldkf a little detox for them both.
Okay, H/D time, woo. IT IS THE BEST, what can I say. I think the challenge of writing realistic H/D fic makes for really fantastic, meta-y fic, which is my favorite. It forces you to reconsider a lot of canon from a different perspective, which I think opened my eyes to a whole new side of HP discussion. Little things like Slytherin losing the House Cup first year and Draco getting turned into a ferret, to big things like the International Statute of Secrecy and the treatment of Squibs and how all these things could make otherwise good people believe in Voldemort's mission.
And I just love the parallels between them, like I talked about with HBP. Two examples of kids in war, each with impossible jobs to do, each offered as means to an end, both saved by their mothers' love. ahhh my boys.
09. Fanfiction: discuss.
What a loaded question.
The first fic I ever read was "The Love That Shattered a Man" by Gypsy Silverleaf. It was this weird thing about how Snape's teenage lover killed herself after Voldemort killed her parents or something, and he tells Harry this story to explain why he is a Super Spy. Also at the end her ghost emerges from the shadows of his office and rests her hand on his shoulder. There was a .gif of a dancing rose at the top of the page, and a shitty .midi file playing some sad song in the background. It was pretty horrific, in hindsight. BUT I WAS SO INTO IT. I printed it out and made my friends read it. Gypsy Silverleaf had a whole HP fan page, one of the first, Harry Potter Realm, and for ages that was my source of ~rumors~ (WHO ELSE REMEMBERS ICICLE) and terrible fic. She used ::actions:: instead of *actions*. Blue text on a black background. A guestbook.... It was some old school shit.
Eventually moved on to ff.net, back when things had flavors instead of genres. I only remember that lemon and lime were porny, lol the nerdy version of finding an old Playboy. Also I feel like there used to be a whole section devoted to rpf about JKR.... DID I MAKE THAT UP. This was before I was really aware of rpf, but the category was like, Harry Potter Author or something. Why do I remember this.
Anyway.
I love fic even when it is the worst. Just the concept of it is so delightful, and when it is good, it is life-changing in the way great books are.
slfkj It is hard to talk about fic without making those sorts of huge, corny statements. I always try to not get too sentimental, but I feel like I grew up on fic, and I feel very attached and protective of it, similar to how I feel about HP itself. I still remember sitting in an uncomfortable chair in front of the house desktop, late into the night, reading After the End, totally blown away. Happily letting Ella lead me down the slashy path of Harry/Draco, blowing through several hundred glorious pages of Underwater Light when I should have been sleeping. The surge of excitement throughout fandom every Thursday when a new chapter of Shoebox went up. Coming back, years later, after the HBP movie, to find new, thoughtful, considerate fics to gently remind me why I love Harry Potter.
It's weird, in a way, how sometimes I can't remember if things are from the books or fic. I'm still half convinced Harry killed Voldemort by accioing the south wall of Hogwarts. Chainsmoking Harry is my personal epilogue. My experience of Harry Potter is just so tied up in fic and I'm okay with that. Grateful, even. Fic made me think more deeply about the books, made me love characters like Zacharias Smith and Terry Boot and Cho Chang. Fandom Pansy is the greatest, y'all.
And fic has made me more critical of the books, in the best way. I want to talk about House politics all day because of fic, want to figure out what the fuck is going on with the House Elves and the Ministry, question the hell out of Dumbledore.
I love the things we got wrong. How everyone seemed convinced Ginny would become a Healer, and what that says about her character and the kind of bravery she showed. I miss Girl Blaise, but love that Blaise was always a tramp, no matter the gender. I MISS SLUTTY SEAMUS, what was the deal with that sldfk always banging someone in the exposition. I still can't believe all the Dursleys survived. Every fic where Harry loses the will to live (with varying levels of subtlety) and only Draco can reignite his fire~. Every clever, complicated strategy for defeating Voldemort. VEELA DRACO. Veela Harry. Every Veela fic ever.
I guess what I am trying to get at is that fic has significantly deepened my understanding and appreciation of Harry Potter, and by extension, changed how I think about other books and tv shows and movies and pop stars. I mean, just look at this meme. The reason I can fill this meme out with such ridiculously involved, rambling answers is because fic taught me to read these books carefully and to take them seriously. Like a crash course in a particularly rabid brand of literary criticism. Thanks, Gypsy Silverleaf~
10. Favorite book moment(s).
Harry telling the Death Eater to hide. The fight in the bathroom. Emotional range of a teaspoon. Harry saving Dudley from the Dementors. Dudley shaking Harry's hand. "He'll kill my whole family." Visiting Diagon Alley for the first time. Hogsmeade trips. All the Sorting Hat songs. S.P.E.W. Potter Stinks. Weasley is Our King. Cleaning Grimmauld Place. "Is Draco alive?" Harry's horrific date with Cho. Lockhart and Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom in St. Mungo's. Occlumency lessons. Rock cakes with Hagrid. Those brains that attacked Ron in the Department of Mysteries. "Yer a wizard, Harry." "I've never seen Brazil." Tiny Harry's awkward attempts at conversation with Draco in the robe shop aka "my parents are dead".
06. Your favorite characters?
Harry Harry Harry. I love his rages, his dry sense of humor, his stupid glasses, his saving people thing, his stumbling attempts at human relationships. I don't know how people can love this series and not love Harry.
And yeah, Draco. He seems so realistic, which I realize sounds insane, but okay, like, you are a kid in the middle of a war, raised on stories of the burning times, what do you do? Try to help your family, right? Try to protect the only way of life you understand, not really comprehending the consequences, what death really means. It's so easy to empathize with him, I think, and I love that this character, who could so easily be dismissed as Harry's token schoolyard nemesis became so important, so sympathetic, even if that sympathy takes the form of pity/revulsion. No easy choices!! He'll kill my whole family!! Also yo the little bastard is pretty hilarious. What can I say, I like the mean kids.
And Parvati and Lavender, real talk, I would so want to be buds with them. Magical beauty and fashion!! That is where it's at, guys.
Narcissa won my heart in HBP/DH. Protecting her family while playing her part so well, ahh, what a badass.
There are so many characters I like but only because of fic, so idk if they really belong on this list? Like Pansy, who is just the greatest in Underwater Light and other Maya fics, and Remus!! who is forever in my heart thanks to Shoebox, but who I would probably really hate if I was just going by canon (even though he is amazing in PoA) given his, uh, weirdness in DH (SERIOUSLY, WHO LEAVES THEIR KID ALONE WITH HIS RECENTLY WIDOWED GRANDMOTHER [WHO ALSO HAS A LOT OF ENEMIES AMONG THE DEATH EATERS] TO FIGHT IN A DANGEROUS BATTLE, ughhhhh).
And I'm not even getting into Hermione and Ron and Hagrid and Zabini and Ernie McMillan and Cho and McGonagall and Fleur and and and
07. Drink that reminds you of HP?
Coffee forever, especially when in a flask or stirred with a spoonful of nutella~
08. Your favorite ship(s)?
I remember feeling soooo smug shipping OBHWF. Knowing history would one day prove me right. Ahh, youth. R/Hr fics were my favorite. I remember filling with this intense glee reading fics on the SugarQuill about them getting locked in Hagrid's cabin in a snowstorm, among other classics. And H/G just seemed so nice, right. So easy. Harry and the Weasleys forever and always, new sweaters every year~. Getting into H/D (thanks, Ella) made me question H/G a lot and now I am a little creeped out about it (sorry), but I don't think anything will ever shake my love for R/Hr and their hideously haired children.
Before I start ranting about H/D, I think I should mention I have a soft spot for Harry/Luna. Not really as a long term thing? idk the idea of Luna being around all the time forever is really distressing sldfkj sorry, but god, how exhausting. However! The idea of them being buds and having a nice little summer fling after the war is really nice. sldkf a little detox for them both.
Okay, H/D time, woo. IT IS THE BEST, what can I say. I think the challenge of writing realistic H/D fic makes for really fantastic, meta-y fic, which is my favorite. It forces you to reconsider a lot of canon from a different perspective, which I think opened my eyes to a whole new side of HP discussion. Little things like Slytherin losing the House Cup first year and Draco getting turned into a ferret, to big things like the International Statute of Secrecy and the treatment of Squibs and how all these things could make otherwise good people believe in Voldemort's mission.
And I just love the parallels between them, like I talked about with HBP. Two examples of kids in war, each with impossible jobs to do, each offered as means to an end, both saved by their mothers' love. ahhh my boys.
09. Fanfiction: discuss.
What a loaded question.
The first fic I ever read was "The Love That Shattered a Man" by Gypsy Silverleaf. It was this weird thing about how Snape's teenage lover killed herself after Voldemort killed her parents or something, and he tells Harry this story to explain why he is a Super Spy. Also at the end her ghost emerges from the shadows of his office and rests her hand on his shoulder. There was a .gif of a dancing rose at the top of the page, and a shitty .midi file playing some sad song in the background. It was pretty horrific, in hindsight. BUT I WAS SO INTO IT. I printed it out and made my friends read it. Gypsy Silverleaf had a whole HP fan page, one of the first, Harry Potter Realm, and for ages that was my source of ~rumors~ (WHO ELSE REMEMBERS ICICLE) and terrible fic. She used ::actions:: instead of *actions*. Blue text on a black background. A guestbook.... It was some old school shit.
Eventually moved on to ff.net, back when things had flavors instead of genres. I only remember that lemon and lime were porny, lol the nerdy version of finding an old Playboy. Also I feel like there used to be a whole section devoted to rpf about JKR.... DID I MAKE THAT UP. This was before I was really aware of rpf, but the category was like, Harry Potter Author or something. Why do I remember this.
Anyway.
I love fic even when it is the worst. Just the concept of it is so delightful, and when it is good, it is life-changing in the way great books are.
slfkj It is hard to talk about fic without making those sorts of huge, corny statements. I always try to not get too sentimental, but I feel like I grew up on fic, and I feel very attached and protective of it, similar to how I feel about HP itself. I still remember sitting in an uncomfortable chair in front of the house desktop, late into the night, reading After the End, totally blown away. Happily letting Ella lead me down the slashy path of Harry/Draco, blowing through several hundred glorious pages of Underwater Light when I should have been sleeping. The surge of excitement throughout fandom every Thursday when a new chapter of Shoebox went up. Coming back, years later, after the HBP movie, to find new, thoughtful, considerate fics to gently remind me why I love Harry Potter.
It's weird, in a way, how sometimes I can't remember if things are from the books or fic. I'm still half convinced Harry killed Voldemort by accioing the south wall of Hogwarts. Chainsmoking Harry is my personal epilogue. My experience of Harry Potter is just so tied up in fic and I'm okay with that. Grateful, even. Fic made me think more deeply about the books, made me love characters like Zacharias Smith and Terry Boot and Cho Chang. Fandom Pansy is the greatest, y'all.
And fic has made me more critical of the books, in the best way. I want to talk about House politics all day because of fic, want to figure out what the fuck is going on with the House Elves and the Ministry, question the hell out of Dumbledore.
I love the things we got wrong. How everyone seemed convinced Ginny would become a Healer, and what that says about her character and the kind of bravery she showed. I miss Girl Blaise, but love that Blaise was always a tramp, no matter the gender. I MISS SLUTTY SEAMUS, what was the deal with that sldfk always banging someone in the exposition. I still can't believe all the Dursleys survived. Every fic where Harry loses the will to live (with varying levels of subtlety) and only Draco can reignite his fire~. Every clever, complicated strategy for defeating Voldemort. VEELA DRACO. Veela Harry. Every Veela fic ever.
I guess what I am trying to get at is that fic has significantly deepened my understanding and appreciation of Harry Potter, and by extension, changed how I think about other books and tv shows and movies and pop stars. I mean, just look at this meme. The reason I can fill this meme out with such ridiculously involved, rambling answers is because fic taught me to read these books carefully and to take them seriously. Like a crash course in a particularly rabid brand of literary criticism. Thanks, Gypsy Silverleaf~
10. Favorite book moment(s).
Harry telling the Death Eater to hide. The fight in the bathroom. Emotional range of a teaspoon. Harry saving Dudley from the Dementors. Dudley shaking Harry's hand. "He'll kill my whole family." Visiting Diagon Alley for the first time. Hogsmeade trips. All the Sorting Hat songs. S.P.E.W. Potter Stinks. Weasley is Our King. Cleaning Grimmauld Place. "Is Draco alive?" Harry's horrific date with Cho. Lockhart and Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom in St. Mungo's. Occlumency lessons. Rock cakes with Hagrid. Those brains that attacked Ron in the Department of Mysteries. "Yer a wizard, Harry." "I've never seen Brazil." Tiny Harry's awkward attempts at conversation with Draco in the robe shop aka "my parents are dead".