More HP: HBP thoughts!
Chiranka's pressing question of the day is, however, "How the bloody hell did I lose an entire loaf of wheat bread?"
Oh yes, to all the fans who claim that they won't read the seventh book because of the relationships in the new book: In the wise, wise words of that Catholic priest who came to psychology that one Friday: "BULLSHIT!" I bet 99% of those people who say they are never touching a HP book ever again will rabidly fangirl and froth at the mouth once the release date is set for the conclusion. Ha ha.
And now! To our pressing issue of the day!
First off, I hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE the term "shipping" or "shipped" or whatever bastardized terms are used. It's like my intense dislike for the word "millimoles" that was used in chemistry, it just makes me full of seething hot rage for no explanable reason.
I find the whole matter of the gratitious number of relationships to be rather amusing, actually. I know a lot of people think everything was done poorly, but it seems to me that these people just don't remember what it was like to be a teenager and be involved in a muddle of bad romance. I'd detail personal experiences, but this entry is to be put on public, and I don't really need to embarass myself like that. :X I have definetly witnessed a "Ron x Lavender" type couple in my life; this particular one happened to make out in the Catholic Church that a lot of my classmates and I went to during high school and was pretty embarassing and all anyone ever saw them do was makeout by the lockers.
Hermione is supposedly out-of-character in this work; I don't really think so. We have several books where it's quite obvious that Hermione and Ron get upset at the mention of other boys/girls, and whereas Hermione is normally very rational and intelligent, she's bound to have something to unravel her. Aren't there any Sailormoon fans out there? Remember that OAV, Ami-chan's First Love? Smartest girl in the school gets a love letter and freaks out for twenty minutes or however long the thing was? I was greatly amused by the whole Ron/Hermione/Lavender/whoever else situation; it seemed strikingly accurate in terms of convolutedness and whatever else happens in a high school setting. Hermione is quite rational and thoughtful, but mostly in things of what she can learn in books. Romance is something a little less of a thing that can be found in a textbook and more of something that must be experienced, so this whole thing was fairly new to her. She did have Krum, granted, but it was pretty obvious that that relationship was pretty one-sided throughout the whole thing.
Hermione also gave off very few signs of ever liking Harry romantically anyway. From what I've gleaned in the works, Hermione and Ginny must talk a lot, and Hermione functions as some sort of older sister for Ginny. This makes sense; Ginny has no sisters, and Hermione's a nice enough girl to help Ginny out with her problems. It was painfully obvious that Ginny liked Harry since...what, book 1? And Hermione was willing to help her out. Not to mention she kept on smirking at Harry everytime Ginny showed up; the girl knew he liked her. Come to think of that, I love doing stuff like that too. I don't think the Harry x Ginny pairing was completely out of left-field; there was a line in the beginning of the novel during the love potion smelling scene where Harry smelled something that was floral-ey. Later on, (when Ginny takes Harry back to Gryffindor Tower after Dumbledore dies) he notices that that floral fragance is still present. Who knows? He may only like Ginny because she's not a complete moron and she's pretty. These things happen. Besides, when your biggest reaction towards a girl and a boy (Hermione and Ron in the greenhouse) that she might like is, "Great. I hope they don't start making out in front me; that would be kind of icky." , then I doubt you really had that much of a romantic interest in her anyway.
The whole issue of crushes seems to be done in a normal way anyway. I've met guys that I've developed serious crushes on after conversing with them for only a few hours (granted, this has happened...once, but still). Rachel can probably attest to this, as she gets to hear every sorid detail of my life. Poor girl. Anyway! These kids are fifteen and sixteen years old. People like each other, people dump each other, people just like to make out. It's standard high school stuff; I've seen it, you've seen it, it's out there. Attraction isn't something that's easily explainable, and I know it's just hard to shake off feelings you have for someone.
Whatever is said and done, Hermione is still my favorite character in the series, along with Ginny, Neville, Luna, and a few others.
I did laugh at the final conversation between Ginny and Harry, as it was quite reminiscent of the end of Spiderman. Hell, maybe there's some clause that red-heads can't keep a date. If that's true, I should stop dying my hair red. XD Anyway!
So, despite that the book reads a bit like a Sweet Valley High book at times, the pairings aren't really that important. I felt most were done facetiously anyway, and were just a sly attempt at humor and satirize high school romance. The Lupin x Tonks thing did feel a bit random to me, but as I don't really care who anyone ends up with in this series anyway, the whole relevation didn't bother me. I want Neville x Luna though, come to think of it. Drat! Stop taunting me! As for all the Harry x Hermione fans; I do like this pairing, actually, but the novels have been pretty much smacking us upside the head with Ron x Hermione.
The books were never really about romantic love anyway, in my opinion. The most important relationship of love in the entire novel appears to be the bonds between Lily and Harry. If it wasn't for the depth and devotion of a mother's love, Harry would have died and the terrorists Voldemort would have won. Paraphrasing from a pretty good Shadow Hearts: Covenant fic that I've read, there are many types of love, and they are obvious in this series. If anything, Harry's love for his friends and their love for him are pretty much the only things that have kept him alive thus far; he would have died...well, many times over by the age of sixteen if Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and others weren't there. The only relationship I care about is the trio; as long as they're okay, my world is fine. Romance comes and go, but if you have your friends, hopefully everything will end up okay. :D And I sound like a self-help novel, dear me.
Honestly, I don't think this is Rowling's best work as there were flaws here and there. However, I'm not really trying to read this as a Duke University Lit Major (bum bum bum!), but as a girl who wants some summer entertainment. I think this installment was kind of weak, but that everything seems to be working its way towards one hell of a conclusion for Volume Numero Siete.
Things I want answered in the final book:
1. Okay, out of every fandom post I've seen, there has been no mention of either Ollivander (the wand guy) and Fortiscue (? I can't spell it; you know, the ice cream guy that gave Harry history lessons second year). Ollivander's importance is slightly obvious, he's like, the best wandmaker since whenever. The ice-cream man's importance is less obvious, as all we know is that he likes ice-cream and history? Maybe he's secretly a brilliant Machiavellian tactian on par with Shu and Mathiu Silverberg, and is just masquarading as an ice-cream vendor because there will be no "killing in front of a children?" I really hope this is answered in the next novel, this is bothering me.
2. Wormtail/Peter Pettigrew: I think he will somehow save Harry from some sort of impending doom. Doesn't Dumbledore himself say that Pettigrew is now in Harry's debt in the end of Book III?
3. Why did Voldemort have to kill James, but could have let Lily live?
4. Is there some sort of significance of Lily being really good with potions and charms?
5. How did Harry's parents get so rich anyway?
6. Snape's true motivations. I'm hoping that he isn't evil, because that would be incredibly boring, and if I wanted cookie-cutter characters and villians I would replay Skies of Arcadia or something. I agree with most people that Dumbledore was dying anyway, and that Snape knew more than he let on.
7. Dumbledore is one hell of a manipulator. Seriously, Machiavelli should have taken this guy into consideration when writing his bloody book. You don't need to invoke outright fear in a person; you just need to be subtle and guilt trip them into doing what they want. I need to learn this school of thought; it seems like it would be a handy thing to have. Oh, hm, this isn't something that needs to be answered. Oh yeah, I wish Sirius had been mentioned some more, but I guess if it means less CAPSLOCK HARRY, I can deal.
8. Blaise being black. Oh, fandom, how I love you. I was surprised that this person wasn't a female, so race or whatever, I was like, "Huh." There are plenty of fandom wank posts devoted to making fun of people who are racist or whatever and can't deal with the fact that every character in a work may not be white. Oh well. And finally, Slytherin gets an attractive member. Fans should be thankful with what they get, jeeze.
9. A final scene with the Dursleys. It would be interesting. Would Harry explain anything? Just stop by for a spot of tea and then leave? Hm.
I'm hoping it's not Sirius' brother, because everyone is expecting that, and I want more of a twist than that. So, my official bid for this is Professor Binns, the history ghost. Who would have thought of that? And if we've gotten an explanation of how he died, I am ignoring it. :D I really am hoping that Rowling has another twist for this, because RAB being Regalus is too predictable.
Oh yes, if the Draco Trilogy becomes canon, I will eat my hair, as I am currently hatless. And damnit, I have nice hair, with all the Redken, Matrix, and Frederick Fekkai that gets globbed on it!
♥,
Chiranka
Oh yes, to all the fans who claim that they won't read the seventh book because of the relationships in the new book: In the wise, wise words of that Catholic priest who came to psychology that one Friday: "BULLSHIT!" I bet 99% of those people who say they are never touching a HP book ever again will rabidly fangirl and froth at the mouth once the release date is set for the conclusion. Ha ha.
And now! To our pressing issue of the day!
First off, I hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE the term "shipping" or "shipped" or whatever bastardized terms are used. It's like my intense dislike for the word "millimoles" that was used in chemistry, it just makes me full of seething hot rage for no explanable reason.
I find the whole matter of the gratitious number of relationships to be rather amusing, actually. I know a lot of people think everything was done poorly, but it seems to me that these people just don't remember what it was like to be a teenager and be involved in a muddle of bad romance. I'd detail personal experiences, but this entry is to be put on public, and I don't really need to embarass myself like that. :X I have definetly witnessed a "Ron x Lavender" type couple in my life; this particular one happened to make out in the Catholic Church that a lot of my classmates and I went to during high school and was pretty embarassing and all anyone ever saw them do was makeout by the lockers.
Hermione is supposedly out-of-character in this work; I don't really think so. We have several books where it's quite obvious that Hermione and Ron get upset at the mention of other boys/girls, and whereas Hermione is normally very rational and intelligent, she's bound to have something to unravel her. Aren't there any Sailormoon fans out there? Remember that OAV, Ami-chan's First Love? Smartest girl in the school gets a love letter and freaks out for twenty minutes or however long the thing was? I was greatly amused by the whole Ron/Hermione/Lavender/whoever else situation; it seemed strikingly accurate in terms of convolutedness and whatever else happens in a high school setting. Hermione is quite rational and thoughtful, but mostly in things of what she can learn in books. Romance is something a little less of a thing that can be found in a textbook and more of something that must be experienced, so this whole thing was fairly new to her. She did have Krum, granted, but it was pretty obvious that that relationship was pretty one-sided throughout the whole thing.
Hermione also gave off very few signs of ever liking Harry romantically anyway. From what I've gleaned in the works, Hermione and Ginny must talk a lot, and Hermione functions as some sort of older sister for Ginny. This makes sense; Ginny has no sisters, and Hermione's a nice enough girl to help Ginny out with her problems. It was painfully obvious that Ginny liked Harry since...what, book 1? And Hermione was willing to help her out. Not to mention she kept on smirking at Harry everytime Ginny showed up; the girl knew he liked her. Come to think of that, I love doing stuff like that too. I don't think the Harry x Ginny pairing was completely out of left-field; there was a line in the beginning of the novel during the love potion smelling scene where Harry smelled something that was floral-ey. Later on, (when Ginny takes Harry back to Gryffindor Tower after Dumbledore dies) he notices that that floral fragance is still present. Who knows? He may only like Ginny because she's not a complete moron and she's pretty. These things happen. Besides, when your biggest reaction towards a girl and a boy (Hermione and Ron in the greenhouse) that she might like is, "Great. I hope they don't start making out in front me; that would be kind of icky." , then I doubt you really had that much of a romantic interest in her anyway.
The whole issue of crushes seems to be done in a normal way anyway. I've met guys that I've developed serious crushes on after conversing with them for only a few hours (granted, this has happened...once, but still). Rachel can probably attest to this, as she gets to hear every sorid detail of my life. Poor girl. Anyway! These kids are fifteen and sixteen years old. People like each other, people dump each other, people just like to make out. It's standard high school stuff; I've seen it, you've seen it, it's out there. Attraction isn't something that's easily explainable, and I know it's just hard to shake off feelings you have for someone.
Whatever is said and done, Hermione is still my favorite character in the series, along with Ginny, Neville, Luna, and a few others.
I did laugh at the final conversation between Ginny and Harry, as it was quite reminiscent of the end of Spiderman. Hell, maybe there's some clause that red-heads can't keep a date. If that's true, I should stop dying my hair red. XD Anyway!
So, despite that the book reads a bit like a Sweet Valley High book at times, the pairings aren't really that important. I felt most were done facetiously anyway, and were just a sly attempt at humor and satirize high school romance. The Lupin x Tonks thing did feel a bit random to me, but as I don't really care who anyone ends up with in this series anyway, the whole relevation didn't bother me. I want Neville x Luna though, come to think of it. Drat! Stop taunting me! As for all the Harry x Hermione fans; I do like this pairing, actually, but the novels have been pretty much smacking us upside the head with Ron x Hermione.
The books were never really about romantic love anyway, in my opinion. The most important relationship of love in the entire novel appears to be the bonds between Lily and Harry. If it wasn't for the depth and devotion of a mother's love, Harry would have died and the terrorists Voldemort would have won. Paraphrasing from a pretty good Shadow Hearts: Covenant fic that I've read, there are many types of love, and they are obvious in this series. If anything, Harry's love for his friends and their love for him are pretty much the only things that have kept him alive thus far; he would have died...well, many times over by the age of sixteen if Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and others weren't there. The only relationship I care about is the trio; as long as they're okay, my world is fine. Romance comes and go, but if you have your friends, hopefully everything will end up okay. :D And I sound like a self-help novel, dear me.
Honestly, I don't think this is Rowling's best work as there were flaws here and there. However, I'm not really trying to read this as a Duke University Lit Major (bum bum bum!), but as a girl who wants some summer entertainment. I think this installment was kind of weak, but that everything seems to be working its way towards one hell of a conclusion for Volume Numero Siete.
Things I want answered in the final book:
1. Okay, out of every fandom post I've seen, there has been no mention of either Ollivander (the wand guy) and Fortiscue (? I can't spell it; you know, the ice cream guy that gave Harry history lessons second year). Ollivander's importance is slightly obvious, he's like, the best wandmaker since whenever. The ice-cream man's importance is less obvious, as all we know is that he likes ice-cream and history? Maybe he's secretly a brilliant Machiavellian tactian on par with Shu and Mathiu Silverberg, and is just masquarading as an ice-cream vendor because there will be no "killing in front of a children?" I really hope this is answered in the next novel, this is bothering me.
2. Wormtail/Peter Pettigrew: I think he will somehow save Harry from some sort of impending doom. Doesn't Dumbledore himself say that Pettigrew is now in Harry's debt in the end of Book III?
3. Why did Voldemort have to kill James, but could have let Lily live?
4. Is there some sort of significance of Lily being really good with potions and charms?
5. How did Harry's parents get so rich anyway?
6. Snape's true motivations. I'm hoping that he isn't evil, because that would be incredibly boring, and if I wanted cookie-cutter characters and villians I would replay Skies of Arcadia or something. I agree with most people that Dumbledore was dying anyway, and that Snape knew more than he let on.
7. Dumbledore is one hell of a manipulator. Seriously, Machiavelli should have taken this guy into consideration when writing his bloody book. You don't need to invoke outright fear in a person; you just need to be subtle and guilt trip them into doing what they want. I need to learn this school of thought; it seems like it would be a handy thing to have. Oh, hm, this isn't something that needs to be answered. Oh yeah, I wish Sirius had been mentioned some more, but I guess if it means less CAPSLOCK HARRY, I can deal.
8. Blaise being black. Oh, fandom, how I love you. I was surprised that this person wasn't a female, so race or whatever, I was like, "Huh." There are plenty of fandom wank posts devoted to making fun of people who are racist or whatever and can't deal with the fact that every character in a work may not be white. Oh well. And finally, Slytherin gets an attractive member. Fans should be thankful with what they get, jeeze.
9. A final scene with the Dursleys. It would be interesting. Would Harry explain anything? Just stop by for a spot of tea and then leave? Hm.
I'm hoping it's not Sirius' brother, because everyone is expecting that, and I want more of a twist than that. So, my official bid for this is Professor Binns, the history ghost. Who would have thought of that? And if we've gotten an explanation of how he died, I am ignoring it. :D I really am hoping that Rowling has another twist for this, because RAB being Regalus is too predictable.
Oh yes, if the Draco Trilogy becomes canon, I will eat my hair, as I am currently hatless. And damnit, I have nice hair, with all the Redken, Matrix, and Frederick Fekkai that gets globbed on it!
♥,
Chiranka