Grawp, who unfortunately survived the battle, is grinning outside a window as people chuck food into his open, drooling mouth, like he's some kind of grotesque fairground attraction.
That is my single least favourite moment in the whole series. :(
In fact, ending on an AK from Voldemort and an expelliarmus from Harry might have been really effective coming after a badass battle like that, because it would show that even though Harry can use dark magic and really cool hexes and things, he won't use them; he chooses to rely on disarming and stunning rather than instant death curses. (That would, of course, be dependent on him not having used both imperio and crucio in this book.) Ultimately, I think this would have worked especially well given that it would put Harry on the same level as Dumbledore; that is, able to use dark magic, but ultimately not willing to.I don't think anyone could put that better! I felt that after seven books and King's Cross and the forest JKR suddenly saw the end in sight and was rushing towards it. Though
( ... )
That is my single least favourite moment in the whole series
LOL! Yes, it's definitely one of the worst (although I find it difficult to decide which is worse, that or "BUT FLEUR'S BOYFRIEND IS GAY TOOOOOO!!!!" or whatever the line is from the end of HBP).
Though why not leave out Grawp and add to the final duel in that case?
Because Grawp has no personality or depth, and is therefore easier to write? *eyeroll*
The chemistry's there, but the author refuses to use it.
That's always bothered me about JKR's writing - you can almost feel when she's enjoyed writing something and when she's stuck rigidly to her plan for What Must Happen In This Chapter. R/S is an excellent example of that, as you say. (I'm not going to be so arrogant as to suggest she wrote R/T specifically and wholly to sink R/S, but I do wonder if that was the reason we hardly got a mention of Sirius in HBP. And it totally grated
( ... )
I guess if I did do fiction, and I had written characters who had started to move off in directions I hadn't anticipated, I'd be happy to have created characters who had enough personality to do that, you know?
Absolutely! Especially in fanfic: if they don't want to have sex, they damn well won't, and you can't force them. This applies across the board. You can always spot characters who aren't allowed autonomy. Tonks ruined Remus as a character, though he redeemed himself briefly with his 'shouldn't have married Tonks' thing. And though a lot of people were delighted to see Snape as a good guy, the damn Lily thing and the idea of a big plan on JK's wall, completely ruined the character for me.
And what's with Fleur's boyfriend? *mind boggles* You mean Bill? And the steaks? Am I missing something here that I should know? *confused* Perhaps the sun has fried what's left of my mind. :(
so that he'll be able to see properly in a few pages' time when he leaps back into battle, rather than casting Expelliarmus at a tree and spending several pages shouting at a suit of armour about remorse
LOL.
the fact that he survived dying makes him so happy he is more or less immune to them. It's odd, because for me, personally, the notion of not being able to die is the most disturbing idea I can think of. (As in the past, the fact that JKR is a Christian and I'm a massive atheist may account for the discrepancy here.
There's also that one of the threads in these books is JKR dealing with the death of her mother, I think it was. Without speculating too much on her private/spiritual life, she seems to regard death as evil.
In general, I'd argue that Snape is roughly equivalent to Vader
I think it's a little more than "rough". It's eerie how well some points of their character arcs line up. Plus, black billowing clothing. ;) In any event it's good for much lulz.
If you're not going to take the Luke Skywalker route and stay
( ... )
Without speculating too much on her private/spiritual life, she seems to regard death as evil.
Like Voldemort, you mean? ;) Just kidding, I promise (although I do wonder about things like the resurrection stone and what she had in mind when she wrote that).
It's eerie how well some points of their character arcs line up
Oh my god, totally. Like being in love with the protagonist's mum and everything. And owning a lightsaber
I liked Harry fixing his wand too - now I think of it, I liked the idea that he was going back to being the Harry that we all know and love, if that makes sense.
The only problem I have with the Narcissa scene (and I do agree that it's more poignant than the Lily stuff) is, why the FUCK did Voldemort, Legilimens Extrordinaire, not know that she was lying? He knows when everyone else is lying, so why not her? I mean, I guess you can say it's because he's losing it at this point, because he's just been almost-killed and turned into a flayed child thingie, but still.
Neville killing the snake is still the most awesome moment in the book. It happens quite frequently that authors start off with some sort of cliched archetype, and then to flesh them out, they create all these really cool peripheral characters who would make much better protagonists than the actual main character.
There, he hopes, Kreacher will bring him a sandwich. That's Kreacher, the slave he inherited - so I'm glad we've all learned something from this experience.YES. I found it really disturbing that Harry's last thought in the novel is essentially "I want my slave to bring me a sandwich", not even thinking about the fact
( ... )
why the FUCK did Voldemort, Legilimens Extrordinaire, not know that she was lying?
Because she is ~*special*~ with her power of ~*a mother's love*~ perhaps? Seriously, excellent point. You'd think for someone like Voldemort who is a) excellent at legilimency and b) utterly paranoid, listening in to people's thoughts would be something he wouldn't even think about. He'd just always do it. I maintain that Voldemort is one of the worst evil overlords ever.
The Kreacher thing is dodgy, isn't it? And it occurs to me now that it jars pretty badly with Harry as the selfless messiah figure, sacrificing himself for the good of wizardkind. And Dumbledore is always on about how Voldemort disregards things like the feelings of house-elves, and then Harry does it like it doesn't matter. Ugh.
sorry, i just woke up after sleeping like 5 hours and my brain can't formulate a comment that says more than than IAWTP. besides the other people who commented have made many points which i agree with. etcetera. :]
I agree about Luna. I'm pretty much a (silent) Harry/Luna shipper, but I'm glad that the Harry/Draco fans think Luna would have been the "second" best choice (I think she'd be first, but meh.) So I really loved the fact that Luna was the one who noticed Harry's exhaustion. Luna's the one who really understands him, in my opinion (and Harry's, I believe). Even Ginny couldn't compete with that.
*rambling*
The Malfoys = ♥ Narcissa's understated sacrifice was moving. ♥
Oh, hell, I'd have loved to have seen Harry/Luna as the final Harry pairing, definitely. They have amazing chemistry and a really good understanding of each other. (I mean I love H/D and all, but I never thought for a second it would be canon - I've always enjoyed that pairing primarily for the hotness factor. :D ) I love Luna as a character with or without Harry around anyway, so I loved her being the one to allow him to escape.
Rambling also, but - IAWTC, is my point.
I also love the Malfoy clan, what with coming from a family of goths myself. :D
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That is my single least favourite moment in the whole series. :(
In fact, ending on an AK from Voldemort and an expelliarmus from Harry might have been really effective coming after a badass battle like that, because it would show that even though Harry can use dark magic and really cool hexes and things, he won't use them; he chooses to rely on disarming and stunning rather than instant death curses. (That would, of course, be dependent on him not having used both imperio and crucio in this book.) Ultimately, I think this would have worked especially well given that it would put Harry on the same level as Dumbledore; that is, able to use dark magic, but ultimately not willing to.I don't think anyone could put that better! I felt that after seven books and King's Cross and the forest JKR suddenly saw the end in sight and was rushing towards it. Though ( ... )
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LOL! Yes, it's definitely one of the worst (although I find it difficult to decide which is worse, that or "BUT FLEUR'S BOYFRIEND IS GAY TOOOOOO!!!!" or whatever the line is from the end of HBP).
Though why not leave out Grawp and add to the final duel in that case?
Because Grawp has no personality or depth, and is therefore easier to write? *eyeroll*
The chemistry's there, but the author refuses to use it.
That's always bothered me about JKR's writing - you can almost feel when she's enjoyed writing something and when she's stuck rigidly to her plan for What Must Happen In This Chapter. R/S is an excellent example of that, as you say. (I'm not going to be so arrogant as to suggest she wrote R/T specifically and wholly to sink R/S, but I do wonder if that was the reason we hardly got a mention of Sirius in HBP. And it totally grated ( ... )
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Absolutely! Especially in fanfic: if they don't want to have sex, they damn well won't, and you can't force them. This applies across the board. You can always spot characters who aren't allowed autonomy. Tonks ruined Remus as a character, though he redeemed himself briefly with his 'shouldn't have married Tonks' thing. And though a lot of people were delighted to see Snape as a good guy, the damn Lily thing and the idea of a big plan on JK's wall, completely ruined the character for me.
And what's with Fleur's boyfriend? *mind boggles* You mean Bill? And the steaks? Am I missing something here that I should know? *confused* Perhaps the sun has fried what's left of my mind. :(
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Probably referring to the idea that lycanthropy in the series is an allegory for homosexuality and/or AIDS/HIV.
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LOL.
the fact that he survived dying makes him so happy he is more or less immune to them. It's odd, because for me, personally, the notion of not being able to die is the most disturbing idea I can think of. (As in the past, the fact that JKR is a Christian and I'm a massive atheist may account for the discrepancy here.
There's also that one of the threads in these books is JKR dealing with the death of her mother, I think it was. Without speculating too much on her private/spiritual life, she seems to regard death as evil.
In general, I'd argue that Snape is roughly equivalent to Vader
I think it's a little more than "rough". It's eerie how well some points of their character arcs line up. Plus, black billowing clothing. ;) In any event it's good for much lulz.
If you're not going to take the Luke Skywalker route and stay ( ... )
Reply
Like Voldemort, you mean? ;) Just kidding, I promise (although I do wonder about things like the resurrection stone and what she had in mind when she wrote that).
It's eerie how well some points of their character arcs line up
Oh my god, totally. Like being in love with the protagonist's mum and everything. And owning a lightsaber
I liked Harry fixing his wand too - now I think of it, I liked the idea that he was going back to being the Harry that we all know and love, if that makes sense.
And thanks for the LOL. :)
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Neville killing the snake is still the most awesome moment in the book. It happens quite frequently that authors start off with some sort of cliched archetype, and then to flesh them out, they create all these really cool peripheral characters who would make much better protagonists than the actual main character.
There, he hopes, Kreacher will bring him a sandwich. That's Kreacher, the slave he inherited - so I'm glad we've all learned something from this experience.YES. I found it really disturbing that Harry's last thought in the novel is essentially "I want my slave to bring me a sandwich", not even thinking about the fact ( ... )
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Because she is ~*special*~ with her power of ~*a mother's love*~ perhaps? Seriously, excellent point. You'd think for someone like Voldemort who is a) excellent at legilimency and b) utterly paranoid, listening in to people's thoughts would be something he wouldn't even think about. He'd just always do it. I maintain that Voldemort is one of the worst evil overlords ever.
The Kreacher thing is dodgy, isn't it? And it occurs to me now that it jars pretty badly with Harry as the selfless messiah figure, sacrificing himself for the good of wizardkind. And Dumbledore is always on about how Voldemort disregards things like the feelings of house-elves, and then Harry does it like it doesn't matter. Ugh.
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i lol'd at that gif. :D
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I love that gif too. The Zizu headbutt is a meme I was sad to see become old. :D
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*rambling*
The Malfoys = ♥ Narcissa's understated sacrifice was moving. ♥
NEVILLE!
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Rambling also, but - IAWTC, is my point.
I also love the Malfoy clan, what with coming from a family of goths myself. :D
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