Back again...
After yet another weekend of traveling. I'm sick of all this traveling, really.
Did July 4th with the in-laws. It was fine; nothing major. Did the usual cook-out and go see the fireworks display thing. Unfortunately we got home in time for the 4th of July broadcasts to still be going on and the one from Washington, D.C. had Patti LaBelle saying 'Hi' to president Bush and he made a complete ASS of himself (what a shocker) by trying to boogie down in a tuxedo whilst sitting on his lily-white, overprivileged, lying backside. I hate that man. The Boston broadcast with the Boston Pops had Jennifer Holiday singing "This Is The Moment", that drecky, awful ballad from the drecky, awful musical "Jekyll & Hyde". Who does the musical programming for this crap? I mean, apart from the fact that that ballad is drecky and awful, the words are all about how Jekyll is about to take a swallow of the very potion that makes him into a raving, psychotic murderer. This is patriotic? Oh yeah, and the woman's singing was painfully bad. Like, one of those very early American Idol contestants bad (The sort where Simon says "Don't quit your day job because that was the ghastliest thing I ever heard, and whatever it was certainly wasn't SINGING.").
Chapter 33 is in the queue at CM as of Friday, and it's posted at ff.net, and of course, one reviewer said s/he didn't like it, and said it was the first time s/he got bored. That's all fine and good, I suppose, but the reviewer also said the chapter was basically irrelevant, which I take HUGE issue with.
Spoilers for Chp. 33 are below so don't read if you haven't read the chapter yet...
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The first several pages are very important. Harry confronts Ginny about seeing Draco and Pansy together; Ginny learns just how deep Draco's interest in her extends; Harry and Ginny have a battle of wills and Harry finally learns to back down when he's crossed the line; Ginny offers a compromise; and...oh yeah, GINNY ASKS HARRY TO TRAIN WITH HIM. Then there is the fact that, while I had not originally planned anything of the kind back in the very early stages of writing this story, the Draco/Pansy/Ginny thing has become a major plot point. Every bit of information about this side-story is important, and hell, I even left a clue in "Possession", the outtake (which nobody has gotten yet, go me!).
As for the rest, yes, a lot of it was fluffy, but there is the kind of important issue of Ron and Harry spending their first Christmas apart since becoming best buddies; the fact that Ron is going to be spending time with his girlfriend's parents; but most importantly, we get a taste of how the Grangers are adapting to having to be basically under constant surveillance for their own safety, and the measures they are taking to protect themselves.
(And by the way, I am American so I had no idea there was a ban in the U.K. on rifles. Sue me. That plot point is staying there. In any case, it's a hunting rifle, and I assume there are people in the U.K. who hunt)
So, even though not much happens in the chapter--and even it some find it boring, which is their right--the chapter is hardly without relevance to the plot. Of course, one won't know how relevant until later chapters.
Speaking of later chapters...I've started Chapter 34, and I've got about a page and a half done so far. I'm hoping to get at least three more chapters finished by the end of the month, because come the end of the month and August, I will be very busy (I'm involved in a new stage show that's going to take up a lot of my time) and I won't have much time to write until that's over.
Oh yeah, and new chapters for Velvethope's story "Answers" FINALLY got posted. YAY!
One other thing: with all this speculation about who the HBP is, can I just ask WHY some people keep speculating that it's Tom Riddle?
Erm, okay, if I wind up being wrong about this, fine--throw egg in my face. But last time I checked, TOM RIDDLE AND VOLDEMORT ARE THE SAME PERSON. So, if Voldemort is not the HBP, then Tom Riddle CAN'T BE IT, EITHER. Because, you know, they're the same guy! They are not two different people. Tom Riddle says that Voldemort is his "past, present and future." Tom's full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is an anagram for "I Am Lord Voldemort." I mean, JKR can accuse of us watching too much Star Wars, but if you ask me, Tom Riddle/Voldemort is a pretty close parallel to Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Not that Voldy is Harry's dad or anything. But basically Voldy started out as this talented, nice enough kid who got irrevocably corrupted by his anger and bitterness and lust for power and became Voldemort.
THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON! So I wish people would stop saying the HBP is Tom Riddle.
Did July 4th with the in-laws. It was fine; nothing major. Did the usual cook-out and go see the fireworks display thing. Unfortunately we got home in time for the 4th of July broadcasts to still be going on and the one from Washington, D.C. had Patti LaBelle saying 'Hi' to president Bush and he made a complete ASS of himself (what a shocker) by trying to boogie down in a tuxedo whilst sitting on his lily-white, overprivileged, lying backside. I hate that man. The Boston broadcast with the Boston Pops had Jennifer Holiday singing "This Is The Moment", that drecky, awful ballad from the drecky, awful musical "Jekyll & Hyde". Who does the musical programming for this crap? I mean, apart from the fact that that ballad is drecky and awful, the words are all about how Jekyll is about to take a swallow of the very potion that makes him into a raving, psychotic murderer. This is patriotic? Oh yeah, and the woman's singing was painfully bad. Like, one of those very early American Idol contestants bad (The sort where Simon says "Don't quit your day job because that was the ghastliest thing I ever heard, and whatever it was certainly wasn't SINGING.").
Chapter 33 is in the queue at CM as of Friday, and it's posted at ff.net, and of course, one reviewer said s/he didn't like it, and said it was the first time s/he got bored. That's all fine and good, I suppose, but the reviewer also said the chapter was basically irrelevant, which I take HUGE issue with.
Spoilers for Chp. 33 are below so don't read if you haven't read the chapter yet...
------------------------
The first several pages are very important. Harry confronts Ginny about seeing Draco and Pansy together; Ginny learns just how deep Draco's interest in her extends; Harry and Ginny have a battle of wills and Harry finally learns to back down when he's crossed the line; Ginny offers a compromise; and...oh yeah, GINNY ASKS HARRY TO TRAIN WITH HIM. Then there is the fact that, while I had not originally planned anything of the kind back in the very early stages of writing this story, the Draco/Pansy/Ginny thing has become a major plot point. Every bit of information about this side-story is important, and hell, I even left a clue in "Possession", the outtake (which nobody has gotten yet, go me!).
As for the rest, yes, a lot of it was fluffy, but there is the kind of important issue of Ron and Harry spending their first Christmas apart since becoming best buddies; the fact that Ron is going to be spending time with his girlfriend's parents; but most importantly, we get a taste of how the Grangers are adapting to having to be basically under constant surveillance for their own safety, and the measures they are taking to protect themselves.
(And by the way, I am American so I had no idea there was a ban in the U.K. on rifles. Sue me. That plot point is staying there. In any case, it's a hunting rifle, and I assume there are people in the U.K. who hunt)
So, even though not much happens in the chapter--and even it some find it boring, which is their right--the chapter is hardly without relevance to the plot. Of course, one won't know how relevant until later chapters.
Speaking of later chapters...I've started Chapter 34, and I've got about a page and a half done so far. I'm hoping to get at least three more chapters finished by the end of the month, because come the end of the month and August, I will be very busy (I'm involved in a new stage show that's going to take up a lot of my time) and I won't have much time to write until that's over.
Oh yeah, and new chapters for Velvethope's story "Answers" FINALLY got posted. YAY!
One other thing: with all this speculation about who the HBP is, can I just ask WHY some people keep speculating that it's Tom Riddle?
Erm, okay, if I wind up being wrong about this, fine--throw egg in my face. But last time I checked, TOM RIDDLE AND VOLDEMORT ARE THE SAME PERSON. So, if Voldemort is not the HBP, then Tom Riddle CAN'T BE IT, EITHER. Because, you know, they're the same guy! They are not two different people. Tom Riddle says that Voldemort is his "past, present and future." Tom's full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is an anagram for "I Am Lord Voldemort." I mean, JKR can accuse of us watching too much Star Wars, but if you ask me, Tom Riddle/Voldemort is a pretty close parallel to Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Not that Voldy is Harry's dad or anything. But basically Voldy started out as this talented, nice enough kid who got irrevocably corrupted by his anger and bitterness and lust for power and became Voldemort.
THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON! So I wish people would stop saying the HBP is Tom Riddle.