I expect everyone has finished the book by now...
Remus: 'Half-Blood what?'
Me: Shit.
OMG! So much blood, so many bodies...so many angry Puppyshippers!
Crikey, some of the reactions to the book really shocked me! I didn't expect people to be so upset. I liked it. It didn't disappoint me, although I'd convinced myself we were going to get lots of Marauders era stuff via the Pensieve and so every time Dumbledore got out yet another memory bottle I thought 'right...this is it' and rubbed my hands with glee, so it was a shame that all we got were Filch's poxy records! But that was my fault, not JKR's. I do appreciate what people have been saying about the problems with the book though, but I must admit that I threw my literature degree out of the window in favour of being a smart arse and trying to pick out clues before the end. I guess it did have a whiff of fanfic about it...but isn't that just because we've all read so much? Anything dealing with the pairing up of characters is going to seem like fanfic, and they are teenagers after all! Ginny as a Mary-Sue? Hmm. She is a bit super-duper isn't she? Although I kinda just got the impression that we were meant to think she was a lot like Lily. Tonks was always the Mary-Sue in my eyes *stifled squee, respecting broken hearts of people who have fallen overboard from the good ship HMS Wolfstar...but come on people, rally round, it hasn't sunk!*
I should probably go read the book again, or at least go look at some valid theories before I say something riddikulus...*snort* stupid, but...anyway, for what it's worth:
My Two Penneth
1)Dumbledore - what did everyone make of Dumbledore's ramblings in Chapter 26? 'Don't hurt them...it's all my fault...I know I did wrong' Crikey me! Am I reading too much into this? Was it explained and I missed it? Is it just his fears being realised, or do you think it was something he was re-living from the past? I remember seeing some theories a while back that relied heavily upon Dumbledore bearing some awful burden. I must admit that made me like him much more as a character. Aw and he was super in HBP, wasn't he? But that bit with his body at the bottom of the tower and Hagrid saying 'what's that...' was harrowing. Awful, awful, I say!
2)Snape!!! OMG. No one really believes he's evil do they? Or do they? Dumbledore was 'pleading' for Snape to kill him in order to save Draco from murder/Voldemort's appreciation, right? RIGHT? All I can say is thank God for Snape, what with the lack of Marauders, he totally saved the book for me. He was fantastic. He was my favourite character before I read PoA...and I liked him again after the 'grey pants' incident in OotP, I like him even more now! Yay Snape!
3)Potions...what's all this about Lily being good at Potions? I thought Charms was her 'thing.' When Slughorn kept on going on about Lily's talent (and Harry had seen that the book was pre-Marauders) I just assumed that she'd had the same book and had used the Prince's instructions too...but she can't have. Hmph. Maybe Snape gave her extra lessons...privately if there's no unrequited Snape/Lily in Book 7 I'll...cry.
4)Dead? Was anyone else terrified when Draco said someone was dead? I couldn't breathe, my heart was thudding! I thought it was bound to be an Order member when Draco said 'one of your' people' to Dumbledore. I was so relieved to see Lupin's name a few pages later! Haha! Phew! Shouldn't laugh or phew really, poor Bill. I've never been a Bill fan, Charlie was always my favourite older Weasley for some reason. I don't like ponytails and earrings. Still, poor Bill. :-S.
5)Draco- hurray for Crying!Draco. I wanted to stroke his hair like Pansy
6)Luna- How cool was Luna?! She's brilliant. I wish there'd been more Neville though, he totally won me over in OotP. Was there Luna/Neville at the end or did I imagine it? Would it even be safe? Won't somebody please think of the children?
And so, on to serious matters...*grim face*
Remus/Tonks
I can't believe the mayhem this has caused! I'm too scared to visit remusxsirius but from what I've heard: Poor Tonks! And poor Remus too (people would actually rather see him dead than with Tonks?! Surely not! I've lost my faith in the community!). I guess I haven't been in the fandom long enough or I would've expected this [ / naivety]. I know it's easy for me to say well it isn't, actually, because I fear for my life and have had to take refuge at wolfandlady today because as you all know I always had a bit of a leaning towards (post-Sirius) Remus/Tonks anyway, so...
(somewhat)yay!
And even more yay for Handholding!Remus (I can't believe this upset some people! Why is it so OOC? *incredulous face.* He's always been the one to comfort people, it's not as if he's afraid of showing affection or emotion, Molly's always crying on his shoulder! I'm sure he would've held Tonks' hand at the funeral even if she hadn't declared her feelings for him).
The main reason I'm happy for them (and this is going to sound strange at first) is that I was seeing real canon evidence for R/S whenever Remus was in the book which wasn't nearly enough, we barely heard two peeps out of him!, he really did seem to be pining for Sirius, all that staring forlornly into the fire...*runs to fetch box of tissues.* The thing is, this is my worst nightmare, I can't bare angst! I never want to think about Remus being lonely and grieving (although I always seem to end up thinking about it anyway), so I was more than willing to accept Remus/Tonks when it presented itself at the end, in fact I'd go as far as to say that it came as a relief. I can't see why everyone feels like the the world is crashing down around their ears...it's not like Remus pounced on Tonks...he didn't seem very keen on the idea at all to be honest, he totally clammed up and tried to end all discussion on the subject by bringing the conversation back round to Dumbledore. Surely this is some indication that he's still grieving? People seem to be complaining that he was completely OOC throughout the entire book, which is sad, I missed him, but surely he's not going to be all smiley and friendly and favouritegayuncle if he's lost Sirius, is he? To be honest, I can't see a better situation, I mean, to me it seems like there's even more canon evidence for R/S AND there's light at the end of the tunnel for poor lonely Remus.
Ah to hell with it, I think both ships can co-exist peacefully. If there was a war between the camps, however, I'd definitely be on the R/S side puppyshippers are way tougher. So basically I'm repeating almost word for word what I've previously said about Remus/Tonks - that I'm a R/S girl all the way, but ultimately with Sirius gone I just want Remus to be happy and if that means him being with a girl my age who I can pretend to be in various Mary-Sue daydreams, then so be it)
Hmm, and about the theory of JKR tacking this on just to thwart the slashers...it was definitely sudden and there were none of the usual clues we've come to expect, so it is a bit fishy of JKR, but I don't think she'd ever be swayed from her plan by the public, for whatever reason, and she has always said how much she likes Lupin so I think it was just a case of an author's prerogative to make one of her favourite characters a little happier I know I'd make Remus happy if I could. Ahem. Maybe we should all be pleased about how unexpected this was, the fact that there were no obvious feelings between them before Sirius died gives weight to the R/S argument, doesn't it? I do wish there'd been more of a build up (I can't get enough of will-they-won't-they-then they-do unrequited love). It would've been nice for there to have been a bit more interaction between them in HBP (even if not in OotP), were they even in a scene together before the end? I did kinda get the feeling something was going on from the time Tonks first appeared at The Burrow, especially seeing as Remus' name was the first one mentioned by Molly, but then Mad-Eye got name-checked too and I thought I was just being a silly fangirl. Then Molly put the fear of God into me with the whole Tonks/Bill thing!
Does anyone else feel like we've just seen the film? And they've missed out some key points...and the best bits? :(