Notes, notes, notes.
Otakon was a pretty cool weekend. I walked away with some nice memories and a ton of nice swag, as well as some embarrassing memories and a few impulse buys I'm still shaking my head over (DAMN YOU, SIREN CALL OF THE DEALER'S ROOM, YOU GET ME EVERY TIME). I met some very nice people: Rus, who waited in line and sat next to me for AAA; Josie, who wandered over to eat with me in a corner of the Dealer's Room on Saturday; all the girls from Richmond, who talked and squeed with me in the line for and during the yaoi panel; as well as Megamix Panda chick and Sakura cosplayer from the Maki autograph line on Sunday.
Nobody spoiled me for DH. Even though I literally was trapped on a floor full of 4chan frequenters for fifteen minutes. Even though I picked up one of the Deathly Hallows boxes from the Dealer's Room (the Borders stand was throwing them away) and was walking around with it for the rest of the day. Really, I only got two impertinent comments ("SNAPE IS HARRY'S FATHER!" and "EVERYBODY DIES," neither of which are spoilers).
So I finished the book around five on Sunday and really, I can't express what kind of experience this was for me . There were many times I was moved to tears (King's Cross, holy shit that last line) and many times I was reduced to flailing on the couch with unspoken levels of squee (pretty much every time Harry went bad ass, or Ron said something awesome, or Neville or Luna appeared, or anybody said anything about Harry using Draco's wand). Many times I wanted to call JKR up and tell her thank you from the bottom of my heart (too many times to pick just one) or just scream WHAT THE FUCK at her (Harry using Unforgivables?). It was an amazing final ride, and I'll always treasure the gift that JKR and Harry have given me and the world.
That being said, I wanted to address some things about what I'm seeing in the reactions of some of the fandom.
I'm not going to go into the whole Slytherin write-off because a lot of people have talked about it more eloquently than I ever could. Instead, I am going to say that I have never been more proud to be a Ravenclaw, not ever. Luna totally kicked butt in this book and is just a completely brilliant human being. (And also, she totally turned me off Harry/Ginny for good because she understood Harry in a way that Ginny never did and she didn't even have to try. I'm not saying I ship them as an OTP though; I think they would work best as a short-term couple right after the war which would dissolve into a really strong friendship. Wooo, long tangent!) Also, the common room letting in anybody who could answer the questions satisfactorily is just so perfect. I saw some comment somewhere that said that this was too characteristic and that if Ravenclaw lets in anybody who shows intelligence then Gryffindors should have to jump through rings of fire to get into their dorms and Slytherins should have to weasel their way into theirs (and Hufflepuff would just be an open doorway, haha). I actually think that they sort of are inadvertently characteristic as Gryffindor and Slytherin are the only two houses that I see as really being clique-ish. Gyrffindors would think it would be cool to belong to a club with a secret password, and Slytherins wouldn't appreciate anybody except other Slytherins invading their inner sanctum anyway. There is a part of me that honestly believes the Hufflepuff common room is just an unlocked door. Anyway, RAVENCLAW REPRESENT.
I still think Snape is a total git and will go on thinking that until the end of time. I will be the first to say that he is unbelievably complex and integral to the overarching plot of the books as a series, but really. TOTAL. GIT. I was totally floored by how selfishly he loved Lily. I'm glad that he got his chance to tell his story, because it is a pretty good one, but I will never like him in canon.
Also, as a slight tangent that's Snape-related, I don't understand why Snape's patronus has something to do with Lily. I mean, I know James was a stag, and Lily being a doe is so very quaint (haha, Lily/James OTP), but was she an illegal animagus too or is Snape just incredibly masochistic?
Harry as a Christ symbol. HOOOOOOOOOWOW. Nothing anybody can say can make me be shocked by this any more than I already am. It was just... so LITERAL. And I mean, I didn't hate how it played out in the book because yeah, Harry telling the snitch "I am about to die" and him talking with Dumbledore on the other side and him being displayed to all of Hogwarts limp in Hagrid's arms, asdfghjkl YES. But still. I was simply not expecting religious overtones from a book condemned as satanist.
The Epilogue. *headdesk* I didn't really hate it, I was glad that Harry was able to have what he always wanted, which was a family. It's just that the way she wrote it was so uncomfortable for me. I couldn't get all the names straight except for Harry and Ginny's kids and Ted. I'm waiting for somebody to make a final family tree. ETA: See below link. Actually, what I find most disturbing in this book, more disturbing than Dumbledore saying Hogwart's Sorts too early, more disturbing than Harry using an Unforgivable because somebody said something mean to his head of house, was how incestuous the end of this book seemed to me (thanks everything_dh and aryas_zehral). I know that's rich coming from me, but I mean, LOOK AT THAT TREE. NOBODY IS NOT IN THAT TREE. THAT ISN'T RIGHT. I feel like this is just as bad as pureblood mania, except its even more close-minded. Like in a hundred years it will be Herobloods that are revered above all others. Thank God for Ron.
Now it's time for Things I TOTALLY CALLED. Before DH: Hufflepuff's Cup being in Gringotts, Neville becoming the Herbology professor, the identitiy of the RAB (like anybody didn't), Hedwig dying (although I was NOT PREPARED for her to be the first to go). During DH: I open at the end, Harry as the Horcrux, Bathilda being a trap.
Things I TOTALLY DIDN'T CALL: I thought the lost diadem was the one actually on the statue of Ravenclaw. I was floored that Umbridge would take over the anti-muggleborn ministry action (I thought she would have been all over the disenfranchisement of magical creatures and halfs, etc.). I thought Lupin might die, but I never thought Tonks would (they were both unbelievably reckless and there's another orphan for next-gen fics). FRED, OH FRED.
I'll probably have more to say at later points. I hope to God I can sit down and actually reread it in the near future because reading the first 350 pages on Wed/Thurs and the other 409 on Sat/Sun has left me a little hazy on some stuff. But really. I loved it. It wasn't my favorite of the series (that's HBP probably), but it was wonderful and it was closure and it made made me love Harry even more (which I thought was pretty much impossible). It made me love everybody just a little bit more dearly. It's the end of an era of my life that I'll never forget.
BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M LEAVING FANDOM. I want me some AS/S and some T/J and epilogue-compliant fic and AUs galore and I want it NOW. *makes grabby hands*
Nobody spoiled me for DH. Even though I literally was trapped on a floor full of 4chan frequenters for fifteen minutes. Even though I picked up one of the Deathly Hallows boxes from the Dealer's Room (the Borders stand was throwing them away) and was walking around with it for the rest of the day. Really, I only got two impertinent comments ("SNAPE IS HARRY'S FATHER!" and "EVERYBODY DIES," neither of which are spoilers).
So I finished the book around five on Sunday and really, I can't express what kind of experience this was for me . There were many times I was moved to tears (King's Cross, holy shit that last line) and many times I was reduced to flailing on the couch with unspoken levels of squee (pretty much every time Harry went bad ass, or Ron said something awesome, or Neville or Luna appeared, or anybody said anything about Harry using Draco's wand). Many times I wanted to call JKR up and tell her thank you from the bottom of my heart (too many times to pick just one) or just scream WHAT THE FUCK at her (Harry using Unforgivables?). It was an amazing final ride, and I'll always treasure the gift that JKR and Harry have given me and the world.
That being said, I wanted to address some things about what I'm seeing in the reactions of some of the fandom.
I'm not going to go into the whole Slytherin write-off because a lot of people have talked about it more eloquently than I ever could. Instead, I am going to say that I have never been more proud to be a Ravenclaw, not ever. Luna totally kicked butt in this book and is just a completely brilliant human being. (And also, she totally turned me off Harry/Ginny for good because she understood Harry in a way that Ginny never did and she didn't even have to try. I'm not saying I ship them as an OTP though; I think they would work best as a short-term couple right after the war which would dissolve into a really strong friendship. Wooo, long tangent!) Also, the common room letting in anybody who could answer the questions satisfactorily is just so perfect. I saw some comment somewhere that said that this was too characteristic and that if Ravenclaw lets in anybody who shows intelligence then Gryffindors should have to jump through rings of fire to get into their dorms and Slytherins should have to weasel their way into theirs (and Hufflepuff would just be an open doorway, haha). I actually think that they sort of are inadvertently characteristic as Gryffindor and Slytherin are the only two houses that I see as really being clique-ish. Gyrffindors would think it would be cool to belong to a club with a secret password, and Slytherins wouldn't appreciate anybody except other Slytherins invading their inner sanctum anyway. There is a part of me that honestly believes the Hufflepuff common room is just an unlocked door. Anyway, RAVENCLAW REPRESENT.
I still think Snape is a total git and will go on thinking that until the end of time. I will be the first to say that he is unbelievably complex and integral to the overarching plot of the books as a series, but really. TOTAL. GIT. I was totally floored by how selfishly he loved Lily. I'm glad that he got his chance to tell his story, because it is a pretty good one, but I will never like him in canon.
Also, as a slight tangent that's Snape-related, I don't understand why Snape's patronus has something to do with Lily. I mean, I know James was a stag, and Lily being a doe is so very quaint (haha, Lily/James OTP), but was she an illegal animagus too or is Snape just incredibly masochistic?
Harry as a Christ symbol. HOOOOOOOOOWOW. Nothing anybody can say can make me be shocked by this any more than I already am. It was just... so LITERAL. And I mean, I didn't hate how it played out in the book because yeah, Harry telling the snitch "I am about to die" and him talking with Dumbledore on the other side and him being displayed to all of Hogwarts limp in Hagrid's arms, asdfghjkl YES. But still. I was simply not expecting religious overtones from a book condemned as satanist.
The Epilogue. *headdesk* I didn't really hate it, I was glad that Harry was able to have what he always wanted, which was a family. It's just that the way she wrote it was so uncomfortable for me. I couldn't get all the names straight except for Harry and Ginny's kids and Ted. I'm waiting for somebody to make a final family tree. ETA: See below link. Actually, what I find most disturbing in this book, more disturbing than Dumbledore saying Hogwart's Sorts too early, more disturbing than Harry using an Unforgivable because somebody said something mean to his head of house, was how incestuous the end of this book seemed to me (thanks everything_dh and aryas_zehral). I know that's rich coming from me, but I mean, LOOK AT THAT TREE. NOBODY IS NOT IN THAT TREE. THAT ISN'T RIGHT. I feel like this is just as bad as pureblood mania, except its even more close-minded. Like in a hundred years it will be Herobloods that are revered above all others. Thank God for Ron.
Now it's time for Things I TOTALLY CALLED. Before DH: Hufflepuff's Cup being in Gringotts, Neville becoming the Herbology professor, the identitiy of the RAB (like anybody didn't), Hedwig dying (although I was NOT PREPARED for her to be the first to go). During DH: I open at the end, Harry as the Horcrux, Bathilda being a trap.
Things I TOTALLY DIDN'T CALL: I thought the lost diadem was the one actually on the statue of Ravenclaw. I was floored that Umbridge would take over the anti-muggleborn ministry action (I thought she would have been all over the disenfranchisement of magical creatures and halfs, etc.). I thought Lupin might die, but I never thought Tonks would (they were both unbelievably reckless and there's another orphan for next-gen fics). FRED, OH FRED.
I'll probably have more to say at later points. I hope to God I can sit down and actually reread it in the near future because reading the first 350 pages on Wed/Thurs and the other 409 on Sat/Sun has left me a little hazy on some stuff. But really. I loved it. It wasn't my favorite of the series (that's HBP probably), but it was wonderful and it was closure and it made made me love Harry even more (which I thought was pretty much impossible). It made me love everybody just a little bit more dearly. It's the end of an era of my life that I'll never forget.
BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M LEAVING FANDOM. I want me some AS/S and some T/J and epilogue-compliant fic and AUs galore and I want it NOW. *makes grabby hands*