In This World and the Next Chapter 13
It took a while, but it's finally here. Here we learn exactly why Lord Potter (and by extension the author) thinks that Ron needs to be killed for something his future self did in another timeline. And it's as bad as you think it is.
( ITWATN Chapter 13 )
"I set this aside for a while so I could give you a reply that wasn't another knee-jerk reaction. First of all, I reckon I should thank you on behalf of the writer if you feel so intensely about this story, that his writing moved you so much. I can see both sides of the coin about that cerberus situation;; granted, it's an extreme reaction, but it was not unwarranted with the way he was about to ambush the pair in the hallway. Besides that, I think you also fell victim to a classic scenario: this is not a story based on a true occurrence, so any characterization and depicted situations are figments of imagination. I feel we both got taken away by the emotions called for by the writer. I still believe your review was a little too harsh, but so was my reply to you. I guess ITWATN wasn't your cup of tea. With the feel-good of the story, I mean the way of writing, not too generalized, skipping entire months of happenings in a few sentences, but not too detailed either in describing a table for 2 pages etc. etc.
Anyways, opinions differ and I apologize for venting on yours.
sincerely,
Siknmagh"
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The point about Percy really demonstrates the importance of narrative viewpoint. We know that he intended to kill or seriously harm Harry and Hermione because the POV was in his head before it hopped to Harry's, but they have no way of knowing this, so can't justify killing him as self-defence. In their minds, they weren't killing someone who would have killed them first, but were taking revenge for something that had no longer happened. And Hermione even acknowledges this in-story, however briefly.
The characters and situations are fictional, but the underlying philosophy isn't and that's what I take issue with the most. It's not simply a case of not liking how Robst portrays the cast of Harry Potter.
Fair play to the commenter for sitting on this and pursing a sensible and civilised line of argument rather than flaming. I did wonder what had happened when there weren't any further replies.
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"I set this aside for a while so I could give you a reply that wasn't another knee-j*** reaction. "
It took you four months to come up with a response that boils down to "this is how the fic writer wanted to do this, sucks to be you"?
"First of all, I reckon I should thank you on behalf of the writer if you feel so intensely about this story, that his writing moved you so much."
Careful with that edge, you might just slash your face open and turn out to be robst in disguise.
"granted, it's an extreme reaction, but it was not unwarranted with the way he was about to ambush the pair in the hallway."
Yes, this WAS unwarranted. Percy did literally nothing to Lord Potter or his mistress. He is being associated with the events of a timeline that no longer exists and will never come to pass; events that were carried out solely by an alternate version of his younger brother, justifying lashing out at past versions of them with some absolutely ridiculous concept/fallacy that "Ron's pureblood upbringing compels him to r*** Hermione at the end of the seventh book". Events that Lord Potter reacted to by accusing Percy's family to be kidnappers, having his mistress attack him, his brother, and his mother in full view of all of Hogwarts, getting his Prefect's badge taken away solely for defending his family, then making the family homeless and demolishing their home to build their own personal mansion on top of it. It's only natural for Percy to want retribution for these occurrences.
And "about to ambush the pair"? It was described in very clear terms that Lord Potter had lured Percy there, had known about his desire for revenge the whole time, and was doing these actions with full intent to kill, having no errors whatsoever in how these actions played out. I refuse to sympathise with what can easily be seen as a bratty murderer taking out his rage over not taking his girlfriend's virginity by killing or otherwise inflicting suffering to the family of the one who beat him to the punch.
"Besides that, I think you also fell victim to a classic scenario: this is not a story based on a true occurrence, so any characterization and depicted situations are figments of imagination."
You are one abhorrent piece of work, Siknmagh. You are defending the actions of a bad writer by invoking the fact that it's all fictional. I don't even know where to begin.
First: this is an absolute copout explanation. Second: you are saying there is no point to having strong emotions or emotional connections to fictional characters because they're not real. Third: you are tacitly asking me to stop caring about consistency or characterization and just "go with the flow of what the author wants to write", turning off my brain and just cheer whenever "dem EVUL Weasleys" get killed or maimed for no reason at all while our "protagonist" becomes more and more of a murder-happy Mary Sue. Fourth, "classic scenario"?! What, getting invested in a story is a FLAW!?
"With the feel-good of the story, I mean the way of writing, not too generalized, skipping entire months of happenings in a few sentences, but not too detailed either in describing a table for 2 pages etc. etc. "
What does that even mean?
The first 10 chapters of the story all take place in the same month. Run-on sentences are abundant. Five chapters do nothing but dwell on reactions to Percy's death as if it were describing that THE (OSTENSIBLE) PROTAGONIST committed "the perfect crime" with his act of cold-blooded murder. Intersperced within every chapter is Lord Potter banging on about how much of a "trophy wife" Hermione is.
I know I won't change your mind, and I'm almost certain you won't even respond to this. But I implore you, take off those rose-tinted glasses and see ITWATN for what it really is. "Not for Weasley fans" is NOT a justification to enjoy character bashing on this scale. If I wanted to fantasize causing suffering to people I didn't like while I became god, I'd play an FPS.
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