(Untitled)

[merrymelody]

God, I hate this chapter. Long and angsty.
Note for Jo - Political allegories are not your friend.
Note for Harry - STFU, as always.
Note for Hermione - The hell?

13.5 is up, and I see we're now dreading awaiting HBP!

Comments

[mariagoner]

* 'Let's see Umbridge get what she deserves.'

Which is gang rape at the hands of "bloodthirsty" centaurs, apparently. Though isn't it funny how JKR always shies away from describing exactly what Umbridge gets...? God knows she didn't have quite the same level of reticence with poor Montague...

I swear... I'll post reply more after finals finish scrambling my brains... O.o

[merrymelody]

Well, of course some people deserve gang rape! It's liek totally funny! I mean, I was shying away from the gang and their crazed unique morality throughout the books, but didn't you warm up to them again while they were making hoove clopping noises and giggling? Hee hee! I guess that sure taught Umbridge a lesson! *shudders*

Good luck with your finals!

[mariagoner]

Thankfully, they are all finished now. ::cheers::

And good lord, for all of Jo's talk on how much of an "inquisistor" Dolores and the Slytherins (good name for a band!) are, it seems as though Harry and Co. would fit better into the Spanish Inquisition, what with their habit of endorsing harsh punishments for lesser crimes. I can see them quite happily roasting people alive at the stake for not believing their ideals, can't you?

[sistermagpie]

Or possibly just carry around a signpost saying 'I'm the one you're supposed to hate'.

LOL! It's so true. If they'd just figure out they shouldn't call themselves something repulsive...

"Well, talk about pluralism. There was, of course, a good deal of angst earlier in the book about him losing the latter two appointments; no-one seems to have considered that it was pretty dashed iffy him attempting to hold them both at the same time (separation of powers, anyone?)"

It's so weird the way the books have this tension between traditional values and pc ones. It's like the essay Elkins did on the way the Dursleys are skewered so brutally but then the books themselves actually depend on a pov much like that of Aunt Marge, with the jolly lunch lady with the accent who calls them "love." Same thing with Dumbledore--the books aren't pushing any sort of modern system, but the same benevolent dictator Tolkien wanted.

OMG. Harry got a lower grade than Ron? *falls over dead* HOW CAN THIS BE?

Hermione wrote it for him!

Thanks Captain

[mariagoner]

Also, don't forget the all important lesson 4, 5 and 6.

Lesson 4: Be a Gryffindor, or at least look up to one.

Lesson 5: Remember to always "accidentally" find yourself in the position of a hero time and time again. It's not looking for trouble if you don't mean to find it.

AND ABOVE ALL:

Lesson 6: Be the main character whose name appears in the title of the book you're in, so the author who writes you really can't afford to kill you off until the last minute (if that.)

[merrymelody]

Well, yeah. It kind of minimises all the tension and strife of 'IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME' when um, it wasn't and it won't be. Cause you have the series named after you!

Heh, lesson 4 reminds me of Grease: if you can't be a Gryffindor, be a Gryffindor supporter!
Which is totally different from someone supporting people who oppose you.
They're just sycophants and sheep. Or something.

[mariagoner]

Dude, word to the nth degree. For someone who writes what are essentially mystery books that usually center on what sort of nefarious deed the villians will perpetuate this time, JKR sure needs to work on her suspense-building skills.

That said, it seems as though the HP books are shifting from principally being concerned with "who the bad-guy really is in this book" to "who is going to drop dead in this story." That's suspenseful... I guess...

[jollityfarm]

That JK Rowling is one of Earth's less subtle writers?

I was just reading a critical essay on Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind a couple of days ago, and the writer complained that one of the problems of both writers was that they had totally unsubtle ways to distinguish the goodies from the badies - apparently, in the Wheel Of Time series, the villain is very nearly called "Satan" (something that sounds almost like it) and Terry Goodkind's villain is called "Darken" or something (I've not read it), and all their henchmen are called something that might as well be "Forces of Evil" or "Those Bastards" for all the subtlety inherent.

Oddly, the same writer of this essay absolutely loved OotP, claiming that it was her favourite in the series, and does not see any of the similarities.

Only bad parents question the Right Way to ThinkThis is something that very much bothers me about the series. It supposes itself to have values of Questioning Authority and Being True To Yourse, but it's a little difficult to take that on board when (a)

[merrymelody]

Oddly, the same writer of this essay absolutely loved OotP, claiming that it was her favourite in the series, and does not see any of the similarities.

Heh. She should go join f_w.

Sirius is the very David Brent of rebellion

Hee! I love how 'brave' he's considered to be - ooh, look he defied his Evil family. I can't help seeing him as such a contrary brat that if all the other Blacks had been liberal hippies, he'd have embraced the pureblood cause; so I don't see his non-rebellion as all that impressive, myself.

Having Harry as a favourite is the ultimate in fairness, whereas having Draco as a favourite is a sure sign of evil.But of course. Likewise, Snape is a horrible teacher because he's mean to Harry and Neville, those wickle woobies (and made Hermione cry - ha!) and threatens them with all kinds of crazy unfair punishments like Veritaserum or feeding bad potions to their pets; whereas Hagrid saying he should take a leaf out of Moody's book and do some more ferret bouncing is just dandy, since he's only being mean to a kid who

[sistermagpie]

Hee! I love how 'brave' he's considered to be - ooh, look he defied his Evil family. I can't help seeing him as such a contrary brat that if all the other Blacks had been liberal hippies, he'd have embraced the pureblood cause; so I don't see his non-rebellion as all that impressive, myself.This is the thing that always amazes me when it comes to some readings, that many people don't make any allowances for a person's personality when they look at their behavior. Like, with Sirius JKR has made a point of his being a rebel in an archetypal way. He was too busy being "a rebel" to have a girlfriend. He was always a rebel. He has a motorcycle and long hair because he's a rebel. He is the stereotypical "bad boy." Rebelling is what he does, and while that doesn't change the fact that he made the right choice in not supporting Voldemort, you can't just use him as the example of how other characters should act, as if they were in the same situation. Percy, for instance, is by nature *not* a rebel, so his walking out on his family came

[merrymelody]

Well yeah. Or saying 'Harry doesn't look up to the Dursleys', hence no-one shouild ever look up to their parents (except of course, he has a case of idolsation for James and Lily, the real parents, that probably equals Draco's for Lucius; or whoever else is being compared and contrasted for being blinkered followers ((kinda difficult for them to win, either; since disagreeing with your parents also makes you an asshole, if your parents happen to like Harry