After reading one stupid comment too many...

[fpb]

I know I have read an essay that made the point that Mrs.Rowling had built up to Ginny-Harry much better than a lot of Philistines like to pretend. Can someone point me to it? Right here and now, I am not really in the mood to go and write one for myself, and I would like to have something to respond if I ever hear that ignorant opinion again.

On the other hand, does anyone doubt that the sudden apparition of Remus-Tonks in HBP is in the nature of a JKR rapsberry at certain fannish obsessions - just as, in my view, her sudden and incomprehensible invention of a black Blaise Zabini?

Lucius Malfoy is the most overrated villain on the planet. He is unintelligent, arrogant and whiny.

Finally, the twits who insist that Dumbledore is a manipulative bastard are the same idiots who are currently pretending that Israel could defend itself from Hezbollah without destroying bridges or killing people. It's called a war, dolts.

Comments

[patchworkmind.livejournal.com]

Isn't it funny how people can read the words on a page but still come up with the most amazing interpretations and/or deny what the words say? It's the same way people deny the world as it exists one second and then claim it to be another the next, all the while in thje presence of extraordinary evidence to the contrary.

(I'm not into HP, but being a fan of other fiction I'm not unfamiliar with your point in posting.)

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I know I have read an essay that made the point that Mrs.Rowling had built up to Ginny-Harry much better than a lot of Philistines like to pretend. Can someone point me to it?

Ok what'd a miss. You're the 6th person on my f'list I've seen going on about this. In fact, one person who was on aobut the stupidity of some essay isn't usually supportive of Harry/Ginny, so something somewhere was amazingly stupid.

Finally, the twits who insist that Dumbledore is a manipulative bastard are the same idiots who are currently pretending that Israel could defend itself from Hezbollah without destroying bridges or killing people. It's called a war, dolts.


Wow. I'm in an agree disagree point here. I don't agree with you on Dumbledore, but holy god, you're right, the second group of people missed some memos about what goes on during a war.

Reminds me of the twits in my class who thought the US should not have bombed Japan OR invaded. They thought we should have stopped fighting and negotiated peace.
*head desk*

[lilium-convalli.livejournal.com]

i have not heard a more apt description of what is going on in israel. but then, i am a bit of a zionist.
chevovei israel!

and, the word dolt threw me off at first, but i'm good. euroslang :P

[fpb.livejournal.com]

The words "twit" and "dolt" both stand for a foolish person with an especial connotation of excessive lightness of mind. "Dolt" is, I believe, quite an ancient insult.

[lilium-convalli.livejournal.com]

how did you get such good, english, english, Mr. Barberi?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Your second point was a bit confusing, largely thanks to the confused way I myself wrote. Are you saying that in your view Dumbledore is a manipulative bastard?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I lived in Britain, on and off, since 1976. I moved permanently to London in 1987. And before you ask, today, July 24, is my 44th birthday.

[goreism.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday, sir!

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Actually, I hate birthdays - my own, I mean, not those of others. I just thought that Lilium, who is 20, might be startled by such ancient dates. I am at the stage of life when you begin to notice how young all policemen are.

[lilium-convalli.livejournal.com]

wow! you must have seen so much! well, happy birthday, and i shall always call you Mr. Barberi as a sign of respect to my senior. happiest birthday of forty-four.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Don't, please. I am Fabio to you. A lot of people with a lot less right claim it anyway. However, my family name is Barbieri, with two i's.

[lilium-convalli.livejournal.com]

a thousand apologies. mr. burberry. jk! :)

[cheyinka]

I just had a mental image of a bunch of Hogwarts graduates - Parvati and Lavender, perhaps - going out to protest the unjust actions taken by Aurors against the Death Eaters. "No Blood For Textbooks!" "Give Voldemort A Vote!"

And getting avada kedavra'd.

...yes, I am a warped individual, sorry :p

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Ouch! Well done, Miss Lily.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I think it would probably be the Slytherins - who would know what they were doing. And some of the sillier Hufflepuffs. But yes, if any Griffs are apt to fall for that nonsense, I guess Parvati and Lavender would be high on the list.

[privatemaladict.livejournal.com]

I don't really see anything odd about Remus/Tonks or a black Blaise Zabini. Unexpected, maybe - but I don't really understand the notion that every single thing that happens in a book needs some kind of back story or build-up. Remus and Tonks are relatively minor characters - it stands to reason that Harry, through whose eyes the story is (mostly) told wouldn't know very much about their personal lives - and therefore, neither would the reader.

As for Harry/Ginny, the fandom reaction to that has me absolutely mystified. Since when did teenage relationships - or any relationships, for that matter - need several years of build-up to be believable? Why shouldn't Ginny like Harry again - now that she's a little more mature and might actually have more than a little-girl crush on him? And what, exactly, is so bizarre about Harry starting to like her in Book 6, not before? That's not bad writing - it's realistic.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say "manipulative bastard," just manipulative. But then so is Harry from time to time, and Hermione, and most people.

However, for personal reasons, Dumbledore isn't a favorite character of mine because certain character traits/choices of his annoy me to no end. I think you and After the Rain asked me to write an essay explaining all this and I just never got around to it. I don't even know if there'd be much point because I don't really disagree with any canon based points about him, I just don't like him.

So, I could write an essay, but it would just be my reasons for not liking him and I wouldn't expect anyone to agree with it anymore than I would if I wrote an essay explaining why I don't like tomatoes. Nothing I say would be any kind of good reason to not like tomatoes if you already like 'em.

Either the way Dumbledore talks (for example) annoys you or it doesn't. If it does yay if it doesn't yay. It's just a personal reaction to something.

Now if I were to say the way he talks is canon proof that he's more evil than Voldemort or somesuch oddity . . . yes, I'd be a crackpot. 0.o

Anyway, to end this on a totaly different note, Happy Birthday!
I was working on some art for you but as with 99% of all birthday sketches I try and get done, this will be late *sigh*

Hopefully I will have it up tomorrow ^__^

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Well, I see a black Blaise Zabini as a violation of the way JKR designs characters, especially minor ones, and I argued long and hard about it, if you recall. I do not think it wrong in absolute terms, but certainly odd and unnecessary; and since both Blaise and R/T have to do with stuff where fandom had been raging and billowing like an angry sea - and slashing like mad, too - and since neither are in any way necessary to the plot, it is my view that these are JKR commenting on fannish obsessions. It is not as though she was not aware of this side of fandom. Remember the celebrated Emerson interview, which enraged so many fans? And if I were in her shoes, I would be on occasion quite annoyed at people who demand to control my characters and actually talk as though they could be a better job at them than I could.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Your entire last paragraph THANK YOU! It's nice to know someone remembers being a teenager.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Especially since most fans still are...

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

heh true.
Or given the way this fandom acts at times, one hopes most of 'em are.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

You know this brings to mind a quesiton, given this stance of justified actions during wars, how did you (either of you) react to the Aurors being allowed to use the unforgivables?

If I recall, the characters in the book implied that this was horrific in some way, but I could never quite agree because the curses still seemed to amount to one on one fighting.

I guess I can see the distaste in "good" people using the Cruciatus curse and perhaps the Imperious Curse, but the Avada Kadavra, well it's war, people die in war, and to me that seemed reasonable to use if one were fighting Death Eaters offensively, given the Death Eaters own actions.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

That's sort of what I meant. Not that I have always been blameless.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

You also have to bear in mind that punishment under wizarding law goes beyond anything that has been lawful in free Muggle societies for a century or two. Being imprisoned in Azkaban, in so far as it is not a disguised death penalty, could easily be seen as a fate worse than death. So which would be worse for a confirmed villain, being killed in battle, or being thrown to the Dementors for the rest of his or her life?

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I would much rather die, though it would be hard as I don't consider suicide a viable option. I don't know what I'd do if I were sentenced to a Dementor's kiss. To me, that is a fate worse then death and cruel beyond anything anyone deserves. But I'm speaking form me own religious beliefs here.

Anyway, so are you saying you think they want to take the DE's alive so they suffer as much as possible?

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Not that I have always been blameless

Me either. Most people aren't I think. It's a very volitile fandom.

[privatemaladict.livejournal.com]

I'd missed the whole Blaise Zabini argument - though I heard about through fandom_wank. Him being black just doesn't strike me as being in the least bit significant - like you say, he's a minor character. So he's black? Okay, whatever.

But I don't think R/T is quite as unnecessary to the plot as you seem to. Granted, it's not crucial - but I think it relates to some of the central ideas in the books. If I recall, someone, possibly Molly, says something along the lines of "Dumbledore would be glad to know there's a little more love in the world." And that's important.

Also, I personally like to know that Remus actually has something happy happen to him for a change. The man's had so many things go terribly wrong in his life - just this once, it's nice to see something go right. And to me as a reader, it doesn't matter who he's with, as long as it makes him happy.

(Which isn't to say that it isn't a jab at the fandom - it could well be - but if so, I think it works rather well.)

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I am not sure. We know that there is such a thing as coming out of Azkaban, that it is not a life sentence for every crime - and even people like Karkaroff who got long or life sentences can have them reduced by collaborating - and that the Kiss is only administered on exceptional occasions. But it is an appalling punishment. I guess the last word has to be with Sirius, who had thirteen years of experience of it, and who still praised Moody for bringing people in alive for Azkaban rather than killing them on the spot.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Lucius Malfoy simply suffers from Henchman's Syndrome.

It's hard to be independent, clever, and bold when your boss is a sociopathic king of evil with a penchant toward brutal punishment. But, silly Lucius for choosing such a boss--gets to the point about Lucius not being intelligent. (Lucius no doubt thought it was a good choice because Voldemort appealed to Lucius's sense of class privilege and offered him the thrill of being able to lord it over lesser wizards). But since Voldemort is SOOO evil and SOOO removed even from his closest supporters (no-true-friends thing), anyone following him ends up--or is from the start--a mere henchman.

[super-pan.livejournal.com]

Oh, snap! I almost forgot to wish you Happy Birthday! I've seen that your birthday has been coming up for weeks now. The problem is that I never know what day it is, let alone the actual date.


Happy Birthday, FPB!

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your kindness. And all my love to you, your husband and your lovely child.

[cheyinka]

My first impression is that it's unforgivable to use an Unforgivable. (sorry)

But a well-placed Imperius could have a Death Eater drop (or break) his wand and pick up a portkey (or quietly sit in the corner until he could be teleported away).
Avada Kedavra's mostly a problem because of the damage it does to the caster's soul - otherwise, sometimes an enemy won't stop until it's dead.
I can't figure out a reason for Cruciatus though.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I just had a tremendous plotbunny for the ultimate in Imperius...

[lilium-convalli.livejournal.com]

genovefa