Some general thoughts on HBP, not spoiling at all.

[silversolitaire]

You know... for the future I think it would be nice when people who are posting HP spoilers (and are very nice to cut them) would also include up to which chapter they're spoiling. Not that anyone will, but sometimes I really wish it was so. I read at a moderate speed. I have no interest in rushing through a book I waited for for two years, so I'm reading a speed that's comfortable for me and where I can already put things in my long-term memory. I've got a very good memory for books that I've read that way. I will admit right here and now that I've only read some HP books once and I still remember every single detail of them (of course that also makes it boring to reread something). So, no rush for me. At the same time I'm dying to read all the comments people are posting right now but I don't dare to click them because I don't know up to which point they're spoiling. Very annoying. Of course I could just save the links to these entries and read them later, but that's always a bit lame. LJ entries are best when fresh.

Other than that, what can I say about HBP. Somehow I don't like the mood of it at all. This is the trouble I've been having with the books since GoF. I liked about the HP series the magical mood, the cute details... just feeling nice and at home and being able to relax, knowing it's a pleasant series. But ever since GoF I can't relax anymore. I turn the pages, anxious about what else J.K. Rowling is going to do to the world I've grown to love for so many years. Which characters she's going to kill of. Which places she's going to destroy. It makes me sick in the stomach. I don't like the mood anymore. It's constantly threatened and angsty and dangerous. There's no more lighthearted niceness about this and I don't like it. I feel like Rowling is trying to be more adult, write more serious, but this is not what I want about HP. So yeah, I'm enjoying it, it's very thrilling so far, not nearly as boring as OotP was at the beginning, but still kinda meh. It's not what I felt about PoA and so on. It bascially stifled all urges for me to write fanfiction because I no longer dare to have my own thoughts about it because eventually J.K. will do something horrible and destroy it all and I will be left depressed and upset over it.

Oh well, but I started it, many years ago, and I will stick through it until it's over. And hopefully I won't feel like the love and devotion I felt for so many years was wasted.

Comments

[kribban.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more with you. I wish people would do that. I wish there were guides to each and every chapter and you could just click on the one you want. But remember, you can always chat to me about it. *hugs* I do worry a bit about it as well. Thing is though, if there is a war things will probably change and people will die etc. That's just what happens. Look at LOTR and Narnia. If she had wanted there not to be a war then she would have to make Voldemort's return a lot less dramatic.

Me, I worry more about character assasination than actual, physical death. :-)

[sandrine]

There's no more lighthearted niceness about this and I don't like it.

I completely agree. I thought it might be just me, getting too attached to certain characters and liking the status quo too much to be nonchalant about the change of mood; it's really a relief that you agree.

There were some amusing moments, but on the whole, I can't say I enjoyed reading HBP because it was too dark and serious altogether.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Well you see, I don't WANT to read about war. War is the topic I try to avoid at all costs. I hate read about war, it makes me uncomfortable and depressed, and I hate to see how my favorite series is turning into a war story and I have no way of avoiding it. I feel like it was snuck up on me. Don't like it at all.

Yes I agree with character assassination. But I think it was pretty clear how I meant it, no? Not just killing someone off. People can die and it's okay. But I hate it when characters change in an unpleasant way. Like Draco. Meh.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

*nods* It was the most apparent in Diagon Alley. That always used to be such a nice part of the book with new things to discover, wonderful descriptions, excitement etc. And now it was just HORRIBLE. It's just not nice on the whole.

[sandrine]

I was more concerned about the ending. Not any specific event, mind you, but the thing on the whole. Because, after that, nothing will ever be the same, and that makes me feel... frustrated. Saddened, too, but mostly frustrated.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Yeah that too... it's better to just wait for a series to be over and then delve into it >.<;. I so hate WIPs!

Ooooooh SAW icon! *licks it* Which reminds me I still owe you a review for yours! I'll just say it here. I thought it was really good! A bit short but that's just me *ish a sucker*. Okay wait I can't do it here because then I'll spoil the movie for others who might read this thread unsuspectingly ^^;. I'll try to remember it and dig up the link again later.

[lemurjoe.livejournal.com]

I don't get your comment about Draco. He's always been nasty and pretty evil. So how do you think he's "changed in an unpleasant way"? Or do you just miss him being more interested in picking on Harry?

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

How can I explain. In the first books there was still room for interpretation, you know? It was possible to use him in fics and somehow excuse his behavior. Pretend there was some good deep down inside of him. He was just sorta nasty but maybe it was just an act. But since GoF he's just dag nasty evil, there's no way you can even remotely excuse anything he's doing, and OotP was just the killing blow. So I kinda feel deprived of my ability to write fanfiction around him because he was thoroughly ruined. J.K. Rowling isn't exactly writing characters multilayeredly. They're good or they're evil (with a few exceptions who are there to add to the suspense). The Dursleys will always be nasty and never change, Hagrid will always be 100% good and innocent and Draco will always be evil. That's just how it is and it's kinda depressing when it manifests itself for good.

[no-ron.livejournal.com]

well, if you think about it, there were pretty awful things happening in HP1 and HP2 as well.. even though in HP1 it was only towards the end.
but all in all.. HP1 was probably the best of them, exactly for all that little fun stuff, funny dialogue etc. i kind of missed all that as soon as HP2, which i thought too action oriented already.
i did a short commentary about the books somewhere in my lj ages ago, when i had them fresher in mind, and i remember that from all the others i - interestingly - liked HP4 the best.. and were it not for a pretty annoying "plot-twist" (which i found kind of stupid and cheating) i would be quite satisfied with it.
and HP5 was too perverted.

[sandrine]

My own dislike for WIPs is more related to the fact that when I get into something, I get horribly impatient and want the next part RIGHT IN THIS MOMENT!!1111!!11!1 *g* It's the same no matter whether it's some piece of fanfiction, a TV show or a book series.

Ooooooh SAW icon! *licks it*

*g* One of my LJ friends had a yell at me this morning because I used the Saw icon for my HP entry last night and she took the mood of the icon as a spoiler. Which, actually, it was, in a way.

Glad you liked the fic, overall. Sorry for the shortness. I wrote it the same night I watched the movie, I think, and just wanted to get off my chest before I headed off to bed.

[a-sprinkle.livejournal.com]

hi. i figure you created the 'moleskine' journal. i'd like to know if you are you still using it?
thanks.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Yes it's my writing journal and it's private so there's not really much to see.

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

hey dude! i am sorry we missed each other the other day with comments. but anyway - do you have any clues about anything you'd like for your birthday? i can send stuff from over here. (i was just trying to be lazy by posting while i was away to make postage cheaper.)

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Are you back now?

I feel really bad about forgetting to answer your mail and then this happening. I can't accept you sending me something... especially with the postage being more expensive now and most importantly because my present for you is still sitting around here and I never have gotten around posting it >.<;. Plus, I always feel really impertinent wishing for stuff. I hate that question, it kinda embarrasses me...

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

i am back now yes.

i like sending things. i want to send something. i so so rarely get a chance to sit down to the computer for more than 15 minutes nowadays, so i don't get to chat with you. but i want you to know that even though i don't have time to chat i still think about you a lot and am interested in what you do and stuff. and i want to send you something nice for your birthday because i think it is important to you and sometimes other people disappoint you on your birthday and i want you to have something nice.

BUT i really hate giving people things they don't like or will never use. things that will just lie around in their house until people forget who gave it to them and throw it out. so i like people to give me a good idea of something they would REALLY like.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Hm okay... I will meditate on it some then while I clean my room (Tom is coming on Friday, yaaaaaaaaaaay)

Once I get my account out of the red again I'll send of your present! Pwomise!

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

cool. have a think.

how long is Tom staying?

don't worry about sending my present - OR if it makes it cheaper i could give you Nick's parent's address and you could send it to them and they could bring it back for me at some point?

[a-sprinkle.livejournal.com]

ah ok. i wanted that username and saw an empty journal. carry on!

[dogberrysplay.livejournal.com]

Do you think we started a war in WTF?

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

No, not a war, a TREND! XD Especially since the homies on wtf_inc already moved on and don't give this thread another thought now and now all the HP fans are pouring in from this thread having been metaquoted. Excellent!

[dogberrysplay.livejournal.com]

*evil laugh* Today a forum... tomorrow the world!!!!

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Tom is staying six weeks, roughly. Yay.

Nah I wouldn't want to hassle Nick's parents with it. I'll send it eventually! ^^;

Okay, I did a bit of thinking (sorry about the delay, I was really busy).

Well, I like stationary, paperstuff, notebooks etc. Stuff that looks old but isn't. Kinda heart to explain... (examples: http://www.kandcompany.com/) I like it when it has the old days' look. I like comic books, action heroes. I like manga and anime. I like romantic stuff, I like m/m stuff, I like Harry Potter. I like rainbow colors. I like bright and colorful stuff. I like things that glitter and are shiney. I like art supplies. I like scrapbooking, stamps that look pretty, like watercolor drawings (example: http://www.heroarts.com/), I like books, chocolate, coffee, movie merchandise, music, old movies, Barbie dolls, animals, bugs, cats, turtles...

Okay I think that covers a good deal. ^^; I hope that helps.

[yamato--ishida.livejournal.com]

Hi Silver,

It's been a real real long time, but I'm sure you'll remember me. We drifted in and out of each others' lives a couple of times now. I was surprised to find you on LJ, but I shouldn't be, you've been in the fandom longer than I have.

If I remember right, you're the one who infected me with The Bad H/D Virus. *g* I mused about all the H/R in GoF and you said that H/D had much more potential and gave me your WIP to read (which is still not finished by the way)

So how's your RL going? Finished with college? I'm still studying in Augsburg, but hope to graduate next year. Apart from that I spend most of my time in my fandoms, reading, writing,etc. I'm finished with HBP, but don't worry, I won't shout out any spoilers. I myself got spoilered so bad that I'm still fuming about it, I wouldn't want this to happen to anybody else.

What chapter are you at now? From what I read you are troubled with the way Jo destroys the nice little world she created. I think it's heartbreaking, too, but I'm sure she intended for this to happen from the very beginning. It's not a sign of "trying to write more adult now." I think she goes on like she intended, making the stories more grown-up, as Harry grows up. His childhood world shatters bit by bit and so shatters the reader's.

I admit that I like it. The darker the better. But I understand that it's also troubling; we used to "go on holiday" in dark, angsty FFs but we could always return to nice and warm and homey canon. Now that isn't possible any longer.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

OMG! This is so weird! You know, actually the first thing I ever gave you to read was this Gabriel Knight fanfiction (*cringe!* my style has improved MASSIVELY since then, thank God) and just two days ago I randomly thought about reading it again and it made me think of you. So weird that you'd find my LJ now!

Yeah, as you see I've been around for a looooooong time. I'm an old LJ dog basically. I've missed the early adopter account just by an inch. Lately I haven't been posting so much... as you can see! I added you back! :D This is really cool to see that you've gotten an LJ now. Hopefully we can rekindle our friendship at least some then. I've been missing ya!

To tell you the truth I'm not really into Harry Potter that much anymore *ducks*. Not saying I don't love it anymore, oh no. I still enjoy it a lot. But I haven't been messing around in fandom anymore. It's been years literally since I've read the last fanfic. I've kinda lost the grip of it, I suppose. And people in fandom can be so annoying, I'm sure you remember. That's also why I never finished that WIP... I get the feeling I can't really get a hold of it anymore. But I might just continue it one day. I've been mostly writing original stuff.

I'm about 100 pages short of finishing the book. I've been taking it slow because I wanted to savor it. I'm no longer quite that bitter. The mood is still unpleasant but it's gotten better. I'm pleased to see that finally for once in our fan-lives Draco is actually, on paper, for real!!! cool. Well, at least in my book *g*. Hey, that nose-stepping stunt was pretty cool, okay? I do have more thoughts and insights, but I'm mindful of spoilers of course. I have friends reading the comments and I don't want them to get spoiled. But I agree with your comment. J.K. is trying to show Harry is growing up, but this makes it a bit hard for new fans. You need to grow up along with Harry Potter it seems. I wouldn't let a 10 yo kid read this! And I guess I resent her for no longer being the candycotton and butterfly safe haven she used to be. "Go on holiday", like you said.

Wow, you'll be finished soon... Makes me feel like a real loser, LOL. I kinda can't figure out what I want to do with my life once I'm done so I sorta drag on with it. I do enjoy studying, so it's not like I feel like I'm falling behind. Technically I could start applying for exams now, but WAH. Scared of exams and stuff. Must wrestle with inner demons first.

Anyway, I don't usually spread a lot of awfully personal stuff on LJ, especially not on public posts, so maybe we should continue this via eMail? My addy hasn't changed and if you still need it just let me know *g*.

[his-nymph.livejournal.com]

Uhm hello, just was sifting through your journal and decided to comment. :)

About Harry Potter, I think JKR wants us to feel like this a bit, missing the old comforts, because whether we like it or not, Voldermort has come back so of course there's a war. And hopefully in the end, Harry or whoever, will save the world and bring us back to the old comforts. I'm just glad that this book was much more comforting than the last, in my opinion. At least we didn't have nasty Umbridge and Hagrid was around. I rather liked Slughorn myself, though it was a little strange not having Snape teaching potions anymore but I had a feeling this would happen.

On Draco, I thought he had more room for redemption in this book. He was probably about to give in before uhm something happened..hehe. So I just wanted to join in.