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HP 7 thoughts and a brief apology for my absence.
Computer at home died, Internet there runs on a modem so I can't hook it up to my laptop, shall be online during work hours and not home time. Still living with parents.
First of all, WR's spoilers were completely and totally accurate in every detail. And the epilogue posted on ontd_trash was also totally accurate.
Thank god for that, because it gave me forwarning of what was possibly the worst ending to a series ever. DOES IT GET MORE SACCHARINE THAN THAT?
Without the epilogue, I might have actaully been halfway happy with the book. That said, here's my breakdown of the good, the bad, and the leftfield weirdness.
Good:
1) Snape/Lily. TOTAL YAY. I read an awesome short story once about that pairing and ever since then, I've had a bit of a soft spot for it, even though I don't really ship anything in the HPverse. At any rate, the idea of Snape always and forever and unswervingly being in love with Lily is AWESOME. It hits my heartstrings HARD.
2) Regulus being kind to Kreacher. Hell, Harry being kind to Kreacher! It was fantastic to have Griphook acknowledge that Harry was special for burying Dobby himself, and I'm glad that the house-elves actually got a substantial, meaty role in the book and that Hermione was right about them.
3) Hermione staying with Harry when Ron ran off. She's always been my favorite member of the trio and I'm glad that she got a chance to shine in showing how loyal she is. Not to mention the idea of her charming her parents to forget that she existed as a daughter was painful but perfect for her, so I loved the idea of her being so fully committed.
4) Ron running off. I'm not a fan of his, so I'm glad that JKR stayed true to the fact that Ron had abandoned Harry before and has less endurance than the other two. It also got us Potterwatch, which was fantastic and made me giggle a bit because Lee Jordan is really quite awesome.
4) The Prince's Tale. There's an HP fanfic called 'Tale of the Shining Prince' that I remember quite liking -- I think it was Harry/Draco, not sure -- and the title of that chapter reminded me of it. This really ties into point 1, I suppose, but I loved the title and I loved the idea and YES I TOLD YOU THAT Snape was a good guy. HAH!
5) Grindelwald. He was cool. I loved the description of him. In fact, I would love to RP him. Blond and mischevious and arrogant FOR THE WIN. Grindelwald/Dumbledore is totally a possible pairing in my head -- as, apparently, three other people on my flist also think. *considers hitting them up for RP later*
6) Slughorn returned to the battle! He wasn't a bad guy right at the end, even if he did leave! And Narcissa and Lucius actually CARING about Draco was fantastic. Ohmygod, was it ever. I loved that.
7) Aberforth. He and his goat ROCKED THE BLOCK, BABY!
8) Dudley actually giving a damn about Harry.
Bad:
1) The epilogue. OH MAN HOW I HATE IT. I swear, if I wasn't so against defacing books, I'd take my X-Acto knife and cut out those pages. JKR does action-adventure-fantasy decently well, but she cannot write romance for anything, which is why I was so glad to see hardly any of it in this book.
2) Lupin and Tonks dying. A little excessive, don't you think? And man, that means none of the Marauders managed to survive this war. Which absolutely sucks.
3) Hedwig dying. Again, excessive much?
4) Not enough Draco. Really. I thought that he'd have a better role what with Dumbledore trying to save him and all.
5) Harry tossing Imperio around like it was candy. C'mon, dude, show a little self-control!
6) Petunia not saying properly goodbye to Harry, and the lack of information about whether they were safe in the end or not.
7) Crabbe turning on Draco. DAMNIT, loyalty is important! And not just to Hufflepuffs!
Left field:
1) Did the book imply that Albus' sister was raped at the age of six by three Muggle boys? Maybe I'm too prone to seeing the worst in statements but gods, that bit made me do a double-take.
2) Victoire? Who the hell was that? Bill and Fleur's daughter?
3) Severus being killed for the Elder Wand. Man, that is not something that I was expecting -- I seriously thought that he'd make it through the series alive.
4) Grindelwald being friends with Dumbledore. Considering that, and the arc with Peter, I'm stunned none of Harry's friends betrayed him. It really did seem like it was going to follow historical precedent there, but I guess that's what the Deluminator that Dumbledore handed Ron was for.
5) Grindelwald still being alive. I can't believe that Voldemort killed him! You'd think that he could've at least pumped him for info instead of losing his temper.
6) Luna's father being called Xenophilias. What an unfortunate name!
7) The snake keeping Babiltha or whatever her name was propped up. That was GRUESOME but actually kind of cool.
If anyone knows of a slash-friendly RP set around the time of Grindelwald and Dumbledore, or even a Marauder's-era one (I have a sudden, renewed fondness for Regulus) that's looking for players, let me know.
First of all, WR's spoilers were completely and totally accurate in every detail. And the epilogue posted on ontd_trash was also totally accurate.
Thank god for that, because it gave me forwarning of what was possibly the worst ending to a series ever. DOES IT GET MORE SACCHARINE THAN THAT?
Without the epilogue, I might have actaully been halfway happy with the book. That said, here's my breakdown of the good, the bad, and the leftfield weirdness.
Good:
1) Snape/Lily. TOTAL YAY. I read an awesome short story once about that pairing and ever since then, I've had a bit of a soft spot for it, even though I don't really ship anything in the HPverse. At any rate, the idea of Snape always and forever and unswervingly being in love with Lily is AWESOME. It hits my heartstrings HARD.
2) Regulus being kind to Kreacher. Hell, Harry being kind to Kreacher! It was fantastic to have Griphook acknowledge that Harry was special for burying Dobby himself, and I'm glad that the house-elves actually got a substantial, meaty role in the book and that Hermione was right about them.
3) Hermione staying with Harry when Ron ran off. She's always been my favorite member of the trio and I'm glad that she got a chance to shine in showing how loyal she is. Not to mention the idea of her charming her parents to forget that she existed as a daughter was painful but perfect for her, so I loved the idea of her being so fully committed.
4) Ron running off. I'm not a fan of his, so I'm glad that JKR stayed true to the fact that Ron had abandoned Harry before and has less endurance than the other two. It also got us Potterwatch, which was fantastic and made me giggle a bit because Lee Jordan is really quite awesome.
4) The Prince's Tale. There's an HP fanfic called 'Tale of the Shining Prince' that I remember quite liking -- I think it was Harry/Draco, not sure -- and the title of that chapter reminded me of it. This really ties into point 1, I suppose, but I loved the title and I loved the idea and YES I TOLD YOU THAT Snape was a good guy. HAH!
5) Grindelwald. He was cool. I loved the description of him. In fact, I would love to RP him. Blond and mischevious and arrogant FOR THE WIN. Grindelwald/Dumbledore is totally a possible pairing in my head -- as, apparently, three other people on my flist also think. *considers hitting them up for RP later*
6) Slughorn returned to the battle! He wasn't a bad guy right at the end, even if he did leave! And Narcissa and Lucius actually CARING about Draco was fantastic. Ohmygod, was it ever. I loved that.
7) Aberforth. He and his goat ROCKED THE BLOCK, BABY!
8) Dudley actually giving a damn about Harry.
Bad:
1) The epilogue. OH MAN HOW I HATE IT. I swear, if I wasn't so against defacing books, I'd take my X-Acto knife and cut out those pages. JKR does action-adventure-fantasy decently well, but she cannot write romance for anything, which is why I was so glad to see hardly any of it in this book.
2) Lupin and Tonks dying. A little excessive, don't you think? And man, that means none of the Marauders managed to survive this war. Which absolutely sucks.
3) Hedwig dying. Again, excessive much?
4) Not enough Draco. Really. I thought that he'd have a better role what with Dumbledore trying to save him and all.
5) Harry tossing Imperio around like it was candy. C'mon, dude, show a little self-control!
6) Petunia not saying properly goodbye to Harry, and the lack of information about whether they were safe in the end or not.
7) Crabbe turning on Draco. DAMNIT, loyalty is important! And not just to Hufflepuffs!
Left field:
1) Did the book imply that Albus' sister was raped at the age of six by three Muggle boys? Maybe I'm too prone to seeing the worst in statements but gods, that bit made me do a double-take.
2) Victoire? Who the hell was that? Bill and Fleur's daughter?
3) Severus being killed for the Elder Wand. Man, that is not something that I was expecting -- I seriously thought that he'd make it through the series alive.
4) Grindelwald being friends with Dumbledore. Considering that, and the arc with Peter, I'm stunned none of Harry's friends betrayed him. It really did seem like it was going to follow historical precedent there, but I guess that's what the Deluminator that Dumbledore handed Ron was for.
5) Grindelwald still being alive. I can't believe that Voldemort killed him! You'd think that he could've at least pumped him for info instead of losing his temper.
6) Luna's father being called Xenophilias. What an unfortunate name!
7) The snake keeping Babiltha or whatever her name was propped up. That was GRUESOME but actually kind of cool.
If anyone knows of a slash-friendly RP set around the time of Grindelwald and Dumbledore, or even a Marauder's-era one (I have a sudden, renewed fondness for Regulus) that's looking for players, let me know.
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But I guess the readers needed some sort of explanation, and that was the only way to pull in Deus Ex Dumbledore.
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I don't know how much attention I paid to Harry in the book since -- let's face it -- he's never really been one of my favorites. I'd rather pay attention to the minor chars, like Luna, who absolutely fucking ROCKS. And is squeesome. But I did like Harry being kind to Kreacher. That made me like him a little more.
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Though I'll admit to hoping people ask JKR insightful questions i.e. not 'what's Luna's last name' on the 30th.
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As for Lupin ... I've never liked him, so his death didn't bother me at all. I liked the way it happened 'off screen' because it seemed a true reflection of what happens in war - in the same way Fred's death happened at a moment no one expected.
Snape/Lily and Dumbeldore/Grindelwald for the win. Twisted, not alotgether sane Dumbledore in general for the win.
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Awww. I used to really like and feel sorry for Lupin because of the werewolf thing, but also because he had to be the responsible one where James and Sirius were concerned. It just feels like he had such a sucky life and then had to die just when things were looking up for him. But ouch to Fred dying, definitely. Poor George. First lost an ear, then a twin. But I'm glad Percy ended up with his family again.
Dumbledore being an arrogant, resentful genius as a kid is AMAZING. I heart that concept. I always love bad boys just a little, and the position of being stuck taking care of someone you don't really want to have to look after when there are so many other options open to you is one that I can empathize with like crazy. XDDDDDDDD
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7. XD Aberforth is made of awesome.
8. SO AGREED.
To the "bad"
1. Epilogue I'm torn on. I like the idea of... mmm... ... .uh... maybe a little more than half of it or something? However, the way it was done and such just felt... ... disconnected? Just...odd.
2/3 - I think that it makes sense as far as "this is a war" and "no one's safe" - doesn't mean I LIKE it - AT ALL, but I'm not complaining in the sense of it being excessive -- to me. Though, there's is one character I think should have died, that didn't. *growls*
4. Agreed.
5. ^^; To me, it was a bit annoying, but not ... mmm... hard to believe?
6. ...I totally stopped thinking about their safety after a while. *SHAME*
7. Just goes to show exactly how that was. Though, being "bossed" around for so long... not that I like it, but I was never a fan of his anways - so maybe I'm a bit biased.
"Left field"
1. Uh, that's what I thought. And I had to keep looking at it and then sigh at it. I understand the book being "darker" than the previous and such, but it seemed to be a bit "much". A reason is fine, but that reason seemed like it WAS rape and... yeah. I was/am hoping that I'm just looking at it TOO darkly.
3. I didn't have any expectations of him outside of "there being a reason" for it all - and that he wasn't "bad". I half-expected him to end up dead, just... well... I think I was trying to "prepare for the worse" of many characters.
5. "pumped him" [for info].... ....
7. xDD I had to read that a FEW times. And then my sister came in and told me the same - because it came off like "Wait... what... OMFG ..." and yes, gruesome AND kind of cool in that sense xD;