Life is a Cabaret

Who did the art on your icon? it's lovely.

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Honestly, I'm scared. I'm afraid she's going to demonise Peter.

For me, Peter's the most interesting of the Marauders, simply because he's the most complicated. He's a cowardly villain who nevertheless does some brave deeds, both as a boy and later as a Death Eater. He joins the DEs not out of vengeance or lust for power, but out of fear. He's a former friend of the heroes, a servant of Voldemort, and indebted to Harry. He is, in fact, the Anakin of his universe--a powerful but morally flawed young man who betrays his friends and his Order...and whose actions make the entire saga possible. Peter, like Anakin, is pivotal.

I'd be very upset if JKR made him wholly evil without a scrap of decency left--and considering her other villains, that's what I fear she will do. Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Barty Crouch, Umbridge--JKR does not seem to know how to portray grey characters, characters who have both good and bad qualities. Grey characters are complex, which makes them far more interesting to read and write. Unfortunately, if characters oppose Harry, or if Harry dislikes them, they appear as completely bad. (Which, alas, isn't necessarily accurate. I do wish that she hadn't decided to use Harry as an unreliable narrator. Too many people take Harry's point of view as gospel.)

About death scenes. I expect death scenes--it is a war, and I do expect Peter to die paying off his debt to Harry. However, I don't want any more ambiguous death scenes. Cedric's death was left rather up in the air (he's described, alternately, as being killed by Peter and by Voldemort, and, in fact, the killer is never identified in the text), and Sirius's death--falling backwards through the Ominious Curtains of Doom, which hadn't even been identified as a threat to life prior to that--was just plain stupid. If JKR is going to kill off characters, I think she should make the means of their deaths believable and the identities of the authors of their deaths ultra-clear.

I also do not want to see any more idiocies on the part of the Death Eaters such as occurred in the Department of Mysteries. There is no way that the kids should have come out of that fight in good shape. They were outnumbered and should have been overmatched. The Death Eaters are the shock troops of Voldemort, his vicious and most terrible forces...and the worst they can come up with are Stunning Spells? Not one Avada Kedavra? What, the DEs all suddenly forgot the words?

Even if Rowling didn't want to rely too much on the Killing Curse, there are still a lot of spells already mentioned that could have done severe damage, if the DEs had applied them properly:

a. Silencio. Since about 90% of all spells are spoken, the Silencing Charm eliminates almost every attack spell the kids could have used.

b. Expelliarmus. Come on, why leave the kids armed with their wands?

c. Petrificus Totalus. The Full Body-Bind, in which the victim cannot move or speak, and can only shift the eyes from side to side.

d. Incendio. Nothing like setting your victim on fire to let him/her know that you mean business.

e. Imperio. Okay, Harry can fight Imperio...but wouldn't it have been something if one of the DEs had taken over Ron or Hermione's mind, and remained in control after the battle was over?

f. Binding Charms. Spells creating chains or ropes to restrain someone.

g. Confundus Charm. Instant confusion to your enemies!

h. Finite Incantatem. Ends spells currently being cast. Great way of stopping your enemies in their tracks.

And that's just a few of the canonical spells that could have been used to good effect in the Department of Mysteries. The battle should have been a bloodbath. Harry should have found out first-hand how unprepared he was, and should have lost at least one or two friends (Luna and Ginny were the ones I expected to die, actually). Instead, the DEs were wimpy. I felt cheated.

I guess what I want most is believability--a believable, complicated, human Peter, believable deaths, and believably ruthless Death Eaters. I think these things would strengthen the story. But I'm not at all sure we're going to get them.

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many-miles-away.livejournal.com

...

You managed to put into words most of the things that make me super frustrated. I do feel better now that I know exactly *why* I'm so pissed at JKRowling!! *hugs you*

Just another reason why I'm so not looking forward to HBP. Let's face it people: she can't write. She's good at inventing complex words, but she sucks at characters. She was a good children's author but I'm afraid the grown-up world is much too complex for her. *ducks to avoid the rocks sent by angry fans*

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Dude, she's already demonised Peter. It's the most difficult thing about writing him.

She's already reduced the Death Eaters to one-dimensional caricatures, and I don't think that it's because she *can't* write a character who is complex and grey.

She wrote Snape, after all, Snape, who we love and hate depending on the page.

I think it comes down to the fact that she just hasn't bothered to put that kind of time into the other 'bad guys'. I mean, she was almost there with Riddle, but by the time he is Lord Voldemort, there's nothing left.

I dunno. She's working with a huge cast of characters, and some of them have simply fallen off the wayside.

But, yeah, I do wish the evil mastermind was something that a fifteen-year-old could realistically tackle, or else something that overwhelmed as much as it -- by all rights -- should.

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Nope, I can't count Snape, for I have never loved him in any of his appearances in the books. He's doing the decent thing by spying on Voldemort, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's an angry, bitter, caustic, hate-filled, sarcastic man who's a lousy teacher. I'm sure you could make a case for Snape having more to him than that--I can certainly make a case for Peter being more than a groveling coward--but the fact is, in both cases, you'd have to dig in both cases to find something decent. There's nothing overt.

I think it comes down to the fact that she just hasn't bothered to put that kind of time into the other 'bad guys'. I mean, she was almost there with Riddle, but by the time he is Lord Voldemort, there's nothing left.

That, I think, is what makes her less than good as a writer. She SHOULD bother to put time into developing all the characters. She's a good storyteller--she can get us all enthused and interested in her world--but she lacks technique. She is not good at plotting (the number of plotholes that she has created and abandoned drive me mad) and she is not good at characterising characters whom she does not like. She doesn't give them the time and the effort to make them real, believable and human, and that, I maintain, is a severe flaw.

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(playing devils advocate because 1. it's fun to spam Rynne. Hi! and 2. I've been more inside Peter's head to write The Prankster's guide than I would ever readily admit to)

Nope, I can't count Snape, for I have never loved him in any of his appearances in the books.

Alright, the word may not be love, but there are those moments -- far more often in canon than for Peter -- where you pause and have to reevaluate the man you thought was Severus. I mean, I can't stand him as a rule -- in fact, I think he's done more harm overall than Peter, and holds a far worse grudge -- but that doesn't negate the fact that Jo has written in moments where you see the world -- literally - through his eyes, and you begin to understand. If not to understand than to -- i dunno.

The point is, that she's written both points of view into the story. She has defined Snape, the wretched teacher and vindictive a-hole that Harry deals with on a day-to-day basis. And then she managed to show us that he has a point as well. Both in the times he's tried to save Harry (though being up front with him about the need for occlumency would have saved him moreso than steadying a broom) and the time we saw his memories.

The point is that Jo can do it. She just doesn't.

And we're not even going to discuss plot holes. In fact, the fandom as a whole would have much less to discuss were it not for the plot holes. as

ignipes reminds us, any plot or event that you can entirely negate with one sentence ("Harry, Volemort wants to trick you into going to the DoM. Whatever you do, don't do it") isn't a very strong plot at all.

She doesn't give them the time and the effort to make them real, believable and human, and that, I maintain, is a severe flaw.

The thing is, she must do something right if we can extrapolate a real, believable, and human character from what she's written. I mean, some of it is imagination, but it does have a basis in canon, and Jo gave us that.

:)

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Alright, the word may not be love, but there are those moments -- far more often in canon than for Peter -- where you pause and have to reevaluate the man you thought was Severus. I mean, I can't stand him as a rule -- in fact, I think he's done more harm overall than Peter, and holds a far worse grudge -- but that doesn't negate the fact that Jo has written in moments where you see the world -- literally - through his eyes, and you begin to understand. If not to understand than to -- i dunno.

I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. I sympathise with Snape on the subject of the Prank (which I view as Attempted Manslaughter 2 and Reckless Endangerment on Sirius's part, and which should have gotten Sirius expelled).

But I don't understand Snape.

Both in the times he's tried to save Harry (though being up front with him about the need for occlumency would have saved him moreso than steadying a broom) and the time we saw his memories.

I don't actually remember him ever trying to save Harry. (I don't count the Shrieking Shack--Snape focused exclusively on Lupin and Black, and getting revenge on them by getting them put in prison or being Kissed by Dementors.) And don't even bring up Snape's Worst Memory, because the only way I can deal with it is to consider it wildly inaccurate. Leaving aside the whole portrayal of the Marauders as jerks (and not nearly the close friends we'd been led to believe), there's still the fact that as of the end of fifth year, they were taunting and humiliating Snape publicly. I can't imagine Snape voluntarily trusting Sirius after that--why would he trust someone who ridiculed and embarrassed him, apparently on a regular basis? And yet canonically, he has to have trusted Sirius, if the Prank is to take place.

I was bullied at school for years. I would have sooner drunk lye than trust any of the bullies for a single second.

So for me, Snape's worst memory and the Prank don't make sense. They don't work together. You can have one or the other, but not both.

The only way I can make sense of it is to say that this is the way Snape remembers the occurrence now, but the memory is not an accurate one. It's not the way that I want to make sense of it--I'd much prefer the two to dovetail neatly--but it's the only way I can do so.

So...no, sorry. Whatever you see in Snape, I'm not seeing it.

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I don't actually remember him ever trying to save Harry.

Sorry to interject :)

He not only saved Harry, but all the kids in the DoM by alerting the D.A. when Harry told him "He's got Padfoot!" when Umbridge had all the kids in her office.(sorry I don't have my OotP book in front of me, I'm sure that's not the exact wording).

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Oops! I mean when he informed the Order of the Phoenix about what Harry told him.

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I think you mean the Order of the Phoenix, not the D.A.

And did he alert the Order? Because I don't really remember anything being said about it then or afterwards, other than Harry's comment in Umbridge's office.

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I think you mean the Order of the Phoenix, not the D.A.

Yes that was my mistake, but I corrected it before you made this comment. :)

And did he alert the Order? Because I don't really remember anything being said about it then or afterwards, other than Harry's comment in Umbridge's office.

Gah I hate when I don't have my book. Yes I'm fairly sure that it was Snape that informed the Order of Harry's allegation of "they've got Padfoot!" which prompted them to check to see if Sirius was at 12 Grimmauld Place(which he was).

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Oy. Er...

So, the thing is that I don't actually care about Snape enough to come up with arguments anymore. :) Plus it's pushing the wee hours of the morning and my higher functioning is shutting down.

*yawn*

Hermione is the one, in Philosopher's Stone, that says Snape was trying to save Harry from the wild broom.

As far as reconciling the Prank with SWM, Gah... All I can say is that Snape isn't exactly your Lie-Down-and-Take-It victim-type. Nor is he the Avoid-the-Bullies type (or the Stand-Up-To-Them. He's more the stab them in the back sort). I think it's an odd combination of these traits, plus his own snooping, that led him to accept Sirius' statement as fact.

Regardless, I'm sorry you see him as all black, rather than in shades of grey (even dark ones). I'm not saying that I like the man -- I actually don't give much of a twit -- but I do think that Jo has taken the time and effort to make him at least moderately multidimensional.

That's all.

From:

many-miles-away.livejournal.com

Completely, utterly indifferent, as I said previously in my LJ (it was when you were away, though, I think...), and it makes me really, really sad, but what can I do about it? I have no plans on buying the book when it comes out, although I *will* buy it, only later on (unless all the squeeing/ranting that will undoubtedly clog my FList gets to me and I read it just to be able to comment on people's posts and don't feel like a complete outsider anymore). Actually, I do feel like an outsider now, because people are already starting the squeeing and I can't join in. Moreover, I'm afraid JKR's going to butcher everything up further, and ever since I've realized she wasn't that good of a writer, the book have quite lost their magic.

*is sad*

I'm still into the fandom, though, albeit much less than I used to be. But I still enjoy the stories.

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I'm excited and amused that fandom has gone so batshit ever since the JKR put the release date of HBP on her site.

Ship wars, rants, and wank are at an all time high right now. Everyone is running batshit scared and it's so funny to me, because everyone is waiting to see what JKR is going to do with canon. Will she kill my favorite character? How will she portray so and so?

Oh but wait! Isn't JKR the writer that this fandom is constantly at odds with? The fandom that takes everything she says and analizes it to death? Cause if this is the same JKR then why do you give a shit? XD

Isn't that the purpose of fanon? In fanon, Sirius is alive and Draco is redeemed, so why are all these people so scared of what she's going to write? It's just very amusing to me.

I'm also ready for the ship wars to be over and I think it might end in book 6. We'll find out who are true fans of the HP series and the ones who are just here for the pr0n and my ship!!11one! after this book.

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