There's a pretty good Potterfic writer who goes by IP82, who's one of the people that have put together a group to sponsor a post-HBP fic contest for this summer, with actual cash przes, which they are simply calling "Horcrux." While I immediately knew I couldn't be arsed to come up with an entry, thinking about why lead me to two realizations:
1. Voldemort is a Liche. Powerful undead and undying wizard, soul stuck in phylacteries, the works. This isn't the important bit.
2. The important bit is, while she lucked onto an intrigiung setting, JKR isn't very good... maybe 3.5/10 where I count 5/10 as an average paperback that I'll want to keep. HP
S is meh, COS a bit better, Azkaban okay but still not a reread, GoF the only one I DID reread, OotP I skipped from Harry's first Occlumency lesson to saving Artur to NEWTs, and that was good, but the other half of the book was too whiny and repetetive to do more than skim a few lines per page. HBP... it would have been more satisfying if the only continuations of the series were the fan writing, because the sixth book puts the canon squarely in Ranma 1/2 territory where even the median level of the Pit of Voles makes canon look bad.
What does all this mean? It means for a post-GoF fic, the possibilities are wide pen, practically anything can be done and any character can be either revealed as a scoundrel or revered as a champion. The fact that this allows for lots of HP/DM slash with Snape as semi-incestuous father figure is simply the price that one must pay for options.
Post OotP, you pretty much have to choose between a Dumbledore who is good and one who is competent, but hey, even the best of us have our failings, and while it might be nice fort Harry to have Sirius around most of the prank-war segments in fics that his presence encourages just piss me off, and a dramatic personality change in Harry is easy to blame on the loss.
The problem with a post HBP fic, is that the greasy git's actions can still be explained away to have him come out a good guy, not just one or two but practically the entire cast of characters have been acting like total morons in terms of actually doing anything about the current state of conflict or preparing to, and the quest for seven plot points is so DAMN overused its not even as good as "pathetic."
I mean, I would rather read about a quest for seven cereal box tops that get sent in for Mecha-Shen-Long... and as IP82 (see, it's related!) pointed out in one of his authors' notes, a Dark Lord who wanted immortality should make one phylactery, (I'm sticking to the word out of real myth, now that I've remembered it) enclose it in a rock, and throw it in the ocean, not putz around with flashy historical trinkets that the good guys can research and easily find in a pile of other stuff due to their distinctiveness. Granted, that breaks the convention that Evil means Stupid, and with the quality of opposition you can't have smart bad guys or they'll win, but that's not a positive factor. So to put it bluntly..
JKR? You fail it!
- CD freely admits to being opinionated and obstinate, but is williong to hear differing opinions with the understanding tat his own is unlikely to changeSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
1. Voldemort is a Liche. Powerful undead and undying wizard, soul stuck in phylacteries, the works. This isn't the important bit.
2. The important bit is, while she lucked onto an intrigiung setting, JKR isn't very good... maybe 3.5/10 where I count 5/10 as an average paperback that I'll want to keep. HP
S is meh, COS a bit better, Azkaban okay but still not a reread, GoF the only one I DID reread, OotP I skipped from Harry's first Occlumency lesson to saving Artur to NEWTs, and that was good, but the other half of the book was too whiny and repetetive to do more than skim a few lines per page. HBP... it would have been more satisfying if the only continuations of the series were the fan writing, because the sixth book puts the canon squarely in Ranma 1/2 territory where even the median level of the Pit of Voles makes canon look bad. What does all this mean? It means for a post-GoF fic, the possibilities are wide pen, practically anything can be done and any character can be either revealed as a scoundrel or revered as a champion. The fact that this allows for lots of HP/DM slash with Snape as semi-incestuous father figure is simply the price that one must pay for options.
Post OotP, you pretty much have to choose between a Dumbledore who is good and one who is competent, but hey, even the best of us have our failings, and while it might be nice fort Harry to have Sirius around most of the prank-war segments in fics that his presence encourages just piss me off, and a dramatic personality change in Harry is easy to blame on the loss.
The problem with a post HBP fic, is that the greasy git's actions can still be explained away to have him come out a good guy, not just one or two but practically the entire cast of characters have been acting like total morons in terms of actually doing anything about the current state of conflict or preparing to, and the quest for seven plot points is so DAMN overused its not even as good as "pathetic."
I mean, I would rather read about a quest for seven cereal box tops that get sent in for Mecha-Shen-Long... and as IP82 (see, it's related!) pointed out in one of his authors' notes, a Dark Lord who wanted immortality should make one phylactery, (I'm sticking to the word out of real myth, now that I've remembered it) enclose it in a rock, and throw it in the ocean, not putz around with flashy historical trinkets that the good guys can research and easily find in a pile of other stuff due to their distinctiveness. Granted, that breaks the convention that Evil means Stupid, and with the quality of opposition you can't have smart bad guys or they'll win, but that's not a positive factor. So to put it bluntly..
JKR? You fail it!
- CD freely admits to being opinionated and obstinate, but is williong to hear differing opinions with the understanding tat his own is unlikely to changeSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows