rusty_halo | (no subject)

jaydk has convinced me to go see Harry Potter 3 again tonight. For the third time in IMAX. Eighth time total. That doesn't include the numerous times I've watched the Remus/Sirius scenes on my own copy. I'm such a dork. (But it is really cool to see in IMAX....)

(Is OoTP still considered spoilery? Well, it's been out over a year; I'm not going to hide every spoiler from it, so be warned.)

Here is a great essay about why Remus/Sirius might be canon. Not that I really care if they're officially canon or not, because I don't give a damn about authorial intent, but it's nice to see their relationship being examined so closely.

jaydk has tried to convince me that Sirius isn't really dead. I mean, there's no body, and who dies from falling through a veil anyway? Why would Rowling set up such a weird death unless something more was going to come of it?

I still think he's dead, personally. But now I have this idea in my head, which gives me hope, which is very bad because it makes me want to read more fic....

I'm going to be so devastated when the next book comes out and my poor darling Sirius is still dead!

Speaking of fic, I quite loved The Host and His Guest by Diane Coffin. (That's a rec; go read it if you haven't.) Not to mention the amazing stuff that

anniesj has been writing.

So, btw, is anyone in R/S fandom for Sirius? Everyone seems to prefer Remus. I don't get it at all.... I totally identify with Sirius, and find him fascinating, and like him best. (Though I was more like Snape than Sirius in school ... but that whole flashback didn't bother me. Just made me love Sirius even more, and made me more heartbroken that he didn't really get a chance to grow up properly.)

God, I'm babbling. This is horrible. This is why

jaydk and I are going to hang out tonight--so we can babble to each other about this.

We were also happy to learn that DragonCon has added a "Young Adult Literature" track. Which is going to have Harry Potter stuff! Woohoo!! (Given that there was only one HP panel last year, this is a major improvement.)

Anyone else going to DragonCon this year?

jaydk and I decided to go because we had so much fun last year--so much to do, great music, amazing costumes, etc. Something for everyone.

Anyway, in boring RL news, over the weekend my dad came to the city and helped me install a new air conditioner. I should save on the electric bill, in the end, and at least the fuse won't blow, and I'll probably have better luck keeping roommates in a room that isn't sweltering.

My dad also brought the cats back, and the new roommate moved in. The cats seem fine; Lucifer is being very clingy, which he does whenever he's away from me for long. He needs lots of attention. The new roommate seems cool--vegan and likes cats. I've got my fingers crossed that it'll work out.

I went into work two hours early today, so that I can take off two hours early tomorrow. (Working ten hours = really boring). But tomorrow I'm going to see Common Rotation at

psubrat's! With tons of cool people like

chenanceou,

elizard100,

rockgoddes,

redeem147, and so on. Should be fun. :)

And then I want to see Common Ro again the next night in Long Island, and then maybe Saturday night in Woodstock ....

I'm such a fangirl.

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While I'm not really in the R/S fandom, Sirius is my favorite character from the books. I enjoyed the novels but his story in book 3 was what made me fall in love with the HP universe. I was really delighted with how much characterization he was given in OoTP, considering that the plot is all filtered through Harry's pov, and then I was completely crushed that he died.

Last summer I remember a lot of people dived into the HP fandom (many people have done so this summer too; HP must be a summer fandom) and I tried but the lack of Sirius appreciation really drove me away. Here is this complex and ambiguous character but most fans were ignoring him to whine that Draco wasn't being made complex and ambiguous--that there was no character with those qualities--when JKR had delivered us one in the last few books. In fact, most Slytherin fans crucify poor Sirius. Another reason was the fact that even R/S people who liked Sirius didn't talk about him much. Remus is much more adored and chatted about. I become very bitter when my favorite character doesn't get the attention I think he deserves.

I guess I'm the one rambling now. ::sheepish:: About Sirius' death--I agree with the people who say the method and lack of closure for his storyline are good reasons to support his return. But. I also think that JKR would not have "hyped" up the death and told fans she cried while writing it if he really were to come back later. Even if Sirius is gone physically, I'm sure she'll be telling us more about him and the Marauders. I think in an interview she said we'd find out about his old motorcycle as well as a few other things. Still...that's not much satisfaction. OoTP did so much for Sirius' character that his death surprised me a *lot*. I was sure he wouldn't die after the going back home plot gave him an arc that I knew wouldn't be resolved in the fifth novel. It wasn't and now probably never will be canonically.

I hope that you do talk more about Sirius in the future. I'm glad that someone else as intelligent as you in fandom loves his character. Whenever I try to talk about him I become unintelligible.

I'll be going to DragonCon too. Though mostly in the company of

octopedingenue because Atlanta is far from home and I react as well to traveling as I would being sucked into another dimension.

Yeah, I agree with you about the lack of Sirius appreciation. And I'm also very bitter about all the crucifying Sirius got (and still gets) from Snapefen and other Slytherin fans after Book Five came out. But in a sense, the massive amounts of Sirius-hating made me love him more ("Nobody wants you anymore, but I still do!").

Wow, Sirius is really hated in fandom? By Snape fans??? Snape is an adult who continues to bully children; Sirius was just an arrogant kid. Sheesh.

Sirius has always been my favorite character, since pretty much as soon as he showed up. It just seemed so obvious, lol. (I know, differing interpretations are what make fandom interesting. I'm just surprised how few people share mine, because before I came online mine seemed so clear.)

Yep, believe it or not. There are essays out there that "prove" Sirius is a sociopath based on the prank incident and the constant bullying of Snape.

It's nice to know there are Sirius fans out there :)

LMAO!

That's great ... from Snape fans! Guess they never heard that saying about glass houses....

It's funny how I always end up loving hated characters. First I was a "serial killer lover" and "rape apologist" for liking unsouled Spike, then supposedly an advocate of child-murder, incest, and treason because I like Jaime Lannister in A Song of Ice and Fire ... and now I'm supporting an arrogant "sociopathic" bully .... Clearly, I'm a morally depraved human being.

Or, y'know, maybe I just like complex characters and can understand the difference between fiction and reality....

Snape is an adult who continues to bully children; Sirius was just an arrogant kid. Sheesh.

Yeah, I felt sorry for Snape after we saw the scene in the Pensieve, but I can't forgive that he, the adult, bears James Potter such a grudge (from beyond the frelling GRAVE already) that he takes it out on Harry continuously. And breaking off the lessons was just SOOOOO inappropriate. Harry's a child, Snape is the adult and it's time he *acted* like that ...

And darling, some of our favourite characters are not beloved in fandom - you'd be surprised by the number of Jaime-Hatahs out there ... (Although I'm more surprised by people who are indifferent to him!)

I really loved him in book 3. In fact, I distinctly remember reading book 3 and thinking throughout: "This guy is so interesting, and totally my type. Oh, I so hope there's a twist and he's not really a horrible bad guy." Naturally, I was very happy with the conclusion of that one. :)

I really liked how much characterization he got in book 5. She made him more complicated and ambiguous, which is *wonderful* and made me like him even more--I don't get at all why that would make someone like him less. No character should be perfect--the ones with dark sides are much more interesting. I love my characters complicated and grey and conflicted and fucked up (but with basically good hearts underneath). The whole time I was thinking "This could totally be my new fandom; please don't let him die." Stupid JKR.

Here is this complex and ambiguous character but most fans were ignoring him to whine that Draco wasn't being made complex and ambiguous--that there was no character with those qualities--when JKR had delivered us one in the last few books.

Yes, exactly! It's like saying you want a character with a dark side, but then when he does something dark, saying you dislike him for it. You can't have it both ways--to be ambiguous, a character has to do negative as well as positive things.

To me, it would be boring to be a Remus fan. He's too nice. Sirius, OTOH, is fascinating. So many layers and complications.

You're totally right that OotP seemed to be starting an arc for him, but then didn't finish it. Set it up perfectly and then cut it off, which is what makes his death even more horrible, because he had so much growing to do, and he was a good and well-meaning person underneath, and he should have had that chance to become the person that I knew he could be (*sob*).

That was the thing that really surprised me with his death--he's so interesting and fucked up, there's so much to explore here--let's kill him instead??? HUH??? Why not kill, say, Hagrid, who has no interesting complications to explore but could get a similar emotional reaction? It's terrible to cut off such an interesting story. It's like how ME kept refusing to explore all the interesting stuff going on with Spike and Willow in S7, and focused instead on Dawn and the potentials. WTF?

Oh, I'm glad you'll be at Dragoncon. Go to some of the Harry Potter panels! It would be great it we met up at some point. I'm actually not going to know that many people there: jaydk, elizard100, and rockgoddes are the only ones so far.