death to capslock

Harry Potter Abridged! Cursed Child Part 2

Thu, 01 Sep 2016 20:02:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[Somehow, Albus manages to survive his first year at Hogwarts. At the start of second year…]

Harry: Albus, I’m concerned. It doesn’t seem like you have many friends other than that Malfoy boy.

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JKR and tears

Sun, 16 Mar 2014 22:25:00 GMT

Posted by: cholovescedric.livejournal.com

Hi there everyone,

I used to be just ChoCedric, it has been a while since I've posted anything on this community, but I really needed to vent, and you guys are a great group of people to rant to, because I know you won't put me down, tell me that I'm just a big baby, or that my ideas are stupid.

I know I've said this on here before, but no matter how much time passes, I just can't seem to get over how JKR deals with emotion. It is often the case that when we are reading a book, we are told that it is good to think like the protagonist does, and it is definitely true in this case, what with JKR's comments about how the sun rises and sets on the saintlike Harry Potter.

As you all know by my username and by rants I've posted on this community before, this is particularly glaring to me in the example of Cho Chang. We are told to view her grief in a very negative light because a. she cries a lot, and b. she wants to know exactly what Cedric faced in his last moments. Because we, the readers, know what happened to him, we should just accept that others, those who knew and truly loved Cedric, don't need to have it explained to them. In the real world, if a teenage girl's boyfriend's corpse was dumped on a sports field with everyone ogling it and screaming, his blank, lifeless eyes staring into the sky, she would want to know why. And she'd hunt for answers, too. She wouldn't just wait until St. Albus Dumbledore the All-Knowing told her what had happened, and anyone who questioned St. Harry Potter, in the real world, would be considered reasonable people rather than evil incarnate.

I also honestly think that Rowling's whole issue with showing grief by crying is unfortunately something that many people in our society agree with, simply because of how Cho's behavior in OOtP was demonized by so many in the fandom. There are so many fans of Harry Potter that I talk to who say things like, "Oh, I couldn't stand Cho! She was such a bitch for crying all over poor Harry like that!" Those comments make me soooooo pissed! I think this is because so many in this day and age consider crying a weakness. God, could anything be more untrue? Granted, there's a time and a place to cry, but Cho was mainly doing it in bathrooms, and I think that's the perfect place! Yeah, maybe the outburst in Madame Puddifoot's was not quite the setting, but this was after months and months of her not knowing whether he'd suffered, whether he was in pain before he died, exactly what he'd been through. So I wholeheartedly understand why it happened.

When I mention that she and Cedric could have been very much in love (and I think this could definitely be the case, considering how lost and sad Cho was) I get rebuttals like, "But she's only a teenager! She doesn't even know what love is!" And that, too, is soooooo unbelievably untrue. I am 27 years old, and do you know how old I was when I dated my first serious boyfriend? I was 12! And we were very serious for many years. Believe me, if things hadn't worked out like they did, like the fact that he started drinking very heavily once he turned 21, and by heavily I mean so heavily that I was afraid he'd end up in hospital, I would be married to him today, if he'd continued to care for me as much as I cared for him, I loved him that much. He was everything to me. Even when our relationship started going to the dogs, I stuck it out for another 11 months because I wasn't ready to give up on him, I thought it was just a phase he was going through. And no, don't worry, he wasn't physically abusive. He just started getting very possessive and very jealous of who I hung out with, even if it was just with my sister, for Merlin's sake! But we'd had so much history together that I wasn't ready to let him go when things started to go downhill.

But that's enough about me. What I'm trying to say is that it's not unheard of for people who meet and fall in love very young to stay together. Granted, it's not unbelievably common, but it does happen. So the "you can't fall in love as a teenager!" thing just doesn't wash.

Please tell me any other thoughts you have on this! I know we've talked about this before, but do you guys agree that it's to do with the society we are growing up in that JKR considers tears really, really bad and seething, frothing rage really, really good? How do you think Harry would have reacted if Ginny's cold, lifeless body had been dropped in front of him?

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 32

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:56:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

( Read Chapter 32 )

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GOF Chapter 32: Flesh, Blood, and Bone

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 02:00:00 GMT

Posted by: oryx_leucoryx

The correct order is bone, flesh, and blood.

The boys find themselves in a graveyard, between a church and the hill on which the Riddle house stands. It was the absence of mountains that proved to Harry that they were no longer in the Hogwarts area. In contrast, in DH, seeing a Voldievision of flying above mountains will serve as proof that Tom is 'abroad'. Magically changing geography?

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GOF Chapter 31: The Third Task

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 04:58:00 GMT

Posted by: oryx_leucoryx

Talking to his friends about what he saw in the Pensieve gives Harry the sensation of being too full of thoughts for the first time in his life. Not that he seems to be doing much thinking, he is merely repeating in soundbites what he saw and heard.

Ron is amazed Albus trusts Severus in light of his DE past. Meanwhile Harry is convinced Ludo wasn't passing information on purpose. Because the people who said he did are Crouch and Rita, whom he dislikes? Because Ludo is Arthur's friend? Anyway, we should totally trust Harry's judgment because the author told him so. Without giving him anything on which to base his judgment.

If Hermione were subjected to prejudice like Maxime is she'd deny her heritage too. Evidence that she normally isn't.

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You Disgust Me, Dumbledore!

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:19:00 GMT

Posted by: chocedric.livejournal.com

Hello again.

In advance, I want to apologize for not putting this entry under the cut, but honestly, I don't know how to do so. I am a totally blind user and am venturing into the world of Livejournal by myself. Is there a way of doing it just by using key strokes? If there is, please let me know and I will gladly edit the post.

Anyway, on to my rant for today.

Albus Dumbledore absolutely disgusts me. I know I shouldn't get so worked up about fictional characters, but when I read a book, I get sucked into their world. Somehow, though, I don't think you guys will mind, for I've seen many rants from you over characters you hate, and I think that's all fine!

Anyway, one line Dumbledore said in Order of the Phoenix made me absolutely despise him on a second reading, because I finally got the full implications of what he was saying.

Here I am going to paraphrase because I don't remember the exact quote.

What did I care if many nameless, faceless people died as long as you were happy? he says to Harry.

and it's then that Cedric Diggory's fearful, vulnerable, and shocked face springs into my miond and will not leave.

In other words, Dumbledore doesn't seem to care about anyone as long as his brilliant plan works. It makes me sick! He never got past his "greater good" philosophy he shared with his ex-boyfriend. And a student under his care had died the year before, and he's implying he didn't care as long as Harry was safe!

I know I seem to care about Cedric's death more than any other in the books, and now, I'm going to tell you why.

Every other character, Lily, James, Fred, Dobby, Moody, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, even Colin, for God's sake, knew they might die in the fight against Voldemort. They all marched into battle knowing the stakes were high. Cedric, on the other hand, even to the last moment, had absolutely no freaking idea what was going on. No wonder he looked so afraid! And also, why did JKR have to rub it in with the description of how Cedric looked when he was lying dead? Usually, death is described as something peaceful. The person has their eyes closed and a peaceful expression upon their face. Not Cedric, however. Even though I'm totally blind, that image of Cedric with his eyes wide, wide open and that terrified expression upon his handsome face has given me nightmares for years. And what makes it worse was that all his family, friends, and girlfriend had to see him looking like that! No wonder Cho was on and on at Harry, asking him what he'd been through in his final moments!

And Dumbledore caused all that to happen! No one can tell me that he didn't know Moody wasn't Moody. If they were good friends for as long as the book implies they were, it's complete bullshit that Dumbles didn't see through Crouch Junior. You can't tell me he was that good of an actor. And because of this, a seventeen-year-old boy was brutally and viciously snatched away from all his loved ones. I hope Mr. Diggory yelled and screamed at the old, pathetic man for tearing apart his family.

Cedric's death shook me up so much that I have actually started something that will hopefully make a difference to victims of violence in reality. Walk for Lost Dreams has been going on for two years now. It takes place in May and is a two-mile walk to raise money for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts located in Philadelphia, PA. Portraits are painted and given to families of loved ones who have been lost because of cowardly acts of violence. The money is raised so that more portraits can be made.

But anyway, that's the impact that Cedric's death had on me, and I still can't get the image of his blank, lifeless eyes out of my mind. And it's people like Dumbledore that shouldn't be allowed to make important decisions. They should be doing tiny, menial jobs like taking out the trash (no offense to people who really do that, I'm just saying it would be a better job for him to have rather than a job with full power).

To end this entry, oh mighty Dumbledore, I'm going to throw one of your famous lines right back in your face!

You disgust me, Dumbledore! You do not care, then, about the death of Cedric Diggory? He can die, as long as you have what you want?

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