48 posts tagged “harry potter”

Jacked from someone over on that "other" journal site thing. Because I'm a nerd and get way too easily obsessed with TV shows/book series involving wizards, I'm gonna do this for a few of my "favorite fandoms." Woo!

First up, Harry Potter. Obviously.
01. The first character I fell in love with - Probably Ron.
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now - Hermione! I hated her at first and now she's absolutely my favorite character.
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't - Snape. Hagrid. Marauders.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates - Aunt Petunia.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer - Not sure...Krum maybe?
06. The character I would shag anytime - Ginny. Cho. Cedric (alive, obviously...)
07. The character I'd want to be like - Ron's hilarity and randomness with Hermione's brains.
08. The character I'd slap - Harry.
09. A pairing that I love - Ron and Hermione. Duh!
10. A pairing that I hate - Harry and Hermione.

And now, how about some Battlestar Galactica?
01. The first character I fell in love with - Six.
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now - I kinda really like Tigh. I never liked Tigh. Wtf?
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't - Possibly Ellen. I'm not sure how most people feel about her though.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates - Not sure...probably Gaeta?
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer - Chief Tyrol. Bag. of. fail.
06. The character I would shag anytime - Six. Starbuck.
07. The character I'd want to be like - President Laura fuckin' Roslin.
08. The character I'd slap - Lee. Then I'd feel bad because he's so pretty.
09. A pairing that I love - Six/Baltar/Di'Anna. Mrow!
10. A pairing that I hate - Tigh and Ellen kind of weird me out.

And now something that no one else probably even knows what it is! Skins!
01. The first character I fell in love with - Probably Emily.
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now - Katie. She's so deliciously bitchy.
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't - Cook.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates - Katie.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer - Pandora. She used to be awesome, now she is a bag of fail. Bitch can dance though.
06. The character I would shag anytime - Emily. Katie. Cuz like, they're twins and stuff (NOT AT THE SAME TIME, that's just gross. Actually it's probably gross anyway. Whatever. They're both hot and totally shaggable.)
07. The character I'd want to be like - Naomi minus the sexual confusion.
08. The character I'd slap - Cook.
09. A pairing that I love - Emily and Naomi.
10. A pairing that I hate - Cook and Effy and Freddie and ME FALLING ASLEEP.

What else is there? Ah, how about Buffy?!?
01. The first character I fell in love with - Probably Buffy, but it might have been Willow.
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now - Xander, weirdly enough. He's ok in the comics!
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't - Spike. Seriously, what?
04. The character I love that everyone else hates - Harmony. Bitch cracks me up.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer - Giles maybe? I'm not sure.
06. The character I would shag anytime - Satsu (comics.) Kennedy. ANGEL.
07. The character I'd want to be like - Buffy without the epic baggage.
08. The character I'd slap - Xander circa season six.
09. A pairing that I love - Buffy and Angel!
10. A pairing that I hate - Buffy and Reilly. Buffy and Spike. BUFFY AND ANYONE BUT ANGEL.

I would just like to take this opportunity to wish one miss Hermione Granger a very happy 29th birthday (I guess she'd be "Mrs Weasely" now but it seems strange to call Hermione that).

Before you think I'm a huge dork (which I won't deny) and not to get all mushy-gushy, but Hermione is easily my favorite fictional character. I could quickly cite a thousand reasons, but if you've read the Harry Potter books, then you'll know why. Yes, she is annoying. I pretty much can't stand her at all during the first three books (the whole Firebolt incident in Prisoner of Azkaban is downright painful for me to read). But midway through the series, something happens to her that makes her one of the most powerfully compelling and interesting characters that I've ever come across. Her annoyances are not completely outgrown, which is part of why I love her so much. She's still the same anal, obsessive-compulsive nerd that annoyed the hell out of me in the first few books. But she grew a very strong moral conscience that she stuck with throughout the entire series, and she also developed quite a biting sense of humor that even rivals that of Ron.

Not to mention that, hello, girlfriend is friggen smart. She thinks on her toes and saves Harry and Ron more times than anyone can count. Whoever said sidekicks were pointless? If it weren't for Hermione, Harry and Ron would have been dead from the Devil's Snare for a long time now. Proof that not all girls are a dim-witted pair of boobs who giggle obscenely (that would be Lavender Brown!)

So, cheers...Ms Gra--er...um...Mrs Weasley? So strange to think of her like that! Though I'm a huge Ron/Hermione fan, so I'm also very glad to refer to her as that. Regardless....Cheers!

So much stuff I've been reading/watching/playing lately!

A few days ago I finished reading Watchmen, which is also apparently being made into a movie (because I'm sheltered I didn't know about the movie until I was about halfway through reading it, which I had done because a friend recommended it to me.) It was good, though for being "the most groundbreaking/amazing/influential/blahblah graphic novel of all time," I was somewhat disappointed. Maybe I'm just not into comics and such enough to fully appreciate its apparent impact. But anyway! It was still good and I'm looking forward to the movie.

After Watchmen I picked up V for Vendetta at Border's and just finished that today. I'd always loved the movie and the graphic novel is so much better (I still like the movie, but you know how it is...) It's written by the same guy who wrote Watchmen, Alan Moore, and is just as well-written. It's pretty intense, probably one of the best stories I've ever read. I also really liked the art in it, it's a bit different than what I generally think of as "comic book art." The colors are more dull pastels rather than cartoony bolds.

Currently, Twilight is sitting on my desk, unfinished and alone. I have about 70 pages left, and I'm not sure why I put it down and stopped reading it, since I was enjoying it. It's long overdue at the library though so I'm going to have to just pick it up and finish it off sometime soonish, before my mom kills me (she works at the library, so no late fees!)

And now...now I'm going to pick up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (also known as "the best book of the best series ever, oh my god.") I read it twice when it came out last July, so it's been a good solid year and is high time for me to read it again. Such a good book.

Every month I drive up to Mile High Comics (like the only comic shop in these here parts) to pick up the latest issue of Buffy Season Eight. The next issue, #17, comes out this Wednesday. I pretty much blame Buffy entirely for getting me interested in comics, however slightly. The comics are pretty excellent, they're vastly different from the TV show but maintain the same heart and soul that made the show so good. A couple issues ago, I literally cried and burst out laughing within about three pages. The only thing that sucks is having to wait four whole weeks for the next issue. As Veruca Salt would say, "I want an oompa loompa NOW!"

I'm also playing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for PS3. It's pretty awesome, it's like a weird mix between Indiana Jones (setting, treasures, etc), Assassin's Creed (climbing), Zelda (little puzzly bits) and various shooters. It's quite good! Especially on my new 37" 1080p LCD TV!! :D (that's where all the money I've earned this summer has gone, heh.)

Anyway, Harry Potter times!!

http://www.waterstoneswys.com/

Click "Read our authors' stories" and then, of course, "JK Rowling."

It's not much, just a random little story (that took me way too long to read since it's handwritten).

I'm usually not one for "fan videos" and the like, nor am I much of one for "wizard rock," but I'm not gonna lie I kinda like this video. Parts of it gave me chills, parts of it made me giggle (like the scene from Order of the Phoenix where Hermione makes a funny and cracks herself up. That always cracks ME up for some reason...god now I'm reminded of Mean Girls...."Say 'crack' again!"). ANYWAY. It's also kinda cool because it's not a bad fan video of the end of Deathly Hallows using existing clips from the movies. Not really a fan of all the Ginny talk, mainly because I don't feel the H/G luv all that much (hi, R/Hr, how are you doing?) Deathly Hallows spoilers, como siempre...

Harry Potter spoilers ahoy, natch.

I just finished PoA in my grand re-reading of the entire series (yes it's taken me a while - like two weeks! But I've been busy!) There weren't a whole lot of "ooooh, re-he-he-heally" type things that are suddenly clear after reading the seventh, other than a lot of Snape unpleasantness. He goes off about Harry's dad a bunch, which makes a bit more sense knowing everything that happened with Snape and Lily and why Snape hates James, and thus Harry, so damn much. (Sidenote: Snape is a real bastard to Hermione as well in PoA, which I'm kind of curious about. Is it just because she's Harry's friend? But he's not as unpleasant to Ron, but he's pretty horrible to Hermione, which makes me angry! Leave her alone, damnit!)

One little detail I found interesting, was how the font they use for James' handwriting (on the Marauder's Map when Snape is trying to get it to reveal its secrets) looks like the font they use for Harry's handwriting (only in the American editions though, the British editions don't have different fonts for letters or anything). Kind of an interesting touch, I thought.

I also chuckled a bit when Dumbledore was telling Harry how his father is "alive in him." I had a total Lion King moment, where I heard Rafiki's voice in my head: "Correction: I know your father."

The biggest story tidbit that directly ties into Deathly Hallows is Dumbledore telling Harry about how it's a good thing that he saved Pettigrew's life. "This is magic at its deepest, its most impenetrable, Harry. But trust me...the time may come when you will be glad you saved Pettigrew's life." (p. 427, American) Indeed!

One thing I find annoying about PoA is my apparent inability to separate the book from the movie. For some reason I can't read the last bit of PoA without picturing how it happened in the movie (even though it happened quite differently). I've always had a very clear image in my head of things, everything from the general layout of Hogwarts, the characters, down to how every little scene plays out, all very distinct from how they look in the movies (though my Hagrid does look rather a lot like Robbie Coltrane). But I can't help but have the movie sort of play out in my head as I read the end if PoA, which annoys me to a great deal. I have been corrupted! D:

Question about the movie though: I'm not sure if this is common knowledge or if I only know it because I'm super nerdy when it comes to HP, but back when the PoA movie was released, JK Rowling commented on how there was a part that "gave her chills" because it totally foreshadowed something in the last book, and that people would think that the people behind the third movie had "insider knowledge" because it was something "major." No idea what it is (perhaps when Snape steps in front of the Wonder Trio to protect them from werewolf!Lupin?) I'll probably watch the movie soon (maybe now....?) and see if I notice anything.

Anyway, now it's on to Goblet of Fire. I never really like GoF when I think about it, but once I start reading it I love it. It's not my favorite story, a lot of shit happens and it's cool and all, but sometimes I just find myself thinking "what's the point?" It's one of the funnier books, in my opinion, and is really the first time that takes us to places other than London and Hogwarts, which is fun, but there's just....something about it....meh, I dunno.

Suppose I should put a bit of a spoiler warning on this for the 4 people in the English-speaking world who have not yet read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. So, yeah, spoilers! Avert your eyes!

Anway, word around the campfire is that Deathly Hallows film will be released in two parts. At least, that's according to the Daily Mail, which I think is one of those funky British tabloids (could be wrong about that, I can't keep them all straight and remember who's credible and who isn't) and thus this should be taken as just a rumor right now. But that's not gonna stop me from giving my two cents! (or three cents, or four...)

I'd have no real problem with it being divided in two parts, though I think I'd prefer to have one long film instead, just so I don't have to wait 6 months or whatever for the last part. Plus I'm not sure how they'd structure it, since there's not really a good point where they could wrap up the first part satisfactorily. The Silver Doe chapter is about in the middle, and that might be a good spot, right when Ron comes back so the first one would end on a bit of a positive note, rather than ending, say, right after Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow.

Despite being the longest book, Order of the Phoenix was the shortest movie, and while they obviously left a lot of stuff out of it, I thought it was the best one so far. Also movies are vastly different than books, and just because something is a long book doesn't mean it will necessarily translate to a long film. There's a lot of stuff in Deathly Hallows that could be told pretty quickly in the movie even though it took a while in the book, like the camping and a lot of the explanations of stuff like the Deathly Hallows and Dumbledore's past. The explanations would have to be trimmed down regardless of how it affects the length of the movie, since that would get boring to just have the characters sit down and have a nice 10 minute chat about the Tale of the Three Brothers. Mention it, explain it enough to know what's going on, and move on. Most people have read the books anyway so we'll know all the details already.

I'm also curious how they're going to handle certain characters that have either been left out or just sort of put on the back burner, like Dobby. Dobby pops up pretty regularly after Chamber of Secrets, so we've become somewhat attached to him as a character which makes his death far more touching in Deathly Hallows. Also people like Colin Creevey who was in the Chamber of Secrets movie but hasn't been seen since then (at least I don't think?). Granted his post-death scene was only a few lines in the book, but I found that to be one of the most depressing deaths. Cuz it's Colin Creevey! So sad. :( Though I'm betting they'll leave that out of the movie....

The last third of the book is going to have to be like an hour of the film though....the whole Malfoy Manner bit, Gringotts and then of course everything that happens once they get to Hogwarts. The King's Cross chapter could easily be trimmed down, since it's almost entirely explanation. All they really need is for Harry to be in a sort of surreal King's Cross with Dumbledore and little Peacock Family deadbaby!Voldemort (sorry if that's an obscure X Files reference, but that's what I thought of when I read that chapter for some reason). Dumbledore and Harry can exchange a few well-written lines of dialogue that explains what's going on.

The whole bit on Dumbledore's past could be put in one little segment instead of dragged on throughout the whole thing. Like, they can allude to it throughout the movie and then say, like, at the end when they go to the Hog's Head and talk to Aberforth, then everything about Dumbledore can all come out (no pun intended...sorta).

Anyway now I'm just rambling. I'd much prefer a 3ish hour film though. Even 4 hours! That'd be peachy, and no one's going to complain as long as it's paced well and doesn't drag. If they do do it in two parts though, they'll need to do it Lord of the Rings-style, and film it all as one big giant movie and then chop it up where appropriate. I don't want to see Dan Radcliffe with a new haircut right at the beginning of the second part.

Though that would seriously be weird to have eight Harry Potter DVDs lined up next to each other all prettily. Seven's a magic number, people!

Woah there! This is new, Vox. Of course I hate it, but I usually hate all websites after they get a makeover and then I love them in due time. So, you're safe from mockery from me for now, Vox. For now. Though I will say it is a bit...wannabe-trendy. Create! You! So cute. Too cute. Yich.

But anyway, it's looking about 80% positive for me to graduate a semester early. I just need to have a pow wow with my advisor and make sure I know what I still need, then talk to my philosophy professor about what classes will be at Western in the fall so I can take other classes over the summer at Metro.

As awesome as that will be to be DONE WITH SCHOOL a whole semester before planned....that means that, a year from now, I will be in The Real World. I'll have to find a Real Job, find a Real Apartment (this place is sort of a pseudo apartment since it's on campus, I have an RA making sure nothing illegal is going on in here, and it's paid for by the ever-glorious College Fund.) And -- oh noes! -- actually fend for myself.

As terrifying as that is, it's also rather exciting. As Hermione would say, "it's sort of exciting, isn't it?! Breaking the rules." Ok so that doesn't really apply to this situation, and I think I've already used that quote in my Vox before, but whatever.

I watched the first two Back to the Futures this week...such good movies. Once I suspend my disbelief about all the ways changes in the past seem to hardly affect the future, except for in the most convenient ways, they're fantastically enjoyable. I think the second is my favorite, but I really like the end of the first with George and Loraine at the dance, as dorky and straight as that might be, but it's cute! :) It kind of made me realize though, how we're practically in the middle of science fiction territory here in 2008. Think we'll have flying cars and hoverboards by 2015?

On an even dorkier note, I'm rereading all the Harry Potters for the first time since Deathly Hallows (otherwise known as the king of all Harry Potter books.) Things are actually pretty interesting after you know how the whole story turns out and everything. Not so much the first one, but the second one DEFINITELY, which I just finished. Two parts which really made me go "oooh, REALLY?!" were (page numbers from the British paperback edition of Chamber of Secrets):

p. 174, "The Very Secret Diary":

Harry couldn't explain, even to himself, why he didn't just throw Riddle's diary away. The fact was that even though he knew the diary was blank, he kept absent-mindedly picking it up and turning the pages, as though it was a story he wanted to finish. And while Harry was sure he had never heard the name T.M. Riddle before, it still seemed to mean something to him, almost as though Riddle was a friend he'd had when he was very small, and half-forgotten.

That kind of alludes to something, but then there's this tidbit that pretty much...well, answers that big "Is Harry a Horcrux?" question people were getting so riled up about before DH's release. Is he? Well, just go back and read the end of Chamber again, it pretty much....well...answers that question heh.

p. 245, "Dobby's Reward," when Harry is talking to Dumbledore:

"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry said, thunderstruck.
"It certainly seems so."

Re-he-he-heally! I could rant and rave a lot more about various little things, but I'll spare you.

I had something to actually write about, but it took SO GODDAMN LONG for this to load that I forgot what it was. Though during that time I realized that I have a scar from a needle on my inner arm, from where they drew blood the last time I donated. Guess that's what I get for having shitty skin that scars at the slightest little injury.

Anyway. I've been kinda pissed at the world lately, everything just seems to be going slightly awry and it's really starting to get to me. Also being around my parents constantly reminds me that I must have some inadequacy as a person in comparison to my sister. I'm not jealous of her, just the way they treat her. I guess it takes getting arrested to not have your mother call you by the dog's name, and vice versa.

*sigh* Anyway....I started reading Harry Potter again, I'm a little over halfway through the first one. It's kind of funny reading it after the 7th, little things make me giggle, and other things just make more sense (though really, I've read them so many times it's hardly necessary...)

BUT! One question I've always had, that no one else seems fit to ask in an interview or anything with JK Rowling, or to even be all that concerned about, is why does Ron have Charlie's old wand before he gets a new one in Prisoner of Azkaban after he broke it in Chamber of Secrets? Why would Charlie get rid of his wand? As far as I know the only time you get a new wand is if your original is broken/lost/won in a duel/etc. It's not like, "oh I graduated Hogwarts, won't be needing this anymore! Here you go, little brother."

>.> Ok that's enough being nerdy. Off to read!