Stuff related to the Leaky Cauldron/Mugglenet Interview

[lls_mutant]

This interview is so cool. The only thing I was hoping was that Tonks/Lupin would not come up.

And yet, JKR herself brought it up.

The way I read it, it sounds like we WERE supposed to be shocked when it came out of nowhere. Which is kind of interesting. I have no idea what that might mean, except maybe she's pleased the Sirius red herrings worked? I feel like the Remus/Sirius question might have gotten asked, but either a.) is in the final part, or (more realistically, and I hope) b.) was edited out of the interview. In a way, I'll be glad when this interview is over, because I can stop feeling like the tetherhooks are there. And in a way, I never want it to end, because the questions are so good that I'd like to keep reading more, more, MORE!

Any thoughts?

Comments

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I couldn't see the point with Tonks. Making her a red herring for... what? The grieving for Sirius cover for romance?

Well, I would guess that what JKR was doing was writing Tonks deliberately out of character (<-- yes, I just typed that, and I'll personally kick anybody who says it's not possible) so that in scenes such as meeting Harry in the corridor, people suspect that she's Imperius'd or something like that. No subtle red herrings; she was deliberately writing something to be misinterpreted.

As for the part about grieving over Sirius -- that's just careless storytelling. It should have been an important theme in the book. But I get the impression that because Sirius' story isn't finished, JKR didn't think that any more grief was required than a few fleeting thoughts from Harry and the meaningless and never-again-mentioned lip service to 'survivor's guilt'. If that is the case, it's pretty clumsy; we shouldn't ever suspect that the author knows something the characters don't.

I wouldn't be surprised if she did sink R/S in the interview. "Oh, they were very good friends, that's all." She does seem annoyed when people misinterpret her 'hints'. People will go batshit crazy if it happens (both gloating and shrieking), and she'll probably regret saying anything (or maybe she already does, since the interview took place on Saturday, didn't it?). And I wouldn't be surprised if one of the interviewers brought it up hoping for it to be trounced, especially considering the Mugglenet folks' opinions on fandom 'ships and slash. We'll see. :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm very, very happy with the overall plot of HBP, but I'm getting more and more disappointed with the smaller characters. I would have liked to see a bit more grieving for Sirius too- especially from Harry. But I guess we got Harry's grief at the end of OotP. What REALLY bothers me is Tonks grieving Sirius IS realistic, and if that's a red herring to cover for sappy romance... ick.

(And I agree fully that Tonks was written OOC. I've been having an argument with someone on FAP about whether or not a writer can writer their own characters OOC. And for evidence- see Vadar's NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! in Revenge of the Sith!)

I am hoping she won't actually sink the ship, because I'd like it to stay as it is. But I wouldn't be surprised about the interviewers, either. Actually, I thought that was where they were headed when they started mentioning the 'political' slant on the sites in interviews.

That's always been something that bugs me about Mugglenet. (And after the comments here about Harry/Hermione shippers, I'm even more dubious. I agree that H/Hr never really had a shot, but I thought that the way he mocked them to JKR was very rude.) I don't like their anti-slash policy. I can understand not wanting to promote cross-generational ships because you get into underaged issues, but it bothers me that reasonable ships like Remus/Sirius, Remus/Bill (which no canon evidence for, but who cares?) or Crabbe/Goyle have been Those-We-Do-Not-Speak-Of. I was reading an essay on Legilimency over there, and the author slipped in such a nasty little R/S comment... it really made my skin crawl. As I've said, we might get sunk, but I REFUSE to apologize- ever- for liking this ship. That's why the comments about H/Hr shippers bothered me. Sure, I don't agree with them at all. But a.) I don't argue with them cause kidlet shipping bores me, and b.) I don't think they should be made to feel guilty because they saw something that wasn't there. So what if they did? I used to wonder about it, but now that I'm having my own objections to how JKR is portraying love, I can understand the devotion some H/Hr shippers have to their ship.

Friday. ::Sigh::

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I've been having an argument with someone on FAP about whether or not a writer can writer their own characters OOC. And for evidence- see Vadar's NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! in Revenge of the Sith!

Better yet, watch the director's/writers' commentary on The Two Towers DVD. The writers discuss, a few times, scenes that they wrote knowing full well Eowyn was significantly out-of-character -- they even use those words, I think. But they kept those bits in the movie because the scene was important for other reasons, and the OOC character traits were a minor crime compared to the plot/action/background that was conveyed.

It's not just something that happens when a writer is careless (though lord knows that happens a lot). It's something that writers do on purpose, to prove a point. And in light of JKR's comments about the red herring, I think it was completely on purpose. (That doesn't mean it was done well -- it wasn't -- but it is reassuring that it was intentional.)

I used to wonder about it, but now that I'm having my own objections to how JKR is portraying love

I agree. I'm not entirely on board with JKR's themes -- I read for the story and adventure -- and I figure if I can deal with those flashing neon lights telling us the Themes, I can deal with details that don't seem fit (like the complete and entire characterisation of Peter Pettigrew, who is never -- in JKR's writing -- shown as a boy or man any person with half a brain would trust with his life).

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I've never actually watched the commentary. I ought to, one of these days. And yeah- sometimes you DO have to go OOC as the minor sin. No one's writing is perfect!!!! That includes everyone from the "greats" like Mark Twain and Ayn Rand and Tolsty and JKR, right down to us measley unpublished fan writers, that of course could know NOTHING about writing because we aren't published.

It is reassuring that what she did is intentional. I still don't like it- especially the sappy nature of it- but that's my problem to suck up and deal with. Like you said, I'm not completely on board with a lot of her themes, and I read her work with my own themes in mind. (On the bright side, this gives me a lot of ideas for the fantasy series churning in my own head!)

I was very, very disappointed with Peter in this book- I agree there. It's a small disappointment because he still didn't have a lot of page time, but as he's written I can't see WHY anyone would have ever liked him. I'll keep the fandom version (or the good ones!) of Peter, thanks! I've seen much more complex versions of Peter that I find far more believable than the wretch hiding behind Snape's doors. (Oh, and as for your predictions, I've already spotted at least one Snape/Pettigrew fic, and the community gauntcest has been opened.

I did up my odds on Remus dying in canon, however. On the one hand, he has a love interest, which might protect him. On the other, my happy ending for Remus was some acceptance into society and getting the DADA job back. Now that Bill has also been infected to an extent, Remus has lost his "show how society can slowly accept me!" place, and given he was pretty much a dead man walking emotionally in HBP.... And Snape knows he's a spy. Actually, with HBP it was the first time I almost wished poor Remus would just get to die and rest, because what he must be going through is absolutely terrible. I'm also wondering if there's a darker side to Remus (please keep reading) that we'll actually see in canon. He sort of hints at it when corrects Harry about his "furry little problem." (Which I was really glad. Werewolves, in wolf form, ARE dangerous.)

Anyway, rambling is fun.

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I did up my odds on Remus dying in canon, however.

Me, too. *sigh* From what we learned about werewolves in HBP, a happily-ever-after for Remus is pretty difficult with the English wizarding world, and he's in a heck of a lot more danger than anybody suspected. And he really is falling apart. (Not that his bloody girlfriend seemed to notice. "Oh, his entire world has just come crashing down around him, great time to jump on him and whine about how wrong he was!")

As for his dark side -- I think it should be there, because of what happened at the end of PoA with him being ready to calmly, coldly, dispassionately kill Peter. But I wonder where it would lead?

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Heh. That's one of the biggest reasons I hated Tonks/Remus. And I've found Tonks/Remus shippers that feel the same way. I kind of feel bad for them. Tonks/Remus IS a logical ship in that they're the characters presented that go together in certain ways... to have the character you liked in OotP act SO inconsiderately towards the man she's supposedly in love with... I'd be annoyed even if I did ship R/T.

I agree it should be there- I've always thought it was. Remus is manipulative, and he's definitely able to be cold-blooded. And one of the things that ALWAYS glared out to me is Hermione getting all indignant and saying "What's she got against werewolves, anyway?" While I agree that Lupin is a good person, he's still dangerous- as he proved in PoA. I understood Sirius just sort of grinning indulgently- it fits with how I've always pictured Sirius. But I was SO glad Remus laughed at that notion in HBP. I have no idea where she's going to go with it (or if she is), but it really seems like Remus's darker side should come out in Book 7. Not that I think he's evil, but so far he's been overtly portrayed as almost saintly- you have to look twice to see the flaws.

It also makes me wonder what he did during the first war to make both James and Sirius suspect him so harshly that they'd turn to Pettigrew. I've always felt there was something there... something that REMUS did as much as Peter, but I'm wondering if we'll find out.

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I agree it should be there- I've always thought it was. Remus is manipulative, and he's definitely able to be cold-blooded.

And he like to people who care for him, and he can be very careless, he doesn't realise that killing Peter means killing Sirius' proof of innocence, he puts other people in danger, he knows he's dangerous, he gives into a clingy and pathetic young woman simply because he feels sorry for her, he drops out of Harry's life twice (three times, if we count 1981) without so much as a letter...I love him SO much! *g*

Whatever else Jo does with her characters, you gotta give her props for writing such a realistically flawed character in Remus, even if she did do it on accident.

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

Lies. I meant, "He lies to people who care for him."

Proof comment before clicky post comment!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. Remus is a total gift, even if she doesn't quite realize it. (Obviously she doesn't realize what she created in Sirius!) He's such a bastard in a sweet sort of way. :) (Goes well with his badly behaved rabbit, er, dog.) I love Harry dearly (and was NOT disappointed much at all by Harry this round- and he is FINALLY going to go see his parents' graves...), but the minor characters are just so compelling....

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't even get me started on Jo's characterisation of Sirius. Every time she opens her mouth about him, I cringe. She always says, "Well, he acts like that because he's unstable and unhinged and immature." But what she's really saying is, "He's unstable and unhinged and immature because my plot wouldn't work if he had a consistent character." Kind of annoying.

I was not disappointed by Harry at all, either. He's such a cutie (well, when he's not going on about the monster in his...er...'stomach'). I actually want him to win! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

It is annoying. On the other hand, it's workable in fics. Of course, maybe if I wrote post-Azkaban more often, I'd find it harder...

I want Harry to win, too :) I like him- he's such a realistic, confused hero. I just don't like writing him in fanfic because I feel like he's JKR's territory. I'll need him for Secret Keepers, but other than that... and I have no complaints about how she treats Harry. (I always rather liked H/G, although I could have happily gone for Lone Hero, too. I just wish we'd seen more of their conversations!) Just her minor characters. ::mutters about the lack of McG.:: Although at least now we know McG knew Neville's grandmother quite well, which lends itself well to your older witches fic!