(no subject)

[reenka]

Haha, wish me luck!!

In my quest to write some kiddie porn for the masses, I decided I needed to reread book 1!

Good news so far (a few paragraphs in): I find it adorable!! :D

When I first saw it around '01 or so, I really hated the beginning so much I couldn't keep reading. I thought it was overly didactic, transparent, and painfully simplistic to the point that it was like nails on a blackboard. Now I realize what I took for heavy-handedness was actually dry English humor! :D! Hahaha! I'm like wait, wait... these are typical English class jokes, aren't they? D'oh!! :D

Also, news at 11: Harry is ADORABLE! :D I can't believe anyone EVER thought he was a nice sweet boy (pre-OoTP). I mean, I remembered that he wasn't, but it's just getting it fresh is still nice :D Totally sarcastic and rebellious and ever so certain of himself :D Actually, not that unusual for a boy his age, but he's still adorable. <3. Rereading the book is making it difficult to imagine porn happening, 'cause everyone 'snaps' or 'speaks crisply' or whatever, and there are Bertie Bott's Everyflavor beans and twinkly-eyed!Dumbly and.... I dunno. Snape is so ev01. <3.

Basically, yeah, I'm not sure if this'll really lead to chan!porn; what I realized was a serious issue is actually more the logistics-- I mean... it's extremely unlikely and unusual for kids to really do anything sexual with each other, forget hardcore (given I'm not writing molestation... which is really above & beyond the call of fannish love). Exploration... except can you really see Ron & Hermione 'exploring' when they're both all cats & dogs around each other, and Harry was totally flustered and "..." at even a kiss in fifth year? My favorite scenario of the ones given was definitely the Trio!smut in first year, but it's... I mean... flying pigs are more likely. Harry/Draco is more likely by far. Harry/Filch is probably easier to write with any believability (and I... am biologically incapable of transcending the need to believe in what I write on the psychological level... which is why I so respect f's abilities in that regard, but that's neither here nor there). o_0 I suppose crack is the only option :>

But anyway.

I saw a book predicting book 7 events put out by mugglenet(!) in the grocery store(!!) today :D It was only of moderate interest, except for the chapter on Draco's fate, which was absolutely infuriating and upsetting. And I'm not the Draco fangirl some of my friends are (although, that's a really high standard), but honestly. Dismissing him as 'cruel-hearted' and 'weak' and vain, etc at this late date-- what the hell. Saying he joined the DEs as if it's fact, and also that he joined the DEs because he truly Believed in the Cause, as per his father's teachings (as if it was fact). And then going on to say that of course he wouldn't join the Order (well, he was pretty hard-put to give the idea of protection much of a chance on the Tower, but that was before his back was 100% to the wall), so therefore his only option is to go on the run (since he's not 'good enough' or brave enough to be a spy), and of course anyone who'd gone on the run from the DEs before has died, so naturally Draco's a dead man. WTF??! I hate people. :/

Also the part where they said it's better for everyone if he dies because then Lucius and Narcissa become useless to Voldy(??!) because they'll be slain by grief and therefore Voldy will become an easier target(!???!). Of course, what can I expect from a book that seriously describes Harry as 'full of love'. I guess they mean his mother's love. As in, his mother's love is what will-- yet again-- defeat Voldy, because that's what Harry's full of.

Seriously, what a let down, if that does happen. Jeez. Anticlimactic much? Yeah, Harry wins because of his MOM. Again. Great. *eyeroll*

Comments

[ladyrelaynie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Harry wins because of his MOM.

Hee!

See, I think it would be cool if Lucius and Narcissa bit it, and it made Draco so mad that HE killed Voldemort. And then Harry could try to make it sound like a bad thing, like usual.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I think there's a fic like that. I believe Maya wrote it :))

[ladyrelaynie.livejournal.com]

Really? Do link me, please! It may console me a bit if the worst should happen.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

My memory sucks :( You're probably better off asking Maya :))

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I think the idea that Draco is so Invested in the Cause (when we have been given his motivations directly: personal glory and later the safety of his family) and also spends hours and hours of introvert time developing his Ideology (and has ready arguments about history and the Malfoy name and Slytherin honour and the stoicism of the darwinist evil because he likes nothing more than debating politics) is my favourite amazing assumption about Draco. Well, actually the entire deal where he's such a cowardly coward is also pretty over the top. He's not a lion but then it's not either/or, and it doesn't matter to his character really. If you analyzed his scenes one for one you'd come up with either "averagely coward" or "averagely brave."

It always surprised me when people predicted Draco-on-the-run for seventh book. It seems like it doesn't take in consideration the character arc set up directly before it.

We should brainstorm and come out with some crazy predictions.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Hehe that book is crazy enough! I thinketh they don't read their canon often enough ;) I mean, they also predicted Neville/Luna, and I believe JKR outright debunked Neville/Luna in interviews (and they quoted other interviews). Yeah, it'll just be boring if he's on-the-run and that's it, wtf. You'd think he'd be of more interest/usefulness to the plot than that ^^;;; Even a little. >.>

Hahahaha 'introvert time'. <3. I think it's pretty funny because this too, is a version of fanon!Draco-- and I don't mind, it's just when people can't tell canon from fanon that it gets me :/ I dunno, maybe Draco is too normal and pathetic yet cute for them to deal with?? I dunno :> 'stoicism of the Darwinist evil' <3. heee.

Well, I mean, he -is- a coward until book 6, especially by Gryffindor standards, and we all know that Gryffindor are THE standards ;) The truth is that Slytherins just make their cowardice more blatant and unsympathetic, that's all-- they outright say what other people wish they weren't thinking, which is bad form, you know. :> I know a lot of people argue stuff like it's normal to freak out over crazy scary stuff like huge magical beasts or the Forbidden Forest, but the thing is really that you're 'supposed to' either hide it or be ashamed of your reaction (as a kid, especially). There's some weird psychology that goes into it; it's sort of like how canon is sarcastic about Dudley and dutifully, people hate Dudley's horrid piggishness. Canon makes fun of Draco on some level, which is why a Hufflepuff would be 'pacifist' or 'non-confrontational' (and Draco's obviously neither) and a Ravenclaw would be 'removed' and 'cold', but a Slytherin would just be a wuss, because there's a certain threatening aura about Slytherins otherwise, I think. I dunno.

oh crap

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Well as you know to understand a text you have to make every character into a huge cliche and every conflict into a huge false dicotomy and assume what the author is trying to do which always comes down to sort of assuming they're bad writers. I usually require some evidence before making that assumption, and it's when I'm not such a great fan!

It's actually the introvert time being spent on theorizing than the introvert time per se that doesn't make sense to me. He doesn't really go beyond knee-jerk when it comes to politics and it's really a cover for feelings that are personal (either about himself and his glory or the people he loves or hates) than about community. He's also a much better reader of people than societies!

It probably depends what you think about cowardy in general. The authorial voice has a certain idea and if you agree with it then yes, he's just a coward, but if you don't then you'll reads it differently. Freaking over Voldemort in first year or jumping at being called a twitchy little ferret aren't enough for me to get to "coward", unless you mean "averagely coward" in the way a lot of characters are. I think the undercurrent is more that 1) he's not as brave as Harry and 2) there is a lot of bravado rather than bravery -- but the stress then for me goes on the bravado because I don't think it's particularly pathetic. At times he is actually almost hotheaded, in the incautious and bold sense, and at times fear doesn't seem to enter the equation. It's interesting from the inside as well. If Slytherin wasn't a place where the definition of coward you talk about (the one being ashamed of being cautious and having a healthy sense of self-preservation) is valued, then he wouldn't actually feel even pressured. But I'm not sure that is the case. I cracked myself up thinking that "coward is the Gryffindor word for smart", but both Snape and Voldemort sometimes seem really into the macho stuff. My shameful fantasies are not about chan or incest but Stuing Draco enough that he can say that line. Actually, could he say that line believably?

Mostly I think I'm just trying to be cautious against the label being taken for granted and the way I see it used often, that it's not just "coward" but that complete wuss who you'd swear was quivering in fear everytime the mighty Potter passed him on the corridor. Sometimes it seems like a lot of interesting tension is lost arguing for one extreme or the other, and then the characters are written off at cardboards.

I dunno, maybe Draco is too normal and pathetic yet cute for them to deal with?? I think it's really the normal more than the pathetic that's the problem. Actually for a lot of people normal = pathetic. And he's a rival of Harry. And well, the massive unpleasantness. And ahaha, you said nice things about the Slytherins. (This: "they outright say what other people wish they weren't thinking, which is bad form, you know.") We both might get over ourselves yet.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I think the longer I'm out of fandom, the more I get over myself. \o/ haha I only really had knee-jerk reactions because of annoying Slyth fans and various superiority/inferiority complexes + the way people wrote them (fanon), so basically I felt pushed to resist, or something. *eyeroll* There are definitely things I admire/find interesting about the Slytherins (though notsomuch Crabbe & Goyle... and only vaguely Pansy... though I love my Pansy), but there's this attitude (that Slytherin-identifiers have and I suppose Slytherins in the books also) that Slytherin is Superior (or the 'smart' way :P hehe). If it's just the books then I get it, but when it spreads it's just annoying. I'm sure you feel the same about Gryffindor fandom :))

I just thought 'introvert time' was cute :> I don't think I have a given 'real' definition of cowardice; in terms of the genre (a YA contemprorary heroic fantasy on some level, plus mystery, coming of age story, etc) and the situation, it's true he walks that line between understandably human reactions & 'wussiness' or comic relief type reactions. A lot of times in the earlier books, I feel like he's played for humorous contrast to Harry, who always rushes in where angels fear to tread :> There are Gryffindors that aren't like that (Neville, Remus, even Hermione), but Draco's just over-the-top and oblivious or doesn't care about how he seems to the Gryffindors, maybe. I think Snape's (and maybe Regulus') courage is of a different brand-- more to do with pain and the withstanding or infliction thereof, something between stoicism & masochism and maybe sadism, rather than taking a stand against fear. If anything, they deal in fear in the darker arts through accepting/using it rather than transcending it.

I think a more grown up Draco may say stuff like that about being the word for smart. I actually believe Harry's the more naturally sarcastic one between them; Draco's more with the overt aggressive mockery (growing up) :D

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I try to tell myself it depends on the circles you deal with. The cool kids in the HP fandom right now are def. the Gryffindor fans and generally those "getting it" meaning those more in like with authorial intent. Slytherfen is mostly an insult. I definitely like the concept of House Slytherin, adore Draco and all the young ones (they're just cute and average and earnestly mean). I like Snape, but I don't think he's a greater character than others who are given the same space. Bellatrix is an interesting archetype, probably Regulus will turn out an interesting idea. Lol Voldemort. And the Death Eaters are evil minion funny. It's true that there's a lot of bad fanon, but then it seems it's just more over-the-top and openly challenging rather than really outrageous compared to the romanticized Gryffindor fanon narrative.

Anyway. You should know that I ship Ron/Hermione like crazy now.

Draco's just over-the-top and oblivious

Hah, you know there was an interesting post about histionic complex!Draco versus narcissism!Draco where histrionic!Draco was the fanon because he wasn't so excessive in canon. I thought it was interesting; H/D is definitely on a new wave, where it denies what was once a denial of the previous fanon.

You mean sarcastic Harry's more sarcastic because he's bitterer? I can see that.

I actually found the word I was looking for to deny both the pathetic and witty stereotypes and it's that he's gleeful.

more to do with pain and the withstanding or infliction thereof

Ahah. Ah ah. Aahahahahahahahaha. Lol Snape.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I think he's more sarcastic 'cause he's bitter & also, actually, he's got a more truly dark personality where he just generally distrusts people & brews on past wrongs (internalizes) and is secretly idealistic and starved for affection as a child, etc (always makes people more sarcastic too). He's also an introvert, that helps. Generally, I can see Draco as 'witty' but not in the carelessly mocking way Harry has; just read his pov in book 1, how he's constantly mocking the Dursleys and muttering things to himself-- he only barely tries to get along, whereas that's not Draco's style at all, in that he'd at least try to get them on his side or 'work with it', methinks. Harry needs sarcasm as defense mechanism even as a small boy-- I don't think Draco feels defensive in the same way, not emotionally defensive on that deep level. It's really Harry's deep defensiveness that prevents him from giving out much of the love he supposedly has & keeps him ever so needy and yet dissatisfied with people.

It really freaks me out that histrionic!Draco is currently the fanon!Draco o_0 I don't really have a problem, except that people take it sooo far & it's such a gay cliche. Draco isn't queeny, honestly, about all that over-the-topness and/or theatricality. But whatever.

It does depend on the circles & also the timeline; I stopped 'developing', fandomwise, about 2 and a half years ago :> There was a strong fanon Slytherin presence before HBP and before OoTP especially; there are also 'real' hardcore canon!Slytherin fans (which is more of a joke/insult) and the tons of fanon!Slytherin fans (which is more of a kink). I somehow, being an H/D fan, just didn't come across many people who seemed to care about canon one way or the other. ^^;;;; I wonder why :)) :P I wouldn't say many people think Gryffindors are sexy like how Draco & Snape are/were the huge sex symbols, and Bellatrix and Blaise and Tom and I suppose Sirius and a bit of Remus and Harry + Hermione on the trailing end of hotness. It's like, most people don't care about real characterization issues one way or the other, so.... :>

Of course, annoying canon!Gryffindor fans are annoying, but I was never a meta person so much as a fanfic person, which changes things too. I like Snape, am too fed up with fanon adulation of the coolness of Bella (and she was just mildly creepy & that's it in OoTP... I mean, her being seen sexually almost all the time just frustrates me with the character), and the idea of Slytherin requires a lot of isolation for me. I dislike power and the manipulation thereof (ambition, notsomuch cunning I guess), though I see how Gryffindor is also about power in a different direction (more typically heroic/acceptable at least on the ideological level 'cause it produces brutes but also heroes). I like Slytherin in a cautious way, and of course I'm attracted to it 'cause it's my animus, though so is Gryffindor in a different way (a way I own more consciously). With Slyth values, there's more distance, distrust, etc-- funny 'cause it's the 'watery' House and I empathize with the Slytherins' 'out for themselves' philosophy (as I'm certainly pretty self-centered) and I dislike the implied preachiness/pushiness of Gryffindor. I dislike both mercenary tactics (while thinking them cool) & 'heroically' self-righteous ones. Both can be taken to unsavory extremes, the knightly evangelist & the ruthless mercenary; both can be cool, obviously. I mean, it's much harder to make Hufflepuffs cool, and even there there was Cedric :>

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about Harry except that he's not careless at all. Draco is careless unless the situation is strained. Harry's sarcasm is always loaded and always personal and I always get the impression it's the manifastation of mulling over things. To make an analogy: it's more Tyrion like than Jaime like, and Tyrion annoys me because he's never making jokes because they are funny, it's about his bitterness and resentment and teaching people a lesson. Jaime's humour is my favourite, I really adore the flippancy and when it becomes a coping mechanism but not like a counter-attack, as a way to shift focus or downplay the issue entirely. Draco is a good compromise though he's less flippant and more, well, gleeful, and slanted more around meanness. He loses bite when he's triggered actually, and he's triggered by different issues than Harry, of recognition rather than love. If Harry's humour is informed by introspection Draco is more like improv and a lack of shame and containment in translating whatever movement he has inside. Oh well I can't capture it, and I feel stupid.

No, by histrionic they didn't mean he was a drama queen, they meant this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histrionic_personality). They found it highly out of character which amused me because 1) I don't and 2) he started being written like that in response to leather pants Draco who schmoozed confidence and self-control. The post said that it overplays the feminine side and bottoming tendencies. LOL, I'm starting to think it wasn't really an unbiased post; though it's useful if anything because it allows to understand better that characterization and why I like it at least partly. Someone even said they can't see Draco as being insecure at all; I wouldn't even know how to discuss Draco with such widly different premises. Though now in light of what I/you said above it would interesting to compare Draco's brand of insecurity to Harry's.

I agree that the picture that comes out of fanfic fandom is different but the elaboration on sexuality that happens there is about Draco & Snape as much as it is about Harry. I think it's more about Harry than it is about them. Maybe in H/D specifically there's a larger interest in exploring Draco (though this doesn't mean Harry is loved less, sometimes the adoration is overwhelming) but slash fandom as a whole is pretty Harry centric. Also when it comes to porn for the sake of porn, Harry stars in a lot of fantasies.

As for the meta done in H/D... lol, it's quite sad how little people care.

Is there really all this adulation for Bellatrix? I thought that sort of adulation was all reserved for Snape.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

What I meant by 'careless' isn't really 'carefree' (ie, not a result of brooding) but rather careless -of- consequences; it's loaded, yes, but it's not like he wants to drive Mr. Dursley insane so that he'll make life even worse for Harry, say, it's just that he can't help himself (it seems like). With Harry, he'll carelessly pour oil into the fire even if-- and maybe especially if-- the situation is strained. He just can't help himself, at least until HBP. Draco's the diplomatic one when he wants to be. I suppose it could be one reason Harry & Draco's confrontations can be lopsided, if Harry's worse when he's triggered and Draco loses bite (although may get completely maddened and out of control angry). :> I wouldn't say what Harry does-- at least in the earlier books, when he's a boy-- is 'introspection', just because I don't think he's thinking about things as such. Dwelling, but not... thinking. :>

I like both Jaime & Tyrion. Jaime's more cool, obviously, whereas Tyrion's whole issue isn't that he's uncool, sorta :> It helps when you're blond and gorgeous and powerful and wealthy, feeling at ease with yourself. Tyrion doesn't, and so he is bitter and it's more like he really perceives things sharply rather than joking about them on a more surface level. I'm no saying he's all wise and everything, but he perceives more than most people he knows by far, which would make anyone bitter. For Jaime it seems like a slow rise to greater perception, basically a Hero's Journey, whereas for Tyrion it's more like a curse of perception without much power to act. So he's kind of obsessed with attaining that power and gets quite twisted by it in the end, of course. Anyway... :> He'd be more likable if he wasn't this way & his humor would be better, but then GRRM went out of his way to fuck Tyrion up but good. Basically, yeah, he's not funny 'cause at its heart, humor requires some semblance of light-heartedness :>

I dunno if Draco is diagnosably histrionic as per the DSMV, but he does have the attention-seeking behavior (if not the 'inappropriate seductiveness' at this point, haha). Well, I do think that the way I've seen 'histrionic'!Draco (and I was reacting to the stuff I'd read moreso than the word), it really does overplay the drama queenyness & femininity. It takes 'bottom' to a cliched extreme (though of course that's the nature of fanonization of any quality). I don't think he was especially histrionic in HBP (quite the opposite... well, I mean, the crying wasn't 'like that'), so it's also kinda funny they're doing it now. I can see the link to canon (which is why I said I have no problem), but the stories are kinda weak anyway, surprise surprise :> Yeah, I dunno how you could read the books-- especially HBP-- and think Draco is this uber-self-confident machine :D THOUGH THAT WOULD MAKE A GOOD CRACKFIC :D

There really is that much drool for Bella. And Regulus. Like I said, fandom has moved on and some of us haven't moved with it. Or at least, I haven't :> Regulus/Sirius is the new 'It' pairing, didn't you know? haha.

Well, yeah, Harry is up there & paired with Slytherins a lot, but Harry is like a vehicle, an approach, he's not the endpoint, the goal so to speak, more like a tool. But then there's no way of resolving this one way or the other, hahah, we'll just have to agree to be biased :D

i should just give up on spelling

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I agree about Harry&Draco, I just wanted to clarify that I didn't mean he loses his bite as in he gets less angry, I just mean he's less funny and less sharp. (Although thinking about it... in a sense he also loses his bite. I'm thinking being slapped by Hermione, told to shut it by his father, the aftermath of the ferret, the whole confrontation with Dumbledore, but it's a different trigger than I meant.) Oh, and I didn't mean rational elaboration on things from Harry's part, just introversion. Yeah, dwelling.

I get that Tyrion is unluckly and sad (how could I not? Not like the narrative insists on it or anything) but my reaction is both to him as a fictional construct, and to the fact that everyone in that book has a horrible life, and they don't all become self-righteous and they don't all have that sort of pretentious self-martyrizing inner monologue. (Except Catelyn. She's even worse than Tyrion.)

No, I think both the narcissist narrative and the histrionic narrative are useful as tools to understand him. Of course they'd both be invalid if you applied them wholesale. There are a lot of things about the histrionic complex that apply to Draco but they're not pathological, also a lot of it seems to be more clear when you take in consideration his behaviour around the people he likes. But just saying narcissist or just saying histrionic makes for cardboards. You're right that Draco in HBP had a bigger sense of purpose, and the glory makes the narcissism angle so blatant. I was telling Sistermagpie that in HBP Draco is taking control of his narrative, wanting agency. Suck on that, Lucius.

(They aren't doing it now! They have kinda stopped doing it. I guess people are still bitter, sorta like with the leather pants. But who knows really, it always seems like the things you dislike are overwhelming. I know wahwah!Harry overwhelms me.)

LOL, we are all biased. I keep composing rants about what I've dubbed as wahwah!Harry or leatherpants!Harry (which is okay with him because he's the HERO!!!!) that I don't post because they're too inflammatory and unfair.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I was just skimming this book (http://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle-Day/dp/075640407X) earlier in the bookstore, which is an epic fantasy vaguely in the style of GRRM's (so you might like it) except with a single pov (mostly), and the guy is a lot like Tyrion. :)) Basically self-important, wanky, pretentious, the works-- like certain university professors and fandom people :)) Not surprisingly, the author (http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/author.asp) looks the part :>

I think basically it's that when that sort of character is placed in a context where others are funnier/as interesting/more interesting than he is, I like him a lot more. Tyrion really is disenfranchised and ugly & blah-blah, where Kvoth just feels he is with no super-harsh impediments and a lot of bile and ambition (and growing power). In a way, it's like the Slyth archetype gone wrong :D :D :))

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

It's that sense I get that Slytherin values are best that drives me up the wall; that insularity. Of course, I suppose it seems that way about Gryffindor sympathizers too; to make it clear, it's not like I'm really one of those either. I think Houses are basically silly if taken too seriously. I think there's lots of romanticization both of Slytherin and Gryffindor, they're just romanticizing different things; Slytherin-type anti-hero (Snape, Regulus) are just more modern and Gryffindor-style hero is more classical. Batman is no less 'romantic' than Superman though, know what I mean? :> It seems more ridiculous to romanticize Slytherins, less canonical, even, but it happens just as much and people seem to take pleasure in its very ridiculousness. I mean, I'v e only had issues with the actual canon with the portrayal of the Dursleys, and that was only because I didn't get the humor. Everything else-- literally everything-- is fandom being stupid.

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I mean, I'v e only had issues with the actual canon with the portrayal of the Dursleys, and that was only because I didn't get the humor. Everything else-- literally everything-- is fandom being stupid.

Oh Reena, what does that even mean? That because now get JKR, every one else's reading is stupid? If romanticization is bothersome, it's bothersome no matter what. How can you include attitudes as a standard to judge the validity of a reading, for no better reason than the authorial voice promotes them? You can't complain about the Slytherin fans' sense of superiority while creating hieracies about the authorial intent. :/

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Nono, hahah, I meant that everything else that I personally had issues with (various Slytherin buttons, say) was because of 'fandom being stupid'. Heh. *coughs* Seriously, you've got to stop being so paranoid about me :)) AHAHAHHlfsajkfalskjfsalkjfsasj <3. Um, anyway....

[malafede.livejournal.com]

You've got to stop trying to guess at my intent!

I just answered to what I read.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I wasn't guessing your intent; see, you're defensive, that's what I mean. Or rather, you sound defensive (the old problem, yeah), it's not a guess on my part. ^^;;;;

What I meant by 'paranoia' was, normally I'd want you to 'assume the best' and use your understanding of me to parse my writing, because inevitably I won't express myself too well sometimes, and this'll avoid some misunderstandings. This is just what I do (when I'm not feeling paranoid), so I understand it may not be what you do. All right then. But you could try it sometime :))

I mean, it's going kind of far when you, um, read me to say something totally inflammatory which could've been defused if you thought 'well, Reena wouldn't say something so inflammatory/extreme, so what else could she mean?', y'know? I know I do express myself oddly in terms of phrasing (but so do you, so does anyone), and... to me personally, with a friend, it'd be a last resort to read something as being offensive. It's sort of like... having give, having an assumed greater leeway in a sort of 'assumed agreement'. It's what keeps arguments from starting needlessly, I think, a lot of times (in my own experience). Anyway, I didn't mean the word 'paranoia' to be a trigger either, that was light-hearted. ^^;

Besides, we've talked about this before. I would think you know that while I do enjoy HP canon (and therefore have 'no major issues', which is not to say I'm uncritical or against criticism but rather that it doesn't piss me off as it used to), and while I think authorial intent is helpful in some instances to figure out what's going on with a particular plot thread/characterization (even if you don't have to go with it)-- basically, I'm not an authorial intent nazi by any means. To that end, I want you to trust me, is what I meant :))

[malafede.livejournal.com]

What I meant by 'paranoia' was, normally I'd want you to 'assume the best' and use your understanding of me to parse my writing, because inevitably I won't express myself too well sometimes, and this'll avoid some misunderstandings. This is just what I do

These assumptions made you think that I was being defensive and paranoid. I wasn't! I even thought, maybe I should add an emoticon but then it seemed like that would have been paranoia. When a statement is ambiguous I try to filter it through my experience but that isn't an automatic response. I mean, you can just say there was a miscommunication without shifting the conversation to the person? That is a bit of waste of time.

And ahaha, I would want to expand on this simply because I like talking about the misuse of intent but I'm afraid you would take it personally when it's just a tangent.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Well. Sometimes you 'read' me to have said things I would never say-- to the point where if I did say them, it would be confrontational of me-- so in that situation, I sense conflict; in a sense, it's like you are trying to confront me by saying I was confronting you, haha. ^^;;; Besides, in this case you really should know my position from experience, non?

Anyway, perhaps you could try to tell me when it's 'not personal' instead of an emoticon, which would have the same effect. Like, you could always expand-- and I wouldn't take it personally-- if you make clear your intent, to me. As far as I'm concerned, actually, clarity about intent changes my reaction completely when we're talking about conversations with people, at least :))

You know I have to jump on the Draco stuff

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but this is why I wonder why these books are published--the preduction one, I mean. Obviously they're not interested in Draco's story and should have just let it go.

Dudes, this isn't a real war. "Taking out Voldemort" easily by neutralizing Lucius and Narcissa is hardly the way to go about figuring what's going to happen in the books. Hamlet would have taken out Claudius more easily if he hadn't hemmed and hawed for several acts. Romeo would have been better served if he hadn't killed Tybalt.

The Malfoys being neutralized is a total non-issue in canon. Lucius is already neutral--and wtf does JKR want with neutral people? If she wanted that she would have taken Draco out in HBP by having him just be able to take Dumbledore's offer. It just honestly keeps really surprising me that the book ends with Harry feeling one thing differently towards Slytherin that might lead towards something different with that house, and everybody seems ready to say oh yeah, Draco will just wander off or go on the run. Or better yet, suddenly legal considerations matter and he's got to go on trial (yes, perhaps he'll do that right after Ginny "There' will be no punishments" Weasley gets an inquiry about opening the Chamber of Secrets--Draco didn't actually kill anybody; the Wizard legal system is not the focus of the books here, people!).

Vain and cowardly--honestly, they should have just left the chapter out. Or just had a big picture of leather pants with a red line through it. It would have made the point more clearly.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Or just had a big picture of leather pants with a red line through it.
!!! *cracks up* why are you so awesome :)) HAHA THAT WAS EXACTLY IT, EXACTLY :)) They are so stuck in 2002, it's not even funny :D

You know, I wonder if anyone but Dumbledore & Snape (and the Trio) even know exactly what went on with Draco; certainly, the Ministry is unlikely to know-- or care at the moment :> Yeah, it really seems like these people have blinders on, and it's funny 'cause they almost seem reasonable when talking about 'acceptable', non-Slytherin things. It's kind of disturbing to me that there's such a thing in HP fandom as 'the party line' o_0

....You could just tell it's exactly this sort of thinking that convinced people of H/Hr :D :D