ella_menno

What are the five most heartbreaking things that have ever happened in your fandom(s)?

~ from fannish_5


In no particular order, and right off the top of my head:

1. The Sentinel: Blair. Fountain. "Don't you go!" *is broken*

2. Smallville: Lex's memories of how baby Julian really died - the end music ("My Immortal," by Evanescence), playing behind Clark's conversation w/Martha, was the killer for me.

3. Harry Potter (books): Fred's death in "DH." There were many moments in the series that made me cry, but that one hit me hardest emotionally. Odd, I know.

4. HP (movies): I have as many (if not more!) problems with the films as anyone, but Amos Diggory's reaction to Cedric's death always - always - brings me to tears. The wracking kind.

5. Supernatural: The closing moments of AHBL part one, and Dean's monologue to Sam at the beginning of part 2. Wrecks me, every time.

ETA: Ooh! Can't leave this out -

6. Revenge of the Sith: Everything after Anakin pledges fealty to Palpatine. I sobbed my way through the last, say, half-hour of that movie. It really did break my heart.

Lord. Now I feel all bummed out!

I’m a little concerned about those select few persons who call themselves "shocked" that Dumbledore was gay all along.  This brings me great concern for the literacy and ability to read for content of the general public.  Let's go through some of the text:

Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive.  He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.  He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots.  His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.  This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

JKR introduces us to the character by telling us that "nothing like [him] had ever been seen on Privet Drive."  Privet Drive, as we all know, is a symbol of conventional (i.e. heterosexual) Muggle suburbia - a place to which we’re explicitly told that Albus Dumbledore is foreign.  It’s apparent that his magical ability is one of the reasons he is so alien to this landscape; however, it isn’t too much of a stretch to see that there may well be other reasons.


The next sentence tells us that the Headmaster's hair and beard are both exceptionally long.  As found on gay.com:  “In the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s¹, when modern gay radicalism was born, long hair spoke of nonconformism, sensuality, and a challenge to rigid gender norms.”  Aha!  Another clue for those careful students of the text. 


Up next, we discover what the Professor wore on his outing – er, excuse me – his excursion to Privet Drive.  Certainly robes and cloaks are standard attire in the wizarding world, so there are no clues to the wearer’s sexual orientation there.  However – of all the many colors, what hue does our Headmaster choose?  That’s right:  purple – just like the famous gay icon Tinky Winky.  Not only is Dumbledore’s cloak purple, but it “sweeps the ground.”  An interesting word choice, is it not?  Exchange the “eeps” for “ishes,” and our esteemed Professor fairly prances atop the pavement.²


And what is on those prancing feet?  “High-heeled, buckled boots.”  Honestly, at this point, I have to wonder who among JKR’s readers was still under the impression that Dumbles was straight. 


The paragraph ends by telling us that Dumbledore’s nose appeared to have been “broken at least twice.”   We see other injuries in the text, most of which are mended in a trice by Madam Pomfrey or other medi-magical personnel.  Why would these injuries of Dumbledore’s still be noticeable?  Could they, perhaps, be the remnants of some homophobic Dark Wizard’s Hate Curse? 


Mind you, all this information comes from only one paragraph early on in the first book.  I’m sure that there are many other clues scattered throughout all seven books, readily available for anyone with a modicum of talent at reading comprehension.


Notes

1.  Though the quoted article almost certainly refers to the sixties and seventies which occurred in the 1900's, one would not be remiss in wondering how tolerant the 1860's and 70's were, given that Dumbledore's canonical age indicates he was running around Europe in that time period.


2.  For more semi-canonical insights on "swishing," please see Ralph Fiennes' performance as Voldemort in 2005's "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." ( click for visual aid )

( Yeah, I'm just going to cut-tag the whole entry. )

And now, I need a nap.

quote in subject line from Jacob Hornberger

Dammit. I stayed out here as long as I could, but with the newest "hey, let's ruin everyone else's fun" spoiler-news, I'm going to go to ground.

Let's see. Until Saturday, I'm avoiding all comms on LJ and anyone's personal LJ unless I know they're considerate about spoilers. No visiting major websites - because the Muggles just don't understand! - and I guess I'll set comments to friends-only.

Am I forgetting anything?

*sighs* It's still safe to read all the stuff I have in memories, isn't it?

Because I've dithered over this long enough.

Title: 20 Random Things the Basilisk Would Prefer No One Else Knew, circa 1992
Author: jenowago
Character(s): The Basilisk; brief mentions of other characters
Rating: G
Summary: Twenty facts about Hogwarts’ most famous snake.
Warning(s): It’s entirely possible I did too much research into snakes before writing. It’s also entirely possible that this is what they call “crack fic.”
Disclaimer: The Basilisk and all other Harry Potter characters and locations belong to JKR. I use them only in fun.
Author's Notes:
A)Written as part of The Harry Potter Random Facts Fest, which you should go and look over right now, if you haven't already done so.
B) Bonus point to the first person to catch the Lockhart allusion.
C) Feedback is appreciated, adored, and always acknowledged.

( Twenty Random Things the Basilisk Would Never Admit to Anyone )

Ohhhhhhhhh, do I feel like junk. My throat hurts, I'm hot and cold at the same time, my body aches, and the gland (lymph node, right?) that lives under my left arm is as tender as a very tender thing. Blecch.

Currently, I'm trying to decide if I feel lousy enough to excuse myself from doing laundry. Pro: not having to do laundry. Con: the laundry isn't going to do itself.

It appears that I may be amusing myself for quite some time today. There are several ways I could occupy myself - care to make your opinion known?


[Poll #701027]

*sigh* I lurve polls.

So, I'm over at Mugglenet.com reading an article on potential endings of the seventh book, when I run across this sentence:

It seems unfair that Harry's soul could be damaged just because Voldemort's crazy enough to tear his own into murderous confetti. -

and the first thing that pops into my mind is, "Wow! 'Murderous Confetti' would be a GREAT name for a band!"

*shakes head*

Since y’all know I’m crazy already, I’m going to put out there what’s been bugging me lately. Don’t know if this counts as a rant, technically. A rantlet, perhaps?

There has got to be a story - at least one – somewhere, in some fandom, which has two people who:

1. are romantically interested in one another;
2. are not involved with other people (in other words, each person is available);
3. have feelings of sexual desire towards one another;
4. decide, voluntarily, to wait to engage in sexual behavior with one another;
5. and talk about that decision in the course of the story.

Seriously. I can dink around for less than fifteen minutes, I’d bet, and be able to come up with half a dozen stories with bizarre pairings, unusual kinks – I mean, come on, there are entire communities for stuff like that! – but I’ve been actively looking for a story with the above components, and I can’t seem to find any.

Because I feel like, when I was a teenager, I seem to remember being boyfriend/girlfriend (or hearing stories form my friends who were in that kind of relationship) didn’t automatically mean you were doing it. It was a huge deal if you were going to “go all the way” with your boyfriend, a step that you only took when you felt ready (ideally, I guess). I honestly don’t remember anyone going from “hey, let’s be boyfriend/girlfriend” to “we’re doing some mattress dancing” in the same step.

I suppose this makes me hopelessly behind the times, or naïve, or out of touch with reality.

I’m not kidding, though. If anyone knows of a story that sounds anywhere near what I’m talking about, let me know. At this point, I’d read in just about any fandom, just to prove to myself that such fiction exists.

I seem to have a bit of a mental block when it comes to the upcoming film Brokeback Mountain. I know what it's about, but I can hardly ever remember its proper title.

So, um, just to entertain myself this afternoon, I tried to think of synopses for the incorrect titles that have come to mind. Feel free to add your own, of course.

Bareback Mountain, the story of two gay cowboys and their tragic refusal to use condoms;

Backstroke Mountain, a thrilling tale of two gay lifeguards;

Breakneck Mountain, the epic saga of gay stuntmen,

and, of course, the wrong!title that's popped into my head entirely too often -

Buckbeak Mountain, which is, of course, the legend of two gay hippogriffs. (Although I suppose it could be a retelling of "Goblet of Fire" from Sirius' POV, too.)

*shakes head* Yeah. Sleep might be a good idea at this point.

Many of the ideas and theories on this list are things I've stumbled across while online; in other words, please do not to think these are the offshoots of my own wee mind.

That being said...a list of things I may want to refer to once I've devoured read HBP.

**What if Neville was memory-charmed to forget that Snape was one of the DE’s who attacked his parents?

**I think Harry will eventually choose to give up his magic, while mirror image Neville will choose to embrace his.

**Is time travel involved in that missing 24 hours in Harry’s life? (the time between the rebounded AK and when Hagrid delivers Harry to the Dursleys?)

**Is Sirius really dead, or is he time-travelling?

**I expect to see Bane the centaur again.

**Tonks is going to have greater significance.

**Harry may be a metamorphmagus.

**According to Jodel, Harry may be carrying around two souls inside him: his own and Voldemort's. Jodel speculates that Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse, which literally backfired on him, separated his memory and intellect - let's call this his persona - from his soul. Voldemort's soul then, needing a warm body in which to live, and having nobody (haha) else around (since Voldemort's body was vaporized), leapt into Harry's body and is still there today.

This would explain a lot of things. Harry's scar, for example, is a magical injury, present because two souls are inside him and one is trying to get out to re-join its original persona. Voldemort still has a connection to his soul - this explains the telepathic link with Harry. This also explains why Voldemort is not roaming around like a zombie, as the victims of a Dementor's kiss would do - and THAT is very important indeed.

But if the curse just bounced off him, why does he still have a scar exactly where the curse touched his head? Consider this: if his mother's love really did protect him, he should have no marks at all. The fact that there IS a scar proves he has been injured; therefore his mother's love could not have been the perfect shield it has been made out to be.

**Were James and/or Lily employed as Unspeakables?

"AT the hand, not BY the hand" - many different outcomes are possible just from this line. If "the hand of the other" is, in fact, the silver hand VM gave to Wormtail, then it could come down to a HP/VM showdown, with Wormie having sustained a serious injury - but surviving it - and at that point in time, the "neither can live while the other survives" may come into effect. Both Harry and Voldie would be in a kind of stasis, much like the cage match of doom in GoF, and VM may try to control the hand, but PP will choose to fight it and overpower that control, in much the same way that HP can throw off Imperio.

**The prophecy for me seems quite simple. When Harry was a baby, VM attempted to kill him but his mother's ancient magic charm issued at the point of her own death protected Harry. Since an Avada Kedavra curse cannot be blocked, the curse was deflected onto VM himself.

This left Harry marked with a scar, but also it seems much of VM's power in the process. Why? It may have something to do with VM trying to avoid death. His own body was destroyed and we know he's studied many different ways of achieving immortality. Faced with death, he transferred his essence to Harry whilst his spirit escaped in a barely existent form which steadily over the years moved from body to body, small creatures to gradually larger, more complex life-forms until eventually being 'reborn' into the form he takes after Pettigrew resurrects him.

From the prophecy we can deduce that this form is not technically alive since "neither can live while the other survives". Using Harry's blood in the ritual at the end of GOF is a way of anchoring himself to the one body that exists that still contains his power and essence - Harry's. Once he has taken Harry's body, he can look for ways to achieve immortality.

This further demonstrates the above prophecy - VM can only "live" by taking Harry's body therefore, destroying him "by his own hand." Conversely, Harry can only live by destroying VM since VM only hope of life is to take over Harry's.

**Perhaps the happy reason Harry leaves the Dursley's earlier than usual is to work on his metamorphmagus/animagus transformation? Or apparating? Or to attend the "official" opening of the twins’ joke shop?

**Theory: Snape loved Lily. He knew he didn't have a chance with her, so rather than waiting to be rejected, he rejected her (re: the mudblood comment). He already hated James, but hated him more after the shack incident, and yet more after James and lily got together. The potters somehow figured into Snape's decision to turn traitor to Voldemort.

**Similarly, Voldemort will be "killed" as a wizard, but will live as Muggle. Making a Muggle out of a wizard can hardly be considered a murder.

I can only suppose that it would be a "fate worse than death" for Voldemort (or any wizard for that matter) to be stripped of his powers and forced to live amongst the Muggle world. Dumbledore alluded to things "worse than death" that could befall a wizard.

I can foresee a twisty ending where Harry has to make some choices giving up to Voldemort the powers that he, Harry, possesses. Harry first chooses to have NO wizard powers whatsoever, then chooses to have Voldemort possess only these powers (none).

** Per JKR: need to focus on WHY Dumbledore didn’t even try to kill Voldemort at the MoM battle. It’s not the reason he (Dd) gave….

**But the prophecy about Harry is in the present/indeterminate: Neither can live while the other survives.

Harry is living! Now. In the present. Which must mean that, in some sense of the word, Voldemort is NOT. And for Voldemort to come completely to life, Harry must die.

**Could one of the steps have been to divide his (Voldemort’s) soul with whoever would deliver a killing curse? Only Godric's Hollow took him by surprise as he didn't know that the curse he delivered to Harry was going to rebound.

In other words, VM somehow made it so if someone else fired an AK at him, it would bounce and kill the caster instead; only he didn’t count on the kind of protection HP got from Lily, so when the curse rebounded, it did affect him (as it was originally cast by VM himself and therefore didn’t fill the parameters of being cast by someone else). The other kind of protection VM had used kept him from total death, but his own curse damaged him/split his soul from his body. And, perhaps, some of his soul went to reside in Harry….

**in GoF, VM is resurrected with a potion – SS, the spy/double agent, is the Potions Master.

**Why did the AK bounce off Harry and hit VM? Why didn’t it bounce off Harry and, say, reflect/refract somewhere harmless, off to his left or whatever?