Who Love All The Harry Potter Books.... Options

[Princess Bloom36]

I love all the book. Who also love the Harry Potter Books????

[MorriganAensland]

I read them all, and admit they're pretty good.

That being said, I wouldn't say it's the greatest story ever told, and we've been plagued, as a result of the stories, with such hellish fanfiction as My Immortal. We have also got *too many damn fangirls* and they *all love Draco*, in spite of the fact that by book 7 he was more wimpy and whiney than Sephiroth and Tidus put together.


Look at me! I hate my dad! I like playing a game that technically shouldn't work because you'd drown in less than 3 minutes! I cease to exist at the end of FFX, but then my girlfriend brings me back after playing FFX-2 Pretty Princess Dress-Up!


Look at me! I'm a total jerk and killed a girl for kicks, even though it was all part of her plan! LOLZ! I display no redeeming characterstics in the entirety of the FFVII franchise which will constantly have prequels and sequels added to it for no plausible reason whatsoever! Crazy fangirls keep pairing me with Cloud, or Zack, or Vincent, or anyone else to appease their raging shipping obsessions! WHOOO!

The series has also caused a great deal of problem, considering some Japanese mangaka have made Harry Potter dojinshii, which again heavily lather on the yaoi. Jeez. I'd respect shonen-ai or shoujo-ai if there was actually some basis to it... such as the rather lovely MorriganXLilith Darkstalkers pairing. Heck, I don't really even mind the utterly crazy shonen-ai crack fics from Phoenix Wright as much, since there's about a billion different possible relationships between various characters.

I respect the series due to its deep sense of continuity as well, and how it ties up most of its loose ends by the end of Book 7. The deaths don't bother me much either, since it's not like Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, where the story ends with 90-99% of the cast killed off, the main hero labotomized to be a complete idiot child, and his mentor off to plot his zany scheme which ends in the death of another hero. Or even worse, Space Runaway Ideon, where the whole UNIVERSE gets destroyed with the only silver lining being the fact another Universe will *eventually* replace ours.

That being said, I was disappointed in the last confrontation between Harry and Voldemort. It was utterly anticlimactic and there was no reason to not give readers what they want in the form of a knock-out, drag-down duel that would test their resolves to live. The fact Voldemort never really matures over the course of seven years is also a little discouraging, and I would've at least wished for him to become something more than a generic villain with a generic tragic past.

In conclusion, the series was still worth reading. I just have high standards, and comparing Rowling to one of the greatest innovators of manga of all time, Go Nagai, causes me to feel she hasn't done enough. Then again, maybe I'm just being picky and an otaku. Read his Wiki page and make up your own minds.

Go Nagai was the first mangaka to introduce dark and somber moods to manga, created the first "fighting" Magic Girl anime series, sparked the Super Robot craze in Japan with Mazinger Z and Getter Robo, was the first author to consider including sexual elements to manga. In other words, he was the guy that helped manga and anime transcend to levels of maturity that American cartoons have yet been able to reach. He's one of my idols, along with Hirohiko Araki, who stresses including a great deal of strategy for battles in his long-running and still popular JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, with over 80 manga volumes out.

This post has been edited by MorriganAensland: Apr 16 2008, 12:50 PM

[Zhanneel]

0_o LOL, all was nicely put, well up to the part where I didn't quite know what you were talking about =P. But on the topic of Harry Potter, I agree, too many fangirls are swooning over a dip like Draco. He's just a greasy-haired, empty shell of a boy/man. And the ending battle was fairly limp. There could have been a deeper, more drawn out conclusion. It felt rather...short.

But to answer your question Princess Bloom I too loved the books. All in all, I wouldn't change a thing about the story (well, can't think of anything significant right now at least) and I respect the author greatly. Not my absolute most favorite of favorite series, but it ranks up high for me. I love watching the movies, but I'm afraid to attend the theaters with the fan-crazy girls who would mow me down if I ever stood between them and Daniel Radcliffe. That's a bit frightening. I like the story, not the actors. *shakes head disappointedly*

This post has been edited by Zhanneel: Apr 15 2008, 4:25 AM

[AnnieBelle]

Meh, actually...don't kill me for this...but I actually seriously dislike the series. I mean, everyone's like, "Rissa! I think this is a series you'd like, you'd get into it!" Except I don't, really.
Only reason I read the last book was so that I could conversate with people at lunch at GRC. Because no one talked about ANYTHING else. Some people turn this into too much of an obsession.
Also. The movies waere just weird. Plus, I can never see one at the theater again, I saw it, fell on a rock, and got a pretty scar and a half on my knee!
I think Harry Potter's just bad luck for me, actually. My cousin Zack started reading The Half-Blood Prince in the car when a buncha us were driving to Galveston, and it started pouring down rain.
Really the biggest amusement I get out of the book series is laughing at all those strange parents who forbid their kids to read the book because it "supports witchcraft and Paganism". xD

{Lovin' your description, Morrigan.}

[MorriganAensland]

Writing Matei Mizuki has made me decide to take the kid gloves off and display Mizuki's aura of pure, unconditional hatred towards [thing she doesn't like]. Her ability comes from something literally known as the Great Sea of Evil... and between that and watching Zero Punctuation, I'm being much more open in my frustrations and disappointments in this world.

Especially since one of the few things I am incapable of forgiving is a forced smile. I'd hate to become a hypocrit.

[P-girl]

Altough I seriously love the Harry Potter books, I hate Draco, and more specifically his fangirls. Same goes for Sephiroth and Tidus. Problem is, if you state this in most forums, you'll get virtually clobbered. What's wrong with loving actual villains, who're pure evil (Or just plain bad) and lovin' it, instead of angsting over it? *Holds up Kefka banner, the REAL ultimate FF villain, and pointing at Finn/Waylon signatures*

[MorriganAensland]

Kefka rocks. He just plain rocks, considering he actually succeeds in most of his evil plans. You're not supposed to empathize with him, you're just supposed to stand back and be amazed at how much he accomplished and how many people he managed to screw over in the end. Final Fantasy VI had it all, well before VII did.

And come on, killing Aerith? Neifirst from Phantasy Star II screwed you over even more big-time with killing Nei.

In short, since the start of the PhSII, you get a girl named Nei in your group that our hero Rolf met a few months ago... who happens to look a little less than human. He's assigned to investigate a certain machine breakdown at a lab, and about 20 hours of gameplay later when you reach said lab/gain the other 6 party members, you find out the person behind it all is essentially... Nei's "older sister". And by "older sister", I mean that Nei was meant to be some sort of new, evolutionary creature known as "Neifirst", who went on a rampage. Her moral side eventually gained physical form and escaped, calling herself just Nei.

Anyways, Nei attacks Neifirst and battles her in a one-on-one fight that's almost gurenteed to be a loss for you. If you engaged in lots of level grinding and have stocked up on Trimates, however, it is possible to win, just very hard. Anyways, Nei dies, and everyone else runs in to avenge her and kills Neifirst, only to discover afterwards Nei can't come back to life through cloning (the series takes place in a futuristic environment and uses clonging to revive dead people) because she's "not really human."

Assuming, however, the player is able to beat Neifirst with just Nei, however, the game designers decided to be cruel, and after winning, Nei dies anyways because she stemmed from Neifirst and cannot live if Neifirst is dead. And if you try to revive Nei when everyone in the group is fighting Neifirst, you succeed, but again dies anyways.

That is truly an emotionally stunning moment in gaming history. While Sephiroth got to kill Aerith in the safety of a cinema scene, Nei's killer does it right in the middle of gameplay. You can struggle against fate as much as you want, try to find some means of workiing around the difficulties, but all your efforts literally amount to nothing. In the PS2 remake of Phantasy Star II, the designers even decided to display some mercy and provided players a way of reviving Nei... except it's so lenghty, complicated, and challenging only the most driven of players has the fortitude to carry it out.

[Princess Bloom36]

J.K. Rowling is thinking to writing more Harry Potter books. But she might not be called it Harry Potter. She will called it The Potters. And she did said that. Me and my sister, Raven both saw it and hear it...

[humbu111]

i like em, where did u see it?

[Zhanneel]

That's somewhat true I think. That last I heard (which was months ago =P) was that she may write some stories outside of the Harry Potter world, and then eventually go back to the same Potter universe but what she would write about I am not sure. Most likely some future plots? Or maybe new characters all together. I think I'd actually like her to find new protagonists. If she writes anymore about Harry I may have to call her out for ruining the perfectly good ending to the Potter stories. It would be nice for a change of pace to have a fresh character.

[MorriganAensland]

Of course, Rowling's now been cursed, and everything she writes will now be compared to Harry Potter and considered "inferior." It's the same way with actors who get one fantastic role and then burn out, not because they get worse, but people expect more.

[~twilight~]

I am simply in love with the Harry Potter series. Personally, I hope that she does not do any more books for Harry Potter. I completely agree with Zhanneel. It would ruin the happy ending she has given us. Though I am not completely satisied with it. I was hoping for something which would give a bit more insight on what happened to the characters. I would have loved to know what brought Harry and Ginny so close that they got married. But there is one HUGE advantage of giving us this kind of ending. It leaves the doors of fanfiction open for us so that we can write our own versionss for other people to read on the internet. Not that I am much of a writer. Okay, enough of my rambling.

[MorriganAensland]

The problem with the open-ended nature of the finale is exactly what makes it terrible. It gave us the abomination known as "My Immortal", for God's sake! It's given us hordes of love-children of everyone's favorite crack pairings, all while being unable to display the same kind of intellectual riddles that Rowling's books are most famous for.

Seriously, one of these days I'm gonna write a one-shot fanfic, depicting a Hogwarts around the time of Albus Potter going to class there, only to show it as nothing more than a shadow of it's former glory, with Mary-Sues, Canon-Sues, and other original characters from crappy fanfics pulling it into "The Darkness."

England - and The World at large - have only one possible savior. A man so driven to dominate the planet he cannot tolerate this force to get in his way... an intelligent, self-made man, one who has no qualms with stepping on whoever gets in his way. Someone without morals, capable of throwing a dog in an incinerator or marry a rich old woman to get her fortune and then kill her. In short, a force so evil that not even the redpemptive powers of a Mary Sue can change him from his path of evil, much less turn him over to their cause.

I speak, of course, of one of the greatest villains ever imagined in fiction...

Dio Brando.



And here is just a small show of Dio's power over people... and keep in mind, the driver in that car is said to be a powerful American politician, whom Dio has done nothing to but roughen up a bit and use the power of his Stand.

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[Zhanneel]

Just a response to the Dio Brando clip. I can see that the politician is warped, even though he does fear for the safety of other people, he gives in to Dio in order to save his own life instead. Seems a bit pathetic however, as he is 99% guaranteed to die after this anyway--Dio is just stringing him along and will most likely kill him after this is over. This is probably a person decision, and one that can be made with a clear mind, but at the moment he tells the driver to go faster automatically (if I were the driver) I would decide to let him sacrifice my life instead of killing all of the civilians on the sidewalk (or at least making me kill them for him). Or, do something even more drastic and attempt to kill himself and Dio at the same time. This is most likely why I can never watch many horror or massacre-type films, it just drives me nuts on too many levels.

But back to the Potter world =P. I guess fanfic is one way fans will live on after the series has ended. If it helps everyone cope with the loose ending, that's okay. Personally, I don't care for fanfic, only because it's not stable, and there are too many diversions from the true story for me to enjoy it. In my experience with fanfic I've seen too many false assumptions of the characters, too many additions that should not have been added. I guess I'm not fond of it because it did not come from the writer's mind, the one who knows the Potter world best. Because only she can know whether a character will act a certain way. The "crack-pairings", as you put it Morrigan, are precisely why I cannot stand most fanfic =P. I have to admit, there are many capable writers out there though, and if time I'd give them a chance. No one can do it as well as Rowling ^^.

[humbu111]

There's something about the Harry Potter series I've always wondered about: the number of students in Hogwarts (how many in each house/year).

In I think the second book, during a Quittich (sp) match, it was mentioned that there were 200 Slytherins... this makes (all numbers approximate) 800 in Hogwarts... 200 in each house... divided by 7 years... 30 in each year per house.
This doesnt make sense as they often say more than one house in a class together, eg Gryffindors having potions with Slytherins, charms with Ravenclaws, herbology with Hufflepuff, etc... 60 is way too much for one class

Also, there are very few students mentioned in each house in Harry's year, and I wanted to make a list of them (tell me if u notice any missing):

Gryffindor:
Harry Potter
Ron Weasley
Hermione Granger
Parvati Patil
Lavender Brown
Seamus Finnigan
Dean Thomas
Neville Longbottom

Ravenclaw:
Padma Patil
Terry Boot
Michael Corner
Anthony Goldstein

Hufflepuff:
Ernie Macmillan
Hannah Abbot
Justin Finch-Fletchy
Susan Bones
Zacharias Smith

Slytherin:
Draco Malfoy
Vincent Crabbe
Gregory Goyle
Pansy Parkinson
Millicent Bullstrode
Blaise Zabini
Theodore Nott

Not Specified:
Eloise Midgeon (they never really said that she's in that year, but I'm pretty sure its implied)
Daphne Greengrass (mentioned in Hermione's group during their charms OWL)

I also never got a chance to check the first book, but there will probably be a few more mentioned during sorting, if someone could check and post, that would be helpful.

This post has been edited by humbu111: Dec 28 2008, 3:01 AM

[Zhanneel]

Whoa @_@. I see you've been keeping yourself plenty busy without the internet. xD

(I picked my way through wikipedia a bit, so hopefully these are valid additions)

Mandy Brocklehurst – Ravenclaw student in Harry's year
S. Fawcett – Ravenclaw student in Harry's year
Moon – Hogwarts student in Harry's year (?)
Theodore Nott – Slytherin student in Harry's year, son of Death Eater Nott
Sally-Anne Perks – Hogwarts student in Harry's year
Lisa Turpin – Ravenclaw student in Harry's year

(Here's a link if you need to check up on other characters.)

Also...I started thinking about the Slytherin House again, and how they say that pretty much all of the bad wizards and witches come from that house. However, they didn't say that all students placed into Slytherin would become "bad". I would like to criticize Rowling a bit for stereotyping pretty much all of the students in that house. Could there not be one normal, decent student among the bunch? Someone who may not exactly be sugary sweet, but who could at least would show some nice manners? I forget what the sorting hat said about Slytherins themselves, but I don't think it meant they were necessarily all inherently evil.

[MorriganAensland]

I honestly wonder what would've happened if Harry had gone into Slytherin. Or at least they would've given some exposition due to that whole "Griffondor and Slytherin were best friends" line in like book 5 or around such.

[P-girl]

I kinda wonder.... but there's so many bad (And I mean BAD) fanfiction exploring the idea.......that I lost my curiousity.

[Zhanneel]

I don't touch Harry Potter fanfic. Not with a ten foot digital pole.

[P-girl]

I used to, when I was younger....then I grew up and gained some common sense. It's just so. Much. (W)ANGST!
And the SUES oh God, the SUES!