Finished this morning, haven't been near a computer until today.

[valis2]

I don't really know what to say, other than I was completely engrossed in it. It was quite well-paced, didn't seem to drag too much (unlike OotP), and it actually seemed to go a little too quickly at points. But I enjoyed it.

Except for the obvious.

Fanon Snape is dead.

*cries*

No, really, I did cry. I am doing a show right now, and I was only a step away from tears part of the day. I'm still upset. Not only is the show going awful, AND I've been rejected out of another show I wanted to do on my own, but...well...the man who lived in my head has gone and done a horrible thing.

Track #1: He did it at Dumbledore's request, with Ddore's full knowledge, because he still works for the Order and didn't want Draco to be a murderer, and it was the only way out of the Unbreakable Vow for Draco/himself. A love for Lily Evans could be at the heart of this.

Track #2: He did it because he's fucking EVIL and PETTY and spiteful and all of those things I knew already.

Track #3. He did it because he's EVIL and in book 7 he's going to redeem himself nobly at the very, very end.

I think JKR has set us up for Track #3, personally.

I knew Ddore was going to die, yep. I mentioned it a few times. And I'm not into Ddore that much. But the scene in the cave...I raced through it, but now I can't get it out of my head, it was so terrible (without being gross or disgusting, just purely psychologically difficult). And then Snape does it. And I nearly screamed. I kept waiting for it not to have happened.

It really ruined my day. I honestly don't know how the hell I'm going to continue to write tLS. Seriously. He's burned up in my head, he's a murderer, and yet...he was a murderer before, and I was okay with it, because of the repentence factor. But now, it's like he's become an evil betrayer in my head, and I can't even look at him, and, and, I must be the wangstiest girl on teh interwebs at this moment.

And yes, I remember JKR saying something to the tune of "Don't be too fond of Snape. He isn't a nice guy."

This is all very freeform, but it's been floating in my head all day.

I feel so very sad for Sirius fans. Now I understand, just a bit, what they felt.

I have a bit of irritation for JKR, Who Has Her Finger on the Pulse of Youth Culture and is Hip, See, See, See, Look at Me, Youth Culture, You Can Relate to Me, but the book is definitely a huge, firm step forward, with lots of new canon and excellent insights into the WW.

I so want to incorporate a bunch of this into tLS but I can't.

Spinner's End was absolutely fabulous. I was floating on clouds. I was so incredibly astonished by that chapter, and so happy to see a non-Harry POV about Snape. It was thrilling. I thought, while I was reading it, how amazingly he was manipulating the conversation. Then at the end of the books I was thinking other thoughts. It won't seem the same again unless Track #1 was the correct track.

This is nowhere near as interesting and funny as iibnf's recap. Argh.

RAB has to be Regulus Black. A pretty strong move, that. We will see a lot of Noble!Regulus fics now, I bet, and he'll be dashing and doomed, what a combo.

There was a line that Snape said about being hard that made me snort. Here it is... "I'm his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be," said Snape curtly. haha! But see, I can't even do my usual rawr bit, because I'm a bit too squicked. I'm such a fair-weather Snape fan! I should have my Snape-license revoked. Oh well. At least I never wrote any ridiculous Sevviekins nonsense.

Not into Slughorn, much. He was there to do his job, did it, okay.

And the "fug" typo...hahaha!!

cordelia_v's entry is having a calming effect on me. That and the ice cream. Ice cream helps. Especially when a favorite character jumps out and murders someone. Hmm...Cordelia brings up a great point...perhaps the Snape/Ddore argument Hagrid witnessed was Snape refusing to fulfill the Unbreakable Vow...hmm...I don't know. I just keep thinking...Slytherin.

Damnit, Noble!Snape will be vanishing from fanfiction. As well as my favorite, Returning From the DE Meeting all Bruised and Lonely. Double damnit!

tbranch is quick...new canon characters artwork, cool as always.

Oh, let's play "I knew it when I read..."

I knew that Draco wasn't targeting Harry because he left Harry on the train.

I knew that Ddore was going to die before I started reading it (not because I was spoiled, but because I thought it had to happen in this book for Harry to be a proper grownup in bk 7), and it was more obvious with each new chapter.

I thought that the HBP had to be Snape because of the potions stuff, but then I kept thinking, but JKR did that thing where she said that he wouldn't be accepted into the DEs if he was not a pure-blood, but now I remember that she was vague, as usual, about it. So I was thwarted.

I knew that Fleur was going to get some sort of "welcome to the family" bit at some point in the book because none of the complaints were substantial enough, and she didn't seem to be insulting the Weasleys enough to pull a Percy.

Hmm. Hagrid says that he overheard Snape saying Ddore "took too much for granted" and makes it sound like Snape is "overworked".

I want my lovely, fence-sitting but really working for Ddore and obviously for the Order Snape back. But it won't happen. That's how new canon is, I suppose. Oh, I'm so bummed.

Don't think that I don't like the book. Honestly, this canon Snape is pretty damned awesome, when I look at him objectively. A character you can sink your teeth into. But tLS!Snape is right out, tossed out on his ass, and I'm just a bit sad about that, that's all.

I know I'll finish tLS, but still, it will be a little more difficult to write. I'll have to put on HBP blinders.

Comments

[aphrodeia.livejournal.com]

Now that I've had five hours or so to sit and reflect on it, I'm not quite so concerned over the book as I was when I screamed at it repeatedly. And loudly. I've read a number of interesting dissections, wherein your Track #1 is explored, and while I'm not ready to bet the farm on it, I think there are some very good points to support Non-Evil!Snape. Well, Non-ENTIRELY-Evil!Snape, anyhow. I'm looking forward to reading the book again, as I sorta sped through the first time, and I wonder what I'll pick up that I missed the first time?

Fantastic book, any way you slice it... if not what I wanted to hear. Sigh.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Track #1 is looking less and less implausible. Now that I've looked around, I've seen some thoughts that seem to make sense, and I'm really wondering about it.

"Non-ENTIRELY-Evil!Snape"...yes, I like him too, and I hope he's still there. *wibble*

[gillieweed.livejournal.com]

"Track 1" has been a topic of discussion on HP groups--in particular Harry Potter for Grownups for years now. I was completely and utterly unsurprised at what Snape did--of course, as I said in a previous comment here, I wrote a fanon Snape who did the same thing, so I think this canon Snape still ROXXOR!

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

I'm all for Track #1. When I read the bit about how no DADA professor had lasted longer than a year since Tom Riddle got turned away, that clinched it for me. Albus wouldn't have given Snape the job unless he knew Severus would be leaving. I think it's the main reason Albus didn't give Severus the job earlier--he wanted to keep him around.

Filling the DADA position isn't so difficult, I imagine, as finding someone to replace Severus as Potions master and head of Slytherin. By hiring Slughorn, Albus hired Severus' replacement.

So yes, Albus knew damn well what was going to happen.

I think that the potion in the cave was the real Horcrux, and that by ingesting it and getting Severus to kill him, Albus was able to destroy it. If Albus knew he was going to be killed (most likely by Severus), it would make sense that he would want to accomplish something more by his death. The "replaced" locket, I believe, was a ruse on Dumbledore's part to keep Harry from realizing what Albus was doing by drinking the potion.

I'm curious as to whether Severus made that potion.

Is RAB Regulus Black? It seems so obvious, I have a hard time believing it. [laughs]

Okay, dammit, when do we get book 7? It can't come soon enough.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I'm not certain about the potion bit. I think the basin probably refills itself from time to time.

I'm really wondering who accompanied Regulus to the island originally.

And I've thought about the DADA jinx lots too. I think you're right. In Chapter 2 Severus is still thinking he's a Potions master. Then the school year starts and he's DADA instead, after he made the Vow, so I think that Ddore and Severus had to have an indepth meeting to figure things out.

[deepforestowl.livejournal.com]

I just finished. I've been crying too. Though I think it is going to be Track 1. There is enough evidence throughout the text to suggest that AD knew what was going to happen in the end. Still, this is really really really going to change the HG/SS ship and HP/SS ship completely. It will be interesting to see what happens. Book 7 is going to be crazy.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

It was such an awful shock...I really couldn't believe it. And I thought I wasn't affected, but then I got progressively more miserable through the day, and I kept crying at the drop of a hat, and that's when I realized how much it had gotten to me.

*hugs*

Y'know, after reading OotP I wanted the next book, sure, but after HBP I want the next book NOW NOW NOW NOW.

[deepforestowl.livejournal.com]

I feel exactly the same way about book 7! I think a lot of people do. You are not alone! *hugs*

[larilee.livejournal.com]

I think it's track one. And luckily, I also ship Snape/OFC. But I still say Dumbledore was dying and that's why he wanted Snape there and not Pomfrey.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I really wonder. The more I look at it, the more I think Track #1 could be it. I really, really, really, really hope so.

I think it hinges on a secret lurve for Lily, though, because otherwise there isn't a lot of motive on Snape's part to repent, unless he's supah-good underneath it all and we just never noticed.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

Was fug a typo? It's a real word and all... I don't remember seeing it, though.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

From Chapter 3 (American ed):

The misty fug his breath had left on the window sparkled in the orange glare of the streetlamp outside, and the artificial light drained his face of all color, so that he looked ghostly beneath his shock of untidy black hair.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

Definately not a typo, then. That's a real word.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

From dictionary.com: A heavy, stale atmosphere.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

A-ha! I had assumed it was a typo, and she meant "fog", because the dictionary I have doesn't list it, and the only other person who mentioned it in the last day thought it was British slang for something else entirely.

I retract my laugh.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, but I 'guess' that fug is a corruption of fugue? Don't quote me on that, though.

She has at least two other typos, though.

[snapesforte.livejournal.com]

I am so pleased with this book, it is my absolute favourite book of all time. I know that many people would like to believe that he did it for reason 1, but I have severe doubts - and I'm quite pleased about that, to be honest. JKR has been saying forever that 'Snape is a deeply horribel person', and I kept asking to her to prove it... Erm... mission accomplished, I suppose, though he could have been much worse, which some people are taking comfort from.

I got so sick of people writing him as a Gryffindor, or a Hufflepuff, and worse, people writing essays about Snape the Gryffindor. Snape is every bit the Slytherin I expected him to be (especially as the Head of that house) - and his murdering Dumbledore does not prove this - what proves this, is why he did it. Ron said that breaking the vow means death, so after analysing the situation, and finding that Draco was not capable of doing what the Dark Lord wanted, Snape had to do it, as Phineas would say, to save his own neck. The question that still remains to be answered, is why stick his neck out for the Malfoys? Obviously, his relationship with the whole family is very significant to him.

However, I think that there are still a few twists in the tale, where Snape is concerned, but because I am quite concenred about his fate in book 7, I am prepared to wait a very long time for those. :)

p.s. So pleased I got to see his house!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

CHAPTER TWO MADE ME SQUEE!! (re seeing the house) I was practically wallowing in it. I wanted to get online and shout I TOLD YOU SO! to everyone who was writing Snape Manor fics. heh!

I think Track #1 and #3 are both plausible. I think as far as canon!Snape goes, I understand what happened, but as far as fanon!Snape goes...well, he's toast, and that hurt a bit, when I think of tLS. Oh well. Lots of new canon details, spells, interesting bits and bobs.

I think she did several things on purpose for the fan community. Blaise as a more fully developed character, Severus outlining in Chap 2 the things that made him look like he wasn't a loyal DE...

and ESPECIALLY the bit where Hermione mentions that all of the Time Turners were destroyed during the MoM scene of OotP. That blew me away.

[tbranch.livejournal.com]

I had to be FIRST to draw stuff. It HAD to be done! Bwhahahahaha!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

And you have done your job well. *applauds*

[elddonnemar.livejournal.com]

My theory combines elements from Track #1 and Track #3, in which, as soon as Snape informed Dumbledore of Voldemort's plan to kill him using Draco, Dumbledore asked Snape to agree to perform the unbreakable vow and gain Voldemort's ultimate trust.

After Harry's been shown all the memories and witness Dumbledore's death, he would be ready to take on what is necessary to defeat Voldemort. From the inside, Snape would be able to help him at the last minute, or find out what/where the last Hoxcruxe is from the inside.

I like the idea of RAB being Regulus Black.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Someone said that the last Horcrux is Harry himself, but I dunno.

It's pretty obvious that Ddore didn't think he was going to make it out alive that school year, I think, and the training he gave Harry was vital. Though I don't understand why he had to go through so much to get Slughorn's memory, when Ddore already seemed to understand what it was about. Weird little test.

I want to know who accompanied Regulus to the island!!

[elddonnemar.livejournal.com]

If Harry is the last Horcrux, then the prophecy would be wrong, because Harry would have to kill himself first before Voldemort could be killed. Since the whole story is told through Harry, that seems very unlikely.

The whole series of memory and events concerning them seem entirely for Harry's benefit in every way (and the readers). Harry retrieving the memory is a lesson in dealing with others. He was never all that good with it, and if he manages to drag the memory out of Slughorn, then he would have improved radically in understanding how people works. Even though he did it with the help of Felix, he was shown how it could have been done, which he could mimic or understand the principles later on.

There is a possibility that Regulus did not need any accompaniment...

[privatemaladict.livejournal.com]

I still have hopes for Snape. Though I must say, I was hoping he'd break his unbreakable vow and die a noble death. I was wrong. Still I have my fingers crossed for you Track #1. Not because I've ever been that fond of fanon!Snape, but because I want Dumbledore's trust in people inherent goodness, his faith in people to be proven right. What can I say, I'm young and idealistic. :)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I agree with you...I really do hope that Snape wins out in the end and proves himself.

Though a part of me relishes the fact that he was so damned evil and...wow in this one.

[bat-git.livejournal.com]

I'm still shipping NT/SS.

*pouts and kicks dirt*

PS- I agree with Track three, although we will have to wait YEARS to find out.
I love Snape like a fat kid loves cake, though.
Even if he is " deh ebil"

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I wonder how long the next book will be. I think I remember hearing something about OotP being the longest of the series, and the last two wouldn't be as long...

[gillieweed.livejournal.com]

My fanon Snape's not dead. My fanon Snape did the same thing. 'cept not to DDore.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

My fanon Snape did some naughty stuff too, and might still do some naughty stuff, but he's pretty much good on the inside, just has a hard time showing it.

Yeah, he's marshmallow fluff, and, well, HBP pretty much exploded that. ;)

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

I admit I'm in shock. But not in a bad way.

It's very strange to realize that the Severus I thought I knew--the man in my head--is gone, probably for good. And the man in my head was a pretty ruthless piece of work.

The fic I was writing is completely shot. I posted the first chapter before my computer pitched a fit, but like a dolt forgot to make it a public post once I had done making final adjustments. Maybe that's fortunate--I'm happy with the writing, but it's just so far from canon now it isn't even AU.

The second, third, and part of the fourth chapters are handwritten on legal pads, but I don't think I'm even going to bother transcribing them. I think this is the sign I needed to stop playing around with fanfic and start working on my original fiction in earnest.

I do hope you can finish tLS (and I also hope zaneraal(sp?) finishes "Ashen and Sober Skies"). If you can't, however, I understand completely.

While I'm mourning the man in my head, I admit to finding an unseemly amount of pleasure in the fact that JKR sank a lot of really bad ships and wrecked all sorts of ludicrous fanon ideas about Severus. I mean, really--just think of it--there will be no more DADA-teaching Mary Sues. Jo's killed off fluffy!Snape and dadddy!Snape, and burnt Snape Manor to the ground. In order to write a new Marriage Law Challenge or Snarry fic after this, the author would have to be smoking crack by the truckload. I don't see how anyone will be able to write them, after this.

This may be just the thing the fandom needed--maybe it will even stop that insane woman who has churned out well over a million words in that dreadful Jennifer Craw Snape-saga.

I am sure we'll see lots of fics with an angsty, tormented Severus ultimately redeeming himself and restoring his reputation postwar so he can shag/be shagged by/get impregnated by Harry or redeemed!Draco. I can just smell it.

I do miss Snape/Lupin, though. I really, really wanted to see them put the past behind them, realize how badly they really wanted each other, and settle down in a nice, cozy cottage together after the war. [sighs] But I can live with it...

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can't believe how many ships were sunk! Writers will try to write around it, of course.

I am really sad about Snape/Lupin. There are so many great writers writing Snupin...wah!

I wonder how many of these stories will be thwarted by this new canon...some people, people who are more into canon, will most likely not write as many SS/HG stories because it would be so hard to.

What are the WIKTT people going to do?

And Jennifer Craw is unstoppable.

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

What are the WIKTT people going to do?

Give up? [looks hopeful]

Nah. We aren't that lucky. They'll just start writing a lot of postwar fics in which Hermione--who knows The Truth about Severus--stands by her man as he tries to rebuild his shattered reputation. We either get evil!Ron or war widow!Hermione, depending on how much actual canon the writer chooses to invoke.

Postwar fics in which Severus is revealed to be a noble, moral man forced by circumstance to do horrible things (which haunt him and can only be healed by lots of sex) will be the new black for crap Snapefic. Just watch--you'll see.

And Jennifer Craw is unstoppable.

She's the Energizer Bunny of Mary Sues.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're right, of course you're right, people will continue to write, they'll just have to come up with festive variations on the unsuitable-partner!Ron theme...

And we'll have even more wangsty Severus...which isn't bad for me, as I have such a taste for h/c Snape...heh.

Jennifer Craw is like a Thing Mary Sue. Nothing can stand in her way.

[snapes-patronus.livejournal.com]

Aww, but I like my wangsty Severus h/c slash with Remus in the comforter role.

Hmm. Maybe I'll write a postwar Severus/Remus/Tonks menage a trois. Severus needs lots of tea, which Remus gently provides, and Tonks keeps inadvertently smashing the teacups. It could work.

[batshit insanity ensues]

Oh, and Jennifer Craw is the distressingly-fecund Molly Weasley of Mary Sues (yeah, I'm grasping, here).

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

It suppose would help if I posted as myself...

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I loooove wangsty Sev h/c with Remus being Mr. I'll-help-you...mmmm.

Jennifer Craw is like the lime Jell-o of the HP world. Always there on the table. No matter how much you think is gone, there's always more.

[morricone1900.livejournal.com]

Wow...this is like reading something in another language. I have NO idea what anyone's talking about. :D My entire lifetime exposure to HP has been snoozing through the first movie. But then I've never read or seen the LORD OF THE RINGS books or movies either... *hides*

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Take yourself to a bookstore, young man!

[angelruse.livejournal.com]

Hey, I agree with many of your comments. Goodish!Snape isn't dead. I don't think so. I could be wrong, but all the little clues in the book could suggest, as you said, he did it at Dumbledore's ordering. I've written a journal entry about it, too.

When I first read him killing Dumbledore, I was sick inside. I felt betrayed, stunned, numb. But the more I think of it, the more I think we're being hoodwinked into taking for granted Snape's apparent evil. I think a lot of people are going to be shocked to find out just why Dumbledore trusted Snape (because as Remus seemed to imply, the simple fact that Snape revealed he'd overhead seemed a dubious reason for Dumbledore to just go and trust Snape to his own death), and be stunned by Dumbledore's trust truly being justified.

I hope, anyway. I can't give up on my Half-Blood Prince. Not yet.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I totally want to find out why Ddore trusts him so much. And the clues...they can add up to different things, and I really am chomping at the bit to find out what's up.

JKR really plays her cards well, doesn't she!

[angelruse.livejournal.com]

She certainly does. ;) I'm all twisted up inside with thoughts, emotions and theories. ;)

[killerqueen42.livejournal.com]

I've never been much of a Snape fan, and I really, REALLY wanted to hate him in HBP, but... I was convinced of Track 1 by someone at this messageboard who pointed out that Dumbledore would never, ever plead for his own life, yet he took on a pleading tone when saying "Severus, Please" so he was really pleading for Snape to kill him. Heck, before that, when they saw the Dark Mark over the castle, Ddore specificly wanted Harry to fetch Snape, I assume to kill him. Also as Snape is yelling "DON'T CALL ME A COWARD!" Harry notes that his face seemed to be filled with as much pain as poor, howling Fang.

The real sticky part is weather Snape will convince anyone in the Order of this, since Ddore presumably didn't tell anyone else about the Unbreakable Vow, and how everyone was genuinely shocked.

I do have sympathy for Snape fans, it does seem even more heartbreaking than if Snape were to just die. Of course now it seems almost certain that Snape will die, and his last act will be to help Harry.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I really am freaking out because I am thinking that if it is Track #1, then how the hell will Snape convince Harry? How the hell is he going to endure this? Harry is hot-headed...he'll just go in, wand blazing, and Snape will be dead, and...ugh. I know I'll be on pins and needles if I have to read a long passage where Harry has Snape at the business end of his wand and Snape is forced to explain everything, only there isn't time to explain everything...argh!

[aramintasnape.livejournal.com]

Yes, I felt depressed too, even though the book was excellent.

I do think Snape was acting on Dumbledore's orders, but whether he did it for the right reasons or not, I just cannot decide.

Spinner's End was absolutely fabulous. I was floating on clouds. I was so incredibly astonished by that chapter, and so happy to see a non-Harry POV about Snape

I loved this chapter! I sat there with a big grin on my face as I read it. I'm really pleased we were given so much more info on Snape's background. Okay, it might not have been exactly what I wanted to hear, but it was still a gripping read.

Do finish tLS! It's a great story and deserves to be finished!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I have my fingers crossed that Snape was fulfilling Ddore's request.

I want to finish tLS. Thank you for the sweet words! :)

[igooch.livejournal.com]

Woah, I didn't even THINK of Dumbledore knowing about the unbreakable vow. I was thinking Snape is really good but he saw it necessary to kill Dumbledore to get as close to Voldie as possible so then he could turn on him at the right moment. But track one makes more sense to me, and I definately hope that's the right one!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I'm still thinking about it. I think that all three tracks have something to recommend them, and I'm really uncertain where JKR is going. It would be such a waste if he were a standard villain...I hope Track #1 is the correct one too!