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.