(no subject)

[lobelia321]

It's starting to be debilitating. I have been reading theatresm's Chaos is Come Again compulsively since I discovered it last week. I have not been posting in LJ! I have not been writiing HP fic! (Indeed, this other HP world has so sucked me into its thrall that I have been unable even to fantasise about HP fic...) My sex life has been affected by shameless ruminations along the Chaos line (t'h, luckily, is surprised by very little these days...). And I may hate WIPs from here to kingdom come (pun fully intended -- smell the cheese!) because they can be so moreish and it's like eating too many Gummibärchen all at once (I'm reminded of the time when all the students at my German uni went on strike and we had councils and strike meetings and a party where you could win Gummibärchen if you guessed the right number in the jar -- and I guessed it and won two fucking binbags full of Gummibärchen. That cured me.)

I will simply have to finish the damn thing -- no, I can't finish it because here's another reason to hate WIPs: they're never bloody finished! (I should know; I've got two WIPs pending.) And once I have resurfaced and resumed the normal semblance of my life, I shall take a week to absorb the WIP into my bloodstream and decide whether it is really febulous or just very, very good. It has its flaws but despite me noticing the flaws and swearing at all the spelling mistakes (argh), I'm still hooked and print out in obsessive manner and even read in the bath, indeed: even take a bath instead of a shower for the precise reason that I cannot read in the shower.

And all my birthday books! Lying fallow! *sniff*



In other news: am very excited because am going to Veer-Zaara tonight, the new hit by Yash Chopra who hasn't made a movie in six years, and it's got an all-star cast, headed by Shah Rukh Khan (swoon) and Preity Zinta (cute) and Rani Mukherjee (a bit of a wooden stick but gorgeous to look at), and it's about Pakistani/Indian relations and partition (and I swoon when Bollywood goes all political), and I'm luring a friend into going. Will also take blithesea's Lakritzchen along (I still have a large supply).



In still other news, here's a question for all the HP people out there:

Is Dudley stupid? And Draco, is Draco a little slow? Possibly stupider than Dudley?

And here's another question:

Does Dudley have straight or curly hair? Is there some canon contradiction? (Canontradiction?)


And yes, this is the only genuine lj-cut that actually has anything behind it. All others are just there to provide formatting variety of the blue kind.

*cackles*

Comments

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

Ah! Theatresm's "Chaos is Come Again" is good, isn't it? I dislike WIPs too, but she has said that she intends to finish the story in several more chapters and she does update regularly. Of course, this makes me rather conflicted since I know that her wonderful fic will soon end and I've really come to love her interpretations of Snape and Hermione, as well as the Potterverse. So many little details one can appreciate in this fic! And so much subtle humor (as well as a dollop of sex).

I am also surprised that more people aren't reading and commenting on this story as she posts the chapters. "Chaos" always feels like a hidden treasure. :=)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Ah, a fellow reader! You commented about this a few days ago, didn't you?? I am addicted to this WIP (and addictions aren't necessarily good...) although I don't find that there is a 'good dollop of sex' at all! I think she keeps us on a pretty tight leash with sex! We get tantalising glimpses but 90 per cent of the time we fade to black. Frustrating! To me, it suffers from the main flaws of most WIPs (and most fics, for that matter, but it's more noticeable in WIPs because they are so long and come in serial chungs): the plot tends to be a bit 'and then... and then... and then...' Not enough Aristotelian reversals and recognitions, not enough Genettian analepses, not enough clues scattered. There's some of that which makes it so addictive for me, and there's lovely back-and-forth of pov which I appreciate, and there's very nice attention to detail and evocation of place which is rare in fanfic -- but I'm still left with some buts. But addicted nevertheless.

How did we meet again, you know? Do you remember the channels???

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I believe that we started chatting about fine art on some other Potter fic thread in someone else's LJ. I recall that you're an art history major?

Theatresm has implied that she's using her journal to 'beta' the fic and intends to 'publish' it as one complete story when she finishes. I suspect she might even tweak the story a bit. So, in a way, we're getting a preview of the story. Theatresm has not gone out of her way to advertise this fic and was suprised when the WIKTT fans started popping in since she's not involved with WIKTT despite this being a SS/HG fic.

As for the sex, considering how chaste her earlier 'big' fic was, Theatresm seems to have put quite a bit more in this time around. If this fic maddens you, then you'll probably want to avoid her other Snape/OC romance fic titled "Brave New World," although it does have a sex scene told from the POV of Snape's pet raven familiar which is rather unique. The author is very talented at writing sex scenes though...the wedding night in "Chaos" scene was particularly memorable as it veered between horrible and erotic and detached.

I also admire the humor in this story. It's character-based, subtle and dry. And she writes such an excellently snarky Canon!Snape. :=)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

It's interesting what different views you end up with, depending on what angle people are coming from. I had never heard of Theatresm; I hadn't even realised that Hermione/Snape had a big following, I thought it was a totally weird obscure pairing! And what is WIKTT? And of course I hadn't read her other Snape fic . And I do agree with you: the sex she does write is extremely good -- and that is why I'm so frustrated that there's not more of it! I loved the defloration sex!

Interesting, also, your point how Theatresm is using LJ as a kind of ongoing beta check. I never dare do that, although I've been tempted. And how she hasn't advertised herself about the place.

Ah, I remember the fine art exchange now! Was this when I had my Pollock icon?

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

I think so. At this point we should probably just be chatting on AIM or something. ;=) Do you ever use it?

I've seen a number of people posting or 'beta-ing' their fics (and even artwork) in their own journals (or specially-created ones for updates and announcements). It seems to be the new trend in online fandom. Theatresm isn't truly beta-ing, per se...she seems to have the story set when she posts the chapters and the chapters look pretty finalized to me.

WIKTT stands for "When I Kissed the Teacher" and is the biggest Snape/Hermione fan group on Yahoo. I believe that "lovedraughts" is the SS/HG LJ group and Ashwinder is the biggest SS/HG fic archive. It's an odd pairing, but like Snarry, if you can come up with a reasonable explanation why she's with a bastard like Snape, then it can work. There's an excellent dark SS/HG fic titled "Falling Further In" which sadly remains abandoned (but well worth tracking down and reading). "Falling Further In" has some truly creepy imagery in it.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Ashwinder!

Sounds like the name of a Bollywood movie star.

But then it's probably pronounced Ash WYnder and not Ashvinder as I first thought...

[fivil.livejournal.com]

Veer-Zaara! Whoo, awesome. I'm really looking forward to hearing what you and others thought of it as it's such an awaited film.

As for the HP things, I've always thought the almost-as-smart-as-Hermione!Draco was fully fanon. He's not the most clever of Slytherins, but neither is he entirely stupid. A bit slow, yes.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Eeep! A fellow Bollywood fan!

*squees* Now, how did you know it was an awaited film? I found this out once I had typed googled 'Veer-Zaara' but what's the best source for all the new Bollywood releases?

Yes, Draco. I, too, don't think he's top of the class. He's average, he does all right. I like him as a character. Love him, in fact. He's my Mary Sue. But he's not as intelligent as Hermione. (Though I fancy that I am, huh. *g*)

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

I don't think that anyone is as intelligent as Hermione...except perhaps Snape. Which is why a lot of fans like to pair them up. I'm not really a huge SS/HG fan, but I can see the appeal. Both of them are very bookish as well as logical-minded (logic which seems to be a rarity in magical folk).

Bollywood movies are fun. I love the costumes and silly songs! And the dancing! :=)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Yes, I can see that to be a reason for Snape/Hermione. And yes, Hermione is the cleverest, I totally agree there.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm a Bollywood-fan and though a newbie, I know the Yash Raj Films releases are generally awaited. Especially ones with SRK! :D

Also, the people at bollywood have been discussing the soundtrack and the film in general, so that's how the title sort of stuck with me.

That comm, WahIndia TV (wahindia.com) and the Filmfare magazine online (http://movies.indiatimes.com) are my main sources for Bollywood stuff. :]

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

I've seen it now and well, you can read my review at bollywood! :-=)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

My impression of Dudley is that he's somewhat slow, but it's hard to tell, because he's so very lazy. Taken to sufficient extremes, lazy is the same thing as stupid. If he stopped being lazy -- well, a good writer could make me believe him as anything from slightly-above-average down to usually-able-to-prevent-self-from-drooling-in-public.

As for Draco, his position in society makes it tough to extrapolate his intelligence from his actual achievement. His family's money and power are clearly able to buy him some kinds of success, and something has bought him Snape's favor. On the other hand, he's so arrogant that he doesn't pay attention, leading to unfortunate hippogriff incidents. My personal take on it is that he's got more intelligence than average, and more magical power than average, but he's so weak of character that he can't turn any of that to his advantage. But a good writer could probably make me believe he's dumber than George W.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

*giggles*

Thank you on your take.

Here's my take.

Dudley is actually quite clever. He's not like Crabbe and Goyle; he's fat but not thick. He's never been tutored in life and social skills and love properly; he lets out his frustrations through violence and through stuffing his face. My inkling is that the stuffing gets knocked out of him first by Harry being a wizard and by his parents whom he's used to having dote on him not being able to protect him from this, and secondly, by being at Smeltings. Smeltings seems to me to be one of those semi-posh but really rough boarding schools where Dudley is no longer the big fish in a small pond and he doesn't have his mates there to back him up -- he doesn't apply himself academically but he's got a sort of native cunning that asserts itself under the conditions of Smeltings.

Draco is not as clever as he's made out to be in fanon. We don't see, as far as I remember, him getting outstanding marks at school; he does all right but he skates along on skills he's learned from home: class arrogance, and, I imagine, once he's grown out of teenage sulkdom, a certain polish in social relations. However, I also see him as coming completely off the tracks when his dad is revealed as less than all-powerful.

Both Dudley and Draco have major family-issues.

Harry is not clever as such but he's got so much survival skills that it's almost the equivalent of being clever. He's got sheer dogged persistence and (this is my reading of his future) will walk across corpses to survive. He's a survivor, not a prevaricator about morals.

[lazulus]

...even take a bath instead of a shower for the precise reason that I cannot read in the shower.

*cackles*

Why do you think I spend hours in the bath? I tell you, it's one excellent reason for owning a Palm!!

In one way I am sorry that my reckless rec has interrupted your life so much but in every other way I am thrilled you are enjoying it so much!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I am fickle.

All of a sudden, I stopped reading it.

Now I'm thinking that getting obsessed with online fic is sometimes a symptom for me of getting a bit depressey-down. I think I've been subdued, in the wake of the adrenaline high of going for that job interview and the drop when I didn't get it. And instead of dealing with that, I retreated into the fictional world.

I have ambivalent thoughts about this. Because it seems to be denigrating my reading pleasure by saying it's just a symptom of depression, and seems to be denigrating the achievement of the writer. But I don't know: then I sort of faced up and fessed up and admitted to myself that I was feeling down and then went and watched Bollywood instead (my other big route of escape).

Then I started reading Phil Hensher's new novel, The Fit and suddenly the uncharitable thought hit me that most published fiction is much better than most online fanfic.

Now I'll have to go and ponder that one. But am now hooked on The Fit and found myself actually just scrolling through Chaos to get to a sex bit -- which, what with it being Chaos, was not very sexy at all but angsty and unfulfilling and full of denial.

Anyway, am off to Stowe School tomorrow to convince them to send us students. (I got into a panic even about that one, too.)

[lazulus]

*rolls eyes*

We should converse about the depressy-down thing when we see each other because it's very interesting.

I always think of fanfic and fiction as two entirely separate things, with entirely separate reasons to enjoy them. Frankly, in my opinion, there's no comparison -- and with regards to fanfic, I don't mean that negatively.

Anyway, I shall continue to follow Chaos until the finish [she updated a couple of days ago] and have added it to the selection of WIPs I choose to follow.

Good luck at Stowe!! Am very much looking forward to seeing you and can't wait to see what's on the agenda... ;)

[childeproof.livejournal.com]

'Chaos is Come Again' is a many-splendoured thing! I've been glued my desk tweaking a conference paper on an author and topic I've never before approached (which is making me nervous as hell, as is the fact I'm going to be giving it at my undergraduate institution in front of several people who taught me then...) and it has cheered me endlessly. I read it all in an astonishingly short space of time.

Like you, I have a (marking-enchanced) eagle eye for the continual mis-spellings, and, possibly more maddeningly, continual mis-use of 'shall' for 'will'. (Too many American appear to believe 'shall' is a synonym for 'will' and stick it in everywhere as a marker of british English.)

I haven't yet left feedback, but was planning, after the admiration the fic deserves, to link to somewhere that explains the shall/will matter, but have

(A) discovered I cannot myself articulate the rules, but only know instinctively where to use 'shall'/'shan't' etc and

(B) haven't found anywhere which explains them clearly. Fowler is clear as mud on the subject, for instance.

What you said above about reading on-line fic being a symptom of all not being right with you, I do know what you mean. I mean, I'm capable of plunging into an obsessive reading of anything, in any spirit, at any time (I'm entirely with you on the bath vs shower for reading reasons issue), but there's a certain desperate quality of attention/immersion in a fictional world you have when unhappy.
I can still link specific readings/re-readings of particular novels to traumas.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

What you said above about reading on-line fic being a symptom of all not being right with you,
I've discovered, though, that being off-line can be, for me, a symptom of all not being even righter with me. (or however to phrase that) As in the past ten days or so. When I couldn't even read fanfic, I felt that low. Had a weeping fit over my Introduction. Academe is stressful.

Shall he? Shan't he? I thought that the rule for will vs shall was will = future and shall = plan.

Orli will fuck Sean. = Statement of what is going to happen.

Orli shall fuck Sean. = Statement of intent.

Hm. But isn't it also different, depending on who's talking?

Thou shalt fuck Sean! = order

I shall fuck Sean! = statement of intent