featherxquill

Well, that was a surreal experience. I just bought tights from 'We Love Colors' for my stepfather. Apparently, this year's Valla theme is 'medieval'. They're planning Robin Hood and Maid Marian. What I find most amusing was that my mother asked me where I thought she might be able to get green tights for men, and I knew the answer immediately. I love you, internet.

Speaking of loving the internet, I got this promotional coupon from Borders in my inbox today:

( epic win )

Seriously, if someone actually turns up at Borders in their budgie smugglers on the weekend just for an extra 5% discount, they win at life.

For those not in the know, Julia Gillard 'the ranga' and Tony Abbott 'the budgie smuggler', the two main contenders in this weekend's election (bipartisan image posting - they both look ridiculous).

While I'm on the election, check out this Old Spice Man Parody that was on last night's episode of the Chaser's 'Yes We Canberra'. I can't decide if it's funny and clever or incredibly sad (probably both, really - clever parody, sad because it's true).


And now, meme. Nearly finished!

29. Favourite location

Diagon Alley and surrounds. If I were a Muggleborn stepping into the Wizarding world for the first time, I can't imagine anything would ever trump that first sight of the hub of the British Wizarding World - the shops, the people, the life going by. If I were there now, I would buy ice-cream at Fortescue's an just sit and watch, take it all in. I can't imagine a better end to my summer holidays than that chapter in PoA when Harry gets to stay at a room at the Leaky Cauldron and wander around all day. I love cities - the people, the atmosphere, the bustle - so I really don't think I could go past where it's all at in London.

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I was wearing blue stockings at work today. I love coloured stockings, though I did feel a little bit like Smurfette. Of course, as soon as I had that thought, I had this song stuck in my head, which, yes, um, what? (Warning, that vid is NSFW and will destroy your childhood).

Today's meme:

26. What aspect of the books has been best translated to film?

The setting. Diagon Alley, Hogwarts and surrounds (along with temporary locations like the Quidditch World Cup) come to vivid life on screen in a way that is even more real than in the books. I like both versions of Hogwarts - Chris Columbus' airbrushed fairytale in PS and CoS works so well in visually describing Harry's awe at his new home, and it works particularly well when juxtaposed against the grittier, real locations we see in later films when Harry matures a bit and starts to become aware of the darkness in this world as well. That Harris' Dumbledore became Gambon's Dumbledore at the same time works really well, too.

Apart from that, I think one thing the films are able to capture really well quite early on is Ron and Hermione's relationship. As early as CoS (and it didn't start to come clear in the books until later), we can see that Hermione's relationship with Ron is very different to the one she has with Harry (that scene in which she appears in the Great Hall, having been un-petrified, is absolutely perfect in capturing it).

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22. Your favourite villain

HP villains are pretty cool. Voldemort is a pretty scary villain. A bit cardboard, but pretty scary. Bellatrix is batshit crazy, and kind of attractive in that way cruel, sadistic women can be to the people intrigued by them. Umbridge is terrifying because she is so real, the most 'real-world' of the villains in the series. Fenrir Greyback is skin-crawlingly skeevy. Seriously, Rowling's choice to put an obvious metaphor for a child rapist into her children's series was just gah, yes. He is the most disgusting villain in the series, in the visceral sense of 'disgusting'.

My favourites villains, though, are the Malfoys. I love them because they're the ones she humanised. All those others I mentioned are so black and white; caricatures, if scary ones. I love the fact that Jo showed us, in the Malfoys, that there actually can be shades of grey. She showed us a family who believe wholeheartedly in the ideologies of their leader, but had perhaps found themselves in too deep with the actual figurehead (I don't believe that they ever wanted him to come back.) She showed us people who were nasty to others they considered less than them, but were at the same time a loyal and loving family. They, along with Snape, are the only Deatheaters we get a sense of humanity from, and I really love that Jo chose to write them that way.


23. Share some HP icons

That I made? I'm guessing so, because I couldn't even begin to 'share icons' if they included every HP icon I'd ever seen that I adored.

It's funny, because most of my more recent icons (read: better) aren't actually HP, but here are a few I've done that I quite like:

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24. Rant about Steve Kloves something

I really have no strong opinion on Steve Kloves.


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19. A Several favorite fanart(s)

What? No. I didn't modify the question at all.

But seriously, one? I can't.

So here are a handful. All worksafe, except where noted.

Firstly, nothing quite compares to having an amazing artist draw gifts for you, so this one by Marquis (eldivinomarques) has a very special place in my heart.

Of course, there's also the manip of Marquis' I posted on day 11, and Private Interview (NWS), a Rita/Snape drawing that is not only smoking hot, but provided the inspiration for my tattoo as well (yes, I did crop it before I took it to the artist *g*).

Also, Makani (buttfacemakani). I can spend hours on her website, just looking at things I've seen lots of times, all over again.

But my favourites are the silly ones. Here are some I especially adore:

I know how it all ends - how DH *should* have ended.

The Lestranges brotherly love

Have a biscuit, Potter

Who knew those hoods were drawstring?

McGonagall needs a Scottie dog

SPEW does not approve

It was seriously hard to post only that many. I could link her entire website.


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17. Your favourite celebs from the movies or fandom

This calls for a picspam.

( Here it is! )

14. Moments in the books/movies that made you cry

Dumbledore's death/funeral. I was a great big mess reading that. I may have cried in the movie, too, I'm not sure, but in the book those scenes were so powerful. God, the phoenix lament. The idea of Fawke's singing... gah.

Also, Dobby's death. God. Dobby. I read DH while staying with chibitoaster and cocohufflepuffs (chain-smoking Nat Sherman's on the porch in Nebraska summer, sitting on the rail because I couldn't put it down long enough to go back inside, and oh, since I'm out here *lights another*) and I read it faster than them, and since we couldn't not talk about it, I made it my thing to just listen to the others talk about it and their thoughts and not say much of anything. And at one point Rana was all 'I don't think I could handle it if Dobby died', and I was *swallow*.

Everything in the final battle happened a little too fast, I think, for me to really cry over it. But I remember closing the book for a few moments after Fred and whispering (lest the others hear me) you bitch. Because, although I didn't cry, it was the most horrible death I could have imagined.


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To the wank that seems to be going down at crack_broom, I have to say: LOL

No, seriously. People butthurt because their pairing has been demoted to a rarepair? Oh, the horror! You will see less recs on one particular comm for fic you will most likely be made aware of already by your flists/newsletters/other communities? Disaster!

Forgive me, but as someone who sees new fic featuring her favourite character once every three of four months (Beholder, usually at least one for a holiday exchange of some kind, and the occasional person who writes one out of the blue - ILU!), you must see how incredibly amused I am by the butthurt.

May I recommend reading Internet Drama and You? I think there are some people who could do with the 3Ps right now (that was written for RPers, but the ideas are equally as valid when talking about fanfic).

Now, on with the meme. Is it just me, or are some of these getting ever so slightly repetitive?

12. Favorite movie scene

Well, I love the movies, so it's kind of hard. I am frequently blown away by the sheer shiny, and only later do I realise what is missing, or on re-watching notice things that are actually kind of annoying. So I love a lot of the movie scenes: Every single one of Rita's, Minerva's, Snape's. Others? David Bradley's Filch is amazing, Lucius being dead sexy in CoS, Poppy Pomfrey! I really enjoyed Gemma Jones as Poppy in CoS, and was glad to see her again in HBP, even if she had no lines. Maybe in DH she'll get to say something? I love the Quidditch World Cup and the Yule Ball in GoF, loved seeing the Ministry of Magic in OotP, and yes, lots.

One of my favourite scenes, though, off the top of my head, didn't even make it into the films. It is the deleted scene in which Minerva addresses the Gryffindor common room after Sirius Black breaks in, and not only does she have her hair out (yay!), but Sir Cadogan (I LOVE SIR CADOGAN. IS THERE FIC ABOUT SIR CADOGAN?) is absolutely seriously trying to ravish the girl in the portrait before Minerva wants to speak to him. This scene is awesome. I am very sad that Sir Cadogan and hairout!Minerva got cut, but am glad we got to see it on the deleted scenes (I am absolutely certain they filmed more Rita than we got to see - there are pictures of her in costume during the third task, and when Harry is howling over Cedric's body, you can see, in the shadows, a hint of red coat that probably belonged to her, and why would they put her in costume and have her there unless they originally filmed her doing a bit more than sitting there/standing around? But we never got to see any of that, so my guess is that it all ended up on the cutting room floor somewhere. With any luck, after all the films are made, some ludicrously long and expensive re-releases will happen, featuring all the extra fun stuff they had left lying around).

Here are the deleted scenes from PoA. The one I'm talking about starts at about 4:36. Watching the first few seconds of this reminds me how much I hate the shrunken head.



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So, I'm at work now. I have my coffee. The world is back on its axis. And it is Friday, which means I get to sleep forever tonight (and possibly watch The Men's Room, which will apparently scar me for life or something, so I'm quite looking forward to it). Even if I am doing a supermarket shift on Saturday night. Hopefully it won't be too busy, and there will be money, so that will be nice.

Anyway, I've been avoiding this meme entry for two days because it sounded like it was going to take forever, but I decided this morning on my long-ass drive that I'm not really sure it would.

10. Favorite book moment(s)

There are so many moments that I love that its hard to think of them all. It really is. I can think of a few that I was full of glee when reading - the twins leaving Hogwarts is the biggest of those, and several that I loved for the characters being awesome - 'We teachers tend to be rather good at magic' and Minerva's display of solidarity with Sybill in OotP - damn classy of her, since she makes it clear in PoA that she doesn't like Sybill at all. Aunt Muriel in DH, being caustic and hilarious. Rita Skeeter all dishevelled and acidic in OotP. Not my daughter, you bitch. And some that I love for the sheer power of them - Cedric's death, Dobby's death, Harry in the forest, don't call me a coward.

But if I had to pick one, just one, it would be the Christmas scene from PoA. I just. 'Tripe, Sybill?' and 'Imagine that' and just that entire idea of almost all of the students home for the holidays and so Christmas dinner being this tiny little affair with all of the teaachers and students at the one table. It appeals to me on a pure fantasist level. I was the kind of student who absolutely adored my teachers (quietly, because not being quiet about it in high school was an invitation to mockery), and I lived for any glimpse I could get behind the 'teacher facade'. I can imagine, were I a student at Hogwarts, that I would have been exactly the same. So a dinner like that would have been a dream come true, to me.


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Fristly, muchly amusing reading:

“Raptors” Versus T-Rex: An Analysis In Prehistoric Fright

Six Words That Need to be Banned From the English Language

Secondly, moar meme:

08. Your favorite ship(s)

Well. Where do I begin? As I'm sure you've all probably noticed, I am a complete whore for rarepairs. I never had much at all invested in any of the canon ships, and for me, writing a pairing is not about having an OTP so much as throwing two people together convincing people that this could work (with varying levels of success, I suspect). Reading, I am the same. I love novelty. I love seeing a pairing I never would have thought of rendered well. Sometimes, I'll read fics featuring characters I wouldn't usually bother with, simply because the pairing is so bizarre that I just want to see.

That said, there are a few pairings I return to, or that have a special place in my heart.

Minerva/Harry. I know. WTF, I hear you say, but this is one of the 'special place' pairings. The first rarepair fic I ever wrote was Minerva/Harry, and while I don't like the story much now (I was sventeen when I wrote it, I think, and a lot of my earlier fic makes me cringe a bit now), it was the first taste I had of people going 'What? Are you insane? Hey, this actually kind of... works.' It was a heady thing, being able to do things like that with characters, and it cemented my love of rarepairs forever.

Minerva/Hooch. It was reading minerva_fan's wonderful KittyHawk that introduced me to femslash, and god, am I pleased I found it. Discovering femslash and truly embracing my love of older women characters lead me to the realisation and acceptance that I wasn't as straight as I'd thought I was, and opened up whole new worlds of appreciation and inspiration.

Rita/everyone. No, seriously. I'll read her with anyone. Write me Rita/Giant Squid tentacle porn and I'll read it. But I most especially love:

Rita/Hermione. Cross-gen. An imbalance of power (not in Rita's favour). One of the first Rita pairings I ever discovered, and it was hot hot hot.

Rita/Minerva. Two of my favourite women. Need I say more?

Rita/Snape. This one is as close to an OTP as I have. I just. It's perfect, okay? A pair of snarky, ambitious Slytherins, with dashes of Deatheater and sensationalism. Especially awesome after reading DH, because it suddenly became so totally fucked up because there are few people less like Lily Potter than Rita Skeeter, and I can totally see it happening because of that, rather than despite it. You are not her, indeed.

Rita/Rufus. Once again with the snark. There is also some power play (as in, Rufus is the Minster, bitches, but he actually can't do anything about Rita being an infuriatingly nosy journalist, which is awesome). So they can snark at each other and she can taunt him and he can not so secretly want her. OR they can be a pair of very ambitious people who make a fantastic team against the world. I like them either way.


Of course, there are also all of the pairings I've ever RP'd: Rita/Kingsley, Rita/Ollivander, Rita/Neville, Rita/Irma (well, not really, but it might have happened, in Rita's mind, and they did have a fantastic friendship, so it counts to me), Muriel/George.


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I started to write a long, emo entry about how badly I want to go to DiaCon Alley, and how badly I want to go to the planned Ascendio con of 2012, and how I hate living at the arse end of the world and need moar money to travel and woe is me, but I sounded like such a privileged wanker that I couldn't stand myself. So I deleted it.

Instead, have the next entry in the 30 Day HP Meme. We can share the love online, until such time as I can afford to come and see all you awesome people in person (for the first time, or again). Or, you know, feel free to come to Australia any time :D.


06. Your favorite character(s)

Okay, wow, so. The most amusing thing about my love for HP and fandom is that it started through an enormous fangirl crush on Lucius Malfoy. I saw CoS when I was, oh, 17, and having had a thing for long-haired men for as long as I'd been aware of men in general, the sight of Jason Isaacs sauntering around the screen with a black velvet ribbon in his hair, whispering silken threats and swinging his snake cane around was enough to reduce me to a little puddle of steaming something in the cinema chair. So he has a special place in my heart (even though his book character is decidedly less suave).

From my first read? McGonagall, all the way. Strong, powerful, stern, kind-hearted, and really I am just regurgitating all the adjectives those Minerva fans on my flist have already used when saying how wonderful she is. I agree with them all. I also have a fondness for Petunia Dursley, Poppy Pomfrey, Sybill Trelawney and all the other 'old ladies', as well as Snape, Rufus Scrimgeour and Ollivander.

But of course, as is my way, the character I love best is one lots of people love least. Shall I trumpet my love for Rita Skeeter?

What do I love? I love that she is an unapologetic bitch, that she is not afraid of anyone. We are told repeatedly that Dumbeldore is the only one Voldemort ever feared, but he doesn't scare Rita Skeeter. Her response to being caught by him, in a broom cupboard with Harry? To make mention of an article in which she referred to him as an 'obsolete dingbat', and not even bat an eyelash. She spies on people in her animagus form, but then writes whatever she wants anyway. In The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, she freely admits that she used a Ministry-controlled substance on Bathilda Bagshot, just for the hell of it, I guess. She is clearly a woman with an extraordinary understanding of people and of the world, but instead of using that understanding to be critically acclaimed, instead of using her animagus ability to gather information for in-depth features, she uses them to get under people's skin and know what she can get away with, to write sensationalist gossip and bitchy opinion pieces. She just doesn't give a fuck about anything, and that is so delicious in a fictional character.

Of course, in my own personal canon, everything about her is a show. Make-up and heels and cynicism is her armour against the world, and she does feel that understanding of people very deeply. This doesn't mean that she is a completely different, fluffy person on the inside - she is quite sharp, self-centred, and difficult to deal with - but she does care, even if she pretends not to. She is quite protective of the people she cares about, especially those she sees as trusting, naive or innocent in some way (post-memory-charm Gilderoy ala shh_gilderoy, omg), and wants to keep them safe from, well, other people like her. In relationships, she is non-judgemental and understanding of people's needs and limitations, as long as they are respectful of her own (nothing makes her run away faster than someone who declares their love or threatens her independence). Above all, she is a dynamic person to be around - charming and fun - the kind of friend who is constantly full of amusing anecdotes, takes you places you would never have gone on your own, and is generous with money, gifts and time. Don't get on her bad side, though, or she'll take you to pieces.


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