up and running

[mamajoan]

I've finished uploading all the important stuff back onto my website. It should be fully functional now, knock on wood. Some of the kitty pictures may still be missing (*snif*) but I'll get those up soon.

I'm about halfway through reading the second Harry Potter book, and I have just one little thing to ask of those of y'all who have seen the movie already. In the movie, just how graphic is the dead-cat part? Cuz I might need to look away. :( In related wonderings, why isn't anyone writing perfectly innocent, wholesome Lockhart/Lucius slash rather than the evil, wrong, going-to-the-special-hell kiddie porn most of y'all seem to be writing? ;) I'm just sayin'. ;)

I have to say that in this book, perhaps even more so than the first one, I find Rowlings' writing style quite clunky. She does several paragraphs of pure action, and then a throwaway sentence "Harry was very frightened/angry/surprised" and then jumps back into the action. It's awkward, and it's poor storytelling. But I guess I'm not her target audience, so what do I know. Hmf.

Comments

Going to the special hell!

[munoz.livejournal.com]

Ah, that made me laugh.

Rowlings' style improves, I'm told. She wasn't much of a writer at the start. The first book is actually quite atrocious, as far as novels go. The absence of a plot is distressing. But book 2 is an improvement and, according to people who've been able to get through the next 2, she learns her craft as she goes.

Re: Going to the special hell!

[shmuel.livejournal.com]

I liked the first one, so I might not be the best person to comment on the last comment, but I thought book two was the weakest of the series. (There turn out to be valid reasons for making it that way, but I still think it could've been done better.) With that exception, the series gets getter as it goes along, though.

[boiwondering.livejournal.com]

Mrs. Norris isn't dead, merely petrified, but it does initially look like she's been killed and hung up by her tail. It's a rather unsettling scene, especially for cat-lovers, but not really graphic. If you go into the film with that in mind, it might help. (Or it might not; I was pretty squicked by that scene at first, and I've read the books.)

More disturbing for me was the scene with the GIANT FREAKIN' SPIDER, most of which I failed to see (being too busy covering my face and whimpering).

[azurelunatic]

I was squeaking and occasionally grabbing the arm of the Ravenclaw next to me for the spider stuff, though I must admit that I found the smaller ones far more disturbing.

[azurelunatic]

Mmmm, I like your pairings for slash. Mmmm. Mmmm. Yep, I want to see some of that.

[lasayla.livejournal.com]

How graphic is the dead-cat part?

Not so bad. The one they use is pretty obviously a stuffed toy and not onscreen for very long.

And there is closure at the end for the cat-lovers, albeit briefly.

I have to say that in this book, perhaps even more so than the first one, I find Rowlings' writing style quite clunky.

I thought the second book was the weakest. There's a dramatic increas in quality during books three and four. The action-action-action-emotion thing remains, but that's partly down to the nature of the character. I'm fully expecting the seventh book to be called 'Harry Potter and the much more interesting supporting characters'.

Why isn't anyone writing perfectly innocent, wholesome Lockhart/Lucius slash rather than the evil, wrong, going-to-the-special-hell kiddie porn most of y'all seem to be writing?

You like Lucius before you've seen the movie? Hee hee! You're gonna love what Jason Isaacs does with the role. I was kind of ambivalent about the character in the books, I saw the promo pictures of Isaacs and thought he wasn't pretty enough and then I saw the movie. There's something about the voice and the bearing. Like Calli said, I want to lick him.

As for the kiddie porn, the books are set in Great Britain. Have you had a look at our teen pregnancy rate lately? All that U16 smut would be canon if Rowling were writing from life. If Hermione were real, there's a 25% chance that she'd have lost her virginity by the end of 'Prisoner of Azkaban'! </cynical>

[ladyvyola.livejournal.com]

In related wonderings, why isn't anyone writing perfectly innocent, wholesome Lockhart/Lucius slash rather than the evil, wrong, going-to-the-special-hell kiddie porn most of y'all seem to be writing? ;) I'm just sayin'. ;)

Because the allure of badeviljustwrongness cannot be fought? I'm just sayin'.

And personally, I'm finding it a tremendous outlet for some of my power-inequality buttons that haven't been pushed by anything else. The things we learn about ourselves....

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Because the allure of badeviljustwrongness cannot be fought?

But there are plenty of badevilwrong pairings that aren't also pedophilic. I dunno, sex involving kids just does not turn me on, no matter what else it has to recommend it.

And personally, I'm finding it a tremendous outlet for some of my power-inequality buttons that haven't been pushed by anything else.

If it's power dynamic you're looking for, why can't you go find some nice, innocent, wholesome Lex/Lionel?? ;)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

You like Lucius before you've seen the movie?

No, let me be clear, I'm not saying I *like* anything about it. I don't really care about any of the characters and I'm not even particularly enjoying the books; I'm just reading them out of a weird sense of obligation. Frankly, I have zero interest in HP slash of any sort. Less than zero, even, since I'm actively avoiding it. I'm just saying that *if* I were inclined toward slashing HP, it wouldn't even occur to me to use the kids, because, ew. So I'd be all, "okay, which of these adult characters would make sense in slash pairings?" And Lockhart/Lucius jumps immediately to mind. That's all I'm sayin'.

As for the kiddie porn, the books are set in Great Britain. Have you had a look at our teen pregnancy rate lately? All that U16 smut would be canon if Rowling were writing from life.

Well, sure, kids that young have sex in the States too, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still illegal to write fiction about it, not to mention icky. (OK, at 16 it's not necessarily icky depending on the character -- I do write SV slash around Clark -- but in CoS, Harry and his pals are what, 12? 13? Definite ick.)

[xochiquetzl]

I can't do the underaged slash thing, either. If I were to write HP slash, it would involve Snape and another adult, 'cause I have a Snape thing (I blame Alan Rickman). I just can't decide with whom he should be slashed. :)

[lasayla.livejournal.com]

With everybody of course.