(no subject)

Note: Originally posted in my on-site blog, reposted here for consistency.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Countdown: 90 days

Current mood: Punchy.
Now playing: Silence.

Today's weather: Clouded.
Pet peeve o' the Day: People. In general, yes.
Amusement o' the Day: Linkage. Hee.

In today's news: Clonaid releases picture of what they claim is a cloned baby, the coalition pushes for Baghdad despite heavy resistance and losses on both sides, and a mystery virus is still on the loose. *yawn* Good morning to you, too, world.

And now, an HP survey, stolen from Jeanne:

1. How did you get into Harry Potter?
   I'd read the first book, and had been fairly annoyed with the main character, but then people started discussing the books on RareSlash and I figured I'd give them a chance again. (This was actually just after the third book had been released, not just before it as I'd always remembered. Then again, I had to wait until mid-1999 to get a Dutch translation of PoA in my hands, so there is that.) (Oh and, small warning: If you follow the link above, be prepared for some major timewarpness. Um. Note how the very first HPslashers concentrated mainly on the older generation.) (FIRST MENTION OF HARRY/DRACO! God, RareSlash is like a baby album of various fandoms. HP, TPM, ...)
   
   Anyway, so I read SS and CoS, and got hooked, waited impatiently for PoA to come out over here, got my dad to buy my all three books in English, plus GoF once it came out, was on hpslash for the longest time, got the fuck out of that fandom around ... early to mid 2000, I think, then got back in in the early summer of 2002. My god, I'm old.
2. Read the books?
   Obviously, yes. I've read them all about three, maybe four times, and I do still refer back to them if I need to look something up that's not in the Lexicon.
3. Where will you be on 21 June (release of the Fifth book)?
   Hopefully in the UK lining up for a copy.
4. Who are your favorite characters?
   Hermione and Snape. Oh, and Draco, although that's in the "favourite character to write/read about" sense more than the "Eee! WUVTHEM" sense.
5. Who are your favorite relatively minor characters? (minor meaning they were never the main focus in any one of the books so far)
   Lee Jordan. Also, the twins (and by extension the rest of the Weasleys). But mostly Lee. My Lee!
6. Favorite Professor? (If your favorite character is a professor, please pick another professor)
   Um. Binns. Don't ask why.
7. Have any HP merchandise?
   A notebook, a bookmark, and three action figures, all of which were bought for me. But then, I bought a shitload of merchendise for others, myself, so.
8. Do you relate to any characters?
   Hermione. She's smart, loves books, is a know-it-all, and yet isn't afraid to break the rules if needed. Though I have to say, when it comes to breaking the rules, in school I was also sometimes like the twins. Ahem.
9. Do you look like any characters?
   Not that I'm aware of.
10. Do you act like any characters?
    Her.mi.o.ne. Yes.
11. What is your favorite house?
    Ravenclaw.
12. Is there a house you absolutely hate?
    No. That'd be silly.
13. Honestly, not just because of what house is your favourite, what house would you be in?
    I've always said Ravelclaw, and I still think so, but I also appear to have some Gryffindor in me, and I know I've quite a bit of Hufflepuff. But in the end, quite honestly? If not Ravenclaw, then I suspect Slytherin. Not that I'm really ambitious in the sense that I want fame or fortune, but because I have a lot of dreams and plans and I don't let anything stop me from fulfilling those plans.
14. If you were a student, placed in the house you'd honestly be in, what sort of house member would you prefer to date?
    Don't ask me, man. No, seriously, we don't know enough about any non-Gryffindor girls for me to say.
15. Okay, suddenly you are a student in Harry's year. Pick someone you'd die to date.
    Alicia Spinnet. What, they didn't say I had to pick someone from my own year! Mmm, 'licia.
16. Okay, now you are back in time, a student with James Potter. Pick someone you'd die to date.
    Eh. Lily? She's the only girl, yo!
17. Now, you have answered who you can date, now let's talk about just flings. Which Harry Potter character(s) would you like to have nice long shag with, repeatedly?
    'licia! Hey, man, I'm not picky, I just want to get laid. Or any of the Chaser Trio, really.
18. One at a time, or all together?
    Either or. As I said, I'm not picky.
19. Who would be your secret HP crush?
    I don't really do crushes.
20. Is there a character that annoys you to no end, and should you meet them in real life, you'd want to kill them?
    Harry. And, to a lesser extent, Ron. Oh, and Percy, but only sometimes, and I think that can be solved with a swift smack to the back of the head.
21. Do you ever compare people to material in the Harry Potter books?
    Er, yes.
22. Do you ever privately sort people into houses when you meet them?
    No?
23. Who is your favourite founder?
    Rowena Ravenclaw. Smart chicks rule!
24. Do you really believe the statement "Not a witch or wizard in Slytherin doesn't go bad"?
    First of all, it's the other way 'round, I believe, and it's wrong either way. If all Slytherins went bad, why is the House still allowed at Hogwarts? And not all wizards gone bad come from Slytherin. Both Sirius Black (who was/is thought to have committed the murders on 12 (?) Muggles and the Potter family) and Peter Pettigrew (who actually did commit the murders) were in Gryffindor. I really dislike the anti-Slytherin prejudice the other Houses (most notably Gryffindor) display in the books, and I do hope JKR will do something with it, if only just point out that it is prejudice.
25. Do you really blame the founder of the house for all of the out-of-date prejudices that Slytherins seem to have?
    No. As Jeanne says, the prejudices are kept alive by both sides, really.
26. Do you think that Draco Malfoy will actually redeem himself as many fandom folk try to portray him as doing?
    I hate the word "redeem". I don't think Draco's actually done anything he should really "redeem" himself for, not yet. The kid's fourteen, for fuck's sake. Snape, now he redeemed himself. He was an actual Death Eater, and defected to the "good" side, so why should Draco, who thus far hasn't done anything I would call "evil", who is fourteen, and who is still very much under his father's influence, be irredeemable, irrevocable Evil? (Yeah, so I have issues with people who love Snape yet claim that those of us who don't think Draco is the root of all evil are misguided little children.) Plus, I don't think Draco has it in him to be anyone's Loyal Servant. Draco Malfoy Does Not Kneel. Rant in more detail over here, and a lot of my Draco theories were used in Evitar, too.
27. Do you think that Professor Snape can actually go back to spying?
    "Can" in what way? As in, is able to go back to that, to take that risk again? Yes. I think he still has lingering guilt over his DE past, and he also has an undying loyalty to Dumbledore, so if that was indeed what Dumbledore asked of him at the end of GoF, I think he would do it, no questions asked. Whether or not he'll succeed in convincing Voldemort that he's actually a DE again is another matter entirely, of course.
28. Is there any character you would give your wand arm for, just to see them die? Voldemort doesn't count.
    No. not in the "Die, bitch, die!" sense, anyway. There's a number of characters I'd like to see die just to see the reactions of the people around him or her, though. One or both of the twins, for one. Ron, for another. I seem to like killing off Weasleys.
29. Is there any character that in the event of their death you would have no qualms about holding Rowling hostage until the author writes the next book and finds some way to bring
    them back?
    No, if only because I hate people who presume to dictate writers, fanfic or pro, what to write. Plus, I'm an angst-girl. I'd love the heartbreak and the sadness and the wah!
30. Do you read fan fiction?
    Is the pope Catholic?
31. Where do you usually haunt for fan fiction?
    Friends's sites and recs pages. I've been burned on wandering around this fandom on my own.
32. What is your favorite fandom pairing?
    Harry/Draco, but only in theory. Most of the actual fanfic sucks dead bunnies through a straw. Also, Ron/Hermione. theirlovissocanon!
33. Who was the first pairing you ever read?
    Ron/Harry.
34. Has the slash bug caught you?
    Heh. Seven years ago this summer, baby.
35. What sort of pairings are you most willing to read?
    Antagonists pairings. I have a hard time reading most best friends pairings, because the thought of making out with my own best friend(s, either of them) feels like incest to me. Now, I like incest, but not in reality. The only two exceptions to this rule are Lee/George (for which I blame LN) and Timbertrick (for which I blame Silvia :p).
36. Is there any pairing that when you see it, you want to beat someone over the head with a blunt object? If so, who?
    Harry/Hermione. Sperm of the devil, I say!
37. Which rare pairing are you currently on a kick about? In other words, reading every fan fiction of them you can get your hands on?
    Marcus/Lee. Anyone surprised? Thought not. And, well, I suppose Lee/George is also rare.
38. How are you about original characters serving as the main character in a story, particularly in a romance with a canon character?
    I stopped doing OCs a year into my fanfic career, and I've always written slash, so no romantically Involved Mary Sues for me.
39. What do you think of when people use alias like DracoMalfoysGurl?
    It kind of creeps me out. I'm not sure why.
40. Do you think that there is any elitism among authors in fandom groups? If so, who?
    Yes, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of elitism.
41. Who is your favorite author?
    Silvia Kundera, Jeanne, Mireille, and a bunch I'm sure I'm forgetting.
42. What makes you love a fan fiction?
    First of all, the phrase "a fan fiction" makes me cringe. It's "a fan fiction story" or "a piece of fan fiction" or whatnot, but the word fiction is a collective noun, goddammit! Aaaargh. But to answer the question, I love fanfic that tears out my heart and kicks it around, fanfic that's heart-wrenching and sad and yet makes me unable to not hope just a little bit that things could maybe end all right. This is why I love antagonists pairings (Harry/Draco, Marcus/Oliver, Marcus/Lee, Gríma/Éowyn, etc., etc., etc.) so much. A knack for beautiful yet simple phrases is also a plus. Also, humour, particularily the absurd, witty and pun-y kind.
43. What makes you hate a fan fiction?
    Bad spelling and grammar turn me off, but what makes a story a potential Lair victim is bad characterisation, a contrived plot, and most of all, bad writing. Fear of "said" and all its relatives, for example, or metaphors that make me go "WTF?"
44. How often a day to check fan fiction?
    Eh. Maybe two, three times a week.