RE: [HPforGrownups] The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Was: Book 6 &7 clichés)

[Iggy McSnurd]

No: HPFGUIDX 91322

Iggy here:

I might as well jump into this one.

I agree with the GOOD:
Complex/Good!Slytherin (and I agree that it should be Blaise.)

Some house other than Gryf winning the House Cup (I'd love to see
Hufflepuff win it because they deserve to once in a while.)

Remus being vindicated somehow.

Snape proving that he's one of the good guys.

Dumbledore dying.  (I agree, he's a cool character, but I'd like to see
what the school and the OotP can do without his direction and
leadership.  He needs to die at the end of Book 6.  Minerva will step up
as Headmistress, since she's his deputy already.)

Fudge and Umbridge getting their comeuppance.  (In part, by Arthur being
named Minister.)

The Longbottoms being cured and freed.

Uber!Neville  (Him getting a new wand and finally proving that he ranks
right up there with Harry.)


I agree with the BAD:

Vampire!Snape  (For those of you who are looking for vampires, look to
the Dementors.  They are very similar to a form of Gaki... a Japanese
vampire.  One type feeds off of negative emotions and consumes your
soul... which makes me wonder if that's where JKR got the idea.)

Traitor!Snape  (WAY too obvious.  JKR doesn't tend to be that overt.)

Nice!Snape / Hidden-Relation!Snape / Goody-Goody!Snape /
I-Love-Harry!Snape.  (All would make me want to put down the books and
walk away from them forever.  Snape is cool because he shows that you
don't need to be a nice guy to be a good guy.  Toning down the mean-ness
would be acceptable, but he should always be a bit of a jerk.)

Traitor!Lupin (Or, actually, anyone as a traitor who's in the order.
They've already been betrayed by Kreacher in OotP, why do it again?)

ESE!ANYONE  (She's already had a number of seemingly nice, innocent,
weak, etc.. people turn out to be evil and/or spineless traitors a'la
Quirrel, Lockhart, Peter, and Crouch Jr... and that's in the first 4
books.  Why keep up the trend?  Not only would it be redundant, but it
would show a lack of overall creativity.  It would end up being like
half the episodes of Scooby Doo.  "There's 3 new characters in this
episode?  Two are risking losing their farm because of the Scummy Bog
Beast?  Ok, the bad guy is number three.")

Nice!Draco  (I don't mind if he "sees the light"... I just want him to
still be a jerk.  Heck, I'd love it if Draco ends up resenting Harry for
shattering the delusions he's built up around himself.  After all, he
would be a better person for it in the long run, but he doesn't have to
LIKE seeing the world in the harsh light of reality.)

> Anne:
> Snape being anyone's long lost relative (**Heavy, respirated
breathing**
> "Luke....I am your father, Luke.....")

Iggy here:

(This one has already been done... by me.  *grin* Just look up my WARP
of the Empire Strikes Back.)
 
> Anne:
> Harry 'stooping' to DE levels...I'm not for the "Love will take care
of
> it" scenario either, but this isn't a Japanese anime we're reading
(The
> only time I understand rooting for the hero when he goes on a vengeful
> killing spree--why? Because it's part of the culture. A big part), so
> using your enemies ways against him isn't cool. I don't mind if he HAS
to
> kill Voldy (which is a distinct possibility), but I will find Rowling
and
> force feed her her own book if it comes down to Harry throwing an
> Unforgivable and screaming "SEE HOW IT FEELS VOLDEMORT?!"

Iggy here:

I agree with this one... Only I wouldn't be shoving the book down her
throat.  (Use your head... you'll figure it out.)  As for the "killing
spree for vengeance", I also agree with this in *some* non-anime action
movies.  Other than that, you're right... in any case, you shouldn't
have the hero stoop to the villain's methods.




Ok, now for a few of my own:

The GOOD = 

Dudley or Petunia... or even Vernon...  being the "the late bloomer."
(For one, I'd love to see how this would effect Vernon.  Dudley would
see the world more from Harry's view if he's the late one.  Petunia
would see the world from Lilly AND Harry's view more closely.  Vernon's
head would probably explode in any case.)

The Creevy brothers (both of them) ending up on the Gryff Quidditch
team.  (I'd just love to see how this one would turn out.  It would also
qualify as a cliché since you'd have a new set of close brothers on the
team.)

Peter redeeming himself somehow.  (That "life debt" between him and
Harry is still in effect.  I'd love to see it play out in some
significant manner in the next two books.  Preferably not at the very
end, a'la Darth Vader and the Emperor, though.  Harry needs time to
appreciate what Peter has done.)

Flitwick showing his true power.  (Flitwick is my favorite steady
teacher at Hogwarts... Lupin and Fake!Moody actually being my favorites
for different reasons, but they didn't stay... I'd love to see him show
why he was a dueling champion in his youth, for one thing.)


The NEUTRAL (these are things that I might want to see, but still have
mixed emotions about.  How it's written would determine whether it's
"good" or "evil".) = 

Rita Skeeter becoming a good reporter.  (I think it would be interesting
to see Rita Skeeter realize the benefits of doing good reporting rather
than scandal writing, mud-slinging, and muck raking.  I'm mixed on it
because the deciding factors would be in both how it comes about, and
how JKR writes it up.)

Harry using what's behind the "sealed door" in the MoM against
Voldemort.  (IMHO, I think that the only way it can really be done well
is if it's used indirectly.  Like if it's love, Harry getting into the
room, getting emotionally "recharged" and strengthened, and then facing
Voldemort on his own.  Shoving Voldie into a room of love and having him
be dissolved/redeemed by it would be as lame a resolution as the "Love
Gun" solution in the "Maximum Carnage" mini-series in the Spider Man
comics.)

Harry and the Dursleys reaching a "truce."  (I don't think it would work
if they got all lovey dovey with him and accepting him as being like a
son.  On the other hand, having the second Wizard War bringing home to
them what Harry is dealing with, and that he DID save Dudley's
life/soul.  I'd like to see them ease up off of him, but not get all
mushy.)


The EVIL = 

ANY "Time Turner causing someone to be someone else" plot.  (Doesn't
work on the large scale, already done on the small scale at the end of
PoA with Harry thinking he was his own father.)

ANY "hidden relative" plot involving Harry.  (This even applies to Mark
Evans.  If Mark is related, it needs to be second cousin or further
away.  We've already seen something like that in Sirius as Harry's
hidden Godfather.  Repeating this in any way wouldn't feel right to me.)

Filch or Figg as the "late bloomer."  (I'm sorry all, but I think those
two need to remain as Squibs.  For one thing, they show that there's
nice Squibs and nasty Squibs, just like with Muggles and Wizards.  For
another, I can't see either of them having a working plotline to get
their magic.  Besides, it would feel too much like "be a good little
Squib and you will earn your wings" with Figg, or "be as mean and
resentful as you want to be, but as long as you live at Hogwarts, you'll
get magic" with Filch... doesn't work for me.)

Dobby as a "true hero."  (Sorry again here, all... but that doesn't work
for me either.  Dobby is right where he needs to be, IMHO.  He's saved
Harry's butt a few times already, and in a way that works for a
character like Dobby.  He can save Harry's backside again, but it should
be in the same way he's been doing it in the past.  If he leads a House
Elf Army, he should just be the "spokesman" of a unified force, rather
than the "General of the Mighty House Elf Regulars.")

Martyr!Harry  (Nope...  Harry needs to live.  Him dying the "noble death
of sacrifice" would just feel too cheesy to me... and I'm lactose
intolerant.  IMHO, JKR needs to end out the series with Harry being able
to lead a moderately normal life compared to what he's living now.)


I think that covers most of my thoughts on this...

Iggy McSnurd