Deathly Hallows note #2 (spoilers for ch.s 22 and 25)

[lolaraincoat]

I think this is JKR on fiction and fanfiction, at the beginning of ch. 22, when she has Ron say: "It's a damn' sight harder making stuff up ...than you'd think. ...It was much easier pretending to be Stan, because I knew a bit about him, than inventing a whole new person." p. 345 (Raincoast hardcover edition)

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A little earlier - Luna as fan-artist?

And a little later - When Harry and Hermione and Ron argue about the Deathly Hallows story, with Harry trying to put all the clues together and Hermione telling him he's over-interpreting, doesn't they sound like us? And isn't (over-)interpretation at the heart of what fans do together?

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And Potterwatch? If that's not fannish activity, I don't know what is.

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The whole question at the end of ch. 25 about goblin vs. wizard ideas of ownership ... Goblins, who make things, say that the object belongs to the maker and can be rented but not purchased; "wand-users" say that the object belongs to the purchaser and can (like copyright) be inherited, bought and sold, and generally change hands without ever reverting to the original author. It's one of the debates over intellectual property!


Probably I'm over-interpreting here, but I think JKR loves us.

Comments

[quilt-stitcher.livejournal.com]

Yes, and that first quote you put up --- I think that's just a tiny bit --- I don't know. Even "derogatory towards us" is too strong a phrase, but it feels like she's poking me in the chest and saying, "I did the hard bit! I did the hard bit!"

Which is fine, you know. It's even true. But saying it to us isn't very polite. She needs more affirmation that she gets already?

OR, I'm over-interpreting as you mentioned later.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Well ... I think I am, willfully, going to read this as JKR affirming us - saying that we exist, that she sees us, and that she likes what we do and sees it as a necessary activity (Ron saves his own life with Shunpike fic!) and an expression of love (Luna's ceiling!) even if it's not quite the same, to her, as making up the whole universe from scratch.

And hey, over-interpretation is a GOOD thing, right?

[quilt-stitcher.livejournal.com]

I must admit, one of the sweetest things in the book for me was the little golden chains made up of that special word, that Luna had painted. That's so very Luna.

I really hope they leave that detail in the film!!!

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Long before the film there will be, I promise, a zillion fan-art versions of that ceiling, and some of them will brilliant.

[elphaba-of-oz.livejournal.com]

I want the T shirt.

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

Actually I found it bittersweet, as it suggested that before the DA, Luna had not had any friends. And I certainly never felt that any of them considered her a "first-tier" sort of friend, just someone in their circle. It's romantic but also a little bit sad.

[quilt-stitcher.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was heartbreaking as well as sweet, absolutely. I think it's very clear how isolated she was before the DA. I love Luna. After I saw OOTP, I was hoping the final book would veer to Harry/Luna -- I saw more rapport in that pairing in the movie than I ever saw of H/G in HBP.

[elphaba-of-oz.livejournal.com]

I suspect that Potter's escape from Privet Drive was a deliberate gift to slashers. I think JKR was saying:

"Here you go, guys! Here are 7 of your beloved characters mostly naked, and all transformed into the physcial form of Harry Potter. Have fun!"

Seriously. My mind when to all sorts of interesting places while I read that chapter.

[mincot.livejournal.com]

OOOOOh, yes.

She also scuppered the Harmonians in plain language IN canon, as anyone with half a brain could see she had done much earlier. Loved it, though.

Oh, NEVILLE!!!

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

AND LUNA!!!

!!!

!!!

There is not enough squee in the world for Luna. Also, did you notice, her dad is yet another idolized-yet-terribly-flawed father figure, one of zillions in the book.

[kitsune13.livejournal.com]

Complete with "Harmony is the ship of VOLDEMORT!"

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Yes! Right! Exactly!

JKR, queen of the OBHWF shippers!

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

OMG, I hadn't thought of it that way- it even took me a minute to see what you meant.

Although I suppose you could say that Harmony is the ship of Ron- after all, he wrote the fic. :)

[kitsune13.livejournal.com]

Bwahaha, very true! But I just love the way JKR put all the most extreme Harmonian arguments into the mouth of the Dark Lord Himself. *g*

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Hey, who are you calling extreme? ;P