Comments | emmessann: She flinched, is all...

emmessann

She flinched, is all...

Jul 26, 2007 03:43

Um, hi. (waves sheepishly to f-list who are mostly not Potter-people.) I haven't been able to get past one aspect of Deathly Hallows, and now that JKR has spoken publicly on it I just had to put this out there...

So JKR has confirmed, as most everyone guessed, that Remus (and presumably Tonks) were the unplanned deaths of DH. What I've seen no- ( Read more... )

Comments 28

innerslytherin July 26 2007, 01:31:10 UTC

I have to say that I disagree with you on one point. I don't believe JKR has ever actually loved Snape. I believe she's used him and made him important, but her bewilderment that he has fans tells us she has never actually loved him.

Oddly enough, while I'm still furious that Remus died to save Arthur Weasley (whom I like, but am not attached to in the same way I am to Remus)...I also feel relieved to know that I was right. Tonks/Lupin is badly OOC, because it was never meant to be, and the author forced her will on characters who weren't meant for each other.

(I used to like Tonks/Lupin fanfics, pre-HBP, because frankly there are fans out there who make it more realistic and belieable than JKR ever did.)

emmessann July 26 2007, 04:01:24 UTC

I don't entirely buy her professed bewilderment. She knew Snape was the most fun to write; it stands to reason he'd be fun to read. I think a writer can love her characters in a different way from fans, who want only the best for them. To me, it's still love.

I have some of the same relief about Remus -- it doesn't make sense because, well, it didn't ever make sense. And the Tonks/Lupin fans have had some of the most comforting takes on losing them. I'm actually more interested in reading their fics (and other Remus pairings besides Snape) now than before.

duh_i_read July 26 2007, 03:43:34 UTC

i donno where i read this but i remember it said something about JkR saying that she tacked on the r/t thing at the end of HPB because of fandom.

and now she's tacking on the deaths of (what i think) was the best cannon pairing ever.

isn't it poor craft to tack shit like that into your books? arthur weasley death would have made a hell of a lot more sense plot wise then remus. hell at least arthur got years of happyness with his family instead of months.

=shakes fist at injustice of it all=

ellid July 28 2007, 12:55:45 UTC

It's poor writing and emotional frigidity on the part of the author.

insipid_paragon July 26 2007, 07:48:17 UTC

*lightbulb* I see. Well, knowing that makes perfect sense now. I still don't like it--like you, Remus's death completely tore me up, and like you, I was a little taken aback by my deepfelt emotional response to it: I hadn't realized I was that attached to him. But I so thought he'd be okay in the end, the last Marauder, perhaps the most pitiable Marauder, of course he'd be permitted to live out his life and maybe find a spot of the happiness he deserves. Even the hints of happiness he should've had with Tonks and his new baby were vastly overshadowed by dark and sinister forces...

Ah, I go on about Remus way too much, whenever I talk about Deathly Hallows. It's too hard for me not to, because I just. didn't. get it. But now, I think, maybe I do, a little. Still don't like it. But okay. Looking forward to the fanfics as well. And thank you for posting this information!

emmessann July 26 2007, 17:49:36 UTC

Yeah. I was just so sure Remus was okay. Early on, I thought there was an heir-and-a-spare pattern to the characters JKR was likely to kill. I'd been thinking this since GoF -- why ELSE introduce Littler Creevey? And sure enough, that pattern was remarkably consistent: Colin, Fred, Sirius, even DOBBY are all characters where (I hate to say it) there's a "replacement" in the wings. It doesn't necessarily soften the blow; with the twins, especially, The One Left Behind *is* the source of the emotional power.

But I was really complacent in assuming that Remus would be The One Left. It's so odd, because if I ranked my favorite characters he'd be behind Snape, Neville, and Luna, all of whom I considered more original/interesting creations. He would be fourth, though, and since SS/RL is more-or-less my OTP I think the extremely rich Remus fanon had a stronger effect on me than I'd realized. It's helpful to know someone else felt the same way.

leyosura July 26 2007, 08:54:11 UTC

I feel cheated by Remus' death.
We should have seen him die. We should have seen that final confrontation between Remus and Greyback.
But more than anything - and this is where I really feel cheated - we should have seen Harry's reaction to his death. There should have been more than just a psssing comment about Harry noticing his body. JKR didn't do the character justice.

Poor Remus. *very sad*

imagines July 30 2007, 01:06:32 UTC

If this is referring to the interview which I just watched tonight on NBC, the fact that Remus and Tonks weren't planned doesn't mean they were rushed. She said that every death had been thought out, and that in DH-- where you have an evil guy trying to kill all the good guys-- anyone could die.

I thought JKR was going for a feeling of panic that absolutely anyone could be next, and I thought she did that very well. After three deaths I hadn't expected had occurred in just the first five chapters, I was on edge-- good people were going to die for no reason. I didn't know who was going to make it; all my predictions were out the window. For me, the fact that R&T's deaths had no purpose served to illustrate that there was a very real war going on.

It gutted me, though. I had never even considered the idea that Remus might die. I'd figured it would be Draco, Bellatrix, and a Weasley. But I thought Remus was already tragic enough.

emmessann July 30 2007, 04:28:59 UTC

I left out saying that I'm entirely satisfied with the R/T three-book arc within itself in the last books -- I understood Remus freaking out at Grimmauld Place, and I think the *way* their deaths were revealed was tremendously effective. Part of the reason it had such an imact, IMO, is precisely because she didn't give them a dramatic set-piece exit ( ... )

imagines July 30 2007, 05:02:19 UTC

By "rushed" I more mean that from the first Remus appeared to be building towards a certain type of role/end game in the series

Oh, okay. I see what you mean. I was hoping for a big Remus & Fenrir showdown and was disappointed it wasn't there. (And I just realised that his werewolves-infiltration thing wasn't even mentioned, was it...?)

Still, I think it kinda fits in with the rest of Remus's presence in the books. When he's not around, he doesn't stay in touch. When he is, he's usually preoccupied. To me, he's a (lovable, don't get me wrong-- I adore him) hanger-on who doesn't try very hard to make his problems known. He didn't like talking about werewolves, or being one. Or maybe the possible werewolf story was just not close enough to the rest of the plot, though it would have been really cool to see ( ... )