Fay, and everyone else, is me. And I'm glad, as I hoped I wasn't the only one. I've also wondered about whether she has any plan to have Sirius return in any way . I don't think I want her to, but it's a possibility.

I am also a huuuge backstory ho. ::runs off to check Shoebox again::

I think it would be well within previous twists to have Snape turn out to be a crucial part in the victory over Voldemort. I've love the twist that Snape is a good guy and still hates the hero of the piece--and he has reason, though not quite good enough reason. Rowling's showing of the moral ambiguity is very refreshing in "kid's books." I wonder if it will be matched by one of the good guys showing serious feet of clay--I haven't like Ron's mindset at all for the last couple of books. He wouldn't support Voldemort, but I really do see him pulling a "Willow says kill him" kind of thing if it came to Draco or Snape.

I think Snape was doing what Dumbledore wanted. I almost wish this had happened one book ago, so that there'd be more room to play with the revelation of Draco's moral crisis.

Or, in other words, what Fay said.

Fay, I'm right with you, except for being half a series behind.

* Harry has always seen Snape as bad, and it's always turned out that he was working on the right side. I can't see Snape going all muahahahaha at this point. *

See, therein lies the fiendish cleverness of JKR. Because it's a fabulous HSQ to pull the Mu-ha-ha-ha! Seekritly Eeevil All The Time!!!! thing. Kind of a Just When You Thought It Was SafeTo Go Back In The Water type of thing. But I find it far more convincing that Harry simply isn't a reliable narrator, and that his perspective on Snape is grounded in the fact that he (understandably) doesn't like Snape, rather than in an accurate assessment of Snape. I don't think that Snape outsmarted Dumbledore - all the books have been pretty adamant about Dumbledore being a pretty wise old bird. I think Dumbledore has a damned good reason for trusting Snape - but he hasn't wholly shared it with Harry, and thus Harry (in typical Harry fashion) jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Honestly, I've really been pleased with where JKR's taken the books. I remember reading the first 2, just after Chamber of Secrets was published, and thinking 'well, yeah, okay, but they're not all that, really'. But I've been pleasantly surprised by a lot of the things she's done, and I think she's a lot better a writer than I initially supposed.

On that note, just reread Chamber, and it is MUCH more interesting after having read Half-Blood Prince. They are very entertwined pieces; you can see how JKR was considering putting some of the HBP stuff in Chamber.

So, have y'all been reading Mina de Malfois? Because man, she's just priceless. It's as if someone took Dorothy Sayers, mixed her with PG Wodehouse, and set her loose on online fandom. Absolutely fantastic commentary on fandom and BNF-ness.

[link]

(And Arc is totally Jeeves.)

Okay, this faux rant on badfic cliches had me laughing until my stomach hurt.

Also, from the same thing as 'Suela--someone wrote mina de malfois fanfiction, crossing over with the charlotte lennox journalfen account. Just. This is brilliantly entertaining, guys.

Every time I think I'm bored and have run out of stuff to read on the internets, another chapter of the msscribe saga hits.

t chomps sandwich and devours the next round of several thousand comments

Dude! Where? Same place as before?