Top Five

[a_belladonna]

So, that "Top five questions" meme has so far yielded some interesting questions (and answers).


Ask me my top 5 of anything and I'll answer (preferably fannish questions).

Comments

[trobadora]

Top five things about HP?

[a_belladonna]

(In no particular order):

1) The wealth of characters - there's more or less a favourite character for everyone. ;) (I was reminded of how Macnair had his share of fans, recently)

2) The universe she's created. Admittedly, it's not flawless, but the idea of witches and wizards going into hiding and modifying the muggles' memories whenever a dragon is on the loose (for instance) makes me see the ordinary world in a different light - what if?

3) The portrayal of the Dursleys and their cloying, stifling petit-bourgeois lifes. The archetypes of boring conformity and prejudice.

4) How the universe gets gradually darker and more complex the older Harry gets and becomes more aware of how things are run in the Wizarding World. Not that it's rosy to begin with.

5) Snape. The story wouldn't be the same without his sarcasm and shitty behaviour. :)

[trobadora]

Hee! Yes, it's a really fun world to play with - lots of scope, and lots of characters. And YES, it wouldn't be the same without Snape!

[a_belladonna]

My replies are a bit PoA-heavy because I'm currently re-reading it, but for instance the beginning where Harry spends part of his summer in Diagon Alley - it's just lovely. :)
My sister's told me that her favourite parts of the books were the ones where they're visiting Diagon Alley. (And she's not even one to write fan fiction)

I really don't think I'd have liked the series as much as I do, if it hadn't been for Snape, haha.

[trobadora]

I really don't think I'd have liked the series as much as I do, if it hadn't been for Snape, haha.

I still remember reading the first book and thinking "so here's the evil ugly teacher - if he turns out to be the villain too I'm going to throw the book against the wall!" Even apart from liking him, Snape was basically my reassurance that the books' ethics were a little more complicated than that. *g*

[a_belladonna]

My experience was a little different. :) I'd seen the two first movies before reading the books, so I already knew he wasn't meant to be the villain. But I was surprised to see that the books hinted at a bigger background story for him than what was told in the movies - and then I was hooked. ;)

And I litterally cried my eyes out when he died. I remember reading Deathly Hallows in our summerhouse. I'd been banished to another room so as to avoid spoiling my sister (I cried from the moment Dobby died and onwards, haha). Then once I'd finished the book I went upstairs and hugged my mother, crying. She just patted my head, saying "oh, so he died?" and I could only sob "yes". Haha.

[paulamcg]

Your top five canon characters to write about (from any canons)?

[a_belladonna]

The list is in prioritized order, but skews a little to the Tintin-side. ;)

1) Severus Snape. Hands down. He's deeply unpleasant but also with a good reason for being that way*. He hasn't had an easy life. I can't help but imagine that his and Harry's childhoods probably were more alike than he wants to think about.

2) Tintin. Some call him a bland and genderless character. I disagree - I think we see hints here and there that he contains more than meets the eye. The way he's ready to steal, manipulate and answer back show that he's perhaps not always the boy scout (most) literary critics see him as. Also, the fact that there is no canon information about his family or anything gives you plenty of opportunity to come up with your own background.

3) Captain Haddock. You don't have to be polite when writing him. ;) Why is he such an alcoholic wreck when we meet him in The Crab with the Golden Claws? What does the presence of Tintin in his life mean to him? So many things to sink your teeth into. :)

4) Piotr Szut. The way he goes from being a (probably) pretty emotionally detached mercenary to almost getting killed trying to save Tintin and Haddock (in the course of barely 3 days) is rather intriguing. It's obvious that he's actually a pretty nice guy, so what is he doing killing people for money in the Middle East?
Plus it gives me an opportunity to dwelve into the linguistic and cultural differences across Europe as well as European history. And he's the closest we get to a Nordic/Scandinavian character in Tintin. :) (Despite Hergé's weird decision to make him kind of Russian - Szut would have been born at a time when there were less than 100.000 Russians in Estonia).

5) Tchang Tchong-Jen. Don't be fooled - he's probably the strongest character of them all on this list. He's an orphan (though whether it happened due to the flooding of the Yangtze or prior to that is slightly unclear). Despite having been told by his father that all white people are devils he becomes friends with Tintin. He's mischievous and quick-thinking. He survives a plane crash in the Himalayas and is the only person who doesn't call the yeti the "abominable snowman" - because he knows the yeti is capable of tenderness and taking care of others. And I get to present Europe through the eyes of someone not European (I guess it's a by-product of my thesis - I think it's really interesting to explore cultural and national identities and Tintin's universe offers ample opportunity for that).

*I say - only to present a bunch of characters who haven't had easy lives either, yet are nice and considerate, haha.

[paulamcg]

Thank you!

So you have written or write or plan to write about Severus. Great! (I’ve just named him my number one character in the books.)

It’s been decades since I read Tintin. As a child, I hardly thought about the characters, just followed the plots. I can’t remember Piotr Szut at all, but you make them all sound very interesting.

[a_belladonna]

I've written about 5 or 6 stories from either his PoV or where he's the main character (despite the PoV).
However, most of them really need a good brush-up before I post them here or on AO3 - I had some good ideas back then, but the execution of them is sadly rather immature. :)

Tintin is a rather plot-driven story. But once you start looking at the characters, you start noticing that Hergé managed to create a very vibrant cast. I read somewhere that he'd fleshed out background stories for many of them, only he didn't want to share them. :)
Take someone like Séraphin Lampion, the insurance salesman - we've all met someone like him.
Szut's Finnish name is Pjotr Pahk, if that rings a bell?

[paulamcg]

You make it still sound like you’re going to post the Severus stories, great! But perhaps you’re so critical that you feel you should revise them – although there must be readers who wouldn’t find them too immature.

I suppose it’s good Hergé didn’t share the backstories – particularly not outside the stories!

Oh, I can’t remember that salesman either. As soon as the libraries are open again, I must look for Tintin to read. My bells are all rusted, but Piotr Pahk really sounds like a Russian Estonian. And it’s exciting what you say in your previous comment about the opportunities to explore the cultures. I guess as a child I was more drawn to the history of Rome and preferred the humour in Asterix to the thriller plots in Tintin.

[a_belladonna]

Believe me, some of them really could do with a little rewriting. :) But one is basically ready to be posted, and two of them just need some minor revisions.

Yes, he really knew what he was doing, I think. Especially in regards to Tintin's backstory. It's the lack of an official backstory that helps make him everlasting, I think. Imagine if he'd been equipped with a 1929-backstory - it would have tied him so much to the time where he was first conceived.

This is the insurance salesman. ;) But it makes sense if you don't really remember him - he's just kind of weird when you're a child, but as an adult you appreciate how Hergé pokes fun of annoying, self-satisfied people.
If/When you get to reread the comics, could you keep an eye out for how they decided to translate Szut's lines? I'm really curious as to how they make his dialogue broken in Finnish when he's from a neighbouring country. (In the other versions I've read he's just speaking "standard broken English/Danish".)

Oh, yes, Asterix! They're also wonderful! :D My father used to collect them, so we had the complete collection up until the ones from the early 90's. I think they actually sowed the seed of historical interest in me. :)

[paulamcg]

Perhaps you’ve managed some revisions while I’ve been slow to reply here?

I remember having such a feeling when reading Tintin as a child that there was another level that I didn’t quite understand, whereas Asterix was easier. I also think my father introduced Asterix to me – and recommended it to his pupils, as he was a history teacher.

[a_belladonna]

I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you there. :/ I did actually look at one of them, but couldn't really get beyond seeing that certain parts needed fleshing out and others just had to be tightened up a bit.
I've mostly spent the Easter holiday knitting things for my (yet unborn) niece. My sister's due in June but I wanted to get them done now. :)

It's very interesting that you say that about Asterix, because that is usually considered a more adult comic than Tintin - the humour, the themes etc. Tintin is mostly/traditionally considered a children's story, but I also think that that is to underestimate it greatly.
I remember being terrified because someone died from a gas leak in The Broken Ear (we also had a gas stove), and the ending where we see the bad guys drown and get dragged off to Hell by a couple of gleeful devils also scared me.
And let's not get started on The Seven Crystal Balls and the nightmare involving Rascar Capac! Haha. Or Explorers on the Moon, where Wolff commits suicide in order to save the others, yet they almost end up dying. Suure, just an innocent children's comic.
Good that your father did that! I hope some of the pupils ended up liking the comic. :)