Something cute

2008-11-04T21:24:38Z

1. Stop talking about politics for a moment or two.
2. Post a reasonably-sized picture in your LJ, NOT under a cut tag, of something pleasant, such as an adorable kitten, or a fluffy white cloud, or a bottle of booze. Something that has NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS.
3. Include these instructions, and share the love.

D'awwwww! I don't know where this picture came from, I found it somewhere on the internetz.

HP Art Project

2008-10-31T04:26:20Z

My submission for the hp_art_project, done at the last minute with much haste... also my first HP drawing in lord knows how long.

Book 7, chapter 27, after the trio has just busted out of Gringotts on the dragon, and have been flying for some time over the clouds. That poor dragon just tugged at my heartstrings; I'm sure he was SO happy to be freed after years in the damp darkness of the vaults.

No stealing, or I'll watermark this like crazy and make it fugly.

Comments/criticism please? *hides*

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T01:51:56Z

This is my pumpkin for this year, my very first own pumpkin in my domestic abode! I did it at the last minute today so I did one of the patterns from the carving kit--I know, I'm lame for using a pre-made pattern, but I only had 15 minutes in which to do this before going to work earlier this evening. Next year I'll be more prepared, and I promise to come up with something really cool. In the meantime, here's a cute little bat:

So, finally, some art

2007-08-30T02:32:59Z

I finally got off my lazy procrastinating behind and hooked up my scanner to my computer. This is one of my initial rough sketches immediately after reading the 7th Harry Potter book. I plan on developing this soon into a full-colored, more detailed piece. Scanning the rest of my other rough sketches tomorrow. Whatcha all think?

Just in case my image doesn't get across, this is the duel between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix, one that I was very strongly compelled to render. I just feel like this was a highly emotional scene, and I've also gotten several requests from other people to draw this. I made several versions of this before I was somewhat satisfied with Molly and Bella's facial expressions, and I still think they need more work before moving onto a finalized piece. But with Molly, I wanted justified, righteous fury, and with Bellatrix, sort of an enraged, maddened sense of insane passion, a lust to kill for killing's sake.

Also. I can't draw hands. At all. Dangabit.

woo woo woo finished Harry Potter!

2007-07-22T01:50:17Z

So. Yeah, I finished it. I'm trying to get all my thoughts down on paper before other people's theories and thoughts contaminate mine. this will be edited multiple times as I get new thoughts.

Oh. I also wanted to add. I did something rather shocking. I DID NOT go to the midnight release. I was.... TOO TIRED. I actually waited until 9:00 this morning before actually going to the bookstore to fetch my two copies. And then I forced myself to read slowly, to soak in the details so it wouldn't be over too quickly, from 9:30 AM till about 8:00PM. WHAT KIND OF FAN AM I?!

Woooo. I find this problem every time I finish a new Harry Potter book-- where to start? Mainly the things about the Harry Potter books that I love are all the little details. I'll break this down into parts to keep things a bit more organized.

Little bits and ends: (NOT IN ORDER)
1) Loved seeing the signs of the boys getting older (and more immature)-- especially with Ron doing things like giving Harry a book citing 12 ways to woo witches.

2) Kreacher's turn of heart. I just loved that whole part of the book where he ends up doing all sorts of sweet things after they manage to convince him that they're on his side. I was really genuinely surprised at this, I assumed that Rowling would keep him a bitter wasted curmudgeon. But I guess she's saying there's always a bit of good in everyone (except for ol' Voldie, of course). And as far as the house-elves in general go, I got all teary eyed when Dobby died-- how tragic! and also loved the bit where hundreds of house elves run out armed with kitchen knives and cleavers in defense of Hogwarts castle. What a striking mental image that makes.

3) Neville's bravery. Not to sound corny, but he's absolutely a true Gryffindor. He's undergone a complete mental and emotional transformation since the beginning of the books. I think by the end of the book, he knew his true self and was just... yeah, generally awesome, especially. Another striking mental image - him slicing off Nagini's head. I'm really tempted to draw that bit, and I might look at Lord of the Rings for inspiration and help in drawing such a scene. I love that in the end he ended up becoming a professor.

4) Dudley finally maturing a little bit and shaking Harry's hand. Some respect there. I wonder what happens to them afterwards. Maybe they live in peace and quiet forever afterwards.

5) The eyeball on the door of Umbridge. Hopefully she got the sack big time afterwards.

6) the row between Harry and Lupin at Grimmauld place. Lupin's always been so perfect and graceful before, so it's a big surprise to see his flaw in wanting to run away. Thankfully, Harry made him realize what was right.

7) The radio show with Pottertalk (or whatever it was named, I can't quite remember) was awesome.

8) Ok, this is rather one big bit-- but the whole climatic final was just amazing. All the giants, house-elves, centaurs, everything, and after it's all over, all the little bits of individual celebration-- Neville eating with the sword next to him, people getting along with Grawp and throwing food into his mouth, everything. Luna being an odd sort of comfort and understanding person for Harry. Relief for those who did come out alive, and regret for those who didn't. Even the Malfoy family sitting in their own group.

There are really so many bits and ends in the books, certain lines and paragraphs that made me smile and laugh or go "OMG ICK" that I can't remember more than a few. I'll no doubt read the book again next week, more slowly and tag the lines that caught my attention with those little handy tape-on page markers.

Snape
Well, I guess we all know now whether or not he's good or evil. Still, I feel rather sorry for him-- I feel like most of his life was wasted in being so sad and twisted and screwed up in his relationships with various people. He's basically spent nearly his whole life in misery, with Lily being one of the few bright spots. The whole subplot of Snape's love for Lily was intriguing. Did he really love Harry though like he said? I just... I'll have to read over that again. But... once we get to that chapter where we dive into Snape's memory... wow, wow. I did suspect, as many others did that there was some sort of secret communication between Snape and Dumbledore as far as Snape killing him, and it turned out to be true. But the whole thing with the doe leading Harry to the sword of Godric? All the trouble that he went to to try to fulfill Dumbledore's wishes and to keep Harry alive? Wow. I'm going to have to let it sink in a little bit more before I have more coherent thoughts on it. And what a really tragic way to end-- being bitten in the neck by Nagini. I was wondering if it was the blood loss or the venom that killed him. The mental image of his memories oozing out of the orifices on his head was highly creepy and disturbing.

Dumbledore
So we see here Dumbledore finally explaining his weaknesses -- clearly explained instead of being merely maddening half-disguised allusions and hints as they have in the last few books. We've gotten a much deeper look at Dumbledore's character than in all the previous 6 books combined. I like him more for it, especially after his attempts to resist positions of power after he saw what harm could happen from assuming them.

The sad/tear jerking parts
Oddly enough, I don't feel immediate sadness when I read that someone's killed. It's only afterwards when I see the grief of their family and friends that I empathize with them. For example, I was just shocked to read when Fred was killed. But I started to tear up when Molly threw herself across him, weeping with grief. I was actually crying when Harry realized he'd have to march straight up to Voldemort and offer himself in order to destroy him. But I didn't actually get going until he saw the spirits of his closest family and friends conjured up by the stone in the ring, his mother and father, Sirius and Lupin. And when he asks his mother to stay close while he walks straight to certain death? I was bawling!

And like I said before, Dobby's death also really got to me, mostly because he got a knife in the chest not meant for him while he was trying to save his wizard friends. Poor Dobby. He deserved better. Well, better than death anyway. in death, he did get a very special and unusual honor, having his own grave personally dug, without magic, by a wizard, a honor probably never previously alloted to a mere house-elf.

Mystifying parts and "What ifs?"
I'm still confused about how exactly Draco was the master of the Eldest Wand-- that part just baffled me. I might have been reading too quickly and skipped a paragraph or two accidentally, I usually do that the first time around with each book. But the whole final set up in the end with Voldemort not being the master of the wand? It means that Harry never really had to resort to murder, to kill Voldemort-- Voldemort just ended up killing himself.

Also, I felt that both Dobby and Snape were trying to say something to Harry right before they croaked. Was Dobby trying to say something more, or were his last words just a tribute to Harry Potter? And I perfectly well know that with Snape, we'll never know. Possibly this will just open up a slew of fanfiction to open up the possibilities but I probably won't ever read them, I'd like to keep that a loose end for my imagination.

Was Harry in somewhere in limbo, or the afterlife while he was in the fog of his mind after being cursed by Voldemort? There were only three entities there-- Dumbledore, himself, and the little bit of Voldemort wriggling on the ground. Does this mean that Harry's consciousness was knocked onto a higher level of understanding, into another realm? If the Voldemort-baby was there, was that the little bit that had been residing in him, and was now dead and in the afterlife? It's just confusing, and I'm sure someone will come up for a better explanation for it. There's several theories as to the metaphysical location of that entire chapter floating around in my head that make sense in a strange sort of abstract way, but make no sense when I try to type it out in rational sentences. Ah well.

And the Malfoy family? The last bit we see of them before the epilogue is them huddled as a family in the great hall while everyone celebrates. And obviously, Draco grows up to get married and have children, so he's not imprisoned for having been a Death Eater. What about his parents, though? It makes me curious about how all the people who committed crimes in the name of Voldemort were served justice. So many what-if's... I suspect JKR did this on purpose to keep some of the fandom alive, at least, to keep theorizing and talking and discussing the books for years. Perhaps. Personally, I'm glad it's all over, and I'm really satisfied and content with this book. I feel at rest, although I'm actually really inspired to do all sorts of drawings and illustrations for this book.

The Epilogue
Now I'm sure that some people are going to moan and bitch about this being too fluffy and happy, but there has to be a future, right? The world will go on regardless of who live or dies. But I enjoyed it. I mean, man, all these people went through so much pain and trauma, they deserved some freaking happiness. I enjoyed the glimpse into the future, seeing that everyone's moved on and that Harry and Ginny got together, and Ron and Hermione together and all had lots of bouncing little children. I also appreciated that JKR didn't make Harry and Draco mushy soul best friend buddies, but merely respectful of each other. They're finally grown up.

And you know what? Even for all the cheesiness and the happiness of the epilogue-- the line 'Albus Severus,...you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.' makes all that worth it, since Snape gets no other homage or consideration for all he did.

So, dang, man, people. That's it. It's all over.

la la

Something cute

HP Art Project

Happy Halloween!

So, finally, some art

woo woo woo finished Harry Potter!