sistermagpie @ July 28 2004, 14:40:23 UTC

xnera--thanks so much for doing this. I did definitely think about getting off my own lazy ass gathering some posts myself, and then I just never had the time to sit down to do it. I think the way you've been doing it is just fine!

It's still weird, isn't it, reading the beginning? Pansy is flooding the dungeons with sandlewood and I can see why she'd be driving Draco crazy. For once I don't think he's completely to blame in any problems they have.

So does everybody think Draco's covering for Harry or not? Harry's response to him about the match seems pretty friendly and Draco doesn't reply to it, so I can believe they have some understanding. And then, of course, it's great reading the posts that came later, where Harry is asking about Draco's knee. It's hard to imagine Malfoy at this stage covering for Harry for anything, though.

It's also kind of sad/happy reading Shallow!Parvati who's best friends with Lavender. Those two really go a long way.

And finally--very glad they wound up friendslocking the journals. That thread of Goyle's is horribly jarring with random people talking to him. Ack!

airaloki @ July 28 2004, 19:22:12 UTC

I think that Pansy is doing most of the damage herself and not realizing it. I mean, she's doing a lot of stuff that Draco despises, and when he tells her that in his own mean way, she brushes it aside and continues to do the same thing anyway.

On the matter of Malfoy covering up for Harry, here he says that he, certainly didn't see Potter at the match, with an emphasis on Potter. So maybe he didn't see Harry (invisibility cloak, maybe?), but he did see Ron? In the entry he continually says that if Ron snuck out (which he had actually already admitted to) Draco didn't see him because he wasn't looking for him. Yet with Harry, he keeps saying that he didn't see him at all, even though he is obsessed with him and would have noticed if he had been there.

And the knee comments were greaat- though when I first read the entry, I didn't automatically distinguish between the two times. I mean, I knew that something was different, but I didn't realize at first that it was a year later.

xnera @ August 6 2004, 20:16:03 UTC

Finally found time to actually read these!

It is very weird to read the beginning! It's obvious the mods and players were still working the kinks out of the game. They didn't have the rule against doing actions. And I'm glad they ended up disallowing comments by nonfriends -- I remember thinking it was odd to see random comments even back then.

It all feels a bit awkward and strange to me. I know some of the characterizations are "off" because characters changed players and stuff, but it's a bit more than that. It's like they're still feeling their way and making sense of how it all fits together. But IIRC, things should start picking up from here. I think the Isolate Potter plot is about to start, which is something I'm looking forward to rereading.

Okay, preliminary thoughts out... *deep breath* I really, really don't want all of my re-analysis to focus on Harry/Draco, because that's belittling the other characters and players, but I just couldn't help but feel there was an abundance of H/D stuff going on here.

First, Harry called Draco by his first name. This really surprised me, because I hadn't remembered him doing that. I can't quite figure out why he did so, or what this says about Harry. Harry does sound a bit stiff here, like he's unsure of what he's doing, or nervous. And then there's Ron's reaction, a sort of disbelief or questioning of what Harry's up to.

Next, Hermione's comment that Ron and Harry bought snakes, and she can't understand why. Could this be foreshadowing Harry's relationship with Draco, and Ron's (at the least) tolerance of Draco? And also, Hermione never really warmed up to Draco, did she?

And then there's the insistance by Snape and Lucius that Draco is covering for Harry (Snape suspiciously, Lucius proudly, as the latter thinks Draco is extorting Harry). There just seems to be so much emphasis on Draco and Harry as they relate to each other. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but there it is.

You asked if anyone thought Draco was covering for Harry. I really don't know. He seems rather emphatic that he did NOT see Harry at the match, but I don't think it is "covering". I'm wondering if it's more that he didn't want anyone to know he was "stalking" Harry. But then, there's nothing really wrong with noticing a classmate at a game. Rather innocent, I'd say. So the whole fact that he DOESN'T want people thinking he saw Harry makes me think that HE feels that there is something wrong with him noticing Harry at the game. Maybe he is already having "thoughts" about Harry, then?

xnera @ August 6 2004, 20:17:52 UTC

Okay, I've decided I will talk about all the characters after all, if only so I have something to do while running queries at work. *grins*

Goyle -- it feels to me like Goyle's writing actually got WORSE over time, since I don't get as much of a headache trying to read his stuff here. He's so focussed on Draco at the beginning of the game. Hero worship, it feels like. I don't think he ever loses that, but it's nice to see him develop other focuses (colin, aliens) as the game goes on.

Remus -- He's much more introspective in his early days, I'd say. Missing much of the whimsy that I enjoy so much, though there are hints of it. Still, I don't think this Remus is too far off from the Remus of latter days. I can almost believe that it's the close proximity of Sirius and Harry (and perhaps Snape as well) that will eventually draw the whimsy out of him.

Snape -- Hmm. I am trying to remember how I felt about Snape the first time I read this. I remember liking the Isolate Potter plot, but I am not sure how I feel about the characterization here. I think I liked Snape best around his mission phase. Right now he seems a little over the top.

Ron -- Oh, Ron! Although I love all the NA characters, Ron is one of my favorites, as he has stayed consistently in character throughout the whole game. I love how clueless he is. Here, it's about keeping the Cannons game silent. Hee!

Harry -- Harry's speaking patterns never change throughout the game, which I adore so much. One thing I noticed here is that his journal entry is very much a "journal" -- just a record of what he did during the day. There's barely any hint of emotion there from him. Compare that to Draco, who tries not to show his true thoughts and feelings to the world, but whose entries seethe with enragement that often DOES hint to how he's really feeling. The difference, I think, is that Draco is conciously hiding his feelings so as to keep up a public image, whereas Harry simply isn't comfortable with sharing his feelings at all. Thoughts?

Millicent -- There's a very subtle difference in her speech patterns early on. Oh, she's doing the short-sentence thing, but here it almost sounds like she was going for humor rather than showing contempt for everyone and everything. She's definitely anti-social at the moment. We know from later posts that the Unholy Trio were apparently close as children, or at least had fond memories of each other from childhood. Yet they appear to be all strained early on in the game. It makes me wonder what happened to cause that strain, and kinda makes me glad that the journaling project brought them closer together again.

xnera @ August 6 2004, 20:18:03 UTC

Parvati -- Odd, I had forgotten just how into Divination she was early in the game. I knew she did some horoscopes and stuff, but I had forgotten just how often she mentioned it.

Dean -- HA! Dean is so tied to Seamus in my head that it is hard to separate the two, and look, they've been inseparable from the beginning!. We barely see anything of him here, but I think there's enough to build on.

Draco -- Always perfectly played. I could say more, but I fear I wouldn't be able to stop.

The twins -- I feel as is their players were still figuring the characterizations out, because these early entries feel a little awkward to me. This post reads like a Very Secret Diary. Humor is hard, though, so I think it's just that they had to try some things out before they figured out exactly what worked.

Sirius -- I so dislike the "~Sirius" at the end of each post and comment. I am glad he eventually dropped it. He's also very superficial, isn't he?

Percy -- What I like about this post here is that it is very in character for Percy to go visit Professor Binns, but that it also sets up the reveal of the Cannons match. I didn't understand the purpose of Percy's very first posts, other than to show he is an intellectual bore; here, it is obvious that he IS important to the game. I like that.

Seamus -- Erm. As much as I like Dean/Seamus, this was a bit too much. Also, very weird to read Seamus with the old username. Much prefer the new one. Though I have to squee over Sinistra's appearance in the comments of that post. <3!

Blaise -- I HEART YOU BLAISE!!! Its post here feels exactly like all its other posts -- cryptic, strange, and perhaps a bit mentally unstable.

dahlia_777 @ Deleted Deleted

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xnera @ August 7 2004, 20:51:09 UTC

I definitely think PS covers for Harry after the game, and Harry must know PS has done this or else why would he be so grateful?

But why would he do that? What reason does PS have for covering for Harry? I don't understand why PS would do Harry a favor if they were still enemies at this point. PS doesn't strike me as a very giving sort, so I can only imagine that he had his own best interests in mind if he covered for Harry.

Btw do you have a policy on spoilers for this project?

Not really, no. So far it looks like everyone who's been commenting was around for most of the game. If we had people commenting who were reading these posts for the first time, then I'd be worried. But as we all know what's going to happen, I don't think it's a problem.

dahlia_777 @ Deleted Deleted

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a_player @ August 10 2004, 06:42:03 UTC

I can only imagine that he had his own best interests in mind

xnera @ August 10 2004, 10:49:52 UTC

!!!!

Well, this was very nice to wake up to. :D

sistermagpie @ August 10 2004, 14:16:38 UTC

Now I'm just all the more curious, of course--why would it be in his best interests? To hold something over Harry would be tempting but it's hard to imagine him being that patient. It seems more like he's protecting himself in some way by protecting Harry, and that Harry doesn't understand that and thinks he's being uncharacteristically nice, which is maybe why ps doesn't answer Harry's effusive thanks...?

a_player @ August 10 2004, 06:44:54 UTC

I definitely think PS covers for Harry after the game, and Harry must know PS has done this or else why would he be so grateful? His thank-yous are positively effusive, for him. I wouldn't be surprised if PS not only spotted Harry at the game but spoke to him there too. Harry's reaction implies he thought PS might tell and was relieved he hadn't.

Yep, but I starred something else Xnera said as to why, below...

sistermagpie @ August 8 2004, 17:44:39 UTC

This really surprised me, because I hadn't remembered him doing that. I can't quite figure out why he did so, or what this says about Harry. Harry does sound a bit stiff here, like he's unsure of what he's doing, or nervous. And then there's Ron's reaction, a sort of disbelief or questioning of what Harry's up to.


I was thinking back to the Q&A's, and didn't Harry say that the first time he ever felt anything but hatred for Malfoy was that time in the Three Broomsticks? Did that just happen? Because I wondered if this was Harry's first attempt to try a different approach with Draco just to see what happened. Draco doesn't respond to it, so I wondered if he was just confused and didn't know what to say.

If the two of them did meet at the game, or if Harry knows Malfoy saw him, that line could be really a way of Harry saying thank you to him for not speaking...but if that's the case there would have to be some reason for Draco not to have run to tell on Harry. I'm having a hard time coming up with one.

Draco says later on that he rarely goes on and on about not lying when he actually is, so I think the evidence points to Draco not seeing him there. Harry may have had his cloak with him anyway, right? So Draco may just be annoyed at being accused. It surprises me, if that's the case, that he wouldn't get angry at Harry's comment. Hmmm...very hard to figure out what's going on in his mind there. He seems to want to remove himself from the whole question in some ways.

I can imagine Harry posting what he does as part of his own much more competent face of not having been at the game and being very mature about it, like this is his way of being a good boy and saying, "Even if I couldn't go to the game, I'm glad you could," while in fact he did go. Maybe Draco was just confused by that as well--or more likely suspicious. Only it's surprising he doesn't say so.

a_player @ August 10 2004, 06:43:46 UTC

I was thinking back to the Q&A's, and didn't Harry say that the first time he ever felt anything but hatred for Malfoy was that time in the Three Broomsticks?

I honestly can't remember what we said in the Q&As but that is sort of correct. That is the right time, anyway.

a_player @ August 10 2004, 06:48:06 UTC

Er, let me clarify. The Three Broomsticks was the first time he ever had any kind of slashy interest in Draco. I said 'not exactly' because he did feel other things besides hatred before that--namely sympathy--but not in a romantic interest sort of way at all.

sistermagpie @ August 10 2004, 14:14:08 UTC

Gotcha--that's what I figured you meant, that that was the first inkling of possible slashiness.

dahlia_777 @ Deleted Deleted

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xnera @ August 5 2004, 14:19:36 UTC

You are most welcome! :)

I'll have the next set up in a day or so. I want to finish writing up my thoughts on the current set first.

a_player @ August 10 2004, 06:49:00 UTC

Were you going to keep doing those while we do the Q&As? We're going to start doing them in a day or so, so I thought I would warn you in case you wanted to wait.

xnera @ August 10 2004, 10:44:04 UTC

Thanks for the warning. I certainly don't mind waiting, as I am busy with other stuff now, anyway.