kat99999 @ August 23 2004, 21:06:28 UTC

How did you get so cool?! I love <3333333333333333333

a_player @ August 23 2004, 21:15:09 UTC

I eat red meat? I dunno! (Note: I just realised you might be a vegetarian and think this is a personal shot at you but I have no idea if you are.) I am not cool, but thank you anyway! <3

kat99999 @ August 23 2004, 21:32:12 UTC

I am not a vegetarian :D I think Ernie was just the coolest :D I have no constructive questions :D

goth_the_goat @ August 23 2004, 21:35:10 UTC

You gave me a very good reason why I adore Hufflepuffs. Nowadays people abhor Hufflepuff for some reason.

Anyway, was it difficult playing such a paranoid character? Also, what do you think of Hufflepuffs, in general?

I love you. Will you marry me?

a_player @ August 23 2004, 22:07:10 UTC

Hahaha, not at all. It was very fun! Plus, my parents are extremely paranoid and I'm in turn rather paranoid too, so often I just took stuff I was slightly paranoid about and multiplied it by, like, a hundred. For instance if one of my friends added everyone back as a friend except for me, I'd privately and paranoidly think they were angry at me, but I probably wouldn't say something. Ernie on the other hand would make a giant, ranting entry about it, deciding this was fact and being angry because the person hadn't told him they were angry at him. (He did this with Eloise, and that's the best example I can remember of using something I was paranoid about myself. I do not think the man is reading my LJ.)

I don't feel strongly one way or the other about Hufflepuffs, really. I could care less about Zacharias Smith and such, but I very much like Ernie and Justin. I like Hufflepuffs in general, but Hufflepuff isn't my favourite house. I definitely liked Hufflepuff a lot more because of NA, though.

Thanks! But I am not interested in marriage at this point in time.

joosetta @ August 23 2004, 22:09:58 UTC

Wow. I have a question! :O

When you started playuing Ernie, were you very aware that he was a minor canon character? And did this effect how you played?

One of the things I admired so much about NA was that even the minor characters from canon had huge personalities and roles- and Ernie really was the best example of that. He was one of my personal favourite characters, he was hilarious throughout the game- and when you made that heartbreaking post near the end, after he had been under cruciatus- that just. . . well in some ways it affected me more than the deaths.

I just wonder, I suppose, where you created the character of Ernie from, because he was so believable and real. Immense respect, for making me laugh /and/ cry.

a_player @ August 23 2004, 22:20:53 UTC

Hm, not really, because I knew how I wanted to play him. Initially I didn't intend to have him post very often or be very involved with anyone aside from the Hufflepuffs, because he was a minor character and I wanted him to stay in his own world.

I pretty much created Ernie solely from that conversation Harry overhears in the library, where Ernie is speculating that Harry is trying to be the next Dark Lord but then is a bit shaken when he sees Harry has heard him. At the time Justin's player and I decided that it would be hilarious if that was what Ernie was like all the time. Otherwise, I took a lot of my own characteristics and just made them extreme. I very much wanted Ernie to be a teenage boy, so I made him pretty excitable and sex-obsessed.

muggleangel @ August 23 2004, 22:11:15 UTC

You ended up being one of my favorite characters, you know. :)

Where did you guys come up with the idea for a Ernie/Hermione relationship? It seemed odd at first, but it really just ...worked.

a_player @ August 23 2004, 22:23:13 UTC

Aw, thank you! :D

Well, I knew Hermione fancied Ernie, but I was not doing much about it because Ernie is pretty aloof and had no idea. After they went through LYNW and got on pretty well, they started hanging out more and it just sort of fell together. Ernie kept giving Hermione huge compliments without realising it, and Ernie is pretty casual about girls.

dry_your_eyes @ August 23 2004, 22:22:03 UTC

wheee! Ernie :)

a silly question: did you have lots of fun discussing G-spots with Ginny's player? :) because I did while reading your exchange :))

and who came up with the idea of that brillaint prank when everyone was using Ernie!icons?

thank you for numerous fits of giggles you brought me! <333

a_player @ August 23 2004, 22:27:21 UTC

Yes, I did! :)) I was talking to Ginny's player beforehand, and I'd mentioned that I wanted to casually have people find out that Ernie was actually really good in bed but didn't know it, but I couldn't figure out how to bring it up. So she offered to have Ginny discuss it with me, which was hilarious. Ginny and Ernie had a couple of lengthy conversations that Ginny's player and I thought were really funny, because it was so random to have Ginny and Ernie talking seriously.

I am not really sure who came up with that idea, because we'd wanted to do it a year before, either for Hallowe'en or April Fool's Day (I can't remember which!), but then we forgot about it. It must have been either Hannah's player, Justin's player or me. Whenever it was, it was before CoS came out.

And thank you for giggling! <3

aome @ August 23 2004, 22:46:01 UTC

My question is on a related note, because I'm a dork and it's the only thing I can think of right now: How did Ernie feel when he saw everyone, right down to many of the staff, using the Ernie icons?

Truly, that was a brilliant moment. I laughed so hard!

You did a great job with him, man! :D

a_player @ August 23 2004, 22:47:42 UTC

Oh, he felt very seriously betrayed and furious, especially when everyone laughed at him for being angry.

Thank you! :D

nyxforsythe @ August 23 2004, 22:47:54 UTC

I loved Ernie so much!! He was my favourite Hufflepuff by far.
I loved Hermione and Ernie's relationship.
Do you think they will stay together for awhile?
They seemed pretty happy at the end of the RPG.

Oh and Plus was it ridiculously amusing for you to reply to people with random comments like I dunno, probably wanking ? Justin and Ernie had the most entertaining conversations.

Cheers <3
Nyx

a_player @ August 23 2004, 22:50:43 UTC

Thanks!

Well, I don't think Hermione and Ernie are true love forever or anything. I think their relationship is more fun than serious, so I'm not sure how long it would last, really! They're a good match, but Ernie and Hermione are also both work-a-holics.

Yes, it was! I loved Justin and Ernie threads.

morganmuffle @ August 23 2004, 23:18:54 UTC

First off thank you for being such a wonderful Ernie and bringing Hufflepuff pride to the fandom :D

Questions (I can never think of interesting things to ask) What was your favourite Ernie&Justin thread, or just Hufflepuff thread?

What do you think Ernie's doing now?

a_player @ August 23 2004, 23:39:14 UTC

And thank you!

I don't think I could pick just one, really! I loved the ones where Susan came in.

Ernie is probably training to be an Unspeakable right now and following his brother around in adoration.

mustyouwait @ August 23 2004, 23:36:16 UTC

I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, BUT YOU ARE MY FAVORITE PLAYER! YAY.

a_player @ August 23 2004, 23:39:48 UTC

Thank you! :D

sistermagpie @ August 24 2004, 02:07:04 UTC

OMG! Ernie!!! The curiously hot Hufflepuff!

Why are you so awesome?? Okay, I love Ernie. It was so brilliant the way he was hyper paranoid and hyper clueless all the time without it seeming like a bit. He managed to have a whole personality as well. You were the best Quidditch commentator ever.

Lessee, my questions would be, what do Ernie and Justin like to do when they're just hanging out?

Could you describe the difference between Ernie's vibe with Hannah and with Hermione? (Knowing he was great in bed with both of them.)

I loved your relationship with McGonnogal too--how did that come about? Does Ernie just have a way with the ladies?

The homophobia, man! Tell me about that. How did Ernie feel about gay people in general, and Harry in particular? Did he ever feel like he should apologize to Harry about that, or did he assume Harry was okay with him in all things? How did Justin and Ernie wind up on that issue?

How did the final battle in the Great Hall change Ernie?

One of my favorite moments was when Ernie started talking in '40's private dick-ese. What was Ernie's reason for that, exactly? I'm a big Nero Wolfe fan and I was surprised how sexy that made Ernie. He could actually carry it off.

Also, was there a reason Ernie was so freaked out by teeth? Did he and Malfoy just completely drive each other up a wall?

a_player @ August 24 2004, 03:19:45 UTC

Hahaha! Thank you! :D I really, really love Quidditch, so I was glad that Ernie got to be the commentator.

Justin and Ernie pretty much read comics and talk about girls. They do homework. Sometimes they do random things like building forts or turning over sofas to look at porn magazines, but they are pretty average.

Ernie's relationship with Hannah I think was more serious than with Hermione. With Hannah they were constantly getting together and breaking up and had been doing so for years. Hermione didn't scold him like Hannah did, and he and Hermione were generally more light-hearted than he and Hannah.

The McGonagall thing came about pretty randomly. I was really excited that Ernie was the Quidditch commentator, so I kept commenting in delight, and then I remembered how McGonagall and Lee Jordan seemed to have this little fighting back and forth relationship over the Quidditch matches, so I wanted to continue that. Or, at least, Ernie did, I can't say McGonagall wanted to though!

Ernie thinks being gay is seriously gross and that all gay guys will try to hit on him. He never felt like he should apologise to Harry about it, because he never changed his mind. I can't speak for Justin, but Ernie was equally homophobic at the end of the game as he was at the start of it. There just wasn't reason for it to come up very much.

The attack made Ernie very angry and very bitter, which were not things that he had been before. He got angry, but he had been terrible at staying angry long or holding a grudge. Sometimes he would try to be conversational with Malfoy or Millicent or someone as though he forgot they were not friends. Now he resents a lot.

Ernie's reason for that was that he reads those type of books a lot. Ernie reads in his free time, but it's mostly stuff like that or comics. And possibly whatever the Wizarding World equivalent to Goosebumps would be.

The teeth thing... you know, I really just picked that randomly, so there's no deep reason for it. A lot of people I know are freaked out by anything that has to do with teeth, so I just decided that would be one of Ernie's quirks.

sistermagpie @ August 24 2004, 03:53:55 UTC

Woo-hoo! Thank you!

But now you've intrigued me--who does Ernie resent and why? I mean, you mentioned his forgetting and commenting to Millicent and Draco...does he now associate them more with the attack because of who they are? Or did you just mean he has a general bitterness about Death Eaters and the people responsible, and maybe now is more clear about only speaking with his friends in general?

And I so love the idea of Ernie reading Goosebumps and looking at porn with Justin while they continue to think being gay is gross and that they are hit on by everyone. Did Ernie have any clue about the H/D? Because Draco was never openly out...I wondered if he would pick up on it or get any info from Hermione...

a_player @ August 24 2004, 04:11:29 UTC

No, he's just generally bitter and resentful towards the world in general, which is sad for Ernie. For all his paranoia, he was pretty cheerful.

Ernie didn't know anything about H/D. He only really cares about Harry if Harry does something exciting. Otherwise Harry and Draco are pretty much completely outside of Ernie's life.

saltroseortopaz @ August 24 2004, 04:44:00 UTC

OMG ERNIE. <333333333 ERNIE.

Ahaha. All my questions have been answered, I just wanted to say OMG I LOVE ERNIE.

Oho. Wait, I have my generic question for when I have nothing better:

Boxers or briefs?

(Also, DAMN FICTIONAL MEN. I now say 'man', thanks awfully. It is among the many little things I have picked up from fictional characters and now use in my own daily speech...)

a_player @ August 24 2004, 07:22:15 UTC

Thank you! :D

I am not sure. I have not thought about it. Briefs, I suppose.

Man is a good word to use.

saltroseortopaz @ August 24 2004, 07:31:04 UTC

You're welcome!

[notes that down] Am pretty sure Remus said boxers. Dude, I should totally make a list.

Man is a good word to use, but it is very strange in some cases. (Especially considering the other snippets have picked up. "Tra la la, man" is just weird. Although, "I shall prevail...man" after being beaten at NA quoting is funny)

a_player @ August 25 2004, 01:42:06 UTC

You play NA quoting games? o_O

saltroseortopaz @ August 25 2004, 03:58:51 UTC

Sort of. After a fashion.

It's more like:

- Dele and Laura randomly start talking about NA . In that specific instance, Remus and Ernie's underwear, 'cause like, making a list.

- It turns into quoting at each other

- Dele goes "aww, dammit. I got nothin'."

- Laura goes "I win"

- Dele plots revenge.

We just likeses quoting things.

mlle_skeetre @ August 25 2004, 07:58:47 UTC

I always win.

saltroseortopaz @ August 25 2004, 08:06:32 UTC

Do not!

...aw, crap. You bloody do.

a_player @ August 24 2004, 05:19:25 UTC

Hello, chum! I hope you and I can have a hot Literati date sometime soon!

a_player @ August 24 2004, 07:22:41 UTC

I am always ready for hot dates, Literati or no Literati.

always_up_trees @ August 24 2004, 05:24:37 UTC

I. Love. You.

Really, that is it.

a_player @ August 24 2004, 07:23:03 UTC

Why, thank you!

jiffy_spiffy @ August 24 2004, 07:09:38 UTC

Ernie! I'm trying to think up constructive questions, when my inner fangirl is dying to ask to you marry me. Yes, I'm aware you're actually an RPer portraying a fictional character, but I think we can get around that little fact ;)

Yes, first off, I love you, you're my favourite character and yes, just much love. Thank you for being so bloody fantastic, you're actually what I miss most about NA. Does that make me sad? Well, yes, probably.

What was your favourite part of playing Ernie, and do you like him more as a character now that you've essentially been him? Not that there's much reason for you to dislike him before, but is he a favourite of yours now?

Is there anything you tried to include in the game, but for whatever reason, couldn't work it in? I know that's a rather strange question, but just go with me here!

!uoy knahT!

a_player @ August 24 2004, 07:34:30 UTC

Thanks! I am shocked that Ernie is someone's favourite character.

Honestly, I did not think much about him at all before NA. He really only appeared in CoS marginally. But I love him now, and was delighted at his larger role in OotP. I even wrote to Louis Doyle (the actor who plays him) once.

I wanted to go on more about Martin Miggs Issue 105, and intended to before book five came out. But then we decided we couldn't very well say who had died in Martin Miggs without spoiling everyone or killing the meta joke, so we just sort of had to drop that.

jiffy_spiffy @ August 24 2004, 08:04:16 UTC

Oh, you know you're great! :P But yes, you were and it's quite remarkable actually because I was completely neutral in regards to Ernie prior to NA. Usually, my favourites end up being my favourite characters from the books.

You wrote to the actor? Really? That's interesting, what did you say to him? ... Do I have a question quota? You don't have to answer that one, it's not really related to Ernie, is it?

Thank you for answering my (lame) questions, I shall forevermore hoard this comment :)

a_player @ August 25 2004, 01:42:53 UTC

I just asked him how old he was, really! He is so tall. And no, you don't have a question quota on anyone.

slinkhard @ August 27 2004, 20:29:00 UTC

He really only appeared in CoS marginally.
But I love him now, and was delighted at his larger role in OotP. I even wrote to Louis Doyle (the actor who plays him) once.

Haha, you have inadvertently answered my question! (Which was "What did you think of Ernie in OotP?", btw.)

It wasn't my favourite book, but I was delighted to see a fractional increase in the minor characters - Millicent! Pansy! Ernie!, and also in the movies casting of said roles.

a_player @ August 28 2004, 12:06:08 UTC

I liked Ernie in OotP! I endeavoured to make him more intellectual in NA after I read it as I hadn't really been leaning towards that originally, but I couldn't completely change the character. Or more obsessed with studying, anyway.

I loved, loved, loved Ernie in the movie version of CoS. I thought he played him perfectly, even if only in deleted scenes.

slinkhard @ August 28 2004, 12:20:37 UTC

Heh. I didn't originally approve (the satisfaction at the end kinda creeped me out!), but I kind of liked how the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws are written - fairly balanced.
I mean, there's this generation of Gryffindor, who are all of course Living Saints, and Slytherins who are all of course Junior Death Eaters and then there's the other two houses:
Cho and Marietta, who an audience could emphasise with, but who still had their faults; and of course, Ernie, who's a little pompous, and Zacharias - another 'Puff to dare to question Harry ;)

Continuing this theme, I really loved it in NA when the teams were arguing with Ernie over who fouled the most:

I'M THE ONLY PERSON WHO ACTUALLY WATCHED THE RIGHT QUIDDITCH MATCH.

loony_moony @ Deleted Deleted

Deleted

a_player @ August 25 2004, 01:43:48 UTC

You'd have to ask Hermione's player how Hemrione felt about the paranoia! I am not sure.

I do not think I know of a mother of all theories, I have to say! I'm sorry!

And thanks :D

devilzzz @ August 24 2004, 23:41:52 UTC

What's the best part about playing in N_A?

What's the best part about playing a Hufflepuff?

<3<3.

a_player @ August 25 2004, 01:45:08 UTC

The best part about playing a Hufflepuff was that the Hufflepuffs really operated in their own little world. Also that Ernie was practically the ringleader, which I enjoyed.

The best part about playing in NA, I couldn't possibly think of one!

frozen_jelly @ August 25 2004, 20:22:32 UTC

Hi Ernie's Player! You are very cool, man!

I loved Ernie's posts so much they were always a little random and good comedy :)

My question is...Why do you think the Hufflepuff's were so bonded? It really seemed like Ernie, Justin, Hannah and Susan were this really tight, patriotic, loyal group of friends in a way that the other houses weren't or didn't have.

Also...how did Ernie get so good in bed when he seems so clueless at times?!

a_player @ August 26 2004, 14:53:40 UTC

Thanks!

I think that Hufflepuffs enjoy friendship (and probably family) more than most other things. Hufflepuffs are also sort of alienated, so I think that you have to be a Hufflepuff to understand a Hufflepuff.

He's very obliviously good in bed.

kairos103 @ August 26 2004, 00:32:39 UTC

It's probably too late for questions, so I shall fangirl instead. The Q&A with Ernie is what ultimately really hooked me on NA (I had a lot of catching up to do after that). The "code" thread with Justin that included Pig Latin and everything else probably made me laugh harder than anything I have ever read online. I love how Hufflepuff paranoia and conversations between Ernie, Justin, and sometimes Susan became catalysts that revealed the story behind the story we all were so desperate to glean. "Man" has become essential to my netspeak and actual speech. Part of me was a little sad to see the relationship with Hannah end, but, man, (see!) I loved Ernie with Hermione. They just worked. I could see them with their cauldron helmets so clearly. <3

The best thing about Ernie to me was that he was a good friend to people who mattered to him, and that he was a walking contradiction. Ernie is very 'speak first, be paranoid about it later.' The simple act of cursing on a journal that his professors read always killed me.

If you do have time to answer late questions, here's a quickie: now that Ernie and Justin don't get to see each other every day, how often do you think they talk or visit?

a_player @ August 26 2004, 14:55:30 UTC

There is no deadline on the questions for anyone, not to worry!

Thank you so much! I am glad you liked the Hufflepuff. Ernie and Hannah were forever breaking up and getting back together, although I don't think anyone noticed that much.

I think Ernie and Justin probably see each other pretty often. I know that everyone promises to keep in touch after school, and then most don't, but I think that the Hufflepuffs are the type who would continue seeing each other until they got old.

bookofjude @ August 26 2004, 14:38:10 UTC

Xzm blf ivzw gsrh?

a_player @ August 26 2004, 14:51:58 UTC

Bvh, R xzm rmwvvw.

comava @ August 29 2004, 21:29:40 UTC

MINERVA MCGONAGALL IS ONE BADASS MOTHERFUCKER! *giggles wildly*

Please, please elaborate the g-spot post! Apart from it being really funny, I'm sure it also embarrassed Herm a bit and probably hurt Hannah. What was Ernie thinking, exactly?

And I too, loved Ernie and his paranoia and enthusiasm. I also liked when he said he was fine after being under crucio, it was just a moment I loved.

a_player @ September 8 2004, 00:09:50 UTC

I'm not sure how to elaborate on it, really! Ernie was genuinely curious as to why everyone acted like it was so hard to find. He wasn't really thinking about how Hermione would react.

Thanks!

digitalmeowmix2 @ August 30 2004, 18:05:41 UTC Hi Ernie

how did you create your character
from such a minor character in the books?

and please do the fish thing one last time


infinite love and thanks

a_player @ September 8 2004, 00:11:58 UTC Re: Hi Ernie

Justin's player kept telling me to play Ernie, and they brought up the scene where Ernie is spouting off a conspiracy theory in CoS. So I just went with that, and I really liked getting to play a teenage boy who was just that - a boy - so I kept bringing up boobs and wanking because I thought it was really funny. I made him more study-obsessed after OotP.

I'm not sure it's the same, since I'm not actually Ernie, but here you go:

IN YOUR FISH, MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!!

digitalmeowmix2 @ September 8 2004, 14:14:54 UTC Re: Hi Ernie

thank you, infinite love!

tabiji @ September 23 2004, 10:53:10 UTC

Hi Ernie's player!

For the NA t-shirts, what are your favorite quotes from your own character, and any other NA characters?

Thankyou!

a_player @ September 23 2004, 11:17:14 UTC

Anything that isn't "IN YOUR FISH MOTHERFUCKER!"

the_plebe @ September 28 2004, 01:10:56 UTC

OMG, ERNIE. <333333 \o\ |o| /o/

^.^ \m/

*cough* Yes. Much love. :D