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a_player @ September 2 2004, 18:42:19 UTC

Do you? What a friendly comment!

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a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:25:28 UTC

Thank you so much! I am glad that people thought that Lisa was realistic, because that was really the thing that I wanted to do most with her.

This will sound arrogant, but I'm quite good at parodying bands and songs, so they took me about five seconds. I generally just made them up every time I updated, although I had a long list of Acciohead and Weezerd and Broomhandle Confessional songs. I stayed away from one word song titles, though, because they were fairly difficult to parody.

I worked alone! Although, I took Weezerd from Ginny. I was collecting a massive list of all the parodied bands people had mentioned, so I went through everyone's LJs and that is where I got Weezerd. I liked that different characters were listening to the same bands. A lot of the time it was just the song I was listening to, or I would go through my mp3s to pick something. I giggled quite a lot when she was listening to "Surf Wax Britannia" by Weezerd. I was very pleased with myself over that.

a_player @ September 2 2004, 18:41:11 UTC P.S.

Someone emailed me right after NA ended, about some sort of Acciohead shirt, and then I had to reinstal Windows and lost the email. Are you reading these comments, little friend? Will I have to post a missed meeting on craigslist?

kenboy @ September 2 2004, 18:49:00 UTC

OMG.

You were so entirely the heart and soul of this thing.

I mean, damn, the amount of wibbling at the end, but I only cried once, and it was reading that Hermione post. And now I'm sort of doing it again a little bit. At work, yet.

Aw, jeez. I probably have questions, at some point, but for now, just know you rocked.

a_player @ September 2 2004, 18:55:38 UTC

Wow! That is quite a compliment. Thank you!

I also cried at Hermione's post. I loved Lisa so. I had not expected anyone to write out a description of how she died. Hermione's player showed it to me before she posted it to make sure I was okay with it, and it felt sort of like a punch in the gut because I hadn't expected to see that. And the rest of it was such a wonderful post too, but I selfishly focussed on the part about Lisa.

Thank you, though. That is always good to hear.

kenboy @ September 2 2004, 19:10:42 UTC

You're so very welcome.

Here's somewhat of a question. Your icons for Lisa: I know at somepoint, on nraged, someone mentioned that they'd seen them at an Australian bank's site... did you just randomly find them like that? Because omgcute.

Jesus, I'm a fanboy. When'd that happen?

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:26:51 UTC

Oh, I was embarrassed when someone saw Lisa's picture on an Australian bank. And the pizza advert! But yes, I found them randomly. I was just looking for girls with black hair and they were perfect.

digitalmeowmix2 @ September 2 2004, 18:51:58 UTC LOVE AND SQUEE!

1.how did you react to your in game death?
did you and the other killed off players bond over it?

2.will or did Lisa ever find who the headboy was?

3.do you think she should have?


INFINITE LOVE!

thnak you for everthing, Lisa was one of my favorites

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:00:03 UTC

1. I was very upset about it. I was more upset than I expected to be, because I thought that I would be more upset about the game ending than I would be about Lisa individually, but then once I read Hermione's post I just cried for awhile. I don't know if I bonded with anyone over it - maybe Pansy's player, but I was also upset about Pansy's death so it's hard to say if we bonded over the fact that our characters were both dying.

2. Lisa never knew who the Head Boy was. She wasn't looking at him when he killed her, and she never saw it coming.

3. It is hard to say. At first the Head Boy was really funny, and it wouldn't have been funny if Lisa knew. The notes he wrote her are very creepy in hindsight, too, but I think it also might have been interesting if she had seen who killed her. I just decided that she did not, though.

Thank you! It is so weird to think that Lisa was one of anyone's favourites.

digitalmeowmix2 @ September 2 2004, 20:57:27 UTC Re: LOVE AND SQUEE!

oh and the music thing? best part of it.

aquagia @ September 2 2004, 18:52:26 UTC

Um. Wow. It's wierd, because I feel like you're creepily speaking to us "past the grave". Or something.

I absolutely LOVE your interpretation of Lisa. Love love love. And I love the bands.

1) How did she develop? I guess this question is kind of odd, but I've NEVER seen Lisa portrayed this way, and now I can't see her being portrayed any OTHER way.

2) You? Morgan? Eh? *waggles eyebrows*

Thanks so much! If I had the money, I would buy you a pony.

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:06:07 UTC

I know what you mean! I almost felt like I oughtn't do one of these because it might break the illusion of Lisa being dead. Which is silly, since I am not actually Lisa Turpin.

1. Lisa came about pretty randomly. I wanted her to be someone whose friends were completely off the journals, someone who didn't really know any of the main (or even minor) characters well, because it seemed unrealistic to think that everyone's best friends were the characters who had been mentioned in the books. I was very fond of making up band names and when I did Acciohead, I just started going with the fact that a great deal of Radiohead fans are very focussed on music and are also a bit snobby about it. (I don't mean all Radiohead fans, of course! But they are out there.) To be quite honest, a lot of her development came solely from the bands I was choosing and her icons, which is probably a bad thing to admit. Mostly I wanted her to be sort of boring and like a real girl.

2. Eh? Eh? Lisa and Morgan were in one of those relationships that male and female best friends sometimes have, where sometimes they are dating and sometimes they are not, but when they are not they are still very close. You know, the relationships where all of your other friends are saying, "What is your problem? You obviously fancy each other!" Again I was trying to go for a realistic school relationship there.

Thanks! I would not have anywhere to keep a pony, so this is probably for the best.

aquagia @ September 2 2004, 19:11:36 UTC

1)Dude, for serious. About the music thing.

I just have to say, that I'm so glad you said that about Radiohead fans and such. Especially given the bands that she made referance to--I mean, I have SEVERAL friends like that. "Blah blah blah well the BLUE album.." And Radiohead is the same way. It made me giggle, because I act that way too, every so often.

2) Love the 'realistic' feel, too. I think every girl has had a really close boy friend who isn't necessarily their BOYFRIEND and faces endless speculation from the peanut gallery.

An imaginary pony it is, then.

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:29:22 UTC

The Blue Album is underrated, but Pinkerton remains an unsung masterpiece. If only Rivers Cuomo felt the same. I am a Radiohead fan, too, and at the height of my Radiohead love I was definitely a huge music snob, along with my fellow Radiohead-loving friends. I am still a music snob. My self-insertion is revealed!

cadeyrn @ September 2 2004, 22:28:45 UTC

*inappropriate display of affection for the Pinkerton album* ... (and for Lisa, but not ... an inappropriate display of affection ON Lisa, if you get my drift. One act merely stands for the both of them.)

Anonymous @ September 3 2004, 23:36:59 UTC Random person approval!

OMG yes Pinkerton!! I don't know HOW many reviews of the Green Albulm I've read that state it's the second albulm. It's ridiculous, and I can't even take the critic's opinion seriously, even if they liked it.

I love Keep Fishing, but I really hope their next albulm isn't as bad as Maladriot :S

a_player @ September 5 2004, 07:04:56 UTC Re: Random person approval!

I didn't much like the Green Album. A few songs, but that was it, and then I lost it about three days after I bought it and never listened to it again. I haven't listened to Maladroit but most of the songs had been out in live mp3s for ages, I think, so I already knew most of the stuff off of it (and didn't like it very much).

Anonymous @ September 6 2004, 01:42:05 UTC Re: Random person approval!

I do like the Green Albulm, although I suspect it's just because I adore Photograph, Hash Pipe and Island in the Sun. The rest I...know the words to, but yeah, I don't listen to it as much as the first two.

Maladroit is...really disappointing. I loathe Dope Nose, but perhaps I'm just being shallow because Rivers had a beard in the video. When I was buying Pinkerton, the clerk said it was his favourite - after Maladroit! Boy, that was worrying, since I had heard horrible things about Pinkerton before that.(what is up with that?)

In the effort of having a purpose, what do you think of Hanson? Annoying pretty boy pop trio or amazing musicians with beautiful three part harmonies and solid song writing skills? :)

a_player @ September 8 2004, 00:05:11 UTC Re: Random person approval!

I like when Rivers Cuomo is bearded and hermitty, actually.

Um, well, I don't listen to Hanson personally at all, but I wouldn't really bash them or anything. I respect them because they've been writing their own music and playing their own instruments since they were eleven or what have you.

hachi_08 @ September 2 2004, 18:58:46 UTC

Lisa is a very cool, very wonderful Head Girl. notethepresenttense There's so many great things to say about her, but as I am no wordsmith, I will leave that to someone else and just say that she touched me... In a completely non-dirty way, of course! :-P But in all serious, her death was so moving and terribly sad. Yet the manner of it fit because she died being the amazing person that she is. So, on to the question --

How did Lisa's valiant ending come about? Behind-the-scenes-wise, I mean. Did you decide this for her or was it decided by the mods? Was she chosen for this randomly, or had you been building up to it?

I hope my questions don't seem too insensitive towards her death. That's not what I mean by them at all. I'm simply wondering how it came to be Lisa who passed away as opposed to other characters.

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:11:24 UTC

Thank you! I am proud of the way Hermione described Lisa's death. I had never really thought about what Lisa looked like to other people, and Hermione made her sound great.

It was decided by a handful of players in chat, discussing deaths. I will tell you a secret, which is: Lisa was not supposed to die. That death was originally someone else, but then a lot of the players were in chat one day and said that Lisa would be a better choice. Initially we were just looking for casualties, but then Lisa made perfect sense.

They aren't insensitive at all!

ungemmed @ September 2 2004, 19:34:11 UTC

Oh, wow. Considering that Lisa wasn't "supposed" to be one of the dead ones... did that make the eventual decision for her to die harder or easier on you?

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:38:14 UTC

Harder. I was not happy about any of the other characters dying, of course, but I had resigned myself to them by that time and had not considered the idea of Lisa dying at all. When everyone said it I wanted to scream, "NO! NOT LISA! DO I NOT BLEED?!" but I was also committed to the story fitting together, so I said nothing.

devilzzz @ September 2 2004, 19:01:48 UTC

Hello =D

<3<3<3<3.

1) Best moment outside of the game?
2) Any players you pledge undying love for, or are close to?
3) Any hints on the head boy?
4) What inspired Lisa's character?

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:19:26 UTC

Hi!

1. I was going to be witty and write about some exciting experience in my life that had nothing to do with anything at all--a concert I'd been to that was really good, or something--but then I couldn't think of anything. Someone on nraged drew Lisa after she died, and that was really awesome.

2. Seamus's player definitely has my undying love. Hermione's player, also. I would end up listing most everyone in the game here, though.

3. The Head Boy's handwriting was sort of unimportant. People were analysing it a lot, but his notes weren't handwritten to give clues, or anything; we just thought the notes were funny.

4. Her music! I find it's strangely easy to develop someone's personality based on their music, depending what that music is.

a_player @ September 5 2004, 15:37:02 UTC

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!!!!!!!

pokethegeek @ September 2 2004, 19:03:02 UTC

OH MY GOTH





it's you!!!
Hello, my name is Mille Nieves Mortensen, and I love you.

I shall return when I have found something clever to ask you.

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:19:59 UTC

Oh my toast! Thank you! I shall anxiously await your question.

sincelastjuly @ September 2 2004, 19:31:13 UTC

hey there!

anything you did in the game that you would take back if you could?

anything you didn't do that you wish you had?

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:34:56 UTC

Hello! You have been asking such good questions.

I once had Morgan Mullarkey comment from Lisa's LJ to Lavender, because Lisa felt very serious about turning aside Lavender's anorexia. I immediately wished that I hadn't because it seemed so silly. I was caught up in the moment.

I can't think of anything, for the second!

loony_moony @ Deleted Deleted

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a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:36:00 UTC

Hi! Thanks! It is a tough competition out there, against all those other Jewish halfbloods, and I am glad that I have won.

ungemmed @ September 2 2004, 19:39:06 UTC

Lisa was hands-down my favorite and I cried buckets when she died. She was so very real... I kept on seeing things in her that were like me, or people I knew.

Lisa's "friend group" was for the most part off the journals, more so than the other characters, and that tended to make her seem... more isolated to me. Did she feel any of that isolation? Were there any people she wished she could have been closer to, but never really got to know?

a_player @ September 2 2004, 19:43:10 UTC

Thank you! I am baffled at the idea that Lisa was anyone's favourite. I cried buckets with you!

No, Lisa was very close to her friends. I don't think that anyone noticed this, but her best friends were pretty much the entire Ravenclaw Quidditch team. They treated her like an honorary member of the team and it had been that way for years. Most of her friends were also boys. It was her niche, and so she did not feel isolated from the other characters because she had her own friends. She was very fond of Malfoy at one point, but quickly recovered.

sistermagpie @ September 2 2004, 19:43:59 UTC

Lisa so snuck up on me as a character. Like, first I really did just appreciate the way she had her own circle of friends outside the characters we knew, and that she was such a believeable choice for Head Girl--better than Hermione, really, which is no criticism of Hermione, just that it seemed like the job was more about Lisa's strengths than Hermione's. She seemed so believeable, like a smart girl you went to school with--cool but not too cool, funny but not the class clown, smart but not the class brain. Then I wound up really liking her. Then she died and I cried. I think she was the first death we heard about in fact, and that's when I started crying. Don't worry I stopped a few days later.

My questions are:

Do you have any idea how Lisa's death will affect Morgan? I got a sense of his personality from Lisa's posts, but probably not the whole of him. How did they become friends?

How did you come to pick Lisa's favorite object? What's the story behind it--I gather Morgan would have given her little things all the time, or at least notes about music etc. What was special about that one?

Can you tell us anything more about Lisa's relationship with her family and sister? I loved details like her sister not being magical--what a great idea to have her deal with. Sometimes you could see how her sister felt too,though, like when Lisa was doing something about squibs I think it was? Wow, knew that wasn't going to go over well.

What would you consider Lisa's main flaws as a character as her player?

Can you give us some insight into Lisa's changing relationship with potterstinks? She seemed to start out interested in him, then by the end see him pretty well. I loved her loaded comment of how he "gave a lot away if you just let him talk." Any further elaboration on that little gem from Lisa's pov?:)

We heard Hermione's brilliant description of Lisa at the end--what was going through Lisa's mind? I could completely believe the way she took control, but I wonder if it was a surprise to Lisa herself, or if she even realized she was doing it?

Finally--this was a question someone else asked but it seemed especially good for Lisa: was there anything about her characterization you think people might have missed that was important?

Thank you!!!

a_player @ September 2 2004, 20:09:27 UTC

That is so nice to hear! I am so happy when people say that Lisa was believable, because writing someone whose friends and family are all original characters can be really dangerous and worrisome.

Was Lisa the first death people heard of? That day was so stressful! We were afraid that McGonagall's post asking Morgan to come down to that specific classroom would make everyone realise she had died, because she was looking for him to tell him that Lisa had died and show him her body if he wished. We were worried that we would totally blow it by having her post that! This actually has nothing to do with your questions, I see, but that is okay.

Morgan was completely hollowed out by Lisa's death. He sat with her body for a long time, and then pretty much fled when Lisa's father came to get her body. He had been pretty happy-go-lucky and extroverted before this, and I think that afterwards he would become more burdened.

When Lisa was a second year, she still hadn't really found her niche at Hogwarts. The Ravenclaws in NA had such different personalities that Lisa didn't truly fit with any of them. Morgan was a first year, and he ended up seated next to her after his Sorting. After that he sort of decided that they were friends, since he didn't know anyone either.

The note, well, I had written an entry about it months before, and I had written, "Mandy reckons it's sweet." When I wrote it I had the idea that Lisa was completely delighted by the note but was relying only on Mandy's input to know whether or not she should find it significant. She loved that Morgan wrote it for her randomly, in the middle of preparing for a big Quidditch match. It made her feel important.

I had a very good idea of what Lisa's home life was like, but I didn't want to write about it too much. Lisa and her sister were very close, even after her sister never got her Hogwarts letter. Once Lisa got hers, though, her sister got sort of bitter and Lisa was a bit insensitive about it. She didn't exactly wave it in her sister's face, but she didn't hesitate to talk about it in front of her. As she got older, Lisa wanted to fix this, but she was incredibly curious about what it was like for her sister, so sometimes she would ask her a question and her sister would just blow up. (The Squib thing you're thinking of, here.)

Lisa was often a bit too blunt and would try to be funny sometimes but turned out to be rude. Like, when she posted that she thought Parvati was trying to be her friend, she was trying to wittily point out that she'd noticed, but hurt Parvati's feelings instead. She is also one of those people who becomes so wrapped up in their work that they fail to see what's going on around them. During the end of the year with N.E.W.T.s she was actually taking a lot of Potions to stay awake, which I suppose would be the equivalent of someone taking a lot of No-Doz or caffeine pills to the point where it gets dangerous. I don't think I made this evident, but Lisa was also very much a doormat. And, of course, she was very snobby when it came to music!

Lisa did fancy Draco at one point, but then realised he was a total jerk. It was very good for her, in that it made her grow up a bit and she realised in hindsight that she had been completely stupid. This is why she could handle him pretty well - he had hurt her feelings immensely, but when she realised that she had been an idiot, Draco became a completely unthreatening entity. Lisa was a very good listener, and clever, so as Draco ranted on and on to her, especially during LYNW, she was able to read between the lines of what he was saying. The fact that his prized possession was what it was showed that he had an entire array of feelings beyond enraged.

I don't think that Lisa realised she was doing it. It was just an automatic thing to do, and it was her responsibility.

I don't know if this is important, but a lot of people thought that Morgan was a horrible boyfriend/friend. He really wasn't. Lisa hated Quidditch, but she absolutely loved Quidditch players. She could completely understand their obsession, not with Quidditch but the idea of obsession in general. She loved that they treated her like one of their own, so when she complained she was also amused.

sistermagpie @ September 3 2004, 17:11:42 UTC

You know, I think I remembered there had been a reference to Morgan's note previously--I love it!

Just to answer some of your almost questions, iirc, I didn't think McGonnogal's post to Morgan meant Lisa was dead since we didn't yet know what had happened. I think I remember thinking something might have happened to Morgan's parents or something and he was just being called down on his own. Really, even though I knew death obviously happened in this universe it was so real that you didn't really feel like somebody could die, you know what I mean? Like, I remember when I had wondered if something was going on with the twins when Molly went to the shop and they didn't seem to be there, it wasn't like I was saying, "Oh, they're history!" because I couldn't imagine them actually dying--too real.

Anyway, that's what it was like with Lisa. Intellectually I can see how I might have put two and two together, but thinking Lisa was dead would be like thinking a real person was dead--too huge!

With Morgan, I think we tended to hear Lisa when she was being more reflective about him and she probably kept herself from posting about how much she liked him. I remember often thinking he seemed like he could be "a jerk" meaning he was just a teenaged boy--and as you said, Lisa was a doormat.:=) I never thought he seemed like a bad guy, just that he was a regular boy who could be insensitive but not really overly so. We just usually heard about him when Lisa was thinking about how she was being taken advantage of, so maybe he sounded like more of a jerk.

a_player @ September 5 2004, 07:07:58 UTC

This is a good point! Often I think that Lisa struggled for things to write about because she was a fairly private person, so she would write about something that was actually a very small complaint, and then it would start to look like Morgan was a jerk. I think that people have a tendency to write about things that make them unhappy more than things that make them happy, or at least I know it's true in my case, so I think that probably came through with Lisa also.

bookshop @ September 2 2004, 20:11:29 UTC

I never really "noticed" Lisa as a character until the Martin the Mad Muggle post. That was one of my favorite moments and I think a big part of it was because of Lisa and just the way she sort of sprang out of the woodwork for me then. I remember times when I would go through all of Lisa's old journal entries because I was bored. I loved her taste in music. And I loved her sense of humor, so much.

All the questions I have wanted to ask so far on the Q&A have felt lame. But here is one anyway:

What was the hardest part about being Lisa? I always felt like she was the perfect character in a lot of ways, but I always felt like she hid a lot of herself from us too--her insecurities and the very personal things. Maybe I should not ask now. but I would still like to know.

♥

a_player @ September 2 2004, 20:18:57 UTC

Thanks! I am glad that people got Lisa's sense of humour.

The hardest part, I think, was that all of her friends were original characters. I had a really good idea of who they were and what they were like, but I was constantly afraid that I would look ridiculous with all of my original characters. And also, trying to avoid jumping into too many conversations between everyone else. Lisa wasn't close with them, so I didn't ever want to give the impression that she was.

Lisa definitely hid everything personal from her LJ. She posted about her sister and her family, but she constantly referred to her friends as "Morgan Mullarkey" or "Stewart Ackerley", never just Morgan or Stewart, which I think is a good example of the distance she put between her journal and her personal self. When she wrote personal things she often regretted it. And she definitely had a lot of insecurities, though I'm not sure if you're asking me to list them or not!

ginger_slam @ September 2 2004, 22:39:45 UTC

Has anyone asked this:

Will you post your play list? Or your list of bands? Because that was always brilliant. The Current Music was often such a constant hightlight. And I would laugh and pat myself on the back everytime I understood them. Which was most of the time.

a_player @ September 2 2004, 23:13:18 UTC

I am not sure if you mean Lisa bands or real bands that I like! I will assume Lisa. Did you want songs, too?

ginger_slam @ September 3 2004, 00:39:00 UTC

Lisa's bands and songs would be great if you don't mind.

Actually, a question just occurred to me, but as I've only been skimming the comments, I don't know if it's been asked or not.

Do you share the same musical taste? Also, in less than polite terms, are you musically snobby? Like, yes! to bands like Weezer and Radiohead and DMB and even emo bands like Dashboard Confessional. No! to people who only enjoy those bands because their friends enjoy them, or because the frontman is hot.Or, I NEVER listened to the Backstreet Boys! I was a fan of Phantom Planet's "California" before they were famous!

If this question does not make as much sense as it seems to in my head, please, could just mention some of your favorite bands and whether your musical tastes differ from Lisa's?

Because Lisa and her music always reminded me of friends of mine. I felt a special love for her inside my heart.

a_player @ September 3 2004, 01:37:52 UTC I swear this is the last edit I am making.

Alack, my txt file of all these bands and song titles is missing, so here is the best from the top of my head:

Acciohead [Anyone Can Use a Wand, El Minister (Thim Polke with Apothecary), Fake Plastic Wands, Galleons and Knuts, How to Disapparate Completely, Karma Aurors, Killer Brooms, Motion Quidditch Soundtrack, My Iron Wand, Scarless the Wonder Boy, Stop Levitating, Wands Out, You and Whose Ghost?]
Antsy Pine [Balking After Midnight, I Cried All the Way to the Ministry]
At the Floo In (stole this from Parvati) [Charmer to a Fault, Wandless]
Broomhandle Confessional [Age Six Chaser, Living in Your Lumos, Shouting Indiscretions, The Brilliant Curse, Wands Down, Weights and Wizards]
Ella Witchgerald [I Got a Broom Out of You]
Frank Spellatra (stole this from Arthur)
Jewish Eat World [Fear You Me]
Nada Pipe [Bad Best Broom, If You Apparate, Psychic Cauldron Cake, The Way You Wear Your Wand]
Newt Eyes [Charmer I Don't Have to Charm]
Nora Night [I Enjoy Being a Witch]
The Octoberists [Hay-on-Wye I'm Yours, Here I Dreamt I Was an Arithmancist, I Was Meant for the Pitch, The Legilimency Lament, The Wizard and the Witch]
Paves the Way [As Your Broom Takes Flight, Nessie and My Toadstone, Shoulder to the Broom, Third Nimbus, The Way His Robe Falls
The Remoans (stole this from Sinistra) [Beat on the Bat, Judy is a Hag, You-Know-Who Took My Baby Away]
Smudge (I did not realise this was a real band when I did it)
Sparklethestral [It's a Magical Life, King of Snails]
They Might Be Half-Giants (stole this from Ginny) [I Am Your Broom]
This Cat
Weezerd (stole this from Ginny) [Harry Potter, Say it Ain't Slow, Surf Wax Britannia, Tired of Hex, Undumb (The Jumper Song), Vampire in the Sun]
Witcho [Brooms Can't Escape, Pot Cauldron Black, She's a Cauldron]

I know I had more songs than this, but I just recently lost all of my mp3s and it's harder to remember without them.

And this and this is part of a CD I made after Lisa died. In the end there was a lot more and it was two CDs, but that's the best screencap I have.

I share the same musical taste to a certain degree. I used to be a lot more obsessive about Radiohead than I am now; I was in the Weezer fandom about four years ago, but haven't bought their latest album; I listened to Dashboard Confessional a few years ago but got sick of them when they got popular. Most of the bands Lisa listened to were bands that had been my favourites at one time, although I did Dashboard upon request.

I suspect that just answered whether or not I was musically snobby! I have just tried to answer the favourite bands question in, like, four different ways because I wanted to reflect what I listen to and couldn't figure out the best way that would be all-encompassing. Then I went on for about six lines and realised I was getting kind of boring.

yamapea @ September 3 2004, 03:28:28 UTC

Oh, gosh.. Okay... So I saw your post. And I squeed. And I searched my brain desperately for something to ask you that was even moderately intelligent. But in the end, I just have to tell you that Lisa was my favorite N_A character. And erm.. I cried. I really did. So.. kudos to you for creating such an amazing, real character. *fangirls* *sobs* *facepalms*

<333

a_player @ September 3 2004, 15:54:59 UTC

Well, thank you so much!

kenboy @ September 3 2004, 05:39:53 UTC

OK, here's another question for you. (If I'm allowed two!)

It seems to have taken you completely by surprise that you were the favorite of so many of us.

Why is that?

I'm thinking (and as someone who didn't post that much to nraged, I could be wrong) that there may have been a tendancy for Lisa fans to post less often than, let's say, Draco fans (not to suggest we don't love him too), and that such modest behavior on our part may have led you to think we weren't paying attention or noticing or appreciating you all that much.

While, in all actuality, we loved what you were doing all along and just never really said so, maybe because we thought we were the only ones.

I hope that makes sense.

Is there anything to that?

a_player @ September 3 2004, 15:57:15 UTC

You're allowed however many you want on these!

No, that isn't it. I just didn't think Lisa would be anyone's favourite because she was sort of plain and quiet. She is minor to the point of having no canonical dialogue, so that is the biggest reason why. I only thought that I was enjoying her, and didn't expect anyone to list her as a favourite just because she wasn't involved in too many elaborate plots or anything. I was really surprised by how many people were so upset when she died.

nannyo @ September 3 2004, 09:23:41 UTC

Hello, I just wanted to say how much I loved Lisa as well, and I liked her cautious interactions with Hermione, Ginny and Seamus, she seemed to be friendly but slightly distant with them. I loved that Lisa seemed to be part of another group who had that "Gryffindor boys" sort of interaction, kind of teasing, deeply caring, but not overly expressive. So thanks for playing a very real indie-witch!
N.

a_player @ September 3 2004, 15:57:56 UTC

Thank you! I loved the Gryffindor boys, so that is a great comparison to hear.

Anonymous @ September 3 2004, 14:45:45 UTC

Gosh. Just - insane amounts of love. It was painful to reach the end and suddenly realize (for the first time, of course) how real Lisa was as a character, and how much she had grown on me without my realising. People have said this many times before, but I would still like to reiterate that you did an amazing job establishing a character whose interests, friends, perspectives and ways of interacting with people were unique and completely believable. Her imperfections were so perfect, if that makes sense at all.

The evolution of the not-quite-existent Lisa-Head Boy relationship deserves much kudos. I loved the way it grew from intriguing and rather amusing to semi-frustrating, and although the ending was a killer, it actually felt right on some levels to have that final twist thrown in. The sudden distortion and re-evaluation of everything and the power of hindsight was very effective, and reviewing all those notes from a more sinister perspective left me rather chilled.

Now, the question. I know this is slightly unconventional and please don't feel obliged to answer, but if you'd like, would you go here (http://similarminds.com/personality_tests.html) and one of the Myerr-Briggs tests, paste the results and comment on whether you think it fits her (or your intended portrayal of her)? There are just so many aspects of Lisa that feel so real - not just as an RPG character, but as someone who exists beyond the limits of the RPG universe, and has a life and a past and a world of her own - that I found myself wondering just how one of these would apply in her case.

a_player @ September 3 2004, 16:01:13 UTC

Thank you so much. I thought the Head Boy notes were very creepy in hindsight as well, particularly the last one.

That's actually a really neat question. I assume you want me to fill it out as Lisa, which I will go do as well as I can and report back to you!

a_player @ September 3 2004, 16:14:34 UTC

Introverted (I) 55.23% Extroverted (E) 44.77%
Sensing (S) 56.03% Intuitive (N) 43.97%
Thinking (T) 51.58% Feeling (F) 48.42%
Judging (J) 52.18% Perceiving (P) 47.82%

Your type is: ISTJ

ISTJ - "Trustee". Decisiveness in practical affairs. Guardian of time- honored institutions. Dependable. 11.6% of total population.

Your conscious personality is Type 1w9
Your unconscious personality is Type 9w1

Yes, I think this fits Lisa, though I didn't intend for dependability to be a huge personality trait for her. What a fun question!

Anonymous @ September 4 2004, 02:56:02 UTC

Thanks muchly! ^_^ I find that fascinating, actually, but I think I will stop fangirling and attempt to sound sane.

a_player @ September 5 2004, 07:01:57 UTC

You're welcome!

ratsel @ Deleted Deleted

Deleted

a_player @ September 5 2004, 07:00:31 UTC

I myself am an ISTP.

moocow1985 @ September 4 2004, 04:12:00 UTC

Goodness!

I don't suppose you've had enough marriage proposals yet? Will you take another one? MARRY ME!!!

I need to read everyone else's comments before I can come up with a question, so I'll just leave it at saying that Lisa was my favorite character and I had such a crush on her!

a_player @ September 5 2004, 07:03:03 UTC

Sure!

Thank you! I am sure Lisa would have been glad to know you had a crush on her.

a_player @ September 7 2004, 00:46:43 UTC

Why are you so awesome?

Or otherwise, we knew a lot about Lisa's taste in music, but what authors did she like?

(and I'm still trying to answer that question!)

a_player @ September 8 2004, 00:03:32 UTC

Hm, that is a good question. I never parodied any real authors because plain names are so hard to parody, let alone recognisably (and if it is completely unrecognisable, really, what is the point?). Lisa read a lot of non-fiction and fantasy, Muggle and wizarding world fantasy alike.

For Muggle authors, I'd say George R. R. Martin (though, alas, she'd only read A Game of Thrones before she died), Robin Hobb, David Eddings, Patricia Wrede, Terry Pratchett, Daniel Pinkwater, Lloyd Alexander, Orson Scott Card, Diana Wynne Jones, Steven Brust, etc. Then I think she would have liked books like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, since it's really a prerequisite nowadays. Ayn Rand, Patricia Highsmith, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Peters, Isaac Asimov, Michael Malone, Irvine Welsh, Richard Feynman, Beatrix Potter, John Irving, Timothy Ferris.

ex_lev195 @ September 8 2004, 16:16:30 UTC

Having only read A Game of Thrones makes Lisa's death even worse. Ah, well. At least she wouldn't have to deal with the wait for A Feast for Crows...

windsor @ September 7 2004, 21:03:06 UTC

Ah! I feel all dorky and embarrassing, but I loved Lisa so much. How accessible and real and not-always-perfect and amazingly cool she was. Her icons! I loved her hair, too, my hair looks like it at the moment, and, oh, <3. How she would say that she liked to think that their music was made just for her (how very emo! :x), how she made skirts out of ties, how she wrote about her life outside of Hogwarts and her sister.

That she smoked.

That she was almost a little too honest and blunt sometimes.

The band names, of course. The way she would always try to title her entries. That she was strong person but had her vulnerabilities that peeked through once in a while in her entries, though she didn't reveal too much of herself in them. Her layout. Her journal title. All of it, really, and I can't think of any question, but I just wanted to say thank you, you know? Thank you.

a_player @ September 8 2004, 00:07:23 UTC

Wow, thank you so much. I feel like I saw a tie skirt on television once, because I'm sure I didn't come up with that all on my own. Although in my defence I have to say Lisa was not emo! She only listened to a couple of emo bands, but she listened to most everything. She was more indie in my mind than anything else.

Thank you.

ex_spectacu807 @ Deleted Deleted

Deleted

a_player @ September 11 2004, 16:45:46 UTC

It doesn't sound corny! There is a lot of myself in Lisa as well, naturally. I am sorry that she died but glad that you learnt to appreciate life! It means a lot when people say that they loved Lisa so much, really, I can't quite word it.

This will be an awfully boring answer, but I think she really would have spent the summer following bands around and gone to Muggle university in the autumn. I think that her course would have been something involving history, though not ever having done anything with history myself I cannot think of any specifics. In the long-term, I think she would have eventually gone on to work in research in some way.

It is not uncomfortable at all! It is rather :((.

And yes, yes I am! Although now I feel as though I should be the one sending one to you. That was why I asked about your email -- I thought it was you but wasn't sure, and then I forgot to read the comments at the top so I didn't see you'd replied. :)) Email me again, please!

comava @ September 10 2004, 23:43:01 UTC

Oh! Lisa!!!! *wibbles* Everyone else is making me squee, but this is making me wibble. Ooooh, Lisa. :-(

Um, I don't really have a question but I'm frantically trying to think of one so I wouldn't have wasted any chances. So, uh...Oh, just tell me anything about Lisa, which of her teachers she liked best, what she thought of PS, who she admired the most; just anything. Or everything.

I hope you're still around.

a_player @ September 11 2004, 17:02:40 UTC

Anything about Lisa! You have given me an awful large opportunity here and of course I won't be able to think of anything.

She liked Professor McGonagall and Flitwick best and had a lot of admiration for Thim Polke, since he was the lead singer of Acciohead. On a bit less of a celebrity scale, she admired Hermione and Percy.

As for Draco, she disliked him but not passionately. She'd fancied him for a bit and it gave her a wake-up call, and afterwards she pretty much had his number.

Let's see, now, anything or everything.

Lisa thought Harry was really funny. She liked commenting to him. She was constantly afraid that her marks wouldn't be up to par and she wouldn't get enough N.E.W.T.s to do anything good. She took a lot of draughts to stay awake during the last few months before N.E.W.T.s so that she could get all of her revision in.

Lisa liked colourful shoes, Charms, long beaded necklaces, tulips, fresh parchment, hats, dancing, french kissing, getting covered in dirt, pumpkins and knitting. She was clever and quiet. She had a toad. She couldn't do cartwheels. She liked to practise standing on her toes like ballet dancers. She couldn't, but still. She pretended cracks in the ground were tightropes and owned a bright orange bowler hat. She made clunky and ugly jewellery. She drew lots and lots of bottles when she doodled. She put Morgan Mullarkey's hair in corn rows once just because it was funny. She listened to really awful music when she was younger. She bit her nails. She carried a handkerchief.

Oh, here is something that I never blatantly said and I don't think anyone picked up on: Lisa briefly had an eating disorder (before the game started -- in her third or fourth year) and this is why she was so completely furious with the way Neville handled Lavender's anorexia. It's also why she tried to talk to Lavender about it (both before and after). Lisa was a lot less comfortable with herself when she was younger, which is perhaps why it was easier for her to be comfortable with herself later.

comava @ September 11 2004, 19:35:12 UTC

You could continue and I wouldn't be bored, you know, but I'll try not to badger you.

I can't do cartwheels either.

Wow, I'd forgotten all about her reaction to Neville then. In hindsight, it makes a lot of sense.

Thanks so much for doing this.

doubtful_salmon @ September 23 2004, 03:54:16 UTC

Do you know, I am very lazy and kept neglecting to come here to thank you very much for being neat.

<3 "Louise." Excellent.

I kept Lisa on my friendslist while I was deleting the n_a journals.

a_player @ September 23 2004, 08:01:36 UTC

Hey, it's doubtful_salmon! I wondered if someone would ask about Louise.

<3

doubtful_salmon @ September 24 2004, 01:27:32 UTC

It took me quite a lot of self-control to not type it in really big letters with lots of exclamation points, like this:

LOUISE!!!!!!!!!!!!

tabiji @ September 23 2004, 10:58:12 UTC

Hello Lisa's player!

I'm late, but if you check back:

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

Thankyou! <3

a_player @ September 23 2004, 11:18:19 UTC

I am sorry! I don't have one. I listed Lisa's song titles above though.

bentley @ September 30 2004, 10:09:15 UTC

Man, Lisa's was the death that had me crying, as opposed to wibbling frantically over aim.

I liked Lisa 'cause of Acciohead (Thim Polke omf) and I am very much one of the elitist music fans and I have a lot of elitist music fan friends but I have nothing against sending myself up (or people sending me up) so it was funny.

Ah, Lisa... her general coolness-without-being-too-cool thing was great. I was sososo pleased that she got Head Girl over Hermione (not 'cause I don't like Hermione but it would've been so cliche.) Lisa was relaistically flawed and just... like someone you'd meet over LJ and be all 'hey, they're cool, I wish they commented on my journal more.' I had a bit of a crush on her, too, to be honest. :D

What house would you sort yourself into, if any?

Do you, or any of the other players, actually know who the HeadBoy is or is it just someone unnamed done to be amusing (and really piss off nraged)? XD

Yes, yes, list her insecurities (see Aja's comment.) I liked Lisa because she's kind of like an original character, especially since she was so detached from all the other NAers. I would like to be reading a book and see her as the main character's girlfriend or something. I want to know more about her.

a_player @ January 9 2005, 13:38:29 UTC

*is very late; was alerted by another player that there were comments here that I never saw*

Thanks! I was once an elitist music fan myself.

"I was sososo pleased that she got Head Girl over Hermione (not 'cause I don't like Hermione but it would've been so cliche.)"

That's why we didn't make Hermione Head Girl. I'm pretty sure she will be, but it seemed fun to have it be someone else, so Hermione could have that angst, too. I think Lisa was just a random choice, but I feel she turned out to be a really good one.

I would be in Ravenclaw, but some people tell me I am a big Hufflepuff.

I know quite a bit about the Head Boy. :D Although, yes, at first it was done because we thought it was funny.

I probably said this in another comment, but I'm too lazy to read back, so I'll just repeat myself anyway. She was detached from the other NAers on purpose, as I thought it was sort of unrealistic that everyone in the books' friends would all be the characters we see and not the ones we don't.

Lisa was insecure about a lot. Her weight, her looks, talking too much, talking not enough, complaining too much, not getting proper marks, treating her sister poorly. She was afraid she sounded like she was bragging if she mentioned being a prefect/Head Girl. She thought she was really boring. She was always certain that she liked Morgan more than he liked her. Actually, she was certain of that for all of her friends.