In which links start out happy, then turn sad, then happy, then very sad again

[annafugazzi]

• The House That Cedric Built was nominated for three Draco awards (Best Long Fiction, Best Angst or Dramatic Fiction, Best Romance) over at Draco Awards! Unfortunately, the title is wrong. As in, the fic is not listed as The House That Cedric Built, by annafugazzi, but as Wrong by annafugazzi.
  
  Doh. I suck at naming things - I suspect my ancestry contains a lot of those folks who've given us place names like "Big River" and "Valley Town" and "Main Street" - so I was kinda proud of having finally made up a cool one. Ah well.
  
  
• Remember the History Song list that I asked for help with, about a million years ago? I was looking for songs that told a story about a historical event or person. My kids fiddled around with it for a long time, looking up links to sound or video files, lyrics, and sites explaining the events/persons. Learned some HTML, and finally ended up with this:
  
  Tell Me A Story
  
  Go! Take a look - and, where possible, a listen! There's 86 songs there, rock and folk and country and not-English, covering history from The Mesopotamians to 9/11.
  
  
• Ya know, I giggle at DH's Epilogue, and am far more likely to go EWE than Epi for both reading and writing, but I have a huge soft spot for it nonetheless, and (don't hit me) actually really like it. As a grownup it's a bit meh, but I think it's a fine end to a children's book series.
  
  I was glad when I found out they were going to film it.
  
  I was even gladder when I found out that they were going to keep the original actors for it in the movie.
  
  Thrilled when I heard that they were getting coaching on how to walk and move like they were older.
  
  A bit startled by how much closer to 50 than 37 Harry looked in the pictures that came out yesterday, but overall pretty optimistic about the whole thing. Couldn't wait to see Ron and Hermione and Draco.
  
  
  
  Ickle Cuties
  
  
  All Grown
  
  
  Directing Albus
  
  
  Breath freshening
  
  
  James II
  
  
  James II goes through
  
  
  MiniMolly and Scorpius Malfoy's future husband
  
  
  Is that a hairline I see receding?!
  
  
  MiniMolly and MiniLilly
  
  
  
  I was a happy girl this morning.
  
  I go out for the day, and come back to this:
  
  
  Ridiculous Ron
  
  
  Decrepit Draco
  
  
  Holy shit.
  
  ::scrubs eyes::
  
  No, that's got to be a joke.
  
  No, seriously.
  
  Seriously??!!
  
  This calls for either a massive drinking binge or a dose of fic.
  
  Damn, all I have are three sangria coolers.
  
  Fic it is, then:
  
  
• vanseedee's Lost In Reality is finished! Many many chapters of angsty/lovely/throat-achy George/Lee. I'm still unable to do much more than flail incoherently over this fic. The ending was one of those things that make you tear up and say "Oh... awwww..." out loud. Go read!
  
  
• And I'll Tell You No Lies and Ember to Ember are both in the new The NEW Most Read H/D Bookshelf! And so are a huge load of others - 285 fics in all. Am planning on plunging back into my original OTP H/D and reading until the godawful "Draco Grew Up To Become Filch" image has been scrubbed from my mind's eye. So I'll see y'all next summer, I think :(
  
  
• I hate to dwell on negativity, and I've never been pre-emptively upset by anything book or movie-related before, 'cause I always figure you never know what'll end up on the cutting room floor or what will, in context, end up perfectly fine despite disturbing sneak peeks. Also, I have pretty low standards.
  
  But. This. Ohgod.
  
  Does anyone think there's a chance in hell of convincing WB to refilm the Epilogue? So our last glimpse of the HP world can be fond and touching and satisfying, instead of horrifically embarrassing for everyone involved? Or are we doomed to have to watch this thing once and then pretend the last five minutes never happened, like the ending of The Abyss?

ETA: Still working on the Canon!Draco thing. Suspect I will be All About Draco for the next little while, and possibly All About Ron as well, in a vain effort to compensate for the ruthless violence done to both characters by the WB makeup department :(

Comments

[cariad3.livejournal.com]

All I can say to those last pics is OMG WTF. Seriously. I want to cry.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Me too. I feel so dumb, getting upset over a bloody movie, but still.

[tree00faery.livejournal.com]

FYI, your first link(s) lead to the history song page, not fic. :P

Those pics are both cute and scary.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link heads-up!

I was really pleased when the Harry & Ginny ones came out. Now I want to throw up :(

[nenne.livejournal.com]

Draco looks 92! The make-up people must all be approximately 14 years old and think that anyone over 30 is half dead anyway.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Someone pointed out that the one upside to all of this is that those of us over 37 get to feel good about ourselves now. No matter how badly we've aged, what love handles and grey hairs we've picked up, compared to Ron and Draco we look fabulous.

Small comfort :(

[strssna.livejournal.com]

Ahahahaha what the hell?!?! Pass on that sangria, if there's any left.
Not surprised if there isn't.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Nope, none left. Not even after buying another case. Oy vey.

[theodoraleft.livejournal.com]

But I have just fallen in love with Albus, in a motherly way, of course. Looking forward to Scorpius!

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Me too. And hoping, deeply, that the camera focuses on Scorpius and sort of blurs out his ancestor father.

It's a sad day when an H/D fan is ardently hoping for less Draco screen-time :(

[tiger-flame.livejournal.com]

*shivers* Oh, dear. You have GOT to be kidding! I hate how old Harry looks, and how stupid Ron looks and DRACO?! He's supposed to look sleek and handsome and... NOT THAT

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

NOT THAT indeed.

I didn't much mind Harry; he looks rather old in repose, but I figure Daniel Radcliffe is peppy enough that he can make that go away as long as he's speaking. Might even be a good thing that they slightly overdid it, because I had visions of Radcliffe looking like a teenager trying to buy beer with a fake moustache.

Draco? Ron? All my admiration for Felton and Grint aside, nobody can make THAT look good.

[random00b.livejournal.com]

Damn, the powers that be really hate Draco.
Even less reason for me to pay money to see this movie.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

WORD.

I was looking forward to it, unfortunately :(

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

::cries:: I didn't want him as a well-dressed sex god... I just wanted him non-skeevey.

Scorpius is totally marrying Rose because they are both Ravenclaws. They are sad that Arthur will be disappointed because Scorpius is a pureblood, but giggle to think that Lucius will hit the roof over Rose being a half-blood. They look forward to interesting family holiday meals.

[ella-bane.livejournal.com]

The kids are so cute, BUT OMG. Draco and Ron. WTH?

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

WTH indeed. This (http://faithwood.livejournal.com/221513.html) is the only plausible explanation I've seen so far.

[tania-sings.livejournal.com]

They have a seriously diffiuclt time with the ages of the various people, don't they? Like, in the first film, Snape is meant to be in his early 30s. I adore Alan Rickman, but he's NOT 31 years old!

Possibly Ron and Draco will look less ridiculous under the filming lights?

[songquake.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Rickman looks at least in his 40's in the first movie... But I can't help thinking, how scary can a 30-year-old look, anyway?

*examines self*

huh. i'm totally showing some ageism here. and...much as i love maggie smith, in my heart McGonagall will always be played by bebe neuwirth.
maybe casting adrian brody as severus?

maybe draco is only filmed from REALLY far away.

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

You know what? The epilogue was already horrifically embarrassing for everyone involved, even when it only involved JKR and her readers. No amount of making people meant to be in their 30s look like they're in their 50s is going to change that.

(On the other hand, maybe being a wizard wears you out? I mean, Snape. I mean, look at...Snape. Snape. Supposed to be 38 at time of death. Played by an actor in his 60s. No amount of botox is going to make that look right...)

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

You know what? The epilogue was already horrifically embarrassing for everyone involved, even when it only involved JKR and her readers.
See, I didn't think so. I thought it was trite and cliched and chockful of mockability, but still had a huge soft spot for it. It was like JKR had read all the fanfics written by tweens and teens where they all lived happily ever after, and gave the kids what they wanted, as a gift. Sure, the grownup readers were put off, but it's not supposed to be a book for grownups. They're not supposed to be movies for grownups either, but they started ignoring that around PoA.

OTOH, my kids, who dislike Draco, chortled quite a bit over the Draco pic. Which is probably what WB was going for.

::sigh::

[nonajf.livejournal.com]

They did a pretty good job with Ginny. And even Harry's not that bad. I mean, he had a hard childhood/youth, and you can argue that's aged him; plus, Head Auror must be a stressful position. (And I was amused to see his receding hairline after JKR's description of Draco.)

But. Draco! Does anyone on the shoot remember that wizards live much longer, as in to around 200? That doesn't look like a Muggle at 36/37 much less a pureblood wizard. EWE has taken on new meaning!

I was afraid that filming the epilogue would be problematic. Bringing older actors would have been wrong, but putting prosthetics on the young actors often goes very wrong.

Ah well, I didn't think the book!epilogue was any good, so now the movie!epilogue looks to slot right in.

(Ron does indeed look ridiculous!)

[tania-sings.livejournal.com]

Butting in here, but I don't think 200 is quite right., Muriel made such a big thing out of being 107 at Bill and Fleur's wedding; it wouldn't make sense if that were the wizard version of 40.

But yeah, Draco being 80 at 37 is ridiculous. All I can think is that his face got really, really cut up in the final battle of Wizard plastic surgery sucks.

[lordhellebore]

Decrepit is the right word...

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Oh I have lots of other words to describe him. Most of them aren't exactly PG13. And they're directed more at the make-up department than poor dissolute Draco :(

[oddishly.livejournal.com]

On the plus side, Draco can now rest assured that he no longer bears even the slightest resemblance to a ferret.

Wait. Wait, no, that's not right.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

LOL!!!

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

hmm, i guess i misread the epilogue because draco looks about 85! o.O

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Yes, they've rewritten it so now they're dropping off their grandkids. Ginny looks younger than the others because she's actually Lily Luna. There. Now it makes sense.

UGH.

[lisa3353.livejournal.com]

You know, I just can't be surprised because it takes me right back to the first movie. James and Lily twirling little Harry around with James looking at least 40 and he should have been in his early 20s. I still remember thinking at the time that it was crazy.
I have a hunch that if they were filming in the States it would be the opposite problem and they would all look only about five years older than their real age. You know how we are about youth.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but if you hadn't read the books, you wouldn't know that James & Lily were very young parents, and all their friends were only 20 years older than Harry's generation. Remus and Sirius and Snape all looked like they could be friends/contemporaries of James and Lily. These people look like grandparents.

I think you're right about the States v. Britain thing though. I wonder what would be worse: this, or trying to make them look like grownups with the addition of a couple of laugh lines and a moustache or two.

::sigh::

[kestrelsparhawk.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the exchange requests of a couple years ago where one writer requested nobody old -- ie over 25 or so. My brother is in his 50s and looks much hotter and healthier than that.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the exchange requests of a couple years ago where one writer requested nobody old -- ie over 25 or so.
::spitdrink::

My brother is in his 50s and looks much hotter and healthier than that.
Well someone else did point out that one good thing about the Epilogue is all of us on this side of 37 can feel pretty good about ourselves. 'Cause no matter what love handles and frown lines and grey hairs we have, at least we look better than the Epilogued kids!

[celerywench.livejournal.com]

@___@ Maybe Draco aged himself on purpose to go to the train to avoid people noticing how ~*~*~DAZZLING AND HANDSOME AND YOUNG AND SEXY~*~*~* he actually is irl. Yup. That's my theory and I'm sticking with it.

But omg HOW CUTE IS ICKLE AL?!

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Good theory! I'll go with that one :D :D

Ickle Al is awfully cute, you're right :)

[potteresque_ire]

I can't type.... laughing too hard.... Heeeeeheeeeheeeheeeeee.

Draco looks like a Caveman! And Harry.... he's more like 73 than 37. Ginny actually looks alright, it seems. Wizards should live longer too.. I mean how old has Dumbles have to look like?

I think the message of DH will be: you think the book epilogue already screws up the whole canon before it? We will show you how screwy it really can be!!! :)

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Draco looks like a Caveman!
An elf caveman!

And Harry.... he's more like 73 than 37.
I didn't think he looked that bad, tbh. I figured if he kept his face expressive, the makeup might be pretty necessary so he didn't look like a kid pretending to be in his thirties.

Draco, though. OMG.

I think the message of DH will be: you think the book epilogue already screws up the whole canon before it? We will show you how screwy it really can be!!! :)
But only if you're still in the theatre to see it! Go! Beat the rush to the parking lot!

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

Miracle Draco, huh? And poor Ginny, she looks like she's already an alcoholic.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

I thought Ginny looked fine. Especially after I saw Draco. Then again, Dumbledore looks fine compared to Draco at this point :(

[mordyn4]

Hahahaha.

It's exactly what I expected from this team.

Crap.

Sorry.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

After HBP? Where Draco even got to look all angsty and quietly desperate with the birdie and the apple and the crying over Katie? I wasn't expecting greatness in the rest of the movie, but thought I could at least relax and not fear Draco-massacrage.

So they give him a draggly beard and balding elf hairline and stop short of tuffty hair in the ears. That's low, people. Very low.

[annephoenix.livejournal.com]

W.T.F. happened to Draco? I know Year 7 was hard for him, but Seriously?!?! ... And I hope I don't look that shit when I'm 50, let alone 37!

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

This has had the one unintended benefit of making those of us who have already surpassed the age these kids are supposed to be think to ourselves, "Hot damn, but I look good! Better than the HP Senior's Group, anyway!"

[dark0feenix.livejournal.com]

OMG! I had seen the other pics before but not Draco's. I laughed so hard I nearly cried. The boy who grew up to be Filch indeed. :D :D :D

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

I cried so hard I nearly laughed ;)

Actually, I've been reminded that humour is a good coping mechanism. Wanna see (http://faithwood.livejournal.com/221513.html)?

[ldydark1.livejournal.com]

Gasp!
(I am lol at the above comments.)

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

I ::heart:: my flist. They make the awful kinda funny :D :D

[vasiliki.livejournal.com]

and Ember to Ember

Oh, I nominated that one! :D I first nominated "Volunteers", but it was disqualified because it was published a bit before the cut-off date, so then I nominated its sequel. The mother of Draco's kid simply ROCKS! She's one of the best Original Characters ever: lesbian, black, Wiccan... talking about every minority! <3 These two fics ("Volunteers" and "Ember to Ember") touched me deeply while I was reading them, and remained in my mind afterwards, because by some funny coincidence reflected my life and how I'd like it to become.

As for the Epilogue photos... ugh! In the same way the Epilogue destroyed the enjoyment I felt reading the last book and left me with a dissatisfied feeling, the movie Epilogue will destroy the enjoyment that the viewers will have felt up to that point! Authors and film directors should know WHERE to end something!

(btw, I friended you)

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

and Ember to Ember

Oh, I nominated that one!
Oh cool! Thank you :) :) :)

The mother of Draco's kid simply ROCKS! She's one of the best Original Characters ever: lesbian, black, Wiccan... talking about every minority! <3 These two fics ("Volunteers" and "Ember to Ember") touched me deeply while I was reading them, and remained in my mind afterwards, because by some funny coincidence reflected my life and how I'd like it to become.
::bouncing a bit:: I'm so glad people still remember them. Had a lot of fun writing both, and got to care deeply about the characters.

As for the Epilogue photos... ugh!
::sigh::

(btw, I friended you)
Cool! Can I friend you back?