SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read this stuff if you haven’t read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, unless if you want to be spoiled with its’ plot details. You have been forewarned!
Adventure, drama, horror, angst, heart-wrecking love story, even a bit of humor. Just name it and it’s very likely that you’ll find everything you want in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (DH). It wraps everything up beautifully--no wonder it’s Ms. Rowling’s favorite out of seven.
There’s no way anyone could tell what the Deathly Hallows were prior to reading the book. However, after reading DH until the end, you get to admire how befitting it is as a title. The role it played to the final battle and to Harry’s ultimate understanding about the nature of life and death--one could never ask anything better for a title.
The Deathly Hallows had been sought by wizards and witches for centuries due to their ability to make their owner Master of Death, so it’s told. They consisted of the Elder Wand which was so powerful it made its’ owner unbeatable--it’s also the most notorious; the Resurrection Stone which could resurrect the dead; and the Invisibility Cloak which I’m sure doesn’t need any further explanation. As we know, Voldemort chose to gain immortality by means of Horcruxes--he knew nothing about Hallows. Nevertheless, the fame of the Elder Wand captured his attention. Eventually, it was this particular wand which made him met his own end.
Surprisingly, it was Dumbledore who had been lured by the Hallows. It’s quite shocking because who would’ve thought that someone like Dumbledore--who had wisely said to Harry that death was just another journey--would’ve wanted something like that. I mean, it made him not too different from Voldemort--they both wanted to conquer death despite their different reasons. THAT, his desire for power, and him meeting the teenage Grindelwald when he was eighteen had brought painful consequences which Dumbledore couldn’t help but regret until the end of his life. Who knows what path he might take if it’s not for his brother Aberforth who managed to knock some sense into him.
In the end, it was Harry’s courage to face death which made him the true master of Hallows and another point which made him better than Voldemort.
Despite some fluffs which you could find all through the book, DH is “dark” for the most part. It’s impossible to be otherwise considering what happened: Voldemort’s terror in the wizarding world, constant danger that lurking behind Harry and co. in their search for the Horcruxes, so many deaths, Snape’s heartbreaking tale, the battle of Hogwarts. I love the way Harry Potter ended, yet the sadness still lingers.
Pathetic as it sounds, I felt like crying when I finished reading DH. Not just because the sadness in the story, it’s more because it felt like ending a long journey. Even though you’re happy that you finally reach your destination, you’re sad at the same time because you have to leave all good memories behind. It has been a truly incredible journey and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. Thank you, Ms. Rowling! *sobs*
Friday, July 27, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
TSUBASA RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE chapter 156 - 159 (CLAMP) 7/17/2007 10:17:00 AM
Continuing from where we ended it last time.
Still, inside of Ashura-ou’s hall, reliving Fai’s past (which could be seen by Syaoran, Kurogane, and Mokona--they’re given a vision of it, apparently). While little Fai inside the tower seemed somewhat dejected and gave up being able to come out of his prison, little Yuui kept insisting on trying it. He piled up the dead bodies and climbed them up. It wasn’t very successful, though.
Between his tumbling, Yuui saw more and more of dead bodies thrown to the dungeon (I previously referred to it as “burial ground”). He suddenly realized that something must’ve happened in Valeria. He was right, because from a letter he found in the grasp of one of the dead, it said that the King of Valeria had gone mad and killed lots of people.
Just as Yuui tried to comprehend the bad news and made up his mind to return and help, suddenly his uncle, the King--the guy that banished the twins--was thrown inside the dungeon. The King looked all bloody and beaten up. Holding a sword, he blamed the twins once again of causing so much misfortunes in Valeria. Now, he and the twins were the only ones left in the country. And out of nowhere, he stabbed his own head with the sword.
To make it short, then came the mysterious slit from which Fei Wong Reed communicated with the twins, giving them the chance to come out, but they must choose one of them. Fai fell of the tower, Yuui wailed in terror, and Fei Wong said that a choice had been made. Yes, each twin had wanted their twin to come out instead of himself, but when Fei Wong first appeared, Yuui said, “Yuui wanted to come out.” Of course he meant with his brother, but Fei Wong didn’t see it that way.
Fei Wong then explained his terms of engagement. Yuui would be his pawn, accompanying a princess of the desert and a clone Fei Wong had prepared on a journey through dimensions in order to collect the princess’ feathers. Yuui had to make sure of her safety because it’s essential for the fulfillment of Fei Wong’s wish. If Yuui accepted the terms, then one day he might be able to revive his dead twin.
Fei Wong also told Yuui that he had planned to make another person as accomplice, a young boy from Nihon (yes, it’s our dear Kuro-wanwan). However, Yuuko had placed him in the care of a powerful seer, Tomoyo, before Fei Wong could reach him. In other words, Fei Wong declared that Kurogane was Yuuko’s pawn and he could be a hindrance between Fei Wong and his wish (and Yuui and his wish as well). So, he must be killed if necessary. Imagine that.
Then, Ashura-ou came to pick up Yuui. When Ashura asked his name, Yuui said, “Fai.” It looked like Ashura knew that it’s not his name, but he didn’t press the matter. So, they went to Celes; the dead Fai was placed inside a pool of water (the pool) along with Sakura’s feather--discovered when Yuui arrived at Celes--in order to prevent his body from rotting. Yuui wanted his hair cut so that he could place it near his twin and Ashura suggested that they placed the country’s talisman too--flourite. He then gave Yuui a new name, Fai Flourite of Celes, and insisted that he lived on until the day his wish is fulfilled. Oh yeah, and because Ashura-ou also wanted something from him. Jerk.
Now we return to the present. Chapter 159 is concluded with the scene of Syaoran and Mokona collapsing, and an extremely furious Kurogane took up his sword towards Fai (a. k. a Yuui). Something to be expected considering that he know now that Fai is helping out his mother’s murderer. Perhaps. You can never be sure if it’s CLAMP.
The story gets bleaker and bleaker; I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up even angstier than Tokyo Babylon. Ah, well.
Friday, July 13, 2007
OP Movie--I'm Coming! 7/13/2007 10:10:00 PM
A year. More than a year, actually. It’s the amount of time that I’ve spent waiting for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (OP) movie to play on cinemas. I’d waited so long that queuing for hours in the cinema to get a ticket--five tickets, I mean--for next Monday didn’t matter to me.
That’s exactly what I did yesterday. I’m certainly not a morning person, but I didn’t mind waking up earlier than I was used to and went straight to the cinema that morning. I was prepared for hours of standing in line on eight in the morning. But guess what? The mall hadn’t been opened yet. I didn’t notice that the mall wouldn’t be opened until nine thirty. So there I was, trawling on the street--sort of--like a stray dog.
After one and a half hour, I went straight to the top floor of the mall, where the cinemas were located. Surprise, surprise, there had already been a line of ten or so in front of the counter. I kept my cool, though, and took my place in the end of the line. It took lots of patience to just stand there. Not because it’s tiring, it’s due to bunches of brats that couldn’t stop walking back and forth, making noises. I felt like kicking their a**. But forget about them.
The ticket sale was opened on ten thirty and the people started to get anxious. Some b****rds even cut off the line. When I got right in front of the counter, I asked politely if I could get five tickets for the 16th. Too bad, the surprise wasn’t over. The ticket girl said that the ticket for Monday wasn’t on sale yet. Sunday, perhaps.
Damn, damn, damn!
(Cursing at nobody in particular.)
I’m planning on giving a shot once more the day after tomorrow. Hopefully, my “work” will be paid this time and I’ll be able to watch OP on Monday. I’m coming!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
On a High 7/10/2007 03:08:00 PM
I don’t drink coffee. I don’t smoke pot. I don’t use drugs. So why does it have to come to this?
It began a few days ago when, unexpectedly, I received good news by e-mail (concerning a chance to do something that I like very much; not to mention getting paid for it). Needless to say, I was excited and looking forward to its fulfillment.
In days to come following my receiving the news however, I started having problem concentrating at night. It’s not like I can’t concentrate at all, it’s just I can’t keep my mind fixed at one thing for more than, say, ten minutes. Considering that I’m a night person--do things that require intense concentration in lengthy period like reading or writing better at night than in the morning/afternoon--it is truly a big deal for me. As if that’s not bad enough, trying to sleep at night becomes difficult too--I just can’t relax and tell my mind to rest.
It felt exactly like the time when I drank coffee (which is something I seldom do, by the way). I’m being too pumped up, yet it’s useless because I couldn’t channel that extra energy to focus on doing something productive. I presume that using drugs would have the same effect, hence the comparison on the opening line.
There’s nothing wrong with getting high, but if you can get nothing out of it, what’s the use of it anyway?
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Shipper's Lane 7/01/2007 10:35:00 PM
Shipping--the eternal joy of every fangirl everywhere. Nothing beats it when the ones that you ship for finally get together. I have to pause here for awhile before I make some ignorant people who might spend their time reading this rant more confused (“Shipping? What the hell is that?”).
The term “shipping” is taken from the word “relationship”. Rooting for a relationship of the romantic kind between characters of a story (book, motion picture, manga, game--basically any kind of story that you can think of) is what shipping is all about. Sounds familiar, huh? Even when one is not familiar with this fan-created term, I don’t think that the activity is at all new to you.
What’s so great about shipping anyway? Besides the fact that it serves your appetite for romantic corniness (;p),it’s a nice diversion during the long wait of a story’s next installment. And when a story has the probability of ending up bleakly--by character’s death, for example--shipping is definitely better than distressed over the angsty future.
You can ship all you like, be it the characters which have good chance of ending up together or not. It’s all for the sake of your own amusement and there shouldn’t be any problem with that. For example, I ship for Luna Lovegood and George Weasley of “Harry Potter” (after reading some good Luna/George fics at FanFiction.Net--one of them is “The Dateless Wonders” which I highly recommend). As far as I can remember, these two never appeared together on the story which makes it quite impossible for them of having a romantic relationship. However, the idea of Luna and George together is such interesting to play out with that I couldn’t resist the temptation to ship them.
Unfortunately, shipping can be a pretty touchy subject at times. If you liked a couple very much, you’d probably detest other shippers who shipped different pairs. You would put forth evidences to back up the plausibility of the pair you’re shipping for. This would lead to shipping battles, which could be easily found in many sites and online forum out there.
Personally, I think that shipping battle somewhat beats the purpose--which is why I never involve myself in it. If your ship doesn’t work (the real story nullifies your pair), don’t get angry at the author and refuse to read the real story ever again--just write your own fanfiction. If you disprove other ships, ignore them--look out for a shipping community that you’re actually fond of. Just as simple as that.
The point is, shipping about having as much fun as you want to with those characters. So, don’t brood too much over it. Expand your horizon, use your imagination. Or something like that.