Sex and a dog-eared paperback dictionary (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} redcoast) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} hbpspork,@ 2006-06-27 15:20:00 |
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FAQ
Who are you guys?
We'rehbpspork, dedicated to sporking Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince chapter by chapter. Who's responsible for this thing?
hbpspork was created and is maintained by me, redcoast. I take responsibility for everything said in the posts, if not the comments, though I don't pretend to agree with everything the sporkers have said. Read my comments if you don't believe me.
The other moderators aregehayi and story645. They have ban power and will use it. Wait-why are you sporking HBP?
It could be that we don't like the book very much.
It could be that we just like sporking stuff.
Or, it could be that we have mixed feelings that we want to talk about. This isn't about hate. When I hate something, I hate it. But, personally, I find when I verbalize my negative feelings toward something, these feelings are transmuted into something more positive.
If I had to sum it up in a word, that word would be carthesis.If you didn't like the book, why did you read it?
How were we supposed to know that we wouldn't like the book before we read it?
I started reading Harry Potter when the second book came out. I'm hooked. I had to know what would happen next. Not reading HBP was not an option for me.What are you guys, a bunch of Rowling haters?
Rowling hate is strictly forbidden. I'm not fond of libel.Do you even like Harry Potter?
The majority of posters are Harry Potter fans. The mods certainly are, and have been active in the fandom for quite a while.How can you say that you're fans if you don't think every word Rowling ever wrote was brilliant?
There are some interesting assumptions behind that accusation.
One is that being a “fan” of something means that you can't criticize it at all. I don't think that's true. Someone can call themselves a fan because they are active in the fandom. Other people can love something and still remain objective enough to see its faults. I realize that not everyone can do this.
Many fans of Harry Potter think that J. K. Rowling is a weak or inconsistent writer. A common opinion is that she is a first-rate story-teller and good with characterizations, but weak in writing prose. Personally, I admire her wit, but find her insights a little commonplace.
I say I'm a Harry Potter fan, not in spite of the series' flaws, but because of them. To me, they're like cracks on the surface of an oil painting. What detracts from perfection adds to its interest.
You're welcome to disagree with me, of course.Well, why do you hate HBP? You must be Harmonians! Disappointed that your ship sank, eh?
No. We're not officially or unofficially associated with the Harry/Hermione ship. Personally, I've always shipped Ron/Hermione.What are you, Ginny haters? You hate Ginny, right?
I think she's cute. Other than that, I'm perfectly indifferent to her. Other people certainly seem to hate her.Are you Puppyshippers, then? Do you hate Lupin with Tonks? Do you hate Tonks?
As popular as the Remus/Sirius ship seems to be, serious Puppyshippers who think that Sirius/Remus should be canon haven't been received well in the comments.Are you like crazy into the OBHWF?
I'm so unconnected to that it took me forever to figure out what the letters stand for. Personally, I think Harry's going to die at the end of Book 7, so that's more like One Rather Large But Somewhat Fractured Weasley Family.Well, what ships do you like?
None. Except McGonagall/Snape (OTP!).Why are the sporks so angry? I thought they'd be funnier, and less critical.
Maybe you're really looking for a HBP parody. I never thought that “spork” sounded gentle. Conversely, you do not threaten to “parody [someone]'s eye out!”
We are talking about a blunt, tined instrument, used to eat salads on picnics and shred things to pieces.
Some of the sporkers focused on humor; others emphasized serious analysis and research. It's probably a personal preference.What's the deal with all the pedophilia accusations?
Perhaps JKR shouldn't have written Fenrir Greyback so obviously as a symbolically pedophilic character. (“Blood trickled down his chin and he licked his lips slowly, obscenely. 'But you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore.'” Chapter 27). It seems to have leaked into our interpretations of the other characters.
Maybe fandom fried our brains. Maybe we have dirty minds. Or maybe we're right.Hey! That sporker made an error citing canon! He said that Penelope Clearwater was a Gryffindor, when it clearly says in chapter twelve of Chamber of Secrets that she was a Ravenclaw!
I hear you, man. Take it up with the sporker by commenting.Speaking of commenting, I'd love to, but I like HBP and I'm sure that I'm not welcome here.
You don't have to hate the book to participate. One of our mods,story645 admits to loving it. gehayi writes, “despite my dislike for the book, there are things I like in it--Trelawney's Tarot readings and the symbolism that JKR uses in names, for example, both of which I find quite clever. And I love Luna's commentary on the Quidditch match. That makes me smile every time.”
I have publicly said before that I “don't hate it,” which is ... better than hating it, I suppose. Let me tell you, the part where Snape demands to see Harry's potions textbook and asks why he wrote his name “Roonil Wazlib”? It makes me laugh every time. I'm laughing just thinking about it. It's on a par with Ron and Harry failing their divination exams, which is the funniest thing I've ever read.
Please, if you want to defend the book, say something! Praise the parts that need to be praised! Only, please don't engage in a flamewar with a sporker. Nobody wins in spy-vs-spy.Hey, you froze my comments! All I did was call that other poster an asshole!
Be glad I didn't ban_set you.Hey, you froze my comments, and we were just discussing the geopolitical influence of Ayn Rand-
Sounds fascinating, but it's off-topic for this comm. Please take it elsewhere.Hey! You banned me!
Email me at rebeccatrishel at gmail dot com about it.All these sporks are is a bunch of pointing out every little continuity error and lapse in logic. It's nitpicking.
Yes, but what's wrong with that? Even the best writers couldn't avoid the occasional error. Shakespearean scholars, for example, have written volumes about the “difficulties” (read: stuff that makes no sense) of the plays. Small errors don't mean that the writing is terrible. They should still be pointed out, though.
The beauty is in the details.What's the deal with the weird format and the in which's?
I was actually thinking about the chapter summaries on the HP Lexicon when I decided on that. The summaries can help you find a particular chapter quickly, and it's short, so it doesn't clutter up your friends page.
Also, I think “in which” is funny. I like funny.Why are you only posting one chapter a day? Haven't they already been written?
I don't know about you, but I love it when someone posts 90,000 word essays on the Internet. The more labyrinthine and circuitous, the better. I like spending five hours or so digesting them, then posting my own take.
But I am a bored college student with nothing to do in my free time than fight with my sister. (Hi, sis! Love ya!) Other members of the comm have jobs, or family, or both. Posting once a day is the only way to keep this from getting tl;dr for them.Don't you have anything better to do?
No. We don't.
