Oh, I agree that it's a lesser problem, but there should have been something in the text that acknowledged this double-speak, not Dumbledore-exposition style, but some hint of authorial awareness.
Not to mention the fact that according to JKR's Black family tree, Bellatrix was born in 1953, whereas Snape was born in 1960, making Bellatrix finished with school before Snape even started...
But they don't seem to have been as disappointed as the ones who actually liked Snily.
*laughs* Because again, it's true ;)
I don't think I ever had any strong feelings about the probability of Snape/Lily, but I liked the idea. It was one of fandom's most widespread.
It is a bit funny, seeing one's thoughts being expressed by somebody else :) Because I too have thought about and found the fact that nobody has ever mentioned Snape's and his mother's friendship to Harry unconceivable. Sirius's, Pettigrew's and Remus's friendship with his father being able to stay hidden, I could understand. It was during the war, ended in betrayal... Painful and awkward and people wanted to forget. And Harry was only 12. But for nobody in seven years to have let a casual remark fall? It could have been as simple as one of Harry's classmates or housemates mentioning that his mother and Professor Snape used to be best friends, "Isn't that funny, Harry?" It's just... I don't buy it.
The problem with JKR is that ever since she abandoned the "surprise endings" of the first four books (a mistake, if you ask my personal opinion) she seems to have made up other "surprises" instead, believing them as clever. The problem is that was she sees as to her readers unexpected character development is pretty much plot devices thrown out of nowhere. It's like she laughing at her own cleverness and saying, "Look! Look! I tricked you! What you thought was actually purple is blue! Blue!" And our reaction is pretty much, "But... You've told us that is was red. You've shown us that it was red. There was never any hint of purple anywhere."
A good unexpected plot twist makes you slap yourself on the forehead and think, "How could I miss that?" because the clues are all there. Like in the first four books, or the first time you read Emma. (mistful actually has an excellent post about this, using as an example the idea of a murder mystery in which the butler Who Did It turns out to be King Arthur, clues along the way being sudden exclamations along the line of, "What sister? I don't even have a sister!" :) )
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Date: 2008-03-14 03:16 am (UTC)Not to mention the fact that according to JKR's Black family tree, Bellatrix was born in 1953, whereas Snape was born in 1960, making Bellatrix finished with school before Snape even started...
But they don't seem to have been as disappointed as the ones who actually liked Snily.
*laughs* Because again, it's true ;)
I don't think I ever had any strong feelings about the probability of Snape/Lily, but I liked the idea. It was one of fandom's most widespread.
It is a bit funny, seeing one's thoughts being expressed by somebody else :) Because I too have thought about and found the fact that nobody has ever mentioned Snape's and his mother's friendship to Harry unconceivable. Sirius's, Pettigrew's and Remus's friendship with his father being able to stay hidden, I could understand. It was during the war, ended in betrayal... Painful and awkward and people wanted to forget. And Harry was only 12. But for nobody in seven years to have let a casual remark fall? It could have been as simple as one of Harry's classmates or housemates mentioning that his mother and Professor Snape used to be best friends, "Isn't that funny, Harry?" It's just... I don't buy it.
The problem with JKR is that ever since she abandoned the "surprise endings" of the first four books (a mistake, if you ask my personal opinion) she seems to have made up other "surprises" instead, believing them as clever. The problem is that was she sees as to her readers unexpected character development is pretty much plot devices thrown out of nowhere. It's like she laughing at her own cleverness and saying, "Look! Look! I tricked you! What you thought was actually purple is blue! Blue!" And our reaction is pretty much, "But... You've told us that is was red. You've shown us that it was red. There was never any hint of purple anywhere."
A good unexpected plot twist makes you slap yourself on the forehead and think, "How could I miss that?" because the clues are all there. Like in the first four books, or the first time you read Emma. (