Author:<\/b>
![](\"https:\/\/l-stat.livejournal.net\/img\/userinfo_v8.png?v=17080&v=915\")
<\/a>djinn_fic<\/b><\/a><\/span> (Djinn1)Author's Website:<\/b> http:\/\/www.djinnslair.com\/<\/a>
Length:<\/b> 41,559 words (Complete)
Rating:<\/b> T for Teen; equivalent of PG
Genres:<\/b> Romance, Drama
Pairings:<\/b> Snape\/Hermione (with Ron\/Hermione in the beginning, Harry and Hermione friendship, and Harry\/Ginny as a secondary element)
Link:<\/b> http:\/\/www.fanfiction.net\/s\/8394422\/1<\/a>
Summary:<\/b> For Hermione, having it all means managing it all. And what if, after all that, she finds she wants more? This is SSHG, but it takes a while to get there. A character study of Hermione\u2014a layered and worthy heroine\u2014and a chance for me to dip my toes in this fandom and poke at some things that both delighted and perturbed me.<\/i> Post-DH
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I know, I know, where have I been? Well, not reading or writing fanfic. Before I dropped into a fandom black hole, I was feeling about Harry Potter fan fiction and fandom pretty much how I feel about turkey after Thanksgiving. Stuffed, sated, with a touch of indigestion. But it's not that I ever lost my love for these characters and the Snape\/Hermione ship.
And Djinn? She's been a close friend and my beta since our Trek days in the antediluvian era before there was a Snape\/Hermione ship--almost before there was even a Harry Potter<\/i> series. Ironically, she was the one to entice me into first reading Harry Potter<\/i>, insisting these books weren't just for children. But she lost interest in the books after Goblet of Fire<\/i>, and I didn't think I'd ever see her writing Harry Potter<\/i> fan fiction. But she finally got around to watching the films--one after another, and that sparked a renewed interest. She didn't even warn me before sending me the fic for beta that it was Snape\/Hermione. I remember my reaction when I hit that part--Djinn called it \"delighted outrage\" and she wasn't wrong. Sadly not a reaction that can be replicated since you'll all know going in this is Snape\/Hermione. I always felt disappointed Djinn didn't play in this ship, because I thought she'd bring a lot to it knowing her love of brilliant, witty characters and her gift for banter. And it's a given this being a Djinnfic that this is very, very well-written. Truth is, I'm envious. I think she wrote a better Snape\/Hermione than I ever managed; she makes me want to read and write these two again. She even made me tear up at one point. And Fire in the Belly<\/i> is a meaty work of 11 chapters--novel-length by some definitions and no WIP.
So, do I think everyone will love it? Certainly not. Partly because there's not a fic in existence everyone<\/i> will love. But also because this fic might push some buttons. Frankly, I think that makes this fic all the more interesting--great discussion fodder. Yes, I think this depiction of Hermione is in character--this is definitely Hermionecentric fic that really digs into her character--but those who see Hermione as always \"nice\" and \"honorable\" might not like what is exhumed--although I still very much like and sympathize with this Hermione.
And Djinn does mess with Rowling's world and that \"All was well.\" But then we wouldn't love this ship if we didn't rather relish that. We're not canon shippers and boy, am I glad. I hope you'll try the fic for yourself, enjoy it and let me (and Djinn natch) know what you think. And hey, selfishly I'm hoping that some ficlove might entice Djinn's muse to give us another Snape\/Hermione again someday.
*waves*
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/141213.html?view=comments#comments","category":["sshg","fic recs","harry potter","snape","hermione"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/139745.html","pubDate":"Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:05:13 GMT","title":"Just Saw the Film!","author":"harmony_bites","link":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/139745.html","description":"By myself, because no one I live near is a Potter fan, so naturally that left me jonesing somewhat for the fandom I've abandoned. Somewhat... Anyway, I feel I have to share, so general impression on top, specifics under a cut for those who might consider such things spoilery.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2<\/i> is an E-ticket, a wonderful ride, terribly entertaining and a must-see for a fan, even if it left me unmoved. I remember bawling at the end of Goblet of Fire<\/i> and think Prisoner of Azkaban<\/i> the best of the lot. This had no dull parts though--unlike the last book. And at least while I watched I didn't note the plot abysses I did when reading. It played out very logically--more than the book, and I didn't for the most part miss what they cut or changed.
(Watching Snape again did leave me wanting to read Snape\/Hermione fanfic again, and ask for recommendations of what I've been missing. But I'm probably better off not going there...)
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McGonagall<\/b> Goodness, were I a Minerva fan, I'd be in heaven. She was wonderful, even if the \"all Slytherins to the dungeon\" line left me grumpy. But I have to forgive her just for her animating the armor for Hogwart's defense followed by \"I've always wanted to do that spell.\" (And at least we were spared her telling Harry he's \"gallant\" for using the Cruciatus curse.)
Draco<\/b> was played with more humanity than in the books--all the Malfoys came across well. I liked Harry acknowledging Draco could have identified Harry to Bellatrix but didn't. I liked Draco's hesitation in coming over to Voldemort's side until his parents asked him to come to them. And note--at that point it seems the Slytherins are out of the dungeons--in the film at least, it's notable there's no rush among them to run to Voldemort's side--even after he's \"won.\" For that matter, despite McGonagall's call to lock them all up, no one other than Pansy among the Slytherins seemed quick to grab Harry, That, the way the Malfoys are played, Slughorn and Snape, there is a subtle redemptive arc for the Slytherins in all that.
Neville<\/b> was wonderful--more a leader than Harry really. It was great seeing his moment with Nagini--even better is his moment confronting Voldemort. I like how we see a character played for comedy and sometimes pathos allowed to grow into a hero.
Luna<\/b> I'm sorry Harry\/Ginny fans, but I think on film and in the books, Harry and Luna (Hell, Harry and Hermione, even Harry and Cho) have far more chemistry together than Harry and Ginny. I loved Luna's insistence that Harry listen to her.
Snape<\/b> I have mixed feelings about the \"death\" scene. I did like that the gore was restrained, but it neither moved nor horrified me. Maybe because I knew it was coming and was dreading seeing it and nothing could have matched my imagination. But you know, it didn't really occur to me in the book, but with the film, I had to wonder. Why in the world with all that had to be done did Harry go straight to the Pensieve--nothing Snape said conveyed any urgency to view the memories.
What did move me about Snape in the film? Well, sucks to be him. The book I think underlined it more, but even in the film you have to feel that other than Lily's death, this year as headmaster had to be the very worst in his life. Well, and the scenes in that Pensieve with Snape and Lily--they were the most heartbreaking in this film, and that's when I did come closest to getting choked up.
I even liked the Epilogue better in the film. If only for little Albus Severus, and how Radcliffe's Harry somehow conveyed in that little scene with him that he's made a wonderful father.
Oh, and the biggest laugh from the audience was when poor Filch tries to sweep away the rubble. The guy next to me said \"He's going to need a bigger broom.\"
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/139745.html?view=comments#comments","category":"harry potter film"},{"guid":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/138819.html","pubDate":"Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:17:32 GMT","title":"Interested in Selling an Original Story Professionally?","author":"harmony_bites","link":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/138819.html","description":"Interested in getting a first professional sale (or snagging another)? Do you love animals--specifically cats and dogs? I have a friend seeking submissions for \"an anthology of speculative stories about companion or service animals\" with the profits going to an animal shelter. Newbies are more than welcome to submit, and I know I have quite a few very talented writers on my f-list so...
You can find all the details here<\/a><\/b>. Submissions are open from May 1 to August 31, 2011, and they're looking for stories between 1,000 and 4,000 words.
(Knowing my friend btw, I know she likes well-crafted stories in at least a clean prose, even if not necessarily literary, style. So I suggest you leave the book-saidisms, the adverb abuse, head-hopping, excess italics and bold, initial caps and other writing gremlins behind if you want a shot...)
*waves* I know I've been an awful friend lately, and I just haven't had the time to check my live journal for ages. So feel free to stop in this post and let me know how you've been!","comments":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/138819.html?view=comments#comments","category":["writing","publishing"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/138546.html","pubDate":"Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:14:01 GMT","title":"Mansfield Park: A Tolerable Comfort","author":"harmony_bites","link":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/138546.html","description":"As some of you might know,
<\/a>silburygirl<\/b><\/a><\/span> is a serious Austen scholar; she's doing a paper on Mansfield Park<\/i> and urged me to reread it when I told her it was the one Austen novel I loathed and gave me instructions on what to look for. I did and posted a review on LibraryThing and Goodreads. Sil urged me to post the review on LJ, because she wants to see what reaction it might get (I suspect none, but what the hell, a lot of Harry Potter fans for some reason are Austen fans so who knows?) Anyway, she's eager to discuss the novel and curious about casual readers' reactions on it, so at her command, below is my review of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park<\/i> in an attempt to spark discussion.Incidentally, JK Rowling must be a fan of this novel. I had missed the Mrs Norris reference when I read the Harry Potter<\/i> novels; there's no missing now on reread the mention of the children of the Bertram household learning \"of the Roman emperors as low as Severus.\"
Jane Austen is one of my top favorite authors, and when it came time to rate her novels on Goodreads and LibraryThing, I gave her Sense and Sensibility<\/i>, Pride and Prejudice<\/i>, Emma<\/i> and Persuasion<\/i> five stars, the highest possible. When it came time, however, to rate Mansfield Park<\/i>, the novel Austen herself most esteemed among her own, I rated it only one star to reflect my remembered loathing for it. Looking at others\u2019 reviews on LibraryThing and Goodreads, I can see I was not alone in my disdain. The introduction to the annotated Norton Critical Edition called Mansfield Park<\/i> Austen\u2019s \u201cmost controversial novel\u201d and her darkest and \u201cmost ambitious and disturbing.\u201d
In a lot of ways, I think Mansfield Park<\/i> is an outlier among Austen\u2019s mature novels and that might be why even fans of her are thrown by it. Austen\u2019s novels are a lot more than romances, but they are<\/i> romances, and I\u2019ll admit that\u2019s a great deal of the appeal for me. I love her other heroines, which I can usually identify with and admire: Catherine Morland the tomboy and bookworm, sensible Elinor Dashwood, her passionate sister Marianne, witty Elizabeth Bennet, dignified Anne Elliot. Even Emma Woodhouse who might not seem likable at first won me over by the end of the novel with her name. I think because Emma does learn and grow, is humbled--not unlike the way Darcy is humbled--in seeing her flaws through the eyes of the person she most esteems.
And the other Austen heroes are easy for a reader to fall in love with: Henry Tilney with his playfulness, Edward Ferrars with his shy diffidence, Colonel Christopher Brandon with his passionate devotion, proud but principled Fitzwilliam Darcy, the compassionate George Knightly and Captain Frederick Wentworth who wrote among the most melting love letter in literature.
Not only do Austen's characters usually attach you in their own right, you usually end her novels feeling that her couples have found the best possible \u201cpartner in life\u201d in each other and have grown because of each other. And the other novels have a charm and lightness and a tone of amused fondness at the foibles of mankind.
But then there\u2019s Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram of Mansfield Park<\/i>.
I remembered Fanny as a prig and utterly unlikable. I have a close friend who is an Austen scholar who is writing her doctoral thesis in literature on Mansfield Park<\/i>. She urged me to give the novel another chance, and to look for several things: Sir Thomas Bertram\u2019s disturbing musings on child rearing, Fanny\u2019s bitterness and the reasons for it, and to pay particular attention to the last chapter and how deliberately crafted is the sense of dissatisfaction.
Doing so I embarked on another read of Mansfield Park<\/i>, and here below is my reaction (and SPOILERS aplenty). Without the expectation of finding in it a satisfying love story, I found doing so the novel did rise in my estimation. I don\u2019t know I can say I like Fanny any more, but I do feel more sympathy for her situation and actually no longer consider her a \u201cprig.\u201d A prig is not just someone with an \"exaggerated conformity or propriety,\" but someone smug in it--and Fanny is too diffident, too shy, unhappy and bitter to be counted smug. Nor is she a goodie-two-shoes. There\u2019s a passage early on that captures her personality and situation well. She has had harsh treatment from her uncle Sir Thomas, who is soon to be leaving for the West Indies, that causes her to cry \"bitterly.\" Sir Thomas\u2019 daughters don\u2019t feel any fondness for him and (correctly) assume Fanny doesn\u2019t either, and \"when her uncle was gone...her cousins, on seeing her with red eyes, set her down as a hypocrite.\" Fanny by the way, is all the more miserable because she believes she should<\/i> care about Sir Thomas but is well aware she doesn't. Fanny is no hypocrite or flatterer, but there's often a wide streak of bitterness and jealousy in her private reflections; she\u2019s the poor relation treated as an unpaid servant, often treated with negligence and many attempts to put her in her place--a low place. Often such swipes coming from the aunt, Mrs Norris, who urged the Bertrams to foster their niece at Mansfield Park.
It\u2019s because of that treatment that her cousin Edmund makes so strong an impression on her. He\u2019s the only one who treats her with any consideration or kindness. Despite all that, I heartily disliked Edmund for pretty much the whole of the book. He is<\/i> a prig. Too often I felt that he and Fanny both cared more about propriety and appearances rather than principles based on kindness or integrity, and that propensity was all too much to the fore when early on he and Fanny dissected Miss Mary Crawford and censured her for not being prim and proper in criticizing her uncle for abuse of her aunt. (Though I admit it is hard to imagine say even the lively Elizabeth Bennet making that joke about Admirals' \u201cVices and Rears.\u201d) But then later in dealing with Miss Crawford, once Edmund falls in love, he becomes a hypocrite as well--trimming and tailoring his principles to please her.
As to Miss Crawford, until the last chapters, she was my favorite character in the book; She's as witty as the sparkling Elizabeth Bennet, and she's no Caroline Bingley or Lucy Steele; there\u2019s no true malice in Mary Crawford and more than one incident that suggests a true disinterested kindness, and I thought for much of the book that Fanny was blinded by jealousy in how she interpreted Miss Crawford\u2019s actions (and possibly Fanny simply just missed Mary's playful if scandalous and tasteless humor in say a certain letter.) I find Mary Crawford one of the most complex and problematical characters in any Austen novel, and I don't think dismissing her as shallow and unprincipled really does justice to her.
By the end I did come around more to Fanny\u2019s way of thinking of the Crawfords, but keeping in mind what my friend said about that well-crafted sense of dissatisfaction in the last chapter... As I said, the heroes and heroines of Austen\u2019s other mature novels tend to learn and grow through their experiences of love with each often providing a balance to the other. I don\u2019t get any sense of that growth in Fanny and there is something in her relationship with Edmund that smacks too much of Pygmalion for my liking, that is too incestuous beyond their being cousins. Part of the attraction between both is that \u201cher mind in so great a degree [was] formed by his care.\u201d Through much of the book Edmund is correcting and instructing Fanny, and it struck me very unlike say the way Mr Knightly treats Emma. Partly I suppose because I agreed more with Knightly's criticisms of Emma, but also because Emma was capable of disagreeing and pushing back, while Fanny constantly frustrated me with her meekness for so much of the book.
Moreover, Austen explicitly states that Henry Crawford and Fanny could have been happy together--that this was a woman he had \u201cpassionately and rationally loved\u201d and there\u2019s more than a hint that Edmund and Mary might have been happy as well. Happy if events were different? Or their characters? Probably the second, but Mansfield Park<\/i> leaves me wondering about that in a way her other novels certainly didn\u2019t. Indeed, much space is given to what-might-have-been paired differently, and short shrift to Edmund and Fanny's courtship. Finally, I\u2019d also say I find something disturbing in the way in the end Fanny\u2019s sister Susan takes her place, becoming the \u201cstationary niece\u201d while Fanny moves to Mrs Norris' place. Austen begins that last chapter saying she intended now to \u201crestore every body, not greatly in fault themselves, to a tolerable comfort.\u201d A tolerable comfort makes for a rather uncomfortable note when I contrast it with Austen\u2019s other novels.
If I can\u2019t quite put Mansfield Park<\/i> in the same beloved place as her other mature novels and it's still my least favorite, I did finish respecting it on reread, and raising its rating to four stars. Certainly the secondary characters like Mrs Norris, Lady Bertram, Mr Yates, Maria Bertram and Mr Rushworth can be listed along with characters such as Lucy Steele or Mr Collins or Lady Catherine de Bourgh as memorable and indelible creations. And of all her novels, arguably Mansfield Park<\/i> provides the most food for thought on such subjects as propriety and principle, the enduring damages of childhood and just what in a life partner can help us grow and flourish.
Since the copyright has long expired, you can find legitimate free etexts of Mansfield Park<\/i> online, including here<\/a><\/b>. But if you're going to buy a bound paper copy, I highly recommend the Norton Critical Edition--the critical essays in the back are worth the price alone, particularly those by Lionel Trilling, Nina Auerbach and Joseph Lew.
The 1999 feature film version directed by Rozema tried to make Fanny appealing by injecting a lot of Jane Austen's own personality into the heroine--it doesn't suit Fanny Price and makes a travesty of her character and the novel.
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In other fan(of) news, I got pushed into watching Battlestar Galactica<\/i> and am now an avid fan, though I doubt it'll ever inspire fanfic from me. Not that anything does these days *sigh*
In terms of reading fanfic btw, I've never been interested in Austen fandom, or the many pastiches professionally written--because they just in my opinion can't come up to the originals, and I didn't in other novels feel this need for course correction. Well with Mansfield Park<\/i> I do rather have that itch and wouldn't mind reading fiction based in it, whether amateur or professional. If I weren't so terrified of trying to hit anything like an Austenesque style, I might even have given writing a MP fanfic a try. Which does say something about how this novel frustrates me still--but also how it still has me thinking.","comments":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/138546.html?view=comments#comments","category":["reviews","books","reading","austen"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/137937.html","pubDate":"Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:09:54 GMT","title":"Just Saw The Harry Potter Film","author":"harmony_bites","link":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/137937.html","description":"And I loved it. Maybe my favorite along with the film adaptation of The Prisoner of Azkaban<\/i> directed by Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n--although the only one to make me cry was the film of Goblet of Fire<\/i>--the reaction of Cedric's father when he finds out his son is dead did me in.
So, below some random reactions under a cut--just in case anyone would construe them as spoilers. Although we all know the plot by now, don't we? But the movieverse often does feel like an alternate universe, doesn't it?
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1) Watching Snape (aka Alan Rickman). Just how much does it suck to be Severus Snape? Yes, I know Tom Riddle and Harry Potter had it bad as young orphans, Remus suffered from lycanthropy and Sirius all those years in prison, but man, somehow to me Snape had it the worst. The opening diverged from the book--at least that I can remember--Charity Burbage not just saying, \"Severus, please\" but calling him a friend. In that scene I just couldn't help but think of both Lily and Dumbledore crossing Snape's mind.
2) Watching Draco (aka Tom Felton). To me, at least, the expressions on his face said, \"I am not<\/i> enjoying this--I'm not a Death Eater at heart--please keep Auntie away from me...\" *huggles poor Draco*
3) Watching Luna (aka Evanna Lynch). How awesome is she? Two little scenes, not more than five lines, and my heart breaks for her--and I couldn't help but feel, God, she's wonderful with Harry--especially comforting him after Dobby's death. Loads more chemistry there in the tiny bits with him in this film than all the scenes in all the films (and books) with Ginny put together.
4) Watching Harry and Hermione. I don't consider myself a Harry\/Hermione fan--I've never sought out the fic, and though I like Harry, I didn't particularly get a shippy vibe from the books--and certainly the last book seemed to put paid to that pairing, with Harry only caring about Ginny and Hermione about Ron when they're alone together in the Forest of Dean. Well, it's different with the films, isn't it? Or for me it is--because I could read sexual tension there--or at least far, far, far more chemistry between Harry and Hermione as \"just friends\" than Hermione and Ron or Harry and Ginny. (A friend tells me she saw it as completely platonic--but hell, I do like them together.)
5) I loved the scene in the ministry--whoever those actors were, somehow I felt a Harry, Hermione and Ron vibe with each of them. And I loved the whole dark atmosphere--very noir, very Nazi-like but not. Sorta a Magical 1984<\/i>.
6) And being reminded by
<\/a>quietselkie<\/b><\/a><\/span> below, the animation of \"The Tale of the Three Brothers\" from Beedle the Bard<\/i> was made of win.7) The Silver Doe. One word: awesome.
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And Oh, I'm writing again. Sorta. Sorta as in I'll never post what I have. I just did this little experiment and it took off before I knew it, just spilling out. I don't think I've written a thing in over a year. Unfortunately I don't think it works--unfortunate because there are good lines in it I wish I could use--or recycle--but doubt they'll ever quite fit elsewhere.
And yes, it was Snape\/Hermione. For some reason those two still live in my brain, even though I still have this too-stuffed feeling of revulsion at trying to read any more fic in it--and if anything were to break it down, it would have been all the raves from friends about Lariope's Killing Time<\/i>--so obviously I still need time away. Although if Bluestocking does one of her SS\/HG Christmas specials, that might break my resolve...","comments":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/137937.html?view=comments#comments","category":["reviews","harry potter film","snape"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/137240.html","pubDate":"Sun, 31 Oct 2010 03:49:47 GMT","title":"Just In Time for Halloween....","author":"harmony_bites","link":"https:\/\/harmony-bites.livejournal.com\/137240.html","description":"I've been reading off this list<\/a><\/b> from The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List<\/i>. I just finished the The Horror list<\/a><\/b>. Thirteen of the 44 below are vampire novels. Go figure... I'd tried at least half of these before--but then many of the below fit other genres from thrillers with no element of the supernatural (Jaws<\/i>, Silence of the Lambs<\/i>, Koko<\/i>, Meg<\/i>, Andromeda Strain<\/i>, A Prayer for the Dying<\/i>) or dark fantasy or urban fantasy such as works below by Kelly Armstrong, L.A. Banks, LK Hamilton, Charlene Harris, Kim Harrison, Tanya Huff and Carrie Vaughn.
Several below are classic literature such as Frankenstein<\/i>, Dracula<\/i>, \"The Tell-Tale Heart,\" and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.<\/i> And I'll admit Stephen King is actually a favorite author. Some horror classics, indeed, are missing. Where's Henry James Turn of the Screw<\/i> or Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray<\/i>? And among dark fantasy and urban fantasy writers not listed I've enjoyed books by Anne Bishop, Mercedes Lackey, Robin McKinley (her vampire book Sunshine<\/i> is the anti-Twilight<\/i>) and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro--but the post below does seem to cover most of the well-known authors. A friend also recommends as original takes on vampires Some of Your Blood<\/i> by Theodore Sturgeon, Fevre Dream<\/i> by George RR martin, I Am Legend<\/i> by Richard Matheson and The Austra Books<\/i> by Elaine Bergstrom.
John Farris' The Fury<\/a><\/b> and Bentley Little's The Store<\/a><\/b>, recommended on the list, aren't available in my neighborhood bookstores or through the library. I have three books on the list on hold at the library that haven't yet come in:
Caitlin R. Kiernan's Threshold<\/a><\/b>, and Stewart O'Nan's A Prayer for the Dying<\/a><\/b>. Another friend of mine recently read and raved about A Prayer for the Dying<\/i> so I'm particularly eager to read that one.
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