16 August 2007

RIP Harry Potter (SPOILERS!)

It's been 24 days since Deathly Hallows came out. I borrowed someone else's copy while I was on the boat and read it in snatches over the course of about a week, between (more or less) twice-daily sails and learning belay points. I hated some bits, like the epilogue, and I loved others, like Narcissa Malfoy. I loathe Snape's pointless death; I am angry at the pointlessness of ALL the deaths, from Hedwig straight through to Harry himself. I still held out hope that Harry would pull out a Glock and shoot Voldie between the eyes. There was not enough laughter.

And now it's over. Well, technically it was over 24 days ago. I used to plan meeting up with friends knowing that, at the very least, nearly every summer we'd have a book release and days of discussion afterward, no matter what. I started reading these books in the sixth grade, and now I'm a senior in college. Somehow, without any Potter book ever reaching my personal all-time favorite books list, I remained obsessed with the series for years. I was in fandom for about seven years. (That time spans four school campuses, three rodents, and the course of a relationship.)

And now we're done. I hardly ever get fic cravings anymore; I've been falling out of fandom for a couple years now. The canon is complete. Not only is there no speculation to be had about future books, but that window of opportunity between books--when the new canon is still new and must be played with from every angle, followed to every possible conclusion whether logical or illogical, because no one knows what JKR might make obsolete when the next book is released--that feeling is dead. There's no more series coming. I loved that mad dash to carve fanon in granite before the next book killed it. It was a whirlwind of energy that spun the tubes of the Interblag like a cybercarousel. It fueled fandom.

That doesn't mean fandom is dead. It'll be around for awhile; there's still a lot of momentum in a series that held this whole planet spellbound for over a decade. I give it at least six months before it becomes but a ghost of its former glory. It's probably too much to hope that the ratio of good writing to bad will improve in that time.

I'm not sure what to do now with the time I used to spend thinking about Potter stuff. I have a list of theme songs for most of the major characters, which I could post here. I'd always intended to find a small hourglass and some wire and make myself a Time-Turner. I suppose I should just dig into my intended reading list, which is mostly YA fantasy anyway. (OT: The top fourteen YA books, by best-selling and best-reviewed, on Fictionwise are all fantasy. The SF community has been debating for years how to attract kids to its books; I think that this is somewhere near the reason.)

Requiem In Pace, Harry Potter Madness. It was a good way to grow up.

09 August 2007

Post-Boat

Hey, there, guys. I realize I forgot to post when I was leaving for crew training aboard the Kalmar Nyckel, but now I'm back again. For ten days. Then I'm going back to the boat for a week--which should be enough to tell you how much I liked learning to sail her. I think I have my ultimate can't-find-a-job fall-back plan: live on a recreation 17th-century Dutch pinnace. (Honestly, what do you think half the people who live there now are doing? Exactly that.)

So from 18-25 August, I will be on the boat again. This time, she's docked in P-Town! Yay, gay! I hear the Cape has some fantastic waters for sailing and lots of wind, for all that you have to weave between the lobster pots. There will be one constant crew, too, instead of the large number of day-volunteers who come for a sail or two and then leave for awhile. That means we'll get really, really good at working together. Yay, mastery of all boat-knowledge!

In the meantime, I'm finally getting around to writing the term paper I was supposed to have finished months ago and putting together some final paperwork for Jordan (like a visa). Never ever again in my life will I ever take an incomplete. They are horrible and bad for you.