A lovely thing, and then some ranting

[blamebrampton]

First, A LOVELY THING! Which is a rec.

Draco Malfoy and the Deathly Hallows is the final work in hd_holidays . A multi-panelled artwork with minimal additional text, it tells the story of book 7 with small, vital changes. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the story I hoped for when Mr Brammers brought the actual book home from the shop (I had influenza and was in bed). Beginning in the Malfoy dungeons (Luna in ankle-socks! Absolutely perfect), it tells the story of what would have unfolded had Draco been able to find the ability to make a different choice in his actions during the war.

Convincing and compelling, the narrative skips across the second half of the book, pausing at crucial moments. The Hufflepuff Cup, Fiendfyre, Snape's death ... these and more are addressed, but with the difference that a morally courageous Draco could have made. 

Not only is the central thesis captivating, the art that accompanies it is nothing short of gripping. Drawn in a spare almost-monochrome, it focusses attention down on the drama of each moment, showing story in the gesture of a hand, the hopelessness of a look. For all the drama, there are moments of humour, too, gently done and finely judged in tone.

The artist (because artists are very rarely the least bit anon, even if this artwork has an uncharacteristic lack of boy snoggin) is one of my faves, because she makes me look at canon and fanon in new ways each time. This piece is no different, save that instead of opening up new parts of the text for me, it reminded me again how sad I was when I reached he end of DH and Draco was still a feeble cypher.

Even Mr Brammers finished HP7 with a 'Hmph, I liked most of it, but I was convinced that Malfoy would come good by the end. What was the point of all that stuff in the other books if he wasn't going to learn anything from it?' Exactly right! And this piece helped immensely with that. In fact, I'm going to pull it up for him and see if I can break his fandom virginity.


To end, a spot of ranting:
Does watching television make people stupid? (Yes, obviously.)

Outside of America, a white person offering a black person fried chicken is nothing more than a friendly gesture of shared crap food, unless one of them is a cardiologist, in which case it is a neat piece of bastardry in either direction.

Also, Doctor Who has a long and proud history of supporting gingers!

On a final, political, note, Fuck me, Japanese whalers! Who do you think you are? French? Not cool!

Comments

[brissygirl.livejournal.com]

Did you see the chick who is trying to sue the Lutheran Church because of a lead pencil injury that she got in primary school? She is claiming, pain and suffering, diminished earning capacity, medical expenses? and something else totalling around $100,000.

This is in Australia BTW. What the hell is the world coming to?

[curia-regis.livejournal.com]

Outside of America, a white person offering a black person fried chicken is nothing more than a friendly gesture of shared crap food, unless one of them is a cardiologist, in which case it is a neat piece of bastardry in either direction.

YES.

I kinda feel like KFC now though. That ad made me hungry. Damn ads!

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

I may be particularly ignorant, but what would be the significance of a white person offering a black person a piece of fried chicken in America? Also, am desperately hoping that I never did this accidentally, because obviously it would have been a Bad Thing.

[ciel-vert.livejournal.com]

Oooh thank you for pointing me in the direction of that art, I would have missed it otherwise. And yes! Definitely the story I wish I had read too.

[glorafin.livejournal.com]

Blatant anti-French racism there! :)

[niennas-gift.livejournal.com]

Totally agree on both fronts: the art (and rewrite of DH) is exquisite. The anon artist has this special talent to get me to see familiar characters in whole new ways. Her work has inspired several scenes in my fic.

As to DH as it is, I think a real opportunity was missed. With HBP, Draco went from being a background character to a major actor in the events unfolding. In many ways, he drops out of the picture in DH. It's not that I always think he should have joined the Order, I just think the evolution he went through was just as important to the wizarding world as the transformation Ron went through (for instance). JKR had created a wonderful character with Draco and then she just threw that away. imho, of course.

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

That was so pretty! Thanks for linking to it :D

[timeasmymeasure.livejournal.com]

That was a brilliant piece of work. Loved it.

Outside of America, a white person offering a black person fried chicken is nothing more than a friendly gesture of shared crap food, unless one of them is a cardiologist, in which case it is a neat piece of bastardry in either direction.

Oh good Lord, so true.

[wivern.livejournal.com]

Re the ad, Dr Who and Japanese whalers... YES!!!

Wasn't the doctor complaining that he wasn't ginger?

[aliciajd]

I'm removing this comment because I just saw the KFC commercial that sparked the comment and realized that this thread was about an Australian commercial, not an American one. My original comment was about our media situation in America, which has no bearing, at all, on yours.

[feralcheryl.livejournal.com]

I am vaguely terrified that Australian humour is now being judged by American standards. WTF?
And could some one please explain to me why the black and white minstrals on Hay Hay were racist and Tracey Ullman dressing up as a black chick is not.

[flamewarrior.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the rec; I shall read it as soon as my Interwebs pulls it's finger out and decides that loading pages is a good idea...

it reminded me again how sad I was when I reached he end of DH and Draco was still a feeble cypher.

Draco moves from character-of-depth-with-difficult-choices at the end of HBP to oh-sorry-you-thought-he-was-a-real-person?-he's-just-a-mcguffin at the end of DH :-( Even more than the expulsion of Slytherin, this is what drove me mad about DH. >:-[

[ms-kilian.livejournal.com]

There should be more attractive, heroic, lust-worthy gingers on TV and in film. More Weasleys in the world I say! We are The Best (that's why we are so rare). In fact, I think that every 4/5 year old should have their hair forceably hennaed before they start school, then when it returns to its natural shade, the gingers can hang sh!t on the non-gingers, who are clearly inferior.

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<tongue [...] cheek,>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

There should be more attractive, heroic, lust-worthy gingers on TV and in film. More Weasleys in the world I say! We are The Best (that's why we are so rare). In fact, I think that every 4/5 year old should have their hair forceably hennaed before they start school, then when it returns to its natural shade, the gingers can hang sh!t on the non-gingers, who are clearly inferior.
<tongue firmly in cheek, except the Weasly proliferation thing>