I'm sure there are people out there who wonder: why are there all these people who hate Dumbledore? Wasn't he a good guy? *snort* Yes, deliberately placing a child is an abusive household is a good thing, ne? Anyways, I won't rant more, because Kalen Darkmoon puts forth a much more eloquent and persuasive argument than I ever could.

Find it here: Kalen Darkmoon's Profile. Scroll down a little, past the recs.

Summaries are all the authors. Recs are my personal opinion on the piece. Warnings are my own and/or the authors. I do not warn about explicit sex.

Resort by Forever Then Some
Summary: It's the end of Seventh year, and everyone around Harry begins acting very strangely. Enemies are friends, friends are strangers, and Severus is...
Recs: This is one of those stories that tend to stick with you far past when you've finished reading it; randomly it will just come to you. This is one of the best bittersweet stories I've ever read, or even watched. Be warned, this ending is very bittersweet, but is the perfect ending to this wonderful story. Check out the other stories by this author, they're also very good, although this is undoubtedly at this moment, her best.
Warnings: Language, an ending that will leave you cursing outloud while typing a note to the author begging for a sequel.

The rest of my Snarry recs can be found Here.

Been thinking about the Harry Potter books a lot, for many different reasons. I was researching some stuff for a fic that I was writing, and somehow went on a miniquest of Harry Potter information. And here's some things I've decided while reading it.

1. Whether I like it or not (and to be honest, I don't) Harry Potter has changed the world. If it didn't exist, the world would be different than it is today. People would be different than they are today. I would be different than I am.
2. Just because it has changed the world, doesn't mean that I had to admit that the series is a wonderful series. Because, I don't think it is. I have read many, many more imaginative series. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Kushiel's Lagacy by Jacqueline Carey. The Banned and the Banished by James Clemens.
3. Would I be a worse person for not having reading the books (of which I only read up to the 5th one)? Would I be a worse person for not having gotten into the HP fandom? No. I would have missed out on some amazing literature (The Tea Series by Telanu jumps immediately to mind), but would I still be the same person in my soul. Maybe if things had been different, it would have meant more, but things happened as they did and HP didn't change me for the better. I didn't change me for the worse either. It just changed me.
4. I respect the fact that for some people it was life changing. I respect the fact that it made some children read who might not have. I respect that fact that it made reading a pop culture thing.
5. But I don't like, and in fact it scares me a little to think that this is what people will be basing their views on, that Rowling's message is carried in an overly simplified world where there is black and white, and the only one brave enough to carry the mantle of gray (Severus Snape) is a man who is never properly appreciated or developed by the author herself, and is overly simplified by stating that he turned to the light side because of his love for Lily. The world is full of gray. There is no "Dark" or "Light" side, no "evil wizard" and "golden boy" to pick between. There is just gray, and I hate the fact that this is the message that kids are getting. When I was their age, I was reading Philip Pullman's masterpiece, and crying because the two main characters couldn't live happily ever after, because sometimes there are things more important that yourself. I was reading, and learning, about how life is shades of gray.
5 1/2. And speaking about how the world is viewed through Rowling's eyes, why has no one ever pointed out the fact that apparently no one (and, again, I admit that I have read only until the fourth book so correct me if I'm wrong), in either the wizaring or the muggle world, seems to point out that Harry has been ABUSED his entire life. Just because they don't beat him, doesn't mean he wasn't abused. How does no one notice that he comes to school malnourished, for fuck's sake! What kind of view of the world is that giving children who read the books. Oh, it's perfectly fine to be locked in the goddamn cupbaord and not fed. Why does no one ever point this out?
6. I hate the fact that HP gets so much credit for making people read. Everyone I knew were already reading, it was just wasn't talked about as much. We still read. We just didn't talk about it, because we were all reading different things. Which is good, because everyone needs something different, because everyone is different.
7. But most of all I hate that HP made reading a pop culture event. Because pop culture fades. And all thats left in its wake are older people reminiscing, while the young people stare on in confusion. And reading should be anything but a pop culture phenomnon. It should be life. It should mean something. Reading is passion, not pop, and I fear that just like pop, eventually those kids that everyone was so happy were reading will go back to reading silently, just was we were before, and people will say we don't read anymore. And us kids, we'll just shake our heads and say, "We were always reading; just no one ever paid attention to what we were reading or cared or encouraged us."

Have been reading a lot of fanfiction, and found the need to rant...
Edits in italics: as of 02 December 2007.

*Whenever Dumbledore is far too nice. The more I think about him as a character, and the more I read fanfiction, the more I believe that Dumbledore really is a manipulative old bastard. A good story has to admit this. This doesn't mean that Dumbledore has to be evil or even mean; sometimes people are manipulative and get carried away, forgetting that the people they are dealing with are, in fact, people.
*Harry and Ginny together as a couple. I know that this is kinda biased, but I can read stories where they're together. However, overall I just don't like Ginny as a character; that's not to say that there's not exceptions. For example, I love independent, fuck-her-family Ginny, who turns against her family to side with Harry. However, if this is done with Ginny in love with Harry, I find it far less satisfying.
*A very awesome sounding plot totally ruined by being rushed. This is especially prevelant in Severus/Harry fics; their relationship is going to take time, sometimes a lot of it, in order to get to place that is believable. If an author doesn't take the time to get to this place, they'll ruin the story.
*A very awesome plot ruined by lack of ability. What comes to mind with this is Severus/Harry yet again, but this time starting a story where they're already together or where one of them already has feelings for the other. Even if you just can't do them justice by getting them together, you have to at least provide a little background on how they got together or how their hate turned to love. Ignoring it completely is not only ignorant, but annoying for the reader.
*A story where Japanese words are thrown in for no reason. A few, very few, have managed to put them in and make them make sense, but most of the time, I admit, if I open the story and any of the first words on the page are Japanese, I immediately close it. It's great that you like anime, I do too, but that doesn't mean that very British characters suddenly need to be throwing around Japanese words. The only slightly useable word is "sensei" and even that I'm wary of.
*When too many characters are introduced that, quite frankly, I couldn't give a damn about. Use characters from the series that don't play a large part, instead of creating your own. Those are characters' names I already recognize and know to some extent. Throwing thirty new names at me in the space of a few chapters is really fucking annoying; there's no way that I'll remember them all and I find it hard to believe that they're all really that important. This is especially true if the world is set in an alternate universe. *looks at fic I'm currently reading* There is absolutely no reason that another small character can't become more important or fulfill those roles.

And I know there's more, but I can't think of them. I'm sure more will be added to this post as it goes on. And feel free to post ones that annoy you too; if I agree, I'll add them!

*Meaning the words "I love you," no matter how many times you say it or even how made you are at the time.
*Letting them leave you, if that's what would be best for them, even if it breaks your heart.
*Loving them not just for the things that make them wonderful, but for the annoying habits and the horrible pieces as well.
*Realizing that you can always love them more, even if you thought that you already loved them more than humanly possible.