Quotes, quotes, quotes

[selenak]

So, sounds like everyone had a great time at ComicCon, what with the Heroes cast being adorable, season 2 footage being shown, Joss Whedon announcing Ripper and some Iron Man footage making it on screen as well. I'm not jealous, no, not me. Excuse me while I get the green colour out of my face.

There's a great new interview with Tim Minear about Angel (the series), and the king of flashbacks utters some very quotable lines:

About Angel and Darla:

"I always saw them as a combo of George and Martha from “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” and Bonnie and Clyde. Buffy and Angel were so epic because it was so pure but so doomed. Angel and Darla were, for me, epic because it was so corrupt and so doomed."

I used that Albee comparison first, about their final scene in Dear Boy, she says smugly.

About Kate:

"Also she was Mulder and Scully rolled into one, and I never felt like I got enough of a chance to work out my X-Files fetish while I was on that show."

*g*

You know, there's an iron rule true in every fandom about interviews or chats or postings from scriptwriters/producers/novelists. If they say stuff the majority of fans agrees with, it results in much adoration and praise for them being there for the fans via said interviews. If, however, they say something the fans disagree with, it's "shut up", "you don't get a say anymore, canon is finished" and "stop dictating views!" all the way. Incidentally, I'm not immune to that reflex; I remember being quite annoyed about several Ira Behr quotes (and I really like Behr's episodes on DS9, and much of what he did with the show), and I certainly disagreed with Wayne Pygram re: Scorpius and Sikozu. However, it's still a double standard we're all having, and I'm aware of it. Following the publication of Deathly Hallows, JKR did and does the usual thing following a big release, i.e. interviews, and naturally, there was upsetness. Now, what do you want to bet that a lot of those fans who got upset with her pointing out in one interview that Snape being a bully remained as true as his heroism till the end (incidentally, if you don't think the "bully" characterisation is true, read every passage in which Snape as a teacher interacts with Neville Longbottom, who by his third school year is so afraid of him Snape has become his worst fear, overtaking Bellatrix Lestrange wo tortured his parents - and Neville certainly isn't James Potter's son, or has anything to do with the other Marauders), will be delighted and will so adopt as canon what she says about Lily in her most recent chat:
Jaclyn: Did lily ever have feelings back for snape

J.K. Rowling: Yes. She might even have grown to love him romantically (she certainly loved him as a friend) if he had not loved Dark Magic so much, and been drawn to such loathesome people and acts.

More Snape/Lily-relevant quotes:


Nithya: Lily detested mulciber,averyif snape really loved her,why didnt he sacrifice their company for her sake

J.K. Rowling: Well, that is Snape’s tragedy. Given his time over again he would not have become a Death Eater, but like many insecure, vulnerable people (like Wormtail) he craved membership of something big and powerful, something impressive. He wanted Lily and he wanted Mulciber too.

and:

Rachel Nell: Jkr, thank you for such amazing books! I would like to know how come noone seemed to know that lily and snape were friends in school they were obviously meeting for chats, etc didnt james know their past

J.K. Rowling: Thank you for your thank you! Yes, it was known that they were friendly and then stopped being friends. Nothing more than that would be widely known. James always suspected Snape harboured deeper feelings for Lily, which was a factor in James’ behaviour to Snape.

This sounds like a fanfic challenge:

Annie: Does the wizarding world now know that snape was dumbledores man, or do they still think he did a bunk

J.K. Rowling: Harry would ensure that Snape’s heroism was known. Of course, that would not stop Rita Skeeter writing ‘Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?’

So: who writes the Rita obituary and/or biography of Severus Snape?

Oh, and for those of us who dig parallels:

Barbara: I was very disappointed to see harry use crucio and seem to enjoy it his failure to perform that kind of curse in the past has been a credit to his character why the change, and did harry later regret having enjoyed deliberately causing pain

J.K. Rowling: Harry is not, and never has been, a saint. Like Snape, he is flawed and mortal. Harry’s faults are primarily anger and occasional arrogance. On this occasion, he is very angry and acts accordingly.

The entire chat transcript is here.

Comments

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

I'm more annoyed by the retcon on Ron's career--although, as some people have pointed out, it's entirely possible that Ron did both: starting out working with George, and then being recruited by Harry into the Auror department. I'm just peeved that it's going to result in wank. *sigh*

But these answers more than made up for that:

Sampotterish: Why did dumbledore want ron to keep his deluminator
J.K. Rowling: Because he knew that Ron might need a little more guidance than the other two.
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Ron's importance in the trio. He wasn't the most skilled, or the most intelligent, but he held them together; his humour and his good heart were essential.

Lulu: Do you think dumbledore was a little more fond of ron than either ron or harry believed
J.K. Rowling: Yes, I do. Through Harry's account of Ron, and from reports of the professors who taught Ron, Dumbledore understood Ron better than Ron ever knew, and liked him, too.

Lecanard: Will we see harry and his friends having their own history on chocolate frogs cards
J.K. Rowling: Definitely, and Ron will describe this as his finest hour.

HELL YES.

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

I certainly disagreed with Wayne Pygram re: Scorpius and Sikozu

Do tell. I really loved their relationship in season 4, and always regretted not getting the chance to see how the Scorpius/Sikozu/Braca triangle worked itself out.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I loved their relationship in s4 as well, and in the original version of the script for The Peacekeeper Wars, it continued in that vain; Sikozu was not the traitor, and hers and Scorpius' feelings for each other were genuine on both sides.

However, Wayne Pygram felt that Scorpius was presented as too soft by this, and asked for a change, and that's why poor Sikozu ended up as betraying him to the Scarrans.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I want chocolate frogs cards fanfic.*g*

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

You know, I just assumed people did know about Snape and Lily, just never saw fit to tell Harry -- because, honestly, why would they? I think there's a lot of room for retconning around 'things parents don't tell their children.' I don't know about anyone else, but I'm constantly learning things about my older generation of family members that I didn't know, and I've had over 30 years of living closely with them to find those things out!

[greenpear.livejournal.com]

Since I've never had time to read any of the books (have only had time for technical manuals in the past few years and the occasional Pratchett book) I'm glad to see the insight to some of these situations in the Potter books. I've been able to figure out some of it but this helps a lot.

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I don't know how I'd feel about lovey-dovey Scorpius/Sikozu. One of the things I liked best about their relationship was the that the flaws were baked in - Scorpius doesn't really understand love, and certainly won't let it motivate him the way Crichton does, and Sikozu enters into the relationship at least in part as a tactical decision, and spends too much time obsessing about her and Scorpius's relative strengths. That one of them would ultimately betray the other makes sense. I just hated the way PKW went about it because it made Sikozu look like an idiot and Scorpius look like he never cared about her.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

there's an iron rule true in every fandom about interviews or chats or postings from scriptwriters/producers/novelists. If they say stuff the majority of fans agrees with, it results in much adoration and praise for them being there for the fans via said interviews. If, however, they say something the fans disagree with, it's "shut up", "you don't get a say anymore, canon is finished" and "stop dictating views!" all the way. Incidentally, I'm not immune to that reflex

Word, word, word: a whole paragraph of 'em. & ;-)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I just assumed people did know about Snape and Lily, just never saw fit to tell Harry -- because, honestly, why would they?

Quite. The one who would have a motive, Dumbledore, had explicitly promised never to mention the Lily angle, the other adults like Remus and Sirius probably thought "why tell the kind his least favourite teacher hung out with his Mum for a couple of years?", and Petunia didn't want to talk about anything Lily or Wizarding World related if she could help it. (Though she inadvertendly did blab once, in OotP, when in reply to the question how she knew about Dementors she says: "I heard - that awful boy - tell her about them." Harry of course assumes she means James and retorts "if you mean my mother and father, why don't you name them?" to which Petunia doesn't sa anything at all.)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

We're all guilty in this regard.*g*

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Did you also see that Warren Ellis is doing Astonishing X-Men after Whedon finishes?

[toysdream.livejournal.com]

However, Wayne Pygram felt that Scorpius was presented as too soft by this, and asked for a change

Although I was disappointed by Sikozu's exit, I appreciate the sentiment here. Like Snape, I think Scorpius is a more interesting character because the writers didn't smooth out all his rough edges, or make him a saint just because he helps the heroes.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Yes, and as I was fretting a bit who'd take over, I was glad to hear it.

Oh, btw: following your advice, I've watched the first season of Between the Lines, which really was very good, but I do have a few nitpicks.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

You know, there's an iron rule true in every fandom about interviews or chats or postings from scriptwriters/producers/novelists. If they say stuff the majority of fans agrees with, it results in much adoration and praise for them being there for the fans via said interviews. If, however, they say something the fans disagree with, it's "shut up", "you don't get a say anymore, canon is finished" and "stop dictating views!" all the way.

Wisely spoken. It's why I try to mostly avoid being confronted with the creators', writers' or actors' ideas of what a character or situation means until the product is finished, because it usually helps me feel better about both the item in question and the human beings attached to making it. *eyes Dan Knauf wearily*

[owl]

Ron for Auror! I was so pleased that he and Harry were working together :(

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, Dan Knauf. Here I was, with my eternal dislike firm in place, and then he goes and writes a couple of intriguing comics with his brother. I'm not reading any more interviews, though.*veg*

[astridv.livejournal.com]

The Joss panel really was something. The guy barely got to start talking, the applause simply wouldn't ebb off. And all these things he's working on sound exciting.

[mermaidrain.livejournal.com]

OMG! Thanks for all of that! Amazing quotes and such on all fronts (and all shared fandoms at that!), but especially for the Joss Wheadon bit! WOOT! It's about frakkin' time!!!

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I could see him being a good novelist, actually. I'm just rather underwhelmed by his television work, and that's not even just because I found the structures he apparently envisioned for Carnivale unbelievably trite - although I am wondering if I would have liked Season Two a little better if I hadn't known what he was actually aiming at. On the other hand, no. If there had been one more stupid pseudo-creepy dollhead I would have kicked my monitor across the room. At least we only had to suffer it to get BSG.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I think I would have been disappointed by s2 in any case, even without supporting interviews going on about how he always wanted good versus evil and that was the very premise, etc.

The comics I mean are regular Marvel titles, which means of course the characters aren't his, so he's limited in what he can do with them, which results in nice ambiguity so far.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I think I would have been disappointed by s2 in any case, even without supporting interviews going on about how he always wanted good versus evil and that was the very premise, etc.

Sigh. I'm astonished how much rage I still have for that show. I loved S1 to an insane amount - let's say roughly on the level a lot of people have for Buffy - and S2 fell so unbelievably short of that and did such horrible things to my favourite characters, it actually sullied the first season for me. I haven't watched it since. (That is probably childish.)

The comics I mean are regular Marvel titles, which means of course the characters aren't his, so he's limited in what he can do with them, which results in nice ambiguity so far.

He also wrote one first season episode of SPN, but it was pretty on-the-nose. I mean, even for SPN. (It's the one with the flashbacks to the boys' childhood, with the Slavic-based monster)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

S2 fell so unbelievably short of that and did such horrible things to my favourite characters, it actually sullied the first season for me. I haven't watched it since. (That is probably childish.)

No, I can understand that, as I haven't rewatched, either. (And I have it on dvd, and loved it dearly. I do intend to rewatch; just not yet.) You can find my disappointment preserved on lj. I also told several friends to stop watching after s1, and that way, their love of the show is unsullied.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Oh, and regarding Ellis's tastes in tough women and morally ambiguous bastards, I wouldn't be surprised if she's still hanging around, assuming Whedon doesn't kill her off in his last issues.