 DukeBrymin 2009-12-21 . chapter 14Your Neville is certainly a stronger, more intelligent person than canon!Neville, I like it.
So, one thing that I find somewhat jarring in fanfiction is modern-day cursing in wizarding-raised children. Your Neville uses some swearwords that seem somewhat out of place. Let me explain:
First, a disclaimer; I don't like swearing--I try hard not to do so myself, and find it rather off-putting. But, I try hard not to let my personal feelings affect my reviews, so the rest of my discussion will, hopefully, be divorced from my feelings.
Now, my thoughts; Neville grew up in Wizarding society, rather than Muggle society. Wizarding society is firmly rooted in Victorian-era mores and values. Modern-day swear words don't seem to fit into that type of culture. Witness JKR's use of "Merlin" where modern swearing would include "God". Ron uses "bloody hell" all the time, but that's about as explicit as it gets.
Hm, so maybe my thinking is off--maybe the dichotomy is not Victorian-vs-modern, but the target audience? Perhaps because the Harry Potter books were aimed at the pre-teen and teen markets, JKR held down the level of cursing. I guess I'd need a British opinion of "bloody hell" to know how to judge.
So, to conclude, I think I invalidated my point, and all I'm left with is the idea that your Neville has a fouler mouth to me than canon!Neville, and it's somewhat jarring. Kind of a weak position to be arguing from, isn't it?
Either way, I'm happy to see Harry listen to Neville--I like that Neville has gone through the same type of thing as Harry, that brings up the idea that perhaps they're more similar than canon, perhaps they'll have to work together to get rid of Voldemort?
Thanks for the new chapter! |
 Allen Pitt 2009-12-20 . chapter 14hopefully he'll go back and tell Sirius that he'll give him a chance... and hey, a cunning Slytherin might find a use for somebody who'd do anything to prove himself... Nice speech by neville, he's had it pretty bad, too- |
 DukeBrymin 2009-12-14 . chapter 13Ooh, interesting. I really like how you've woven in the influences of Voldie and Lily, and how Ginny's being in Harry's life is helping Lily's influence grow stronger. I've often wondered how Harry would have turned out had he had someone he could trust completely, and Ginny is the perfect person for this.
Thanks! |