Many Thoughts and Reflections of this World

Tale of two apparently different films...

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:26:43 GMT

Tale of two actually similar films, despite the different genre used...

Horse Whisperer and Spanglish...

Annie Maclean and John Clasky:

Characters are very similar. Annie Maclean is in a miserable marriage with Robert Maclean, who is jealous of her success as an editor, although he is a lawyer himself. John Clasky is in a bad marriage with Deborah Clasky, who is self-centered and at times jealous of John's success as a chef.

Both Annie and John are sensitive, caring people. Both of them had kids they deeply care about. Bernice Clasky is close to Grace Maclean's age; both are 13 going on 14.

Both Annie and John deal with career pressures as well as home pressures. Annie gets a lot of flack from gossip columnists; at one point, she mutters, That shit at one awful article and she and some of her co-workers want to sue. John is dealing with a four-star review and his co-workers are pressuring him to make his restaurants more "touristy," but he doesn't want to do that and mumbles, Fuck you at one article in almost a similar fashion to Annie's That shit.

Both Annie and John struggle with low self-esteem and put up with too much from their spouses, who treat them poorly. Annie struggles with many fears and desperately tries to mask them behind a know-it-all front while John deals with his lack of self confidence by attempting to appear calm and having a cheerful front. Both coping methods drive their spouses mad and as a result, both of their spouses attack and criticize them.

Both John and Annie are extremely intelligent and creative and are good problem solvers. Both are really there for their kids, even when their kids are going thru awkward, troubled, painful times. Both are very good people who, despite great obstacles, ridicule, put-downs, pressures, and temptations, do the right thing, esp. at the end and try hard not to hurt anyone. The temptations both of them face are very similar...

Tom Booker and Flor Moreno:

Tom is the "other man" that Annie is tempted to cheat with while Flor is the "other woman" that John is tempted to have an affair with. Both neither give in to the temptation. Tom and Annie are very, very attracted to one another and even sexual feelings fly between them, but both Annie and Tom understand that it would be unwise to persue an affair while Annie is still entangled with Robert. They also understand that Annie's true home is back east in New York City; despite Annie's liking visiting the country, she knows that homesickness will set in and that she really needs to get back home and finalize things one way or the other with Robert and get back home to her daughter.

John faces a similar dilemma, although in this case, it is Flor who is visiting and Flor who must make the decision for both herself and her daughter Cristina to return home to her own apartment and that she feels more comfortable among other Spanish-speaking folks and her working-class neighborhood.

Like Tom, John knows he has to let Flor go back home, although both are very painful decisions. Annie cannot stop crying for half of her drive back to New York City after she tells Tom goodbye and Flor must deal with Cristina being angry and dissappointed and they also shed a few tears also. Flor also has to deal with a jealous outburst from Deborah, who demands to know "what happened" between her and John as Deborah, although has cheated on John herself, suspects John of cheating with Flor. Robert also indirectly accuses Annie of having an affair with Tom, so Annie must deal with Robert's jealous binge also...which comes to their lousy spouses.

Robert Maclean and Deborah Clasky:

Both are very insecure, jealous people who leach onto their spouses, trying to get as much as they can, yet peradoxically are resentful of their spouses' successes. Robert is an attorney, but still is envies Annie's career as an editor and later an author. Deborah, who is unemployed, enjoys the luxuries that John's salary provides, yet is jealous of John's success as a chef and his bond with their children. Deborah and Robert criticize their spouses' parenting, which indicates the envy there. Robert ridicules Annie for wanting to take Grace and Pilgrim to the Booker ranch; Deborah berates John for not being "on the same page," which is really a guise for doing everything her way.

Robert, to his credit, is a fairly good dad to Grace while Deborah is almost as awful to the kids as she is to John and her mother, Evelyn. Deborah constantly criticizes her kids, which causes them to distance themselves from her, which angers her and makes her even more jealous and resentful of John. Robert, although a good dad to Grace, is not good to Annie; he also is critical of her and frequently puts her down, which causes Annie to distance herself from him and act cold with him and also to put on her know-it-all front, which further incites Robert's jealousy and ire.

Both Annie and John are deeply hurt by their spouses' actions and cruel words. Robert and Deborah both cruelly insinuate that their spouses don't love them as much as they supposedly love them and appeal to the old cliche of How can you love a man/woman like me facade.

Both the Clasky marriage and the Maclean marriages are headed for divorce by the end of the film.

Themes explored in both films...

Two cultures meeting:

Spanglish has two cultures meeting, the working-class immigrant Mexican community meeting with the affluent Anglo, English-speaking culture. The two cultures in Horse Whisperer are even more different; it's a meeting of large east coast sophisticated city meeting with rural, unsophisticated western Montana culture.

Flor and Annie are dealing with culture shock, since they (along with their daughters) are venturing into a foreign world. Both are initially enchanted by the trappings and positive things of the different culture they visit; Flor and Cristina are at first dazzled by the large beach house and expensive furniture and huge rooms; Annie's breath is taken away by the country beauty of the wide open spaces of the ranch farm and is rather charmed by the old-fashioned, quaint farm family she visits.

Deborah esp. butters up Cristina and tries to butter up Flor while Tom butters up Annie and invites her on various country "adventures" and even takes her horseback riding. Annie is fearful of horseback riding at first, but end up enjoying it although she bounces uncontrollably and ends up with a very sore backside.

Their daughters are also taken in by the charm of the other culture and even take to adapting some of the work there; Cristina collects colored rocks for John and earns lots of money doing it and is enchanted by the beach while Grace works and takes care of the horse stables and gets to know the animals on the farm.

Just as the Bookers find Annie exotic and fascinating, most of the Claskys are intrigued by Flor. Bernice, John, and George become interested in Mexican culture and pick up a few Spanish words.

But both Flor and Annie realize that while they enjoy visiting this other world, they cannot stay permanently; they know they must return to their respective homes. Flor, although it is hard for her and she must give up a decent-paying job and disappoint her daughter, musters up the courage to leave the Clasky house because she knows that the marriage is not healthy and also does not want to get in the middle of John and Deborah's marital problems. She also knows that Deborah is a toxic user who is exploiting Cristina and Bernice as well as John.

Annie, despite her enjoying her visit to the country and the Booker's company, knows she must return to New York City, re-start her career and maybe get her long-awaited dream of being an author off the ground, decide whether she will stay with Robert and try marital counseling or split from Robert, bring Pilgrim back home also, and most importantly get back home to Grace as she promised and finish raising her. It is very painful for her to say goodbye to Tom and as she drives toward NY, she can't stop sobbing for a long time, but like Flor, in her heart, she knows it is the right thing to do. Both Flor and Annie along with Cristina and Grace, gain a greater appreciation for their own culture, ironically by visiting another one, then returning home again.

Early teenhood and growing up, the kids:

Grace, Cristina, Bernice, George are growing up, esp. the girls are in their pre-teen years and early teen years. Cristina is around eleven going on twelve while Grace and Bernice are thirteen going on fourteen. Esp. Bernice and Grace are dealing with a very awkward age is just about to enter high school the following fall. Grace lost part of her leg in an accident and is dealing with body image adjustments because of it; it is Annie who comforts her as they both cry together and Annie who, despite her own tears, reassures Grace that she is still an attractive, lovely young woman and that someone will love her as she is.

Bernice, is in the early teen "chubby" phase and has lots of self-esteem problems. Deborah aggravates it further by making cruel remarks about her weight, buying her too-slim clothing and nagging at her to lose weight. Bernice cries also when Deborah buys her to too-small clothing and tells her that she "doesn't need that" with many of the food she eats. Like Annie, however, John and his mother-in-law, Evelyn, try to mend the damage Deborah does by reassuring Bernice that she is fine as is, that she is kind and loveable and that they accept her as she is and that one day, others will also.

Annie, Flor, and John worry themselves nearly mad about their kids...whether their kids will fit in or whether they will be thought of as "odd," their kids doing well in school and succeeding in life. All three of them also from time to time doubt themselves as parents, even though all three of them are excellent, caring parents. Despite their kids going thru rebellious times and self-image struggles themselves, the end of both films leaves viewers thinking, These kids are going to come out all right despite all they've been through.

Bittersweet endings:

Both films have a rather sad, bittersweet, yet not depressing ending. There are lots of tears toward the end of both films, yet the heroes deep down inside, know that the sadness and tears won't last long. We suspect Annie's tears will dry by the time she gets back home to NYC and that once she gets started as an author and divorces Robert, she will be a lot happier and her self-esteem will improve.

Ditto Flor, Cristina, and John. John is finally getting the courage to leave Deborah after he finds out about her adultery and take the kids while we can see that despite Cristina shouting and crying and being initially angry at Flor for "ruining it all" for her, Cristina is coming to understand why Flor did what she did and as Cristina herself reveals in the end, she is applying to Princeton U., which indicates that, at some point, she and her mom reached a compromise and Flor let her grow up while staying proud of her culture and roots.

So, how's that for the tale of two films?

Had the funniest thought on five film characters...

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 18:32:12 GMT

Had the most hilarious thought on five film characters combined with the film Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, but haven't worked out all the details...

The five lucky winners of a silver ticket are:

Lester Burnham - American Beauty
Deborah Clasky - Spanglish
Raymond Avila - Internal Affairs
Dick Tracy - Dick Tracy
Amy Wallace - Internal Affairs

Perhaps they open a can of juice or soda and see it there.

Of course, four of them are kind of stupid and bratty and bring about their own come-uppances...

Lester - Acts stupid and cynical about everything and gets high on drugs, so he gets turned into a powder and blown up a high pipe.
Raymond - For him, the ends justifies the means; his tooth for a tooth mentality and stupid jealousy has him twist into a pretzel...this time literally. He gets salt poured on him and he's rolled down and alley and hung on display in a hot room.
Deborah - Is obsessed with being thin and with weight and dieting, so she's turned into a giant leaf, but the rabbits find her stale, so they toss her down a chute of stale and spoiled veggies.
Dick - Overconfident and arrogant and pushes others around. So he gets his push and is turned into a yellow gumball and bounced about in a big machine with other gumballs.

Amy turns out the winner, since she's the least rotten; she's the only one who doesn't act stupid, selfish or demanding, so she wins all the juice and soda she can have for life. In addition, when she retires from the police force, many soda and juice companies have a 401K plan for her, so she can retire in comfort.

This plot is borrowed from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, only with different characters and different products, but still the same concept and principle.

Lanford Still Stands

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 00:52:17 GMT

I'm also preserving this...

This one the second film, it would make another film post-Roseanne and would be titled Lanford Still Stands...Lanford is hit by small riots caused by a whole group of ppl. and many buildings and houses and stores are badly damaged and some are burned.

Lips Gay Bar and the Lodge are severely damaged and need extensive rebuilding; maybe the Lodge is burned down; they might not have the money to re-build. Some of the Lunch Boxes and Dinner Pails are also hit as well.

The Wellmans' son, Gary, Arnie, Fred, Lonnie and his wife, Samantha and several others that Roseanne and Jackie know are involved. Those involved are arrested, most of them are jailed. Their excuse? They work for the city and had been goofing off on the job and falsifying time sign-and check-ins and were suspended and felt it was "unfair," so they decided to strike out.

It's heartbreaking for almost everyone in Lanford. Roseanne and Jackie are esp. shocked; so are their friends. There's a lot of crying in the next few days, including from Roseanne and Jackie.

Some scenes would be maybe Roseanne and Jackie surveying the damage to any of their diners and walking around with tears in their eyes, just dazed.

Then on the way home, they'd pass the remains of the Lodge and both of them would start crying and have to pull over and they see others over there, maybe Anne-Marie, Chuck, Nancy, and Bonnie to name a few. They also are devastated and Nancy and Bonnie also are crying and they cling to each other for support.

Later, Roseanne calls Crystal and she's devastated that her son could do this; they cry a bit more over the phone.

Jackie also can't believe that Fred could do this also; one heartrending scene, Jackie visits Fred in jail; Fred's rather sullen and complains about his life.

Just as Jackie's leaving, Crystal comes in to visit Lonnie and Crystal and Jackie talk some and maybe they get the idea to help Lanford rebuild and Jackie promises to run it by Roseanne, then they hug and offer each other support.

Then the Conners/Harris/Healys go ahead with their plan to help the Lanford ppl. band together to re-build the town, raise money to help the damaged businesses re-build and restore ppl.'s sense of safety. They organize fundraisers over the next few months to raise money for rebuilding.

Meanwhile, DJ and his wife Lian, have a daughter in addition to the son that they have. One of Harris' friends' parents is involved in the riot.

Darlene and David open up a section of their magazine to let Lanford residents vent and express their feelings about the riot.

Andy by then has started high school and is often teased and has the same severe acne that Jackie had at fourteen.

Fred has re-married and Andy sees him every once in a while and his new wife, Jennifer, has two sons from a previous marriage and the two sons are rather out-of-control and often tease and bully poor Andy when he visits and bicker between themselves.

Fred and Jennifer also bicker often also and Andy often lopes around his stepfamily, sometimes feeling kind of like a male Cinderella and the stepsibs from it all and is mostly quiet around them.

I don't have Fred appear in my first film, but he does appear in the second when he and the others get in trouble for trashing Lanford.

Maybe the second film will have one of the opening scenes with Andy's stepbrothers fighting and screaming and trying to push each other down mall steps and Fred and Jennifer bickering and Andy just trailing along and hoping Sunday will come fast so he can get back to Jackie's and the rest of his family, since he feels closer to them.

Bev has a cancer scare, but makes it through. Jackie is especially affected by it, since she's very afraid of losing her mom, despite her mom sometimes driving her crazy.

I picture one scene where Bev's about to go into surgery and Jackie and Roseanne are both there and Jackie's struggling against tears and her brows slant and she tries to relax them, but can't keep them relaxed. Roseanne holds a crying Jackie as Bev's wheeled into surgery.

This second film starts the August before Andy starts high school and spans until the following March. The riots happen in either late September or early October and Bev's cancer scare happens in maybe February. Most of Lanford is re-built by March; the Lodge is still in the process of being rebuilt.

Or maybe there could be a brief epilogue that takes place in November that has the Lodge being re-opened and a big ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration! Hey, that'd be a neat ending!

Still have to iron out a lot of details of this one.

Lanford Days Again

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 00:46:11 GMT

I posted this one in the Roseanne community, but wanted to preserve my own copy of this here...

If Roseanne were to do a 10 or 20-year re-union, it would be great if it was a film release in theaters all over the world. It would be titled Lanford Days Again and span from December of one year, go thru the entire following year and end in May a year and a half later. I have some ideas and am organizing them into a fanfic...

Some ideas I have that I posted earlier with a few additions...

Jackie's son Andy is very, very much like his mum in personality. Roseanne jokes about it often. Andy has Jackie's dark hair, but Fred's blue eyes and facial features. Andy sometimes gets teased in school and it makes both him and Jackie cry together, but he’s making it all right with Jackie’s love and his aunt Roseanne’s humor.

Roseanne, Jackie, Nancy, and Leon have expanded the Lunch Box into a national chain and are now making very good money. The lottery thing was just the fantasy part, but now they don't have to struggle financially anymore. I just like the thought of them getting a break after years of struggle and hard work. The Lunch Box becomes a national chain and Roseanne, Jackie, Nancy, and Leon have to hire lots more ppl. of course. Maybe they add The Dinner Pail as a spinoff of the original diner...Lunch Box and Dinner Pail, LBDP for short. They deserve that break after all they've been through.

Roseanne's writing books now and has sold several. She's raised Jerry as a single mom just as Jackie raised Andy.

Leon is now getting along better with Roseanne, Jackie and Nancy. So is Bev. Leon and his husband's little girl frequently plays with Andy, Jerry, and Becky and Darlene’s kids. Leon’s mum-in-law is slowly getting Alzheimer’s and Roseanne and Jackie help him deal with it.

Nancy has now married her lover and together they adopted twins, one boy and one girl. They’re language delayed, so it is up to Nancy and Marla to help them. Roseanne and Jackie help with funny one-liners.

Darlene and David now run a gothic magazine with David as one of the head artists and Darlene as the editor. Their little girl Harris has shown an interest in writing. She's a mix of David and Darlene in personality and looks. David and Darlene have son, Daniel and a second daughter, Sara; they now have three kids. Their plot could be the three kids growing and then when Roseanne decides to sell her old house, Darlene and David decide to buy it (an idea I saw someone else post earlier). Roseanne moves closer to Jackie, who still lives in the same house.

Becky now has a college degree and is a play/film director. Becky and Mark split up when their daughter Alicia is around one and later Mark dies maybe in a truck accident. Mark strikes me as being self-centered at times. Becky’s plot could be around a film she’s doing and maybe one of the actors is depressed and having trouble with a family member or something and Becky helps her deal with it.

DJ is getting married this April. He's a photographer and his fiancé, Lian, is a high school teacher. That’ll be the plot around DJ and Lian with all the wedding blunders along with the joys.

Bev is now happy with her life; she doesn't annoy Roseanne or rattle Jackie's nerves as much as she used to, although there are still occasional moments.

Nana Mary dies and all of them deal with that and they bury her and cry.

There's one possible plot among others...Jackie starts having frightening flashbacks of witnessing a molestation. She later realizes that it's her dad molesting Roseanne and that Jackie herself had witnessed it and her dad threatened her into silence. Jackie is too frightened to say anything, esp. to Roseanne, but Roseanne later remembers it and they find out the Bev knew about it. Roseanne is angry and wants to blast Bev, but Jackie is crying and defending Bev just the way Jackie used to cover for their dad. They work on a compromise. Bev meanwhile, remembers it and is feeling guilty and sees Jackie upset and maybe overhears her daughters and feels worse, then the three of them talk and cry for a long time and Bev apologizes for not being there for her daughters.

But I think the Mark/David switch is better left out. Maybe Jackie will be bisexual.

Maybe once Harris gets into a huge fight with her brother and runs over to Jackie’s and talks things over with Jackie and Andy and spends the night just the way Roseanne’s kids used to do with Jackie. Jackie kind of smiles ruefully at and thinks Everyone goes to Jackie’s again.

Darlene’s youngest kid has a brief stint in one of the films Becky directs and says she wants to be an actor when she grows up. She’s actually a little like Becky in personality.

Have a couple of more ideas...Jackie is an ad artist for the Lunch Box and Dinner Pail while Roseanne writes the ads, so that's mostly their work for the diners; they don't work daily IN the diner as they used to; they have hired employees for it now.

Bonnie has released a few CD's with that remarkable voice of hers and maybe is in a band with one of the band members being her cousin.

Roxanne makes an appearance; maybe the Conners/Harrises visit her in NYC for the holidays (in the second year of the film).

Chuck is a DJ at a radio station. Annie-Marie is now a co-owner of the Lunch Box and Dinner Pail with Roseanne, Nancy, Jackie, and Leon.

Crystal now owns a beauty shop.

So those are some ideas I have for a movie on them; it’d be funny, yet have some serious, deep, and emotional parts.

Laurie, Jackie, Daniel, and Harry...what a foursome!

Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:45:56 GMT

Laurie Metcalf, Jackie Harris, Daniel Radcliffe, and Harry Potter...what a foursome! All four have cute faces, dark straight hair, huge eyes, are sensitive, and have thick eyebrows. All four of them are funny and caring.

Also, in a week and a half...

Wed, 11 May 2005 23:58:46 GMT

Also, the BSC is also getting ready to graduate from college as of next week.

Kristy and two others have already begun the makings to start a business for left-handed ppl.

Mary Anne is student-teaching and will be starting her graduate degree in the fall.

Mona is interning as a vet's assistant this summer and next year and is starting her graduate degree this fall.

Claudia is joining Kristy to help her advertise and will be starting up her own advertising agency.

Stacey is interning in a space lab and will be starting her graduate degree in the fall.

Abby has joined a semi-pro soccor team and will be traveling and playing on that team in the fall.

Anna is now with a band and also will be touring and traveling. They are also working on a CD.

Dawn is starting an internship and possible career in archeology.

Just a week and a half...

Wed, 11 May 2005 23:47:09 GMT

Just a week and a half...Harry Potter and most of his friends will be GRADUATING from Hogwarts and as of the fall, will be departing for university and adulthood. Harry knows he'll miss Hogwarts and has quietly shed a few tears already. Their big day is Friday, May 20, 2005.

Harry Potter, and Jackie Harris...

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 01:43:25 GMT

Been thinking of Harry Potter and Jackie Harris. Both of them are so, so beautiful! Harry's beauty is much more delicate than Jackie's. Jackie's is more sturdy, yet no less sensitive. Jackie reminds me of a lovely blue tulip while Harry is more like a fragile blue-purple violet. I'm sure they'd hit it off if they met. Jackie's struggled with the same self-esteem problems that Harry has had and also Jackie suffered from depression when she split from Fred just like Harry suffered from depression last year. Both have also been traumatized and have come thru with a rare and beautiful dignity. Both are kind-hearted, good individuals and intelligent.

Voldemort has been defeated!!!!

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 01:02:36 GMT

As of Saturday morning, November 20, Tom Riddle aka Voldemort has been finally defeated by the Main Order and the Young Order of the Phoenix!!!!!! Harry completed what his late mum started and played the key role in destroying Riddle's magical powers. Riddle is currently a near-muggle and is currently being held in Azkaban. Harry and co. are still a bit sleepy from the after-affects of the final battle, but are extremely happy. Harry slept until one this afternoon, being that he earned the sleep, then woke up and ate leisurely with his friends. It was then discovered that his scar is now gone! Harry's relieved to be rid of the scar for good and all are relieved that the threat of Riddle has been vanquished from Magical London.

The six future law students...

Sun, 07 Nov 2004 02:04:55 GMT

Six future law students...

Harry Potter
Lavender Brown
Dean Thomas
Susan Bones
Hannah Abbott
Blaise Zabini

Closer to the final defeat of Riddle...

Sun, 07 Nov 2004 01:33:44 GMT

Harry and co are very, very close to defeating Riddle. They've had some alarms, including Harry's scar acting up, but so far none of them have led to Riddle yet...but it's a matter of time soon.

Harry has just one more year to go...

Wed, 22 Sep 2004 01:26:28 GMT

Harry just has less than a year to go and he and three of his friends will graduate!!!! Harry's in better spirits now. He's running the Young Order; they are preparing for the final battle with Riddle, who has now been significantly weakened. The trick is to get him at the right place and time and ambush him with the spells to destroy Riddle's power.

Harry's depression has at last lifted!

Sat, 31 Jul 2004 22:09:53 GMT

Harry's depression has at last lifted! He's regaining his former energy and the other day he actually smiled for the first time in over a year and just a couple of days ago he actually laughed for the first time in almost two years. His friends are relieved. He's slowly regaining his appetite and showing hope and feeling happier than he has in a very long, long time. Way to go, Harry! Looks like you're going to make it after all!

Happy 17th birthday, Harry!

Sat, 31 Jul 2004 22:06:46 GMT

Happy birthday darling Harry! You are 17 this year! Harry has just one more year of Hogwarts to go and he'll be a GRADUATE along with Ron, Neville, and Hermione. Ginny and Luna will graduate the following year. One more month and year 7 will begin. They are closer than ever to defeating Tom Riddle.

End of year and book 6...

Tue, 01 Jun 2004 05:28:57 GMT

Year 6 ended for Harry and most of his friends (year 5 for Luna and Ginny) this past Thursday. Tuesday, Draco Malfoy and Justin Finch-Fletcher got into a physical fight and Draco wound up losing three of his teeth and with a broken nose.

It started when Draco was bandying about his sneakascope and practically shoved it at Justin's face. Justin snatched it away; Draco got pissed and tried to grab it back and they ended up shoving each other. Justin levitated it into the air and it smashed onto the floor. Draco was so steamed he started punching Justin. Draco was taller, but Justin, being heavier and stronger, smacked back, shoved Draco down onto the floor and knocked out three of his teeth and broke his nose, cursing him out.

Hannah Abbot pulled Justin off Draco and Blaise Zabini held onto Draco, who was nearly delirius with rage and ready to go after Justin again. Madam Pomfrey came along then, demanded to know what was going on and took them to her wing, took a look at Draco's missing teeth (which luckily weren't his front teeth; they were two molars and one side tooth in the upper right side of his mouth, wiped the blood from his mouth and nose, fixed his nose, dressed both Justin and Draco down for fighting and sent them to Dumbledore, who sighed and told them to stay in their dorms for the remaining two days of the term.

Draco whined and wailed about how it was all Justin's fault and Justin just glared and muttered and Draco to stop his blathering. Back in the Slytherin dorm, Draco complained to Goyle, Crabbe, and Pansy. Goyle snapped back that he had his own troubles; he'd just been expelled for bad grades.

The FlooJacking is over...

Sun, 23 May 2004 00:40:50 GMT

The FlooJacking is over in my fanfic timeline. The students have been rescued. Most of the death eaters, including Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange, have been arrested and are now being book in the Big Az.

The following were injured:

Harry Potter - Was hit by the Avera Kedevra curse fired by Percelville Weasley, but Ginny Weasley deflected the curse. Harry lost consciousness, but regained conciousness on Friday, May 21. Upon awakening, Harry showed signs of confusion , fear, and disorientation, but that is now fading. He's temporarily lost the use of the left side of his body and has a few minor speech problems due to nerve damage, but Medic Pomfrey and Trainer Syrick is working with him to help him regain his mobility, which should be back within a few weeks. Harry did a terrific job with therapy today and could be released by Monday.
Rubeus Hagrid - Was unconscious until Tuesday, after being knocked over by a spell by Bellatrix Lestrange, was sleepy opun awakening, underwent some therapy Wednesday to help with some hand damage, but is fully functional now.
Xiomara Hooch - Was unconscious until Thursday, after falling off a ridge after being shoved by Pettigrew, needed some therapy to regain mobility in the lower part of her body, but is fully functional.
Sybill Trelawney - Unconscious until Monday, after diving in front of Lavender and Ginny to block them from a spell, suffered no disability but slight disorientation and was released that same day. Is fully functional.

Others sustained minor injuries, but were released that night of the rescue, on May 15. The faculty, parents, and students express their relief that these individuals are recovering from their injuries.

The sad news...the following individuals in the Hogwarts/Hogsmeade community have died...

Remus Lupin - After Ginny Weasley blocked Percy's curse to Harry, Remus tackled Percy and the two of them fought. Percy fired a spell that shoved him toward the edge of a high wall; Remus bound Percy. Percy fired the Aveda Kedevra curse, but being bound, the two of them fell over the wall to their deaths.
Percelville Weasley - Was recently discovered to be helping Tom Riddle's cause. He died after attempted to kill Harry Potter and after firing the killing curse at Remus Lupin, which pulled him off the wall after Remus. Was found to be responsible for Voldemort's attempt to program a spell in Harry's mind the year before. The spell fortunately failed, due to Harry's own strength and deep love.
Arabella Figg - Died after couragously battling death eaters who had encroached into the muggle neighborhood of Surrey. She was a muggle who was part of the Order of the Phoenix.

The following events also have occured...

Cornelius Fudge was removed from office. An acting Ministry is now in place with Mundigus Fletcher at the head.
Several others have also been removed from office after a battle and several members were discovered to be aiding the death eaters and accepting bribes.
Draco Malfoy was officially removed from his post as the Slytherin prefect on Friday morning after it was discovered that he'd contacted Minister Fudge under the false claim that he had information on the death eaters' whereabouts, misrepresenting himself as the Head Boy of Hogwarts. It was discovered that Draco was attempting to sabotoge the Young Order's efforts to free the floo-jacked students and the Main Order's work to capture the death eaters.
Exams for this year have been canceled.

Memorials for those who died in battle will be held next week. Hogwart's term ends on Friday, May 28.

Thoughts are on Mary Anne again...

Thu, 25 Mar 2004 00:55:02 GMT

Was thinking about how swell Mary Anne's been doing these days at Staten U. She's almost done her junior year in college in my timeline. What a fine young woman she's become!

Was thinking about the HP gang's 7th year (Luna & Ginny's 6th year)

Sun, 07 Mar 2004 03:28:32 GMT

I think it's neat to think of what Harry's 7th year will be like. Probably Harry will have overcome his depression and that November of the 7th year, the Young Order, Main Order, and the Gryffindors will defeat Voldemort...not by physically killing him, but by driving out his power and reducing him to a near muggle. They'll definitely be getting ready for graduation and adulthood. Probably Malfoy will assault Harry and get expelled. Graduation will probably be bittersweet. Just some thoughts I had.

Was thinking about the two groups growing up and all...

Sun, 29 Feb 2004 02:22:11 GMT

Was thinking about the BSC gang and the HP gang growing up and all...in my timeline, the BSC's senior year seemed to fly by so fast. I wonder what year 7 will be like for Harry and his five friends. God, they have just one more year after this one and they will be adults. Meanwhile, the BSC will graduate from undergrad college next year also.

Harry's depression...

Sun, 15 Feb 2004 01:46:43 GMT

As I read on book 5, the more I'm convinced that Harry is not only being affected by his hormones, but also by depression. After the trauma he went through last year and what he's going thru this year with some of his classmates acting stupid and all, he's depressed. In addition, he finds out something extremely disappointing about his dad...his dad bullied Snape and had been an arrogant snob, which pains Harry deeply and let him down. He's struggling to understand why Snape's so bitter and mean, but Snape just snaps at him and makes him even more miserable. I think Snape is a very unhappy person too and making Harry unhappy gave him a brief fix. Poor Harry, my heart really ached for him when he found out the truth about his dad; I could see that he was really crushed and hurt.

Some of the symptoms Harry's having of depression is the nightmares, poor appetite and loss of energy and loss of confidence. In this book, we're looking at a less confident, more fearful, more shaky Harry. Even Quidditch doesn't seem to hold the joy it once did for him; he's slower and more inept now. I think the next book will probably deal with that more; he may decide just to not come back to the field at all and pursue something totally different. Even if he returns to the field in book #6, his Quidditch days could still be numbered.

He's crying at night in his sleep also (Near the beginning of book #5, Dudley cruelly mimicks Harry's nocturnal whimpering crying, much to Harry's horror), but he tries so hard to hide it and will not discuss his despair with anyone. I think Cho even saw how depressed he seems and tried to get him to talk about it without success; Harry's usually good language jams up when he attempts to talk about his own emotions, although he feels other's emotions and moods so acutely it's often painful for him; I know he could feel Cho's unhappiness.

He seems less energetic in this book; I could just picture him moving more slowly and more warily as if he's frightened of being hurt more.

Then he realized how much suffering there is and sees the bickering among some students and the adults and that scares him and makes him angry, which explains his outbursts from time to time. The worlds is not as peaceful and free as he'd dreamed of as a child before book #4 and he's rather disillusioned by it, being the idealistic dreamer that he is. It explains some of his poignant sarcasm and funny ironic little statements and it also points to his incredible courage and lovely innocent character at being able to face these problems and go on to class and life in general despite his gnawing aching depression, which I suspect will continue and maybe grow in book #6 until a climax is reached.

Am musing different groups and having a good time...

Sun, 15 Feb 2004 01:07:52 GMT

Am thinking about both the BSC and Harry Potter and his five good friends. Those two groups have a lot in common, even though many ppl. wouldn't think so. Just thinking about them maybe meeting in their early to mid-twenties in muggle NYC and going out to eat and talking about everything from food to why ppl. eat to human survival to human evolution to inventions and necessity being the mother of invention to human evolution to name a few. This LJ is great and I like the mood icons, esp.; they're amusing!

Good!

Sun, 08 Feb 2004 05:40:41 GMT

Good! It's working!

Happy to have my own livejournal where I can use my own user name...

Sun, 08 Feb 2004 04:48:45 GMT

Finally! Got around to getting my own journal! Before, I had to post anonymously; now it feels great to be able to post under my own name! Yaaaahooooo!