Harry Potter World

So, this is a bit late. But only by a week! That's hardly anything, when you think about the whole scope of things. Really, how long is a week compared to the months I waited for each of the Harry Potter books to come out? Really?....It won't happen again. If only because I missed it.

The last you heard from me I was frolicking in Florida with my roommate, Julia. I have bunches to catch you up on, so here is a bulleted list of the major points that are going on in my life before the actual blog-content. I know, you're on pins and needles.

• Julia's family eats a ton. They go out to eat almost every day, and when they aren't eating out, her mom cooks amazing meals that could easily feed 10 people. I must have gained ten pounds in that little week I was there--I have no clue how Julia stayed skinny for the first 18 years of her life!
• I'm finally caught up on Once Upon a Time and WOW! Without any spoilers, I'll just say that there is so much going on and I can't wait until Sunday! On a side note, Julia knows the girl who plays young Snow White. How cool is that?
• I got sunburnt on my first day in Florida (I have very pale skin that resists sunscreen no matter how many times it's applied. It's like my superpower.) and spent the rest of the week under an umbrella with a towel draped over my legs while Julia had fun in the sun. Sadness.
• I GOT AN INTERNSHIP FOR THE SUMMER AND IT PAYS REAL MONEY
• I finally got my application for Italy, so now I just have to fill it out...I'll get right on that, I swear!
• I went to Harry Potter World!

It is this last bullet that I would like to expound upon. This was my first experience with Universal Studios ever. I'm a huge Disney World fan, so when I'm in Orlando I generally stay at Disney and don't move around much. But Julia and I (the huge potterheads we are) just had to see HP World, so we made the trip. It felt really weird to be in Orlando and see signs for Disney but not pull off, but I am glad I went--and both parks would have been too expensive for us broke college students.

Harry Potter World was amazing. We didn't even bother with the rest of the park at first, just headed straight for the castle and didn't look back until we'd done everything that we wanted to. 

We started with the castle ride because it had the longest wait and we knew it was a must see. We waited 90 minutes, and I'm not gonna lie, the outside portion of the line is brutal. However, it does move pretty regularly without long periods of standing still, which helps. I'd heard a lot about how the inside portion of the line was great, and for the most part it was. I really liked seeing the Mirror of Erised and Dumbledore's office and our little convo with the Golden Trio. My only problem was a plain door marked 'Kitchens'. Everyone knows that the entrance to the kitchens is behind the painting of a bowl of fruit, which would have been a great detail to add that wouldn't have been too hard. I also really would have liked to get a picture of me tickling the pear!

The ride itself was great! I would compare it to a combination of Soarin' and Dinosaur in Disney World, because it is intense and simulation-y, but not a roller coaster. It's been a while, so I'll admit to not remembering every detail about the ride, but I remember specifically thinking that they did an excellent job blending simulation and video with real life...if that makes any sense to you.

From there I got my wand. I didn't wait in line for the show at Ollivander's because we had to leave by 4 and didn't arrive in Universal until 11ish, so we were in a bit of a hurry to get everything done. Instead I just went in through Dervish and Bangs. I ended up choosing Hermione's, and I'm really happy with it. I originally wanted Draco's, then I got in line with Luna's, then I got out of line and picked up Lucius', and then I finally decided on Hermione. I like to think that it was calling to me :)

Next was lunch at the Three Broomsticks where I got the shepherd's pie and Julia got fish and chips and we both tried butterbeer. Frozen is better than non-frozen, by the way. Lunch was a bit expensive, but what do you expect in a theme park, I guess. I do think it was more expensive than Disney though.

We did the Tri-Wizard Tournament ride twice so we could experience both sides. I prefer the red side and Julia liked the blue. The wait for this ride was really short, the first time being 25 minutes and the second only 10 minutes.

After that we headed over to the Hulk, which had a very short wait, and was awesome! I lovvee roller coasters, and that really satisfied my fix. The Hulk was probably the biggest roller coaster I have been on to date, but it wasn't that bad. I keep telling people that so they will agree to go back with me.

As amazing as I thought Harry Potter World was, Universal itself didn't impress me much. Parking was very unorganized, the staff nowhere near as friendly as in Disney, there wasn't a lot for littler children to do (even the carousal was intense), and I felt like the copied a lot from Disney, without any of the magic.

As fun as it was to go on the more 'grown up' rides at Universal, my heart remains with Disney.

Harry Potter vs Twilight

My roommate Whitney is reading Harry Potter for the first time. I know! I don't know how she's lasted this long either. She apparently read the first chapter of the first book in 7th grade and decided she hated it. Grrr.

This has actually been a point of contention between the two of us for a while now. I normally love Whitney, but when it comes to books I want to strangle her. Seriously. If we judged the human race on their taste in literature, killing everyone with bad taste, Whitney would (unfortunately) be one of the first ones to go. She loves Nicholas Sparks....yeah. And has never read anything outside of the YA novel genre except for school. But what really got my goat was how she kept saying that Twilight is better than Harry Potter! She literally said:

"Okay, so Harry Potter might be better written, but you have to admit that Twilight's plot is sooo much better!"

I think I actually screamed. I haven't let her live it down. She's recently started seeing a boy (they're in the 'talking' phase if that means anything to you) who is a Harry Potter fan. We were all together talking about Whitney anecdotes, which, because she has no verbal filter, there are quite a few of. I brought up the aforementioned Harry Potter quote. The boyfriend was appropriately disgusted, and NOW she's promised to read the books. Nevermind that I've been asking her to read them for years, but whatever.

What all this Harry Potter/Twilight business made me think of is the Great Debate of which one is the best. It's been around since the original Twilight came out and is still plaguing the YA book world today. But I would say that this is a question wrongly asked. If you asked me which series I prefer, which I think gives a better message, which has better writing, I would answer Harry Potter hands down. But at the same time, are these books even in the same category? Are they even comparable? Or is it more like apples and oranges? Both books, but otherwise completely different? To get my thoughts out there, here is what I think about the Harry Potter vs. Twilight Debate!

The way I'm going to do this is by focusing on Twilight, what I think is good about it, what is bad, and what is ambiguous, and then how Harry Potter compares in each of these categories. 

Twilight: The Good

• Appealing/Phenomena:

• Even if you hate it, you've probably still read all the books. There's just something about them--don't ask me what--that draws you in. I hated myself he whole time I read Breaking Dawn. With every page I turned I muttered 'Why the hell am I reading this? I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself' but I still kept reading and I finished it in less than a day. As awful as they are, the sheer enormity of the (mostly female) fanbase speaks for itself. There is something appealing about these books that is undeniable.
• And as much as we don't want it to be, Twilight is a phenomena. It is one of the things that will mark our generation and go down in histories of pop culture. It's huge.
• I would say that Harry Potter is just as appealing, but in different ways. This is where we get into the 'a question wrongly asked' side of the argument. These books are aimed at different audiences, were written for different purposes, to get across different messages, they're completely different. But, if you do want to compare the two, I would say Harry Potter beats Twilight in both appealing and phenomena. 
• Harry Potter is appealing to a wider audience than Twilight. Because of the hot guys, the teenage girl narrator, and romance in Twilight, it is appealing mostly to women. Harry Potter, on the other hand, is appealing to any age and gender.
• Harry Potter is also a bigger phenomena. There has been more fanfiction written about Harry Potter than Twilight, and Harry Potter has its own genre of music called wizardrock. They also have a theme park and an annual conference. Beat that, Twihards. Ahem.

Twilight: The Bad

• The Actors:

• Kristen Stewart. Ugh, right? I don't like that she has absolutely no expression on her face EVER and I just don't like her personality in general. Here is a photo comparing Kristen Stewart and Emma Watson's facial expressions:

I think this pretty much says it all.

• Robert Pattinson. He's my favorite actor of the bunch...but that's probably because he was in HP first. I do think his acting is the least painful.
• Taylor Lautner. HOT. I will admit that he is one sexy beast, but anyone who's seen Abduction would agree with me that he can't act worth a damn. He is literally just a pretty face--you know what? Not even a pretty face. A pretty chest. Pretty abs. Pretty arms. His acting is, IMO, the worst in the films.
• As you can probably already tell, I like Harry Potter's actors much better. They aren't the best actors in the world (except for Emma Watson--she is) but they're a heck of a lot better than Twilight. And I would rather marry Tom Felton over Taylor Lautner any day.

• The Characters:
• I hate the characters. Bella Swan is an awful female role model. There are so many kick-ass girls/women in literature, and then you have Bella Swan, a winy little bitch. She makes me physically angry. The main issue I have with her is that the book portray her as needing a man in her life, of being incapable of 'saving herself' as it were. The men aren't...bad. Edward and Jacob fulfill their purpose very nicely, which is to be two cardboard-esque characters that you can easily fall in love with. Alice is a fucking moron.
• The characters aren't well-developed, and that's that. Without a well-developed character, the story's bound to suck ass.
• Harry Potter has very well-developed characters that have strengths, weaknesses, hopes, dreams, character flaws, secrets, shames, etc. Even the background characters are done beautifully, showing how much effort J.K. Rowling put into the work. And her characters aren't just 'bad guys' and 'good guys', but are morally ambiguous just as people are in real life.
• Nobody Dies:
• Most people might not put the fact that nobody dies under the bad section, but I sure as hell do. Because there is (supposed to be) a gigantic battle at the end of the 4th book, and because there is fighting throughout the series, it would be more realistic if somebody from the good side died. Personally, I recommend Alice.
• J.K. Rowling isn't afraid to kill her darlings. *SPOILERS* Fred dies, Dobby dies, Dumbledore dies, Sirius dies, Remus dies, Tonks dies, Colin Creevey dies, Cedric dies, Harry kinda dies--there's lots of death *END SPOILERS* all this death makes the books seem more realistic, it makes us respect Rowling more, it adds actual suspense because you know that she isn't afraid of killing people you like, so no one is safe, and it just makes the books deeper, if that makes sense.
• The Movies:
• The movies suck. I saw Breaking Dawn (at midnight with Whitney, Jesus) and I have to say my favorite part was the wolf scene. It was ridiculous.
• I actually have quite a few issues with the Harry Potter movies, but they're better than Twilight's at any rate.
• The Message:
• Twilight is all about 'Will Edward and Bella get together? Will they kiss? Who will she choose? Are they going to have sex??' I don't like this.
• Harry Potter is also about love as well, but a much less physical love--there are many types, you realize. There is familial love, love between friends, love for humanity (i.e. charity and good will), unrequited love, and romantic love all within Harry Potter. Harry Potter is about standing up for what's right, having courage in all it's forms, and about the power of the underdog. Harry Potter is, quite simply, about magic...and Twilight's about sex.

Twilight: The Ambiguous

• The Writing: 

• The writing is one of the most criticized aspects of the Twilight Saga--and rightfully so. It is the author's job to make the characters believable and well-developed, the plot engaging, to get the overarching meaning across etc. And it is true that Stephanie Meyer fails to do a lot of this...but it's not all her fault. A lot of what is wrong with Twilight should have been fixed by an editor. That's what they're there for. For instance, in my earlier version of Twilight the word 'college' is spelled 'collage'...Seriously? An editor couldn't catch that? So yes, the writing isn't very good, but I mostly blame the editor. As a book-editor-wannabe myself, I want to find and punch Megan Tingley in the face.
• I found this, which is a great example of how Twilight should have been edited. Enjoy.
• I also wanted to put the writing in the ambiguous category because Twilight was Meyer's first book. She admittedly didn't improve (the books all went downhill, if you ask me. Breaking Dawn was a piece of shit), but she wasn't an author by trade when she submitted the manuscript. She had a story, a story that teenage girls and middle-aged women everywhere would fall in love with, and gave it a shot. The fact that an idea for a story came to her in a dream and she took the time and put in the effort to actually make a book about it and then get it published is really quite inspirational.
• No question, here. J.K. Rowling is a fantastic writer. I don't think I need to elaborate.

• The Plot:

• This is another one of those things most people would put under 'bad'. And they'd be right; the plot sucks. But let's take it a bit further and look one book at a time. 
• Twilight: As I've already mentioned, this one is the best of the worst. Edward and Bella meet, there is a bit of mystery and intrigue (or at least there would be if we didnt' know he was a vampire from reading the back cover already), there is a complication (James), real danger/suspense (or at least there would be if it weren't written in first person, so we know Bella lives), and a resolution (Bella lives!). It might not be the most intricate plot, but it's got something. Personally, I think the books should have stopped here. It was a good resolution and I didn't hate the characters with such a burning passion as I would grow to upon reading the others.
• New Moon: This book isn't as badly plotted as later books, but it isn't good either. The main effect of this book is that it shows us exactly how much of an effing pansy Bella is and how irrational and overdramatic Edward can be. Still, there is danger and a resolution, and the plot is pretty easy to follow.
• Eclipse: I'm going to be honest, I don't remember this book at all. But that probably says enough about the plot.
• Breaking Dawn: WORST book by far! I don't like the book all around, but my main pet peeve is the nonexistent battle scene at the end. The entire book they're hyping us up that the Volturi are coming and they've got to get prepared to protect Renesmee and blah blah blah. But then...nothing happens. Some random half-vampire who we've never seen before  swoops in and the Volturi's all 'Ohhh, okay, there's two of them? Well, shoot, that's fine then! We'll just head on home--look for our Christmas card!' I mean, what is that? There is so much that is wrong with this book that it needs a blog post of its own, but just suffice to say that the plot sucks.
• So now that I've spent all that time bashing the plot, why did I put it in the ambiguous column? I put it here because as much as the plot sucks, the story still draws us in. That's gotta count for something. As much as it pains me.
• Do we even need to do this? Harry Potter has a beautifully crafted and intricate plot that Twilight can only dream of comparing to.

• The Fans:
• I judge Twilight fans a little bit. They are in the ambiguous column because I automatically think they're stupid for being a Twilight fan (bad) but their sheer numbers, dedication, and size (good) mean they're not entirely bad. They sure are invested fans, I'll give them that.
• Harry Potter has a very special fanbase. There aren't really words to describe it...it's just so many cool, awesome, intelligent, dreamer-people working together to love Harry Potter and spread that love. In what other fandom can you find something like wizardrock? The fanfiction (good and bad)? A Very Potter Musical and Sequel? Harry Potter fans are just awesome all around.

So, there you have it. If you try and compare the two, Twilight obviously comes out the loser. But on its own, without comparison, Twilight is an entertaining, engaging, romance-driven YA series with a devoted fanbase and extremely popular movies. Does that sound so bad?

Btw...I'm going to Harry Potter World for the first time in less than two weeks :)

J.K. Rowling Makes Me Nervous

Okay, so J.K. Rowling is Made of Awesome. There is no denying it. Harry Potter is beautiful and Real For Me and one of the things that has truly touched and shaped my life in so many ways. That being said, I'm nervous, because she's...writing! Yes, writing! I am so incredibly excited but also really, really nervous. I'm nervous simply because it's Not Harry Potter. Whatever she's writing, it's completely different--it's for adults, for one thing. And she's already said that if she were to write again it wouldn't be anything involving witches and wizards or anything because she'd be worried about drawing too much from the Harry Potter Universe. It's going to be completely different.

This makes me nervous for two reasons. First of all, I am so in love with the Harry Potter series, the way she wrote it, her plot, her characters, the world--everything. BUT...but what if it's not so much her that I love as Harry Potter? What if she can't write anything besides HP to save her life and everything else is crap? That would be so depressing. I mean, the book is guaranteed to be a bestseller so it'll be a success for her no matter what, but I would hate to stop loving her writing like I do now.

My second concern is that even if the next book is fantastic, what if it just isn't good enough? A tweet from Nathalie Summers in this article sums it up best when she says, "J.K. Rowling announcing a new book is almost like God announcing a follow-up to the Bible." And it's true. How can anything compare, no matter how good? I guess overall I'm just worried that I'll be disappointed, which is completely irrational and a little bit selfish of me because I should be optimistically supporting her no matter what, but that's how I feel.

Either way, whatever book J.K. Rowling comes out with, I will buy it and probably read it in one night. I am extremely interested in seeing her write something completely different from Harry Potter and am crossing my fingers for the best.

On a side note, if Pottermore doesn't open up soon I'm going to drown in a pool of my own tears and sweat.

Keeping with the Harry Potter vein, there is some great artwork y'all should go check out. The artist, Viria, has some amazing artwork for Harry Potter but also for a couple different fandoms as well. I think I saw some for Dr. Who and one for Bones. I love her style and she captured the Ginny in my head perfectly. She also draws a lot of the Marauders time period, which I love, because we just need to see more of the marauders!