Spoiler rant

[amandac777]

I hate spoilers. I really, really, really hate spolers. I want someone to hand me book 6 the day it's released, and I don't want to know anything at all about it except the title and the cover art. Nothing!! And I find myself unable to read my friends page, because nearly every entry, or every interesting looking discussion from the Snitch is about the new information on Rowling's website, which apparently includes spoilers. Why, in the name of Merlin, would you post spoilers for YOUR OWN BOOK?!?!?

Am I seriously the only person in the HP fandom who wants to read HBP from a clean slate? Or who wants to find out what's in book 6 by reading book 6, not a website? Or who really doesn't want to know most of the "explanations" because they don't make sense either (usually less than fan explanations), but make it harder to explain what's in the book? Especially since if it's not in one of the books, it is absolutely NOT canon, no matter who's opinion or theory it is?

I've managed to avoid most of the spoilers thus far, though I did read one post pointing out that, unsurprisingly, JKR either knows very little about genetics or decided to give a simple (and thus incorrect) answer to a complex question. Or most likely both. I really do need to actually write up the fairly extensive, comprehensive theory of magical genetics that I came up with a few months ago. I've been procrastinating on it because it's going to be really quite long. (And yes, the phrasing of "magical genetics" is accurate. ;-)

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

God, yes. I've been avoiding them all day. I don't actually mind spoilers in general, but so far I've always hated the kind of spoilers we get in this fandom, and the explanations for things as well, especially when they don't make sense or needlessly get into fandom territory.

Or sink ships.

I think also it's just that interview stuff just has such a different tone and is so different from the books I don't really like one commenting on the other. Stuff that's maybe not quite sensible but can be thought about in canon just seems stupid in interviews. I guess in general I just don't think these books lend themselves to the soap-opera-style sneek peeks type things.

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

If I'm understanding you correctly, I agree. :-) A lot of the comments seem rather judgemental, about her own characters primarily, but by extenstion, about the fans. What is one biased perspective or greatly ambiguous in the books becomes obvious fact in the interviews. (Of course _____ is evil and there's nothing more to learn about him!) Plus, as you say about ships and I was trying to explain to someone recently, a lot of the "answers" seem likely to quash, or be used by fans in trying to quash, a lot of the legitimate theorizing that most of us are in the fandom for, whether it's the Knight to King sort of theorizing, or pondering what sort of background Snape might have had, or trying to determine how you get Squibs.

Oddly, I didn't mind spoilers nearly so much when it came to new episodes of Buffy (or Angel). Possibly because I showed up late enough to the series that I watched a lot of it out of order and was effectively spoiled that way, or else because there were so many episodes that each one wasn't a particular event, the way a new HP book is.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

...okay, I usually steer away from spoilers too, but now you've got me curious as to what the genetics question was. :-P

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

Apparently someone asked JKR about squibs (I'm guessing "how are there squibs?" or "why are squibs rare?"). She gave a very quick answer using genetic terms, but which doesn't come even remotely close to explaining what she's actually mentioned in her books (which isn't much). It's not *completely* wrong; that is, what she said isn't mutually exclusive from what we see in the books, but it isn't a good explanation either.

Yes, I've taken multiple years of collegiate genetics, why do you ask? ;-)

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

*grin* Now I'm definitely going to have to hunt this down - between being a big Filch fan and having a keen interest in genetics, inquiring minds want to know.

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

The link to the discussion was on today's Daily Snitch. I haven't checked it in several hours, but at that point, it didn't seem to spoil any future things, it just attempted to explain what's in canon.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Shall definitely go and check it out - and then seek solace in pauraque's lovely treatise on the subject.

[pauraque]

You are not the only one. I hate spoilers.

[sarmakala.livejournal.com]

You don't know me, but I've been having an interesting debate with pstscrpt recently. I am also an HP fan, and waiting on the edge of my seat for books 6&7 which I would read in probably 3 nights if she released them simultaneously. =) I don't read any info about the subject at all, I would rather wait for the book itself! I don't get into the whole "fan" thing, I just love the books =) The only spoiler I've heard is the title of the 6th book, but it didn't spoil anything for me. I wish it didn't take so long for the book to be written, but hopefully it means she is still doing a superb story-telling.

~Sara~