I'll Ukulele Your Dog.

[rionaleonhart]

Today, I summoned all my courage and fought the fifth Colossus, the flying one that looks like a giant bird, without a walkthrough. It took me forty minutes and I fell off approximately a million times, but my goodness I felt awesome when I eventually brought it down.

(Since typing that, I have also defeated the sixth and seventh Colossi. The seventh is the sea serpent, and it is also a ridiculously awesome battle. HANGING ONTO THE BACK OF A MASSIVE ELECTRIC SEA SERPENT UNDERWATER. DEFEATING IT DESPITE ALL THE ODDS.)

This game still scares me silly. I think that, in an Inspiring Terror in Riona battle with Silent Hill 2, Shadow of the Colossus might actually win. (I have to say such things quietly in case Pyramid Head comes to get me, though.) Even the riding-around-the-landscape bits unnerve me, and I don't know why. There are no enemies but the colossi! I know this! Why am I so alarmed by the pretty lakes and trees and sunlight?


Also today, I saw a domestic abuse awareness message. It concluded with this:

domestic abuse
there's no excuse
Now, domestic abuse is a horrible, awful thing, and raising awareness of it is obviously very important. That said, I'm not certain that what we need is a catchy little rhyme to help us remember that domestic abuse is bad.


Something I've been pondering: in Hogwarts Potions classes, how much do the students learn about the actual science of making potions? When they add Shrivelfig juice to a potion, do they know why they are adding it? Do they learn general rules, like 'potions with negative effects are usually stirred anticlockwise', or do they just make potions from instructions without thinking about them? How did the Half-Blood Prince devise his improvements? Harry still seems to have very little idea of how potion-making actually works by his sixth year. (My brother's theory is that he is just crap at Potions.)

Comments

the worst person: me.

[th-esaurus.livejournal.com]

don't be obtuse!
report domestic abuse.


how not to seduce:
domestic abuse.


don't call a truce
with domestic abuse.

Re: the worst person: me.

[rionaleonhart]

That second one made me laugh really hard. Don't tell anyone.

[mekosuchinae.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly, students are instructed on the actual science of making potions; there's all sorts of laws and properties and things they're expected to know. I always sort of figured Harry just has a pronounced antipathy for Potions, possibly (probably) related to his intense and justified dislike of Snape. (Or he's just crap at it.)

[rionaleonhart]

Ah, good! I was a little worried that Hogwarts was just providing an extremely poor level of education.

[sashwizzled.livejournal.com]

I think Harry's just crap at it. How he pulled an E in his OWL is something that shall remain forever a mystery.

[sunlightdances.livejournal.com]

Hermione probably did his coursework for him, cause seriously - Harry is crap at Potions.

[rionaleonhart]

That perplexed me as well! Harry never seemed to be much good at Potions, so wherefore the E? 'The plot of Book Six demanded it' is not an excuse, Harry.

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

i hope you're not suggesting that jk is anything less than the most magnificent writer to ever grace our shelves with her books?

[rionaleonhart]

YOUR ICON HAS JUST MADE ME REALISE THAT LAST NIGHT I DREAMT GWEN DIED IN THE NEXT SERIES OF MERLIN.

I WAS REALLY UPSET.

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

D: D: D: D: D:

THAT IS THE WORST DREAM, LIKE, EVAR. DON'T DREAM IT AGAIN, OK?

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

E is 'exceeds expectations', isn't it? Perhaps Snape had such low expectations of Harry, Harry exceeded them by being average. Also, didn't it mention how he felt calmer and less nervous since Snape wasn't looming over him all the time?

Although, yeah, Harry is pretty crap at Potions.

[rionaleonhart]

I have also been musing about the 'Exceeds Expectations' result! If teachers have extremely high expectations of a student, is it really difficult for that student to achieve 'Exceeds Expectations'? Would an 'Exceeds Expectations' for that student be better than an 'Outstanding'?

Probably not, because that would be silly. But still.

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

Shadow of the Colossus! I just recently bought that game despite the fact that I don't own a PS2! Then I took jaunts over to my friends' houses and played it there! Until they had to leave for college, that is. I believe I made it just past the sixth Colossus.

It is an awesome game. I think riding over the pretty landscape is unnerving primarily because of the lack of music. And then, when you enter into a Colossi's lair, complete with all the shadows and mist and creepiness, it just starts up, and you're like, "Whoa, scary." (Okay, so I'm thinking about the fourth Colossus, which was actually kind of cute - but the crypt setting? Nope, didn't do it for me.)

The music turns very encouraging after you finally get onto the Colossus. Before that, it's just very nerve-wracking.

I really liked the fifth Colossus, even though it took forever for my friend and I to figure out how to antagonize it enough to swoop down. The method seems horribly obvious in hindsight, but honestly - we were having too much fun teasing Wander about his swimming. Seriously, he just kind of . . . flails in a certain direction and swims about a foot a second. So we had Wander swim around the base of the pillar the Colossus was standing on and watched it watch us.

As for Potions: I always figured that Harry was just crap at it, to be perfectly honest. Now, maybe if we had the chance to sit in Hermione's head for a bit; that might shed some light on things . . .

[rionaleonhart]

(You can get a PS2 new for a hundred dollars or used for fifty dollars from Amazon.com, if you'd like to!)

The point about the lack of music is a good one. I tend not to really register that there's no music until I approach a Colossus's lair and the music begins, at which point the earlier silence retrospectively becomes extremely unsettling. (The fourth Colossus is sort of cute, until it starts staring down tunnels for you, which is just terrifying.)

Wander's swimming is ridiculous. His running is slightly ridiculous as well. Do you need to flail quite so much, Wander?

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

I actually am saving up money to buy a PS2! Though, in the near future, I also must purchase school textbooks (noooooooo, my hard-won cassshhhhhhh), which will set me back quite a heavy amount.

I spent the longest time on the fourth Colossus, trying to figure out how to get on top of it. At first, I just threw myself at its legs, ignoring the fact that the ledges were too high for me to grab on to (that is, without the use of some AWSUMZ HORS TRIX that I still have no mastery over; Agro probably thinks I'm a complete idiot). Then I just went and hid in the tunnels and listened to Agro scream her head off outside in worry. D:

(Also, apparently, Phaedra [aka Colossus #4] is listed down as having an inquisitive nature. That makes it even more cute; suddenly, all the peering-into-the-tunnel and the stabbing-the-top-of-the-hill-with-its-legs seem much more bearable.)

And for having such a horrible sense of balance, Wander has a really strong grip.

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

. . .

*cuter

Apparently, I completely fail at comparatives. Also, curse you, LJ, for not allowing me to edit my post! [insert fist-shake at the heavens, etc.]

[bubbles-san.livejournal.com]

Now, maybe if we had the chance to sit in Hermione's head for a bit;

Or Neville's! Then we could see it in the completely confusing light it very likely exists in and also, it's probably quite adorable in Neville's head.

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

I keep imagining the inside of Neville's head to be something like a large field of plants (perhaps with Abyssinian Shrivelfigs, but certainly with dancing Puffapods* and various other greenhouse plants) flooded with yellow cotton spores. It is kind of alarming, yet at the same time, very alluring.

[nefersitra.livejournal.com]

From the evidence in the books Harry seems to have very little idea how magic works in general; there's evidence that people develop new spells or adapt exisiting ones - Hello Gred and Forge! - and it appears to take more than just raw magical power to be an Animagus (else everyone would be doing it) so there has to be some theory behind it all.
My pet theory is that Harry is in fact happily ignorant (or happy in his ignorance) and everyone else just panders to him,

[rionaleonhart]

Very true! The Half-Blood Prince invented his own spells, and the Marauders created their map, but one gets the impression that Harry wouldn't be able to do anything like that if his life depended on it. I don't know whether that's a failing of Harry's or a failing of the school's, as every lesson we see seems to involve performing a specific magical feat (turning a teapot into a tortoise, performing a levitation charm, brewing a potion from instructions), with very little mention of general magical rules.

(EDIT: Actually, the innovators seem to generally be from magical families, don't they? Perhaps Hogwarts expects its students to have some awareness of basic magical rules before coming to the school, and fails to take Muggle-borns into account.

Perhaps I am thinking too much about this.)

[fera_festiva]

or do they just make potions from instructions without thinking about them?

This, I reckon. As I recall, they do that in most classes - and their homework is usually to do with writing out the properties of a particular ingredient or whatever. And Hermione's meant to be the best in the year, but she's all book-smarts and hardly any logic/lateral thinking, you know?

Then again, since DH I've become quite cynical about that Potter boy anyway, so...

[rionaleonhart]

YOUR ICON. WHAT. (And I just saw the keywords and burst out laughing.)

Hermione's meant to be the best in the year, but she's all book-smarts and hardly any logic/lateral thinking, you know?

That's true! When Harry uses the Half-Blood Prince's instructions for the first time, Hermione asks him how he does it, and when he replies:

'Add a clockwise stir - '
'No, no, the book says counter-clockwise!' she snapped.

(Rowling says 'counter-clockwise'! I don't think I've ever heard a British person using that term before.)

So, yes, Hermione refuses to deviate from the instructions she's given. She's good at retaining information, but she's not innovative.

[fera_festiva]

LOL Snape. The great thing about that joke is that it can run and run. Sesame Snapes, ginger Snapes and so on.

She's good at retaining information, but she's not innovative.

Yeah, exactly - and she's meant to be the best in the year and gets 300% on exams and stuff. How does she do that?

[hold-onhope.livejournal.com]

I think the books just gloss over the technical stuff. I imagine that they all learn a lot about magical theory, but JKR didn't go into detail about how her magic works - save for all the stuff about wands & horcruxed & things that were crucial to the story.

I imagine that they all read the directions and things from the books while making the potions so that they can make the connections about how stirring counter-clockwise will do such-and-such to a potion, and later they are lectured on the theory? Kind of like a learn by doing sort of thing. Or, learn what not to do, and then once they learn the theory they can figure out what they did wrong.

That, and Harry just sucks.

[rionaleonhart]

I think I'll have to assume that you're right in saying that they learn about magical theory beyond the lessons we actually see in the books, because otherwise Hogwarts is a slightly ridiculous school.

That, and Harry just sucks.

Hee!

[twilit-wanderer.livejournal.com]

AUGH THE SEVENTH ONE.

I don't know what it is, either, but I found (most of) the Colossi less intimidating than the land. I don't know why, either (I think part of it is the silence and isolation), but you aren't alone in that "being unnerved by the landscape" bit.

[rionaleonhart]

I'm glad I'm not alone. The landscape is incredibly beautiful, but it is also so unsettling.

Also, I am enjoying your ramblings on Shadow of the Colossus so much! You should write ramblings on every game, so I shall have something to read no matter what I am playing. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE GAME, YOU CAN PROBABLY MAKE SOMETHING UP.

[twilit-wanderer.livejournal.com]

It should really not be possible for such pretty trees and lakes and fields to be so creepy.

Haha, thanks! (And if there's anything on my list of stuff to play you want me to post rambles for - or anything not on the list, I'm always open to recommendations - just say so and I'll be sure to type it up.)

[spastic-visions.livejournal.com]

... I was always under the opinion that potions was pretty much organic chemistry. Probably because if you don't understand OChem you just go ohhh, magic!

So pretty much Harry was just crap at it.

[saaski-moql.livejournal.com]

Your entire last passage is incredibly interesting and is making me wonder. I do know of other sorcery-magic books that have potions/spells that make sense or at least could conceivably be explained, maybe, if the author really wanted to.

...I honestly doubt J.K. really gave it that much thought at all, especially to begin with.

[subtle-rift.livejournal.com]

I like to imagine some enormous man, holding a frail woman off the ground at arms length with one hand, and balling the other up, about to take her head off, but distracted as he tries to remember; "'Domestic Abuse, There're plenty of excuses' ... no that doesn't rhyme, 'Domestic abuse, punch her in the face then make an excuse'?", when she chips in "It's 'domestic abuse, there's no excuse'". "Oh yeah! Oh my God, what am I doing? I'm so sorry, this is really inexcusable!" he says putting her down.

Anyway, I have some questions about Shadow of the Colossus;

Are you playing SotC instead of Metal Gear Solid, or as well as?
When will your next post about SotC be in relation to your next MGS post, and when exactly will you next post about SotC?
When you're riding across the plains, what part of MGs are you most likely to think about, assuming that you're most likely to think about whatever you did last in MGS?
Not counting Wander, Mono, Agro, Dormin, Lord Emon, or the colossi, who would be your favourite characters in a SotC/MGS crossover?

[rionaleonhart]

That's more or less the mental image I had. Thank goodness the fact that domestic abuse is inexcusable is now easy to remember! The problem is solved.

I fear I cannot say for certain when I'll next be posting about Shadow of the Colossus or Metal Gear Solid, because they are both games that require quite a bit of bracing before I begin playing them, the one because it terrifies me and the other because I am just shamefully bad at it. I do hope to continue playing both of them at some point, though.

I haven't yet seen a Metal Gear in action, but they're quite large, aren't they? So Solid Snake already has some experience in defeating Colossi. Sort of. (The Codec would sort of ruin the atmosphere of the travelling-across-the-desolate-landscape bits, though, wouldn't it?)

[subtle-rift.livejournal.com]

[rionaleonhart]

I am playing Metal Gear Solid on Easy, and I've already lost count of my deaths and detections. Oh, dear.

[subtle-rift.livejournal.com]

That's not important. Metal Gear Solid isn't a game, it's a state of mind.

Yes, I am well aware that that doesn't make sense, but the alternative is an 80,000 word essay on the top 100 reasons MGS is the best thing ever.

[hurricanine.livejournal.com]

Well, I usually equate Hogwarts to high school, in my mind. Roughly the same age range, same level of education (but in different subjects, of course).

Hogwarts is just general education. It's Becoming a Witch or Wizard 101. It lets you go out in the world, whether you come from a magic family or not, and be able to survive. You know the basics, and you are introduced to enough people that you can get by and have good connections.

It's also a place to decide your specialty. Especially with Muggle-borns, there's a hell of a lot to learn in seven years. An entire culture you never knew about, with a rich history and all sorts of things you never even dreamed about. Even kids from magic families don't know everything there is to know.

By the time they've graduated, they know a little bit about a bunch of subjects. They probably know enough to decide 'hey, I like making Potions' or 'hey, I like working with magical creatures' and then they find a place or job with that in mind, and are trained further.

Maybe. :D Maybe there's a trade school somewhere. Surely Hogwarts and Durmstrang and Beauxbatons aren't the only schools...

So as more of a response to your actual question, the students probably learn the basics of Potions. We'll compare it to Chemistry: they know that if you add sodium to water, there's an explosion. They might not know what's happening on a molecular level, but they sure as hell know not to dump a pound of sodium into water!

Etc, etc. If they want to become a Potions Master, or actually make Potions for public use, they probably have to be an apprentice to an actual Master.


If that makes any sense at all, you're probably just as crazy as me... >:D