Monday, October 3, 2016

Pottermore Patronus Perplexity

Golly, thanks, Reddit!
No wonder I didn't get any of the options that appear to have been specifically selected for me, the Saluki-owning sighthound nut (Borzoi, Ibizan hound, Deerhound, Greyhound, Irish wolfhound. I'd gladly take a mix of them.) Pretty randomly assigned strings of five or six words lead you to random species/breeds. Time to register a new Pottermore account.

What's really got me weirded out is how in the world these animals were chosen. Particularly the dog & cat breeds. Those few popular/common/well-known ones I could understand (though I still can't decide how and why they alone were picked), but the random rare or uncommon ones? Did they simply attempt to cover a variety of bases? If so, why include five sighthounds?! That is so odd (and noticeable to someone like me because it feels so personally tailored.) I mean, why Borzoi over Afghan or Saluki? Why Ibizan over Pharaoh? Why Greyhound but not Whippet? And why the other specific breeds chosen?! I'm just curious.

And then the quiz goes and gives me wildcat. Which is definitely cool--especially if there weren't dogs. At first I thought, "Oh, so I get to choose my wild cat? Cool; I pick cheetah!" (I mean, duh! ;) Then I realized that it means the actual wildcat-wildcat, Felis silvestris.

But anyway. The "Very Rare" Patroni make sense; they're frickin' magical fantasy creatures. But the "Unusual" ones...wtf?? There is no way to contend that a tiger, stag, doe, seal, shark, owl, rhino, raven, bear, orca, lion, leopard, elephant, cheetah, buffalo, vulture, peacock, or bat should be less "usual" than...the rare/uncommon dogs & cats. Or various others. The whole thing is. So. Weird. But whatever. I'm gonna game Pottermore and try to force it to give me accurate results (Ravenclaw, would accept Slytherin...Horned Serpent again...and...preferably the Borzoi. Will gladly accept Ibizan, Deerhound, Grey. Aaaand, probably the same or a similar wand to what I was first assigned, because unyielding vine+phoenix feather sounds fairly fitting. I like the sound of dragon heartstring & certain other woods, but y'know, they all have different associations/meanings, so...it's less of a you-can-choose/know-your-own-ahead-of-time thing? Yeah.)

There are a lot of really cool choices that I like very much (here's my long comment on Pottermore about it.)

...*re-registers* Okay. That's it. True accuracy is impossible with these Pottermore quizzes. They're overly simple, with too many choices that could equally apply, and give you a different result almost every time. (Except for the wand one.) I'm a Ravenslythergryffinpuff in that order, and a Horned Thunderwampuswudgie in THAT order. I know this. But even taking into consideration my well-roundedness and the fact that most/many of us are a little bit of two or three or all four houses in each school--the inconsistency of this site is remarkable. ;p

BUT, on the super-plus side, I got my Borzoi Patronus. 8D x3 And the lovely animation is probably used for all five sighthounds (or at least four; I think the wolfhound is a little different), because it looked like a staghound--almost certainly wasn't based purely on the Borzoi. I'm gonna venture a guess that THAT'S why they picked five sighthounds nearly at random to include: an artist designed a pretty sighthound Patronus animation, and they decided to use it (or a slight variation) multiple times. I'll bet that happened with other related animals as well. And I'd better be right, because I don't want there to be other animations for Deerhound, Ibizan, and/or Greyhound that I haven't seen. (Google can only find pics of the wolfhound one.)
Anyhoozer, I hope Merida's is a Deerhound...or a Clydesdale like Angus, I suppose. ^^

...Yikes, just saw somebody dismayed by getting a salmon and snake...they'd rather have a moose, bear, stag, etc., like everyone else...pas moi, I'd gladly be the snake or the salmon! I wish I were a salmon in Native American astrology. Fish are the second-coolest animals after dogs. ;D And snakes are gorge. I'd love to have a little hissy, forked-tongue-flicking necklace buddy. 

2 comments:

  1. 'Ultimate Dog Movie List'

    My response to a list of 60 films:

    "I recognize almost all of the ones that have been asked about...although perhaps the only one that wasn't identified is "Millionaire Dogs," a German animated film about a group of rescued dogs (plus a parrot) who inherit a fortune and must defend it from two greedy relatives of their rescuer. Debbie Reeves, that sure sounds to me as if you're remembering Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. The animals in the hotel with a Jack Russell in a wheelchair is Babe: Pig in the City (not so much a dog movie as an animal movie. And that isn't what this list is for, 'cause then I'd have PLEEEEEEEEENTY more, whether dog-inclusive or not!!! Think Babe, Animal Farm, Racing Stripes, aaaaaallllll the various Disney and other animated ones....)

    Okay, I've read this one...and now here comes MY ultimate dog movie list. Get ready for this. And we're only talking full-length feature films/movies, so awesome TV series and animated specials (e.g., Wishbone, Rin Tin Tin, Krypto the Superdog, Nick and Noel, etc.) don't count."

    Beethoven (and first sequel; I also like the third, but the others are either mediocre or bleh)
    The Incredible Journey
    Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
    Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco
    Look Who's Talking Now
    Oliver and Company
    Fluke
    Oliver & Company
    Lady & the Tramp (The sequel's okay.)
    The Fox and the Hound (I happen to love the sequel, too.)
    101 Dalmatians (Love that sequel as well, actually. The two live-actions are also good.)
    (...guess I'm only counting realistic dogs, so the Goofy Movies don't go here...)
    All Dogs Go to Heaven (Love the sequel and TV show/Christmas Carol, too.)
    Balto (Both sequels are okay...)
    Millionaire Dogs
    Roadside Romeo
    Alpha and Omega (Well, it's technically a wolf movie, but they're similar enough to dogs.)
    Scruffy
    Rover Dangerfield
    The Plague Dogs
    Nine Dog Christmas
    A Dog Named Christmas
    Bolt
    All or most Scooby-Doo, Pound Puppies, & Lassie films
    The Adventures of Milo and Otis
    To Dance with the White Dog
    Napoleon
    Cats and Dogs
    Bingo
    Best in Show
    Shiloh (First is best, of course.)
    Operation Dalmatian: The Big Adventure (But Paws & Claws Rescuers was horrifically bad, lol. Even worse than I expected.)
    Space Dogs
    The Ugly Dachshund
    Zeus and Roxanne
    Good Boy!
    Old Yeller
    Greyfriar's Bobby (Disney version is best, imo.)
    Big Red
    Savage Sam
    Where the Red Fern Grows
    The Trial of Old Drum
    Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog
    The Shaggy Dog (and D.A...Tim Allen remake is all right.)
    My Dog Skip
    Marley & Me
    The Hound That Thought He Was a Raccoon
    Firehouse Dog
    Call of the Wild
    White Fang
    Hachi: A Dog's Tale
    Smitty
    A Dog of Flanders
    Eight Below
    Snow Dogs
    Iron Will

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    Replies
    1. Air Bud (and sequels, and "Buddies" spin-offs...can take or leave most of those, though. They're all right, for the most part. A few are good.)
      The Benji movies
      Hotel For Dogs
      K-9 (+2 sequels)
      Jock the Hero Dog
      The 12 Dogs of Christmas
      Because of Winn-Dixie
      The Duke
      The Retrievers
      Miracle Dogs (and sequel)
      Turner and Hooch
      Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Sequels were actually bearable!)
      Top Dog
      Underdog
      Chestnut: Hero of Central Park
      Cujo
      Life Is Ruff
      Soccer Dog
      Hounded
      Oh, Heavenly Dog
      See Spot Run
      The Gold Retrievers
      Atomic Dog
      Bailey's Billions
      Man's Best Friend
      Paws
      Hearty Paws
      My Dog Tulip
      Lenny the Wonder Dog
      The Adventures of Bailey: the Lost Puppy
      White Dog
      More Than Puppy Love
      Frank
      Cool Dog
      My Magic Dog
      C.H.O.M.P.S.
      Daniel and the Superdogs
      Red Dog
      For the Love of a Dog
      I Heart Shakey
      Hercules Saves Christmas
      Angel Dog
      Golden Winter
      Rusty: A Dog's Tale
      K-9000
      You Lucky Dog
      Kavik the Wolf Dog
      Owd Bob
      Vampire Dog
      Cinnamon
      A Golden Christmas + sequels
      Nikki, Wild Dog of the North
      Finn on the Fly, Gabe the Cupid Dog, A Christmas Puppy (Christmas Spirit), An Easter Bunny Puppy, and other horribly bad films with no redeeming qualities aside from the cuteness of the dogs/animals.
      “I could add every last one listed or mentioned here, but I've already named all of the best dog films...see most of my list, and you're good! Can't WAIT for the full-length Frankenweenie this Halloween! Yes, I am a dog/animal movie connoisseur. ;)"

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