#also: fuck jkr

[repelomuggletum]

Listen, I’ve always been fascinated by Grindeldore...

First of all: yes, I'm aware that it's not exactly the least problematic ship. It canonically suffers from the "kill your gays" trope, and it's only canon because JKR retconed it and didn't care enough to actually write queer characters in her series (though, quite frankly, I wouldn't trust her to write queer characters at all, considering her incredibly harmful ideology).

However, I love the potential. 

We don't see enough of Grindelwald (in the original HP series, because I am consciously ignoring the fact that the Fantastic Beasts movies exist) to know much about his personality or how he would interact with Dumbledore, but he's canonically very powerful and, because he evidently had a large following, it's likely that he was also charismatic. Dumbledore is also both of these things, wielding enough power to not only defeat Grindelwald but also terrify Voldemort, and being charismatic enough to be a politician and essentially a war leader. Watching two people like that interact would be fascinating, especially in a context where they care for each other without agreeing with each other. The tension would be palpable. 

Still, my favorite thing about the ship isn't really the dynamics -- it's the tragedy. Dumbledore may have been misguided in his youth but he eventually grew to recognize that conquering and subjugating muggles would be bad, actually, and he acted accordingly: he began to dedicate a decent portion of his life to advocating not only for muggles and muggleborns but also other marginalized members of society (eg: letting Remus attend Hogwarts and employing Dobby). Now, I'm not saying that he does it well but, considering the state and prejudices of most of wizarding Britain, his actions seem almost radical. This, combined with him actively working against dark lords and being instrumental in their defeats, paints a pretty clear picture of him, morally speaking.

Grindelwald, on the other hand, was obsessed with power and did horrific things for it, never seeming to learn his lesson. Because of his relegation to the status of a minor character, we don't know that much about him other than the fact that, due to the very nature of the time he was active and what war his conflicts were running parallel to (and the fact that his name seems German, or at least Germanic), the narrative is implying that he's wizard H*tler. Naturally, that doesn't frame him in a good light, morally speaking. He never gets a redemption, either -- I've seen it suggested that Grindelwald intentionally lost his final battle against Dumbledore out of love but there's no actual evidence for that in HP, especially considering how it's mentioned that their final duel was legendary, implying that neither of them held back (and, in any case, losing a fight is not really deserving of redemption) -- though an argument can be made in regards to his final moments. The problem is, we’ll never know for certain whether Grindelwald’s refusal to admit that Dumbledore had the Elder Wand was him honoring what was most definitely Dumbledore’s wishes for the knowledge to be kept secret or if he was still upset that he’d lost ownership of it and he didn’t want anyone else, including Voldemort, to get it.

The bottom line is: Grindelwald and Dumbledore are moral opposites. Any reasonably healthy relationship between them would require a massive shift in personal/moral values (and this is not me saying that people with different values can’t have a happy relationship, but Grindelwald and Dumbledore are two extremes that simply aren’t compatible).

And that’s the tragedy of the whole thing.

Dumbledore is forever haunted by the specter of his relationship with Grindelwald. When Rita Skeeter publishes her biography about him, she talks at length about the summer of 1899, when the two had been lovers and co-conspirators. She mentions how he’d been the one to coin the very phrase that Grindelwald would later use to wreak mass havoc across Europe. There’s no way that someone like Albus Dumbledore, who seemed to prize moral virtue, would ever truly cope with what he’d had a hand in creating.

Grindelwald, on the other hand, was defeated by the very man he’d used to care for and is left imprisoned for fifty years with nothing to do but ponder his actions. Again, we don’t know enough about him to know his thoughts, but -- in the case of someone as ruthless and charismatic as a dark lord -- there was probably rage and betrayal, a sense that someone that used to be his had done this to him. 

To me, Grindeldore is not about how they’d be together but rather how they’re affected by the aftermath. Even separated by several countries and fifty years, they will never be rid of each other. Grindelwald was the one to open Dumbledore’s eyes to the injustices of the world and Dumbledore was the one who ultimately foiled all of Grindelwald’s plans.

Grindeldore, in its purest form, is a tragedy, and I find it absolutely fascinating.

[duckprintspress]

So this poll from @pollsnatural asked if Supernatural was the most toxic fandom people have been in, and the vast majority of folks said no, so now - based on some fandoms in the replies of that post - I'm curious...

Runners up from the linked poll include Teen Wolf, MCU, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once Upon a Time, sports RPF, Minecraft YouTube, Dragon Age, Mo Dao Zu Shi, One Direction, a bunch of others, and a few abbreviations I'm not familiar with lmao.

I'm guessing "other" will win this poll - tell me which in the tags! I'm curious if there's any Really Big One I should have included (probably MCU...it was hard to juggle "size/popularity of fandom" with "relative toxicity" like if a fandom is huge it's usually just more toxic in general cause there are the same number of weirdos per capita but way more people overall, ya know?)

anyway. yes. poll. do the thing.

[aidens-ocean-galaxy]

artists: @/sophithil on insta, @/spookeart on here and insta, @/industrations on here, @/likeafuneral on insta, @/greenlights333 on something (I assume Insta)

[mistyjessart]

my boys <333333

made for a class assignment where i wrote about all the young dudes and the marauders fandom, with tortured poets department lyrics in the background. what is my life

anyways…. i’ll make a coloured version when i have time btwn finals but in the meantime, i kin assigned them all moony toast condiments and taylor swift songs:

james is jam, because the pun was too good to pass up, but also he gives me sweet strawberry vibes. he also gets the prophecy for obvious reasons.

sirius is marmalade, like jam but fancier and more citrusy, less willing to put up with shit. also assigned the black dog.

remus is lemon curd, he gives me lemon boy by cavetown energy. he’s got a kinda harsh exterior with his scars but he’s actually really sweet and loves sweets. assigned tortured poets department for the “you smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate” line.

peter is butter, a staple to round out the group, can be overlooked but definitely deserves more appreciation. butter on toast is the best. assigned peter bc… well… it’s peter.

[aezran]

Always

[erinwantstowrite]

if you want an insight into my brain, i shipped Ron and Harry from Harry Potter and was so immensely angry at JKR when they didn't get together (I didn't know about homophobia yet) that I went outside and nailed the book to a tree

[yourlocalbadgerscales]

Incorrect Marauders Quotes

James: Guys Remus: Yeah, James? Sirius: What’s up? James: I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a while now… I… James: I’m pan- pana- panesaxe- pann-pansensu- Remus: Take your time, mate James: *points at Lily and Regulus* James: Boys and girls James: Both James: *points at the roof* And a third option Evan: *falls from the ceiling* *groans* James: … whatever he is.

[corkinavoid]

Hogwarts??? So you hate trans people then, if your supporting jk

First of all, it's 'you're', not 'your'. If you want to accuse someone of something, then at least do it in a grammatically correct way.

Second, that's a lot of conclusions for no apparent reason.

Third, don't like - don't look, the 'block' button exists for a reason, and I'm not here to provide a comfortable experience for you. You're the one responsible for that part.

With that out of the way, let me rant about how much I fucking despise J.K. Rowling.

Let me get this straight, though, her stance on trans rights is not the first or the main reason for my dislike. In all honesty, I don't have enough care in myself to touch internet drama with a ten foot pole, so all I know about it is that apparently Rowling hates trans people, which, yeah, fuck her.

By the way, what do you even consider 'supporting an author'? Buying their books or merch? Liking their Twitter posts? Defending them on social media? Because I've done literally none of that. I haven't even watched the movies, and I've never read the last book, because at the time it wasn't published (or written yet), and by the time it was, I was already into Eragon series and didn't care about Harry Potter.

Now, to the important part.

I fucking hate J.K. Rowling because of her absolute lack of comprehensive worldbuilding. She sucks at creating a logical system of magic, at her own world's history, economics, and politics. Nothing in her books makes sense.

Why do the wizards need wands? Why do they write with quills on parchment when there's paper and notebooks and goddamn ink pens and color pencils? Why don't they teach math in Hogwarts? Why don't the teachers have, like, some introductory lessons or at least books for muggleborn or muggle-raised students? What the fuck was that 'power of mother's love' bullshit? Where did that story about Peverell Brothers and Death come from, and why didn't anyone think to mention it when Harry first got the Invisibility Cloak? Why in the world is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in the girl's bathrooms of all places? Why is there a subject for Ancient Runes but no one fucking uses runes? Why didn't Harry sign up for Muggle Studies, it would have been an easy grade? Why was Hermione the only one to have a time-turner in the whole school, she was fucking thirteen, what was McGonagall thinking? Where are any kind of PE lessons? Why the everloving fuck was Triwizard Tournament held at a school, with teenagers participating? What's more, why couldn't they choose the champions beforehand so the visiting schools didn't have to transport their whole student bodies over for a year? Why were they fighting dragons when it's common knowledge that no sane adult person would dare to do that alone by themselves? What was that arch in the Ministry where Sirius died? What the fuck was even going on for the most part of the series?

None of it makes an ounce of sense. Every fucking event in the books is a product of poor imagination and lack of logic. Rowling is fucking dumb as a brick. I've heard five-year-olds come up with stories that had more reason than the whole Harry Potter series.

Have you seen the 'map of wizarding schools' she came up with? That thing makes me feel the rage of a thousand men. One single school for the whole damn Africa? Bitch, there are over fifty countries there, each with their own language, how do you expect them to communicate? Not to mention India and China having one school for both of them, do you have any idea of the population of both of those countries? That school must be, like, a size of a city, not to mention culture differences and language barriers again.

Also, what was that fucking thing about kids flying on whole ass trees instead of brooms in Koldovstvorets, that one offends me personally. Not to mention the actual name of that school, because it translates to 'magic palace', are you kidding me?

I can keep ranting about this for hours, and never run out, but this is getting rather long, so I'm going to wrap this part up. Just know that the whole of Rowling's worldbuilding is a ton of bullshit that has no right to be as popular as it got.

Yet, I do like the general idea that she had. The magic world that is hidden inside the real one, the whole charms and spells aesthetic, a castle full of secret passages, and all that old classic English vibe to it. It could have been good. It could have been marvelous, if Rowling had, like, a few more braincells. Alas, she didn't, and here we are.

A few years ago, I've found a fic on ao3, 'survival is a talent' by ShanaStoryteller. It's a Series Retold, and it's incomplete. If you haven't read it, I really advise you to, it's perfect in a way the original will never be. Ever since I've read it, I decided that that fic is my canon version of Harry Potter.

On a different note, I think that at this point, HP fandom and J.K. Rowling exist in two different dimensions. That woman had created a world, yes, but it doesn't belong to her anymore, it belongs to everyone who enjoys it. She clearly doesn't, she only enjoys the profit she is making from it.

If you've made it this far through my Harry Potter related rant, thank you, and have a beautiful day <3

[losver07]

sirius: okay guys, you already know why i brought you here

peter: no the fuck we dont? you literally just trapped us like you were going to murder us

james: is it a new prank idea? should we get moony?

sirius: NO NO NO NOT MOONY

james: ???

sirius: okay so i kinda need you to... *whispers* help me ask him out

peter: what?

james: yeah what?

sirius: I WANT TO GO OUT WITH MOONY AND DONT KNOW HOW TO ASK HIM OKAY?

remus (from inside the barhroom): *chokes on toothpaste*

peter: did you guys hear that too?

james: padfoot... you checked there was no one here before bringing us right?

sirius: oh fucking fucks fuck

remus (entering the room): so um... hiya

sirius: hi

remus: so i kinda heard you scream. like just a bit. you know, about me

sirius: oh did you?

remus: yeah

sirius: okay um cool

remus: yeah cool

sirius: you look, um... i like your shirt

remus: thanks. your hairs nice today

sirius: yeah i-

james: OH FOR GODRICS SAKE, MOONY, WILL YOU SNOG PADFOOT OR NOT?

remus: oh well i mean yeah of course sure if thats cool with you

sirius: yeah it is in fact very fucking cool with me

[liv45no]

Harry, meeting Fred and George for the first time: you’re... twins.

Fred: what?!

George: no!

Fred: really?!

George: mum should’ve told us!

Fred: I feel cheated!

George: duped!

Fred: hoodwinked!

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

JK Row-Row straight up said “I can excuse a child-rapist being allowed to compete in the olympics, but I draw the line at letting a cis woman that doesn’t fit into my hyper-specific idea of what a woman should be compete!!!”

[welcometotheravenclawcommonroom]

(South) Indian Harry Potter Headcanons:

Harry knew he was Indian (mostly because the Dursley’s used to say racist shit to him) but he didn’t know where in India the potters were from until he went to Hogwarts. He finds out from the Patils, who were close with the potters because desis stick together.

The Patils are from the north and use Hindi to speak to each other. Neither of them knows Telugu/Tamil/Marathi/Malayalam/insert Southern language of choice here (I personally headcanon Telugu because it’s the only Indian language I speak and because there’s a huge diaspora of telugumandi in the west, but feel free to choose whatever you’d like). So Harry has to rediscover his heritage language on his own.

He also studies Sanskrit, and it opens up a HUGE world of spells that they don’t teach at Hogwarts (because of course Indian wizards don’t do spells in Latin). He and the Patils know a bunch of spells that nobody else does.

Harry’s pleat game is ON POINT. It makes sense, since he had to do all the chores at the Dursley’s and that includes perfectly folded and ironed laundry with the edges aligned neatly, or else he would risk being punished. But the result is that if you want your saree drape to pass the inspection of even the most judgemental auntie, you go to Harry to help with your pleats.

Even when they’ve graduated and all have their own homes, it’s a pretty regular sight for the Patil twins to come through Harry’s floo, half dressed, to have Harry pleat their sarees or their lehenga dupatta for them.

Harry LOVES spices. The dursleys only liked bland food, but Harry has always liked flavorful foods, and has no problem with (hot) spicy food either. He uses lots of spices in his own cooking now. His food is very flavorful, but when he’s cooking for himself, it’s too spicy for all his friends (even the Patils). So nobody can eat his leftovers unless he was specifically cooking with other people in mind. Ron learned this the first time he rummaged through Harry’s fridge after a night of drinking. Now Harry labels all his food as to whether or not it’s “Harry spicy”.

James LOVED to buy Lily sarees. He’d order them with custom, wizard-themed designs from weaving villages in south India. The women who made them assumed he was just very imaginative, so he wasn’t violating the statute of secrecy since saree patterns are often vibrant and unique. Harry finds some of them in the old potter manor, and they still smell like the perfumes and scented oils his mother would wear when James took her to the local temple for Hindu holidays.

Indian witches often store extra magic in or enchant pieces of their copious jewelry with spells that can keep them safe if they’re ever in a situation where they don’t have their wands. stuff like, each bangle can function as an emergency portkey that can take you to different safe locations if you say the activation word, or ones that create an instant magical shield when you tap them. Harry finds some of his mothers gajulu, gives them to his female friends.

He ties Rhaki on Ron and Neville, and all the weasley boys. Ron was the first person he ever tied it on, because Ron was the first person who he ever bonded with, and his closest brother.

Harry always cooks idli sambar or dosa for his friends for breakfast the next morning after a night of drinking together, and it’s the perfect hangover food because it definitely brings you back to full alertness/knocks the last bit of post-hangover grogginess right out of your system.

Harry’s parselmouth abilities are valued in his native culture because of the sacredness of snakes in Hinduism, and it comes to be something he’s really proud of (personally I think the ‘parselmouth connected to the horcrux’ thing is dumb, so I’ve always imagined Harry was just naturally a parselmouth).

As the number of Indian immigrants/expats continues to grow after they graduate, Harry helps some of his students (he’s the DADA teacher) start the Hogwarts “South Asian Student Union”.

He always has snacks out for his students when they come to visit his office hours, and they’re all Indian snacks and sweets. His personal favorite is kaju barfi, but he always has a good variety of both sweet and spicy treats, especially for stressed out owl and newts students.

He collaborates with Hermione, who works in the ministry, to make it mandatory for Hogwarts students to a “foreign magical language” course so they can broaden both their minds and their spell repertoires. Padma Patil becomes the “Sanskrit Spells” teacher, and Seamus teaches “Irish Gaelic”. (It took him a little longer to get his course started, since it turns out that at least 40% of Gaelic spells are just increasingly complicated and violent ways to repel the English).

Hermione and Harry also work together to make sure there are employees in the international magical cooperation department who specialize in post-colonial relations, because the magical world also has its issues with that colonialist mindset towards countries that were formerly part of the empire.

Just south Indian Harry embracing his heritage, learning about what was ripped from him, and using it to enact meaningful change in a multicultural magical society.

[aidens-ocean-galaxy]

REGULUS AND DRACO ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE

[padfoot-and-leo-ao3]

Some more notes from my planning doc

Lemme know if anyone wants context for these things, I like talking about my stuff :)

[aiden-writes-gay-stuff]

dom regulus is my favourite regulus

[messrsrarchives]

i was talking to a friend about this today and i, of course, am going to yap about it. because i've been incredibly vocal and it's pointed out a lot how annoying it is but,,,

discussions of jkr in the marauders fandom are ongoing, and they need to be. this is not a topic we visit once, it's a topic we need to continue discussing because it's constantly evolving.

when jkr first became public with her views, it was "boycott the studios, boycott the merch, don't interact", which was appropriate for the time of "this franchise is done, do not engage with what is already there"

when things like cursed child and hogwarts legacy come out, it's a different conversation. because we're not just discussing things with her name plastered on the front of, we're talking about her IP as a whole. as the franchise develops into other areas, we need to discuss how to navigate that. we have discussions about the contributions of others, on "supporting the theatre cast/developers, not her" and how that's still harmful. it's a different discussion.

and today, it's more important than ever. not just because trans rights are under violent attack, but because fandom is more mainstream. more people join who may not be aware and they need to be educated, and this increased traction contributes to complacency.

we need to discuss how blowing up random tiktokers comment section with "this is so james potter!!!" is harmful even when it seems like a bit of fun, because it normalises engagement with this media, and encourages people to join without education. how blowing up fancasts comment sections is harmful because then people get excited over the possibility of them joining the reboot, or even just the fact that a high-profile celebrity is now connected with this fandom, and if they don't speak up on it, engagement with jkr must be okay, right? whether you're speaking on it, commenting on it, or a reposting a tiktok, it's engagement.

because like it or not, being in this fandom and producing content for this fandom is a form of promotion, so what can we do to make sure that we are promoting the right things? that we are doing it ethically? that we are keeping people educated?

the changing face of the franchise, the changing face of trans rights, and the changing face of fandom spaces is why these discussions keep coming up. because newer fans need to be educated, and older fans need to stay updated as things change.

but the one constant, the one constant thing that i really want to emphasise here is that it has never been about shaming. or cancelling. or "ganging up" against people.

it's about human rights. it's about lives > content.

these discussions aren't had so that we can call people out - although, if you feel called out by such discussions, maybe that's a sign you need to do better - it's about education. a guiding hand. awareness.

we educate and we have these discussions because one person doesn't make a difference. one person not watching the reboot makes no difference, and realistically? a complete, total boycott of JKR will make no difference - trans people will be under attack either way.

but you don't need to change the world to change your corner of it. and you don't need to have global influence to have an influence - you may not make an individual difference to her income and influence by profiting her, but you make a difference to the people around you, the people in this space, when you openly do so. you don't need to change the world to show solidarity.

and that's why these discussions take place. and that's why they keep taking place.

because in the wider world? everything is shit. everything is fucking awful. trans people are fighting day by day to not off themselves, or be offed.

so, listen, because the way you shape your corner matters, and we should not have to fight to prove that us living authentically, and enjoying our time in this space, is more important than a remake.

so yes, these discussions might be annoying. you can reach out and complain in my dms as much as you want, you can leave comments on people's videos asking if it's that deep, and you can say you just want to enjoy your time without getting lectured.

you can say that it's annoying.

and it won't be a fraction of the annoyance trans people feel both in and out of this space.

it's annoying for me too, even more so. but these discussions have to take place. whether you listen or not is up to you.