#idk if this makes sense but this isn't the hp that i fell in love with as a kid. it's evil and twisted and dark and hateful now.

[expectopatronum18]

hii, ok so I read your recent posts and I wanted to talk about it but if I'm honest I'm a little scared to do it publicly and you got me thinking... so I just thought I would tell you my thoughts. I used to be a hp fan when I was a kid and throughout my early teens, but it wasn't until a few months ago that I got bored and decided to read ATYD, I knew all about the marauders before but it wasn't until then that I fell in love with these characters, I really don't know if I should be the one talking about this because I don't know much since I'm technically new here, but I do agree with you about the new take on the marauders and how it feels too one dimensional, I've been reading lots of fics lately and also I'm constantly on the marauders side of Tumblr and if I'm honest at times I don't think the characters resemble the originals at all, a lot of what makes one character so complicated or raw and lovable and just REAL has been ripped to shreds and became only about their sexuality, I think it's only natural since the fandom runs based on the little to none information about the original canon as well as a reaction to J. K awful opinions and lack of representation. However some of it can be really fun and silly so I don't hate it, I do like taking a 'one time mentioned' characters and give it a good background, but I just think that the nuance and real deep interpretation of the characters is lost and it feels so boring and too... safe idk, I believe two things can coexist, you can have a better understanding of someone if you see them whole, they can make mistakes or be horrible or complicated and still be kind or loyal or have redemption, they can be shipped with whomever but that's NOT who they are, they are not their ships they can be more than who they kiss, you know? idk if that made sense but yeah... that's all sorry for making you read all this I don't think posting this publicly will make me gain loads of friends so thank you if you are reading, loads of love <3

Heyyy!! I think it's really sad that ur scared to say this stuff publicly (tho i totally get it), lyk this space is meant to be for PPL to express themselves and it's being ruined by a bunch of idiots who'll insult and hate u for not sharing their perspective on a fictional character or ship lmao. Especially worse when it's grown ass adults who do it. But dw, the whole fandom isn't lyk tht, I was intimidated too until i found normal, chill PPL who think similarly, and now the fandom is interesting and fun! Ultimately it's abt finding ur tribe. Tbh it all becomes better when u ignore the ppl who get worked up abt things lyk this.

And i totally agree with everything u said, no notes. If u don't wish to post publicly u can still send asks lyk this one. Loads of love to u too!<3

[daenerys-targaryen]

Thank you for being so open to listening (jkr discourse). The amount of ppl (mostly cis) who have victimized themselves, acted as though they’re being attacked when really we’re just trying to take down jkr’s massive platform, is shameful. No one is denying the nostalgia we all feel for HP but is it really worth endorsing someone so hateful? You’re so right about the best thing to do is to physically move on. I tried explaining this to another blogger and she and all her followers then accused me of acting like I thought I was better than her for not being emotionally attached even though I explained that i too had an emotional attachment to HP. Still, the best thing to do is block it out, engage in other media. Let the nostalgia exist in your brain but then just, let it go. It becomes a easier over time, I promise. Hope you’re well and thank you once again for not shutting out all the ppl who have been hurt by JKR for the sake of nostalgia ❤️

I don't know how to reply because I... wasn't an ally when this discussion was first brought to my blog. Obviously, for anyone who saw the discussion I had about this a few nights ago, you know that at first, I didn't really understand the issue in reblogging / engaging with hp content itself. That is what started it on this blog, I got an anon telling me to stop reblogging hp content because it supports JKR and I was confused and didn't understand that and I think I was on the defense because 1) I didn't know the full horrific deplorable extent of her actions and was just like, "you can separate the artist from the art," but to be honest 1) I'm not sure if I really believe that anymore and 2) even if that's possible for other artists / their work, I'm not sure if that's possible for hp / JKR at this point. I said that me reblogging hp didn't have any effect on people because everyone knows it at this point, and I won't give it any more exposure than it already has. I was also on the defense because I felt that people were saying you can't love Harry Potter and be an ally at the same time, which at the time I obviously felt like was too much. I felt like that was possible because I felt that I was a good ally. I saw other cis people express this same idea and felt comforted that I wasn't wrong. I was being a good ally. I knew I supported trans people, I donated to them, I signal boosted them any time I was given the opportunity to do so. I also was annoyed because there were people who were acting like they were better than me because they don't like hp which really annoyed me. I was also annoyed because I was told that it was 'fucked up' that I grew up on it as if I can change what I watched and was exposed to as a child, my mom single handily raised me and she loves high fantasy including star wars, star trek, lord of the rings and harry potter. Not to mention that we had no idea JKR would be this way when the books and then movies came out, but that's beside the point. I saw being a hp fan and engaging with it the same as keeping the water running when I brush my teeth or turning my car on a few minutes before I leave for work (aka, grey and not black and white as people make it seem) but it's not the same at all. So yeah, I was on the defense. I didn't quite understand the ramifications of engaging with hp and felt annoyed that someone was just telling me what I can and can't do on my own blog rather explain to me how me engaging with the content supports JKR.

Then... I saw trans people I follow and care about express how they understand that people are attached to the series, it still made them feel unsafe, unwelcome, and unloved. I can't tell you the overbearing amount of shame and guilt I felt at that moment. They felt unsafe because I was prioritizing a fictional universe and fond memories over their own well-being, their mental health, their safe space - whether I meant to or not, that's what I was doing. Whether I felt like I was doing that or not, that's what they felt I was doing. It's different when you just have an anonymous person in your inbox demanding you to stop reblogging something because x y z is happening and then when you personally see the effects your actions have caused someone. It's real easy to remove yourself from the problem when you feel like what you're doing isn't part of the problem.

I'm so sorry to hear that you were targeted. I was speaking with a friend who also loves Harry Potter about this and we both just kind of had a little therapy session and really grieved the love that we once had for the series and I've just come to the conclusion that the best thing to do for me personally to move on from it is to just not engage with it anymore. It will still exist and be there. I'll forever be fond of my childhood and being in a harry potter club and literally being on a quidditch team in high school, but at this point, I can't separate the art from the artist. I can't change my past, I can't change that I loved it once in my life, I can't change what JKR has done, but I can change how I engage with it now and in the future. Not to mention how I've heard that the books are even more transphobic, are racist, and misogynist, I haven't read them but I have no doubt that it's true. So it overall just leaves a nasty and bitter taste in my mouth.

Being a woman, being queer myself, and being autistic, I know that when a group that is discriminated against tells you that you shouldn't do this because x y z, you probably should listen to them. I didn't at first. I had to be told that I was wrong. I had to look that in the face and understand that engaging with hp meant that I was actively engaging with her anti-trans rhetoric and agenda even if I was vehemently against it in my heart and head.

So no, I don't want to be thanked, I want to thank you for allowing me to be wrong and allowing me to grow and change my opinion when presented with a new perspective. Thank you. Thank you for not immediately assuming I was this or that and just letting me be wrong and letting me learn from my mistakes. I'm not perfect and while I of course know that, I think sometimes it's really easy to just blast people for this and that online because this isn't real life. It's easy to blast someone online, even if you're mutuals or were friends, it's really easy to take what they're saying at face value and I think that allowing people to gain the full perspective and change and grow as people is so important because otherwise, what's the point?

It absolutely will become easier with time. Thankfully I'm more emotionally attached to the likes of Lord of the Rings, but yes, everyone will grieve and let go in their own time but what matters is that they eventually stop engaging with it altogether. It's ok to be fond of it. It's ok to have nostalgia for it. However, it's more important to support trans people and help them feel safe today than support someone who actively hates them and funds the pockets of transphobic politicians.

[gallifreyriver]

I have a question for Harry Potter fans- current and former.

Please don't take this wrong and respond hatefully because this is a genuine, good-faith question about something I've been wondering.

Ok so- JK Rowling is a terf; The Harry Potter fandom is huge; There's a ton of controversy on whether you can separate art from the artist or carry on liking HP without supporting her views.

On one hand, you can say people fell in love with the world she created, not her. On the other, she's come out saying she believes anyone still buying HP merch supports her, and she doesn't seem to care that she's lost a whole audience that used to love her books, saying that "I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly."

My question is, since the Harry Potter fandom is/was so huge, had created so many of their own works within the fandom- both in fic and in art, and hell I know a lot of you guys likely even created your own fan merch- why wouldn't just cutting her completely away from the story be an option? Why wouldn't that be a bigger "Fuck you"?

I mean, yeah I used to like the books too, though I was never super involved in the fandom and honestly thinking about the series anymore makes me sad because what she's done is just so disappointing, and obviously I totally support anyone else who just can't look at the books the same way again and would prefer to leave it behind.

But for the rest of you, instead of fighting with yourselves about which is correct why not just... reclaim the story from her for yourselves? You don't need her. What you all fell in love with was the story you (the fandom) created in your heads around her words. Her words were only the scaffold for the world you all built on your own, and you even created new stories and art based on that world. Your world. Not hers.

You don't need to buy more books or movies from her. You already wrote your own.

You don't need to buy her posters, or her merch, or her toys. You already made your own.

Not one dime needs to go to her as long as she holds her hateful beliefs, especially when you (the fandom) just always made stuff on your own and shared it because you loved to, so why not just... do that? Want more story? Someone's written fic. Want some art? Someone made that too. Want some merch? A scarf? A wand? Mug? (idk) Like I said, one of you is out there making it if it hasn't been done already. Fandom is a conversation, you don't need to include her in it when she now only says hateful things.

And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying everyone shouldn't branch out to other, better, stories- absolutely do that- but it does seem sad that she just gets to rip away from all of you what isn't even hers.

I don't know if I'm even making sense, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that you all built this community around a story she might have written, but you all built it better. You made it bigger, you gave it it's "muchness." I saw you all "fix-it" to parts that were problematic even before she became this bad. I remember reading posts over the years about how people in the LGBT communities related to the characters and found comfort in the community and even more recently I've seen people in the trans communities creating their own representation in HP universe- for the world you all created. Not JKR.

I ask because I've seen on here similar suggestions like with Amazon's Rings Of Power- to not watch (because Amazon/ exploitation), and how if you want more LOTR content fandom already made it and can always make more. And I read how any mention of Minecraft's shitty creator was completely wiped from the game so people could still enjoy without being exposed to/promoting his shittiness. Would doing the same with JKR be possible? Cutting her out of HP and reclaiming it for yourselves? I know I've seen some people say that having fandom still keeps her relevant, but wouldn't this be more like a Morbius situation? They see "oh everyone's talking about this online!" but then everything they put out flops because no one actually went to see the movie/buy the merch/etc?

And idk, but this just seems more effective/sends more of a message of disappointment in what she's become and how she hurt everyone who used to love her story. Like a, "Yeah, we're still doing HP, but the one we built. No, you can't sit with us."

(I'm going to say again because I know people are going to have some strong feelings surrounding HP and JKR. This a question I feel like we can have a good-faith discussion about. I'm not interested in anyone starting fights over this post and I won't be interacting with anyone coming at this in bad faith or screaming at me or others because they've chosen to take a question as somehow an endorsement of JKR's hateful behavior.)