#like the source material being discredited by newer fans due to controversy associated with the books

[solitaire-sol]

Daily Prongsfoot Thought 011

James/Sirius has the same energy as Bill/Richie (IT). Observe:

Both are pairs of best friends even among their other best friends, with special bonds or interactions between them that are noted as separate from their interactions with other friends: Sirius is noted as the only one James will listen to, for example, and Richie is the only one who not only notes when Bill doesn’t stutter, but why.

Both feature characters who serve as the heart/‘leader of their respective friend-groups (James and Bill) and their best friend who is outwardly more surly and prone to stirring the pot, but who are in fact motivated by incredibly deep, unspoken loyalty (Sirius, Richie).

Both pairs are initially stunted as ships by fan adherence to (heterosexual) canon: Besides being dead, James marries Lily in canon, and early HP fandom as I remember it was often obsessed with what is or could become canon, while fans of IT focused on Bill’s childhood crush on Beverly and then on his marriage to Audra.

Both have their original book-based relationship overwritten in the minds of many with their portrayals in their respective movies, which downplays their relationship by marginalizing or outright giving parts of it to others: James’ bond with Sirius is eclipsed (heh) by Remus in the HP movies, while Richie/Eddie is canonized in the 2019 IT movie.

Both pairs are subsequently slept on by fans who primarily became familiar with them through the movies, and who often have little or no engagement with the original books.

Many current fans engage with the fandom’s material purely through fandom - fics, art, TIkTok - thus further burying both pairs’ original chemistry and potential under poor movie adaptations and bad takes, with the resulting fandom takes being treated as universal common knowledge: Ex. Mischaracterization of James and Sirius, Bill and Richie having a vitriolic relationship or barely being friends vs their actual novel relationship.

Both pairs are subsumed beneath the shadow of all-consuming fan-preferred pairings, whose shippers have a myriad of reactions to the pairing in question, with a common refrain from fans who are against these pairings being “but they’re such good platonic friends! :)”: J*gulus and W*lfstar for James/Sirius, Richie/Eddie for Bill/Eddie.

In conclusion, Prongsfoot and Bichie (yes, that’s the most common shipname for Bill/Richie) are both tragically underestimated, and should be more plentiful, but will never be fully embraced, as they would easily become too powerful and devour us all. Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.