#But I just think it helps to know that what Rowling's doing is not unique and has lost before | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lunatheseus · 1 year

Text

harry potter (canon) couples that I could get behind + commentary

Hermione Granger x Harry Potter: Idk… I can kinda get behind this- they should relate to each other when it comes to the wizarding world. Because they were both raised by muggles, it must’ve been hard to figure out the magical world right off the bat. They also trust each other a ton. (Way more than Ron did, anyway) When Hermione brings Umbridge to the forest to trick her, Harry at first doesn’t know what she’s about to do, but he trusts her. They’re also not jealous of each other, whether it comes to romantic interest or just their capabilities in something. Hermione didn’t care that Harry was the Chosen one, and Harry didn’t care that Hermione topped him in every class.

Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy: Popular, maybe basic opinion, but these two are the perfect balance of opposites and likes. They are both opposites when it comes to the obvious: Hogwarts houses, blood status, athletics, etc. But they both have many things in common: heavy expectations, being at the top of each class, and other more deep-rooted ideologies. This would give them both something to learn, but also something to relate to. In addition, after the war, Draco could improve his reputation by helping all of the causes and organizations that Hermione started over the years. He has a ton of money, why not donate some? I also think they could be adorable together, Draco spoiling Hermione, Hermione exposing Draco to muggle culture.

Luna Lovegood x Draco Malfoy: Besides the similar white-blonde hair and the same blood status, these two could not be more different. However, it can be a good thing. While Luna can teach Draco about leading life with love and a bit more imagination (like how she was brought up), and Draco can hold Luna to the real world and teach her about the more traditional way of life. On top of that, after the war, Luna doesn't seem like the person to care about Draco's ruined reputation. She would help him get over caring too much about what other people think and instead enjoy life more often. I feel that her forgiving nature would help Draco lead a better life. (Besides, his parents can't possibly be THAT opposed, she's a pureblood, after all)

Theodore Nott x Hermione Granger: Similar reasoning as to the Hermione x Draco ship reasoning, but also remembering that Theo and Hermione don't have as much history, which could be both bad and/or good, that's up to interpretation. I also love that Hermione used a time turner in her younger years, and Theo gets in trouble for being involved in handling illegal magical goods, ie a time turner.

Draco Malfoy x Theodore Nott: With both of their father's being servants of Voldemort, the two supposedly bonded, finding solace in each other. They both also survive the war, so helping each other through hardships would be a critical piece of the story because of how much they relate to and understand when it comes to one another. I also love how Theo was never really in Draco's "Gang" which makes me believe that he has his own independent mind, which is always important.

Luna Lovegood x Theodore Nott: Sunshine x Grumpy? Both see Thestrals? Like the Luna x Draco reasoning, they can learn lots from each other, + ignore the society's views on them because they both don't care.

Luna Lovegood x Neville Longbottom: Ok EVEN THOUGH Luna Lovegood x Rolf Scamander is the most genius idea that JK Rowling has had in her entire career, this could work. The fact that both passionate about their own respective interests makes conversation and life very unique. They're both also good listeners, which makes open communication very effective. Luna could teach Neville to ignore the haters, and Neville is a good anchor for Luna.

Pansy Parkinson x Neville Longbottom: I think that Pansy x Neville isn't such a bad idea. They're kind of opposites, but I love the idea that Neville gives so-called ice-queen-Pansy a safe space to be herself, to be a soft and warm. On the flipside, I think Pansy could teach Neville a thing or two about not being a pushover, and maybe even adding a little snark to conversations.

Pansy Parkinson x Harry Potter: I feel like this would work really well. Honestly though, Pansy would wear the pants in this relationship hands down. I feel like they would have a ton of chemistry... and they would learn a lot from each other. Pansy would humble Harry, Harry would humble Pansy. Simple.

Draco Malfoy x Ginny Weasley: Both Quidditch Fanatics? Both have passionate and fiery personalities? Both have unusually coloured hair? Enemies to Lovers? HMMMM?

Blaise Zabini x Ginny Weasley: Both fit as heck, both very sassy and witty. They'd charm the pants off of each other, both figuratively and literally... they'd have fun. I'd say this is better than Ginny x Draco

Astoria Greengrass x Theodore Nott: idk why but this just works

Theodore Nott x Harry Potter: again, idk why but this would work too

Chicken x Ron Weasley: Whoever did this is an effing genius: Chickron | Shipping Wiki | Fandom

72 notes · View notes

hard--headed--woman · 7 months

Note

Hey!!! (This isn’t a hate message! I’m writing by anonymous because I’m quite scared of my friends finding out I quite like radfem ideology)

I was listening to “The witch trials of Jk Rowling” (have you heard it?) and I was just wondering on why certain celebrities can be forgiven or their mistakes can be forgotten by the public but Jk rowling is from now on, a “terrible person”??

I’m quite young, a teenager, and I relate to the HP books so much. Obviously, I have a lot of respect for JK and I one day want to be a writer too… so I just can’t seem to understand why she’s so continuously hated. I know lots of other celebrities are attacked and hated on.. but people always seem to move on. But never from her.

Its just been an itch I can’t scratch, and I know it’s because of sexism, but again, lots of others have done terrible things. But nobody ever seems able to move on from JK. Everytime HP is brought up, she HAS to be insulted.

(Sorry for the rant! I just don’t have anyone to tell!!)

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Heyy! Thank you for the ask and sorry for the late reply!

You've got a point here. It's absolutely true : people not being able to move on from JK Rowling isn’t logical. Many celebrities have done far more horrible things and people have moved on. So why don't they do the same thing for her ? I personally think there are several reasons :

1) She's a woman. Obvious answer but still important ; a lot of the hate and violence directed at JK Rowling comes from sexism and misogyny. They wouldn't hate her as much if she wasn't female. We know that women and men aren't held to the same standards. Men can do absolutely a lot of things and be forgiven. Women do not have that privilege : in fact we get hated for very stupid little mistakes, harmless things, for having different opinions... If she was a man, she wouldn't receive all this hate. But she isn’t. And it shows in the language people use against her that their hatred comes, for a big part, from misogyny. Perhaps they'd have moved on if JK was a man, but she is a woman.

2) She cares about women and put women first. People hate that. Men have to come first, especially if you're a woman. But JK ? She does things for women and she is proud of it. People hate female solidarity. They hate seeing women caring for other women. They hate that she's ready to fight the whole world and popular ideologies to help women. It's not what women are supposed to do.

3) Related to the two first points but... she is everything people hate in a woman. She has power, she is successful, smart, funny, confident, she expresses her opinions even on controversial topics, she is strong minded, unbothered by their bullshit... They hate that she's a successful woman, that she speaks her mind and isn’t afraid to say what she thinks, they hate that a woman does not support their ideology, they hate that she will not apologize, they hate that she is smart, they hate that she is confident, they hate everything about her. A woman isn’t supposed to be like this. A woman is supposed to put people's (men's) feelings first, to be sweet and submissive, to apologize or back down if she does something people didn't like... well she said fuck that. And now they're angry.

4) We know that TRAs are basically MRAs. The trans rights movement is a men's rights movement. It's a misogynistic movement that benefits the patriarchy. It oppresses women and give even more power to men. So when JK Rowling fights against it, she fights against something that put men first, give them more power, help them break women's boundaries... that's everything people hate. The men feel attacked, their fandom is offended. She fights against their movement. You can't criticize the patriarchy and try to prevent men to get what they want. People are so shocked that a woman does it.

5) Jealousy. Is tied to everything else, but people are jealous because she did something unique. No one had ever written books that successful before. No one had ever made that much money from writing books before. I feel like many people were waiting for a reason to hate on her, or at least are happy to have one now. They'd like to erase her name, so that history and people forget her success and the fact that no writer ever had as much success. They'd like to prove that she isn’t special or that they're better than her. Plus, she is a woman. Can you imagine how mad people are that a woman had done something as huge as that ? Especially since she proved that she was a good person after that, giving a lot of money to charity, spending billions of dollars to create ways to help women and children... They'd like to prove she isn’t that great.

6) She criticizes gender ideology and TRAS are losers and crying babies lol

Many celebrities have done terrible things, but people moved on because it didn't hit all these sensitive points. To me, at least. I'll add if more reasons come to my mind (I think I had more and then I forgot them) but for now I think that's all.

#anon #asks

7 notes · View notes

ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

Note

Rowling can go fuck herself. She and her books have always been garbage. Not sure why you think otherwise but.

Because that's just not true, anon. It's some kind of revisionist history that rewrites her into a villain from day one, but I don't think she was.

And if you'll stay with me, I think I have a theory as to what happened.

I was there. Perhaps I wasn't as educated as I am now, and perhaps I'm not as educated now as I will be in five or ten years. So maybe I'm wrong and I will one day come to understand that. But I don't think so. I remember living through the earlier days, and I can look back on them now. There was a time, not even that long ago, when Rowling wasn't the monster she is now. Because I used to defend her all the time, before she became a transphobe.

That was where I parted ways with her, and that will remain true. If she educates herself, realizes the error of her ways...if she apologizes and works to make it right, then maybe I'll reconsider. But I'm not holding my breath. Not only is she doing genuine harm, but she's betraying her fans. Whether she realizes it not, she is betraying everything she once stood for. What's truly ironic is that Rowling herself deplores betrayal. She's said as much, and that point of view is reflected in the books.

Let's talk about the books.

I'm not sure there's anything to be gained from defending them at this point, short of my telling what I believe to be the truth. I'm not at all certain that standing by the books will help anyone at this point, but I think demonizing them for no other reason than because of who wrote them, when she wrote them literal decades ago...I think doing that is, to put it lightly, unwise. Because the books, in my opinion, aren't problematic. Quite the opposite. My voice isn't more important than the voices of those speaking on behalf of their experiences in oppressed communities, but I do think that things aren't always what they seem.

I believe a lot of these things are either unfortunate coincidence, or just a lack of research on Rowling's part, without any intended malice. Or are otherwise microaggressions that originate from the social climate of the nineties. Which sounds like I'm dismissing the concerns, but that's not my goal. Let me go through some of the examples. It's going to seem like I'm defending Rowling at certain points, but trust me, it all goes to hell down the line, and I'm going to talk about that too.

Rita Skeeter. Is her physical description meant to be a caricature of trans women? Is her status as an Animagus who spies on children meant to depict a trans woman as a predator? No, I don't think so. Perhaps if she were written by Rowling today, I could see it. But Rowling herself has stated that she didn't become "aware" of this subject until a few years ago. In other words, she wasn't a TERF when she wrote the books. Rita spying on children with her animal form is also hardly unique. Wormtail does it too.

I've talked at length about the Goblins, but everything I'm about to say, I've seen on other posts. I've seen people, including Jewish bloggers, making these points. And the fact is - the Goblins in the original books are...really not that bad. They were likely intended to just be another culture. Based on old tweets from around the time, Rowling was actually very outspoken for Jewish rights. It's entirely possible that she just didn't know of the history of Goblins and their mythology. The films are a different story, Hogwarts Legacy is another story. But the original seven books? They're easy enough to give the benefit of the doubt.

But then there are the names. Various characters have names that are...painful to look back on. Everyone knows the different examples. Cho Chang being the most obvious, but there are others. She wrote a black man called "Shacklebolt." She wrote a Jewish family called "Goldstein." Apparently Viktor Krum is also bad. To these examples, I have to say...yeah, they're not good. I don't imagine they were deliberate attempts to be racist or anything, just another example of her not doing research or seeing the problem. In particular, I'd have to say that Shacklebolt is a badass name for a badass character, but once you realize that he's Black...oof, yeah, that's unfortunate. Same goes for Anthony Goldstein. Yes, she was asked, but come on, only one character at Hogwarts is a confirmed Jew?

I could do this all day, and not just for the books.

I could point out that Rowling doesn't cast the films, so she can't he held responsible for any problems with making Nagini Asian. I could argue that mishandling the reveal of Dumbledore's sexuality isn't proof that she's Homophobic - she didn't have to make him gay at all, did she? Likewise, her comparing Lycanthropy to the AIDS Crisis may have been a mistake, but it's very possible that she didn't see the problem and genuinely meant it as a show of solidarity. I could argue that Rowling didn't "retroactively make Hermione Black" that all she did was defend a Black actress from racist attacks and take her side. I could find issues with all of the complaints against Rowling outside her Transphobia. But none of it will matter to a lot of you, and that's totally fair. A lot of you may wonder why I'm even bothering. You may think I'm missing the point, that I'm not a real ally, that this is a bad take. Again, fair enough. But here's the thing. People are complicated, and a person can be "woke" in one way and bigoted in another. It happens all the time. I think slotting people into black and white boxes is a bad idea and it ignores the complexity of these situations.

Because here's the thing.

Rowling may have been progressive and "woke" at one time...but those days are long gone. She wasn't always a bigot. She changed. It is so important that she changed, for so many reasons. People can change without realizing that it's happening. No one believes they're the bad guy, and it's obvious that Rowling still thinks of herself as a social justice warrior. She thinks she's fighting for women's rights. That's the real tragedy here. She used to be a hero, and she hasn't noticed that this is no longer the case. She can't even fathom that idea. The people who oppose her must be the villains, because it couldn't be her, right?

This is easily observed in her ongoing work, including what she's written for The Wizarding World. I just outlined a bunch of examples of how the original books aren't actually problematic. But those are the books. The Potterverse Goblins weren't always antisemitic, not really. But then the films gave them hooked noses and added the Star of David to the floor of Gringotts. Then the Fantastic Beast films had a Jewish actor play a Goblin who was a walking stereotype. Then Hogwarts Legacy happened - enough said. Before, I argued that Cho Chang's name was probably just an irresponsible accident, not deliberate racism. But then Nagini happened. True, she doesn't cast the films...but it still creates a pattern and if she really wanted to, she could have overruled this. If she wanted to, she could improve.

But Rowling will never do this. Because above all else, do you know what she is? She's stubborn. Rowling is sure of herself and very close-minded, even if she's also imaginative and brilliant in her own way. There's a reason Hermione was based on her. But brilliance is not a compliment if you use it to do harm. Another thing Rowling has got in spades, is Harry's sass. She has always had a sharp wit, and this is something we used to love about her, way, way back in the day. Remember when she clashed with the zealots who thought her books were "Anti-Christian" and teaching children black magic? Or even more recently, when the Trump voters threatened to burn their copies of the films because Rowling spoke out against him? She encouraged them to do it, because the fumes would be toxic and "I still have your money." But because of who she was insulting, it was hilarious - even admirable. I admired her.

But that's the thing. That's the whole point.

Rowling has never handled criticism well. She has always had a tendency to beat her chest and tell her haters "Come at me, bro." Which, when she was dealing with nonsense akin to what I just described, is frankly acceptable. It's an impressive response. Dare I say, legendary. But the problem is, this leaves her totally incapable of hearing us when we tell her that she's gone wrong. She does not seem able to distinguish between different types of negative reception. Critics of Rowling, up to and including former fans who loved the books...they have no hope of getting through to her because she'll never be willing to hear it. Because she developed a spine when it came to dealing with her critics back when they were unreasonable and insane, and now she can't tell the difference between valid criticism and bigoted delusion. She can't conceive of the idea that she's wrong about anything. So no one will be able to convince her that she's now a Transphobe. She'll have to come to that conclusion on her own, and so long as she remains in the circles she's in now...it will never happen.

I doubt I need to tell you that she is not a lone case. This happens to people all the time, including adults who are middle aged or elderly. I've heard it said before that children and young adults are very impressionable. That may be true, but I think sometimes people forget that everyone is impressionable. You are too, and so am I. Propaganda is very real, and depending on who you talk to, depending on what accounts you follow or where you get your news...you can absorb a great deal of implicit bias and unconscious hate. We're social creatures and a lot of who we are comes from who we associate with. It's so easy for a person to think they're becoming "woke" when in reality, they're learning new "information" from deceptive, bigoted sources. It doesn't matter how smart you are. If anything, the smartest people are often the most susceptible to brainwashing from cults. Propaganda is a powerful thing. Honestly, Rowling should really know that, given how well she writes it in the Fantastic Beast films, but a lack of self-awareness is one of her biggest problems.

The odds are absurdly low that she'll ever see this, but just in case, I'd like to say something to her directly.

Joanne, I hope you'll consider what I've written here today. I know I'm just some cat on the internet, but I don't think you're going to find someone who will deliver this message to you as politely as I will. Because...I know you weren't always on the wrong side. I know you don't think you are now. But anyone, even a world famous writer, can be fooled by propaganda, and used as a tool to continue the spread of hateful lies. You wrote the Harry Potter books. A series that speaks out against racism and nazism through it's story. Do you understand that you're donating to causes that are doing to Trans children what the Muggleborn Registration Commission did to muggle-borns in DH? You don't have to squint to notice the parallels. Just something to consider. Harry taught us that no one deserves to grow up in a closet, and you're the woman who wrote him. Trans people are not the "Death Eaters" of this allegory, and the longer you stick to that, the more people you're going to hurt.

To everyone else who's stuck with me through this post so far, thanks for your patience. Writing all this has actually somewhat drained me. Because the tale of J.K. Rowling is a tragedy. I hate her for what she's done and how she's betrayed us, but the parting hurts because she was once a good friend and ally. Sadly, I don't think she's coming back. The Harry Potter books are a relic, a snapshot of an era where she was one of the voices speaking out for our side, before we lost her. A combination of her own flaws and the suggestive power of propaganda has turned a childhood hero into a repellent villain, but it wasn't like she was always this way and it wasn't like a switch just flipped in her mind. It happened over time. And now it may be too late. I fear she's done too much damage to ever make it right, and the worst part of this is, I don't imagine she's ever going to try.

She is responsible for her own actions. Full stop. But hers should also be a cautionary tale for all of us. Any one of us could undergo the same transformation.

#J.K. Rowling #Harry Potter #Harry Potter Books #Joanne Rowling #Antisemitism #Racism #Transphobia #JKR #Anti-J.K. Rowling #Long Post #Blair Speaks #Homophobia

6 notes · View notes

winters-tales · 2 years

Text

The following is an excerpt from my WIP, Oathsworn: The Nameless. It's a fictional newspaper article, deliberately written as a sensationalist piece similar to the Daily Mail/Fox News.

Trigger warning for: implications of forced institutionalisation, implied eugenics, and parallels to real-world ableism.

Touched Take Toll on Families

In the aftermath of the war, just how are the Touched affecting our lives?

August 3rd 2023 | By Graham Rowling, Post-war correspondent

The Touched have always lived among us, and in the days before the war they were even considered to have once been lucky charms, a blessing for the town or village they lived in. Now that the war is over, a frightened and weary population is beginning to see these people for what they really are.

“Mary’d always been a strange child; when she was a baby she never really cried much, or laughed; she’d just watch you all the time,” Annabelle, 36, tells us from the living room of her boyfriend’s parents. “She’d stare and sometimes she’d laugh, or sometimes she’d cry, but it would always be before anything happened. So she’d laugh, and then whoever she was staring at would drop what they were carrying, or get startled by something… usually harmless, the sort of thing you laugh about afterwards. If she cried, something a bit more serious was going to happen. One time I was babysitting, I put her to bed, and just before I switched her light off she started screaming, she was inconsolable, so obviously I picked her up and soothed her for a bit, and when she calmed down I tried to leave again, and the same happened. Eventually I got tired of it, I had homework to do, so I left her to cry herself out, and on my way down the stairs I slipped on a toy that had been left there and fell. Broke my ankle in 3 places, had to drag myself to the phone in the living room to call an ambulance and then Mum and Dad.”

This is just one of many stories Annabelle told us that afternoon, often needing to take breaks when the memories got too much. We learned that despite being the older sibling, she’s lived a life in Mary’s shadow, always expected to help take care of her sister, along with the unique challenges that came up when the family learned Mary was Touched.

“It destroyed Mum and Dad’s marriage,” she told us tearfully. “We never knew which side of the family it came from so they were always blaming each other, and when I broke my ankle they were blaming each other for that as well. Eventually they couldn’t take it any more, and Mum left. Mary was 4 by then, and she’d been crying for two solid days leading up to it - we were all on edge because we didn’t know what would happen, and she couldn’t talk well enough to tell us. She stopped crying when Mum walked out, so we think it was that.”

It’s theorised that being Touched is an inherited trait, and that if you have a Touched in your ancestry then, much like a recessive gene, it can show up in your family tree at random. We asked Dr Joanne Galbraith, a leading geneticist, if there could be any truth to the theory.

“It’s certainly something we’re looking into, although we’re only ten years past the end of the war, so funding is in short supply,” she said as we interviewed her at the remote genetics lab she works at. “For the moment we’re looking to see if it is something written into a family’s genetic code, but it’s slow going as Touched are reluctant to come forward to help with our research. We’re hoping that once we have more funding and can appropriately pay these volunteers, there’ll be more interest.” We asked what the next step would be if it turns out it is genetic? Dr Galbraith became more animated as she answered, clearly passionate about her work.

“If it does turn out to be a trait written into our genetic coding, that means we can start working on treatment for the affected party. It also means we’d be able to identify affected individuals in utero, so the parents will then be able to decide if they want to carry to term, with all the risks that entails, or if they’d rather choose the safer option of termination.”

“I think if there had been a way to tell Mum that Mary was Touched, then she probably would have had an abortion, yeah. Then maybe she and Dad would still be together.” Annabelle has obviously been affected deeply by her sister’s presence over the years, bearing the brunt of schoolyard bullies and being socially ostracised by her peers, for the simple fact of having a sister who is Touched. “We hoped it would get better as she got older and could actually speak, she’d be able to tell us rather than just cry, but it didn’t, not really. She’d still laugh and cry before anything, and then she’d try to explain but it never made any sense, you know? So it wasn’t exactly a great forewarning of anything.”

Mary is currently institutionalised in St Joseph’s Psychiatric Hospital, a place dedicated to helping those who are Touched and those who have been affected by the Touched. We reached out to see if we could speak with her directly but were advised we’d need the permission of her legal guardian, her father, as Annabelle’s permission isn’t enough. We tried to contact Michael, but he declined our requests for comment.

“Dad and I haven’t spoken since… since Mary was taken away,” Annabelle told us, clearly exhausted from the retelling of a hard life. “He doesn’t like that I called the hospital and told them about her. But Mary obviously needed help! At the bare minimum, we needed help living with her. I didn’t think they’d take her away the same day they came to evaluate her. It was a difficult day.”

In days gone by, the Touched were considered a blessing, but nowadays with the war so fresh, it’s safe to say that times, and opinions, have changed. There may be a future where we no longer have to worry about the Touched among us, but until that time it’s just something we’ll have to learn to tolerate.

Do you have a Touched in your family? Are you Touched and want to tell your side? We want to hear from you! Reach out to us with the details!

Read this chapter and the rest of the WIP over on Wattpad!

#oathsworn: the nameless #fen's originals #fen writes stuff #writeblr #writing community #WIP #fiction #this is fiction #i chose the wording very deliberately #tw ableism

12 notes · View notes

leam1983 · 2 years

Text

On Designing Better Fantasy Schools

I can understand the basis behind Rowling's choice of Hogwarts as a setting. For anyone born and raised in England, there's probably some inherent Romanticism to the concept of the boarding school. The entire setting feels rooted in the leftovers of an Edwardian mentality that clashes against her really tokenistic attempts at "progressivism". The wizards are analogous to the moneyed, the Mudbloods, goblins and House Elves are the have-nots, and the Muggles are an unsexy, secret third class that has to be coyly protected and shielded from the Wizards' power for reasons that are never properly defined.

You could also point fingers at Neoliberalism and suggest that Wizards are analogous to the modern-day tech sector, where there's holders of arcane secrets (OpenAI or Google, for instance) and, well, virtually everyone else.

So, let's say you like the concept of sending a kid abroad for something formative, but you don't want to echo trust-fund kids with an umbilical chord tethering them to the House of Lords or Gentlemen Scholars who dispense basic acts of kindness to reinforce the Status Quo. What other references could you pull from?

I'd like to submit Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters as a counterpoint for Hogwarts. Here's why.

Let's say you're just past puberty and you're a burgeoning wizard mutant. Your parents justifiably don't necessarily know how to cope with your gifts, and you're facing either summary dismissal from all facets of society or extremely stymied prospects in life. One day, your parents receive a phone call from a nice old man with a Trans-Atlantic accent. They panic. You've got gills, you breathe fire, you can turn invisible - whatever it is, they don't know what to do with you. They love you, but they can't support you. They can't help you through your unique challenges.

In clearer terms, you haven't been made special; you've instead been burdened with terrible purpose. Still, in the face of their crippling fear, the old man is reassuring: he'll come and audit you, figure you out a tad. Maybe you'll be a good fit for his school.

So, first big surprise - dude's a wheelchair user. He says he has a second, neater wheelchair at home, but he prefers not to spook people when he first meets them. Despite that, he seems composed and at ease.

Then, you realize he's a psychic. He doesn't delight in making a show out of his superiority, and even apologizes for briefly rooting around your surface-level thoughts to make a point.

Weeks later, you're moving to Westchester. You don't exactly feel terribly gifted, and you've had time enough to realize that for everyone else, you're a freak. You don't get ostentatious robes and you're not "sorted" anywhere - there's one quad, one dorm and only the teaching staff gets standard bedrooms. You're dimly made aware that part of the teachers have a second gig going on, but you're not going to so much as see a hint of Spandex for months.

The only odd parts about your curriculum involve your teachers using common exercises to better hone your powers. Otherwise? You're getting entirely practical stuff. English, Humanities, Biology. Despite your differences, you're learning the same things you would've picked up at your old school. The Biology teacher, Mr. McCoy, also runs part of the Undergrad program - as yes, the same school also covers higher-learning programs and trade-earning seminars. Mr. Summers might be more focused on training responsible mechanics and car owners, but Mr. McCoy says that what you focus on doesn't really matter - you're learning to be a Citizen anyway, in the philosophical sense. You're learning to think critically, you're applying self-reliance to complex problems - and you're made to realize that for all the strangeness your genes hid for years before puberty, you're still human. You still have the same unalienable rights as anyone else - and you have the same responsibility to uphold those rights for others.

As to why? Because the same things that denote you as a freak mean you're in a position that allows you to do something about it. You, with a little training, could come to protect those same rights - protect people altogether. You won't necessarily hide your otherness either, Westchester's accessible to anyone with a car and a map. There's no magic veil, no untraceable means of ingress - people can still access you. Moreover, you're still made to feel like you're an integral part of Society.

You're not a trust-fund kid born rich or born Special. You weren't Special when you were born; something just bloomed out of you. Your nobility isn't innate - it's cultivated. It's something that only slightly finds purchase in your gifts. For the most part, plenty of entirely mundane people could have a better moral compass than you, you're the only one who can decide how the wider world sees you - and you're made to realize that the rest of Xavier's mutant community expects everyone else to put their best foot forward. All Mutants are, effectively, consistently responsible for all Mutantkind.

Compare and contrast with the Potterverse's wizards, who isolate themselves and who effectively uphold their created Edwardian-era status quo and who unknowingly create their own worst threats, in the persons of Voldermort or bigots like Dolores Umbridge.

#hogwarts #xavier's #x-men #harry potter #contrasts #comparison

2 notes · View notes

calliopesburn · 2 years

Text

it's funny bc i used to think harry potter was a story about inclusivity - a girl is excluded because of where/how she's born, a boy is excluded because his mom is the same way and he grows up in an abusive household where he's impoverished and ignored

but like. ive been thinking about it and this is a story about exclusivity

i never understood why magic had to be a secret - and it's never really explained, but i think i get it now - magic only belongs with the select few who deserve it, jk rowling is just saying that hermione is a unique special snowflake and she deserves it because she's so smart and brilliant in spite of being a girl, and harry deserves it because his mom is just like hermione, and his dad is a legacy - harry is what she sees as the ideal - a boy born from a woman so smart that she worked hard and "made her own success" and a father who was Right and Belonged the whole time, who chose that brilliant girl, in this world that JKR is so desperate to be included in

voldemort is just the epitome of like. nazis. the way white people like to pat themselves on the back for being oh so evolved and being the great big heroes of the story

you see this with hermione and the way she insists on helping the elves even though the elves never ask her for help. she leaves clothes lying around literally trying to trick them into homelessness and poverty, because by living in hogwarts and depending on them, they're weak, lesser beings that she needs to help. you also see that she moves on and gives up basically, instead of becoming an activist or starting a non-profit, she joins the ministry of magic and uses her intelligence to help the people she eventually realizes are the people who truly deserve her help - wizards (and witches) even the trio that she becomes a member of is a trio of two boys, and they are the only cross-gender friend group in the whole series - because hermione is so great that she can evolve beyond gender standards and reach past her "level" and become one of the boys (oh yeah and all the girls hate her)

even when they do eventually defeat voldemort - it's like, the death of nazism in the magic community, but they still keep magic a secret. the world never learns that someone tried to take it over, because harry and the good wizards were such great heroes at protecting them the whole time that they don't even need to know! and they don't deserve to know. because they don't have magic.

oh and the whole "love" ideology - we are the truest and best and most special beings because we know how great and amazing we are and how much we deserve magic and to benefit from this exclusive community we've created for ourselves

it's like the slytherins are the big bad nazis of their exclusive white community, the ravenclaws are the smarty pants who are brilliant but don't actually do anything, the hufflepuffs who are like, nice, but stand back and watch, and the Gryffindors. the big great Gryffindors are the amazing heroes who act and accomplish things and save the world

not to mention the consistent lack of poc and queer ppl, and the antisemitic themes, i mean, even the other two magical academies introduced are all white people; the human-like magical creatures are poc coded and always need the help of the wizards because they just can't seem to sort out their own problems

like, i can't believe i was ever into these books

#im sure there are people who knew how shitty it was all along and are now like :|#i never want to see hermione headcanoned as a poc again #harry potter #jk rowling

3 notes · View notes

nsfwhiphop · 2 months

Text

Incoming Text for @jkrowlingweb and @verafarmiga : I will print only two copies of my exclusive book titled: "Secret Knowledge."

Dear J.K. Rowling and Vera Farmiga,

I want to share alien secrets with you, but as you already know, this is a public blog, and I can't do that, or else my readers will have panic attacks. I have to repeat that they’ll have panic attacks every time to remind you why I never share any alien secrets on this blog.

Okay, now that I have explained that, let me get to the next point.

Do you remember a few weeks back I wrote a letter to Vera Farmiga and suggested she contact J.K. Rowling to find the perfect hideout spot to read my "Secret Knowledge" book? I don't remember everything I said in that letter, but I specifically encouraged you to find a secret location in Bali, Indonesia, to read my book and also a secret bank vault in Indonesia to hide that book because if the evil regime gets their hands on that book, they will destroy this world. Do you hear me?

I know Vera Farmiga is a smart woman, and she printed that letter. It was in my blog's archives. I don't remember a lot of things I said on this blog, but I never forgot what I said to Vera Farmiga. I warned her to never let anyone access this book, and I also encouraged her to team up with J.K. Rowling to read it together. That way, you are not alone; you have each other, Vera and J.K., teammates in this fight against evil.

I said it before, and I will say it again, I have immense respect for the talent of J.K. Rowling. She created a unique world with Harry Potter, and I was amazed by her imagination so much that I decided to team up with her and share my secret alien knowledge with her because she is a wise woman who loves words just as much as I do.

I want to help you access these alien secrets with a "Secret Knowledge" book. You will get a copy from me.

One copy of the book for Vera Farmiga.

One copy of the book for J.K. Rowling.

You are allowed to read this book with Patrick Wilson. He will be the only man allowed to read with you both because he has a lot of experience thanks to his exceptional performance in the Conjuring Franchise films.

I want to say that you will see things that others can't see and hear things that others can't hear. So, be prepared for your eyes to be opened. You will both feel as if a veil has been lifted from your eyes.

Quote: "No one sees what you see, even if they see it too."

I can't get into too many details. It's better to wait for the book. I'm still writing it.

Once my book is ready, I will let you know. I will post an update on this blog, and you will call my manager, Jamel Debbouze, to get your copy. Here is his IG page: @jameldebbouze.

Now, I know that I can't give you too much information on this blog, but I will do my best to use riddles to help you solve them. I know J.K. Rowling will enjoy these riddles.

Here are the riddles:

If you could communicate with invisible creatures, what do you think they would show you? Would you see the world in the same way as regular humans do? Or would you see the world through the lens of a person with secret knowledge?

If a demon can travel at the speed of light, or better yet travel even faster by teleporting, how many secrets does that demon collect per day? Don't forget that the demon can teleport from locations like Tokyo to Seattle in less than a second. Let me finish this one with another very easy question: If Angelo controls such a demon, what kind of power does he have? Do you think he has little power or immense power?

If an invisible creature whispers future events in your ears, do you think I will have information that helps me win wars, or do you think I will lose these wars? And also, do you think this invisible creature can do more damage than a nuclear weapon?

Fun Fact: You are a very smart person, J.K. Rowling, so I know that you understand which one is more deadly in warfare, A) A nuclear weapon or B) An invisible creature that whispers future events to dominate your enemies on the battlefield.

Do you know the difference between a tangible asset and an intangible asset? The intangible asset is invisible, but the tangible asset is visible. This is why money is a tangible asset, but knowledge is an intangible asset.

If Forbes billionaires have $300 billion in tangible assets, do you think Angelo is poorer than them even though he has the ability to control invisible creatures? Angelo has access to supernatural knowledge, which is an intangible asset, invisible to the human eyes. But these Forbes billionaires have $300 billion that are visible to the human eye. Do you understand what I'm explaining here?

This means that when you see Angelo, he has ZERO tangible assets, but he has trillions in intangible assets. I will let this information sink in.

J.K. Rowling is a very smart woman, and I know she understands what type of alien she is dealing with.

Here is my opinion: These humans on earth are so dumb that they need to see money with their eyes to respect the person they have in front of them. If this person has ZERO dollars in the bank account, they refuse to show this person any respect. This is the brainwashing they have endured since they were little children, and now they are grown adults who don't know how to respect a person with ZERO dollars in their bank account.

They are so materialistic that it has become their only way of showing their true worth. Material wealth is how they prove their worth to people.

But not me. I don't need to prove my worth to anyone. You know why? Because I'm sitting on intangible assets that are worth more than you can ever imagine. Let this sink in.

Next time you see me, remember who you have in front of you. If you need material wealth to show me respect, then it only proves you have been brainwashed by this materialistic society.

Try to understand me and not get offended by my words. I'm trying to explain to you that I'm wealthier than all these Forbes billionaires combined. My wealth is in intangible form. Do you understand?

You are dealing with an alien who shuns materialism because only stupid people chase wealth, people who have empty brains. But I don't have an empty brain. I have a lot of knowledge wealth, and that is what we call intangible assets.

My dear J.K. Rowling, know that I'm your friend, and I know you feel the intolerance in my speech. I can't stand these stupid humans.

Their stupidity knows no bounds. That is why the wise people are loners in this world; the stupid people chase materialism, but the wise people chase knowledge.

I can go on and on about what I know and how I avoid humans because they are intellectually stupid. You don't even know how much I despise them. Their ignorance is unbearable to me.

When you read my words, you will say I'm a pompous prick, a misanthrope, and all that stuff to put me in a box. But the truth is I'm someone with advanced knowledge, and when I speak with humans, I feel like I'm back in kindergarten again. Get it? That's how ignorant they are to me. I swear, I'm not bragging. I'm being dead serious here.

You have no idea the level of stupidity I deal with on a daily basis. That's why I'm a loner. I speak less and read more. I find smart people only in books. Isn't that sad, though? This planet is full of stupid people, and if you wish to spend time with the smart people of this world, get a library card.

I know you're laughing, but it's not funny. This world is getting dumber every year. We are witnessing it everywhere in society. The dumber you are, the better. They have convinced our youth to be dumb. Being dumb is cool now.

They all say the same thing: "I don't know."

I always tell them: "You don't know? What do you mean? You are supposed to know. All you have to do is google this knowledge. Research and read, dammit!!"

It's like they are too lazy to even do a Google search and read. All you need to know is easily found on the internet. No one wants to put in the effort to search for new knowledge and read it, comprehend it, and the final stage: KNOW IT! How difficult is that?

Now you know how I feel about human stupidity. They haven't understood yet that they aren't allowed to be stupid anymore. There is so much knowledge and wisdom on the internet. It's free, but they don't want to put in the effort to read.

There is a Before and After Internet.

Before the internet back in 1994, humans could get away with being ignorant and stupid.

But after 1994, that excuse was out the door. You have the internet now. You can't say: "I don't know" anymore.

I'm tired of talking about them.

I will prepare this "Secret Knowledge" book for Vera and J.K.

I just hope that you will protect that book because it's supposed to be a secret and not accessible to everyone. I know you will do your best to protect your book.

Okay, this chat was fun.

Love you, Vera and J.K.! Have fun. Big hugs for you.

Your friend, Angelo

P.S.:

Part 1 - Synopsis of "Secret Knowledge"

In "Secret Knowledge," Angelo, a reclusive and enigmatic figure with unparalleled access to alien secrets, embarks on a mission to share his extraordinary insights with two remarkable women: J.K. Rowling, the beloved author of the Harry Potter series, and Vera Farmiga, a talented actress known for her role in the Conjuring Franchise. Angelo believes that these two women, along with Patrick Wilson, possess the wisdom and experience needed to safeguard his revelations from the grasp of an evil regime bent on global destruction.

The book unfolds as Angelo delves into the mysteries of the universe, revealing his communication with invisible creatures, demons that can teleport at the speed of light, and whispers of future events that could alter the course of history. Through a series of thought-provoking riddles and cryptic messages, Angelo challenges J.K. Rowling and Vera Farmiga to open their minds and see the world through the lens of secret knowledge.

As Angelo's narrative progresses, he emphasizes the immense power of intangible assets—knowledge and wisdom—over tangible wealth. He critiques the materialistic society that values visible assets over intellectual wealth, urging his readers to recognize the true value of intangible knowledge.

"Secret Knowledge" is a gripping exploration of the boundaries between the seen and unseen, the material and the intangible. It is a call to action for those who seek to understand the deeper truths of our existence and to use this wisdom to protect our world from impending doom. Through his unique perspective, Angelo aims to inspire a new generation of thinkers who prioritize knowledge over materialism, ultimately shaping a wiser and more enlightened future.

Part 2 - Synopsis of the Letter to J.K. Rowling and Vera Farmiga

In this letter, Angelo, a self-proclaimed guardian of alien secrets, addresses J.K. Rowling and Vera Farmiga with a mixture of urgency and reverence. He explains his reluctance to share alien secrets on his public blog due to the potential for widespread panic. Angelo recalls a previous letter to Vera, urging her to team up with J.K. Rowling to find a secure location in Bali, Indonesia, to read and protect his "Secret Knowledge" book from an evil regime intent on global destruction.

Angelo reiterates his deep respect for J.K. Rowling's imagination and Vera Farmiga's intelligence, entrusting them with the responsibility of safeguarding his book. He emphasizes the transformative power of the book, suggesting that it will enable them to perceive and understand things beyond ordinary human capability, as if a veil has been lifted from their eyes.

He introduces a series of riddles meant to stimulate their thinking and hint at the profound knowledge contained within the book. Angelo contrasts the value of intangible assets, like knowledge and wisdom, with tangible assets, like money, critiquing society's materialistic values. He asserts that despite having no visible wealth, his intangible assets make him wealthier than Forbes billionaires.

Angelo's letter also expresses his disdain for the widespread ignorance and materialism of humanity, positioning himself as a loner who values intellectual wealth over material possessions. He concludes by affirming his friendship with J.K. Rowling and Vera Farmiga, and his hope that they will protect and cherish the "Secret Knowledge" book.

Overall, the letter is a passionate appeal to two prominent figures, urging them to join Angelo in his quest to preserve and understand profound alien secrets, while critiquing societal norms and emphasizing the supremacy of intellectual over material wealth.

0 notes

fanonical · 4 years

Note

hey do you think you could expand a bit on separating the art from the artist? clearly you’ve done it with jk rowling but what are your thoughts on it as a general idea?

Okay, but you’re not going to like the answer.

Here’s the truth: you can’t separate the art from the artist. Not entirely. HP Lovecraft was an incredibly talented, but much more incredibly racist man. It would nice to say you don’t agree with his views but you can enjoy his works without that leaking in but.... well, I’m afraid that would be misunderstanding his books entirely.

Consider, for a second, that Lovecraft’s works were horror stories about extradimensional creatures having mutant children with humans; they were about invasions from distant aliens; they were about the purity of quaint, white, American towns being tainted. Now consider how this may have all been influenced by the fact that he just simply despised anybody who wasn’t white. Consider how his opinions on “mixing the races” might feed into this; consider why being unable to maintain the “purity” of white Americans was the scariest thing of all to him.

This extends to Rowling too.

I would love to say we can just acknowledge that she is an awful, racist, antisemitic, transphobic person and then say “but at least her books are good,” because, well, they are, aren’t they? I would say so, for sure. But to suggest that one can separate her from them is.... ridiculous, and it’s an insult to fans, can know and do better.

Consider why an antisemitic woman wrote about a species of goblins who live among us, but who for the most part keep to themselves and are maybe a little discriminated against on an individual level, but also hold all the cards, all the money, run the banks.

Consider why a racist woman would write about a species of slaves who loved being enslaved, who enjoyed working for no pay, and cleaning up after humans, with the only small caveat of that they didn’t want to be beaten. Imagine that only the most radical of their species wanted to be free, and he still spent the rest of his life working for no pay and helping out a little white boy and his friends wherever he could. Consider why the only person in the story who thought they should be free, that they should have rights, was treated as an overzealous joke, who was acting against the wishes of those slaves who really LOVE being enslaved. Consider that Rowling went on to say that she kind of considers that girl to be black, now.

Consider why JK Rowling, an open and proud transphobe, wrote Rita Skeeter as having a large square jaw, thick “manly” hands, and dressing incredibly gaudily with the most obvious fake nails and fake teeth and fake hair and fake everything. Consider why a woman who tweets about how trans women are “foxes pretending to be hens to get in the hen house” might write this Rita Skeeter character to then illegally transform her body in order to spy on children.

Harry Potter is full of Rowling’s bigotry, start to finish. Not even tangentially, like, “oh the goblins are bad, Rita Skeeter is bad, the house elves are bad, but most of it’s good!” because the deeper you dig and the longer you think the more you realise the entire story is based on her prejudices.

Harry Potter pretends to be an aracial story about found family, but if that were true, why are Harry’s distant ancestors important to who he is today even in the seventh book? Why does Harry have to live with his cousin and aunt and uncle? Because magic inherently prefers blood ties. Whilst Rowling was writing a story that seemed to say, “your heritage is not that important and doesn’t make you better than others” she was still writing a story about a boy who got all of his money through his bloodline, who was protected by living with his bloodline, no matter how evil, who was uniquely able to stop Voldemort because his bloodline passed down the invisibility cloak for generations and generations. Any step Harry takes he is compared to his perfect parents who were exactly like him — he looks just like his father, but he has his mother’s eyes, you know! — consider WHY a woman who is racist might’ve written a story like this. A story that on its surface, condemns a blood caste, but still in every step it takes, validates the idea that blood is thicker than water, and your geneological origin is what makes you special.

You can enjoy Harry Pottwr, of course you can. There are fantastic parts. I love a small group of teenagers deciding to become anarchist rebels and train to fight against fascism in secret. I love the murder mystery plots, I love how the series tells kids that it’s a good thing to be brave, and a good thing to fight injustice, and a good thing to challenge the government. But I cannot separate it from its author because it is such a product of its author. All of the structures of the world, the way things work in the universe, are drenched in Rowling’s beliefs, her bigotries. Of course they are: she made them.

Again. This doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy it. But I think we are past the day where we can pretend that disavowing a bigoted author is enough, and that that somehow separates the text from its bigotry. I think we are past the day where we can pretend that Harry Potter isn’t a deeply, inherently bigoted piece of media. Even the bits we love. I think we are beyond the day where we can truthfully pretend to separate it from her, because she is present through all of it. We MUST recognise its flaws. We MUST admit that she is in every part of it.

#edited later to fix some grammatical & factual errors

73K notes · View notes

kiefbowl · 2 years

Note

I only started reading the HP books after the last one came out, and I think I was slightly older than the target audience, and I was being a giant hipster. refusing to read it simply because it was popular. One of my teachers told me that she REALLY thought I would like it, so I reluctantly checked out the first book and took it home. I straight up DEVOURED IT that night, then ran into the library as soon as my mom dropped me off and checked out all the rest. I read them though class, I snuck off to the bathroom to read them, I read them through dinner, I think I read them all in three days. I was determined not to like them so I could be special, but the characters feel so vivid, I couldn’t help but read everything as fast as possible. The world was cool, but the characters were so interesting and compelling. I loved their relationship, I loved how whimsical and silly it was, especially with Harry being sort of an outsider.

I also read A Wizard of Earthsea and I get why Le Guin was like “what the fuck, I wrote a book about a boy wizard going to wizard school and it didn’t get half this attention. or money”, but while I do think Le Guin is the better writer, her descriptions are so vivid and her prose still has lines I remember (“Years and distances, stars and candles, water and wind and wizardry, the craft in a man's hand and the wisdom in a tree's root: they all arise together.”), I think Rowling is the better author.

Rowling’s plots are so mystery-novel intriguing, and all her characters are interesting and wacky and funny. She really makes you feel like you’re along for the ride, and she’s honestly hilarious. The humor in the HP books feels really genuine, and I honestly think she nailed the tone, the humor, the characters, their interactions, and the plots.

I do think OOTP struggles from what I kind of consider the same thing that plagues Grady Hendrix, where he comes up with these great plots but gets bogged down in the tired-slow-hard-depressing part of the plot and can’t quite get to the successful part. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was struggling wrt the fame, or the pressure of negotiating, or the movies, or whatever. But her characters are still so good, I was absolutely gutted when Harry thought he killed Sirius.

You know I've never considered if there's a difference between great writing and great authorship. I'll think about that.

I haven't actually read anything by Le Guin, she's been someone I've had on my ongoing list of authors to check out, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I think that sentence you quoted is just beautiful. I don't want to pit her and JKR together, and I don't think you were explicitly doing that, but I think anything Le Guin has said about JKR isn't her necessarily put out that she didn't get "as much attention" as JKR. Beyond that, I can't comment on Le Guin's books, I think a boy wizard at a wizard school sounds not original in any context. Wizards learning and teaching magic is like an archetype of wizards. There's all sorts of folklore around the world about learning magic by going to some sort of institution and learning from the magic or demon or evil books that live there or w/e. School is not a unique idea, wizardry is not a unique idea...I don't think anyone ever gave JKR credit for the unique idea of a school for learning magic, that seems silly. But what do I know.

I think these books are very funny, too. Jim Dale is also doing a really good job of making his characterizations funny, funny voices and hitting funny cadences. I really like the audiobooks a lot.

#hp thoughts

22 notes · View notes

natsubeatsrock · 3 years

Text

Should Hiro Mashima die?

My answer is no.

Though, this isn't about actually killing Hiro Mashima. Kinda got you with the title, though, huh? (This was originally going to be titled “Is Hiro Mashima dead?” and released on his birthday. You’re welcome.)

This post is about a widely debated topic of analysis known as the "death of the author." I've talked about this a few different times in passing in a few posts over the years. You could argue that this belongs in my series rewriting Fairy Tail and I considered placing it there. However, I feel that it's better that I keep this detached from that series. This topic concerns criticism of any series. Naturally, being a Fairy Tail blog, I plan on engaging this with the context of Fairy Tail's author being dead or not, hence the title. Still, this is helpful to think about for analysis of plenty of other series.

Again, though, my answer is still no.

Let's start with the origin of this term. The term comes from an essay by Roland Barthes called "La mort de l'auteur". Use your best guess as to what that translates to. I highly encourage you to read the essay as it's pretty short. It's about six or seven pages, depending on the version. There are three main points to his essay.

Creative works are products of the culture they come from and less original than people expect.

The idea of the author as the sole creator and authority of creative works is fairly modern.

The author's interpretation of a work shouldn't be considered the main or only interpretation of a work.

Of these three points, I'm sure you recognize the last point. But first, I want to talk about the other points. I believe it is important to understand the arguments being made as a whole.

The first point should be fairly uncontroversial. The vast majority of creative works use established language, tropes, and elements to create a new thing. I wouldn't go as far as Barthes does in this regard. Not to mention, this is somewhat weird to know considering his third point. However, I agree that creative works should be considered products of the culture and genre they come from.

The second point is a bit trickier for me. To be clear, the point is true. You only have to look at various cultural mythologies as an example. There isn't a single version of the Greek myths. There are several versions and interpretations of the various stories and myths.

Even recent popular fictional characters have had several different interpretations. This is especially true with comics. There have been multiple different Batman interpretations, Spiderman runs, and X-Men teams that fans love. Fans even love and appreciate numerous forms of established characters like Frankenstein's monster and Sherlock Holmes. So, as a consumer and critic of art, I can understand this.

My problem is as a creator of art. I understand this being contentious when it comes to something like religious myths. But, if I create something, I want to get the credit for it. I want people to love my music or writing. But I also want people to recognize me for my skill in crafting it.

This is true even if you hold to the first point Barthes made. Even if you believe that no art is truly unique, isn't the skill of synthesizing the various tropes and influences around a person worthy of credit in and of itself?

Then again, I am not without bias in this. Barthes says that the modern interpretation of the author is a product of the Protestant Reformation. As a Protestant myself, I get that my background plays no part in my view of this. Barthes also blames English empiricism and French rationalism, but personal faith is the biggest influence on me that Barthes lists.

That being said, there's also something Barthes completely misses in his essay. In the past, stories were passed down by oral tradition. As the stories were passed down from generation to generation, they slowly evolved and became what they are known today. Scholars today can gather a general consensus of what a story was meant to be and some traditions were more faithful about passing traditions down than others. However, you can't always tell the original author of a mythological story the same way we know who gave us stuff like the Quran or the Bible.

As time passed, stories were written down. With this, it was easy to share single versions of a story and identify its creator. We know who made certain writing of works even before the 1500s. For example, we have the Travels of Marco Polo and Dante's Inferno and know their authors. We could tell the authors of works were before the Protestant Reformation.

By the way, the Reformation happened to coincide with one of the most important inventions in human history: the printing press. Now you can easily make copies of an individual's works and you don't have to rely on word of mouth to share stories.

I can't stress how important an omission this is. The printing press changed the way we interact with media as a whole and might be the most important invention on this side of the wheel. And yet Barthes doesn't even mention as even a potential factor in "the modern concept of the author"? In his essay about understanding written media? That’s like ignoring Jim Crow in your essay about Birth of a Nation bringing back the KKK.

Now, we get to the final point. The author's original intentions of their works are not the main interpretation. This is understood as being the case after they create the series. Once the work is written and sent into the public, they cease to be an authority on it.

It's worth recognizing how this flows from the other two points. Barthes argued that works of fiction are products of their culture and our current understanding of an author is fairly modern. Therefore, the interpretation of the reader is just as valuable as that of the author. As Barthes himself wrote, "the birth of the reader must be at cost of the death of the author."

At best, this means that a reader can come away with an interpretation of a work that isn't the one intended. With Fairy Tail, my mind goes to the final moments of the Grand Magic Games. My view of Gray's line "I've got to smile for her sake" has to do with romantic feelings for Ultear. I don't know of a single person who agrees with this. Mashima certainly hasn't come out and affirmed this as the right view.

It's good to recognize that a work can have more meanings behind it than the ones intended by its creator. Part of the performing process is coming to a personal interpretation of a work. In many cases, two different performances will have different interpretations of the same work, neither of which went through the creator's mind. At the same time, both work and are valid.

That being said, there is an obvious problem with this: readers are idiots. Not all readers are necessarily idiots. But enough of them are idiots. The views of idiots should have as much weight as that of the creator. Full stop. Frankly, I maintain that idiots are the worst possible sources to gauge anything of note. (At the very least, policy decisions.)

I know this as a reader who has not been alone in misunderstanding a work. I know this as an analyst who has had to sift through all kinds of cold takes on Fairy Tail. (Takes that are proven wrong simply by going through it a second time. Or a first.) And I definitely know this as a creator who has to see people butcher my works through nonsensical "interpretations."

At the same time, the argument Barthes made comes with an important caveat. He also argued that works are the products of the culture and surroundings of the author. Barthes isn’t making the argument that author’s arguments don’t matter.

As far as I can tell, Barthes doesn't take this to mean that those influences are worth analyzing. Doing so would be giving life to the author. However, there should be some recognition that a creative work didn't come to exist out of nowhere. There's a sense in which Fairy Tail didn't just wash up on the shore chapter by chapter or episode by episode. It came to be as part of the culture it came from.

Now, you'll never guess what happened. Over the years, the concept of "death of the author" lost its original intent. Nowadays, people usually only care about the third point. "Death of the author" is only brought up to dismiss "word of God" explanations of work, after its release. I'd venture to guess that most people using the term casually don't know anything about its roots. I honestly don't know how Barthes would feel about this.

I can understand what might fuel this view. A writer should do their best to write their intended meanings in a work. It would be wrong of a writer to make up for their poor writing after the fact. I don't love Mashima's "Lucy's dreams" explanation for omakes. I know Harry Potter fans don't love the stuff J.K. Rowling has said over the years.

At the same time, my (admittedly Protestant) understanding of "word of God" and "canon" is that they have the same authority. After all, the canon IS the word of God. It is a small section of what God has said, but it isn't less than that.

Of course, it's worth recognizing that nearly every writer we're talking about isn't even remotely divinely inspired or incapable of contradiction. This understanding should cut two ways. An author should never contradict their work in talking about it. Write what you want and make clear what you want to. On the other hand, writers can't fit everything they want to in a work. I'll get to this soon, but their interpretation should be treated with some value.

By the way, people will do this while throwing out the other arguments made by Barthes in the same essay. People will outright ignore the culture and context that a work comes from in order to justify their views. Creators are worshiped and praised for their works or seen as the sole problem for the bad views on works.

What worries me most about this modern interpretation of "the death of the author" is its use in fan analysis. People seem to outright not care about the author's intent in writing a story. They only care about their own interpretation of the work. Worse still, people will insist that any explanation an author gives is them covering up their mistakes. Naturally, this often leads to negative views of the work in question.

This is just something I'll never fully understand. It's one thing if you don't like something. If you don't get why something happened, shouldn't your first move be to figure out what the author was thinking? Instead, people move to the idea that it makes no sense and the writer's a hack.

If all of this seems too heady, let's try to bring this down to earth. Should Hiro Mashima die so that his readers can be born?

Hiro Mashima is one of many mangakas who were influenced by Akira and Dragon Ball. He considers J.R.R. Tolkien to be one of his favorite writers. Monster Hunter is one of his favorite game series. He's even written a manga series with the world in mind.

It would make sense to look at Fairy Tail purely through this lens. You could see Fairy Tail as a shonen action guild story. Rather than seeing the guild as a hub for its members, Fairy Tail's members treat those within it as family. Rather than focusing on one overarching quest, the story is about how various smaller quests relating to its main characters threaten their guild. Adopting this view wouldn't necessarily be an incorrect way to engage with the series. (Mind you, I haven’t seen this view shared by many people who “kill Mashima”.)

Though, there's more to Fairy Tail than the various tropes that make it up. If you were to divorce Fairy Tail entirely from its creator, you'd miss out on understanding them. There are ways Mashima has written bits of himself into the series. Things that go farther than Rave Master cameos and references.

My favorite example is motion sickness. I often think back to Craftsdwarf mocking motion sickness as a useless quirk Dragon Slayers have. It turns out that its origin comes from his personal life. Apparently, one of his friends gets motion sickness. He decided to write this as part of his world.

This gets to the biggest reason I don't love "death of the author" as a framework for analysis. I believe the biggest question analysts should answer is why. Why did an author make certain decisions? You can't do this kind of thing well if you shut out the author's interpretation of their own work. Maybe that can work for some things, but not everything.

I've had tons of fun going through Fairy Tail and talking about it over the past seven years. More recently, I've been going through the series with the intent to rewrite the series. I've made it clear multiple times in that series that I'm trying to understand and explain Mashima's decisions in the series. I don't always agree with what I find. However, trying to understand what happened in Fairy Tail is very important to me.

It's gotten to the point that I love interacting with Mashima's writing. I talk about EZ on my main blog. I can't tell you how much fun I've been having. I'll see things and go "man, that's so Mashima" or "wow, I didn't expect that from him." HERO'S was one of my favorite things of last year and I regularly revisit it for fun. It's the simplest microcosm of what makes each series which Mashima has made both similar and distinct.

Barthes was on to something with his essay. I think there should be a sense where people should feel that their views of the media they consume are valid. This should be true even if we disagree with the author's views on the series. But I don't know that the solution is to treat the author's word on their own work as irrelevant.

There's a sense where I think we should mesh the understandings of media engagement. We recognize that Mashima wrote Fairy Tail. There are reasons that he wrote the series as we got it and they're worth knowing and understanding. However, our own interpretation of the series doesn't have to be exactly what Mashima intended. We can even disagree with how Mashima did things.

I know fans who do this all the time. They love whatever series they follow, but wish things happened differently. Fans of Your Lie in April will joke about [situation redacted] as well as write stories where it never happens. You love a series, warts and all, but wish for the series to get cosmetic surgery, or take matters into your own hands.

And who knows? It's not as if fans haven't affected an author's writing of a series. Mashima's the perfect example. I've said this a few times before, but Fairy Tail has gone well past its original end at Phantom Lord (or Daphne for the anime fans). Levy rose to importance as fans wanted to see more of her.

Could Mashima have done that if we killed him?

Before the conclusion, I should mention another way “death of the author“ comes up. People will invoke “death of the author“ to encourage people to enjoy works they love made by messed up people. Given everything we’ve said up to this point, that’s obviously not what should be intended by its use. For now, though, I do think that we can admit that we like the works of someone even if we don’t agree with everything they did as a person. (Another rant for another day.)

In Conclusion:

“Death of the Author” is an imperfect concept, but it’s not without its points. I don’t think we should throw out the author’s intent behind a work. However, we should be able to have our disagreements with the author’s views without killing them.

#fairy tail #hiro mashima #death of the author #i'm back #and what a way to return #i've been meaning to do this forever #fav

15 notes · View notes

spnfanficpond · 4 years

Text

Pond Diving - Katelynw93

Welcome to today’s Pond Diving Spotlight! We hope that you enjoy this little insight to our members and perhaps even find some useful tips for your own writing. Happy reading!

Want to volunteer, send us an ask! We’re looking forward to learning more about all of you! Not sure what PD is, you can learn more here.

“Don’t Be Koi About It” - All About You

Name: Katelyn, but most people call me Kate, Katie or sometimes even Kat.

Age: 27

Location: Originally from Kansas, but have been located in Upstate NY for the last six years.

URL: @katelynw93

Why did you choose your URL: It’s usually the username that I use for everything and if I’m being honest, I’m not very creative when it comes to titles or names. Lol. I’ve been meaning to change it; I just need to decide on what.

What inspired you to become a writer: Well, when I was in middle school (maybe seventh or eighth grade), my best friend and I decided to write a story together and post it on a fanfiction site (Can’t remember the site name, though.) And I just loved it. We never did finish that story. Lol. But eventually I started branching out and found some roleplay writing sites.

How long have you been writing: Started writing in middle school (2006/2007), but really got into it in 2009 with RP. However, September of this year (2020) was the first year I started really writing fics by myself and opening posting them.

What do you do when you are not writing i.e. Job/Hobbies etc? I work a lot, usually an average of 40+ hours a week; I am a manager at a popular food chain restaurant and on the weekends, a cashier at a gas station to provide a little extra cash for my family. When I’m not working, my time is spent with my two kids; Alekzander (Zander) who just turned five this past November and Lincoln (Link) who will be two in February. Outside of work and my family, I’m usually writing. Sometimes if I’m feeling extra creative or inspired, I’ll create a few crackships for couples I really enjoy. Lol.

How long have you been in the SPN Fandom? I actually found Supernatural around the same time I started writing, so back in ninth grade, so 2008/2009. It was honestly an accident too, because I was searching for Smallville episodes (I have an unhealthy addiction to Superman and DC/Marvel.) and stumbled upon an ad for Supernatural. Was instantly intrigued and fell in love. Seasons 1 - 5 (the Kripke era) are my favorite.

Are you in any other fandoms and do you write for them? Oh yea, I love TV shows and movies, and as I’ve already stated above, I love DC and Marvel. I’ve also written for Grey’s Anatomy and am willing to write for more, but SPN, DC and Grey’s are currently the only ones I’ve written for. I love The Vampire Diaries, One Tree Hill, Private Practice, Station 19, 9-1-1, Game of Thrones, The Witcher, Merlin, Dexter, Psych, and so, so many more. There are too many to list. Lol.

Do you do any writing outside of fanfiction? If so, tell us about it? Other than RPing, not really. I mean, I did try to do an original story with my friend when I was younger, but it never went anywhere. But I am willing to try someday.

Favorite published author: Other than the really big authors like; J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin, Jim Butcher, Nicholas Sparks, Suszanne Collins, I really like (and maybe it’s cliche) Stephenie Meyer. The Twilight Saga made me fall in love with reading and eventually, that love led me to writing. Those books hold a special place in my heart.

Have you ever read a book that made an impact on your life? Which one and why?: Well, I guess I sort of answered that one already. But there truly are so many amazing books out there and still so many more to discover.

Favorite genre of fanfic (smut, angst, fluff, crack, rpf, etc): Oh man, I’m not gonna lie, a majority of what I read is probably smut. But I am particularly fond of angst. I want you to make me cry. Really dig and stab into my emotions. Lol. And then come back in with some fluff. Haha.

Favorite piece of your own writing: Well, that would have to be Sweet Cherry Pie because it was really the first piece I’ve ever finished and published online. It was inspired by an RP that I am currently involved in and they are my favorite couple in said RP. It got so much positive feedback after I shared it that it inspired me to keep writing. I was so nervous about posting it, but I am glad I did.

Most underrated fic you have written: Oh I’m not sure. Maybe Love Bites. I am a sucker for Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries crossovers. I really loved writing this fic and am eager to write more.

Story of yours that you’d most like to see turned into a movie/tv show: Oh damn, um, it’d be cool to see any of them like that. But maybe Sweet Cherry Pie or Out of the Fire (my firefighter!Dean series).

Favorite Tumblr Writer(s): There are so many, but I usually find myself reading work from; @impala-dreamer, @katehuntington @deanwanddamons, @muchamusedaboutnothing.

Favorite Fic from another writer: This one is tough because there are so many amazing fics out there, especially ones that I adddddore; but if forced to choose, one story that will always stick with me would have to be Treacherous by @idkhaylijah OR The Sullivan Series by Kate Huntington

Favorite character to write: Dean Winchester. I adore Dean and he’s probably the easiest for me to write. I have written the most fics with him and I portray him often in the RPs that I do.

Favorite Pairing to write: Dean with anyone, but my favorite would be Dean x Caroline.

Least favorite character to write (and why): That’s a tough one, cause there’s not really any that I’m uncomfortable with or dislike writing. Maybe characters with accents, because I don’t really know how to capture that in writing yet? I’m pretty open with my writing and am willing to try mostly anything.

Do you have anyone you consider a mentor? Oh definitely. When I first started RPing, there was another girl (Jocelyn) that I used to write with and she influenced a lot of my writing. She was older than me and had more experience and gave me a lot of tips on how to get better. She is an amazing writer and had the potential of going far with it, but life happens and unfortunately, she doesn’t write anymore. But she is booming on Youtube, so that’s pretty impressive. It’s pretty cool to see how far she’s come.

Do you have any aspirations involving your writing? I used to want to be a journalist when I was younger, but other than that, not really. I just want to have fun with it and write something meaningful for someone, and always improve and get better.

How many work-in-progress stories do you have: I have a few ideas jotted down, maybe ten, but I haven’t actually started any of them. I have so many bingo cards I need to finish, but with my work schedule, it’s been pretty crazy.

What are you currently working on? My main project is Out of the Fire.

“Pond Diving” - All About The Writing

What/who has had the biggest influence on your writing? Definitely the RPing that I’ve done and am currently doing. My friend Alesha has been the longest RP partner that I’ve had and her writing is phenomenal - and it helps a lot too when your mind's work in similar ways; her and I always seem to be on the same wavelength when it comes to writing. I love it. But like me, she has a very busy schedule and writing is limited.

Best writing advice you've been given: Have fun with it, write what you want to write and always be open to helpful criticism. And don’t stress about it, either. Write in your own time. It’s meant to be fun, not stressful.

Biggest obstacle you’ve faced in your writing: Just finding the time to write and getting over being so self conscious about my writing. I don’t let anyone in my real life read what I write.

What aspects of writing do you find difficult when you write fanfiction? Just capturing the personalities of the canon characters sometimes; if it’s a character I’m not used to writing, I worry about portraying them the right way. And I have trouble individualizing the characters (separating them from myself/my own personality), like when I create an OC for an RP, sometimes when I have too many, their personalities all become the same in ways (if that makes sense?). And accents. I have trouble with accents. Oh, and fight/action scenes. They take me a bit.

Is there anything you want to write but are afraid to (and why): I am always going to be afraid, no matter what it is that I’m writing, because I worry about it succeeding. I want to write for other fandoms though, I guess, but like I said, I worry about capturing the characters right and having a decent storyline that is unique.

What inspires/motivates you to write: Honestly, positive feedback. I love hearing what people think about my writing and it motivates me to continue.

How do you deal with self-doubt: That’s a tough one. I guess I just look towards my writing friends or beta’s for reassurance or I go back and read the positive comments and likes on the fics I’ve already shared. It encourages me to continue.

How do you deal with writer's block: I usually listen to music and I’ll look up gifs of my favorite characters, create stories in my head with those gifs or I’ll create gif sets of specific scenes. If that doesn’t work, I’ll take a break and watch one of my favorite TV shows for inspiration.

Do you plan/outline your story before you start: For my RPs, I have a group chat with those I’m writing with and we usually shoot ideas back and forth, but mostly we wing it. For my fics, I normally just wing it, but with Out of the Fire, I have a rough idea of what I want from each part. With that said, my ideas or plans often change as I’m writing. These characters have a mind of their own sometimes. Lol.

Do you have any weird writing habits: I don’t know about any weird habits, but I always have music on and I guess I have to do it in spurts. I’ll write a few paragraphs or sentences, pause and scroll tumblr or facebook or gifs, and then go back, reread what I wrote and then write a few more. Rise and repeat.

Have you ever received hateful comments on your fic and how do you deal with it? So far, no I haven’t, and I hope I don’t ever have to deal with that. But I know it’s bound to happen. I guess if I were to ever encounter that, I’d like to say that I’ll take it as a learning experience but I honestly don’t know I’d feel about that.

Conversely: what’s been some of your favorite feedback on your fanfic? Oh man, I guess my favorite would have to be ellewritesfix05 reaction to the secret santa fic I wrote for her; Dean Fucking Winchester. And all the positive feedback I’ve gotten for Out of the Fire.

If you could give one piece of advice to a new and/or struggling writer, what would it be? Have fun with it. Write what you want and what you’re comfortable with. Don’t be afraid of constructive criticism and most importantly, don’t stress. Writing is fun.

#pond diving #pond diving: katelynw93 #spnfanficpond

23 notes · View notes

shuturxface · 4 years

Text

Quarantine has, completely out of no where, compelled me to re-read The Life and Times. I finished three days ago and yes I’m still crying. BUT! to get my emotions out I wrote something of a “review”. It’s really just my thoughts about everything. No one asked but I’m posting it anyway.

Please enjoy, it’s below. Be warned, there are *spoilers*:

Thoughts and Musings:

I don’t particularly know why I’ve been so affected by The Life and Times this go around. I’ve always loved it, but I don’t think I’ve ever cried when Alice Griffiths (now Longbottom) tells Lily that she’s spontaneously marrying Frank Longbottom. And I also don’t think that I’ve ever felt more than fondness towards Marlene Price and Adam Mckinnon. And, I’ve always disliked Carlotta Meloni (especially during the summer and 7thyear), but I never actually hated her character. All until now. The first time I read The Life and Times, I really, really enjoyed it and appreciated the characters and the plot and the realism– like, come on, of course they’re not going to make out in the middle of an escape! However, I was, admittedly, disappointed with the lack of James/Lily action. Not that it was scarce, there certainly was a lot! But this time around, I finally realized why Jewels wrote it in that way. Lily disliked James – possibly resented him – for five years, and more strongly much more recently (I expect her unsavory opinions of him were most prominent during 5thyear, what with his excessive exclamations of “go on a date with me, Evans”). Of course, it’s going to take more than a few weeks to erase that! And it’s not like it could take less time, because, realistically, why would Lily want to spend that much more time with James if she wasn’t fond of him, and if they kept fighting. Honestly, their development as friends is much more interesting, and it shows an in-depth thought processes of fleshing out the characters. I am thoroughly moved by the fact that it doesn’t happen over-night or within a few days.

I’ve also read complaints about how James Potter is acting disinterested in Lily. To them I say: did you even read the goddamnstory?! Did you pass over the parts where he watches her when she’s not looking, and the parts where he is upset with himself for how strongly he feels about her?! If James Potter is anything, he is not an idiot (however idiotic he may act sometimes). From what the (actual HP) books show, James was interested in Lily and kept asking her out in their 5thyear. If I recall correctly, it was implied that he may have done so years prior. It is also stated, by Sirius Black, that they got together in 7thyear. Once again, that transformation from enemies to lovers is not going to happen overnight, and is definitely not going to happen if James Potter kept overtly obsessing over her in 6thyear. Also (!) there is a perfectly reasonable explanation Jewels gives us for why he acted this way: he wanted to get over her. Not only does this prove that he liked her deeply, not just superficially, but also that he got the message. He would have been truly, very thick had he not.

But back to the matter at hand. For some reason, this time around (I don’t remember, possibly third), I’ve been thoroughly engrossed and cried at different intervals of the story more so than before. I sobbed at the end of chapter 30, “The Worst Day Ever” in which it followed each character (Carlotta, Marlene, Donna, Mary, and Lily) on September 1st. I cried terribly during the last two chapters with the attack on the M.F.P. conference – the tension and the unknowing, and worst of all, the death of Sam Dearborn. Quickly, a word about Sam. Somehow, through so few chapters, Jewels created such a lovable character (limited in “screen time”) that his death (and Lily and James’ reaction to it) caused me to cry on multiple occasions. Jewels was able to capture the anguish of her characters so well, that for a moment I forgot it was a story at all and felt it myself. I cried when Sirius Black told Lily Evans that she “fit” with the Marauders, after she asked him why he was so sure she and James belonged together. I have absolutely no idea how she managed to utterly take me apart in the span of 3 days and 36 chapters, but no fanfiction has been able to do that.

I am fully in awe of what Jewels has created – The Life and Times is a work of art, capturing the 1970s in the Wizarding World perfectly. Would I like to see how each James and Lily, how Adam and Marlene, Mary and Reginald get together? No, I would love it. Am I still curious of how on earth all those 87 wizards and witches were murdered at the Magic For Peace convention, leaving no survivors? No, I’m haunted by it. And while there are parts that are frustrating to read (some sexist and misogynistic parts, especially from a few Ravenclaws are particularly uncomfortable), I also think she delivers an accurate representation of the 70s, which were much less politically correct that the world is today. She is not even encouraging this behavior because it’s all made by unlikeable “villainous” characters – not particularly evil, but definitely malicious.

Because Jewels created this story so magnificently, only she knew where it was headed and how it would play out. She wrote it so uniquely, using quick dialogue that made me feel that I was actually there. Phrasing her syntax in such a way that her descriptions were musical and poetic and completely relatable. Her chapter structures kept me on my toes, each one with its own unique flavor, yet all of them unified, flowing from one to the other perfectly.

Not only that, she created characters with strong, redeeming qualities as well as true, trying weaknesses. Lily Evans: she created Lily to be a kind individual that always sought to see the good in others, as J.K. Rowling told us she was. But she also made Lily imaginative and contemplative and romantic and strong, and, yes, sorrowful, fearful, angry, and (most importantly, if you ask me) not willing to discuss her real feelings with anyone, thus slightly hypocritical. James Potter: Jewels created James to be loyal, clever, more-than-slightly arrogant, humorous, brave, and even compassionate. But she also made him brooding, impulsive, hot headed, and many times, a prick. I could go on, but the main point is this: Jewels created complex characters. She didn’t make a wondrous, unfailingly kind Lily (if she were, why did she and James butt heads so viciously?), or a comical, lovesick James, a cheeky, brazen Sirius, a quiet, sentimental Remus, a quivering Pettigrew, or a moody, jealous Snape (yes, even he had more to him than this – drive and hunger to prove himself). Jewels created characters with depth! Characters that made mistakes and don’t just immediately learn from them. Hell, she made teenage characters in a fanfiction that didn’t ultimately think with their primary sex organ – characters that were able to see that there were more important things happening besides who’s shagging who. Of course, there were characters that were interested in this, but they’re not the type of people that would go to a protest at the Ministry of Magic (and, obviously, this just strengthens the certainty that James and Lily truly belong together). Essentially, Jewels created characters that are sometimes hard to like. She showed us real emotions and feelings and struggles like a proper novel. She went further than an exploration of two people’s love life and gave contextual reasons to their coming together, and why their relationship was so important in the greater scheme of Harry Potter. She created multiple storylines, intricately woven together, incorporating briefly mentioned characters in the Harry Potter series and giving them backstory and personalities. Jewels created a world within J.K. Rowling’s universe with complex political turmoil.

I fully and strongly admire the work and dedication that Jewels put into The Life and Times. I feel that it’s wishful thinking that she might return to this story after all these years (has it really been seven already?!), but I can’t help but wish all the same. I do understand because life does have a habit of getting in the way and people move on. I’m truly grateful for Jewels and what she gave to the world. No other fanfiction will ever evoke the feelings that The Life and Times does. No matter the emotional strife this story gives me, I will always be grateful, and it will always be my favorite. Thank you, Jewels.

#tlat #the life and times #jewels5 #Lily Evans #James Potter #jily #jily fanfiction #jily fandom #i literally love this story so much #Harry Potter #james x lily #limes #hp fanfic #hp fandom

182 notes · View notes

jesangel1503 · 4 years

Text

30 Day Challenge:Day 3 Topic

LET´S TALK ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

I can see this is a quite interesting but a bit sensitive topic for me. I just needed a time off to clear my mind so I can be able to cogitate on this familiar topic for everyone.

Let´s go straight to some few facts about friendship? Where did this word even came from?

So I browsed in and found out that friendship is a word of Germanic origin has existed in the English language since its founding in Old English. Back then, ‘friend’ existed as ‘frond’ which was the present participle of the verb fron, ‘to love’. The root of the verb was ‘fr-’ which meant ‘to like, love, or be affectionate to’. We can still see the remnants of this verb every day of the week- Friday or ‘day of Frigg’ is devoted to the Germanic goddess of love Frigg.

Source: whitesmoke.com

So much for it´s root word, let´s do some more researching. Many famous people have shared their thoughts about what friendship is for them. Now, maybe we can get some friendspiration from them!

Helen Keller

"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."

J.K. Rowling

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

Abraham Lincoln

"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"

Eleanor Roosevelt

"Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart"

Bob Marley

“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for”

William Shakespeare

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”

Jennifer Lawrence

‘‘No matter how tired I am, I get dinner at least once a week with my girlfriends. Or have a sleepover. Otherwise my life is just all work.”

Marilyn Monroe

“Experts on romance say for a happy marriage there has to be more than a passionate love. For a lasting union, they insist, there must be a genuine liking for each other. Which, in my book, is a good definition for friendship.”

Drew Barrymore

“What’s helped me is having really good friends I know I can rely on. Cameron Diaz is one of the greatest friends anyone can ever have. She has so much love to give.”

Selena Gomez

“Every single problem I ever have is healable by Taylor Swift. If I ever I have an issue, Taylor has gone through it – she gives the most thought-out answers. And what I love about Taylor is that she does believe in the whole love story and Prince Charming and soul mates. Because of her, I haven’t lost faith.”

Emma Watson

“My two best girlfriends are from secondary school. I don’t have to explain anything to them. I don’t have to apologise for anything. They know.”

Jennifer Aniston

“We come from homes far from perfect, so you end up almost parent and sibling to your friends – your own chosen family. There’s nothing like a really loyal, dependable, good friend. Nothing.”

Oprah Winfrey

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”

Ariana Grande

“The best part about having true friends is that you can go months without seeing them and they’ll still be there for you and act as if you’d never left!.”

Whew, they are really inspiring isn´t it? But lemme give you bits of how I view and value friendship. So I´d like to answer some of these challenging questions I have found and that maybe can help me dig in to what´s really coming to my mind about this topic. As you read along, you are free to answer on your own and find out? Well, this is a writing therapy for me. I thought it might be nice to put my thoughts into writing and share it with you ( Well, only if you are interested to do so) But yes, this is entirely my thoughts. Some of you might disagree about my answers and what I have been writing in this little writing space of mine, but I don´t really care! As I have said, this is my therapy. If you judge me based on my thoughts, it´s totally on you and if that amuses you, well IT WILL BE MY PLEASURE :)

QUESTIONS ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

Can you describe one of your closest friends.

It´s so hard to choose which one of them that I particularly should talk about. All of them are special to me in their unique ways. But let me describe you one of my bestfriends, whom I met when I was an aupair in the first town I lived in here in Denmark. It´s funny though because this friend of mine, came to me by fate and the first time we met, we just click, you know. Like she´s that angel from heaven, who´ve brought me and would bribed me with food to keep me from not ditching school, because for her, it would be boring without me, and that she’d prefer me than the other filipino ones at the school. She would just call me and say, “Hey, wake up and get dressed. We´re off to school,and ahh uh don´t even say a word because I am already here, parked outside your house waiting for you. And, I´ve brought us Dinuguan and Pancit for lunch! Hurry!”.. So hard to refuse right? Oh yes, she is that kind. There are no other negative feeling around her, around us everytime we were together. We got along well so fast even at the very first day we´ve met. Since then, we hang out a lot. Sometimes cutting classes and going off to the second hand shop in town together or hit the mall, or just eat out in our favorite eat all you can Asian Restaurant. It´s just pure and honest friendship. I could sense she feels the same way too. It was never hard to be myself when I am with her. You know that feeling where you can´t feel any insecurities at all and you don´t feel that you are judged whenever you are sharing sensitive moments with her. I could say that is one of those few and rare friendship I have that I truly treasure the most.

Do you have any childhood friendships that are still strong today? Tell us about them.

I have a childhood bestfriend, and we have shared plenty of childhood memories together. I have been born in a family with no sisters so she is like a sister to me. Back then, she was living with her family in a house just a few walks from our house. I always spend time with her at their place when my parents were not home from work and she would come for a sleepover at our house during some of the weekends.. During my trip home last 2017, we were able to spend time together for a week. And still it´s as if things between us haven´t changed at all. She is still that friend who turned into family, and we assured each other that we we´re still gonna have each other´s back no matter what. Up until now, we´re still able to catch up, though I could say only through online. We both think we´re okay with the LDR thing. Haha!

Do you have any long distance friends?

I have, in fact, so many of them! As I reside now in Denmark, so the only communication we have is the internet. The first one I talked about she lives in the UK and my childhood friend lives in the Philippines. Most of my other closest friends are residing in the Philippines, UK, US, Australia, Canada, Japan and a few ones in the Middle East.

Do you think it is a good idea to borrow money from a friend? Why or why not?

This is a quite sensitive topic for me. But I do have views regarding friends and money matters. You know, in my entire life, I have tried to avoid situations involving friendship and money. I just don´t. I mean, I cherish people so much, and to ruin a relationship and lose a cherished friend because of money issues is a bit awful for me. I’d rather NOT. Just NO. 🙏🏻

Do you make friends easily?

I can make friends easily. And I do have a loud mouth. I am so excited to meet new people and talk with random people on the street and just smile and say hi. For me, it´s a bit of heartwarming when people comes to you, say hi, talk to you and get excited to know you. So I often think people would also want that. But given the fact that many people are too reserved, I also know my boundaries. It´s only when I feel like people would also wanna chat. I mean, like saying hi to the old lady beside me in a bus full of busy people. It could be lonely to be old, I think. Not many people are interested in talking to them. A few old people I met and talked with, they were all excited and thrilled to talked with me about their day, about their lives and jobs before and what life meant for them. For me, they have seen a lot and experienced a lot from all those years living in this world. It´s just compelling to learn from them!

Has a friend ever let you down?

I have experienced it many times. But based from it, I always try my best to understand them and listen to them more. Humans as we are, we often make mistakes. And that includes letting a friend down. May it be a small or a big deal, but friends that are meant to last, are the friends, who still thinks of how to mend things up than to make things worst. So a friend´s apology and forgiveness is always the best ingredients to make things last.

If the trust was broken, and there is no way you can bring back what you both have had before. I just let go and pray for them. In life you will learn who you should trust and it´s always gonna be the ones who will still be there for you despite the odds. You will learn a lot by gaining and losing friends.

Have you made any friends over the Internet?

I do have a plenty of them, with a few true ones though. But I do treat them as rare jewels that have helped me with my sanity being away from my family. I find it peculiar at first, but I have developed such strong bonds online, to take note that we haven´t even met yet! How cool is that!? Knowing and learning from a person you never met, sharing various experiences, thoughts, opinions are quite an overwhelming experience. When you get to know someone online, whom you can confide feelings to especially the things you can never share with anyone from your family or friends personally, was such a great help for me. During my first few months in Denmark, I have suffered a lot from a breakup plus the difficult adjustment phase I was going through by then. Living in a foreign country was quite a challenge for me. Even though I have my cousins and some few friends, but it was not enough by then. Because at the end of a tiring day, alone in a room, it was nice and comforting to have some people online, listening to your rants and cheering you up and helping you get your mind off the negativity and mind bugging thoughts and worries. I could say they are the ones I´d like to keep and hoping I can personally meet some of them someday too!

How do you maintain a good friendship?

I always make time to let them know that I still think and care about them. And of course, to never ever forget each of their special occassions!

How many people do you consider your "best friends?"

4 bestfriends; One is a bestfriend from my childhood years, one bestfriend from highschool, another one from college, one bestfriend whom I met in Denmark. 4 online bestfriends, one of which I already met.

What is a best friend?

For me, a best friend is a special connection between 2 people, where there is mutual understanding of each other, where there is a bond of trust, openness, willingness to care and look out for one another, despite the distance and circumstances. Where two people feel there is no need pretending, where they can both be themselves when they are together and where two people thinks of each other as their own PERSON to run to, and be comfortable with.

What is the longest friendship that you have had?

My childhood friend; we have been friends since we were so little. So maybe that´s what you call a friend for a lifetime.

What qualities do you think are important in a friend?

When you don´t get judged by the person and when they don´t talk negative things behind you and without you knowing.

What things should friends never do?

For me, I don´t like to compare myself with my friends. They have their own skills, talents, and own beautiful and unique lives. So maybe that is what a friend should watch out for. Insecurity and jealousy are both destructive in so many ways. Just be happy for a friend´s success and achievements.

Do you think it is possible to have a best friend of the opposite sex without becoming a girlfriend or boyfriend?

Oh, I do have a lot of friends from the opposite sex. I do happen to have one really close to me, so from a certain time, we were calling ourselves bessies. But, it did not last long. We both have jealous partners by then, so to respect each others partners, we agreed to have boundaries and thus avoiding conflicts as much as possible.

I also often get cringey whenever a male friend of mine that´s close to me, then we´ve had our bond, and then he gets a girlfriend, and i often get jealous, but not that I have feelings for the guy, but as a female friend, I just get jealous and often felt bad about lack of attention from him afterwards. So I tend to not get too close with male friends because I know it will just turn me nuts! But I am improving myself to just be understanding and to wish all the best for them! It is the best thing I could maybe offer to a close male friend of mine if ever.

Do you think it would be possible for you still be friends with an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend?

Of course, but only if all issues were resolved. So it´s totally okay and possible for me to still be friends with my exes. I mean, they were also a part of my life and we´ve shared some good memories together too! I am teaching myself not to be bitter with the past you know. It´s good not to hold grudge on anyone especially when they were once the people you cared most and loved you as well.

Do you believe your parents should be your friends?

My parents are my friends. And so as my brother. It´s been like that in my family. It always feel better when they are ones comforting you than anybody else.

What do you like best about your best friend(s)?

They are still there for me, even if they are far away, and if I see them again, it´s still gonna be the same, no insecurities, no pretendings and no negativity.

What are some ways your best friend has influenced your life in a positive way?

One of my bestfriend´s view about God inspired me the most. We have the same thoughts and often go late to sleep talking about a lot of stuff about life and religion. That means a lot to me.

What do you do when you have a misunderstanding with your friend?

If it was my fault, I often offer an apology. And if it´s the other way around, I always show that I can listen and try my best to understand their reason and forgive if necessary.

What type of people do you get along with best?

I don´t prefer any types actually. I just sync in with them. I think when people are meant to have a lasting impression on you, they just do. Because I think the universe conspires the people whom you will meet. Some will come and stay, some will just go and maybe leave something for you to learn. So for me, I just blend in when someone comes along and get on with the flow. I always follow the positivity flow. If i can sense a negative vibe, I tend to not fully entrust myself. Though I give many chances to people, for I always believe that sometimes the people I met and how they are, if they mean or like that negative, is because of what they have been going through in life. May it be a bad experience or a childhood trauma. We should always shed light to these people and give room for them to be understood.

What quality do you admire most in people and which one do you find the most objectionable?

If I happen to met someone who´s mind is just as beautiful as their face or personality, and then it´s just natural for us to have a good conversation in a way that´s not awkward and trying hard. Then it´s my type of person.. I don´t care if we have different views, I am bound to respect all of them. It´s just when a person knows how to choose the right words and right thoughts in that certain moment, then I am going to be rooting for that person.

Tbh, I don´t fancy people who praises themselves a lot and think that they are always right all the time. And also, even when in an argument, no matter how big or small the issue, it´s always the tone of voice that matters to me the most. How you say something affects what you say.

Is getting along with others a natural ability from birth or does it have to be learnt?

For me, getting along with others is a continuing learning process. I mean up to now, I am still learning and developing my skills every day because I love to keep people who are worth keeping. And I believe there is no such skill that one can be born with a natural talent for getting along with others. It must also first be taught at home. The family is the necessary factor to develop one´s values of friendship and we will just continue to learn more and hone it as we venture out into the big world.

How important is forgiveness in human relationships?

I have been taught that it is an essential thing for us to grow and be matured. Forgiving is accepting one´s offering of peace and understanding that he or she have made a mistake and is willing to make up for it. And so as asking for forgiveness. We often commit mistakes and hurt people, that´s how human we are. So it´s important to lower one´s pride and ask for forgiveness, no matter how hard it may be. Accepting one´s own mistakes is an act of maturity, and i can say it´s also not easy but it´s necessary for human´s social growth and behavioural adaptability in the society.

Do you tell your best friend everything?

It´s funny because each of my bestfriends have their own unique qualities; one is better at the whole education and knowledge thing, other one is good at the practical thing and wise things, the other one I can confide some sexual issues and other emotional things and one I can have a good conversation about God and life. So basically, I don´t tell everything to each one of them but I go to one where I need their expertise and where they can also relate from.

Where is a good place to meet a new boyfriend/girlfriend?

I don´t think there is such a good place to meet a new bf or gf. It will just come to you as if the universe worked on it so he or she will get to where you are and bump into you. You just need to be patient. And if there is no one, just be your own gf or bf. What´s important is you love yourself and happiness is from, within you. You can still be happy without someone. You just need to unleash that thought in your mind often.

So much for this friendship thing, I hope I don´t bore you too much. Well, write to me if ever you have other thoughts about what I wrote! Ciao!

#friendship

9 notes · View notes

uncloseted · 3 years

Note

So is it problematic if a character in fiction is gay or bi or trans, but that idea is never explored as a part of their character arc or struggle? Like it's just a one off aspect of them? I see some people get upset, especially in the case of Loki or JK Rowling, when characters are revealed as canonically queer but it's not an important part of the story. Does every queer characters arc and backstory specifically have to revolve around their sexuality or gender?

I think whether or not it's problematic depends on the larger context of the piece of media, but I actually think it can be more problematic when their *tragic queer backstory* is the only thing about them (although it's also good to have LGBT stories where that is discussed). For example, I think the [minor spoilers] Korra/Asami reveal in Legend of Korra is okay, despite it not really being part of the story, because it took so much for the writers to be allowed to show them in a romantic relationship at all.

Likewise, I don't actually have a problem with the "Dumbledore is gay" reveal. JKR has a lot of ideologies that I find horribly problematic, but in context, I don't think the Dumbledore reveal is that bad. It was in response to a fan who asked whether Dumbledore had ever found love. Rowling responded that she “always thought of Dumbledore as gay," and that “Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald, and that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was." I always found it to be an honest answer to an honest question, the same way that she's answered questions about McGonagall's romantic past, especially since none of the teachers have romantic partners in the books at all. I think it's an answer that's relatively well substantiated in the parts of the book that discuss Dumbledore/Grindelwald (or at least, as substantiated as it could be for a children's book released in 2007- gay marriage wasn't even legal in the UK until 2013). I also think it's pretty profound for the most powerful wizard in the world to be a gay man, although it would have been better to have him be the most powerful wizard in the world *while being in an LGBT relationship*. I think the reason people struggle with this reveal is because they feel like JKR "announced" that Dumbledore was gay in order to get "woke points" without having to actually write an LGBT character or risk offending people, but I just don't think that's how this actually came about. I actually think it's more problematic that she wrote an epilogue where all of the characters were suddenly in straight marriages.

In the case of Loki, however, I do think it's problematic. Loki came out this year, when 70% of US Americans support gay marriage and it's legal in all 50 states, their target audience is adults aged 18 to 34, and Marvel constantly queerbaits because they know it will make them money. The reason Loki (and Marvel movies in general) doesn't contain any LGBT content is because they're afraid of losing business in China. They're being cowards, and we shouldn't keep letting that happen.

In general, I don't think an LGBT character's entire personality should revolve around their sexuality/gender, and I don't think their backstory needs to be about the *trauma* of being LGBT. But I do think they need to be allowed to be shown with a same-sex partner, the same way that straight characters are shown with opposite-sex partners. Thirteen in the TV show House is a pretty good example of this; she's bisexual and she's shown with both male and female partners, in both casual and committed contexts, but her storyline never really revolves around being LGBT. It revolves around the trials and tribulations of her being a doctor, her relationship with her own health, and the struggles she has within a relationship (regardless of who that relationship is with).

Jules in Euphoria is another pretty good example- she's trans and she talks about her experience as a trans person trying to understand what that means to her. She's also bisexual and is shown in romantic relationships with men and women. But her gender and sexuality aren't ever the focus of her character arcs; her relationship to herself and to the people around her is. She's pretty much accepted as both a trans person and as someone who's bisexual, which gives room for her stories to be about other things.

GLAAD released an LGBT analog to the Bechdel test called the Vito Russo Test which I think helps to illustrate which portrayals of LGBT people in media are and are not problematic. The criteria for passing the Vito Russo test is as follows:

The film contains a character that is identifiably lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer.

That character must not be solely or predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity (i.e. they are comprised of the same sort of unique character traits commonly used to differentiate straight/non-transgender characters from one another).

The LGBTQ character must be tied into the plot in such a way that their removal would have a significant effect, meaning they are not there to simply provide colorful commentary, paint urban authenticity, or (perhaps most commonly) set up a punchline. The character must matter.

I would add a fourth criteria to that list about sexuality specifically, which is "The LGBQ character must be shown engaging in an LGB relationship comparable to that of their straight counterparts".

4 notes · View notes