#tw discussions of jk rowling

[fouralignments]

Well I just found out that people hate me.

It was because of my Magnus the MUGGLE-BORN fic.

People did not see me tags nor did they read the damn fic. Or maybe they did and it's a bunch of racists.

Yeah I saw that...First your a god damn lovely person. Fuck those racists.

I know there's a intellectual quote somewhere on this site stating that fandom and the creation of fanart, fanfiction, and fan creations is a way to take back the power from corporations and billionaires, de-commodify storytelling and returning it back to a communal roots. Don't get me wrong, we should undoubtedly fight for shorter copyright b/c right now its the author's life + 70 years; its bad for creativity, but also creates more inequality. (See more here)

I think one of ways is to write fanfiction that 'fixes' cannon. You should feel proud of your own work. Its a 91,838 word way to say It's one of the biggest fuck you Rowling that I can think of.

I must confess, I do read Newt Scamander/Percival Graves BDSM smut, its some of the hottest, queerest shit I've ever read on this side of the internet. Another fuck you to the TERF Rowling,

Also taking those tropes that Who should not be named, because come on its incredibly derivative (like come on, magic schools: The Worst Witch, Discworld, The Once and Future King, etc. theses tropes existed before her make it queer as fuck and trans inclusive.

In addition, it will give new books for the younger generation to fall in love with that act as alternatives to the Harry Potter series, thus diminish her power.

I just hoped I helped!

[myfandomrealitea]

That post you made about Harry Potter and how to not financially support and fund the franchise and put more money in Joanne's pockets felt like a lie because I swear I got the impression that even that wasn't allowed when the whole thing started

To be clear; I stopped. Completely. I compartmentalized it all and just stopped interacting with anything Harry Potter online whatsoever. But I always wished it would be fine to still be able to do certain fandom things without supporting her, but people were saying that even using the tag or reading the fanfiction or making fanart was still supporting the ip and not letting it die completely as a topic on the internet was indirectly putting money in her pockets.

It wasn't until I came across a post from a queer woman from somewhere in the global south with heavy OCD and intrusive thoughts or something like that, commenting on how hostile of a thing it became for someone of her affliction; the way people were treating it like do or die. Pointing out that no matter how much trans people and allys cut off their support of her, she has other large means of income that we won't be able to touch, and there will still always be transphobic homophobic Harry Potter fans that will continue to support her actively, putting that money in her pockets. Another thing she mentioned was the treatment of Harry Potter and Joannes bigotry in contrast to the treatment of FNAF and the creators bigotry. And lastly something about the USAmericanized nature of it? I don't really remember that part but I think I understood it at the time I read it (maybe it was something about all the other countries the IP is popular in who are probably more conservative and unaware or caring of the issues with her who will still put money in her pockets, or maybe it was something about American fans fixating and posing the support of her as the ultimate battlefield of Trans Rights to other queer and trans individuals trying to be quiet fans who are facing Much Worse in their countries)

Anyways after that I briefly started reading ao3 fanfic again, just put a filter for anything before 2019 or so, and then my interest more gently fizzled out.

I can't remember what my point is anymore, maybe just to bring these arguments to your attention(also I am not arguing against the financial boycott or ending of support for this woman through her ip).

Harry Potter will never stop earning money. That's just the flat reality of it; I mean, look at the likes of Elvis and the original Sherlock Holmes books and every other 'dead' media that's still earning money. Short of making Harry Potter an illegal piece of media, yes, there will still always be a number of people giving her money.

The goal is to give her less money. To turn Harry Potter from a prominent, profitable cashcow into a defunct piece of media that only select groups are still clinging to. To make it so that JK Rowling has to choose between paying her bills and funding anti-trans movements.

When something stops bringing in a certain amount of profit, studios start looking elsewhere. When a cashcow starts drying up, they stop trying to milk it as hard. Which in turn means less productions for JK Rowling to collect her pocketmoney from.

What would you rather; JK Rowling getting $100,000 or JK Rowling only getting $10,000?

Something is better than nothing. Damage reduction is better than open exposure. If everyone just rolled over and gave up because "things will keep happening anyway" the world will literally be a rancid, fetid wasteland of bigotry and violence.

I'd much rather watch JK Rowling fizzle out into a bitter old wench sustained only by the dogged support of other stubborn bigots than watch people willingly disregard and condone bigotry because its "easier" and "she'll be a bigot anyway."

I'd much rather JK Rowling only have $10,000 to donate to shitty movements over $72,000. Shitty movements can do a lot less with a lot less money.

[vexy-hexy]

Hey, so am I the only one who's kinda curious as to why we give so much shit to J.K. Rowling for being a stupid TERF (which is deserved, might I add), but Scott Cawthon got off pretty good all things considered for donating to people like Trump???

I think there have been a few times I've brought Scott's shit up and have been essentially told to shut up, that "it's not too bad"...

Unlike Rowling, where every shitty thing she did and still does, it's constantly in our faces and a good amount of the fans (that I've seen at least) acknowledge and admonish her, but the FNAF community (again, that I've seen) seem to not like anyone bringing it up or just brush it off (I think some people are still JUST finding out about the donations because a lot of people seem to try and hide it???), even though Scott has said he wouldn't apologize despite him donating to homophobic, transphobic, and just, all-around bad people who have the power to take away people's rights to be themselves

Just... I feel like we should give the same energy to Cawthon that we give Rowling since they both suck as people, and I’m definitely guilty of not giving Scott enough shit

Like, am I the crazy one here???

[transx-mogai-cafe]

With all the other bigotry that goes on in JK Rowling's writings, people tend to forget (or, let's be honest, purposely leave out) her demonization of transabled people, specifically in her novel "Career of Evil".

While this definitely ties into her bigotry towards transgender and disabled people, she explicitly uses the term "transabled" to describe two of the characters. The fact that anti-transabled sentiments go hand-in-hand with ableism and transphobia does not negate the damage caused directly towards those of who are transabled.

I have read through forum comments with people discussing how a JK Rowling novel was the first place they had heard of the term, or of BIID. We have also been affected by her discriminatory words.

[xxinksxx]

I was talking with my friends about transphobia in the world, and how sometimes the call is coming from inside the house when it comes to why you're afraid of transfolk is because you are transfolk. Which made me make the connection, since JKR is such a TERF and the Harry Potter series was written from the perspective of a guy... What if JKR is just having internalized transphobia because she is trans too and just afraid of admitting it?

She can have excuses of why it's written from a male's perspective, sure. But what if she denies it so hard because she's afraid of what she actually is?

[celestiastarshine]

So I just found out from Essence of Thought that JK Rowling has gotten worse. Which doesn't surprise me, but I find it plenty abhorrent for obvious reasons.

TW: Nazis, eugenics, antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and transmisia are discussed in the video. If these topics trigger you, please protect your peace.

(TERFS and JK Rowling supporters DNI)

[holypinionsaviary]

Laws of the Aviary

I’m Moss, and I’ve been roleplaying online for nearly twenty years, now. I know myself well enough to let potential RP partners know the following:

I reply slow in conversation. Please give me the grace of patience.

I reply quickly to posts. Please don’t think this means you must do the same; you’ll reply when you get to it and I’ll survive until then.

I am not comfortable writing with anyone under eighteen. This is not negotiable. I am 30+ years old.

I prefer multi-paragraph writing for myself, but our styles don’t have to match. As long as I’ve got something to respond to in your post it could be a single sentence and I’d be happy.

Now for the actual rules. Don’t consider all of these fully stone-set except for the first three, but do consider all of the rest of them things that would require discussion and planning to bend.

No-one under 18. This is not negotiable. It is also listed multiple times in multiple locations to hammer home the point.

No out-of-character shitheadery. In-character shitheadery is encouraged.

No terfs. I’m a proud transsexual and my favorite tool is the block button.

No God-modding. I’ll move my character, you move yours.

Not so much a rule as a request, but please don’t use micro fonts with me. My eyesight is bad. Bad-bad.

I ship chemistry. That said, all the archangels are available for shipping if it feels right. And I'm always willing to pre-plot romance and then roll from there.

This said I love shipping. I’m multi-ship and duplicate friendly. Every thread is its own distinct universe and never the any will cross unless it’d be fun as hell to do so.

I write a generally ambiguously-timelined Archangels; has X important thing happened or not? Dunno–check with me ooc and we’ll decide if it’d be more fun for something or other to have happened already or not.

I prefer to keep NSFW under read-more cuts; whether or not you do is up to you.

No NSFW gifs in threads, please. It’s an easy way to get your blog deleted. However, if it’s something you’re really sold on then talk to me and we may be able to migrate a thread to e-mail. As a note, this is also somewhere I’d be happy to write.

There is nothing your character is not allowed to do to mine so long as it is feasible that it could be done. When in doubt, ask first; I promise it won’t ruin the surprise because while I may now know what’s coming, I won’t necessarily know how it’s coming.

No tw’s apply to me, but if there are any you need tagged and you don’t feel like having them out in the open on your blog (a fair thing; you don’t owe me or anyone insight into what upsets you) just let me know on anon and I’ll do my best to tag things that fall under it. This stands as a within reason segment to be held at my own discretion.

There are very few fandom-based characters I won’t interact with. We don’t have to be in the same universe, and I’m always happy to have someone wind up where they shouldn’t be. That being said the two fandoms that I personally will not write with characters from are: Axis Powers Hetalia and anything whose source material is produced by JK Rowling.

Not a rule per-se so much as a point I’d like to reiterate: original characters–particularly Good Omens OCs–get priority when I’m doing replies. I love original characters so much, and that absolutely includes child-of-blank characters.

These rules are likely to be updated as needed, but I think this gets the general gist. If you’re ready to plot, feel free to do so, or if you want to send an ask in-character or reply to an open please have right at it!

[ticketybooangel]

Rules of the Road

I'm Moss, and I've been roleplaying online for nearly twenty years, now. I know myself well enough to let potential RP partners know the following:

I reply slow in conversation. Please give me the grace of patience.

I reply quickly to posts. Please don't think this means you must do the same; you'll reply when you get to it and I'll survive until then.

I am not comfortable writing with anyone under eighteen. This is not negotiable. I am 30+ years old.

I prefer multi-paragraph writing for myself, but our styles don't have to match. As long as I've got something to respond to in your post it could be a single sentence and I'd be happy.

Now for the actual rules. Don't consider all of these fully stone-set except for the first three, but do consider all of the rest of them things that would require discussion and planning to bend.

No-one under 18. This is not negotiable. It is also listed multiple times in multiple locations to hammer home the point.

No out-of-character shitheadery. This is intentionally left as a vague term because I'd hope most people can guess what constitutes being a shit head. I don't reblog call-out posts but I do block liberally.

No terfs. I'm a proud transsexual and my favorite tool is the block button.

No God-modding. I'll move my character, you move yours.

Not so much a rule as a request, but please don't use micro fonts with me. My eyesight is bad. Bad-bad.

I ship chemistry--and that goes the same for Aziraphales as it does for everyone else. Everyone who writes Aziraphale writes him differently and I love that, but my interpretation of Crowley may not be compatible with every interpretation of Aziraphale.

This said I love shipping. I'm multi-ship and duplicate friendly. Every thread is its own distinct universe and never the any will cross unless it'd be fun as hell to do so.

I write a generally ambiguously-timelined Crowley; has X important thing happened or not? Dunno--check with me ooc and we'll decide if it'd be more fun for something or other to have happened already or not.

I prefer to keep NSFW under read-more cuts; whether or not you do is up to you.

No NSFW gifs in threads, please. It's an easy way to get your blog deleted. However, if it's something you're really sold on then talk to me and we may be able to migrate a thread to e-mail. As a note, this is also somewhere I'd be happy to write.

There is nothing your character is not allowed to do to mine so long as it is feasible that it could be done. When in doubt, ask first; I promise it won't ruin the surprise because while I may now know what's coming, I won't necessarily know how it's coming.

No tw's apply to me, but if there are any you need tagged and you don't feel like having them out in the open on your blog (a fair thing; you don't owe me or anyone insight into what upsets you) just let me know on anon and I'll do my best to tag things that fall under it. This stands as a within reason segment to be held at my own discretion.

There are very few fandom-based characters I won't interact with. We don't have to be in the same universe, and I'm always happy to have someone wind up where they shouldn't be. That being said the two fandoms that I personally will not write with characters from are: Axis Powers Hetalia and anything whose source material is produced by JK Rowling.

Not a rule per-se so much as a point I'd like to reiterate: original characters--particularly Good Omens OCs--get priority when I'm doing replies. I love original characters so much, and that absolutely includes child-of-blank characters.

These rules are likely to be updated as needed, but I think this gets the general gist. If you're ready to plot, feel free to do so, or if you want to send an ask in-character or reply to an open please have right at it!

[firedragon1321]

Tag Master List

I use a few tags often around here, so I decided to make a list of tags. Trigger tags included in the readmore.

General Tags

I Have An Opinion: Usually an older post. Generally an opinionated rant.

Rant/Vent: Same as I Have an Opinion

Do You Love the Color of the Sky Length: Long post

Long-Ass Post: Same as above but for older posts

NSFW Text: Text is sexually explicit or suggestive. I will not post sexually explicit images or smutfic.

Actually Autistic: Tag from the autistic community. Used to identify that I am, in fact, autistic.

Writing: Anything writing related

OCs: Related to original characters. I also tag my OCs individually.

My Art: Something I drew.

Tumblr Raw Lines: Banger lines on the hellsite. I saved this for writing ideas, but it could be good for a laugh.

Character Idea: Hold on OP you made a cool Little Dude and I want one too! Other writers- browse this tag for ideas.

Taiposting: Tai-related posting. Mostly shitposts grateful for his existence. Sometimes a little more in-depth.

Bot Alert: Contains bot usernames so they can be identified. Report as spam and block 'em!

Pain Tag: I have separate ones for Gladion, Arven, and Kieran. But if you wanna watch me suffer over Pokemon characters, this is the tag to use. I tried putting the character's name before "pain tag" and it just brought them all up because Tumblr is dumb.

Kathleen: My Star Trek tag. Named after Lieutenant Riley's song in The Naked Time. "I'll take you home AGAIN Kathleen!"

Compassion Fatigue: Posts that can trigger compassion fatigue. This is a problem I have, so I feel the need to tag it and help others. This does not apply to all posts, especially those before 2024.

Anti Horizons: Pokemon Horizons bashing. Please block this tag if you like Pokemon Horizons.

Legacy Tags

Tags for finding older stuff of interest. I don't really use these anymore.

Saga of the Egg: Digimon fans- remember nade nade? This will lead you to all my contributions to the egg-cracking madness.

Poop Floop: As above, but specifically for when Sukamon blocked the egg.

Last Evolution Tag: Related to Ash Ketchum leaving the anime. May still be rarely used.

Bae: Will probably lead to cringy Tai fangirling- if you care.

Trigger Tags

This blog may occasionally post things that will need trigger tags. I will try and tag appropriately. I will not go back to old posts and tag them, but will incorporate them going forward. If you think I need more tags, let me know. Trigger warning tags usually begin with tw.

When I use the tags related to hatred, bigotry, and criminal acts, I'm reblogging content discussing with them. I obviously don't condone that shit. If you do, then nope out of here.

These tags are used for discussions of the topics, certain images (most of which are cartoons), or for writing snippets I may vomit up here.

tw racism

tw homophobia

tw transphobia

tw antisemitism

tw nazi or tw nazis

tw slavery

tw albiesm

tw rape

tw pedophilia

tw incest

tw suicide

tw gore

tw blood

tw body horror

tw abuse

tw child abuse

tw animal abuse

tw animal death

tw pokemon death (this will be paired with the animal death tw to be safe)

tw insects

tw harry potter

tw jk rowling

unreality

abortion

flashing lights or just flashing

flashing gif (not as often as the above)

I may use other tags but these are the most common

Asshole Tags

If you don't want to hear anything about these specific assholes, block these tags.

Trump Dump: Post contains content related to Donald Trump

Elon Poopyhead: Post contains content related to Elon Musk

tw jk rowling and/or tw harry potter: Post contains content related to JK Rowling

[phycology-lemon]

Tw: jk Rowling/Harry Potter mentioned

I've been thinking, and I do like watching crappy things crash and burn.

Velma hate/discussion was pretty entertaining and the new Harry Potter series is going to burn like an oil spill.

I've seen only a few things, but it's going to be crazy. We all know it's gonna be bad. It's gonna be HORRENDOUS!

It going to go so far south that I'm excited.

Fuck Jk Rowling, but I'm gonna watch her empire burn.

(Not gonna watch the movies though)

[selkies-world]

Imperius loyalty to the witch?

Since JKR is trending on Twitter again (it's that time of year already?) I decided to publish this essay I wrote on her and the Harry Potter universe a while ago. I was kind of gutted by how little I didn't have to rewrite for this to still be relevant and accurate...

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[thepictureofsdr]

I know when they first came about TMT were compared quite a bit with the marauders (though I didn’t join tumblr until a few months after ChoG) but I’ve been reading Harry Potter and looking on it actually:

James - James

Matthew - Sirius

Thomas - Remus

Christopher - Peter

Because: Sirius being charming & headstrong but not always in a good way (like his ongoing rivalry with Snape) screams Matthew, just like comparisons with James & James are fairly straightforward (although JH is more judgmental than arrogant? if you know what I mean?). (& Lily/Daisy??) And the loss of James in relation to how he hasn’t been himself for years plays similarly to the loss of JP so young?

But. Thomas knowing what some of his friends (& himself) do is wrong but not stopping them & being clever & kind is very Lupin behaviour. And this is nothing against Kit - none of TMT are exactly like the marauders - his obliviousness to the worse parts of the friendship, & not quite understanding everything that goes in between them reminds me a lot of Peter. (cough Kit being a Slytherin discourse)

In many ways I see the potential for all these characters to overcome flaws in the ways some of the hp characters weren’t able to: Tom standing up against his friends, Kit and his talent being recognised, Math/Alastair ending their rivalry, etc. They could be the marauders with a happy ending

(Sorry this is so long :/ it’s fine if you ignore it because it’s fairly rambly - I just wanted to say I love reading your posts!)

THIS IS SO SMARTTTTTTTTT YESSS ABSOLUTELY

okay first yes absolutely, both the james kinda being the leaders in some way of the group, and sometimes being the only voice of reason. and i think we could draw a comparison to james herondale losing his youth to grace, but potter also loses his youth the war that started when they were all young (not exactly the same time period of youth but still) and i def see what you mean about the arrogance vs judgment, id say its bc potter is more the extrovert so his haughty emotions come out more exuberantly as a loud arrogance, whereas herondales quieter nature has them manifest as more subtle emotions like judgment

SIRIUS AND MATTHEW my lil tortured gay artist assholes. they 100% have that detached coping mechanism, where they both care almost too deeply about things but only let it out as a borderline annoying disattached mindset from the world that comes off as that careless aloofness ie, both of them being seen as the more prominent jokesters in the group while literally dying inside, as well as the deep set family trauma they both have. also chronic flirts.

w the recent marauders renaissance, i saw someone point out that james is actually the mum friend not remus, james is more likely to tuck you into bed while remus is more likely to pull an all nighter doing something stupid, he just seems to have his life together and that fits thomas so well 😭 they’re both the good boy that everyone assumes to be the most sensible and mature when in reality they are absolutely unhinged under the surface its quite beautiful, they somehow manage to be the most mentally stable AND unstable ones of the group, along with the shared love and exasperation for their friends, they’d get along so well

and yes 100% kit and peter being the underappreciated slightly out of it besties who don’t fully follow what the group is doing but are just happy to be there (and everyone else is equally happy to have them along for the ride) i know i started the 2021 alastair ravenclaw discourse but im not deep enough into kits characterization to make a strong case so i just tag along with headcanons of how everyone else’s ideas fit into my sacred ravenclaw!alastair and something!kit friendship 😭

tmt healing marauders trauma? absolutely beautiful i don’t fully trust cassie but all i can do is hope

(I LOVE LONG ASKS i’ve gotten my life under control so now i can answer everything properly >:) smooches and hugs to you anon mwah <3)

[trans-advice]

Watch "TERFs & the Alt-Right" on YouTube

[bookandcover]

I feel I need to start this writing response with several context points, in the synergistic space among which I’ll frame my analysis of this book.

Context 1: I almost didn’t read this book. I wasn’t sure I wanted to and whether I would be comfortable reading it. This was because of limited context about the book itself, paired with reading JK Rowling’s Twitter comments from last year. I did not like nor agree with what JK Rowling said on Twitter adjacent to topics of transgender identity and experiences. Her comments made me unhappy and uncomfortable, and I’ve thought about her comments a lot because they came from someone I respected and admired. Her first comment I saw—questioning the title of an article about providing accessible products for “those who menstruate” (an area of need during the pandemic)—seemed simply ignorant to me, not intended to be cruel nor targeted. But her subsequent actions—arguing with others on Twitter, defending her original point—seemed to reveal a narrow-mindedness, self-superiority, and unwillingness to listen to others who know what they’re talking about. This approach (basically the Twitter-tantrum) is one that I feel sensitive to (it reminds me, in the worst way, of the behavior of our recent ex-President on the same platform…)

Context 2: After witnessing the Twitter-tantrum, I heard this book included a transgender serial killer. That did not seem like a good look on someone who had made ignorant and stubborn comments on Twitter about transgender identities: creating one (1) transgender character and making that character a villain. This is why I was hesitant about reading this book.

Context 3: I read a lot of books. I believe that you do not need to agree with someone to read what they have to say. If we agreed with everyone we read, we would not read in a way that expands our minds and adds nuance to our own views. Do I also fundamentally believe that we should not financially support nor enable those who are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and who use their platforms to spread hatred? Yes, I believe this strongly. I also believe that all of us are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and many other things we’ve been trained by society to be (there are, of course, significant degrees within this). Yet, I believe we are capable of growth, of learning, of compassion with each other and with ourselves. While JK Rowling’s comments and what I had heard about this book made me uncomfortable, I was still open to reading it. I recognize that this is, in big part, because I was not as hurt by her comments as others must have been.

Context 4: This book does not seem to include a transgender character. The serial killer turns out to be a relatively minor character (compared to my expectations for his role). He is not transgender. He is always masculine gendered. He occasionally dresses as a woman in order to approach women in a non-threatening way, in the process of kidnapping them. He is presented as smart, strategic, and an advanced planner, and his women’s garments are described as part of that strategy and not part of his identity (although, now I’m wondering whether JK Rowling thinks this does mean the character is transgender??) Dennis Creed also fools others beyond his victims with his occasional disguises used when kidnapping women. A bystander in the case Robin and Strike investigate does not intervene nor call the police when she sees two women struggling in the street, unlike how she might if she saw an assumed “man” struggling with an assumed “woman.” Yes, this serial killer’s attack strategy seems to connect to gender assumptions we make about others, and there’s the possibility that this portrayal of a man dressing as a woman in order to attack women could be interpreted as complaint against allowing transgender women into female safe spaces, like bathrooms (I felt like this would be a stretch based on only the text, but I definitely wonder given Rowling’s larger commentary). However, I feel that if I read this book without knowing it was written by JK Rowling, I wouldn’t have found anything particularly objectionable in it, nor would I have thought it was commenting on transgender identity and experiences.

None of this context is to say that I condone JK Rowling’s words on Twitter in any way, shape, or form; what she said was unacceptable, hurtful, and ignorant. She ought to have apologized and then promptly educated herself. But I was surprised that this book was pigeon-holed (I felt) in its tagline. I can’t imagine that the internet uproar that the book included a transgender serial killer was the conclusion of someone who actually read the book (and I find that surface-level assumption about a book concerning in its own way—the internet loves to flock to the sensationalist version of any half-truth). I didn’t come to an easy conclusion, in spite of this, about whether I ought to condone the book itself. JK Rowling’s comments made me not want to support her financially by buying the book, nor emotionally by reading it and spending my time on it.

Moving now past this larger context and my conflicting feelings about the ethics of reading this book, I did find this book a bit underwhelming. This book is LONG (927 pages) and I felt it could have benefited from stricter editing in some places. It didn’t really feel that long, as it has an, at times, nearly chatty tone—the characters move smoothly through their lives and conversations—and it’s easy reading, easy pacing, easy to go along with. This had the effect, to me, of making the book a bit flat. Not flat in a boring way, because it was easy to read and I kept just coasting through it, but flat in an emotional way. The part that got my heart racing the most was definitely the scene when Robin, in disguise, is nearly caught by Luca Ricci when he visits his gangster father in an up-scale nursing home. I clenched my hands around the book in fear throughout this scene, feeling like Luca Ricci was walking behind me, looking at me, as he loomed near Robin. It was harrowing.

The relatability of Robin is definitely the ongoing high point of this series for me. As another thirty-year-old tall blond woman who is way more ready to prioritize career than family, it’s not hard to see myself in Robin. I love her resilience and her quiet confidence. I love her increasing conviction that she is being her true self through her work. I love her struggle against the expectations of others, when she so clearly knows herself. It’s easy for me to want to emulate her. On top of her character, her job is one that’s also easy for me to romanticize. I have always loved mysteries, spies, disguises, complex human psychology, word puzzles, and piecing together hints and evidence. I loved whooping my family members’ butts in Clue as a kid. I love traveling and anything I see as an adventure (growing up, I was a huge dare devil—throwing myself off high dives, picking the scariest rides at amusement parks—until I got hurt a lot as a teenager and mellowed out some). I was definitely driven to romanticize some of these activities because my parents and sister were all deeply afraid of heights, which I found funny. Robin’s professional driving skills is about all it took for me to gasp aloud in awe and admiration. (I’d be lying if I said I haven’t imagined myself as Robin when I’m driving my Toyota Corolla, which is not a glamorous car, but mine is a glamorous COLOR, which is why I picked it). Robin has an awesome job, and she tackles it with grace, and the more strength she assembles, the more self-conviction, the more I love and admire her.

Robin and Strike’s characters are going through one of the slowest slow burns I’ve ever read in a book series. And, while I love a good slow-burn romance, I definitely have some mixed feelings about this one. Item 1: Earlier on in the series, I didn’t want Robin’s character to have a romantic plot line with Strike because of all the cool other things going on with her character development. I think I’m over that, especially in this book, because it’s increasingly clear here how well Robin and Strike’s particularities complement each other. Item 2: Are they better as friends? This seems to be the big central question of this book. They’ve gotten much better at expressing how much they mean to each other. Strike tells Robin that she’s his best friend (this was a great scene) and Robin’s confidence grows through understanding how central she is to functioning of the agency. She learns more about how she needs to operate differently than Strike as a leader within this space (yay for the scene where Morris is fired!) She both emulates and admires Strike, but also increasingly carves her own path. She doesn’t need to equalize their relationship, but she does need to equalize them in the eyes of others, and we see that characters from Morris to the unbearable C.B. Oakden undermine Robin’s equality by focusing on her relative youth and her gender. Would a romance between Robin and Strike reverse some of their own productive effort to equalize their relationship? This seems to be something both characters fear, as well. I do love seeing these two characters grow together—it seems like they’re working out each other’s love languages, understanding how best to express the other’s worth and their own care for each other in a way that is understood and appreciated by them both (there’s a big growth between Strike getting Robin flowers for her 29th birthday and taking her for drinks at the Ritz for her 30th). And this growth actually seems to form the backbone of the novel.

Is this, though, a relationship growth that is inherently romantic? The line seems to be slipping closer and closer to “yes.” I find loving platonic friendships to be very rewarding and very worth examining in literature, and I love a good slow burn, but something about the inconclusive status of this relationship is starting to wear on me. I think I wish it would either settle on the platonic side clearly, so we could explore the interesting things about that space, or progress on the romantic side, which has been a long time coming. I think part of my frustration here is that the growth of this relationship is, as I’ve said, the true arc of this novel. The change in these characters IS the arc because there’s not another one, and I think this deficiency contributes to the flatness of this book for me.

My favorite of the five Cormoran Strike books was number four, so I do think part of the anticlimactic feel of this firth book was the experience of reading this following book 4. Lethal White, as explained in my post on this book from a few years back, felt like it blazed new ground to me, in terms of what a murder mystery novel could do and be, and how it could unfold. I had a lot of sympathy for that murderer. The reveal was not about cracking the case, so much as it was about understanding human experience and context. Trouble Blood, though, felt reminiscent of book 2 as a narrative arc. I wasn’t particularly engaged by the reveal of the murderer—What was new about this character as the murderer? What could this show or explore? These felt like dead end questions to me. I was also confused by this character’s acceptance of their upcoming very public trial when they had so successfully enjoyed satisfaction from the shadows for decades. Their motivations, too, seemed under-explored, put aside as the fanatic behavior of one person when it seemed there could perhaps be threads to comment on there. The emotional arc between Robin and Strike didn’t seem particularly interwoven with their systematic solving of this cold case. Therefore, the joy of this plot had to be in the reveal itself, in the unspooling of the mystery…and this one just didn’t do it for me. I know the bar is high—from The Cuckoo’s Calling onward, we knew Robert Galbraith could spin a tightly woven tale—but what’s the point if all that this is is tightly (well, no longer so tightly) woven plot?

Robin feels an emotional connection with Margot Bamborough and I think we’re asked by the book to care about her, an ambitious woman who worked toward her dreams only to have these cut short, but she just never seemed that vivid to me. Less vivid than say Pat, the opinionated office secretary who I liked a lot. The best of the book was in the subtleties—Pat’s change of heart about Strike, Strike’s relationship with Joan as she’s dying, Strike fully letting go of his emotional ties to Charlotte (I guess that was something we really needed to see happen, him letting her go and actually changing his phone number), and Robin and Strike’s conversation where they affirm their best friend status (very wholesome). Overall, I wanted more from this book. It felt very realistic, very “slice of life,” but I’m not sure we come to the murder mystery genre for realism (more drama please!) But the book was nevertheless enjoyable, in a smooth way, like a story a friend tells you—easy to hear and to internalize, with two main characters you want to root for, but more out of familiarity and habit than because of what’s at stake for them in Troubled Blood.

[sportsguy-123]

What’s up Potterheads (potter fans, potterpeople, harry’sharem, dumblewhores and the like) specifically, those with Harry Potter Tattoos...

I have a question that is not meant to be a joke and I’m seriously curious. You can think I’m stupid if you like, but here goes;

Since you loved the message and the story so much (the characters, the symbolism, the tale that captured your hearts...) why are you removing/blacking out your tattoos? I assume you didn’t get those tattoos with J.K. Rowling’s signature or anything. She’s blatantly transphobic, yes. But like... I don’t look at everything Harry Potter and immediately assume “transphobia!” I think “10 points for Gryffindor!” and the wholesome, fanatic nerds who love Harry and his adventures. I don’t think having a tattoo of the story means you’re okay with transphobia.

Again, I’m genuinely curious and I’d love to hear what others think. Always open for discussion.

[raayllum]

What do you think about Rowling transphobic tweets? (Just ignore if you don't want to answer)

tw transphobia and mentions of jk rowling under the cut

i think she's a trashbag of a human being and the worst kind of white woman, i'm scared and saddened for my trans siblings in the uk who are going to be affected more than anyone else, and for trans hp fans (like myself) who have been very emotionally wounded by the shitiness of just... everything. i'm not surprised, at this point - i realized i was trans / nb like two months before she really showed her terf colours, and i'd been disillusioned with her since around 2016 onwards, but like. still fucking sucks and i've cut hp out of myself entirely & am selling all my old merch in hopes of making some extra money. i won't lie and say that she / hp stuff (outside of the house system, as it is a useful short hand for discussing character motivation) aren’t anywhere from lowkey to actively triggering for me, but i also know other ppl who still like hp as a normal person, some of whom that are queer / trans themselves, so like. as long as nobody is saying she's right and/or giving her more money i'm not gonna side eye