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acewitch-writes · 4 months

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Hello! I recently found your account, and I went on scrolling down and down...and now I hope you know how grateful I am. Thank u- Merci. About 90% of the content you share here has made me feel so much better. I realllyy hope wonderful things happen for you. I've been a fan of hp since 2001, but I'm not really a social media person so I haven't been active in the fandom. I had no idea what was happening here until recently..two months ago to be exact (other details are not important) and omg.. I ended up in a discussion with some I think, new fans. tbh I thought, "Great! I'm good at this, I read all the books more than once Let's talk :)" and omg their very first question was "What do you think about Regulus?"

I was like, "Who?" *dying from secondhand embarrassment bc It turns out I'm not that good at this

but as the discussion continued, I became more and more baffled bc "Why was everyone talking about Barty, Evan, and Regulus? who is daddy Remu? and what do you mean people ship James Potter with R.A.B.? What?"

I swear for a moment I thought "Did the writer publish a new book? Did I miss something? " tbh, I respect everyone's opinion it's none of my business but I'm still shocked. The only thing that bothers me is everything that happened with this new Wolfsar

omg, for most fans around my age (or at least people I know), Sirius was the complete portrayal of a bad boy- a rebel, with boots, tattoos, a leather jacket, and a fucking motorcycle. so this new Sirius is like a stranger to me, and that's okay. Mein issue is kinda with this new Remus T T my beloved .

They (the fans I was talking with) told me Remus is "tall, so handsome, SO strong, and hot-headed person because, yk he's a werewolf." I was like "hot headed? excuse me?" I tried to explain to them that Remus being a werewolf is a metaphor for illnesses like HIV, it's not some superpowery gift. they didn't believe me, but then they literally looked me in the face and said, "Then why would Sirius like someone like him? He's poor, short, and ugly." I swear I wanted to cry right then and there.

What is this mindset that makes some people think that a person should be, Idk, hot and flawless to deserve to be loved? Yes I don't think Remus is tall and super hot and perfect and isn't it fine? and I am 100% sure he's so beautiful. not like Sirius ofc but he has this "warm, cozy, and soft" sort of beauty. and I don't think he was a coward (ok maybe he was a liitle) but I guess it's easier for us, humans, to take the worst or weakest moment of a character and amplify it until it defines them entirely. and omg I'm so sorry for my rant and my bad english. but once again thank you for your beautiful soul <3 thank you

Hi anon! I, too, am baffled by the recent obsession with Regulus in this fandom. I think Jegulus is fine as a crack ship, but it has become so mainstream that many fans have just gone ahead and canonized it to the point that you'll be vilified for not accepting it as canon. I underestimated how popular the "best friend's brother" trope was, apparently. I also think it appeals to many fans as a Marauders Era version of one of the most popular ships of all time, Drarry.

This new version of Wolfstar is my biggest complaint with today's fandom, too! I get that the Marauders have very limited canon information and therefore we have more creative freedom to flesh them out, but I really believe that it has gone way too far. Sirius and Remus in today's fandom don't bear any resemblance to the characters they're based on. Remus is just a generic alpha werewolf OC and Sirius is his generic himbo femboy love interest OC. They don't even share a physical description with their Canon counterparts, and their personalities and character traits are so far removed that I can't even fathom how we reached this point as a fandom. How can you claim to like these characters if you have to change everything the source material says about them?

You're English is great, by the way! I completely agree that Remus has a cozy-and-warm sort of beauty. He made a point to distance himself from the stigma surrounding Lycanthropy because it was the focal point of his shame and self-loathing. And I just adore Wolfstar's dynamic from this lens, with the intimidatingly beautiful, confident, headstrong Sirius Black, who could have his pick of anyone he wants, choosing this ordinary guy because he's cozy and soft and it's exactly what Sirius wants after surviving the harsh ideals and abuse of House Black.

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bookishphysicsgirl · 9 months

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Hello, I have a genuine question, especially for trans people since you are the most affected, regarding Harry Potter fan fiction.

I'll try to tag this appropriately so that anyone who doesn't wish to see any content regarding to this doesn't, but if it accidentally slipped through I'm sorry, just tell me what else to tag it as so it will be better blocked and I will.

Obviously Joanne is a delusional b**** and I will never be touching anything she writes or sells ever again, since it would be giving her funds to actively harm trans lives.

The only question I have is regarding fanfiction because I've been seeing many arguments about this and still can't quite make my mind up about what side is right, but the thing is none of the people I saw making statements about this were trans, so I would very much appreciate your opinion since I believe that your thoughts are the most valid in this situation.

The first argument is that HP fanfiction while not directly supporting J.K. and oftentimes going directly against her beliefs is still giving visibility to her work and ultimately attracting people to the world of HP that normally wouldn't have exactly because of the effort put in to fix the mistakes of the original text.

I think the way they put it was that she is "profiting off the free labor of the folk she despises".

I actually see how this can be true and it makes a lot of sense to me since, for example, when All The Young Dudes blew up on tik tok a lot of people who might otherwise not have done so started buying HP merch and getting it farther up in the trends, even though ATYD by itself is a very queer-positive work.

The second argument is that fanfiction is not directly supporting her and it is incredibly healing and supporting for many people struggling. Not only that it can be a platform to expose her wrongdoings and stop the fandom from becoming a home ground for hate groups.

The argument went somewhere along the lines of if a child receives the HP books from a relative unaware of all the issues and likes it and then goes looking for more content, if the fan content made by the queer community isn't there to receive them all they will be met with is people who reaffirm Joanne's toxic opinions and it could be extremely harmful to those children, especially if they are queer themselves and aren't aware yet.

I myself have gone to HP fanfiction when I was questioning my sexuality and when I was depressed and it helped me immensely to understand what was happening to me and that it was ok and normal.

Trans protagonists in HP fanfiction also helped me understand gender theory better and what might be going on in trans lives and how to be more respectful (disclaimer: I am a cis woman so I cannot speak for trans people, I am merely stating that it helped me understand).

Both of these arguments make a lot of sense to me, and I can't see which one would be more correct. On the one hand I think that stopping everyone from even interacting with fandom might be a bit extreme, on the other I can't help but worry whether that is just me creating an excuse to keep enjoying things I like.

I don't feel like I enjoy HP fanfiction for nostalgia, especially since I openly recognize that both the books and the movies were actually a bit boring and not that well written and haven't been able to re-read them since I was 12. I think it has a lot more to do with the healing factor of being able to disassociate to another world and see stories that reflect mine and see people feeling the same things I do. But I am more than willing to stop if it is in fact causing more harm than good, especially since the last thing I want is for Joanne to receive clout she does not deserve.

Either way, I just wanted to know your opinions in all of this, since as I mentioned before I've only ever seen cis people arguing about it (mostly on tik tok).

Thank you so much for reading all of this and thank you if you reply.

(note: I will not be tagging this with trans tags because I know that a lot of people can feel unsafe when met with content regarding Harry Potter)

#harry potter #fanfiction #hp fanfiction #fanfic #jk rowling #fuck jkr #fandom

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vel-sig-gaming · 2 months

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[Revita] Review: Intense gameplay, calming theme

Sometimes new games in a genre blend together other ones so perfectly that the only way to describe them is by analogy of math equation.

Revita = Dead cells gameplay + Hollow knight thematics.

If that sounds like a good platformer roguelike to you, that's because it is. But what that means in practice is it pairs Extremely challenging platformer combat with exploration, secrets, and a more somber theme.

The main "gimmick" of this game would be that there's no real currency like in any other roguelike, you buy items or upgrades with your hearts, sometimes current and sometimes max. Either way, your progress is tied to how few hits you can take , allowing you to go for a high risk high reward style 24/7.

When you pair that gameplay with a somber theme, what you end up finding in this game is actually a quite good result. You're fighting up this tower for yourself, for your lost memories. You fight literal interpretations of emotions on the way, defeating despair, anger, bargaining, and denial. And much like Hades, you have to go through harder and harder run throughs with additional restrictions to reveal the true secret, but enough new things are added each time to make the gameplay never feel stale.

On to the best game design parts. that stand out above others:

When you unlock something, you get a copy of it for that run only, and it's then unlocked for future runs (up to two items.) This lets you force builds as you unlock them, or try new things, or save rarer items for a runback or achievement.

Much like in enter the gungeon (great game) extra content is hidden between the main zones, in the form of a secret you have to unlock to go to zone 1.5 before 2. The cost is danger (and maybe some items or health) but the rewards if you make it is a drastic power increase before the final stage.

The game has 2 start-of-run modifiers, you pick your weapon as your playstyle (Shotguns, snipers, machine guns, anything you want really) And you can trade starting health or curses for items or buffs. Add this to the unlockable behaviour and you don't have to repeat runs basically ever.

The permanent upgrades are impactful and noticeable, adding extra rooms that give huge benefits or adding smaller ones impactful in every run, like extra healing every floor. Plus, you can disable them after unlocking.

The only downside of this game is that enemy attacks can sometimes come out too fast to react in the earlygame, but that's a minor complaint.

The music is phenomenal, the pixel art clearly is polished, and the game is still updated now. If you are a fan of roguelikes, I'd put this just a bit below ETG or Hades. It is rather hard though especially with the HP currency system, so not for the faint of heart. But this game is the definition of a labor of love, you can really tell the dev who made this likes videogames quite a bit.

Also it has a fishing minigame. Which is almost gueranteed to make any game its added to 10x better.

Final score 9.5/10, But obviously it's subjective.

More reviews to come. Also more games to come, made by me. ETA 2024

#game reccomendations #game review #review #game design #roguelike #indie games

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castletown-cafe · 2 years

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Castletown Café Episode 15: S. POISON

“HEY EVERY !! IT’S ME! SPAMTON G. SPAMTON! [[Back By Popular Demand!]] WITH A [[All-New Product]]! INTRODUC1NG [[S. POTION]]. ITEM ITEM HAS THE [[SHARP TASTE OF]] AND [Fun & Games] EFF3CTS!! N0T AT ALL [[Suitable for all ages!]]”

CONTENT AND SUBSTANCE WARNING: This recipe contains alcohol, and is not suitable for anyone under the age of 21 (or anyone under the drinking age in your country). Please drink responsibly and in moderation.

S. POTION - or should I say, S. POISON, is a strange concoction of colorful squares (most likely pixels), that heals 40 HP at first....only to slowly drain away 60. It will not, however, go below 1 HP. Not an item you’d want to use in battle, or outside, for that matter. Found within Spamton’s shop, he disguises it as a healing item in order to trick you into buying poison. It doesn’t matter to Spamton what it is he’s selling, as long as he’s selling something.

With S. POISON being, well, poison, I knew that this was going to be another cocktail recipe if I was going to be making it in real life. I brainstormed a few ideas, such as using Fireball for the main spirit, but I didn’t know what else to mix it with. I knew I wanted to include blackberries from the get-go, so I eventually settled on a blackberry margarita instead of the original Fireball idea. With how strong tequila is, it was ultimately a fantastic decision.

Here in Oregon, wild blackberry vines are abundant. In fact, these weeds grow everywhere in the summer, with fresh wild berries ready to be picked and eaten either in July or August, depending on the weather we get in the spring. This year had a particularly rainy spring, so all the local crops, farmed and wild, were delayed, and less sweet from the lack of sunlight.

While fresh blackberries garnish this drink, blackberry syrup sweetens and flavors it. As much as it can, anyway, given the overpowering flavor of the tequila. I toned down the tequila in this margarita by reducing the ounces from 2 to just 1, adding a little extra lime juice, and topping it off with a splash of tonic water in order to dilute the drink just a bit. If you’re daring enough or are a huge tequila and margarita fan, you can go for a full 2 ounces, but that’s a bit much for me, especially flavor wise.

Making the syrup is the first step, and I made the blackberry syrup the same way I did the strawberry syrup in my Top Cake recipe. You’ll want to make this at least a day ahead of time so that the syrup can cool completely. Another thing you’re going to need is plenty of ice, since just like with the Battery Acid cocktail, we’ll be combining most of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shaking it to chill the drink before pouring it into a glass. Unlike our previous cocktail recipe, we’ll be serving it with more ice. If you’ve got an even grander home bar than I do, and know how to make the perfect ice cubes, then you can serve your S. POISON in true “pixelated” fashion.

Just like with lemons, fresh limes are best for cocktails as opposed to bottled lime juice. You’ll taste the difference, trust me. Now, go pick or buy yourself a good ton of blackberries, and let’s get started!

BLACKBERRY SYRUP:

2 cups fresh blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Equip:

Blender or food processor

Thoroughly wash your berries before pouring them into a small saucepan, especially if you picked these in the wild. Dried petals, twigs, and even bugs, may be on them, and you want to remove all of that before cooking.

Add sugar and water to the saucepan and bring your mixture to a boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Have it cook on medium heat for a few minutes, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for another 10.

Give your syrup a good stir and remove from heat. It’s best to let it cool just a bit before moving on to the next step.

Pour syrup into blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Pour blended syrup through a mesh strainer into a bowl and squeeze as much of the syrup out as you can, leaving most of the seeds behind (some smaller seeds may still make it in, but that’s okay). Scrape syrup off the bottom of your strainer and add to the bowl, giving your syrup another good stir.

Let your syrup cool completely before pouring into a container and storing in the refrigerator.

You’ll have plenty of fresh blackberry syrup to enjoy in ice cream, on pancakes, or in cocktails, like this week’s featured recipe.

S. POISON:

1.5 fl oz lime juice (about 1 lime)

1 oz silver tequila

1 oz triple sec

1 tablespoon blackberry syrup

A little tonic water

Ice

Fresh blackberries, about 6, for garnish

Lime wheel, for garnish

Sea salt, for garnish

Equip:

Rocks glass, for serving

Cocktail shaker

Jigger/drink measurer

Citrus hand juicer

Wash and dry lime, rinse blackberries. Cut lime in half and then cut off a wheel of lime for garnishing your glass and a slit down the center in order for it to rest on the rim. Cut a similar but much smaller slit in one blackberry as well (preferably the firmest and prettiest), then set aside.

Wet half the rim of a rocks glass and coat with sea salt. You can easily do this using your lime wheel, just be careful not to damage it.

Using a citrus juicer, squeeze out the juice of your remaining lime. If you don’t have a full 1.5 oz, you can juice another.

Add lime juice, tequila, triple sec, and blackberry syrup to cocktail shaker, add ice, cover, and shake until very cold, about 15 seconds.

Place ice in rocks glass, then the blackberries, minus the one with a small slit cut into it.

Pour margarita into prepared rocks glass, top off with tonic water and add lime wheel and blackberry for garnish. Serve or enjoy immediately.

For those of you who don’t drink or are underage, no worries. I got a safe version coming up next, without any risks or harmful effects. Stay tuned for Part 2!

Sources:

Weber, Brian, Benny, Amin, “Cocktails Made Simple: Easy & Delicious Recipes for the Home Bartender”, ISBN 978-1-64152-728-6.

Stone, Robyn, "Simple Strawberry Syrup Recipe", Add a Pinch (addapinch.com) Link: https://addapinch.com/strawberry-syrup-recipe/

Overhiser, Sonja, “How to Make Clear Ice (The Best Way!)”, A Couple Cooks (acouplecooks.com) Link: https://www.acouplecooks.com/how-to-make-clear-ice/

Unknown, (Tiphero?) “How To Make Crystal Clear Cocktail Ice At Home”, Tiphero (tiphero.com) Link: https://tiphero.com/crystal-clear-cocktail-ice

Siers, Jeremy, “BEST Way to Make Crystal CLEAR Ice Cubes!! | Perfect for Whiskey“, YouTube. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5H2Opjql9g

#castletown cafe #deltarune #deltarune chapter 2 #spamton #spamton g spamton #big shot spamton #spamton fanart #deltarune fanart #cw alcohol #s poison #deltarune food #deltarune inspired recipe #cocktail #margaritas #margarita #cocktail recipe #recipe #my art

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spaceorphan18 · 7 months

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I was wondering how you felt about the centralization of fandom. I feel like now, I'm so used to hop on AO3 that as soon as I'm looking for something I might not find there, like meta, theories or simply fics for an older (related to AO3) fandom like Glee, I don't have a clue anymore where to look for them. I never used LiveJournal so I don't have the habit of checking it out. FFNET feels obsolete after spending so much time on AO3, and as for Tumblr... the search function is a mess (and I dislike the fact that so many people post fanfics directly in text posts, of course they do what they want but it's frustrating to search for like analysis or simple thoughts and only find docs).

Fanlore is often lacking (although I worked myself on filling some stuff a few times).

I was used to HP being my main fandom: it had its own very charming fan websites with tons of content that often still exist, but are different somehow.

So I guess my question is actually several questions:

- what do you think of fandom being generally more centralized nowadays

- where do you go if you seek stuff like writeups (AO3 allows them but doesn't feature so much of them, but I know the Glee fandom was THRIVING and full of stuff,I guess the waves of mass post deletions are part of the issue)?

- finally, how are you? 🤗 I'm always happy to see your posts on my dash even if my Glee hyperfixation has come and gone

Sorry, it may be a confusing post 😂 Too much stuff going on

Hmm - I guess I wonder what you mean by more centralized? Like that we find everything in one place? Do we find everything in one placed? I guess I'm a little confused (but I often am)

What do you mean by write ups? Do you mean things like meta and analysis? I just want to make sure I'm understanding correctly.

If I'm being honest, my relationship with media has changed and I'm not necessarily seeking out fandoms to engage with. (This is not a denouncement of fandom at all! Just that I'm busier and how I interact with things just is different now) I haven't hyperfixed on anything since Glee - and I'm okay with that.

I don't really know where people can go /now/ to dig into fandoms. I think Discord is one of the places - but you almost have to be engaged already and invited into one. I don't know where people are putting their thoughts and feelings these days.

For me - I listen to a lot of podcasts now (as well as YouTube) where I can hear people's takes on such things, but I can't necessarily engage with it (I mean, I suppose commenting is a thing but it's not my thing) and that seems to fulfill a lot of my desire to hear someone else's thoughts.

And, I mean, I've made a group of good friends on Tumblr that if I want a more personalized discussion on something I'll hit one of them up and spark a convo. (Of course I have people not on the internet with whom I do that, too.)

But I can see where it can be hard for someone who is just starting out on their fandom journey to find a place where they can really dig in with others. Tumblr would be nicer if it was more organized and if tagging did actually work.

And, you know, I kinda treat Tumblr like a journal - and just create my own content. I'm not necessarily writing for all of you, but to sort things out in my own mind. Having people read and enjoy my thoughts is just an added bonus. ;)

I'm not sure if I've answered or addressed all of your thoughts - but hopefully, some of that makes sense?

In the mean time, I am doing well. I'm in a better place personally, which is nice, because then I can get back to all the fun projects I enjoyed before the year of my mental health crisis. Hope you are well yourself! <3

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vivithefolle · 2 years

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Hello! I just wanted to pop by and say I’m sorry for spamming your blog with likes and reblogs the last couple days. I just was desperately looking for Ron content I hadn’t seen before and kinda fell in love with your blog (I also found you on Quora and love your answers there also)! I’d keep going back even further than I made it (sorry if that’s creepy) if I didn’t keep losing my spot and having to scroll all the way back to where I was (stupid phone). I want to be as bold as you are when it comes to defending Ron. He’s my hyperfixation and the way you passionately defend him is amazing. You take no shit and don’t let anyone make you feel bad for loving Ron. I love your fight back attitude because you’re right - Ron fans have spent decades fighting for our lives in this godforsaken fandom. Anyways, thank you for inspiring me to be loud and proud about defending Ron. It’s becoming a hobby of mine.

Don't be sorry! I'm glad you enjoyed my blog! Do keep in mind though that I've been... needlessly aggressive in the past, over sometimes misunderstandings. I can be much too angry, so... be careful. I tend to forget that behind the messages, there's another human being... ... a human being that's also a Ron-bashing asshole, yes, but a human being nonetheless.

Anyway yeah!! It's exhausting how much casual Ron-hate is still tossed around, and how even Romione shippers will call shitty toxic tropes "cute :)". Yeah sure, maybe Hermione saying "oh Ron you're MY idiot :)" was cute once. But when you've seen over a thousand fics where Hermione calls Ron "MY idiot :)" while Ron gets cruxified the SECOND he's upset at her, yeah that's not being a Ron fan, that's just being a Mary Suemione simp.

I should really finish my fanfictions, show an example of what kind of content I wish Romione could be. Enough of the bootlicking for Hermione, enough excuses for her, enough of thinking that her academic results are somehow proof of her being on another level of being. I hate that kind of thinking. People really have no idea what school does to kids, do they?

Other folks have talked about it before, and it's true, that a lot of Ron-hate is steeped in social issues. Classism, elitism, sexism, ableism, puritanical Calvinist bullshit from the USA's finest """Christians""". The notion of Ron being "useless" and how that means he shouldn't be friends with Harry and Hermione... like, my guy, you know that's the way Voldemort thinks right?

It's kind of astonishing how badly this fandom misses the point of the whole series (it's not like Rowling was being subtle about it!!), but then these are the idiots that worship Draco Malfoy and claim he was redeemed when his last action pre-Epilogue was to claim he was on the Death Eater's side. If that's the role model these folks want then no wonder they can't appreciate Ron: Ron actually recognized when he fucked up and actually apologized and tried to do better, while Draco was saying racial slurs and showed no remorse aside from that time he cried about how murdering people is hard. Of course the fandom of folks who believe that Harry should forgive Malfoy when Malfoy never apologized would assume that Ron is a bad guy: can you believe that Ron shows remorse? Remorse is for weak people. Only cool people don't have remorse, because that means they have nothing to regret. That's how it works right?

Anyway. The HP fandom sucks, it's a cesspool of bigoted jerks that like to pretend they're really progressive but are just a mirror of their much-loathed author whom they still worship through Hermione dearest. Rowling's books teach us that it's okay to impose your ideas onto the "lesser" peoples because it's for their own good, that a few performative words about how you think everyone is equal is enough to have you branded "tolerant" even your other behaviour is the polar opposite (see how Hermione will chide Ron for being "racist" towards giants when he points out that they're violent... only to be a quivering terrified mess in front of Grawp, yeah, I can smell the tolerance from here), and OF COURSE, that girly girls are dumb sluts here to steal yo man. Oh and also that the man is always to blame, and if he's feeling hurt by something, it's invalid unless he's an orphan.

This fandom sucks, but that's the only place where there's a tiny chance to find actually decent Ron content. Woe.

#vivi answers #harry potter #hp fandom #ron weasley #ron weasley defense squad #ron weasley defence squad #romione #hermione granger #hp meta

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talenlee · 6 months

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October 2023 Wrapup

Dread Month draws to a close! The spookiest of nights, the dawn of the dead, the uh, thing! We shed our shackles and dance in our bones, and tomorrow, go about the business of being people, once again, sloughing out into the drawing heat and the growing, burning, hateful light of a sun that resents us and we celebrate in spite of it. You know, the normal and natural way everyone relates to this time of the year.

Alright, let’s do the Game Pile articles!

Don’t Go In There, a dice chucker board game made in a charming dice tower

Backwater, a really interesting TTRPG about a post-apocalyptic vision of the parts of America that are allowed to stay permanently soggy

Phantom Ink, a hidden information ghosty game in the vein of Mysterium

Carrion, a video recreation of one of my favourite articles to read aloud from 2020

Then there’s the Story Pile!

Bloodthirsty Hearts, a fiction podcast about queer girls fighting gargoyle vampires at a convention in which they learn the valuable lessons that all systems of privilege and power aren’t as important as talking to your gay crush.

The Lighthouse, a black and white movie about what enters you when you take yourself far away from everything and empty yourself.

Jujutsu Kaisen, spoiler-free, a contextualising post about how a great Shounen Battle Anime with horror elements make the idea of shounen anime nonsense.

John Carpenter’s Halloween, from 1978, a movie that is both way better than I expected, and full of all sorts of deliberate choices that people seem to replicate for no good reasons.

Willy’s Wonderland, which is, unironically a Five Nights At Freddies fan movie made by Nicolas Cage in a month and really quite good!

This month also featured a somewhat bumper load of D&D content. First, I did some worldbuilding for Cobrin’Seil, both in revealing a new location, Uxaion, which is a necrocybermagepunk city. It’s an adventure city where you can contend with economic harm and threats, and where you can also just murder your way through cops that only respect the utility of your body as a potential undead – it’s a place for wight privilege. Then I also presented the player backgrounds for characters you could make from the Szudetken province. Along with that, I made an article about Evil Gods, and the antisemitism built into the framework of the D&D Lich, and since I was just in the territory, I made fun of the 4e D&D Vampire character class, even though I think it’s a great idea. Then, in this month’s How To Be article, where I got to hold high Harrowhark Nonagesimus, drowned sad vomiting goth of the Locked Tomb franchise, I also gave a long-form discussion of how to translate a prominent, small-cast character’s vibes in a team based game.

Up here, there’s also room to talk about an OC, Z3R0, and about the ongoing, relentless onslaught of capitalism in the creation of more than half of all valid Commander cards in the past five years.

This being October, I once again did a set of Dread Readings. I know that a lot of my friends have never partaken of a lot of classic, historically important horror media. At first, Dread Readings were Lovecraft Stories, trying to make the difficult readings of his old texts into something more approachable. Then, the year after, I started picking up short stories from other, equally classic horror material that could help – in my opinion – familiarise people with different kinds of horror that you know, didn’t just continue being Lovecraft.

This year, the four Dread Readings are:

HP Lovecraft’s The Thing On The Doorstep, which I bring up as the time Lovecraft dabbled in issues of gender.

A chapter excerpt from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows, in which Mole and Rat meet the Horned King, a totally normal thing to randomly have in an otherwise pretty Christian book!

Destiny’s No Rez For The Weary, a lore tab entry from a videogame. I liked it because it’s horror in a science fantasy space that isn’t

Paul Jenning’s Granddad’s Gifts, a haunting story from an Australian kid’s author. This is a story I really like as an example of horror used to a different romantic effect than just fear.

It wouldn’t be October, the ongoing Dread Month, without some real downer articles. Do you want to read me being a huge downer? No? Okay, well, here are links anyway. I wrote about the Silent Hill Wiki Circumcision Incident, about how we examine the death toll of Chernobyl, about the way we all live the life of Lovecraft’s horror, about the creation of an alternate reality in the form of all media that wants to pretend the Pandemic never happened, and most of all, the horror of a history seeing suicide by immolation become more common. Know what really sucks? Since writing that article I remembered the Arab Spring was kicked off by another one!

Next up, what about this month’s T-Shirt? Since I’ve been watching Jujutsu Kaisen, this horse meme and the narrative of the series came together:

This design was one of those ones where I, with enough work, was able to put together a few variations. Redbubble lets me stick things in collections, and so, here! Have a collection for your consideration of which version looks best to you.

Work-wise, this month is the tail end of semester, which means I have been, I think, marking student work every single day of this month. I’m trying to make sure my students are getting attention they need, and still also provide plans to my cohort of teachers about how we can refine these subjects going forward. This is in addition to my phd work, which…

It’s weird?

I’m excited to work more on my phd tomorrow morning. Like I am genuinely thinking about the stuff I stopped working on today and want to pick up tomorrow. There’s a mindset shift on that front that’s been really hard to get my head around. I’m glad of it.

I’m also kind of boiling with game ideas, and without a theme – and with the upcoming no effort november vibes I’m aiming for… we might see more chill vibes going forward!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Diary #Meta

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legion1227 · 4 months

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Games Played/Beaten in 2023: Ranked!

28. Dynasty Warriors 9- 2/5,

As a big fan of Musou games and the Dynasty Warriors franchise, I'm deeply upset at how disappointing and underwhelming the last major entry in the DW franchise was. With a boring open world, dull gameplay, and a monotonous story, there is little to no reason to divulge as much time in the game as they want you to do.

27. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Campaign Mode.- 2.5/5.

As someone who does not play COD Warzone whatsoever, the levels playing Warzone-esque are no bother to me and are welcome. Other levels garner minimal intrigue and I wish there were more intriguing stakes in a story that ends way too soon and abruptly.

26. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order- 3/5

I wanted to like this game more than I did, and while it's in no way bad, I realized after 8 hours that this game wasn't for me. With level traversing as confusing and nerve-wracking as it is, coupled with gameplay that's not as stimulating as I'd like, I feel better off watching someone play through the story instead of playing myself.

25. Prey- 3.5/5

Gifted to me as a present years ago, it took time before I finally gave Prey the good ol college try. Trapped on a space station with shape-shifting aliens, you are tasked with self-destructing the station before the aliens can reach Earth. The stakes are there, and exploring the station is engaging, but the combat falls a bit short to my liking.

24. Granblue Fantasy Versus. 3.5/5

As a fighting game casual fan, I could stand to have more single-player content in my fighting games. Before Granblue dropped its sequel last month, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, I dived into the previous game back in the early Fall. The character designs are quite anime-esque, and the RPG mode is quite fun, especially with a companion, but the fighting game itself lacked weight that other fighting games I played this past year harbored. Other games simply felt better to play than Granblue.

23. Final Fantasy XV- 3.5/5.

While Final Fantasy XVI was on the cusp of dropping this year, I thought it appropriate to replay the previous entry for the first time in years. The main character, Noctis, and his group of royal guards are mostly enjoyable. The rest of the cast, the gameplay, and the open world itself all fell into the same territory of being decent but could've been even stronger if more time was dedicated to each facet. To be fair, both playthroughs I've done have lacked the DLC so I'm unsure how much of a difference it makes on my overall enjoyment of the game. Next time I play, we'll have to see if it does, and maybe I'll rank it higher then.

22. Lego Harry Potter- 3.5/5.

As Playstation Plus made Lego HP one of the free monthly games, it was only a matter of time before I gave it a try as I have a moderate enjoyment of the HP series and a stronger attachment to Lego games in general. Bringing the magical wizard world of HP into Lego opened up many possibilities for endearing storytelling in its usual Lego charm upon replaying all eight movies across the game. Blowing the more recent HP game, Hogwarts Legacy, out of the water, it doesn't hold up as much as another Lego game I played this year that we'll get to later.

21. Attack on Titan- 3.5/5.

Released in August 2016, the Attack on Titan game was developed and produced by Omega Force and Koei Tecmo respectively, the same companies behind the Dynasty Warrior games and numerous other Musou games, AOT covers the first season of the show in game form. It does a good job at capturing the feeling of exhaustively slaughtering titan after titan as a human fighting for humanity, but as a Musou fan, I prefer their other titles immensely.

20. Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2- 3.5/5

I am unbelievably hyped for the next entry in this franchise. As someone who's played BT3 to death for years, I never got too much time with its predecessor for complex reasons. After snagging a copy for the Wii years ago and completing the story mode just this year, I can say that BT2 is fun and captures the feel of a DBZ fight you see in the show, but it's a much lesser version of BT3 that I can't help but feel after playing that one for years. BT2 has plenty of characters but still lacks against BT3, and many of the fighters have the same rush moves and lack distinction, again, unlike in BT3. The only aspect I enjoy much more in BT2 over BT3 is the execution of the story mode and the What If scenarios at our disposal. And even then, there was room for improvement in some aspects.

19. One Piece Pirate Warriors 4- 3.5/5

My second favorite anime after Dragon Ball Z has two of my favorite Musou games in Pirate Warriors 2 and 3. Pirate Warriors 4 skips plenty of arcs, but still tells the major story beats in the One Piece story with flashy gameplay as you mow down hundreds of enemy fodder with the unique cast at your disposal. Too many characters that were playable in the last Pirate Warriors were axed for newer characters, of only a few feel really fun to play. After a while, Pirate Warriors 4 can become a bit monotonous with its objectives or story beats with the characters accompanied by its gameplay, which is fair to say with almost any Musou game, but it feels more apparent with Pirate Warriors 4 than others.

18. Doki Doki Literature Club- 4/5

Visual novels are not my cup of tea and neither are horror games, but this one was too great. Of course, it's been out for years and I've known some of what happened in the events of the game, but as you have the option to go through different story routes at this high school, the twists and turns and creepy imagery were intriguing enough to make me want to continue. Doki Doki Literature Club deserved the praise it got at the time and still deserves praise for its writing and creativity.

17. Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate- 4/5

This is the last Musou game listed here I swear. Warriors Orochi is peak when it comes to the Musou format. Between hundreds of characters to choose from the Dynasty Warriors franchise, Samurai Warriors, and many original characters and guest characters, the variety at your hand while getting to pick any team of three and mow down enemies is a treat. Character interactions are endearing to any Dynasty or Samurai Warriors fan, the combat is more flashy than other games in its genres, and combined with a more traditional fighting game mode and a mode where you traverse a dungeon with a team of five, WO3U is one of the best games in its genre for certain.

16. South Park: The Stick of Truth- 4/5

The raunchy RPG based on the classic TV show really started picking up steam for me in the last few hours. Playing as a new kid who's moved into South Park, getting to create your combat class, pick up gear, and travel around the town of South Park to interact with the iconic cast or indulge in references and easter eggs as a fan of the series was hilarity incarnate. Performance issues plagued my run that stem mostly from playing on a PS3 for this. I wished the game utilized having more than one companion accompany you in combat, but Stick of Truth is a must-have, or maybe must-replay since its ten years old at this point, for RPG fans or South Park fans.

15. Dokapon Kingdom- 4/5

An underrated PS2 game that combines RPG elements to a classic Mario Party style. In the story of Dokapon, the fictional land is attacked by an army of monsters. The king offers his daughter, Princess Penny, to marry whichever player can finish the game with the most amount of money. It can induce the same amount of rage you would get playing Mario Party with friends, but it's also just as fun. The combat is simple yet thought-provoking, the random encounter events are entertaining with amusing characters, and the art style is cute to look at. It can be hard to obtain the original game these days, but I know a remake titled Dokapon Kingdom: Connect on the Switch exists that is almost exactly like the original, so I would recommend trying it out there if you can and play with friends.

14. Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate- 4/5.

In anticipation of Mortal Kombat 1 releasing, I bought a physical copy of MK11 to play for a time. The ultimate edition of MK11 separated itself by adding all DLC content such as characters like The Terminator, Spawn, Shang Tsung, etc., and the story mode "The Aftermath." Mortal Kombat 11 continues to be one of the prime examples of what I would like in my fighting games as a casual. The story mode is a stellar cinematic romp to play through, with an amusing option of picking one of two characters at some points when I can. Coupled with an arcade mode worth plowing through with characters having epilogue after completion, the Krypt being a fully explorable place, and a constantly changing tower of fighters to compete against, the single-player aspect is the basis of something I would like to see in future fighting games for people like myself who don't really want to hop online and fight others.

13. Spider-Man: Miles Morales. 4/5

A perfect appetizer that served while waiting in anticipation for Spider-Man 2. Taking the role of Miles Morales as Spider-Man instead of Peter Parker, Miles' story laid a solid foundation following his idle beginning in the first game and before exploring him somewhat further in the sequel. His dynamic with friend turned-enemy Phin is a decent precursor for a more explored friendship in Spider-Man 2 with Peter and Harry, but Miles' arc and assuming his great power AND responsibility is interesting. Miles Morales is short but great from a gameplay perspective more than the story, but it's also hard to go back to this game after playing Spider-Man 2.

12. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. 4/5

Released back in October 2020, Crash Bandicoot 4 was the first original entry in the Bandicoot franchise in over ten years. Combining the gameplay from the classic games and remakes, but updating it with a futuristic gloss, has helped concoct a supreme platformer. The option to turn either on or off lives helps supply gamers with whether or not they want a challenge, which I appreciate. It's About Time is not only clever with its double entendre name, being literally about time, and also being a well-overdue sequel, but clever in its boss fights, and presentation, adding up to a platformer that was more than worth the time.

11. Doom Eternal- 4/5

Gameplay-wise Doom Eternal is an improvement upon its predecessor, Doom 2016, in almost every way. Between the vast array of weapons and power-ups, there are almost too many ways to rip and tear through the armies of Hell. Traversing level through level with boosters and platforming combined with fast-paced action makes Doom Eternal a triumph in its genre. Story-wise, I prefer the simplicity of Doom 2016 over this, but Eternal is still stunning.

10. Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2- 4/5.

Guilty Gear may not have the amount of single-player content that Mortal Kombat 11 does that I like, but there are some things Arcsys' anime fighter does that I have to give them respect. The character designs are much more unique and stand out more and the gameplay harbors a quicker place that lends to more frantic, fun fights. Its story is confusing and a tad convoluted, but luckily, its characters, in terms of personality /and/ how they play, more than make up the nonsensical anime bullshit that shows up on the screen. Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 is a balanced, hard-hitting affair that absolutely is entertaining in is own right.

9. Kingdom Hearts- 4/5

For years, I have tried completing this game, but thanks to the help of a friend, I finally managed to do so. Square Enix and Disney coming together to make its first collaborative effort will forever be iconic. Playing as a young child named Sora and traveling to different Disney worlds like Agrabah from Aladdin, the Coliseum from Hercules, and Wonderland to fight dastardly enemies like the Heartless is sensational. Not every world is made equal, (the jungle world from Tarzan is an awful, confusing mess), but the vibe is immaculate. Working together with Donald Duck and Goofy and enjoying the least confusing KH games is sometimes hard, with boss fights like Sephiroth or definitely the final boss, but it's an easy classic.

8. Final Fantasy X- 4/5.

Possibly my favorite Final Fantasy game to date, or at least on par with the FF7 remake. The cast of characters you play is likable and interesting in gameplay, with their abilities that separate each person from one another. The sphere grid, the system that centers around how you can build and level your character by maxing out their stats or magic, is a system I prefer over the usual level build-up you see in most RPGs. The depth of the story is engaging but comes secondary to the turn-based gameplay that I'm more fascinated by.

7. Persona 5- 4/5

The only RPG played this year I like slightly more than FFX. Persona's sense of style is mesmerizing and helps enhance the experience of a playthrough. As a group of high schoolers look to change the hearts of criminals in over-the-top setpieces that involve the cast diving deep into lavish worlds, the turn-based combat is more bombastic than any other of its kind. I put over 100 hours into Persona and didn't even accomplish everything I wanted. I cannot wait for a replay, but I need to get Persona 5 Royal some day as it has even more content than its vanilla version.

6. Uncharted 2- 4/5

Nathan Drake's second adventure improved upon the first game in so many ways I can't believe. As Drake is tasked with finding the entrance to the lost city of Shambhala, the stakes were as high as ever at that point. As I steadily make my way through the Uncharted franchise, the 2nd game improved from the first with its shooting, level design, and character work with Drake, Sully, and the introduced Chloe among others. From the opening scene where you control Drake trying to escape a train dangling over a cliff, I understood almost immediately how some consider this the best Uncharted game in the series.

5. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga- 4/5

As someone who played plenty of Lego games growing up with friends and family, one replay after years revealed how this is one of the best Lego games out there. The Complete Saga's name is outdated now, but at the time you had every Star Wars movie from the Prequels and Original Trilogy to go through in Lego form with 160 characters for you to choose from, including overpowered Jedi ghosts and Indiana Jones. Lego Harry Potter is fun but pales in comparison to the weight of swinging a lightsaber around or shooting droids and clones with your blaster. The newest Lego Star War game, The Skywalker Saga, I have not touched, but I know that the original Complete Saga is another classic etched into the echoes of video game history.

4. King Of Fighters 2002- 4/5

This game is not so much for a fighting game casual like myself, but I can't help but be roped into something so special. The KOF series is something I've had a soft spot for since my godparent's son showed me the franchise as a child. It's rough, it's hard, it's unforgiving, it's a classic fighting game in every sense. The characters are special to play and I wanted to learn most of them and see what combination of characters benefit me the most. There really isn't much single-player content to offer and this is a game for the hardcore fighting game fan-based, but there's just a feeling....a sensation to this that's hard to describe or replicate. I never hopped online, but I kept going back to fighting the CPU over and over again with different characters and just playing for several hours. KOF 2002 is an outstanding achievement that captures that feeling of playing fighting games in an arcade in the old days that you can't recapture these days.

3. The Last of Us: Remastered.

After the first season of the Last of Us Show dropped, I dived into the game for the first time in years. The Remastered version, as opposed to "The Last of Us: Part 1" is Naughty Dog's crown jewel. It's quite grounded for a zombie game, it's characters, especially Joel and Ellie, are rich, the ways to take down zombies and fellow survivors alike is gratifying, there's solid reasons why Last of Us is an achievement for Playstation, but these next two games amplify that mindset.

2. Spider-Man 2- 4.5/5

One of the few games I played this year that actually came out in 2023. Everything that made the first Spider-Man game and Spider-Man: Miles Morales so great is improved upon in this in almost every facet. The combat is sublime, being able to switch between both Peter and Miles is excellent, the story may lack in a few areas surrounding Miles, but it's still massive and overwhelming in the best sense. But the definitive aspect of the game has to be traversal. Swinging around the city feels so weighty and impressive- do you know how good it has to be to move around in a world when there is a fast travel option but you don't want to use it because you WANT to swing around the city, or in some cases glide? Spider-Man 2 is a spectacle in so many ways that it will be hard to go back to the previous games. As far as games that came out in 2023, it's my game of the year then. But if we are to take into account every game I played this year, regardless of what year it came out, then there's only 1 game I preferred over Spider-Man 2...

God Of War: Ragnarok

Like many of the other games on this list, GOWR is a sequel that surpasses its predecessors in almost every way. Ragnarok continues the story of Kratos and his son Atreus in a meaningful way as Kratos continues to evolve as a character and an older Atreus grows into his own. What is there to say about the game that hasn't been said already? The voice-acting performances are phenomenal across the board, the combat is righteous and immensely satisfying, and the design of each of the realms are awe-inspiring with top-notch graphics. And with GOWR dropping FREE story DLC in Valhalla, which incorporates a dungeon-like style into the open-world hack-and-slash style only cemented itself as my game of the year. Valhalla not only gives a unique, fun mode for players to lose themselves in for hours but tells a story basically of Kratos going through therapy after the heinous acts he committed in the original three games. The only fault in all of GOWR I had was one section with Atreus, but besides that I adore this game to pieces. And with that, GOWR is absolutely my favorite game I played in 2023.

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buckets-and-trees · 1 year

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Me, HP, and she who should not be named

I no longer financially supporting JK Rowling in any capacity and will continue to maintain that position unless we reach a day where she publicly comes out in an active reversal of her TERF and anti-semitic views (taking action, not just making a statement).

But the Wizarding World that was created...

It's personal for me.

I'm going to pour out a bit of my soul here because I need the catharsis and my own resolution, not because I'm looking to argue, persuade, or dictate to anyone on any level, but I need to make this post for me. There may be people out there who are grappling with the complications as much as I am, and so that's why I'm sharing this, but I will not be engaging in any arguments. Full stop.

I got the first book in paperback in an airport when we were flying to my grandma's house for Christmas, and I devoured it. Two weeks later, I asked for and received books two and three for my thirteenth birthday. Eighteen months later I eagerly waited for the postal worker to deliver Goblet of Fire to my doorstep from this website called Amazon that had made this insane industry-changing promise to have books in our hands the day it was released.

Three weeks later, my family was abruptly uprooted and moved to a new city. Harry, Hogwarts, and these books were my lifeline until I finally made new friends. I read Prisoner of Azkaban so much that the binding of my original copy split from being worn so much. I started writing my first ever fan fiction. It was pretty awful. I typed it and printed it out. I still have it in a binder on my bookshelf because ... it's the second thing I ever wrote. (The first thing was a two-page short story assignment in my eighth grade English class only a few months before.)

My oldest and longest best friend of my life? One of the girls I met during that tumultuous freshman year of high school when we discovered a mutual love for Harry Potter. My mom (single mother) and I had to drive a lot of places together, and I read the books aloud to her in the car.

I didn't get to midnight-release Order of the Phoenix, but I did get to with Half-Blood Prince.

I discovered online fan fiction through Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, but after HBP's release I went down the rabbit hole of the HP fandom. I got caught up in the "Romance > Other Pairings" category on a HP fanfic site that no longer exists but had quite an active community for many years where submissions for all categories on the site were moderated by real human fans. There was a forum with houses, challenges, a "book club" and a "review club", writing classes, fic exchanges, and annual awards. I became a mod on the site, taught a "Rare Pairs" class, was active in my house, was part of the elite review club...

But most importantly, in that era, I made lifelong friends that I still am in touch with. I met one of my best fandom friends who lived in the same city as my grandmother. I flew to Kentucky for a 4-5 day house party with four of those fandom friends. I went to the Phoenix Rising conference in New Orleans in May 2007 with three other fandom friends where I got to be a featured drabble writer during one of the sessions and met the guy who was "The Remus Lupins" during the heyday of Wizard Rock. At that conference, I got tapped to be part of a "readers discussion" Borders filmed ahead of the release of the final book where all we debated was "Snape: good or evil" for an hour. (When Borders ceased to exist as a company, there website and all content was wiped from the known internet world so...if you're wanting to internet sleuth it, be my guest, I would LOVE to ever see that footage again, but I've never been able to find it while scouring the world wide web.)

One of my best fandom friends flew to my house for a week for the release of Deathly Hallows so we could read and revel together. The next year I flew to Sweden to spend seventeen glorious days with two of my other best fandom friends who lived an hour outside of Stockholm.

I was one of the people who did the chance/lottery thing in order to be one of the only one million fans given the beta access to Pottermore when the site was first launched in 2011.

One of the things my stepdad and I initially were able to start bonding over when my mom got remarried was that he actually had read the books and loved them.

I watched A Very Potter Musical the first summer it came out on YouTube. Potter Puppet Pals. The shit show of content censoring on LiveJournal that spurred the creation of AO3 and a mass exodus to this fairly new social media thing called tumblr? I was there for all of it.

I went to DC and spent a week with another fandom BFF who I had not only a HP podcast with, but we also did a little over three years/four seasons of a Downton Abbey podcast together.

A couple of years after I graduated from college, did a year-long internship, then got my first full-time job, moved out, put a year under my belt there, and then started to realize I needed...hobbies and to meet new friends in my town, my aunt suggested I join some groups on meetup.com and I joined this one that was a HP book club on a silly goofy whim but I was like, psh, I'm not probably even going to go to that one... but the girl who organized it messaged me, personally invited me, they were only on the second week of the book club, and I decided to actually go and... went to that group of 25-30ish year old adult book club for three years. We cycled through the book series twice.

My first ever solo trip was to go to Harry Potter World in LA. I

That's the stuff I can define specifically for you when it comes to the deep roots Harry Potter has in my life.

But that's not even touching the deep roots it established in my identity and my worldview.

This was a world that launched my imagination as a CREATOR. I wrote hundreds of thousands of words in this fandom, created multiple WIP/AUs, established intricate head canons, and read absolutely more fanfics than I can even begin to count.

But the devastating thing for me - and I think so many of us...

This was a narrative that taught me about censorship, governmental corruption, acceptance, love, standing up for what was right. I remember when she came out saying Albus Dumbledore was gay and how controversial that was. That IRL adult Harry Potter Book Club? We fucking read Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows during the Trump presidency and at length discussed the horrors of the political similarities.

There are things now that I look back and see clearly were red flags... the name Cho Chang, lack of diversity in any major characters, calling Harry/Hermione shippers "delusional" in one of her biggest/most notable interviews by fans for fans and then coming out ten years later saying she was totally wrong and should have put H/Hr together...

Daniel Radcliffe wrote this essay for The Trevor Project in 2020 when the woman started to publicly make her reprehensible views known. He closes that essay in a way that resonated with me then and continues to be a balm to my soul now:

To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you. If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.

Some people are boycotting the Wizarding World in its entirety - some on principle, some because it's too painful to entertain on any level - and I'm not going to tell anyone else what they should or should not do.

I'm doing what my soul longs for, which is a complete rejection of JKR and a reclamation of the parts of something that became irrevocably part of me and on so many levels made my life better. When I look at some of my merch, I get angry, want to give my sweatshirts away...

But when I think about the stories, the lore, the things that I wrote, the things some of my dearest friends wrote, the ideas that have recently percolated in my head? Those still bring me joy. Those still inspire me.

I think Harry Potter should get to belong to us - like Greek and Roman mythology, One Thousand and One Nights, Robin Hood, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

If the Nicean Council got to bastardize/dictate/set the precedent for Christianity, why not us? And if you read down this far and are like, whoa, equating HP to a religion? That's a bit much... well. It was as personal to me as organized religion, which I'm also extricating myself from and have spent the past few years trying do sort out and define my own spirituality after coming to the point that I realized I needed to reject the organization I was born into and raised in.

As I said near the top of this post, I'm not looking for anyone to agree or disagree. I've documented some of what's been in my head and my heart here to sort it out for myself. There may be people out there who are grappling with the complications as much as I am, and so that's why I'm sharing this, but I will not be engaging in any arguments. Full stop.

And this is where I'll leave it.

#an aspen thing

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atlas-the-bastard · 7 months

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welcome to my blog if you even care btw

I've been meaning to make a pinned post for ages but haven't so here it is :D

Hi!

My name is Atlas, I'm a minor so pls don't be weird - you shouldn't be weird regardless tho >:|

My pronouns r they/she/he but not in that particular order - i honestly don't care what u call me :)

My DNIs r pretty general:

Any kind of racism, sexism, transphobia or homophobia or anything else in that similar vein is immediately a DNI

Pedos, pro-lifers, trump supporters, all lives matter ppl etc.

And also people who think horse riding isn't a sport - I will fucking find you

I live in Australia, ride horses, act in plays, play instruments, make art, read, and spend an ungodly amount of time obsessing over fictional characters. I'm Japanese and white Australian.

I have ADHD and (?) anxiety, and I've been on tumblr since around late 2020?? I just missed being here for November 5th😭

My main fandoms: (I probably forgot some)

NBC Hannibal

The Owl House + Gravity Falls

The Riordanverse

The Grishaverse

Good Omens

Marvel

Star Wars

The Marauders (NOT hp - to be clear I despise JKR and only interact with fan-made content of the marauders - jkr doesn't get my fucking money

Umbrella Academy

Dead Poets Society

The Song of Achilles (actually all Greek mythology)

Im gonna stop here otherwise I'll go on forever

Mostly this blog is just me reblogging stuff I see and like, and making my own weird contributions sometimes. I occasionally actually post art n content but rarely💀 anyway have fun, or don't, and stay safe on the internet y'all (this is probably ironic coming from a child)

#pinned post #atlas talks #me

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halliescomut · 1 year

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So I never really know who is on multiple platforms. Like I get/find KinnPorsche content all over, some here, some TikTok, some Insta, and I do have a Twitter, but I very rarely go there, even before the chaos of the last few weeks. But apparently the KP authors, who are terrible people, have been extra terrible. IDK if it's info that's made it's way here, but they said at some point that during the VegasPete NC scene the audio was cut because it was too realistic, which is why that scene is only music. Sure whatever. Then on TikTok (though it started on Twitter) a clip of that scenes audio started going around. It first popped up months ago soon after that episode, but it's been making the rounds again, but it is a fan made clip. A very talented fan essentially ADRed/Foleyed the VP scene, and then posted it online. But apparently Daemi has been going around and harassing people commenting or sharing the clip saying the BOC and the actors are mad it got leaked, and blah blah blah. There's been no statement from anyone at BOC about the clips, since they know it's fake. But I keep getting videos on my FYP on TikTok saying don't follow the authors, not even for the drama, you need to just block them. And like, if I go on Twitter I might, I'm not against it they're awful, but I just never go there.

But one thing I really love about fandom in general is that when it's good, the fans will band together to exile any terrible people trying to fuck things up. It happened to a small extent with JKR. Everyone I know who's still into HP almost exclusively reads fics, and only buys merch from small shops, never anything officially licensed, which takes all the money out of JKR's hands. It's not universal in that fandom which is a bummer, but it's a pretty reasonable victory. I've also seen it with fans of the Whedonverse, where that man's thoughts and opinions don't matter in the fandom anymore.

So I never know exactly what people will have heard/read/learned about, so I'll give a brief explanation. There's a concept called 'Death of the Author' which relates to an author having no control over a piece of work once it's been sent out into the world. Once something is published or released, the intentions, beliefs, ideas, of the author no longer have bearing on it's interpretation by the consumer. Often these beliefs and ideas are subtextual, even possible accidental, since we all have inherent prejudice and biases that will appear in creative works. Sometimes those ideas are overt and purposeful. But once that work is out, the fan can change the narrative to whatever they want, and the author has no say. One of my favorite examples of this is the fan theory over Ron Weasley being trans, since JKR is a massive terf.

Now in general this will only apply to completed works, so it wouldn't apply to Daemi, who is still actively right the KP story. But they've been so terrible that KP fans have decided that they no longer desire to wait for that death, but instead have decided to take it up on themselves to wrest all control of KP from them by force. What I've decided to call Murder of the Author. Which is shockingly appropriate considering the genre of their work.

So...bottom line, don't support the authors of KP, they're terrible humans. If you see them on social media you should block them. They also do have separate KP merch that they sell, so if you are buying merch make sure it's from BOC. And I really enjoy being part of a fandom that has decided "we don't care if you created this story, you're being awful in real life and so we are confiscating it."

Daemi if you see this:

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #death of the author #murder of the author #daemi can fuck off

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dinoburger · 1 year

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ik those broad strokes "fandom bad" or "fandom good" types of offhand comments people make are annoying, but there is something to be said about "fandomisms" on a whole and how... odd? the culture we have around fandom is

communities will turn on a dime about whether someone is a distant, far off content creator who's work simply drops from heaven or whatever, and treating them like they know them personally - the audience will basically use whichever suits their need most.

the problem with the former is that, whenever you engage with something on a public platform there will always be a certain political charge that carries. It's really easy to point out JKR with HP for example, but also with something like FNaF, where fandom also fuels corporate, and corporate fuels politics. Even when it's not about monetary gain, social status is political, wielding it can be a push for dangerous ideology to spread.

It doesn't matter if you were "engaging critically" by now, it's all just adding fuel to the fire. When people make content, it attracts more attention, which attracts more people, plain and simple. And platforms like Youtube prove that this is also profitable - there will forever be a pressure to cover relevant topics and topics like FNaF will be eternally relevant because of the self-sustaining content cycle people made out of it.

And on the flip side...

I think it's always been true of celebrity-dom that it's both dehumanizing and deeply parasocial. A creator is simultaneously "just a person with flaws like anyone else!" but also elevated and better than any criticism because of their quality of work, but also someone you feel personally attached to, entitled to and/or loyal to.

We see internet/fandom/niche celebrities take advantage of this and appeal to it expressly for the sake of deflecting criticism. There's a pressure to do so. Sometimes when fans perceive some form of rejection from someone with this status, it makes them angry. Even when fans perceive a rejection from other fans who might not like the same creators they do.

I think sometimes the problem with fan communities where the creator is involved is that sometimes, it IS that a person knew someone personally.

Most people you meet online though, you're not going to know them personally, only be able to see what communities they interact with frequently. You're only going to see and know the "content" they make and pour into the cycle.

#long post

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latineslytherin · 1 year

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I recognize what people are trying to do with No Post November, to showcase how no one deserves to be harassed for their ships. But I cannot help but think refraining from posting... isn't gonna do anything.

Psychologically it's the equivalent of taking away all the toys from all the students because one student was mean to another. All it is gonna do is making people resentful of the ones who complained, and say shit like "the block button is there" (which true it is, but there are ways to circumvent the block button and unfortunately tumblr staff is slow to respond to harassment reports unless it's in excess).

This is employing negative punishment. which is unlikely to cause long term changes in the collective fandom's behavior. Why? Because it works only for as long as the stimulus (fics) is consistently removed. And when it stops, the undesired behavior is highly likely to resume. Additionally, while it can stop an undesired behavior, it DOES NOT provide information on what the desired action is.

And what is the desired action? Showing there is NOTHING wrong with shipping jegulus.

So I offer a counter solution and i only offer it because I have seen fandoms where this worked. Primarily in the Dragon Age Fandom.

Instead of calling for no post. we get other people to create more jegulus content. Celebrate it, comment n existing jegulus works, and showcase what the harassers hate, that it IS okay and that you have a large support system of people who like or will support people who make that content.

because in my experience with the Dragon Age Fandom, we did that. Some of us (me included) spitefully made the content that was getting people harassed and uplifting other creators of it. And the loudest of the harassers fled tumblr to twitter, leaving behind a more positive and supportive community.

Anyway... thats just my thoughts. I can't change your mind. I'm just pointing this out and the alternative methods that could be used with better results.

And as an aside, a lot of jegulus shippers tend to hate on Snape fans (its not like Snape threatens their ship, but just because they prefer to see regulus as the "better slytherin" or whatever nonsense) , and celebrate when Snape fans getting harassed... so I could be petty and enjoy the schadenfreude but I can't help but use this as a teaching moment to point out: you see how it feels when people harass you just for what ships you like in fiction? now imagine that just for liking one character - not even shipping him with anyone - just liking a character. That's a Snape fan's entire experience with the HP fandom, On tumblr, twitter, tiktok, facebook, instagram, everywhere and everyday. Harassment constantly. Not posting fanworks never worked, but what has let us keep going is celebrating each other and helping each other out and specifically - and this is the important part - not harassing others for the characters they like and the ships they ship. We may dislike/hate the characters and ships, but we leave the real people who like those charcaters and ships alone. The only time we do anything, is when they attack us. We are reactionary and we support and defend each other.

And I know, jegulus is a rarepair and there's probably not as many of you as there are Snape fans, but perhaps... use this moment to reach out to your fellows and make them recognize they shouldn't harass others in the fandom for any reason because you might very well end up on the wrong side of the greater HP fandom's current "undesirable" ship/character.

-signed a Snape fan who has had to defend other Snape fans from Jegulus shippers who harassed them because of their dislike of Snape and preference for Regulus as the "good slytherin"

#jegulus #no post november #snapedom

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gallifreyriver · 2 years

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#i do not support jkr #harry potter #harry potter fandom #jk rowling #jkr #fandom questions #hp fandom #hp #fandom #fandom culture #fandom things #archive of our own #morbius #it's morbin time #minecraft #lotr rings of power

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