You ever notice how “pro-life” people claim to want to end abortions but never push for bills advocating for vasectomies. They never want to increase birth control access. They never support paid parental leave and better child assistance to ensure women don’t abort for financial reasons. 

If you believe abortion is actually the murder of a baby, then wouldn’t you support any and all efforts to prevent that from happening?

It’s almost as if they are not actually against the loss of potential life as much as they want to punish women for having sex. No, that would be silly!

One thing I loathe about music discourse is the idea that there are any objective facts surrounding perhaps the most subjective artforms. I KNOW my love for 311 is a matter of personal taste; it’s a shame the people who think they suck view this as objective fact, as though they are the arbiter of all that is good and bad in art

Am I the only one who really doesn’t want any new Harry Potter content revolving around Harry and the gang because I simply don’t trust anyone, especially JKR, to not ruin the characters?

I really don’t need an HBO Max series where Harry goes on a coke-out bender of bad choices after discovering Ginny cheated with Gwenog Jones, all while Ron gets mixed up in the criminal underworld while trying to save George from some self-destructive black market pixie dust operation he got himself trapped in. And still no LBGT wizards exist!

An Update on The Potters and the Weasleys

Not sure if anyone follows this page, especially since I haven’t posted in forever, but just wanted to give an update on the story.

The Potters and the Weasleys will be finished. I know I take forever to update but it doesn’t mean the story is abandoned. I envision that after this current chapter I’m writing, there will be two more.

I am about 5,000 words into the current chapter, have two specific scenes to write still and then I will send it to my awesome beta.  My writing process has essentially boiled down to moments of guilt for procrastinating so much on the story and trying to churn out a scene here or there. As I’ve said before, I don’t terribly enjoy the process of actually writing the words (prefer idea generation and outlining much more). So anytime I do decide to write, I’m fighting this natural dislike of it.

Lastly, I will try to post more here as it is a good medium for random thoughts and such, both HP related and issues outside of the fandom. So assuming I do post more here, it won’t just be HP content but likely much more political. 

So that’s that.

There’s also a nice narrative connection to how she behaves both in The Changeling and canon (which I’d admit is more headcanon in my interpretation), as well as how that reflects her relationship with Harry and his own views of sex and intimacy.

Ginny was possessed by Voldemort at a young age, and it would be natural for her to build up walls to protect herself. Sex is a physically and emotionally vulnerable activity, especially for teenagers. It totally would make sense that Ginny wouldn’t be “thirsty” since of where those feelings eventually lead. The way she behaves towards romantic interests in the Changeling (and again, in my headcanon of canon) is of someone dipping toes in water and nudging something uncertain with a stick. Her romances prior to Harry seem cautious and like a test. Kissing and the more PG type of affection she does provide are the safer ways to test the other person without investing much emotionally. 

Which is why the narrative story of her winding up with Harry works so well! He too has similar walls around emotional intimacy and physical tough stemming from his own childhood trauma. So the fact that those walls seem to come down relatively easier regarding physical intimacy does a great job of showing why they uniquely work well together. It’s why my headcanon of Ginny’s dating life probably jibes with the Changeling to a degree. I think Ginny dated Michael and Dean in the manner she did as a sort of test or safe outlet while she build up emotional connections with Harry. Kissing was safe and accomplished the goal of being herself around Harry. But that was as much as she was willing to go to protect herself. 

Okay.... but DOES Ginny like witches too?!

You know, it wasn't until I saw this critique of The Changeling that was like, "it bothered me so much that Ginny never had a connection with anyone! and she was so like passive when it came to attraction, like how unbelievable that she wasn't thirsty about people all the time" that I realized I may have written Ginny as very demisexual. Sex is a emotional attachment thing for her. Which I can understand might read weird to some people!

That doesn't really answer your question though, does it? So, yeah, I could easily think of Ginny as a pansexual demisexual. She doesn't 'like witches too', but she could fall in love with a witch hypothetically!

I actually was interested in your answer but then I went and tried to be funny and ruined it.

What are your thoughts about Sean/Thompson? Why did he went out with Ginny at the first place when he always thought her to be a bit immature?

Look, we all have versions of people in our heads, who we think they are, and a lot of relationship stresses happen when we don't realize those are just our visions and not the whole picture. Thompson liked Ginny. He liked her a lot! She loves Quidditch like he does! She's pretty tough! Kind of bossy! She doesn't put up with shit! And, okay, she's really attractive! And has some pretty high social capital in the Slytherin crew for someone her age. And she's a bit cold. Cool. Collected. She's probably never going to try to have some deep heart to heart with him where he has to talk about shit other than Quidditch and working for his dad's broom design company, which is great because he's got NEWTs on his plate and a lot of stuff going on, and maybe he'd just really like someone to admire him and go for a snog sometimes.

Basically, he made up a vision of who Ginny is, but he doesn't quite actually know her that well? Which isn't all his fault, Ginny is far from an open book. But as we know, Ginny needs someone willing to see past her frosty exterior and deal with all her messy, squishy feelings. And that just...wasn't Thompson.

And as for him thinking she's immature, remember, this is Ginny's point of view. She is always thinking he sees her as immature. We don't actually know what's going on in his head. But it's probably her picking up on his 'uh. let's not get all messy here, yeah?' or even his 'uh, shit, no idea how to deal with a Ginny that doesn't have all her shit together and isn't yelling at people on the pitch.'

Look, there is a not insubstantial age gap here between these two that is even more substantial at this particular age. Like, two years? Okay. But two years when one is 18 and the other is 15? (Ginny is young for her year! Just barely made the cut off. Just like Harry! So it's really more like a three year age gap.) Yeah, no. That might as well be a lifetime of experience difference between the two at this age. And it causes all sorts of issues.

I bet he was thinking about dem apples

What are your thoughts about Sean/Thompson? Why did he went out with Ginny at the first place when he always thought her to be a bit immature?

Look, we all have versions of people in our heads, who we think they are, and a lot of relationship stresses happen when we don't realize those are just our visions and not the whole picture. Thompson liked Ginny. He liked her a lot! She loves Quidditch like he does! She's pretty tough! Kind of bossy! She doesn't put up with shit! And, okay, she's really attractive! And has some pretty high social capital in the Slytherin crew for someone her age. And she's a bit cold. Cool. Collected. She's probably never going to try to have some deep heart to heart with him where he has to talk about shit other than Quidditch and working for his dad's broom design company, which is great because he's got NEWTs on his plate and a lot of stuff going on, and maybe he'd just really like someone to admire him and go for a snog sometimes.

Basically, he made up a vision of who Ginny is, but he doesn't quite actually know her that well? Which isn't all his fault, Ginny is far from an open book. But as we know, Ginny needs someone willing to see past her frosty exterior and deal with all her messy, squishy feelings. And that just...wasn't Thompson.

And as for him thinking she's immature, remember, this is Ginny's point of view. She is always thinking he sees her as immature. We don't actually know what's going on in his head. But it's probably her picking up on his 'uh. let's not get all messy here, yeah?' or even his 'uh, shit, no idea how to deal with a Ginny that doesn't have all her shit together and isn't yelling at people on the pitch.'

Look, there is a not insubstantial age gap here between these two that is even more substantial at this particular age. Like, two years? Okay. But two years when one is 18 and the other is 15? (Ginny is young for her year! Just barely made the cut off. Just like Harry! So it's really more like a three year age gap.) Yeah, no. That might as well be a lifetime of experience difference between the two at this age. And it causes all sorts of issues.

When do you think Harry and Ginny are comfortable enough around eachother to start using the J word?

I keep saying they should always be comfortable calling someone Jewish but should never refer to them as "a Jew."

How do you think South American colonialism affects the way we view the Harry potter characters?

I don't know but it sounds like you have some hot takes!

Songs about the colonies?

The fuck?

I’ve gotten the same piece of criticism of my fic that Harry is too passive. Generally, when one person gives you a note, you take it with a grain of salt, but when you are seeing the same criticism multiple times, then there is definitely some truth in it. So I have to admit, despite my best efforts, that I dropped the ball on Harry’s character in this regard.

When writing an AU, I believe an author should consider how much external circumstances would change a character from canon. The author should ask themselves what is inherent to that character and what parts of them are impacted by their environment. I asked this question for both Harry and Ginny, but Harry was the tougher one since his circumstances most notably changed in my AU.

I figured out quickly that Harry having a happy childhood with parents would probably make him more trusting of adults, which in turn might make him less likely to seek out answers on his own like in canon. But I still think Harry would have a short temper and sarcastic sense of humor regardless of his circumstances. So when writing my story, I made it a point to show Harry with a temper and also a biting sense of humor. Harry is indeed a man of action who sometimes runs into things without thinking, so I tried to show that when he entered the tournament essentially out of anger and stubbornness. 

I’ll admit I didn’t really consider whether Harry would be less self-confident or more passive, and clearly I wish I put more thought into it. There are times where I have to admit he is less assured than I probably would imagine him. I think a lot of readers felt like Harry would never let what others think affect his decision not to pursue Ginny. Maybe they just wanted them together sooner. I do believe it made sense for Harry to not pursue Ginny for so long. But I probably could have written it more true to his core character.

Maybe writers need to give ourselves a break if we get the character a bit wrong? Too often, I see writers make mistakes with characterization, but then double down on it when confronted. As someone who believes consistent canonical characterization is paramount in fanfiction, I also see how difficult it can be to get right every time. And I also think it’s more than fair for readers to call us out when we get it wrong. Because they are reading our fics based on a pre-established connection with these characters. It’s our responsibility to get them (mostly) correct. And acknowledge when we fail so that we can get better both in our writing and our understanding of these characters we write about.

So thank you to those who have noticed this flaw in my characterization of Harry. Hopefully you’ve seen my attempts to rectify this.

Have you abandoned 'The Potters and the Weasleys'?

I haven't been on my tumblr in a while and missed this question. Obviously it's been answered with my latest chapter, but it did spur some thoughts I wanted to share.

I've taken several months in between chapters, something that isn't rare for fanfiction authors. I imagine most people don't press on these delays because they understand we write for free and also have lives and jobs and such. And many authors, when asked or when they just feel they want to explain themselves, usually cite the fact that life has gotten in the way. Or maybe just some writer's block.

But I want to offer up my own explanation why I've taken so long and probably will continue to do so until the fic is done.

While I am busy at times, I'd be lying if I said that life has made it difficult for me to write regularly. I'd also be lying if I said I am stuck creatively. The truth is that I do have ample time to write, and I know exactly the basic beats of how the rest of my story will go.

No, the biggest reason for my delays is simple lack of motivation. Call it laziness if you want, but I just don't want to write most of the time. I've realized that after a certain point in your story, when the new idea has lost its excitement and those scenes bouncing around in your head are already written, the act of writing itself becomes tedious and a bit boring. It feels less like writing something original and unique and more like checking off some boxes to make sure you are "being a good fanfic writer." I'm making sure the plot is moving along at a good pace, making sure the lines of dialogue are not on the nose and accurately reflect the characters.

Sometimes it feels like coming up with the idea for the story and the outlining are like creating a new app or some other exciting software. It will be revolutionary, change the game. You start having really fun collaborative meetings about the cool features and how the website will look. But then when all the fun stuff is decided, you have to sit down and start writing code or inputting boring data into spreadsheets. You know it's necessary, and in the end you'll have this completed product you can be proud of, but god would you rather do anything else in the moment than tap on computer keys.

I used to think that when an author stopped updating, they had run out of ideas or maybe just got way too busy with life or work. Now I realize its also possible they just don't enjoy it as much at that moment. It's become more work.

This isn't to dissuade people from asking for updates. Ask away! But keep in mind that we probably can't give you a timeline of when it will be updated because there is not some specific thing keeping us from writing more. It's writing itself that is causing the delay.

Or maybe this is just my experience. Would love to hear from other, better writers like @jenoramaca, @thedistantdusk, @annerbhp, @thebiwholived, @ginisbetterthanfirewhiskey

When the HP books were being released, it never really dawned on me how well Harry seemed to be handling the traumatic events of the previous term since we as the readers had a year, often longer, to process them. So it seemed like Harry also had a year or more, when in fact these horrible events just happened to him when the story picks up. I sometimes wonder if Rowling also fell a bit into this trap of processing these events on her own timeline, rather than Harry’s.

Yeah, own up to it like I do. I’ve reported Dusk dozens of times, but I have the guts to put my name to it, which means she can’t get mad at me. 

I am really really Sorry.... I accidently reported two of u r contents on tumblr I am really sorry.. I absolutely didnt mean to do that... I love u r cobtents way too much to do that ... I am sincerely sorry 😔😔😔

I'm a little confused about how this "accidentally" happened not once, but twice? :D

But it's ok, thanks for letting me know

Perhaps a controversial opinion, but I think the people who most deserve credit for the fandom of the Harry Potter movies are all the crew, mainly the set designers and builders, the art department, and the makeup people. The script was mediocre and the story didn’t make any sense for much of the films; the acting was poor to mediocre for the most part (understandable since the actors were mostly kids); and the directing/editing was extremely inconsistent, poorly paced in many parts and omitting really important scenes/character development. There’s a reason the series received no acting, writing or directing nominations for any of the main awards.

There are a million issues and quibbles to be had with the movies yet we still love them because they brought an amazing world to life. And that’s the result of the uber-talented below the line (meaning the top talent of actors, director and writer) crew. The enormous profitability of the movies and especially the studio tour and theme parks is directly a result of their work. Yet of all the people still cashing in on the franchise through things like residuals and conventions, they are not part of that. In a just world, they would have millions of social media followers, too. 

So if you are a huge fan of the movies, I’d argue you should be as big a  fan of Stuart Craig and the late Stephenie McMillan as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

I know Tumblr caters more towards the creatives of the world, so maybe this isn’t the best forum for this (but what is the best forum in that case?), but shout out to my non-creatives out there still killing it on spreadsheets and intra-corporate memos during this difficult year.

Do you think if harry potter were alive today, he'd be part of a pterodactyl rp discord server?

No, the sooner everyone accepts that even Harry Potter is too cool to know about discord, the sooner we can embrace our true selves.

Now fuck off.