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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

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What are your thoughts on Ismelda?

Ismelda Murk is...actually one of the more developed characters in this game, and boy did that kind of creep up on all of us.

Looking back on where she started to where she is now, and especially comparing her journey with Merula's (as it's the most obvious comparison to make) she's doing remarkably well. Ismelda is so gosh darn human that I can't help loving her. She's a total deconstruction of the Slytherin stereotype - compared to Liz, who challenges it, and Barnaby, who completely averts it - Ismelda, you could make a case that she is the way she is because she was placed there and treated as such. A product of her circumstances. Is that an excuse? No, but it does explain a lot. And analyzing why a character acts the way they do is one of my favorite pastimes.

Ismelda was a lonely, embittered little girl with parents who didn't love her and a sister who never made time for her. (And inadvertently sent the message that she didn't love her either.) Consequentially, Ismelda had no frame of reference for relationships when she came to Hogwarts. She didn't have a positive presence in her life. She came to school and met Merula, and oh boy, did that not help. Especially since I don't think the two of them were that close until Year 3 - before that, Merula spent all her time with Tulip. I think Ismelda learned a lesson at this time - that she was nobody's first choice and she never would be. When she was chosen, it was out of necessity. But hell, she needed a friend too, so why would she care if Merula was only employing her as a lackey in place of someone else after she got dumped? At least she had a chance to socialize, and hang out with that really cute bloke. Shame he was too thick to catch on to her feelings...and too thick in general.

Ismelda was never taught the value of love and kindness, she came to school without any understanding of how to treat people, no examples. Then she was sorted into a House that is more isolated from any other, and filled with people who came from Death Eater families, including but not limited to Merula. Everyone else? They were terrified of Voldemort and glad that he was gone. So Ismelda found a strategy to shield herself. I think she learned to be rude and scary back at home, as a defense mechanism and form of revenge on her family - but once at Hogwarts, she further molded this persona into the "budding Death Eater" we see during her first appearances. But it's all just a mask. One that Ismelda wears for so long that she sometimes doesn't know if it is a mask and forgets how to take it off. But that doesn't mean she wanted to be so awful to everyone all the time. The thing is, mistreating people doesn't feel good. To anyone with even a shred of a conscience, scaring and hurting people feels wrong. That would have caught up with Ismelda, hence her realizing how instinctive her behavior has come, that she's on autopilot. But who to turn to for help? Barnaby wouldn't understand and Merula would disagree. So Ismelda has no option left apart from MC.

Hey look, we got to Crushed. One of the better sidequests in this game and it really makes Ismelda that much more interesting. We finally understand why she is the way she is. She was never good enough for her parents, so why keep trying? Instead, why not swing into the opposite extreme out of spite? Annalena doesn't want her friends to know about Ismelda? She'll give her sister a reason to hide her existence. It's all very complicated and saddening to look at how fractured all of the primary relationships are in Ismelda's life and how this reflects in her behavior. But so long as we're talking about Crushed, I do have to mention the erumpent in the room. The worst thing she ever did. (Well...the Quibbler TLSQ might also count, but we don't talk about that quest. Just kidding, I will, but first, this.)

She tried to feed Barnaby a love potion.

I get it. She's desperate, socially stunted, afraid of being alone and of rejection, and what's the harm in making Barnaby love her, right? They'd both be happy, right? Well y'know, I wonder if Merope Gaunt didn't go through the same internal argument with herself over what to do about Tom Riddle Sr. While I can cut Ismelda a little slack here since she was only fifteen and doesn't seem to fully comprehend the impact of making such a choice and doing that to another person...the fact is, what she tried to do was selfish and disturbing. It was definitely a red flag. But...it's also fair to point out that she was acting based on pure emotion. (This is the quest that opened with Emily reading her diary aloud, let's not forget.) And after MC stopped her, well, she hasn't tried anything else like that since. I do like to think that Ismelda learned her lesson.

Ever since that incident, Ismelda has been steadily fleshed out more and more. I really like how, even in the main story, the mask she created has all but slipped entirely away, and now Ismelda is little more than an awkward and occasionally grumpy teenager who just kind of hangs out with the group despite trying to appear as though she doesn't like them. No, even in that, she's basically given up. To an extent, her adopted persona did merge into her true personality, but she's still quite likeable. Her love of history, for example. I wonder how that started, where it came from. Maybe she had an aunt or uncle who got her into it or something like that - or maybe she distracted herself a lot by reading history books as a child to ignore the pain and loneliness. I enjoy her genuine surprise if MC asks her to the Celestial Ball (which came out not long after Crushed and makes for a good follow-up to it, actually....) I also love how she says "crikey." Which just seems so unlike her.

But in a way, that's kind of a major facet of Ismelda. She can sometimes, quite randomly, be very cute in weird little ways. Like her penchant for pumpkin fizz drinks, specifically with the little umbrellas. That is such a random and out of place detail but for some reason it works really well for her? Couple that with the line from the Quibbler TLSQ where she says that she wants to stuff her face with chocolate also known as the one line she has in that quest that actually feels like it's in-character and I'm starting to think Ismelda has a real sweet tooth. Which again, she doesn't seem like the type, but Ismelda hides so much of her true self for so long, that we probably don't even know everything about her just yet, despite how well she's evolved as a character. She's showing us her true self a little more every day, one tossed puffskein at a time. (Seriously that is so cute I can't stand it.)

Speaking of tossing puffskeins, let's talk about her puffskein tossing buddy, one Beatrice Haywood. Actually, before we get into that, we need to further discuss what led Ismelda to meeting Beatrice. Because Ismelda had no one, by Year 6. She was alone. Her parents, her sister, she was no longer chasing Barnaby. She and Merula had, by all appearances, drifted apart and possibly had a major fight offscreen. We see how insecure Ismelda is about losing the one friend she's got to MC, who reminds her of Annalena, I might add...despite the fact that Ismelda doesn't even seem to like Merula very much. Calling her out on being annoying more and more frequently as time goes on. It's a friendship of mutual convenience, but as sad as it is to say...prior to Year 6, Merula is the only person Ismelda has, but Merula is neglecting her for MC and her new curse-breaking "family." I wonder if it was during this time that she made friends with those "lackeys" and tried to out Chiara-nope, no, you know what, I'll get to that when I get to that. For now, I really need to focus on Ismelda's relationship to Beatrice because it's so damn wholesome.

These two have so much in common, and met at the perfect time in both of their lives. Beatrice was craving a friend, and Ismelda was all alone, as I just described. Ismelda needed a friendship where she could be the "leader" so to speak, to ensure she wouldn't feel used again. Actually, maybe that's not the best way to put it. I mean, Ismelda being older does give it that vibe but they do seem to function as equals, and they also kind of work like yes men to each other. But I also think Ismelda reached a point of emotional maturity when she started hanging out with Beatrice that she'd been unable or unwilling to reach before. Whether it was for Bea's sake or just a personal epiphany, I don't think it much matters. Ismelda is growing as a person every day, and that growth took an exponential rise during Year 6. I'll never get over the moment that she leaves the plot of Y6CH27 because she realizes, and immediately accepts, that she's not emotionally equipped to help Beatrice in that moment, so she passes the torch to MC. A far cry from challenging them to a duel out of an envious panic over the idea of losing her only friend. In just one year, she's come so far.

Which. Makes it so bizarre, really, and an absolute shame, to see this character arc flagrantly ignored. You know where this is going. It's time to finally talk about it. The one. The only. The Quibbler TLSQ. Where Ismelda randomly became a #meangirl even though she's about as far from that as one can possibly be. Ismelda acting as the antagonist is not the problem. That's fine, she's not always a hero. But her motivation, her plan, the way she goes about things...it feels a lot more like something Emily would do. Why wasn't this Emily, by the way? It's just...I could shrug it off if Ismelda's crime in this quest wasn't so completely unforgivable. Trying to out a werewolf is already bad enough, but doing it for a cash reward? To Chiara freaking Lobosca? No way in hell. This is the second time Ismelda has pulled a horrible stunt on another human being, and, this being Strike 2, I judge it more harshly. At least with the love potion, I understood where she was coming from. This quest just makes Ismelda into Rita Skeeter Jr. It makes her into everything she appears to despise. I genuinely have no idea how to reconcile it into my head-canons about her, beyond simply replacing her with Emily.

But hey, it's one quest, and while it's a stain on her record, it doesn't change the fact that the rest of her appearances make pretty damn good use of her. Like the Cook Off TLSQ and the Sphinx TLSQ. She's written wonderfully in those. She has her personality intact, but she feels likeable. It's strange to look back on a time when people thought she was irredeemable but Merula's redemption was assured...

#Ismelda Murk #HPHM Analysis #Beatrice Haywood #Emily Tyler #Annalena Gleam #HPHM Datamines #Merula Snyde

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indigobackfire · 2 years

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Me neither

Eh, their reconciliation was meh at best. I understand them being two headstrong personalities but then the discussion took sharp turns into forgiveness but not really...

It was just very lukewarm-ly written and doesn't feel cohesive to what we learn in the Crush SQ, meaning there's a lot more to be discussed between these two than what's mentioned here.

Especially because, and this won't be tackled by the game, siblings relationship has a lot to do with parent/children relationship. And hphm doesn't have the best record of presenting such relationships *cough* EVERY EFFING CHARACTER *cough*

To be more specific, I want something closer to this:

#hogwarts mystery #ismelda murk #annalena gleam #screencaps #hphm mc

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carewyncromwell · 2 years

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Okay, all...I promised an essay about this quest, so here it is!

In this TED talk, I will explain why this quest -- in direct opposition to what Jam City clearly intended -- actually has made me feel less sympathy for Ismelda Murk as a character, rather than more.

Before we get started, though, a disclaimer -- if you like Ismelda as a character, then that’s cool! She’s just personally my least favorite character in the game Hogwarts Mystery, largely because of the ways I think the game’s writers have tried and failed to soften her, to my personal satisfaction. (This sidequest included.) I will try very hard to keep this analysis reasonable and not needlessly “bash-y,” but just be aware going in that this is going to be very Ismelda-critical.

So for those of you who don’t know the set-up for this quest, basically Ismelda’s obnoxious and self-absorbed older sister Annalena is tasked by the Ministry of Magic to help organize a festival in Hogsmeade showcasing booths from the various businesses like the Three Broomsticks and Zonko’s. Ismelda -- out of a long-held resentment toward her “perfect” sister -- sabotages the festival and then tries to frame Annalena for the damage when MC does their own investigation into the matter.

MC, of course, figures out the truth when they come across a letter from Annalena to Ismelda confirming that they’re sisters and that Ismelda knew she was hosting the festival, which Ismelda accidentally left on one of the long tables in the Great Hall. Then MC confronts Ismelda at the Hog’s Head.

For the record, Ismelda, it’s only opening a letter addressed to someone else that’s considered a crime. If the letter is already open, which this letter was, then there’s really nothing saying you can’t read it. And even in cases where you open a letter by accident (which you could try to apply to the whole “Aparecium” thing -- though really, you could also compare it to emails, which actually aren’t protected under the law in the same way: you can read other people’s emails), you’re protected from criminal prosecution. It might be a bit rude for MC to have read your letter, but considering you left that letter behind and it was written on official Ministry letterhead when a Ministry witch was getting accused of destroying people’s property, there’s a perfectly innocent explanation about why someone would read it.

But yes, on that note -- Annalena Gleam (nee Murk) was accused of destroying other people’s property. Something that instead was done by Ismelda, all in an attempt to tear down her sister.

Here’s the thing, though. Being mad at your sister? Fair. Resenting that she got all your parents’ attention when you were growing up? Justified. Wanting to get back at your sister for how badly she’s treated you? Understandable.

But here’s the problem -- THIS is how you went about it, Ismelda.

You destroyed other people’s property.

The festival wasn’t just your sister’s thing -- it involved the entire community of Hogsmeade. All of the businesses in the area invested time and money into the event, both of which they now have to invest twice over, because you destroyed their wares and stalls. If you want to pay your sister back for treating you badly, fine, but by sabotaging the festival, you roped innocent people who had done NOTHING to you into this stupid feud you have with Annalena, punishing them for absolutely no reason at all.

Fortunately Ismelda does work to clean up the damage she’s done, but only AFTER being threatened by MC that they’ll tell Dumbledore if she doesn’t. This pretty much proves that Ismelda truly doesn’t care how much trouble she caused everyone else -- how unsettled and possibly scared the residents of Hogsmeade would be by someone trashing their festival grounds, how much money the business owners would’ve lost, how many people would be disappointed that the festival couldn’t go on...none of that mattered to Ismelda. All that she saw or cared about was that it would give her the chance to make Annalena look bad. Sure, it might ruin her whole career and endanger her financial livelihood, but hey, at least you got to take some petty revenge for your sister being a b*tch when you were kids, right, Ismelda?

I’ll be fair, though -- Annalena is a pretty awful sister. She literally claimed she was an only child around her peers, just to try to be better liked.

Even that “attempt” to mend fences in her letter to Ismelda really came across as very condescending and self-absorbed.

I frankly wouldn’t blame Ismelda at all for not wanting to make amends with Annalena. One doesn’t even really have to make up with one’s family members, if they don’t want to. Sometimes relationships truly can’t be saved or shouldn’t be saved, regardless of how we might feel about it. But regardless of whether or not the Murk sisters can come together, that’s THEIR business. They should not be involving innocent bystanders in their drama. MC admittedly does tend to get involved in a lot of stuff that really isn’t their business purely due to the game’s plot, but that’s not what happened here. Ismelda roped innocent people into her feud with Annalena, and that’s just not acceptable. So forgive me if I see Ismelda trying to avoid apologizing at first by pulling crap like this --

-- and have to bury my face in my pillow and scream because “SHE DIDN’T MAKE YOU DO A DAMN THING, ISMELDA -- TAKE SOME GODDAMN RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS, YOU SELFISH TWIT.”

Ugh!! 😣

Look -- as I said, I do truly feel for Ismelda to the extent that Annalena should not have treated her that way, when they were young. But if Ismelda truly wanted to get proper revenge on Annalena, then the best approach would be to succeed in her own way: to outshine Annalena on her own merits, and also go “screw my sister” and cut her out of your life if she’s really such a toxic influence. Because let’s be honest, in the end, Ismelda’s plan was never going to work. No Ministry official or professor would’ve believed Ismelda’s version of events over Annalena’s, especially since those people would know Annalena and Ismelda were sisters. Her lies only worked with MC and crew until they confirmed that fact. And yeah, Ismelda, clearly when your plan was revealed, it would only serve to make you look even worse, victimizing your own sister as well as everyone else in Hogsmeade. So yeah -- way to just make things even harder for yourself.

In conclusion, Ismelda Murk sadly remains a character I just cannot sympathize with, regardless of how Jam City has tried to soften me to her.

We see she has a crush on Barnaby and doesn’t think he’ll ever like her. ...Then she decides to try to take away all chance for him to give consent by almost drugging him with a Love Potion.

We see she’s one of the few who actually reacts excitedly to what she sees in the Mirror of Erised. ...Then we find out her greatest desire is telling people what to do and them doing it without question.

We see her sister Annalena was objectively pretty awful to her as a kid and she resents that she’s always been stuck in her shadow. ...Then she almost ruins everything for everyone else in an ill-conceived, thoroughly selfish attempt to hurt Annalena’s career and Annalena by extension.

Sorry, Jam City -- but maybe the next time you want to try to give me a reason to sympathize with Ismelda, you could do it by finishing up that awesome development you laid out for her through her relationship with Beatrice (and by extension Penny), rather than just prove once again that this girl upholds the selfish, callous, mean-spirited Slytherin stereotype that we’re all sick of at this point? We know Ismelda can care about people other than herself -- let’s show more of that, please.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #ismelda murk #anti-ismelda murk #opinion #analysis #gameplay #now you see why i have the tag 'oh boy here i go' on my home blog #annalena gleam #annalena murk

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deafeningwizardsquare · 2 years

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Watch me having an existential crisis

The plot was predictable, Ismelda made me cry, I'm still not over how Annalena needs a new make-up artist (she looks like something from "Drag Race" but I'm not totally against it. The ponytail though------------) MC brain may be a study case BUT overall...

It was a more than decent TLSQ? Of course it's filler material but they did it pretty good?

Look, I've had lost my hopes about seeing Annalena anytime soon. She wasn't necessary but who am I to deny that I wanted a look in the deep of Ismelda's neglecting issues?

Also, the fact that the conflict is still open- not so unusual for this game (JACOB COFF COFF CHESTER'S CRUSH COFF COFF DUNCAN COFF COFF sorry, my throat hurts) but unironically it's realistic.

And Annalena recognising her wrongs as a big sister- someone (aka Jacob) should learn (aka Jacob).

🌝

#Annalena.#THAT WAS A PLOT TWIST #like Analena is so nice 🤧#she has the big sister attire yet quite frankly- at the end she's just a decent human begin #lesson of the day kids #prospective exist #and while Ismelda is worth of sympathy....Analena is also worth of a more comprehensive judgement #she is quite a good result of little Mrs Perfect #and I didn't expect that from Jam City #Oh if only in this game sibilings had the ability to TALK to each other #...the game itself wouldn't exist.#ismelda murk #analena gleam #hogwarts mystery #hphm #sorry for all the mistyped I'll find a way to fix them ;D

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londonhalcyon · 2 years

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Me playing through the Hogsmeade festival sidequest like: OMG THAT'S ANNALENNA, ANNALENNA MURK- I MEAN GLEAM- FROM THE MAD WITCH I KNOW HE- oh you die, you are very dead huh, I know how you die... welp :V

I KNOW, I’M SO SORRY, ANNALENA!!

YOU DESERVED BETTER!!

#i don’t even mention her once and then she dies off screen #because i’m weak #the pure disrespect of being reduced to a plot device #ask the mad witch #the mad witch #hogwarts mystery #hphm

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missnight0wl · 2 years

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Annalena Gleam, huh? I’m gonna assume it’s the same person as Annalena Murk from the previous datamines. Meaning that she probably married someone who’s last name is “Gleam”. Annalena Murk... married a Gleam...

#hphm datamine

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indigobackfire · 2 years

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And I can't believe that you can't believe that your sister would do that 🙄

#anyway I'm back at playing #woohoo 😪#hphm #hogwarts mystery #annalena gleam #you gotta be really extra to sport this stupid name tho #screencaps

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

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Peregrine, Verucca, Annalena (we’re gonna see her on the 22nd when the TLSQ comes out) Guess we’re just meeting everyone’s family members this month lol.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. One of the best and coolest ways to learn more about a character is by meeting their family. Their parents, their siblings, the people they grew up with. And if you do it right, you can build a brilliant character out of the family member as well, and basically get two for one. Which is exactly what I think happened with Annalena. It's a bit early to tell if Verucca will be a great character in her own right but she definitely explains a lot of Merula's behavior. Peregrine's situation means that he doesn't really impact MC in the same way, not having been there for most of their childhood...but he does impact Jacob, that's for sure. And beyond that, he is a brilliant character on his own, at least so far. I still kind of wish they'd gone for the mother over the father, but Peregrine's affable personality is so damn insidious and he just. Never breaks character. He is committed and he is skilled. Finally, we have a villain trying the "good cop" approach to recruiting MC.

#HPHM Peregrine #Verucca Buckthorn #Annalena Gleam #Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde #Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery #HPHM Datamines

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

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Annalena’s meant to be the adult but she acted more like a teenager imo. she seems to really like saying “ugh” & rolling her eyes, she was doing both those things constantly. seems like she & Ismelda aren’t so different after all lol. no but seriously i guess Annalena isn’t all that bad, i don’t mind her. still prefer Ismelda though i won’t lie.

Oh yeah, I've been hearing that a lot, that MC was more of an adult in this quest than Annalena was, and I mean, you're not wrong. I don't really hold it against her, for the most part. She was under a lot of stress, worried for her job, and so on. I mean, her project almost literally blew up in her face. Plus, and admittedly this does get more into headcanons and interpretation, but I kind of feel like having been the favorite child of her family would have instilled a lot of pressure into Annalena from a young age, especially since hers are the kind of parents who mistreat kids who don't live up to expectations like Ismelda. It genuinely concerns me to see how obsessed Annalena is with success, how seemingly terrified she is of consequences for not measuring up. But in general, I think a lot of her vocal and physical mannerisms were done to intentionally foreshadow the connection between her and Ismelda. (One could even call them "Murkisms" heheh....I'll show myself out.)

#Annalena Gleam #Ismelda Murk

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

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They showed a preview of the Hogsmeade Festival on Twitter & Annalena was in it & honestly I don’t see the resemblance between her & Ismelda at all. They look really different like if I didn’t already know they were sisters I never would’ve guessed. It could partly do with Ismelda trying to make herself look different but I still don’t really see it in any of their features aside from the eye color. It’s weird because usually they’re quite good at making family members resemble each other. Maybe it was intentional but idk.

I can't speak for the preview, I haven't seen it, but as far as how Annalena appears in the game itself? I've only just watched her first scene, but I couldn't disagree more. In fact, I was struck by just how much Annalena reminded me of Ismelda in looks alone. They've definitely done some revising of her sprite since the datamines, and being actually animated helps as well, but there is so much about her that resembles her sister - the only stuff that doesn't is cosmetic. Hair color, makeup style, etc. But it's the little things like her having the exact same skin-tone, similarly shaped cheeks, and the use of the same expressions that Ismelda always uses, that "disgusted" look. I wonder if they didn't design this sprite to mimic Ismelda's when they plugged in that particular expression. Dye her hair black, and change the makeup...and I could easily believe this was an older version of Ismelda. (And I've talked about this before but I head-canon Ismelda as being a natural blonde and not wanting anyone to know this.)

Whether or not they wanted Annalena to resemble Ismelda, we'll probably never know. I feel like it could have gone either way? She's not borderline identical to her sister but there are enough traits in common, both in looks and personality (her tendency to say "Ugh" is so telling) that if you know to look for them, you can spot them. That's probably the difference. A great twist goes over your head if you walk in blind, but feels obvious in hindsight, once you go through the story again. Anyone who's read the datamines already knows who Annalena will be, so maybe that's why I immediately saw Ismelda in her face. Maybe people playing this quest blind won't guess the twist.

#Annalena Gleam #Ismelda Murk

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

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I really doubt they’ll let us befriend Annalena even if it’s the only time we’ll see her though. It just doesn’t seem likely imo.

Yeah, I don't expect it to happen either. It was just something that came up with a few of my anons back when the datamines first dropped. Not sure how it became as big a debate topic as it did, because like you said, it's almost definitely not going to actually happen. But I'm not opposed to it if they do want to add her, and hey, after they added Dobby the House Elf of all people, I'd argue that anything is possible. No character addition to the Gobstones Gang will ever be as random or obscure as Dobby. Not Torvus, not Pitts, and certainly not Annalena. You hear that, Jam City? There's no character you can add that will be too out-of-place, not one! So give us Percy already!

#Annalena Gleam #HPHM Datamines

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

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Honestly, after reading the dialogue for the Hogsmeade festival I’m even more unsure about whether I’d want Annalena as a friend. I mean she hasn’t really made a great first impression that’s for sure. Not on me anyway. I guess she did improve a bit by the end but overall I can’t genuinely say she’s one of my faves or one of the most enjoyable characters. I guess I wouldn’t be completely against being her friend but I’m really not clamouring for it either. Although I doubt they were ever planning on giving her as a friend, so I guess this just all moot anyway.

I like being unsure though, I like the game having complex characters. Though to be fair, I feel like this kind of thing will vary from player to player in how they feel about it. When it comes to characters, some people want Star Wars levels of black and white, others want shades of gray. Another major difference I think is when it comes to the kinds of characters that you appreciate for their writing, versus appreciating them as people, if that makes any sense? I adore Tulip for example, and I think she's got much more depth than the game is letting her show, but I'd be wary about meeting her in real life - I don't wanna get pranked. In contrast, everyone is sick to death of Penny, but if we were to meet her in real life, I'm sure she'd make a lovely friend. And then there are the people who, good or bad, just make you laugh.

Annalena's not going to be added to the friend list. That was just a wild idea that me and some anons were tossing around as a fun hypothetical, but I don't see it happening. I mean, this would have been the place to do it if it was going to happen. Especially since, for whatever reason, it seems like Ismelda doesn't get added as a Friend with this quest. Which is something several of my anons are taking issue with and I'm right there with em. Though I suppose it's not impossible that maybe she will get added as a friend with this quest and we simply can't tell from the current datamines? Or maybe I'm totally off, who knows?

#HPHM Datamines #Annalena Gleam #Ismelda Murk

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

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honestly i have mixed feelings about Annalena after reading the Hogsmeade festival sidequest. i mean i don’t like her all that much but i also don’t think she’s totally evil and irredeemable either. and she didn’t deserve to be framed for the festival getting ruined, Ismelda was wrong for that but at least she agreed that she went too far and that Annalena didn’t deserve to take the blame for her actions even if she has been horrible to her. i know it’s not Annalena’s fault that she’s favored by their parents but it’s disappointing to hear that she didn’t treat her sister much better than they did. i hoped she’d be nicer and that Ismelda had misinterpreted the person she was but guess not seeing how she’s said things like she was an only child to her friends. but hopefully they can continue to fix their relationship in the future.

Annalena...is complicated. And I love her for it.

I had no idea what they were going to do with her. If they would make her sympathetic or unlikeable. But I am reminded once again how much I love the writing of these characters and how this really is Jam City's strong suit. In particular, they seem to have a knack for subverting the Potterverse tropes we've come to expect. Is Ben going to be like Neville, or will he be like Wormtail? Turns out, he isn't quite like either of them. Barnaby and Ismelda are just the new Crabbe and Goyle, right? Hell no, they're way more interesting. And Annalena is another example. Is she the new Theseus Scamander, or the new Dudley Dursley? The answer is...somewhere in the middle.

The first thing I noticed about her, that really caught my attention, was just how obsessive she is about succeeding and not wanting to look bad. In a way, she reminded me of Percy Weasley. Where she comes across as a workaholic who prioritizes her job and her reputation over her relationships with her family. But just like in Percy's case, I feel as though it's a bit more complicated than that. First of all, the fact that she was the favorite child of the family weighs heavily on my mind. I suspect this girl figured out from an early age that she could either make her parents proud, or disappoint them, and Merlin help her, she did not want to disappoint them. Whether because she feared consequences, or because she just didn't want them to think she wasn't measuring up...it's so abundantly clear that Annalena is under a lot of pressure, or at the very least, feels like she is. I bet that started with her parents. There's something about the tone she takes, when she's panicking about the festival getting ruined and being held responsible for it...sure, it may have just been genuine fear for her job, but with how Ismelda described Annalena as being this person that her parents saw as a flawless, do-no-wrong, perfect daughter...I think Annalena must have worked very hard to maintain that image and learned from a young age that she had to. I don't think she's ever shaken that off either.

The way she treats Ismelda...could be kinder. Listen, it's not the favorite child's fault that they're the favorite. But some people react better to it than others. If Annalena was the favorite and she had bullied Ismelda on that basis...it would still be the fault of their parents for putting them against each other like that, but in her adulthood, Annalena should be able to get some perspective (like Dudley did) and see her childhood for what it was, especially since Ismelda is still a kid. That said, did Annalena bully Ismelda? It's a little ambiguous, but I'm gonna say that she didn't do so on purpose. She's far too high and mighty about everything, and the way she keeps jumping to "You always blame me for everything, it's just like you" etc, etc...I won't lie, that does somewhat sound like a narcissistic family member manipulating the blame off herself. But we don't see their childhood, and knowing what Ismelda is like, knowing that she did frame Annalena...I still think she could have been a bit more patient, considering what their parents put her little sister though, but as for everything else? The stuff like telling her friends that she was an only child? It's made very clear that she didn't know Ismelda overheard that. It's still a dick move, make no mistake, but I don't imagine that Annalena is proud of it, even before she finds out that Ismelda heard it. Probably just something terrible she did out of insecurity and a desire to fit in.

The ending of this quest also doesn't magically fix their problems. There are still years of animosity and bad blood, and neither of them seem 100% willing to forget the past. Ismelda...I think she does want a relationship with her sister, deep, deep down. If she didn't, she wouldn't be so hung up on Annalena excluding her when they were younger. In hindsight, I wonder if pulling pranks on her (As was referenced in the Sphinx Club TLSQ) wasn't an attempt to get her attention. As for Annalena, I think she decided to try and "be the bigger person" as it were. Which is a somewhat egotistical mindset to approach this situation with, but hey, if it works, it works. She does seem to feel at least a degree of guilt for what she's done to Ismelda in the past. (Though not enough if you ask me.) Like...she was a kid, and sisters pick on each other. I could forgive Annalena in a heartbeat if she seemed more genuinely sorry about what she had done, but she really wants the conversation to be about Ismelda's flaws instead...at least, until the very end. While trying to destroy the festival is wrong, and that's a conversation that should be had....I dunno, if you're the favorite child, and your younger sibling is hated and mistreated by your parents...then once you reach adulthood, you need to wise up and realize who the real enemy is, so to speak. But again, this is why I like Annalena as a character. She's not horrible, and she's not wonderful either. She's mixed.

I genuinely think this is the best route they could have taken for the character. I doubt we'll see her again, but I kind of hope we do.

#HPHM Datamines #HPHM Analysis #Annalena Gleam #Ismelda Murk

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 2 years

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they couldn’t have given ismelda a nice older sister when she was growing up? she already has awful parents, why couldn’t they let her have this one good thing? i know annalena was probably influenced by their parents and that’s why she treated ismelda poorly by ignoring her and telling her friends that she was an only child but it still doesn’t excuse it. plus it doesn’t seem like annalena really made a full attempt to apologise and make things up with her until the hogsmeade festival. i mean ofc it doesn’t excuse ismelda’s actions either, like that’s still a terrible thing to do to someone even if she was hurt by how she was treated. but yeah it’s disappointing to see that we weren’t mislead about annalena’s relationship to her after all. i mean ofc i wouldn’t want to be lied to but maybe they could’ve made it like ismelda being mistaken about her too.

If they had, she wouldn't be the same Ismelda that we all know and (some of us) love. Y'know, it's a curious thing, but I was just talking to my friend earlier about AUs where Lily and James live, and how something not everyone realizes is just how different Harry's personality would be if that were the case, I firmly believe he'd be a completely different person - no sass mastery, no hero complex, no death wish, none of it. Ismelda's situation is similar. Without a "perfect" sister that her parents constantly compared her to, then her dynamics with characters like MC and particularly Beatrice would be remarkably different. Does that mean she should have to endure the pain of being excluded by her sister? Of course not! She didn't deserve any of that. But it's what made her into the person she is today. One mark of a good character, in my opinion, is if you meet their family and instantly understand why they turned out the way they did.

Annalena is a mixed bag and that's why I like her. She's realistic, too. There are countless people who behave poorly in youth and mistreat those around them, only to get their lives together and become better people (sometimes) with successful and happy existences...and then be smacked in the faced by the ghosts of their past, and not know how to cope with that or face it. Who wants to confront the person they used to be, or take responsibility for past actions that they'd entirely removed themself from? I also think there's a degree of arrogance involved, and even ageism, if one could call it that. Annalena is a grown-up now, she's moved past the petty rivalries with her sister that she had when she was a teenager, and if Ismelda is still hung up on that, well, that's because she's young and stupid, and because she's "always" been moody and sullen and blamed Annalena for everything, right? Actually, I'm seeing a bit of projection going on here...anyway, the most I can say in Annalena's defense is that I don't think she's proud of her past choices, nor do I think she ever intended to hurt Ismelda. At least, that wasn't the end goal. There's also a bit of disparity between being mean to your sister, and wrecking a whole damn festival. On the other hand, this was one incident versus what probably amounted to years of Ismelda being shoved aside and mistreated.

#Annalena Gleam #Ismelda Murk #HPHM Datamines

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