a rough sort of poetry

The sign reads:

“Whoever can’t afford to buy his child some shoes for Eid, they can take them for free. My and your sustenance is Allah’s responsibility. May you be well every year”

- A shop in Palestine

What makes JKR's shitshow even harder to process is that she didn't just ruin a book series. Harry Potter was an entire subculture. Like Star Wars and Star Trek fans, Harry Potter fans dedicated their lives and careers to the series. I don't know if I'd call it "underground," but liking Harry Potter got you beaten up when I was in school, so it was more of a dedicated indie culture than a mass-appeal fanbase.

Harry Potter was so huge that fan works developed their own followings. Potter Puppet Pals racked up hundreds of thousands of followers and was nearly as relevant as the series itself. For fanfiction, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality got so big that it has a Wikipedia page. The band Harry and the Potters spawned the wizard rock music genre. A Very Potter Musical developed a fanbase and launched Darren Criss's career.

Harry Potter also has extensive ties to fandom history. Everyone in my generation (millennials) remembers coming home from school to read Harry Potter fanfiction on the Internet. Today, most people just post their stories on Wattpad or Archive of Our Own. But at the time, the fanbase was splintered between fanfiction.net and dozens of individual websites and forums, some made for specific ships. Since they all had individual hosts, a lot of those sites have been lost to time.

And there's the infamous My Immortal fanfiction, which is an Internet legend with people still searching for the author. Everybody read that one (and laughed at it) in middle school.

Pre-social media, fan sites like The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet had massive followings because they were one of few sources for news, theories, essays and fan content. Some of these sites still exist after being around for over a decade and building their own legacy.

Before Deathly Hallows came out, fans were so desperate to know what happened that Mugglenet published a book called What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End? Yep...Harry Potter was so big that people wrote separate books about what would happen in an upcoming book.

And that's not mentioning all the book release parties, Harry Potter-themed events, monuments, fan films, restaurants and even a theme park. A lot of fandoms have those, but Harry Potter infiltrated every aspect of popular culture.

Today, there's a thriving culture of "Harry Potter adults" with themed weddings, baby showers and Etsy stores. Putting your Hogwarts house in your Instagram bio is pretty much a prerequisite for joining the "bookish" community. Warner still produces new content, like the Fantastic Beasts series, although we've all seen what a disaster that's been.

Everyone has at least a few memories associated with Harry Potter even if it's just watching the movies. I had great memories associated with Harry Potter. But looking back at the subculture, history and thousands of fan works, it doesn't seem fun anymore. Studying the fandom or being part of it comes with an awkward tension because you don't want to seem like you're condoning JKR's bigotry but can't divorce her from the series. This subculture was spawned by a woman who turned her legacy of magic and wonder into one of abuse and hatred.

I don't expect people to write paragraphs about how much they hate JKR every time they post about Harry Potter, but it's still uncomfortable to see people make new content or wear their Harry Potter Etsy tote bags like nothing happened. Even if they clarify that they don't support her, it's just a weird, tense situation for everybody.

People dedicated years of their lives to running Harry Potter fan sites, writing fanfiction, cosplaying characters and making fan movies. If I were in that situation, I'd have a mild identity crisis. I'd ask myself "Did I waste all those years? Should I delete my content? Where do I go from here?"

So ultimately, JKR didn't ruin "just" a book series or even "just" a fandom. She tanked an entire culture, which inspired people to look at Harry Potter more critically. The issues that people brought to the light tainted the series's legacy even without JKR's personal issues.

Once, Harry Potter was a series for generations. Now, former fans hope that the series fades into irrelevancy. Unfortunately, JKR didn't just tarnish her legacy--she took decades of history, millions of fans and a worldwide subculture along with her.

it’s crazy having been super-involved in the HP fandom for more than a decade and watching the fallout from this

quidditch (the real sport) has changed its name to quadball

the harry potter alliance (a nonprofit) has rebranded to fandom forward

the sub-subcultures that sprung up within the HP fandom have now distanced themselves from the main fandom and have become independent groups in their own right

HP was so integral to the development of early online fandom (as OP’s mentioned) that now there’s sort of just a weird... hole in the internet

for many HP fans, it took up a lot of their life. three conventions a year, wizard rock shows, HPA fundraising, granger leadership academy, nightly fanfic, podcasts, quidditch games.

when fans (rightfully) shunned JKR and began to leave the fandom, a lot of them (myself included) were left rudderless. how do you reconcile the fact that most of your friends, hobbies, sometimes even jobs, were due to the work of such a hateful person? as OP said, did i waste my life?

i’m obviously not saying that this is the worst part about JKR’s bigotry (the worst part is, of course, the bigotry) or that HP fans are the worst-done-by victims (who are of course trans people)

but it is WILD to see such a juggernaut of internet fandom be virtually scrubbed away

More Quidditch boyfriends doodles because there wasn't enough of them. Shame.

FlintWood in my headcanon looks pretty much like this most of the time, though i still can't execute exactly how these two would look the way i depict them in my head.

(I just love the idea of Oliver having soft and round features, while Marcus looking the total opposite.)

when the hp reboot comes out i dont want to see anyone bullying the actors. yes, no ones wants this. yes, the money is going to fund transphobic laws and groups. yes, that doesnt give you the right to tell 11 year old children to kill themselves

the best thing you can do is give people an alternative

Everytime I see “there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism” as a response to criticisms of people buying Hogwarts Legacy I take a moment to mourn the loss of nuance.

Like yes the above statement is true, but some types of consumption are more ethical than others and context matters. Buying a game based in an antisemitic premise that will line the pockets of a transphobe who has been cited as a source in and actively promotes anti-trans legislature is not the same thing as buying fast fashion because you can’t afford anything better or that’s the only place that sells your size. People need to stop pretending all participation in capitalism is equal.

You can buy Hogwarts Legacy, that much is your right. However, I am also within my right to criticize you and your lack of care for the communities harmed by this game and the author of its universe.

No Ethical Consumption Under Capitalism: I hate Amazon, but there is literally no other place I can get some of the things I need for my business due to Amazon's monopoly on so many industries.

NOT No Ethical Consumption Under Capitalism: I wanna play the wizard game made by a racist transphobe and not feel bad about it.

Legacy is not the only video game out there. It is not the only fantasy video game out there. It is not the only wizards/magic video game out there.

To all that say that acquiring Legacy will not harm people and that poor JKR is just saying thing and it's her right..... She's comparing people wanting independance with nazis.

She litterally gives money to fight the independance, to promote the Tories (you know, the ones that are destroying NHS and every workers' rights in UK), to help TERF that attacks gay and trans rights (and also women rights because they're that stupid)....In summary, yes, she's hurting real people.

If you buy anything Potter, she will get money. It's not that hard to understand.

Oh and make yourself a favor, READ ANOTHER BOOK !

Here’s to its continued decline🎉🥳

If you give this woman money, it will go to transphobic causes. If you give this woman a platform, she will use it to boost transphobic causes. This isn't a "well nobody's perfect" or "well x other creator also did something bad once" situation, this is an inordinate amount of influence for a creator to have, and supporting her by word or wallet actively hurts trans people.

EXACTLY it's fucking disgusting

[ID: (screentshot of Tumblr tags that read:)

#Look as someone who grew up with harry potter and has huge nostalgia things with the books the games the audiobooks etc #probably the timing of growing up with the characters who were my age #this woman has destroyed something I really enjoyed #and now she's openly CELEBRATING her bigotry #b/c she's weaponizing your nostalgia against you #she is taking advantage of happy moments of yours to protect her from any criticism #she doesn't give a shit about her fans she only wants your money and your protection #don't let her take advantage of you #tw jkr #tw harry potter #tw transphobia

End ID]

YOU hate JK Rowling!

YOU hate JK Rowling!

Hey this is why you stop fucking buying her shit btw

on YT, Shaun just released a video on the type of people she surrounds herself with; that sort of stuff says a lot about who she is, too, if anyone needed a reminder.

Hey all, I’m trying to help my friend make rent, have money for groceries, etc. She is currently on furlough and it’s been a rough year (for everyone, i know) and i just want to ease some financial struggle. Any little bit helps!!

If you donate and send me a screenshot, I’ll write u a fic with whatever ship and prompt you would like (we can discuss squicks, etc in dms)

08/25/22

My friends are now facing high legal fees and possible debt collector harassment

Anything will help, please if you want to directly impact a life, donating to this fund will do just that

i feel like oliver is the type of person that doesn’t know what “playing for fun” means

Friendly reminder that this blog is pro-choice and if you don’t think everyone should have full control of their own body, then kindly unfollow me right now and go to hell

Just a lil' PSA: Trans lives are more important than Harry Potter.