Change of plans

[soc_puppet]

Okay, I'm officially reversing my stance on public Harry Potter fanworks: I am now heavily in favor.

No, the books do not suddenly have fewer problems; no, JKR did not suddenly become less of a rancid turd.

But the people in charge of official Harry Potter storytelling stuff have shown that not only are they not going to decry any of the problems or JKR's bullshit in general, they're prepared to lean into them, and that at least I can say fandom is generally better than.

If people are still drawn to Harry Potter stories out of a desire for more content or a feeling of nostalgia, I want to be able to point them to works that do better. I want to give them a viable alternative to even pirating the game. "Want to feel what it's like to read the books again? Want to explore the universe in more depth? Skip 'Antisemitism: The Game' and check out these fanworks instead!"

This also works as a reminder to myself that sometimes you need to be able to meet people where they are if you want to show them that there's a better place to be. Because I forget that from time to time.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

The "meeting people where they are" is often an important thing to keep in mind. (One I try to remind myself of, too!)

[soc_puppet]

I feel it may be a lesson I'll have to learn many times in my life, in many forms. Hopefully it'll stick longer each time!

[mistressofmuses]

Some lessons are worth the periodic refresher. This is one I have to remind myself of pretty frequently, honestly!

[makamu]

I have not cared about any official content since the books finished, and the last one I've actively watched was the first part of Fantastic Beasts. On the whole, I think fanworks do a lot more interesting stuff with the world and characters than JKR ever seemed to care to.

But, like you, I will probably be making a recs post themed around goblin stories (and another around Judaism in the wizarding world, maybe?) soonish. Thanks for being an inspiration :)

[soc_puppet]

TBH, I've barely read any fannish content for Harry Potter, even in its heyday 😅 I read a few on a friend's recommendation in high school, and the occasional crossover, but I've always been more into anime fandom, and Harry Potter was more media fandom.

With that in mind, I'm probably going to be making a post asking for recommendations instead. "What fics can you recommend to someone who is still interested in Harry Potter but would be better than playing the new game? Keeping in mind that you can't say 'any of them'. Do you have any meta to recommend?" I feel like meta recs would especially be helpful, since one of the things a lot of Harry Potter fans are into is expanding on the worldbuilding, and I've read some quite good ones on Tumblr.

Anyway, I'm delighted to have inspired you to make your own list! I'd love to see it when it's finished 😍

[makamu]

TBH, I've barely read any fannish content for Harry Potter, even in its heyday 😅 I read a few on a friend's recommendation in high school, and the occasional crossover, but I've always been more into anime fandom, and Harry Potter was more media fandom.

Although I also watch anime, I fell off the wagon when the scene really took off where I live, and now I struggle to figure out what newer shows to watch ;) And Harry Potter has always been a fandom I was a lurker in, so I have quite a few recs (around 1k bookmarks on the AO3).

With that in mind, I'm probably going to be making a post asking for recommendations instead. "What fics can you recommend to someone who is still interested in Harry Potter but would be better than playing the new game? Keeping in mind that you can't say 'any of them'. Do you have any meta to recommend?" I feel like meta recs would especially be helpful, since one of the things a lot of Harry Potter fans are into is expanding on the worldbuilding, and I've read some quite good ones on Tumblr.

That sounds like a great idea!

Anyway, I'm delighted to have inspired you to make your own list! I'd love to see it when it's finished 😍

I'll try to remember to link you to it once the DW post is out there :) Thanks again for the inspiration.

[gullwhacker]

I'll throw in a rec for something with themes that I think stand in opposition to where the Official Material has chosen to go.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30508233/chapters/75237201

Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay. In which pre-Hogwarts Harry somehow turns himself into a dragon, figures this is just normal somehow, and has a much more relaxed time of things.

The fun part for me was objections being raised that technically only humans can use wands, Dumbledore using 'well, Harry is the child of wizards, so just change the rules to allow non-human students', and proceeding to use that loophole to admit....quite a few extra students by the end.

It is on the silly side but nicely relaxed. And does make a point of having some trans rep in the background, just because.

[soc_puppet]

Oh, neat! I'll give that a try!

TBH, what I really want right now is a fic about SPEW-era Hermione discovering that House Elves are actually Brownies under a very specific species(?)-wide curse, and the freedom-through-clothing thing is actually heavily reliant on social consequences/an erased history of Witches and Wizards who would murder their "dismissed" House Elves so their secrets wouldn't get out, etc. Possibly she then follows the rabbit-hole to find out how Wizardkind started excluding other magic-capable species from various social rights and such. Not that I'm prepared to write the fic myself, of course 😂