cross-posted from: https://literature.cafe/post/30387402
@threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works
Ik that there used to be Diagonlemmy, but, IMHO, we should create an instance that is exclusive to Harry Potter, and the Wizarding World.
Perhaps call the instance Wizarding.World, or something.
That way, Fediverse users who wish to interact with Harry Potter material can, and other users/instances/etc, can defederate/don’t have to.
Harry Potter is only going to become more popular.
The HBO Harry Potter series is coming. Whether we like it or not, the HP fandom is about to have a significant resurgence, and it’s going to find a home somewhere on the internet.
The question is whether that somewhere is Reddit, Discord, and corporate platforms — or whether the Fediverse gets there first and shapes what that community looks like.
People flock to spaces where they feel familiar and welcomed.
Rowling will profit from HP whether a Lemmy instance exists or not.
The Fediverse needs more projects that make immediate sense to people, and it needs to stop ceding entire fandoms to corporate platforms by default.
The move isn’t to reject the fandom.
The move is to build the instance with explicit values — pro-trans, pro-queer, progressive moderation, zero tolerance for bigotry.
Pull HP fans into federated, open spaces and surround them with those values.
That’s far more powerful than gatekeeping.
I shared this, because I wanted to know what the general consensus was.
Also if there were any users who might have any experience with potentially creating/running their own instance.
As long as it’s okay to criticize homophobia and transphobia JK Rowling spews, I say go for it.
I personally wouldn’t mind, as long as that wasn’t your only intention, and you did it in the correct communities / weren’t trolling.
It’s not my intention, but I think it should be allowed.
I’ve been a fan of the Harry Potter series since the first movie. Not a huge fan, but I enjoyed the first four (books and movies, the latter 3/4 not so much) and some of the associated media.
These days you can’t say you’re a fan of Harry Potter without someone throwing JK Rowling’s transphobia in your face. The problem is, I agree with them. JK Rowling is a trash human. I still like the stories she told and I enjoy some of the movies. I enjoyed the recent game, Hogwarts Legacy. I enjoy that the developers included a trans character to spite Rowling.
I don’t think every Potterhead should be harassed for JK Rowling’s views, but I also think it’s difficult to engage with the community without considering it, given that the author is so public with her views. It’s the same with Orson Scott Card and Ender’s Game. Similar fandom (academia in space rather than witch/wizard fantasy), similar issue (author is homophobic). Similarly, the LGBTQ+ community tried to cancel the fandom, and these days, fans acknowledge Card was wrong, but the books still hold merit. Also, just like JK Rowling’s author insert character Hermione is completely opposite to the author’s views, so too was Ender (who was kind of like a meek version of Harry).
But nah, my favourite bone to pick with the Potterverse isn’t that the author is human garbage (which is technically outside of the Potterverse), it’s that Gryffindor = good, Slytherin = evil, and the other two Houses don’t matter. As a Ravenclaw (or rather, I would be a Ravenclaw if I went to Hogwarts), this annoys me. It also seems to me that the better backdrop for the story would be if Harry and Draco were more directly rivals, Harry was about to be placed in Slytherin for his ambition (to best Draco) but he gets placed in Gryffindor instead. (This is more or less how it already goes.) But then Ron gets placed in Hufflepuff and Hermione in Ravenclaw, because that just makes more sense, and the four of them basically work together, often over the objections of their Houses being against them working together rather than sticking with their own House. I’m also suggesting that Draco explore his shades of grey rather than being “the bully.” It makes more sense for the other Slytherins to use him (and his father’s position) to reach their own goals than it does for Draco to merely be a shadow of his father.