Tag: Harry Potter

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Celebrities Movies Pop Culture

What boycotting JK Rowling means on the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts | Key Art | HBO Max
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts | Key Art | HBO Max

It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that you believe in equal rights and you support the trans community in spirit. That you call yourself an LGBTQIA+ ally and wear rainbows in June and march at Pride with your queer friends. If you support J.K. Rowling instead of boycotting her, all of that is performative. Because it’s easy to advocate for human rights in the face of overt injustice, against people who want to openly deny people rights. But when it’s time to really take a stand, to renounce something you like because it’s problematic, will you do it? Will you stand with your queer friends then?

J.K. Rowling has said a lot of things that were transphobic. There is no way around it at this point. The author has reiterated her points time and time again with conviction. And a few other things that made me lose faith in her long before that. Now, people coming to her defense will say she is entitled to her own personal opinion. That she is not hurting anyone with her thoughts. That she changed her perspective recently and spun her argument around women’s safety rather than trans rights. But the issue is much more complex than that. Her thoughts, per se, aren’t hurting anyone. But her words? J.K. Rowling has a terrifyingly immense fanbase. Her words are endangering trans lives.

When she tweets about her own prejudice against trans individuals, she is preaching to an echo chamber of millions of people who listen to her as if the world hangs from her keyboard. People who feel validated in their own ignorance and hatred. People who go out there and spread that message and turn it into discriminatory and violent acts.

This needs to be established. Words have consequences. Celebrities especially, who hold so much mediatic power, need to be held accountable for their actions.

I am sick of hearing people my age, people who should know better, that they have stopped supporting J.K. Rowling when they still buy her new books and go see her new movies. That is the definition of supporting an author. Unfollowing on social media is not enough to boycott somebody.

The reason why Rowling is so rich isn’t that she sold billions of books – although that certainly contributed. It’s that she gets royalties. As of 2020, her biggest source of income are the Wizarding World theme parks. She also gets a cut from every time television airs a film based on her books. A cut from every cinema or theatre ticket sold (don’t go see Cursed Child, it’ll be an actual waste of your savings). A cut from every item of Harry Potter merchandising you buy your friends for Christmas. If you truly want to show you don’t support her, then stop supporting her.

I know, I know Harry Potter was your childhood. It was my childhood too. And my teenage years. I named my dog after a Harry Potter character. I still have posters up in my childhood bedroom. Like many in my generation, I am the person I am thanks to Harry Potter. I still love the characters. I still stay up at night reading and writing fanfiction inspired by the world of Harry Potter. But I go out of my way to make sure nothing I do supports a person with transphobic views. I go out of my way to make sure more and more people know what supporting her means for certain people.

Not everyone wants to be an activist, and that’s fair. What I find truly unacceptable is people claiming ignorance. “I’m a feminist and I don’t agree with what she said about trans people, but let me enjoy Potter in peace.” It doesn’t work like that. If you’re an ally as you claim to be, you shouldn’t enjoy Harry Potter in peace. You should fight against the powerful person telling millions of people that we aren’t all equal, a powerful person claiming that some people deserve fewer rights than others. Isn’t that what Hermione and Harry would do? Isn’t that what they did do?

I’m not saying we need to collectively disown and renounce Harry Potter, throw away our memorabilia and burn the books. I’m not saying we should pretend to hate it or that we never loved it in the first place. I’m saying we should take what it taught us and use it to make the world a kinder place. And yes, paradoxical as it sounds, that includes boycotting its creator.

It’s not a moral dilemma. We can enjoy a story and disagree with the author’s political views 20+ years after she wrote the books, it’s as straightforward as that. Philosopher Roland Barthes, a pillar in literary theory, comes to our aid in this: he coined a concept called la morte de l’auteur, quite literally “the death of the author.” Barthes encourages readers to split an author from their works and to view them as two separate entities. The author has full agency over the work, but relinquishes their authority over it the moment a work of art becomes public; it stops belonging to the author and it becomes property of its users, who are free to do with it what they will. This theory is also the most strenuous defender of fanfiction and fanart in the eternal debate around transformative works. Like John Green once exemplified and paraphrased, “books belong to their readers.”

J.K. Rowling owns the rights to Harry Potter (as she should, given she’s written it), but she doesn’t own our relationship to it. And we don’t owe her anything in return. There was no blood oath sealed when we first purchased The Philosopher Stone in the 90s or 00s binding us to the book’s author. We did not vow our unquestioned allegiance. Perhaps some of us did when we were younger, overcome with romanticism. Today, we cannot forsake our critical sense in the name of that loyalty.

Keep heart, Potterheads. Harry and his friends and their adventures belong to us. We get to still love them. I do. I have supported J.K. Rowling for over a decade of my life before she started spewing nonsense, but I don’t owe her my integrity now. I don’t owe her anything else but the truth. And the truth is I am, in part, what she made me: a woman who won’t stand for injustice and will speak out against it. It’s almost ironic that it was her own characters that taught me to fight back against her.

Many people are convinced, in theory, by this argument. But in practice, they don’t see what they can contribute. J.K. Rowling is too popular to ever truly boycott, and that may be true. But we should all do our part. If views drop, if ticket sales and book sales drop, eventually, in the long run, the industry will notice. If official merchandise isn’t being sold at the same rate it used to be, there will be a decrease in production. So take those steps. Unfollow her on social media, report her problematic statements. Buy second-hand books, DVDs, merchandise. You will also do some good to the environment and maybe to someone in need. You can also consider supporting small entrepreneurs and fan creators and buying non-official merch. Better to support them than a billionaire and a huge conglomerate like Warner Bros, who certainly doesn’t need your money.

It’s a miracle Warner Bros was able to bring back the entire core cast for the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter film. Many of the actors have chosen to distance themselves and even condemned J.K. Rowling for her TERF-sounding statements. In fact, it’s safe to assume many only agreed to come back for the reunion at all because the author would be absent. This choice may look like a damnatio memoriae, like WB itself decided to exclude her from the show, but it’s actually a premeditated marketing move. By excluding her from all promotion of the reunion, they are ensuring the masses are not reminded of Rowling’s recent statements, and that they will purchase an HBO Max subscription and tune in happily with no sour feelings.

On her end, Rowling is also able to, if she chooses, play the victim, the part of the female creator who was excluded from a celebration of her own work of art. Ostracized and written out of the narrative she herself has created. Please do not be fooled by this pity-inducing move. J.K. Rowling is still very much earning royalties from the reunion. She may not be present in person, but she’s still making money out of it. Our nostalgia is once upon played upon and manipulated to enrich her.

Watching Return To Hogwarts on HBO Max still equals supporting J.K. Rowling. Watching the new Fantastic Beasts film does too. It means handing even more power to a person who spoke against trans rights.

Do you want to be on the right side of history?

Categories
Pop Culture

The cast of the Harry Potter films reunite, but with one exception- JK Rowling

[Image description: The cast of the Harry Potter sit down to talk about the film series.] Via Variety

HBO Max shared that it would reunite the cast from all eight Harry Potter films for a special entitled Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return To Hogwarts. This retrospective is an honor to those who have been touched by the cultural phenomenon and still upheld the essence of the Wizarding World alive 20 years late. However, the noticeable absence of the creator of the series, JK Rowling from the reunion has caused much controversy.

The release of the special was said to feature Filmmaker Chris Columbus and actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint – who have not made a public appearance together since the premiere of, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, in July 2011. But no mention of the author JK Rowling, who has been the main centre of controversy for her harmful and damaging opinions on transgender people.

 

[Video Description: Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts HBO Max Official Trailer.] via Youtube

Over the years Rowling has received much criticism for her views on transgender people. As someone who has been a fan of the enchanting film series over the years, I was quite disappointed to find out Rowling held alarming views on biological sex. It was in June 2020 when the author shared on Twitter an opinion pieced where she criticised an article for using the phrase “people who menstruate” including trans men, saying that it erases women. Rowling further spoke about biological sex by saying, “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction”. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased,” she added. She then continued to support a person convicted of being discriminatory towards trans people, further invalidating the experiences of trans people. These statements were not only harmful but show carelessness on Rowlings end.

After receiving much backlash, she later explained that she respects “every trans person’s rights to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them”. “I would march if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans,” she added. This was not the only controversy the author was involved in. In September 2020 she was called out for being transphobic after it was discovered that the villain in her latest book, Troubled Blood (written under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith), is a male serial killer who dresses as a woman to slay his victims. The book’s moral seems to never trust a man in a dress’ – sparked immediate backlash online. In a 3600 word essay written by Rowling, she attempted to elaborate and clarify the comments she made about trans people. The Fantastic Beasts screenwriter went on to address why trans women were a threat to feminism and to other people.  “I want trans women to be safe.  At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of the bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside,” she wrote in the essay.

In the wake of these statements actors Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliff and Eddie Redmayne, who stars in her Harry Potter film series disapproved of the author for her views. Actor Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley acknowledged that he felt he needed to speak up for transgender people following Rowling’s remarks. In an interview with Esquire, he stated “I am hugely grateful for everything that she’s done. I think that she’s extremely talented, and I mean, clearly, her works are genius”. He went on to say, “But yeah, I think also you can have huge respect for someone and still disagree with things like that”.

Daniel Radcliffe also shared his opinion on the author remarks by saying, “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I”.

Rowling’s exclusion from the filmed reunion is likely to be because of her beliefs on biological sex, that women are something more than a feeling. Her remarks of refusing to “bow down” to a movement that she believes to be doing “demonstrable harm in seeking to erode woman as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it”.

We are all entitled to our own opinions and what we choose to stan by but, it is important to be responsible and take careful consideration in what we choose to support. Other authors such as Gillian Philip, who has publically vouched for Rowling, was fired by her employer for standing up for Rowling on social media as she tweeted #IStandWithJKRowling.

As a result of the harmful comments made by the author, the special will only show Rowling in archival recordings taken from the first movie but will not make a new appearance in the special. Rowling’s and her representatives have not given any statements and have said they will not be giving any. The events that have led up to the decision of excluding Rowling reflect more on who she is and the harmful beliefs that she carries.

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Categories
The Internet Comics Books Pop Culture

Artists owe it to YA fandoms to include diversity in their fan art

Characters from The Last Hours series by Cassandra Clare that fully captures the diversity of Clare's protagonists.
[Image description: Characters from The Last Hours series by Cassandra Clare that fully captures the diversity of Clare's protagonists.] Via Ladylyeart on Tumblr

With people nostalgically rewatching the Twilight movies, Harry Potter trending again on Tik Tok; the pandemic has undoubtedly caused a renaissance in Young Adult Literature as more and more young people seek comfort by returning to the books and movies that shaped their childhoods. But YA has changed a lot since the days of Katniss Everdeen and Tris Prior. 

As someone who never stopped reading YA, I have watched the genre grow, and more importantly diversify. There are now hundreds of YA books that include protagonists of color, LGBTQIA+ characters, and plots that don’t just center around a 15-year-old girl (who isn’t like the other girls) singlehandedly saving the world and falling in love with a sarcastic yet mysterious male love interest at the same time.

The YA genre diversifying went hand in hand with the rise of social media, particularly Instagram – which has since turned into the best social media platform for aspiring artists to showcase their work. For illustrators that like to draw fictional characters, Instagram is a great place to share their art with fandoms; similarly, for those actually in these fandoms, it’s the easiest way to see our favorite characters bought to life. 

Fan art of the characters from The Dark Artifices series by Cassandra Clare.
[Image description: Fan art of the characters from The Dark Artifices series by Cassandra Clare.] Via Lariablog on Tumblr

As YA literature became more inclusive, fandom members were excited to see this change reflected in the fan art as well – especially readers of color that were finally able to read about characters that looked like them, after years of reading about characters who didn’t.

However, a large number of artists have continued to consistently draw characters of color with the wrong skin tone – whitewashing them, or even changing their skin color so much it looks like they’re using it as an aesthetic tool to make the image pop.

Even for illustrators that do draw characters of color with the right skin tone, many are often guilty of still giving them features that promote Western beauty ideals, such as a smaller button nose (often with a slight slope), straighter hair, and a thinner body. Not only does this perpetuate the dangerous idea that these Western beauty ideals are the most attractive features for women to have, but it also undoes the hard work of the author who sought to add more diversity into their books in the first place. 

It undoes the hard work of the author who sought to add more diversity into their books

And this seems to be something that exclusively happens to female characters. I repeatedly see artists drawing male characters of color with more diverse features, yet continue to shoehorn their drawings of female characters of color into these anglicized ideals – artworks of two of my favorite YA characters, Alastair and Cordelia Carstairs, a pair of siblings who are both half-Persian, constantly fall foul of this. While most artists draw Alastair with typically Middle Eastern features, for example a longer nose with a bump in it, they are more inclined to turn that nose into a ski slope shape when drawing his sister.

A nose with a bump in it isn’t any less beautiful than one without, yet typically, Middle Eastern noses like this are seen as attractive on men – and a sign of strength and masculine appeal – yet unattractive on women who according to Western ideals, should instead favor one that is small and delicate.

https://twitter.com/full_oflit/status/1367590866643128335?s=20

Emma*, an artist, says that “a big problem in fan art is people drawing non-white characters who are canonically beautiful as just white people with darkened skin. People don’t realize how subconsciously our perceptions of ‘ugliness’ are tied to non-whiteness.”

“However, it’s also not totally the artist’s fault, since realistically, they can draw what they want. It’s more a product of Eurocentric beauty standards put in place by colonization and white supremacy than it is the fault of a specific artist. That being said, it is especially important to hold artists accountable for whitewashing POC characters since so many characters of color in YA function as role models for people of color.”

I also asked Emma whether she thought fandoms do enough to call out these artists: “Fans generally do a really good job of recognizing when an artist has lightened a POC character’s skin, and most often an artist will respond with an adjustment to the portrait or illustration and an apology in the caption,” Emma says. “I think it’s important to maintain this level of dialogue since it’s one way for an artist to learn that their depiction of a character may be harmful to people that were hoping to feel represented.”

 

While some artists whitewash characters of color in their drawings, many illustrators are also guilty of promoting Western beauty ideals by drawing their white characters with these so-called “perfect” features. For example, drawing every single female character with the same tiny button nose – despite only a small number of women in real life actually having a nose that looks like this – and drawing girls who are described as warriors complete with cuts and scars, as stick-thin models without an ounce of muscle between them.

Social media does enough at promoting literally impossible beauty standards, we don’t need it in fan art as well – especially in the artwork of characters that have specifically been written to go against these standards. It seems that sometimes, despite the majority of characters in the most popular YA books having the same skin color as me, even I cannot see myself represented in the fan art.

While like Emma* said, it’s not totally up to the artist to draw these characters exactly the way the readers see them, I do think illustrators owe it to fandoms to include more diversity in their artwork as a whole. Different body shapes, different nose shapes, and profiles that don’t play into these Western beauty ideals of feminity. In the same way, authors owe it to their readers to commission artists who put this diversity at the forefront of their work.

More often than not, fan art is just as important as the book itself. Not only does it bring the story to life, but it also helps readers feel represented in a world that still considers white skin, a smaller nose, straighter hair, and a thinner body, the definition of feminine beauty. 

I have loved seeing my favorite literary genre become more diverse over the years, but I worry this hasn’t completely transpired into accompanying artwork; it seems to me that while the YA genre might be promoting more diversity in its pages, it certainly isn’t in its fan art. 

*All original names were changed for anonymity.

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Categories
Shopping Gift Guides Standoms

23 gifts every Harry Potter fan will want as much as a Hogwarts letter

[Image description: collage of 8 items in the gift guide] via Etsy
[Image description: collage of 8 items in the gift guide] via Etsy

To Potterheads, May 2 is International Harry Potter Day. According to the books, The Battle of Hogwarts took place on May 2, 1998, which means it has now been 24 years since Voldemort was defeated once and for all by the Golden Trio.

While we do not support J.K Rowling’s dangerous transphobic views or her bigotry, Harry Potter Day is a day created by and for the fans of the books and movies.

And is there a better way to celebrate the witches and  wizards in your life than by giving them awesome gifts that look summoned from the storefronts of Diagon Alley that were made by fans themselves?

1. Hogwarts House tea blends

[Image description: four packets of tea blends, one for each Hogwarts house] via Etsy

Say you return to your common room after a long day of classes. Whether you’re in the Ravenclaw Tower or the Slytherin Dungeon, wouldn’t it be nice to curl up by the fireplace and enjoy a hot cup of tea?

These delicious tea blends come in a pack of four, and each one is specially designed to match the vibe of each of the four Hogwarts Houses. Get it here!

2. Harry Potter book chapter coasters

[Image description: a ceramic coaster depicting the ‘Dumbledore’s Army’ chapter title, lying on top of other similar coasters] via Etsy
These handmade ceramic coasters are made from the chapter title pages of real Potter books. The set of four is picked at random, so you never know which chapter titles you might get. These coasters are a simple and useful gift for diehard fans of the books, and make a great conversation starter for when guests come over.

Get it here!

3. Golden Snitch bracelet

[Image description: a silver bracelet with a golden snitch charm] via Etsy
[Image description: a silver bracelet with a golden snitch charm] via Etsy
This one is for the Seekers. Whether or not you would have made your House team, wearing this beautiful Golden Snitch bracelet is sure to make you feel like a star quidditch player!

Get it here!

4. Time Turner necklace

[Image description: a replica necklace of Hermoine's time turner] via Etsy
[Image description: a replica necklace of Hermoine’s time turner] via Etsy
The one magical object I have always longed for is a Time Turner! This necklace is identical to the device Hermoine possessed in the Prisoner of Azkaban. While I can’t guarantee it will let you travel back in time to take extra classes or rescue hippogriffs, it is sure to make a lovely addition to your collection of Harry Potter merch.

Get it here!

5. Wizard embossing rolling pin

[Image description: a rolling pin engraved with Harry Potter symbols and two cookies embossed with some of the symbols] via Etsy
[Image description: a rolling pin engraved with Harry Potter symbols and two cookies embossed with some of the symbols] via Etsy
If you know any baking wizards, consider getting them this cool engraved rolling pin. This pin is for embossing cookies with wizarding world symbols, such as Harry’s glasses, the Deathly Hallows symbol, the Dark Mark, broomsticks, wands, etc. Not only is it a great gift, it is also a cool purchase if you want to treat your friends to baked goods this Harry Potter Day.

Get it here!

6. Ron’s emotional range teaspoon

[Image description: a teaspoon engraved with the phrase 'Ron's emotional range' ] via Etsy
[Image description: a teaspoon engraved with the phrase ‘Ron’s emotional range’ ] via Etsy
One of the best things about Romoine is their playful, and often brutal, banter. Remember that scene in Order of the Phoenix where Hermoine tells Ron off for dismissing Cho’s grief over Cedric’s death? Well, now you can buy this teaspoon commemorating Hermione’s devastating burn!

Get it here!

7. Sorting Hat candle

[Image description: a candle with a label stating 'Sorting Hat' candle and the colours of the four houses. ] via Etsy
[Image description: a candle with a label stating ‘Sorting Hat’ and the colours and symbols of the four houses. ] via Etsy
Light the Sorting Hat candle to find out which house you belong to! This vegan scented candle appears white at first, but it reveals your house colour as it burns. If you and your friends already know your houses, you can just select it when you make your purchase. If you know someone who doesn’t, or a Potterhead about to turn 11, pick the ‘Sort Me’ option and let them have a real first day at Hogwarts experience!

Get it here!


8. Alohomora key holder

[Image description: a black metal key rack in the shape of the word 'Alohomora' ] via Etsy
[Image description: a black metal key rack showing the word ‘Alohomora’ in the Harry Potter font ] via Etsy
Alohomora is the charm used to unlock objects such as doors and windows. While the spell is certainly useful for wizards and witches, in the case of the muggles in your life, this ‘Alohomora’ key holder is the next best thing.

Get it here!

9. Hogwarts alumni sweatshirt

[Image description: a maroon sweatshirt printed with the words Hogwarts Alumni ] via Etsy
[Image description: a maroon sweatshirt printed with the words Hogwarts Alumni ] via Etsy
Show off your school pride with this comfy Hogwarts Alumni sweatshirt.

Get it here!

10. Smells like Draco candle

[Image description: a white wax candle in a jar with a label 'Smells like Draco' ] via Etsy
[Image description: a white wax candle in a jar with a label reading ‘Smells like Draco’ ] via Etsy
To the unabashed Draco fans out there, I got you! This soy wax candle comes in a variety of scents, from Cedarwood Musk to Flannel Pine, to suit your preference. The seller recommends the Mahogany Apple scent as it best captures the Slytherin’s coldblooded nature, while also reminding you that he still had the potential for goodness.

Get it here!

11. Marauder’s Map infinity scarf

[Image description: a scarf depicting the Marauder's Map draped around the neck of a mannequin bust] via Etsy
[Image description: a scarf depicting the Marauder’s Map draped around the neck of a mannequin bust] via Etsy

Every Harry Potter fan has wanted to get their hands on the legendary Marauder’s Map. This high-quality infinity scarf is the perfect accessory for sneaking around the castle grounds and through secret passageways in the winter months!
Get it here! 

12. Marauder’s Map face mask

[Image description: a face mask depicting the Marauder's Map on a mannequin head] via Etsy
[Image description: a face mask depicting the Marauder’s Map on a mannequin head] via Etsy
This truly magical cotton face mask appears black at first but begins to reveal the Marauder’s Map through heat activation.Get it here!

13. Hogwarts ‘Starry Night’ print

[Image description: a framed print of the Hogwarts Castle in the style of The Starry Night] via Etsy
[Image description: a framed print of the Hogwarts Castle in the style of The Starry Night] via Etsy
Know any fans who are also art lovers? Consider getting them this artwork of the Hogwarts Castle in the style of Van Gogh’s The Starry Night.Get it here!

14. Magic wand makeup brushes

[Image description: metal handled eyeshadow brushes in the shape of wands from the Harry Potter films, lying on top of a black pouch] via Etsy
[Image description: metal handled eyeshadow brushes in the shape of wands from the Harry Potter films] via Etsy
We all have that one friend whose makeup skills are utterly bewitching.  If that friend is also a Potterhead, the perfect gift for them is this set of magic wand-inspired eyeshadow brushes!

Get it here!

15. Dark Mark bookmark

[Image description: someone's hand holding out a black laminated bookmark with the Dark Mark symbol in gold foil. Similar book marks in different foiling in the background] via Etsy
[Image description: someone’s hand holding out a black laminated bookmark with the Dark Mark symbol in gold foil. Similar bookmarks in different foiling in the background] via Etsy
As you know, the Dark Mark is the symbol of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. These unique laminated bookmarks are hand-drawn and can be customized in a variety of colors and foiling. A captivating gift for the booklovers in your life!

Get it here!


16. Mini potions and ingredients

[Image description: a bunch of colourful mini bottles with labels denoting various Harry Potter potions and ingredients] via Etsy
[Image description: a bunch of colourful mini bottles with labels denoting various Harry Potter potions and ingredients] via Etsy
Need to replenish your stock of potions and ingredients? You can purchase replica bottles of Felix Felicis, amortentia, basilisk venom, and many others, to add a touch of whimsy to your workspace and bookshelves. If you have a fireplace, there is even a bottle of Floo powder!Get it here!

17. Luna Lovegood Dirigible Plum earrings

[Image description: beaded radish shaped red earrings in a red jewelry box] via Etsy
Unpopular opinion, but Luna Lovegood is a style icon. Her spectrespecs? The lion hat she wore to support Gryffindor when they played against Slytherin? Both amazing. But best of all are her Dirigible plum earrings. This pair sold on Etsy is identical to the one that Evanna Lynch personally crafted and wore as Luna in the Order of the Phoenix film adaptation.Get it here!

18. Harry Potter inspired tarot cards

[Image description: a hand holds up an envelope with two tarot cards sticking out. The cards are designed in black and white ] via Etsy
[Image description: a hand holds up an envelope with two tarot cards sticking out. The cards are designed in black and white ] via Etsy
If you’ve ever wanted to attend a Divination class, here is a set of Professor Trelawney-approved tarot cards. The set consists of the 22 major arcana cards, and each one has a unique design inspired by the world of Harry Potter.
Get it here!

19. Dobby reusable cup sleeve

[Image description: a knit cup sleeve shaped like Dobby the house-elf] via Etsy
[Image description: a knit cup sleeve shaped like Dobby the house-elf] via Etsy
Potterheads loves Dobby. Check out this adorable handmade cup cozy of everyone’s favorite house elf!

Get it here!

20. Flourish and Blotts t-shirt

[Image description: Left-a pink t-shirt with the Flourish & Blotts logo. Right- a black t-shirt with the Borgin & Burkes logo] via Etsy
[Image description: Left-a pink t-shirt with the Flourish & Blotts logo. Right- a black t-shirt with the Borgin & Burkes logo ] via Etsy
Flourish & Blotts is the bookstore in Diagon Alley where Hogwarts students purchase their schoolbooks. In Chamber of Secrets, it is where Harry meets Gilderoy Lockhart for the first time at a book signing. This shirt is a gift for those true fans who love merchandise that is understated. If you are more the type to be found wandering through Knockturn Alley than Diagon Alley, there is also a t-shirt inspired by Borgin & Burkes!

Get it here!

21. Weasley sweatshirt

[Image description: two sweatshirts. The one on the left is green with the letter H and the right is maroon with the letter R] via Etsy
[Image description: Two sweatshirts. The one on the left is green with the letter H and the right is red with the letter R] via Etsy
As a Harry Potter fan, you have probably wanted one of the special handmade ‘jumpers’ that the Weasleys and Harry received as Christmas presents. Now you can have a very similar sweatshirt, customized with your own first initial!

Get it here!

22. Custom best friends Harry Potter mug

[Image description: a white mug painted with the image from the back of two girls in Hogwarts scarves and holding wands.] via Etsy
[Image description: a white mug painted with the image of two girls in Hogwarts scarves and holding wands. An owl flies above them. Under the image on the mug are the names ‘Andrea and Claire’ ] via Etsy
Surprise your best friend with this thoughtful hand-painted mug that can be customized with your name, house scarf, and likeness! The text on the other side of the mug can be picked by you too.

Get it here!

23. Dragon Egg bath bomb gift set

[Image description: an assortment of gifts, including a red dragon shaped bath bomb] via Etsy
[Image description: an assortment of gifts, including a red egg shaped bath bomb, a towel, and a charm bracelet] via Etsy
This luxurious dragon egg bath bomb gift set is inspired by the golden egg from the Triwizard Tournament and meant only for the greatest wizard in your life. The set also contains bath crystals, a bath potion, a cotton towel, and a charm bracelet. It comes with a wax-sealed letter, informing the recipient that they have won the Wizard of the Year award.
Get it here!

If you’re anything like me, you want to gift at least five of these items to yourself, but don’t forget to spoil your fellow Potterheads as well! Your money would also be going to these talented Etsy creators, rather than into the coffers of She Who Must Not Be Named. We may not support her anymore, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t relive the magic of our childhood stories this Harry Potter Day. 

Haven’t found the perfect Potterhead gift yet? We’ve curated another list!

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Categories
Aww Nostalgia Pop Culture

Let magic and love prevail this International Harry Potter Day

From left to right Hermione, Harry and Ron laughing in the snow.
From left to right Hermione, Harry and Ron laughing in the snow.

Every year, Potterheads celebrate Harry Potter Day on May 2 to commemorate the Battle of Hogwarts. Are you partying with an online meetup with your fellow friends and presenting them with magical gifts? Me, I will celebrate the 24th anniversary of Voldemort’s defeat by re-reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – and with a cake, as it is my birthday as well!

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

I read this chapter so many times I could recite it to you at this point. It feels like it was only yesterday that I opened the first pages of the first chapter in the Harry Potter series. Somehow time flew us by instead, and next year is going to be the 25th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Wicked, right?

From the completion of the book series, to the writing of the controversial sequel theater screenplay The Cursed Child and finally the Fantastic Beasts movie series, J.K.Rowling has kept expanding and adding to the universe in various shapes. Much to the dismay of many fans, I might add.


Whether you grew up as the books from the main series came out (as I did), or whether you were born after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was released on the big screen, Harry Potter certainly has had a huge impact on our collective imaginary. Thinking of magic and wizards without at least drawing inspiration from the Harry Potter universe is nearly impossible. Just scrolling on TikTok you will encounter thousands of videos with the #hogwarts tag – which has videos tagged with it for around 18.5B total views!

It’s safe to say that by this point we all know our Hogwarts House and made it a part of our persona online. From Harry Potter themed parties to proper sorting ceremonies, all Potterheads have their own cherished memories tied to the books series. Mine are of happening upon an English copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in a random supermarket and convincing my father to buy it for me when I was 15.

Libro.fm

Harry, Hermione and Ron all grew up in the span of the 7 books, and so did we. And although the universe still enjoys strong popularity, the same cannot be said for its author JK Rowling.

In the past few years, the writer has been heavily criticized for her seemingly off-hand comments on the book or characters. Somehow under the assumption that anything coming from her would always be welcomed with open arms by readers, J.K. Rowling kept on shamelessly adding to her characters long after the story was done.

“The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.”

If these comments stopped at her characters perhaps there would be a way to look past. However, the intolerance and hate that she kept hidden away surfaced in 2019, where the researcher Maya Forstater was fired after making several transphobic tweets. Among others, Rowling announced on her Twitter her support for the researcher. Under the false guise of “feminism” the author kept pushing for transgender exclusionary ideology again and again, going as far as writing a lenghty letter on her website to address the topic. She acts “concerned” about the new waves of what she calls “trans activism” – constantly diminishing the experience of transgender women.

Her public meltdown on Twitter was followed then by her book Troubled Blood published under a pseudonym, in which the main antagonist is “a serial killer who lures his victims into a false sense of security by dressing as a woman.” There is honestly no way of looking at her work, or her words, as anything else other than deeply transphobic.

“Pity the living, and above all pity those who live without love,” Dumbledore says to Harry in Deathly Hallows. And although there is little to pity Rowling for, we can definitely feel sorry for the way these waves of hate wrapped around our memories of childhood and magic. As Fantastic Beasts is still an ongoing movie series and there are even rumors over various potential TV spinoffs, Harry Potter will surely keep inspiring new generations of fans.

On the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, I believe it’s more important than ever to remember the saga as a triumph of love over hate. Lily’s sacrifice for Harry out of her love for him is one of the pivotal moments in the story, and the main reason that he was finally able to defeat Voldemort.

As Roland Barthes says, “The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.” In other words, a text does not end with the writer putting down their pen. You, the reader, can give the story your own meaning.

On this May 2nd, let’s pick up our own wands and celebrate magic and love.

If you want to get your friends a special Harry Potter-inspired gift, make sure to support the amazing fan creators. You can find our picks here and here.

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Categories
Editor's Picks TV Shows Pop Culture

“Fate: The Winx Saga” lacks charm in all the ways that matter

[Image description: Fate The Winx Saga TV series' title poster.] Via netflix.com
[Image description: Fate The Winx Saga TV series' title poster.] Via netflix.com

It’s not uncommon at this point for beloved, family-friendly cartoons to be reworked into a teen or young adult series with darker characters and storylines in order to appeal to a wider audience. Similar to Riverdale and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Fate: The Winx Saga is Netflix’s latest gritty live-action adaptation. Based on the Italian animated children series Winx Club that aired on Nickelodeon, Fate veers from its source material to adopt more mature elements to the show. However, in doing so, it sacrifices the appeal that initially made audiences fall in love with Winx Club.

Relive your childhood with the Winx Club live-action that is angering the internet

Fate, of course, takes inspiration from the Nickelodeon cartoon, mostly centering around Bloom (Abigail Cowen), a fire fairy that needs guidance in controlling her powers as well as battling the inner, emotional turmoil that threatens to further harm herself and others. To hone in her powers, she is recruited to Alfea, an institution for fairies, by the headmistress Farrah Dowling (Eve Best), based on Faragonda from the original cartoon. There, Bloom meets the rest of what will soon be her crew of magical fairies, all with their own set of unique powers.

Of all the girls, it is implied that Bloom is the most exceptional and powerful fairy, not only amongst the group but in the history of Alfea. With all of their combined strength, the girls must conquer the forces that threaten the safety and future of their school.

The Netflix show premiered to audiences on January 22nd and has quickly received mixed reviews from critics and show watchers. Fate currently has a 34% show rating on Rotten Tomatoes along with a slew of negative or lukewarm reviews from publications such as Paste, Variety, and Polygon. On the other hand, viewers have praised the show on social media, contrasting with the opinion of critics. Fate even has a starkly higher audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 83%. 

So, with all of the conflicting discourse surrounding the show, where do I stand on Fate: The Winx Saga? Personally, as someone who is a long-time fan of gritty fantasy series (Children of Blood and Bone, the later Harry Potter movies, Game of Thrones), Fate just doesn’t do it for me. It would be a decent show if it stood on its own; however, for a show about magic, Fate lacks charm and additionally fails to live up to what made the original animated series great.

For starters, there was better diversity in the original Winx Club series. Most notably, in the original cartoon, Musa is Asian and Flora is Latina. In Fate, Musa (Elisha Applebaum) and Terra (Eliot Salt), who was subbed for Flora, are both played by white actresses. This would not have been so much of a flaw for me if the show did better with the changes they made to Terra’s character.

Terra is often on the receiving end of fatphobia in a way that serves no substantial purpose to the plot or her character arc. Rather, the treatment she endures from others just feels mean. In one scene, Aisha (Precious Mustapha) and Musa negatively discuss weight gain in front of Terra, causing her to feel uncomfortable and perhaps even embarrassed. Afterwards, neither Musa nor Aisha ever acknowledges or apologizes for hurting Terra in this manner, which in turn doesn’t make me, as a viewer, want to even like Musa or Aisha. Nevermind the fact that Aisha is one of two POC cast members in the show and, to add insult to injury, her main role in the overall plot is being a side-kick to Bloom.

[Image description: Bloom looking at the camera and creating fire with magic.] Via netflix.com
[Image description: Bloom looking at the camera and creating fire with magic.] Via Netflix.

In fact, many points throughout the show feel unnecessarily mean spirited. Firstly, the girls’ relationship with each other starts off bitter, which is off-putting given the emphasis on friendship and sisterhood in the original Winx Club. Another example of the mean spirited nature the show tends to explore is how Dane (Theo Graham), the only gay character within the main cast, is outed later in the series by an Instagram story that shows him being intimate with Riven (Freddie Thorp) and Beatrix (Sadie Soverall). On top of all this, Riven is a homophobic bully whose character is used to perpetuate outdated tropes of needlessly outing people. All of which is a storyline that is redundant and simply reductive for Dane’s character. 

In the same video, the three make fatphobic comments about Terra, which she sees, and then cries, as she also had a crush on Dane. The choice to have Terra played by a plus-sized actress was great because if certain changes from the cartoon should have been made, the first one would undoubtedly be showcasing realistic body sizes. However, the way Fate clumsily handles fatphobia to empower Terra (which comes off weak anyway) makes me wonder if they should have tried to tackle it at all.

Besides, it’s stated at the beginning of the show that there is a difference between humans and fairies. So, I’m not sure why fairies would care so much about upholding oppressive social hierarchies designed by humans anyway.

I also find myself missing the fashion of Winx Club. The choice to give Fate more of an edge than its source material didn’t have to sacrifice the girls’ looks, as things can be girly and gritty at the same time. See: Euphoria’s iconic makeup looks. I know critiquing fashion is arbitrary; however, it would have made more sense for a Winx Club adaptation to have fashion be a distinct aspect of the girl’s characters. The show creator Brian Young also produced The Vampire Diaries, which makes sense in hindsight, but Winx Club becoming a gritty, Riverdale-esque YA fantasy show is ultimately confusing and makes me wonder why it wasn’t just pitched as a stand-alone show.

[Image description: The five Winx standing at the school entrance. From left to right: Musa., Stella, Bloom, Aysha and Terra.] Via Netflix.
[Image description: The five Winx standing at the school entrance. From left to right: Musa., Stella, Bloom, Aysha and Terra.] Via Netflix.
Fate: The Winx Saga is so far from the animated series in the ways that made Winx Club unique from other fantasy stories that it feels as if the show doesn’t know what it wants to be. 

All in all, as Fate: The Winx Saga is likely to add more seasons in the future, I mostly want more for the characters, especially for the traditionally underrepresented identities in the series. Fate had great source material to work with, but certain changes to the show in efforts to make it grittier were simply off-putting, lacked direction, or fell flat altogether. Still, I’m optimistic that the critiques surrounding this show will help to improve the story-telling and character arcs so I can hopefully add another gritty and compelling fantasy series to my roster of favorites.

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Categories
Shopping Gift Guides Accessories

15 magical gifts to get that friend who adores Harry Potter… you know who

Read more of our holiday stories here!

Imagine watching the festivities come to life in the Great Hall whilst you enjoy the Christmas Eve feast. Or kicking it back in your house dorm with your friends to the crackling fire. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, just because we Potterheads can’t spend Christmas at the castle or receive jumpers handmade by Molly Weasely herself, doesn’t mean we can’t have the perfect Harry Potter-themed Christmas presents to bestow upon our Harry Potter-loving friends and family members.

Here’s the procured list of 15 perfect presents for all Harry Potter fans!

1) Felix Felicis and Time Turner Charm Necklaces

Image of Time Turner necklace and Felix Felicis Necklace
via Etsy

Every Harry Potter fan has been fascinated by Hermione’s Time-Turner in Prisoner of Azkaban. And everybody would love to get their hands on a vial of Felix Felicis. The pair of these handmade necklaces are crafted with delicacy and detail. You can choose to buy the pair, or pick your favorite. Each necklace comes with customizable initials. They would make a magical gift!

Get it here for $9.95 

2) Hogwarts House Themed Candles

via Etsy
[Image Description: Photo Collage of Themed Candles; Courage Candle (top left), Loyalty Candle (top right), Magic Potion (bottom left), Wisdom Candle (bottom right)] via Atelier Mitternacht on Etsy.
Each candle is themed according to the prized values of the Hogwarts Houses! For Gryffindors, we have the Courage Candle. For Hufflepuffs, we have the Loyalty Candle. Slytherins have their Magic Potion Candle. And finally for all Ravenclaws is the Wisdom Candle.

Get it here for $12.66

3) Harry Potter House Blankets

vua
via Etsy

Imagine sleeping with a blanket embedded with your favorite house’s logo. And watching your favorite characters unravel with a cup of hot chocolate. Don’t deny yourself this pleasure.

Get it here for $35.99



4) Marauder’s Map Rug

Image of Marauder's Map Rug
via Etsy

You can’t be a Harry Potter fan without being a fan of the legendary Marauders. And what’s better than to have a Marauder’s Map Rug complimenting your furniture?

Get it here for $37.80

5) Replica Marauder’s Map

via Etsy

I know we’ve all wished we could’ve gotten our hands on the Marauder’s Map and snuck around the hallways. This Replica Marauder’s Map could be the best Harry Potter souvenir your friend could receive to manage their mischief!

Get it here for $19.54 

6) Surprise Bath Bomb

Surprise Bath Bombs
via Etsy

Fire burn and caldron bubble! These bath bombs will relieve every trouble! They will inform you of what house you belong to. Each bath bomb you order comes with a hidden House Crest charm inside! Sounds like the cutest Christmas present for a Potterhead!

Get it here for $11.17 



7) Notebook and Wand Gift Set

wand notebook giftset
via Etsy

A Notebook and Wand Gift Set makes a lovely present for a Potterhead who loves to write! The Wand even doubles as a pen (the Muggles will never know your wizard secrets)!

Get it here for $18.00

8) Wand Makeup Brush Set

Image of Wand brush pieces set

Recognize the design on these makeup brushes? Yep, you guessed it, they’re Harry Potter-themed wands! If you want your loved one to add the most epic addition to their makeup collection, this 5 Wand Brush Piece Set is the way to go!

Get it here for $21.99

9) Harry Pawter Mug

via Etsy

Daniel Radcliffe as a cat. A fat cat. That is all.

Get it here for $27.64 

10) Polyjuice Potion drinking Flask

polyjuice potion flask
via Etsy

Do you start talking about Harry Potter when you drink? This Polyjuice Potion Drinking Flask is for you! And your fellow Potterheads!

Get it here for $24.95 

11) Personalized  Harry Potter Name Sign 

via Etsy

You’ll become the teacher’s pet if you gift her one of these Harry Potter-themed nameplates. It would also look great in a bedroom – far away from any Dudleys.

Get it here for $21.71

12) Harry Potter House Wax Seal Stamps

Wax Seal Stamps
[Image Description: Collage of Harry Potter House Wax Seal Stamps] via Housagreentree on Etsy.
These Wax Seal Stamps are perfect for any letter that needs to be sent. Maybe then we’d receive our Hogwarts acceptance letters that are lost!

Get it here for $29.60 


13) Harry Potter Fan Sequin Pillowcase

via Etsy

Make Hermoine jealous with this pillowcase of Ron Weasley’s face. Who doesn’t love this heroic, loyal character?

Get it here for $36.96 

14) Harry Potter Hogwarts Badges 

harry potter badges
via Etsy.

A set of all the Hogwarts House badges is a valuable gift for any Harry Potter fan to add to their collection.

Get it here for $29.99

15) Harry Potter Gift Box Hamper

gift box hamper
via Etsy.

This Harry Potter-themed Gift Box Hamper is the ULTIMATE Christmas Present for any and every Harry Potter fan out there! It comes with a customized Hogwarts Letter and a bunch of other items that show all the Harry Potter love!

Get it here for $83.45

Bonus: this amazing book box set with stickers

There can never be enough books… we know Potterheads love to re-read the books, especially if they come in gorgeous sets.

Get it here at a discounted price for $189.


Just because we may not support JKR anymore doesn’t mean we need to stop loving the magic or the characters that were our childhood… I know, looking at some of these gifts even I was thinking, “This would make such a good present for me!” Guilty as charged. If only a one-way ticket to the Wizarding world was available. All Potterheads would be gone faster than you can say ‘Quidditch’. Therefore, whichever gift you pick for your fellow Potterhead, it’s guaranteed to complete their Christmas if it’s on this list!

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Categories
Work Tech Now + Beyond

Tech giant Japan still clings onto its nostalgia: here’s why it works and doesn’t work

[A old school Nintendo gameboy with Donkey Kong, Pokemon and Tetris games scattered around it] via Dimitri Houtteman on Unsplash.

Moving to Japan for me was like fast-forwarding to the future and rewinding to year 2000 at the same time. Trains whiz between buildings in the sky but on them sit grown men with flip phones and pagers. Robots serve you food but you can only pay the bill in cash. Neon streets are gobsmackingly futuresque but their stores sell CDs and comics.  These contradictory occurrences are common in Japan, and while they used to startle me when I first arrived, they serve to present Japan’s neat tapestry of groundbreaking progression and old school nostalgia.  Here’s why it works in some instances, and not at all in others.

Relic Tech & Media

Whilst Japan sits at the forefront of robotics, technology and vehicular engineering, there’s also a massive circulation of relic products other countries might deem obsolete. 

Mobile phones are called “keitai denwa” (携帯電話) and keitai culture is massive. In other developed countries, you’d only see smartphones but, in Japan, you’ll see all kinds of cellular devices flickering around you on your daily commute. The much-loved, old and hardy phone with brilliant battery life for constant emailing and texting is still so popular that it even has its own name – “garakei“, which translates to “Galapagos phone”—a reference to the isolated, “origin of species” model. Kids and teens are also seen with replica cell phones of the early 2000s, fitting into Japan’s youthful Kawaii culture. Tamagotchis and Gameboys are still used but not just as hipster timepieces as they would be in the Western world.

Whilst Japan sits at the forefront of robotics, technology and vehicular engineering, there’s also a massive circulation of relic products other countries might deem obsolete. 

Whilst print media takes a nosedive worldwide, Japanese comic books (called manga まんが) are still wildly popular and available at every corner shop. DVDs, CDs and VHRs, which the Western world might consider an extinct species of audio and video consumption, still thrive here, evident in the prosperous Tower Records all around Tokyo. And just a few years ago, Forbes reported that CD purchases made up 85% of all music sales in Japan. Film cameras and disposables are also massive here. Japan boasts the biggest and best collection of camera shops in the world, so it only makes sense they would stock up on every kind. I myself started printing out actual photos and collecting film just to join the trend. 

Why does this work?

Firstly, Japan loves collector items. Secondly, Japanese people take good care of their belongings. You can walk into any second-hand store (there are many nationwide) and purchase an old Famicom relic from your childhood – and it’s guaranteed to still be in mint condition. In the rest of the world where ‘new=better’, people are at risk of losing the true value of technological innovation. Japan’s nostalgic culture teaches people to cherish their belongings, as well as helps punctuate the fast pace of life with an air of simplicity. As an English teacher who spends every day with Japanese kids, I can vouch that they can sit for hours practicing the ancient art of origami, entertained with just a piece of paper. This stands in stark contrast to the tweens I au-paired for in America who begged their dad for months for the iPhone X. There’s just something more wholesome about Japanese youth. 

It’s cash over cards for Japan

Japan’s simplicity adds a wholesomeness to its youth and accommodation to its older generation.

Whilst even emerging economies move towards becoming cashless, Japan remains a cash-loving society. There are a variety of reasons as to why this is. Firstly, due to the economic stunting from by World War II, circulating cash kept (and keeps) people from spending above their means. And because of the low or negative interest rates that lasted for decades, people felt the best way to save money was to keep it at home or under their mattress.  Other reasons include there being a plethora of ATMs around – seriously, there are around 200,000 in Japan. Others hypothesize it’s to accommodate the older generation (65+) which makes up a quarter of its total population who are used to paying in cash. In fact, Japan’s aging population can be used to explain all the above, and more.

Perhaps it’s not so much so that Japan works in this way, but that it simply would’ve had no other choice. Japanese work culture still operates on a seniority system where the hierarchy and wage are based on how long you’ve been there, and not necessarily on merit. Because of the belief that Ikigai (生き甲斐), or life purpose, is interwoven with your job, coupled with the high life expectancy, people end up working for a longer time than usual. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is known for encouraging this, as it means more people pitching into the tax base for longer, easing the burden on government spending for its exponential growth of the older population. Because of reduced power to the youth, a lot of old-school systems, like fax machines and standardized processors, have stuck around – along with stagnant mindsets about the workplace.

Old-school mindsets are the downfall

Whilst Japan’s nostalgia can be cute and quirky, it’s not so kawaii when it comes to women in the workplace. Today, only 13% of management positions are held by women, despite Abe’s promise to get it up to 30% by 2020. Women are still largely stay-at-home moms or, if they do work, most are employed at irregular hours and are still expected to do the cooking, cleaning and child-rearing when they return home.  Since Japan is an efforts-recognized culture rather than a results-driven one, there is not much understanding when it comes to shifting hours around in order to accommodate family responsibilities, and Japanese women unsurprisingly bear the brunt of this. And did you know most customer-facing firms require women to wear heels all day? It’s no wonder the birth rate is declining – being a Japanese wife and mother must be tough, let alone a working one. 



Japan’s simplicity adds a wholesomeness to its youth and accommodation to its older generation. At the same time, it seems to stunt the proper, political progression it could make.  Is Japan only circulating its history because it’s struggling to move forward? Does the cute memorabilia actually act as inequality’s Horcrux? “No”, I yell, as I clutch tightly to my Tamagotchi collection. But maybe it’s time we call a spade a spade…

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Categories
Mental Health Health

What self-care looks like in millennial speak

Aesthetic bath tub with bubble bath and books
Attribution: [Image description: Aesthetic bath tub with bubble bath and books perfect to improve your mental health] Pexels

Despite the world turning into the 90th season of Game of Thrones with all its unbelievable plot twists (killer wasps, Trump actually getting COVID-19 after spending most of the year furiously denying it, the 2020 Summer Olympics rescheduling and Hollywood celebrities admitting they are in fact, out of touch with that cursed Imagine cover video). It’s no wonder really that millennial women’s mental health is the pits.

Life, uh, finds a way – to quote Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park and we all learn to survive in all the ways we can. As someone who has recently rejoined the workforce after a long furlough, I’ve learnt a lot about self-care during quarantine and what it means for a working-class person (especially a young, brown woman of color) with limited access to affordable mental health options.

Which is why I’ve put together a list of things that help me and (your mental health) with all that’s going in the world.

1. Following dank (and not dank) meme pages

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFawK-7HZW1/

I can’t describe the effect a great meme has on my body’s serotonin levels – maybe it’s a millennial/Gen-Z thing, but I’ve been spending the whole quarantine following meme pages like SaintHoax, Employeetears and wholesomememes on social media to give my mental health a break and that much needed daily laugh quotient.

Here’s a personal favorite of mine.

2. Listening to podcasts

https://www.instagram.com/p/CD91TjDjQhw/

I love a good podcast, in fact, I listen to podcasts more than I talk to my best friends (whoops). Listening to a podcast is so calming – I love when you find the one because that’s all you’re going to be listening to while at home, at the gym, at work (if you work in an earphone-friendly place) and while doing anything. 

I highly recommend Keep It by Crooked Media – it’s a podcast that examines everything from pop culture to politics, celebrity interviews and more. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. The best part? It’s free for your mental health! 

3. Limit your social media use

Woman scrolling on Instagram using an iPhone smartphone
Attribution: [Woman scrolling on Instagram using an iPhone smartphone] Pexels
This has been said quite a bit, but we’re too connected to the world around us. There’s so much information available to us because of the Internet and social media platforms, while that’s amazing – it’s also very draining. As someone who works in social media professionally, I’ve had to learn how to reduce my use and force myself to take breaks from my phone for a few hours and on weekends (if possible) to maintain my mental health. 

Tip: try giving yourself 20-minute breaks from your social scrolling and then gradually increase the time frame over the week. You’ll find a big difference! 

Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans

4. Re-read a favorite book or a fanfiction

Kindle and books on a brown table
Attribution: [Image description: Kindle and books on a brown table] via Pexels
I’m one of those people who have this huge love for books, and I end up doing this hilarious thing where I end up visiting the bookstore and picking up new books to read but never end up reading them. This pandemic has made me read all the books I have lying around my room and I’ve reread Meg Cabot’s Size 12 Is Not Fat series for the millionth time. 

I’ve also managed to go back and re-read my favorite Sailor Moon, Harry Potter and Naruto fanfictions which coincided with my series rewatch party. The best part? It’s free therapy and my mental health immediately gets a much-needed positivity boost.

5. Treat yourself to something nice

Person scrolling on ASOS shopping app
Attribution: [Image description: Person scrolling on a shopping app] Pexels
We all need a little pick-me-up at times which is why I make a habit of enjoying one splurge expense every month. I’m on a budget at the moment since my finances are recovering but I would strongly suggest you treat yourself to one nice thing in a month. 

Whether it’s getting your hair done, a manicure or even buying that dress you’ve been longing for, sitting in your shopping cart – I would suggest you do it because we all deserve to enjoy something that’s only for us and gives your mental health that much needed boost! 

6. Do a Zoom party with your besties 

Young woman chatting with her friends over video
Attribution: [Image description: Young woman in orange t-shirt chatting with her friends helps mental health] Pexels

I get by with a little help from my friends (actually a lot) and I’ve been relatively lucky in the pandemic because I’ve met only three friends (with precautions, of course). But we do fun activities over Zoom like playing online games, watching Netflix movies or even just chatting for hours on end. Mental health? Going up ✅

7. Adopt a self-care routine of choice

Using a Korean sheet mask for mental heath
Attribution: [Image description: Using a Korean sheet mask to improve mental health] Pexels
Self-care can’t really be self-care without doing something that will relax your mind and boost your mental health. I personally like to use scented candles, put on a Korean sheet mask and watch The Mummy.
Great right? Which is why we’ve put this great list of routines you can try here.
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Categories
LGBTQIA+ Gender Inequality

It’s time we normalize gender inclusive language

[Image Description: A random assortment of pink letter blocks of the English alphabet are laid on a white surface] Via Unsplash
[Image Description: A random assortment of pink letter blocks of the English alphabet are laid on a white surface] Via Unsplash

TW: Mentions of transphobia

Recently, Harry Potter fans were hit hard when author J.K Rowling released a transphobic tirade on Twitter and, later, a virtual manifesto of transphobia on her website. Rowling essentially stated that she didn’t believe transgender women to be women. In several subsequent tweets and messages that demonstrated dangerous ignorance about ideas of sex and gender, Rowling dug herself deeper and deeper into her mess.

While I found all her tweets deeply disturbing, one, in particular, stuck out to me.

The issue here is that Rowling implies that the phrase “people who menstruate” can and should be replaced with the term “women”. This idea is not only morally flawed, but scientifically incorrect, for two primary reasons.

Not all people who menstruate are women, and not all women menstruate.

Firstly, not all people who menstruate are women, and not all women menstruate. The phrase “people who menstruate” was specifically used in order to be more inclusive than the term women. Transgender men and non-binary or gender-conforming individuals are not women, but issues of menstruation still pertain to a large number of them. Similarly, not all women (not even all cisgender women!) menstruate: people with PCOS, people with hysterectomies, people past the age of menopause, etc., may not menstruate, even if they were assigned female at birth.

Reading Rowling’s tweet made me incredibly frustrated, but it also made me question the nature of inclusive language as a whole. As a linguistics major, I’m intrigued by the way we use language to express our views, our emotions, and how the use of one word can change everything. How, at its very core, the curl of our tongues and the strokes of our pencils hold so much power.

Recently, people have been advocating to make languages more gender-inclusive. In this advocacy, one of the biggest phenomena is the use of the letter “x” to sidestep gender markings.

At its very core, the curl of our tongues and the strokes of our pencils hold so much power.

The most widely known usage of this phenomenon is Latinx instead of Latina or Latino, in an attempt to make the identifier gender-neutral. Spanish is a highly gendered language, leading to people advocating for a shift to more inclusion. This goes beyond just the commonly used term Latinx. For example, my Spanish professor would consistently begin his emails with “Queridxs todxs” instead of “Queridos todos” (“dear all”) in order to avoid gendered language.

However, the term Latinx, and all other efforts to erase gender in Spanish, have been met with opposition. Many Hispanic-Americans believe that the term is actually an elitist idea. Opponents have argued that altering Spanish to remove gender markings erases identity while also implying that Spanish is an exclusionary language and needs to be changed. It’s even argued that the term is a form of linguistic imperialism, with the US forcing their ideals on the Spanish language despite pushback from speakers.

The use of “x” is also quite widespread in English. Words such as Mx. instead of Mr. or Mrs., and, most controversially, womxn instead of women, represent examples of pushes to make English more inclusive.

All these terms make for fascinating case studies, but I have been particularly interested in the term “womxn” as well as the controversy surrounding it.

The term “womxn” is meant to include transgender women, cisgender women, and non-binary individuals (typically women-identified nonbinary individuals, or those assigned female at birth), and to reject the sexist sequence “men”. However, many non-cisgender women, who are meant to be accommodated with the term, feel that it actually others them (as “women-lite”) and would prefer that the term “women” is continued to be used.

Then there is also the issue of no one being able to pronounce the word, or having it pronounced the exact same way as “women” which many argue defeats the purpose.

When I consider the validity of the term “womxn”, I struggle to accept it as a part of the English language. If the term “womxn” alienates the very people it’s meant to include, should we really be using it?

As a cisgender woman, I don’t think it’s my place to draw a hard line here. But I do fervently believe that our language needs to be evolving to be more inclusive of those it has long excluded. For example, Chester M. Pierce coined the term “microaggression” in 1970 to easily articulate a specific form of discrimination that did not have a clear name. Conversely, we’ve effectively eliminated the acceptable use of derogatory slurs against racial and gender minorities. These are both examples of how our language and language use has changed to accommodate our changing society.

Oftentimes when I discuss the issue of inclusive language with others, I’m surprised at the opposing view, especially those of older generations. They view language such as “people who menstruate” as clunky, unnatural. After all, we didn’t use this language before, why now?

It’s not strange for people to push back against blunt changes in our language. Yet the truth is that language change is one of the most natural phenomena we have. Every time we create something new, whether it be technology or political theory, we need to expand our language to articulate these new ideas. Our pronunciations can change leading to huge shifts in language, such as with the Great Vowel Shift in England. But these changes don’t ruin our language at all – they just contribute to its perpetual evolution.   

There’s a reason why Shakespeare is akin to a foreign language, why “y’all” is no longer just a Southern quirk, why we don’t hesitate to use the singular “they”. Whether we like it or not, notice it or not, our language is always changing right alongside our society. And more often than not, this change is for the better. Adjusting our language use to be more inclusive is a necessary change as we make strides towards real, not surface-level, inclusivity.

Categories
Movies Food & Drinks

13 iconic and delicious movie foods that you can make at home

A white woman with brown curly hair is drinking a milkshake.
[Image description: A white woman with brown curly hair is drinking a milkshake.] Via Pexels

We have all drooled over these movie foods when they appeared on screen, and have wondered what they would actually taste like. But it doesn’t have to end at wishful thinking. You can easily recreate the magical moments in your own kitchen.

Here are 13 iconic foods from movies and their recipes so you can try them out yourself:

1. Remy’s ratatouille, Ratatouille

Remy, a gray rat, is making the finishing touches on a plate of ratatouille.
[Image description: Remy, a gray rat, is making the finishing touches on a plate of ratatouille.] Via Giphy
It’s probably not cool – or safe – for a rat to make you ratatouille in real life, but you – a person – can recreate Remy’s magical moment from Pixar’s Ratatouille through this recipe.

2. Butterbeer, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

A blonde girl in a striped sweater is drinking a yellow, frothy drink in a dark, pub-like setting.
[Image description: A blonde girl in a striped sweater is drinking a yellow, frothy drink in a dark, pub-like setting.] Via Buzzfeed
The Harry Potter series has offered a lot of innovative foods – Hagrid’s Rock Cakes, Acid Pops, and Chocolate Frogs – but there’s nothing like the butterbeer. This is a favorite among fans who visit the wizarding world, but you don’t have to make the trip to taste it, you can brew it yourself.

3. Tony’s spaghetti and meatballs, Lady and the Tramp

Two cartoon dogs - a gray male dog and a fluffy, brown female one - both chew on the same string of spaghetti and meet in a kiss.
[Image description: Two cartoon dogs – a gray male dog and a fluffy, brown female one – both chew on the same string of spaghetti and meet in a kiss.] Via Giphy
Is there a more romantic moment than this? The candle lit dinner the two dogs share in Lady and the Tramp has been immortalized through the years, and you can make your own dish and moment.

4. Kronk’s spinach puffs, The Emperor’s New Groove

In a cartoon, a brown, large, muscled-man serves a plate of spinach puffs to a smaller, thinner man and a purplish woman in an extravagant ensemble.
[Image description: In a cartoon, a brown, large, muscled-man serves a plate of spinach puffs to a smaller, thinner man and a purplish woman in an extravagant ensemble.] Via Fanpop
Kronk’s spinach puffs from The Emperor’s New Groove are as iconic as he is. They are his pride and joy, and you should definitely try your hand at making his best dish, as long as you don’t burn them that is.

5. Turkish Delight, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

A white, black-haired young boy munches on a powdery, soft Turkish delight as an older blonde, white woman watches on.
[Image description: A white, black-haired young boy munches on a powdery, soft Turkish delight as an older blonde, white woman watches on.] Via Narnia
If you’re betraying your siblings over food then it either means that you have issues or said food is too heavenly to resist. Maybe the next time you’re trying to negotiate something, use the White Witch’s recipe to get your way.

6. Lembas bread, The Lord of the Rings

A white, blond male elf munches on some bread and nods in approval.
[Image description: A white, blond male elf munches on some bread and nods in approval.] Via Tumblr
One small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man. Legolas’ delight over this bread in The Lord of the Rings is enough for one to want to try it for themselves, and here’s the method to recreate the Elves’ magic.

7. Mint sorbet, The Princess Diaries

At a formal dinner, a brown-haired white woman shakes her hands vigorously as she attempts to come to terms with the coldness of her sorbet. Next to her, a dark-haired couple mimics her actions.
[Image Description: At a formal dinner, a brown-haired white woman shakes her hands vigorously as she attempts to come to terms with the coldness of her sorbet. Next to her, a dark-haired couple mimic her actions.] Via Bustle
Mia’s reaction to the mint sorbet in The Princess Diaries is hilarious, and the whole moment is iconic. Maybe when you make it, be prepared for the coldness of the dish to avoid pulling a Mia at the table.

8. Tiana’s gumbo, The Princess and the Frog

In a cartoon, an arm holding a wooden ladle mixes a pot of gumbo.
[Image description: In a cartoon, an arm holding a wooden ladle mixes a pot of gumbo.] Via The Literary Phoenix
Tiana is a master in the kitchen. The gumbo she makes as a child is her best dish just because of the special moment it accompanies. It’s hard to be as perfect as Tiana, but do give this Louisiana dish a try.

9. Boeuf bourguignon, Julie and Julia

A hand prepares a dish boeuf bourguignon in an orange pot.
{Image description: A hand prepares a dish boeuf bourguignon in an orange pot.] Via Tumblr

Julie and Julia is a homage to food, and this dish stands out because Julie burns it the first time she tries it. This is the pinnacle of French cuisine (right to the difficult name) and here’s the original Julia Child recipe for you to try it out!

10. The triplets’ biscuits, Brave

A cartoon show three red-haired toddlers enthusiastically shoving full, round, jam biscuits into their mouths.
[Image description: A cartoon show three red-haired toddlers enthusiastically shoving full, round biscuits into their mouths.] Via li.st
These biscuits might as well be considered a main character in Brave. Every food-related scene features them and the triplets go gaga over them. These are Scottish cookies called empire biscuits, and you have to try these out.

11. $5 milkshake, Pulp Fiction

A white man with a ponytail says "That's a pretty fucking good milkshake." He's in black jacket, white shirt and a bolo tie. There's a vanilla milkshake in front of him with whipped cream and a cherry.
[Image description: A white man with a ponytail says “That’s a pretty fucking good milkshake.” He’s in black jacket, white shirt and a bolo tie. There’s a vanilla milkshake in front of him with whipped cream and a cherry.] Via Giphy
If you pay $5 for a vanilla milkshake, it better be a damn good one. At least, Vincent from “Pulp Fiction” seems to think that it’s worth the price. But you can save the five bucks and make it yourself.

12. Lemon snow cones, Monsters, Inc.

A cartoon shows a white, fuzzy yeti offering a plate of yellow snow cones to a green, round, one-eyed "monster"
[Image description: A cartoon shows a white, fuzzy yeti offering a plate of yellow snow cones to a green, round, one-eyed “monster”.] Via The Best Gifs For Me
Though the snow cones Yeti makes in Monsters Inc. end up being used for something else than as food, they still spark a curiosity. But don’t worry, it’s lemon. Here’s a pretty easy recipe you can try.

13. Spiced hot dark chocolate, Chocolat

A white man with slicked-back brown hair sips something out of a white, porcelain bowl while staring intently at someone in front of him. He licks his lips afterwards.
[Image description: A white man with slicked-back brown hair sips something out of a white, porcelain bowl while staring intently at someone in front of him. He licks his lips afterwards.] Via Giphy
Chocolate and spice is a winning combination, and that’s exactly what Vianne champions in her sensational beverage in the movie Chocolat. It’s a perfect drink for rainy days, and here’s how you can make it.

These foods have only been visual treats all this time but now you can taste them and decide whether they meet your expectations and imagination. From the animated treats to the extravagant meals, every dish served on screen is open for recreation, you only have to put your master chef hat on and start to experiment.

Categories
Movies Humor Books Pop Culture

23 things that set a Potterhead apart from regular fans

[Image description: A young trio stand in a busy mess hall. They're dressed in school jumpers and comprise one light brown-haired girl on the left, a dark-haired boy in the middle, and a red-haired boy on the right. They're all white.] Via Warner Bros
[Image description: A young trio stand in a busy mess hall. They're dressed in school jumpers and comprise one light brown-haired girl on the left, a dark-haired boy in the middle, and a red-haired boy on the right. They're all white.] Via Warner Bros

Similar to many 90s babies, I too credit J.K. Rowling for sparking my love of reading. One fateful day in 2001, my eldest sister sat me down with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Little did she know that that one act would turn her youngest sibling into a raving Potterhead.

Since, I’ve lived and breathed anything HP-related. I read the series countless times, I held debates with my siblings over why the order of birth should not be taken into consideration when deciding who gets to read the newest release first, I dropped references into everyday conversations, I memorized the spells, and so much more.

So, whether your love (read: obsession) is anything like mine or not, here are 23 signs of an absolute Potterhead.

1. You’ve read the series multiple times

A white, young cartoon woman swings around in joy with a book in hand. She has brown hair, tied in a ponytail, and is dressed in a white-and-blue dress. She is outside in a village setting.
[Image description: A white, young cartoon woman swings around in joy with a book in hand. She has brown hair, tied in a ponytail, and is dressed in a white-and-blue dress. She is outside in a village setting.] Via Tenor

This one’s a given. After all, why would a Potterhead deprive themselves of any chance to jump back into the world of witchcraft and wizardry?

2. You’ve also read the three supplementary titles that were released

A white, young animated woman enthusiastically picks three books off her shelf. She has long blonde hair, is in a pink dress, and has a green chameleon on her right shoulder.
[Image description: A white, young animated woman enthusiastically picks three books off her shelf. She has long blonde hair, is in a pink dress, and has a green chameleon on her right shoulder.] Via Tenor

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Just waiting on good ole’ J.K. to release the much-longed for Hogwarts, A History.

3. You’ve read, and perhaps written, your own fanfiction 

A white woman in a turtleneck and pinned-back hair sits in a dark theater. Through tears, she says "It's so beautiful."
[Image description: A white woman in a turtleneck and pinned-back hair sits in a dark theater. Through tears, she says “It’s so beautiful.”] Via Tenor

From one-shots and full-fledged novels spanning crossovers, AUs and continuation arcs, the Internet is rich with Harry Potter fanfiction. You’ll find every ship – Jily, Dramione, Drarry, Luneville, and Hinny – sailing, and perhaps have even set sail to your own.

4. You know your acceptance letter was lost in the mail

A white, young cartoon boy in a yellow-and-black ensemble checks his mailbox only to find it empty. He then sighs in sadness.
[Image description: A white, young cartoon boy in a yellow-and-black ensemble checks his mailbox only to find it empty. He then sighs in sadness.] Via Tenor

As magical as it is, owl mail isn’t exactly all that reliable. So yeah, definitely lost, yep. No other reason at all. Please, don’t @ me.

5. Yet, despite never attending Hogwarts, you know which House you belong to

A young white man in glasses and a blue scarf is saying "I'm a Ravenclaw, I value wisdom and learning and I'm known for-", and is interrupted by another white man, in a red-and-yellow scarf, jumping in front of him, excitedly stating "Gryffindors are super popular and always the focus of everything."
[Image description: A young white man in glasses and a blue scarf is saying “I’m a Ravenclaw, I value wisdom and learning and I’m known for-“, and is interrupted by another white man, in a red-and-yellow scarf, jumping in front of him, excitedly stating “Gryffindors are super popular and always the focus of everything.”] Via GIPHY

The closest you can get to an official Sorting is this quiz on Pottermore. Though deep down, you know you’re more of a mix – Ravendor? Griffinpuff? Slytherclaw? You know yourself.

6. You often wonder what you would see in the Mirror of Erised

In a black-and-white animation, a man stands over his bathroom sink and looks into a fogged-up mirror. He then wipes his hand across it to reveal the burning lights of the cosmos.
[Image description: In a black-and-white animation, a man stands over his bathroom sink and looks into a fogged-up mirror. He then wipes his hand across it to reveal the burning lights of the cosmos.] Via GIPHY

Receiving your letter? Ending patriarchy? A massive Potterhead convention? Perhaps some wool socks? Fun fact: Erised is Desire spelled backwards.

7. You’ve tested out your broom for other capabilities besides sweeping

A man dressed as an old lady hops and slides into a room, pretend-playing the guitar on a broom. After landing on his knees, he sweeps the floor.
[Image description: A man dressed as an old lady hops and slides into a room, pretend-playing the guitar on a broom. After landing on his knees, he sweeps the floor.] Via GIPHY

It’s not you who’s not magic, it’s the broom. Let’s stick to using it as a guitar for now.

8. You’ve tried to speak Parseltongue

A young white boy with dark hair and round glasses hisses at a snake. The snake then turns around and hisses back.
[Image description: A young white boy with dark hair and round glasses hisses at a snake. The snake then turns around and hisses back.] Via GIPHY

Haashhaaaasssss… maybe Duolingo will add in a course down the line. There are definitely enough Potterheads in the world to get a petition going.

9. You’ve had Duels (and you’ve kicked ass!)

A young, white woman with blonde hair begins to cast a spell as she waves her wand. She is dressed in a school uniform consisting of a blazer and tie.
[Image description: A young, white woman with blonde hair begins to cast a spell as she waves her wand. She is dressed in a school uniform consisting of a blazer and tie.] Via GIPHY

Personal favorites of mine include stupefy, petrificus totalus, and expelliarmus. The Unforgivable Curses are a big no-no in my Duelling Club.

10. The Battle of Hogwarts still has you bawling like a baby

A black man in a black sweater lies sideways on a couch with his hands resting underneath his face. He is crying heavily with his eyes shut, his body wracked with sobs.
[Image description: A black man in a black sweater lies sideways on a couch with his hands resting underneath his face. He is crying heavily with his eyes shut, his body wracked with sobs.] Via Tenor

“And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred’s eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.” *heaving sobs*

11. You’ve had lengthy, passionate discussions with other Potterheads on the symbolism of the series

In an animated clip, two Minions - tiny, yellow, and oval beings of varying widths - carry out a slap fight as they yell at each other.
[Image description: In an animated clip, two Minions – tiny, yellow, and oval beings of varying widths – carry out a slap fight as they yell at each other.] Via Tenor

Did Hedwig’s death symbolize the end of Harry’s innocence? Do different wand woods hold special meaning? Things get pretty heated up in the Potterhead forums.

12. You’re a calm and rational pe – WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN’T READ HARRY POTTER?

In an interrogation setting, a handcuffed white man sits across the table from a younger brown-haired, white woman. The door opens and another brown-haired, white woman enters and tosses a book at the man's face. The clip features the tag #readthebook.
[Image description: In an interrogation setting, a handcuffed white man sits across the table from a younger brown-haired, white woman. The door opens and another brown-haired, white woman enters and tosses a book at the man’s face. The clip features the tag #readthebook.] Via Tenor

It’s unfathomable. What have these people been doing with their lives?

13. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child doesn’t exist for you

A black woman with short black hair shakes her head as she vehemently says "No, no, no, no, no, no..."
[Image description: A black woman with short black hair shakes her head as she vehemently says “No, no, no, no, no, no…”] Via GIPHY

Similar to the Ministry of Magic’s refusal to believe in Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, you too refuse to acknowledge the existence of That Which Must Not Be Named. Just, no. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the last instalment of that series – all was, and is, well.

14. You’ve had, and crushed, a Harry Potter movie marathon

In a cartoon clip, day turns to night and then back into day as a brown bear sits in front of his computer watching some form of video playback. As time passes, he collects food and beverages on his desk, moves through several positions, and wraps himself in a blanket.
[Image description: In a cartoon clip, day turns to night and then back into day as a brown bear sits in front of his computer watching some form of video playback. As time passes, he collects food and beverages on his desk, moves through several positions, and wraps himself in a blanket.] Via Tenor

Don on your robes and grab all the butterbeer and chocolate frogs, because you’re not moving off this seat for the next 20 hours.

15. This scene both amuses and irritates you

An elderly white man rushes across the room to a startled younger, white boy. The man grabs him by the shoulders and fervently asks "Harry! Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?!"
[Image description: An elderly white man rushes across the room to a startled younger, white boy. The man grabs him by the shoulders and fervently asks “Harry! Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?!”] Via GIPHY

To this day, I still question Michael Gambon’s definition of calm. I also wonder why no one on set went “Hey Mikey! Soooo, the book says Dumbledore said these words calmly…?”

16. You’re still holding out for the TV show

A dark-haired white man in a brown suit and red tie stands in the middle of a field of rapeseed, waiting. He checks his watch and then scratches his ear.
[Image description: A dark-haired white man in a brown suit and red tie stands in the middle of a field of rapeseed, waiting. He checks his watch and then scratches his ear.] Via Tenor

It’s almost been a decade since the movie series ended and Potterheads have been toyed with enough. Will J.K. ever succumb to our demands? Signs say no, unfortunately.

17. You know the fan theories and have a few of your own

A short, dark-haired white man in a half-sleeved button-down shirt and striped tie speaks in frustration and animation, gesturing his hands. Behind him is a wall filled with pinned-up papers interconnected with red lines.
[Image description: A short, dark-haired white man in a half-sleeved button-down shirt and striped tie speaks in frustration and animation, gesturing his hands. Behind him is a wall filled with pinned-up papers interconnected with red lines.] Via Tenor

Neville was bad at magic because he was using his father’s wand, and not one which chose him. Crookshanks was the Potters’ cat. J.K. is actually Rita Skeeter. And Harry Potter is immortal – there are hundreds of theories floating.

18. You’ve searched out the toughest HP-themed trivia quizzes, and aced them 

A white, dark-haired man in a black T-shirt - featuring a melting Rubik's cube - gently pats his forehead while saying "Good brain."
Image description: A white, dark-haired man in a black T-shirt – featuring a melting Rubik’s cube – gently pats his forehead while saying “Good brain.”] Via Tenor

I’m talking deep, obscure trivia like knowing that there are 142 staircases in Hogwarts, that 700 fouls can be made in Quidditch, and who Wilkie Twycross is (Apparition Instructor).

19. Hence, you’re the designated expert in your group. 

In a cemetery, an animated duel commences between a young, dark-haired wizard and an older snake-like one. The older wizard uses "Abracadabra" to turn the younger one into a bunny. The younger one then proceeds to correct his older rival by telling him "Avada Kedavra" is the spell to use. This leads to the older wizard exploding.
[Image description: In a cemetery, an animated duel commences between a young, dark-haired wizard and an older snake-like one. The older wizard uses “Abracadabra” to turn the younger one into a bunny. The younger one then proceeds to correct his older rival by telling him “Avada Kedavra” is the spell to use. This leads to the older wizard exploding.] Via CHEEZburger

Oh, so you’d like to know how to make a Polyjuice Potion? Simple! All you need is lacewing files, leeches, powdered Bicorn horn, knotgrass, fluxweed, shredded Boomslang skin, and a bit of the person you want to turn into.

20. What’s a Potterhead without their swag?

A blonde, white man in a blank tank looks content and pleased as he pulls on a brown, fur jacket.
[Image description: A blonde, white man in a blank tank looks content and pleased as he pulls on a brown, fur jacket.] Via GIPHY

I’m talking pajamas, socks, scarves, hoodies, candles, notebooks, pillows, bedspreads, mugs… there’s no such thing as “too much merch”.

21. There’s no question as to what your kids’ bedtime stories will be

A balding, yellow cartoon man in a white shirt grabs and sits his baby daughter on his lap as he leans back into his brown couch. He says to her "You're going to listen to my story."
[Image description: A balding, yellow cartoon man in a white shirt grabs and sits his baby daughter on his lap as he leans back into his brown couch. He says to her “You’re going to listen to my story.”] Via GIPHY

Between the canon works and fanfiction, there is enough material to carry you all the way to their adolescence.

22. You’ve hosted Harry Potter-themed parties

A set of red-haired white twins high-five as they fly past each other on brooms. Around them, fireworks explode and students watching from below cheer and clap. There are papers strewn about.
[Image description: A set of red-haired white twins high-five as they fly past each other on brooms. Around them, fireworks explode and students watching from below cheer and clap. There are papers strewn about.] Via GIPHY

Do you have a Pinterest board pinned with said themed ideas? DIY-decor, baked treats, posters… because I do.

23. You consider the entire series as self-help

A white woman with short blonde hair is standing and talking. She says "When you read a book as a child, it becomes part of your identity." She is dressed in a white shirt and a teal, velvet cardigan.
[Image description: A white woman with short blonde hair is standing and talking. She says “When you read a book as a child, it becomes part of your identity.” She is dressed in a white shirt and a teal, velvet cardigan.] Via GIPHY

You wouldn’t be a Potterhead if your life hadn’t changed after reading the series, and it’s a guarantee that you picked up some life lessons along the way.

There are many gems to pick from, but my top two include: “Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve,” and “it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”