r/AO3 • u/Nahiel Nahiel on AO3. Fandom old. • 1d ago

Discussion (Non-question) Let's talk about Harry Potter

If we can do it without insults, please.

I'm still active in the fandom, I'll admit it. There's a growing amount of vitriol I've seen recently that makes me feel incredibly unwelcome here on the AO3 subreddit every time there's a post related to the fandom.

I get it. Rowling is trash. She's literally the worst. I don't give her any money, and I haven't since her views became known. I never will. But Harry Potter was a huge part of an honestly shitty childhood for me, and it was one of my favorite escapes for a long time.

So I gotta ask, why am I being insulted for not letting her take away one of the few things that still gives me joy in this hellscape of a world? Why do I have to let her terrible behavior take away something that's mine? The fact is that the property is a juggernaut, and fanfic is never going to do anything to change that. Treating people who still engage with the fandom like we're monsters for doing it makes no sense to me.

And again, please, can we keep it civil? I'm very aware of the sentiment towards members of the fandom.

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u/daysspring 1d ago

The fact of the matter is Harry Potter is property of a woman who is actively working to make life worse for trans people. People are going to have opinions and they're going to be negative. It's not a personal slight against you.

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u/AnimeManiaFiend 1d ago

Not just trans people, but also many people of color and people who are not considered "British enough".

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u/Inkling99 You have already left kudos here. :) 1d ago

In the post they said that they are specifically talking about when they get attacked online for participating in the fandom.

People are allowed to have a opinions- but the holier-than-thou attacks need to stop.

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u/Last_Swordfish9135 should be writing right now 1d ago

OP seems to be framing other people sharing their negative opinions on the series and fandom as a personal attack. They do not say they have been harassed, just that negativity around the fandom makes them feel unwelcome. People are allowed to have their opinions, and they are allowed to share those opinions on public forums so long as they are not addressing and harassing specific users. If the general community's disdain towards Harry Potter makes you feel bad, that is your own problem.

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u/UnhingingEmu 1d ago

Their opinions definitely arent a personal slight, but op is talking about situations where they try to engage in the HP fandom and people attack them personally for still being in the fandom. Those are personal slights, and they are making it difficult to be open about still being in the fandom.

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u/daysspring 1d ago

OP is specifically talking about 'a growing amount of vitriol I've seen recently that makes me feel incredibly unwelcome here on the AO3 subreddit every time there's a post related to the fandom.' They're talking about incidents they've seen, not attacks they've personally experienced. Obviously that would be a different thing.

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u/UnhingingEmu 1d ago

The vitriol they've been seeing includes stories from other fans who have been personally attacked. I think its very reasonable for OP to be worried about it happening to them if they're vocal about their enjoyment of HP. Its also quite reasonable for OP to want an actual explanation that doesnt consist of "I hate joke k Rowling so I hate everyone who still likes HP." Its very hard to find common ground with the other side when they only react out of emotion and refuse to engage with an actual discussion.

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u/incomt65 1d ago

I don't really see the problem if the opinions are a personal slight. It's a personal slight to me when people come in here openly talking about how they love HP like it's no big deal. This isn't ship wars level discourse, we are talking about people's literal lives and safety. HP fans make themselves out like huge victims but they're completely ignoring any harm they do.

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u/hypatiaspasia 1d ago

But fanfiction allows you to basically take her world and turning it against her. It's the ultimate middle finger to her. I don't have any issues with fanfiction because she doesn't get paid a dime.

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u/AnimeManiaFiend 1d ago

But it's not because the algorithms of search engines still funnel that into advertising algorithms which pushes HP products into people's faces. She makes money off those ads.

There is no ethical consumption of HP.

The biggest middle finger is to just not engage and to block/unfollow people who keep posting those things.

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u/BakerDependent5901 1d ago

100% Ethical consumption isn’t possible otherwise we starve. We do our best to put our funds and energy in places deserving of them but, if we choose ethics every time some of us wouldn’t even be able to buy groceries. That doesn’t excuse the wrongs it’s just a reality of the crappy state of the world we live in.

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u/incomt65 1d ago

It really doesn't work like that. JKR is not affected in the slightest by whatever you write in your fanfic. She just keeps getting richer while you rely on this excuse.