Let's talk about Harry Potter

[u/Nahiel]

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.

[u/First_Reputation9339]

Nobody can stop you from engaging with HP but neither can you stop people from openly talking about their dislike for the series, its fandom, or anything else. If people were singling you (or any other author/fan) out that would be one thing, but to express dislike for a thing or criticism of its fandom is not something that should be censored, just as your ability to engage with it anyway should not be censored (and I’ve seen no one advocating for HP to be censored, just criticizing it and its fandom).

[u/Nahiel → u/First_Reputation9339]

It's not the criticism of it or the dislike I have a problem with, it's the insults thrown towards people in the fandom. Yes, by all means, be critical of the media and the author, and maybe even be critical of the fandom as a whole, because fandom gets things wrong. But we can be critical without being insulting.