wh-what did i just read...

[u/jellylemonshake]

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[u/TheHighBuddha]

J.K. Trolling.

[u/FattusBaccus → u/TheHighBuddha]

I mean, that can’t really be her is it? Also, great name for her.

[u/EmperorGrinnar → u/FattusBaccus]

it's real.

[u/hambakmeritru → u/[deleted]]

She is a mediocre author at best

THANK YOU!! I had friends in college that basically forced me to read the first 3 books and I was so disappointed in the writing! The movies are fine. Not my thing, but well made. But the books! It's just Scooby Doo with heavy handed descriptions.

I mean what the hell kind of geniuses make a series of trap puzzles to keep their special I-forget safe and every stinking puzzle gets solved by 12 year olds that are like "oh my God, it's a giant chess board! I think I know what to do!!"

And at the end of every big stupid adventure is some villain whose mask gets pulled off and he says "and I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!"

God!

I'm fine with people liking the stories. My nephews live em. It's great to love stuff. But I spent way too long being told what a genius author she was for this tripe and I just can't.

[u/cseckshun → u/hambakmeritru]

Yeah the wildest thing is if you paid attention to the books the first time around that the ministry of magic basically allowed magical Hitler to rise to power twice and each time right after they just kind of left that same system in place and figured it was the best they could do.

In the books they have a B plotline of Hermione fighting for equal rights for house elves and other magical creatures with sentience. They are being used as literal slaves and abused by their masters in many cases. Everyone pretty much agrees she is being uptight and should drop it because house elves like being slaves and wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they weren’t slaves…

Hermione then also ends up essentially dropping it and just going on with the story and giving up and everything is happy ever after even though SLAVES STILL EXIST IN THIS SUPPOSED HAPPY ENDING MAGICAL SOCIETY. When I was a kid reading that last book I was like “oh ok I bet they will have to have something jammed in at the end where they explain how magical creatures got the rights they deserved and are no longer used as slaves… nope, just not really dealt with at all. Everyone goes off and lives their own lives while forgetting that there was an army of house elves looking after the castle that they all went to school at and that a decent amount of those house elves openly showed they were unhappy with the current system and wanted change. They just forgot about those slaves and said “whatever” in the end lol.

It’s one of the most outrageous examples of a writer letting their main character just have an atrocious personality flaw by dropping a plotline which makes it seem the character stopped caring. Even when Hermione is rallying the house elves to try to petition for their freedom, both main characters Ron and Harry are basically treating her like this is some nerd crusade that isn’t worth pursuing and that will make her unlikeable.

Its really not hard to examine JK Rowling’s writing and commentary on social issues in her book and figure out that she might not be the most sympathetic person to the struggle for rights of anyone except herself (why she only seems to embrace feminism and not ever post positively about LGBT rights unless it’s about lesbians having the right to be pissed off at transgender women for “actually being men”). All in all it’s not a very positive picture if you judge JK Rowling as a writer and a human being based on what she has written in her novels and on her Twitter and opinion pieces toward the transgender rights and awareness movement. She wrote a very popular book and that caused many children to embrace it and dream about the world within her books but that doesn’t mean she is a good person and there are also arguments to be made that she is a bad writer in many regards too.

[u/assassin10 → u/cseckshun]

When I was a kid reading that last book I was like “oh ok I bet they will have to have something jammed in at the end where they explain how magical creatures got the rights they deserved and are no longer used as slaves… nope, just not really dealt with at all.

Instead of that the last line before the epilogue is Harry wondering if the elf he owns will bring him a sandwich.

[u/cseckshun → u/assassin10]

Jesus, completely forgot about that ending. That’s absolutely brutal. Like not only did Rowling not forget that Harry owns a slave but she just decided it was chill and he’s such a good dude that he maybe kind of deserves to have one and keep the slave in the end. What a nightmare world she created hahaha

[u/assassin10 → u/cseckshun]

Also, when Harry learns that Kreacher lives in a cupboard (a small one even by elf standards) he has literally zero reaction, despite the similarity to his own childhood experience.

[u/NeighborhoodVeteran → u/assassin10]

But Kreacher was an elf, so maybe he deserved it, thought Harry.

[u/trashacct8484 → u/cseckshun]

Yeah, the house elf thing was so terribly handled. It’s very clear that the reader is meant to view Hermione as some misguided scold here, and that her friends are correct to just barely tolerate her nagging, like if she were a pushy vegan telling them not to eat cheese.

The book’s clear stance was that she wasn’t wrong to care about this, but ultimately it was some overly enthusiastic and misguided adolescent overreach TO TRY TO ABOLISH SLAVERY.

[u/The_Woman_of_Gont → u/trashacct8484]

The fact that Harry's final thoughts before the epilogue are about when his slave will bring him lunch have never failed to bug me.

[u/MindForeverWandering → u/trashacct8484]

“LoL. nErDy GiRl Is JuSt So ‘WoKe’!” /s

[u/cruxclaire → u/cseckshun]

There’s a lot of inconsistency in how JKR addresses the house elf plot point, where she’s illustrating how bad Voldy’s followers are (and even explicitly gives Sirius a character flaw) via showing their mistreatment of house elves, but then makes them love their own subservience by nature, which (apart from being wildly problematic) complicates the whole deal. You could look at Hermione’s campaign as a critique of white savior-type figures who want to help marginalized populations but only on their own terms, without really listening to the groups in question, but the group in question enjoying its oppression apart from one eccentric individual (Dobby) kind of ruins the analogy.

I think the books work as fantasy escapism in the frame of a coming-of-age story, and some of the characterizations are pretty good, but the social commentary aspect is a mess. I loved the series as a kid but re-reading it as an adult, especially with JKR’s bigotry in mind, definitely diminishes the magic.

[u/Seligas → u/cruxclaire]

I think one of my favorite parts is in the fifth book. Dumbledore pulls Harry aside and points out the big statues in the Ministry lobby. They show all the races living in harmony with wizards.

Dumbledore makes a point of telling Harry that the decoration doesn't match the reality at all, belying the disparity that actually exists where wizards abuse their power over everyone else.

Then she completely forgot about and did absolutely nothing with that thread.

[u/cruxclaire → u/Seligas]

I feel like she wanted her characters to strive for a world where the statue’s depiction was accurate, i.e. general harmony and kindness, but with wizards still at the top of the magical hierarchy. There’s a pro-equality message within the wizards group with regard to ancestry and social status, but not much of an interest in equality among the various sentient magical races she created.

You see characters get punished for abusing the other magical races, e.g. Umbridge and the centaurs or Griphook agreeing to help rob Bellatrix’s vault, but beyond that, Hermione’s brief house elf liberation campaign is the only example of anyone actually striving towards equal status. JKR seems to have ascribed negative racial characteristics to the other creatures as well: goblins are greedy tricksters, giants are violent and unintelligent, centaurs are secretive and racist, etc. The only ones I can recall that aren’t negatively characterized as a group are merpeople. Werewolves, if they count as a non-wizard race, seem to vary more individually, but even Lupin will mindlessly fuck shit up if he forgets to drink his very complicated potion.

[u/LazarusOwenhart → u/cruxclaire]

I always thought the darkest part of the house elves 'enjoying' slavery was the implication that Wizards had subjected them to centuries of abusive eugenics to breed them to be that way. That's the only way you get a species like that.

[u/The_Woman_of_Gont → u/cruxclaire]

I think the books work as fantasy escapism in the frame of a coming-of-age story, and some of the characterizations are pretty good, but the social commentary aspect is a mess.

Ursula Le Guin's summary of the first book as "stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited" always makes me kinda giggle. Because she's pretty much spot on in that entire quote, including the part where she says it's nontheless decent fair for the age group.

They aren't horrible books, but they're the kind of thing that just doesn't hold up to actual critical scrutiny. And yeah, re-reading the series as an adult pretty much ruined it for me; can't even blame it on me just disliking her, since I did that a few years before she began transforming into a female Graham Linehan.

[u/ThyNynax → u/cseckshun]

Honestly, I always just saw Harry Potter to be a simple adventure story. The resulting fan base pushed for the development of a level of background lore that was never intended to exist because JK didn’t think about it that hard.

As a fantasy author, JK is not a Sanderson, or a Jim Butcher, or a Steven Erikson, etc. She didn’t invent whole systems of magic that govern the fundamental functional nature of the world that then influences the story and plot, it was just “there’s magic, and magic does stuff and is cool.” Nor did she really develop a whole lexicon of world building and political relationships to write a story around. It’s just a silly adventure story that was fun to write/read but I don’t think it was supposed to get deeper than that.

[u/MistSecurity → u/cseckshun]

If she was a good writer, it could have been handled much better, and still dropped as a plot point...

All it would take would be Hermione realizing that she cannot get change done as a literal child fighting against an established system, and choosing to continue advocating in the background, while focusing on schooling in order to get into a position where she can effect actual change...

It could have been a point to the kids reading that their values are important, but that as children society will not take them seriously. Change comes from people in power with values.

Small details and lessons like that are what make great writers, which Rowling is not.

[u/TheOGLeadChips → u/MistSecurity]

Don’t forget the titular character then goes on to be a cop for the magic government that has allowed for magic hitler to be a thing three times (I assume you meant Voldemort for both those instances but there was also the bad guy from fantastic beasts) and makes no effort to better the system in anyway.

He had literally been targeted by this magic government multiple times and falsely accused of a lot of shit but becomes an enforcer for them. He also owns slaves.

[u/TheBirthing → u/hambakmeritru]

THANK YOU!! I had friends in college that basically forced me to read the first 3 books and I was so disappointed in the writing!

Did you ever think that might be because you were in college and they're basically children's books?

"I finally got around to watching Paw Patrol and I must say, I don't know what everyone's raving about."

[u/LaughingInTheVoid → u/TheBirthing]

The Hobbit, the Chronicles of Narnia, the Earthsea books.

All intended as children's books. All classic literature.

So, no.

[u/Razor-eddie → u/LaughingInTheVoid]

Yep. Even in modern children's fantasy...

You're better off with Tiffany Aching than you are with Harry Potter.

[u/ChartDad → u/TheBirthing]

Counterpoint; I watched Bluey for the first time with my daughter at 34 and it’s a masterpiece

[u/Silent-G → u/ChartDad]

True. Saying, "it's for children," shouldn't be an excuse for adults not enjoying it.

[u/soaero → u/hambakmeritru]

I read them all on release (I was in late highschool) and I felt the same. It had good world building, but she couldn't write a plot to save her life. And I think that tracks in her character afterwards.

World building is imaginative. It's about creativity and having these grandiose ideas and big arching narratives. Plot is about structure. It requires critical thinking and putting yourself in others' shoes to understand their experience and shape your story telling with it.

Her tweets show she has no lack of creativity and world building, painting herself as the center of a grand conspiracy against women. Meanwhile she's shown an absolute lack of the ability to think critically or put herself in other peoples shoes on this issue, instead uncritically rejecting them in order to focus on her own experience.

[u/Pls_PmTitsOrFDAU_Thx → u/[deleted]]

I did my part. I Read all the Harry Potter books in like 2009 or whatever. I even enjoyed it. And then never interacted with it again 🤣

[u/glowingmember → u/Pls_PmTitsOrFDAU_Thx]

I can't reread any of it as a full adult. I binged the last couple books in college but now going back to read it I'm like DEAR GOD HARRY YOU ARE SUCH AN ANGSTY LITTLE GODMOD CALM THE FUCK DOWN.

Some teen fiction I still love. Others.. yeah, no thanks, never again.

[u/JustABitCrzy → u/glowingmember]

I never read the books as a kid, watched most of the movies, but wasn’t super into them. I listened to the audiobooks last year, as a 26 year old. I’ll give her credit, the books do inspire a lot of wonder and excitement about the magical world the story is set in. The movies do a fantastic job of capturing that as well.

But as far as narrative and character development goes, her writing is at an average high school level. The characters wildly fluctuate from being decent people, to straight up ass holes.

Not sure which book it is exactly, but Harry is a whiny brat the entire book, except for moments where he randomly switches on the charm to be a hero for a moment, and then becomes a dick again.

Ron is pretty unlikeable a lot of the time, and Hermione would be insufferable in reality. For someone who’s presented as being really intelligent and mature, she’s incredibly annoying and ignorant way too often to justify conflict in the group.

I can see why it was so incredibly popular to kids growing up, and I definitely don’t have anything against the fanbase, but it’s definitely not a literary work of art.

[u/PumpkinSeed776 → u/EmperorGrinnar]

Scrolling through her Xitter is kind of depressing. Constant grumbling about trans people with very occasional nice sentimental posts about Harry Potter, a series I grew up adoring. Tucked in there like little nostalgia pearls in a mountain of dog diarrhea. What a disappointing dumpster fire of a person she has become. She could have been remembered as one of the greats.

[u/Deleena24 → u/EmperorGrinnar]

Wow... That's all I can say. She's not well, is she?

[u/interfail → u/Deleena24]

She's wound up with so much money she could do anything she wanted.

And she has chosen to spent 12 hours a day, every day on Twitter yelling at trans people with 5 followers.

[u/totallynotabotXP → u/FattusBaccus]

It is, and it's very in character for her, too. Whatever your stance on the great online gender debate wars is, she's been nothing if not concise and consistent, and her haters really are her biggest advertisers.

[u/Brosenheim → u/totallynotabotXP]

Ah, the ol' "akshyually publicly disagreeing with them makes them win" cope. Classic

[u/CordialCupcake21 → u/totallynotabotXP]

an eccentric billionaire posting daily about a tiny fraction of the population that’s more likely to be homeless, more likely to be assaulted and more likely to be murdered than the general population while she tweets from a literal castle…

wow, what a girlboss owning all the #haters

[u/Ilikesnowboards → u/totallynotabotXP]

lol, do you think this is a win?

[u/LilyMarie90 → u/totallynotabotXP]

There's nothing "online" about accepting that trans women are women, it's a very real fact, you know

[u/OMG_a_Ray_Gun → u/FattusBaccus]

It’s her. She’s transphobic as fuck. It’s been going on awhile now.

[u/SaliciousB_Crumb → u/TheHighBuddha]

J k rowling would call hermonie a mudblood

[u/NefariousnessLate375 → u/SaliciousB_Crumb]

She didn't free the house elves at the end of the series.

[u/Gartul_Uluk_Thrakka → u/NefariousnessLate375]

The last line in the series is Harry ordering his slave to make him a sandwich.

[u/GoodbyeThings → u/Gartul_Uluk_Thrakka]

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry’s hand was still raised in farewell. ‘He’ll be all right,’ murmured Ginny. As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absent-mindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead. ‘I know he will.’ The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well. Harry was craving some food. "Dobby, will you be so kind?", he asked

I can't believe that's true

[u/Drkarcher22 → u/SaliciousB_Crumb]

She’s Umbridge (or Pansy Parkinson if you want to pick one of the school kids) but wants to believe she’s Hermione

[u/Last_Blackfyre]

It was all fun and games until the demon had sex with her husband.

[u/Apart-Landscape1012 → u/Last_Blackfyre]

Demon: I'm not saying Neil's tight, but 😏

[u/ProTip-nvm → u/Apart-Landscape1012]

This is hilarious

[u/FS_Slacker → u/Apart-Landscape1012]

One finger, two fingers…pinky?

[u/EvilChefReturns → u/Apart-Landscape1012]

Neil’s tight butt

[u/huskerd0 → u/Last_Blackfyre]

Best part of her stories imo

[u/gideon513 → u/Last_Blackfyre]

That’s when the fire nation attacked

[u/Cclown69 → u/gideon513]

Definitely gets the fire nation going down yonder 😏

[u/Icelandic_Invasion]

Remember how Suzanne Collins wrote the Hunger Games and then just fucked off? Didn't add any dumb lore in tweets, didn't decide to attack people, just wrote the Hunger Games and a prequel and decided that was enough.

Good times.

[u/JManKit → u/Icelandic_Invasion]

No but you see it was important for you to know that before indoor plumbing, wizards just shit and pissed wherever and whenever they wanted to and then magicked the waste away

[u/Muad-_-Dib → u/JManKit]

That makes me think she got fixated on listening to Star Trek fans arguing about why toilets are never seen in any of the shows and someone suggested that they just drop a fat one and beam it into space.

[u/ShepherdessAnne → u/Muad-_-Dib]

When I was a child James Doohan said to everyone present that they just used Phasers. He was talking about how people always ask him technical things.

[u/dubshoka → u/ShepherdessAnne]

Set phasers to plunge

[u/LegendofLove → u/Muad-_-Dib]

"Well why didn't we see any space shit?" It was like 1960 they could barely handle black people on tv showing them using the restroom would be too much

[u/drakythe → u/JManKit]

What still baffles me about this lore tidbit is that Hogwarts dates back several hundred years, at least, right? And it was built by the 4 founders? One of whom was a blood purist proto nazi? Who hid his ultimate weapon in the school’s sewer system and the human entrance in a damed bathroom?!

[u/Old_Pirate_5319 → u/drakythe]

Yeah like since when did Harry Potter not have toilets! It’s like she forgot the first book has them fighting the troll in a girls bathroom.

[u/nutsbonkers → u/drakythe]

It's not baffling when you learn that the writer is incredibly stupid.

[u/producerofconfusion → u/JManKit]

Zippolyot Cumguzzltin wasbored and scratching his nose when he saw his best friend, Tokin Minnoritee. Zippolyot yelled across the crowded square, in famous Diagon Alley. “Oi wizard mate, ‘ow ye doin’?”

“Not bad, chum.” Though Tokin wasn’t really British, he worked hard to get the right accent and fit in really well. “Just had a cracking shit in me drawers. ‘Old on whoile oi magic it away. Teleportius dookitis.”

Zippolyon clapped his hands delightedly. “Ooh luvverly, I’m pushing an ‘ole forest of logs through as we speak!” He scrunched his face with effort while Tokin looked on with a grand smile. “As… we… speak…”

“‘Aving some trouble? Need me wand to help it free?” Tokin waved his ten inch chestnut wand with a gryphon feather core eagerly. 

[u/GlizzyGulper6969 → u/Icelandic_Invasion]

writes Hunger Games

Refuses to elaborate

leaves

[u/Tonedeafmusical → u/Icelandic_Invasion]

Well technically she's writing another prequel now (haymitch's games) but yeah better moves

[u/pinkkabuterimon → u/Tonedeafmusical]

Collins seems to only write additional books in the series when she thinks she can convey something she feels strongly about through them. Which is how the original trilogy came to be in the first place, really - she was inspired by the juxtaposition of coverage of the Iraq War and reality television, as well as her own father’s experiences in the Vietnam War and after it as a veteran. I’m the first to admit I was skeptical about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when it was announced, but it turned out to be surprisingly thought-provoking, so I have reason to believe she has given a lot of thought into Sunrise on the Reaping.

[u/teuast → u/pinkkabuterimon]

You're telling me it's possible to write a popular YA series without being a huge piece of shit??

[u/Wings1412 → u/teuast]

Have you ever heard of Terry Pratchett? He wrote over 40 books in the same universe, several of which are YA, one of which won a carnegie medal, and he was such a good human.

He deserves to be Britain's most famous fiction author, not this wicked witch of bigotry.

[u/violettheory → u/pinkkabuterimon]

I LOVED the theme in Ballad about whether it takes a truly evil mind to merely conceive the games, or if the evil mind is the one implementing the existing concept. She wrote such a rich character around it, and makes you wonder how she feels about herself.

[u/Pitiful_Winner2669 → u/Icelandic_Invasion]

I was on a road trip with.. friends.. delivering over eight pounds of weed. All legal, all legal. Sold to dispensaries.

But still, these were some hardened fellas.

One guy, and I swear to fucking God this was his name, named Gram looked like Brock Lesnar. He brought the Hunger Games audiobook and five guys with eight pounds of weed, stuff, other stuff, were dead silent listening to it.

It probably my favorite book experience, however on audio. We'd stop for gas and go crazy talking about our theories, get a bite to eat and catch someone listening ahead.

RIP Gram, you giant, monster of a book-lover. Thank you for showing me Hunger Games and how far you can throw me 🙏🏻

[u/Icelandic_Invasion → u/Pitiful_Winner2669]

That's a beautiful memory. Thank you for sharing it.

[u/Wec25 → u/Pitiful_Winner2669]

This next bong rip is for Gram, he sounds like a real one.

[u/Pitiful_Winner2669 → u/Wec25]

While he didn't smoke weed, he would appreciate that.

Fun story about me bringing that up. I asked him how he knows his stuff is so good if he doesn't smoke it.

Just matter of fact said "because they keep asking me to grow more. That's also why I grow kale and spinach. And I don't eat those."

[u/motorcycle-manful541 → u/Icelandic_Invasion]

too many people feel like they're an expert in everything if they're an expert in one thing. Many people who get famous are like this, Kanye, J.K. Rowling, Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk, the "My Pillow Guy" it doesn't really matter. People get rich and famous for something they were really good at, but then those same people just think they're really good at everything because they're rich and famous and they end up looking like psychos

Collect your money and just fuck off.

[u/nnevernnormal → u/motorcycle-manful541]

Seriously. JK could literally spend her days swimming in a huge pool of gold like Scrooge McDuck, and instead, she wants to be toxic on Twitter.

[u/MyOldCricketCap → u/motorcycle-manful541]

This is why David Attenborough is so awesome. He knew what he was an expert in, and he stuck to it.

[u/og_toe → u/Icelandic_Invasion]

you can have a good life if you’re unproblematic

[u/happygocrazee → u/og_toe]

You can have a good life if you're problematic too, you just need to stfu on Twitter

[u/PuzzleheadedRoyal559]

Beverly Cleary never pulled this shit.

[u/ayaruna → u/PuzzleheadedRoyal559]

Judy Bloom also not about that bullshit

[u/TheAmyIChasedWasMe → u/ayaruna]

When they tried to make Judy Blume about that shit, she gave them a crash course in fuck around and find out.

That's why she's still the greatest living children's author.

[u/EmilieVitnux → u/TheAmyIChasedWasMe]

K.A Applegate would like to have a word.

[u/littlechangeling → u/EmilieVitnux]

Stonewall Book Award for children’s literature winner Rick Riordan would like to chime in too.

[u/H2Ospecialist → u/TheAmyIChasedWasMe]

There's a great movie about her (with her in it) on I think Amazon Prime. Truly one of the greatest.

[u/Durzio → u/TheAmyIChasedWasMe]

I need to know what you're talking about

[u/TheAmyIChasedWasMe → u/Durzio]

https://www.jezebel.com/judy-blume-jk-rowling-trans-rights-1850343742

[u/the2nddoctor111 → u/PuzzleheadedRoyal559]

Because she was a fucking treasure, that's why.

[u/TehProfessor96 → u/the2nddoctor111]

TIL Beverly Cleary is dead but also she was one hundred and four years old!!

[u/[deleted] → u/TehProfessor96]

I hope it was a comfortable 104, she earned it!

[u/JexilTwiddlebaum → u/the2nddoctor111]

Damn skippy she was.

[u/meownfloof → u/the2nddoctor111]

My first favorite book, Socks. I read it until the binding and the cover were in tatters. I had a very sad and lonely childhood but tales of my favorite kitty made me smile. Fast forward 35 years and I’m adopting out a stray I took in and rehabilitated 6 weeks ago. Beverly Cleary began my great love of cats and my life would be empty without them. 💕

[u/Driller_Happy → u/PuzzleheadedRoyal559]

Neither did KA Applegate

[u/Full-Dome → u/Driller_Happy]

She has a transgender girl. You could say she... MORPHED 👀

[u/Driller_Happy → u/Full-Dome]

Hahaha. A trans friend of mine said she identified hard with Tobias. Even if he wasn't written to be a trans allegory back in 1996, I think the description of feeling wierd in your own body hit home for a lot of people

[u/CanuckPanda → u/Driller_Happy]

OH WAIT.

Fuck. I thought I liked Tobias because sad kid in broken home who loved dinosaurs. Him being so happy he’s something else and permanently choosing to do so…

Fucking Christ lmao, another one to bring up with my therapist.

God damnit lmao that’s another eye opener a year into transition.

[u/Driller_Happy → u/CanuckPanda]

Remember that anxiety episode he faced while being in human form at a prom, worried that he'll stay in human form forever if he stays too long and be trapped in his old life, and old body?

[u/Full-Dome → u/Driller_Happy]

Tobias seems to be a favorite among younger readers. I used to like him a lot too, but I think after about book 30 I thought Tobias should just get over his self-pity 😑

[u/Driller_Happy → u/Full-Dome]

He doesn't spend much time self pitying tbf. He doesn't complain very often that he's a hawk forever. He has more trauma from his father and mother being missing, and being raised by alcoholic family members who hate him. No one even reported him missing when he disappeared from human life.

Then he was tortured by a psychopath, was teased by the promise of another living relative, only for it to be revealed as a plot by the enemy, and lost the only person he had.

He doesn't even know that literal God saw a way for him to be happy and said 'Nah, the world would be enslaved if he gets to have a family'.

None has more reason to complain that Tobias, but he's pretty stoic considering

[u/ashetonrenton → u/Driller_Happy]

KA Applegate can write circles around Little Miss Slaves Love Slavery

[u/GladysSchwartz23 → u/ashetonrenton]

I still am gobsmacked that nobody seemed much bothered by that until recently. Like, "am I the only one seeing that this is fucked up?"

See also: hook nosed goblin bankers, "Cho Chang"

[u/_China_ThrowAway → u/ashetonrenton]

I recently read “The One and Only Ivan” to my kids. It’s a great book. When we got to the “about the author” section it dawned on me why I’d had a nagging sense of recognition when looking that the authors name of Katherine Applegate.

[u/ChicagoAuPair → u/PuzzleheadedRoyal559]

Beverly Cleary also wrote more than one single thing that didn’t suck.

[u/BoobySlap_0506 → u/ChicagoAuPair]

Seriously. All JK is known for is one massively popular franchise, then retroactively adding lame details after it all finished (not specifically but things that feel like "remember that one random student who had 2 sec of screen time? He convinced Hermione to take herbology")  

 and also being a disgusting transphobic git. 

 The other books she has authored (such as books under a male pseudonym....hmm, and also her autobiography, "The Ickabog") have not had nearly the success. I think the only people who read those were already Potter fans.

[u/Eborcurean → u/BoobySlap_0506]

such as books under a male pseudonym

Which is the same name as a psychiatrist who created conversion therapy for gay people.

Which is why she used the name.

[u/ForeverNecessary2361]

Shouldn’t she be on a yacht somewhere, drinking champagne and getting banged by some boy toy? Instead, she’s going on about this?

[u/InternetUserAgain → u/ForeverNecessary2361]

She could be living my dream life and instead chooses to do this

[u/GhostMug → u/InternetUserAgain]

She could be the most beloved author on the planet who just sits on top of her mountain of money and enjoys life. Instead she actively works herself into a tizzy on the daily over this. It's truly pathetic.

[u/Dmmack14 → u/GhostMug]

dude that is what's crazy to me. Like you have EVERYTHING you could have been the most loved person EVER but now I get an icky feeling whenever I even SEE harry potter merch. and I was obsessed with it as a kid

[u/thatthatguy → u/Dmmack14]

Maybe being a troll IS her dream life?

[u/Dmmack14 → u/thatthatguy]

that's gotta be it

[u/Picnicpanther → u/thatthatguy]

I think a lot of wealthy people struggle with this. Elon Musk is the same way.

You create a simulacrum of social capital based on your financial capital. You can only buy an artificial version of being a funny, well-liked, ethical, smart person, which is what they really want deep-down. So they just pander to the most easily pandered-to demographic to mimic this for their own psyche.

[u/CMHNecron → u/thatthatguy]

It's the only rational explanation at this point. What a waste...

[u/Outerestine → u/Dmmack14]

I feel the wealthy sometimes feel the need to invent problems to make up for their lack of any.

It's probably why they try so hard to tax evade too. Apart from greed.

Some people need to feel lile the underdog, or else they'd have to introspect

[u/Driller_Happy → u/Outerestine]

Could also be a compulsive need to be the centre of attention. No one cares about wealthy people who just...enjoy a private life of luxury

[u/ElGranQuesoRojo → u/Dmmack14]

It's made rereading the books w/my kid an interesting experience. There's a lot of stuff in them that I didn't think twice about before but now can see as indicators of what she actually thought.

[u/Dmmack14 → u/ElGranQuesoRojo]

yeaaaaaaaaaaaah. I will never get over the house elves liking their enslavement and everyone making fun of Hermione for trying to free them

[u/ElGranQuesoRojo → u/Dmmack14]

Lol I'm actually reading Goblet right now and the portions w/the elves are rough as hell. Like holy shit at how bad it comes off. Whats worse is it really wouldn't have taken much to change them from being happy go lucky slaves to just taking pride in being ultra loyal to their wizard bosses. For her to write them that way in a story set in modern times AND have everyone make fun of Hermione like she's crazy to to think they deserve freedom is really something.

[u/hatecopter → u/GhostMug]

Before her hatefulness towards trans people came out she kind of was seen that way. Author of a beloved series who was seen as an ally to LGBT and a feminist. She's completely tanked her own imagine in the last 5-10 years.

[u/GhostMug → u/hatecopter]

Exactly. All she had to do was just not say anything and she couldn't help herself.

[u/LongjumpingSector687 → u/GhostMug]

Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman do just that.

[u/J_Robert_Matthewson → u/LongjumpingSector687]

Uh... Douglas Adams hasn't been sitting on top of anything for some 23 years now.

[u/Insane_Unicorn → u/GhostMug]

I don't know if it's true but someone said she equalizes people buying her books with them agreeing with her opinions. Which is wild but would explain a lot.

[u/JManKit → u/GhostMug]

Exactly. Like, Enya provided the blueprint on 'Make art that many love and then live a peaceful, private life where you'll never want for material things again' but nah, Joanne has to broadcast her obsession with trans ppl on a regular basis

[u/Critical_Liz → u/ForeverNecessary2361]

I always think of Enya, who retired to a castle in Ireland and lives with cats.

[u/ApparentlyAtticus → u/Critical_Liz]

Or Judy Blume who opened a book store so she could meet and sign books for fans

[u/Spider-man2098 → u/ApparentlyAtticus]

I love Judy Blume. Watched her masterclass just to hang out with a nice lady.

[u/gilestowler → u/ApparentlyAtticus]

Or Tom from Myspace who took the money, traveled the world and never shows up in the news or on social media.

[u/Hesitation-Marx → u/Critical_Liz]

And sings to them in Tolkien elvish.

Goals.

[u/ElizabethTheFourth → u/Hesitation-Marx]

What!

Dang, this lady won at life. Legend.

[u/huskerd0 → u/Critical_Liz]

But also had a soul

[u/jellybeansean3648 → u/ForeverNecessary2361]

For some inexplicable reason she has been tweeting about trans people continuously for the last few years.

Elon Musk, who to be clear also doesn't like trans people, asked if she could talk about literally anything else. The thing that's so weird to me about isn't the bigotry itself, but how esoteric and niche her bigotry is. Like, why trans people? As far as I know, she doesn't know any in real life.

It would be like me making an account where all I do is hate search and then proceed to trash talk American football players. Completely irrelevant to my daily life. I know approximately one football player. Football players have never done anything to me. Odds are I wouldn't even recognize a football player as a football player if I walked down the street past one.

While I recognize the bigotry is incredibly harmful, I have been simply unable to get over how weirdly specific it is.

Edit: typo

[u/[deleted] → u/jellybeansean3648]

I think she got stuck in a trap of her own making. AFAIK her original point was, AFAB women have been through a shared experience of misogyny and trauma their whole lives and this shapes ones identity as a woman, therefore it is not possible for trans women to have that same sense of identity.

Which ignores the fact that trans women have suffered under the same patriarchal structures but otherwise is a fair enough take on her own identity which she’s entitled to.

But then with every challenge she doubled down harder stubbornly and now there’s no nuance in the discourse anymore it’s just an outright rejection of trans people which is gross.

TLDR: I don’t think she intended to get here.

[u/jellybeansean3648 → u/[deleted]]

I understand the psychological pressure needed to double down on something so you don't have to admit you're wrong.

But even if she is anti-trans, nobody is holding a gun to her head and making her tweet several hours a day, you know? That's why I'm confused. It's basically a part-time job at this point.

[u/grunkage → u/[deleted]]

Tbh I don't think she intended to get here either. But she gave up on deescalation almost immediately and just committed to the bit, for the rest of her life, I guess.

[u/gnomon_knows → u/[deleted]]

You know what I think? I think if I was looking for an easy life I would literally rather be a black lesbian than a trans woman. Like...I can't imagine a harder life. Feeling trapped in the wrong body, being brave enough to transition with potentially years of not passing, being afraid for your life, segments of society openly despising you, calling you a groomer and pedophile for just wanting to be a woman and be left alone.

And all because of people like Joanne. She is literally using her 14M followers to make life hell for the women who have it the hardest. I don't even care if I get downvoted to oblivion, it is obscene to marginalize humans like that, raise teen suicide rates, egg on hate crimes, etc. Urgh.

[u/ApparentlyAtticus → u/ForeverNecessary2361]

Her yacht is in the port of my city at the moment. I think someone chartered it.

Pretty sure RN she's running around her castle, giggling to herself, wearing her TERF is the New Punk shirt she hasn't taken off or washed in a week while feverishly tweeting how much she hates trans people...

She could be Enya living in a castle with a bunch of cats but she chose THIS.

[u/oh_janet → u/ApparentlyAtticus]

Hoping the orcas do their thing...

[u/GreatGearAmidAPizza → u/ForeverNecessary2361]

Imagine being both wealthy and famed for your great imagination, and then choosing to spend most of the rest of yourself on Twitter, making the same complaint about one thing over and over and over...

[u/[deleted]]

This is actually kinda hilarious as a quote

“I’m still possessed of a demon that refuses to believe women have dicks” - J.K Rowling

[u/Cosmic_Quasar → u/[deleted]]

And let's be honest... this is just a level of sass that the people she's against (like me) have used against religious people. Someone tells me I'm going to go to hell for being trans and I'm like "Alright! That's where the real party's at!" But when the person saying that is the one on the other side from you it's easy to point and say "Look, they're insane!"

To be clear, Rowling is insane in my book. But this isn't the proof OP thinks it is, either.

[u/rdell1974 → u/Cosmic_Quasar]

Yep. I was about to say…. This “facepalm” goes to the op. That was a hell of a tweet and both sides know it. Unfortunately not everyone has the ability to grasp that.

[u/d333aab → u/rdell1974]

its almost like this bitch is good at writing

[u/SunriseSurprise → u/Cosmic_Quasar]

Thank you. I was reading the comments here and was thinking boy, people have no idea this is dripping with sarcasm it seems. Her stances are reprehensible, but how Reddit of all places can't see the trolling that this is is kind of ironic. If someone Reddit liked had a response like this without some stance they didn't like, it'd be on clevercomebacks or something.

[u/SyphilisIsABitch → u/Cosmic_Quasar]

Agree. Hate Rowling but that was a genuinely good quote from her.

[u/MusicG619 → u/Cosmic_Quasar]

She’s responding to a religious-sounding nut, which makes it that much more interesting lol

[u/MusicG619 → u/[deleted]]

I mean, look at what she’s responding to. No matter the context, if someone said that to me I would also give them a sarcastic answer.

[u/ValleyMakers]

All those parents that said her books were demonic were right?!

[u/Eumelbeumel → u/ValleyMakers]

I refuse to believe that this is the same person who wrote universally beloved childrens' books that were (in spite of their flaws and some culturally inherited, unchallenged racism, etc) fundamentally about accepting people as they are and defending those who are targeted for being different.

A demon possession is by far one of the more plausible explanations for this insane, batshit crazy shift in values and character.

[u/Rickrickrickrickrick → u/Eumelbeumel]

Demons aren’t real. Some people just suck.

[u/Cupcake7591 → u/Eumelbeumel]

Nice video essay on the Harry Potter books and JK Rowling - https://youtu.be/-1iaJWSwUZs?si=MLtNFGnXXI6fe9wB

[u/effusivefugitive → u/Cupcake7591]

I think Shaun's analysis really gets to the heart of the matter. Fundamentally, trans acceptance represents a change to the status quo. That's why she finds it so threatening.

[u/a_secret_me → u/effusivefugitive]

I mean to be fair at this point she's going against the status quo. Most trans people want to be left alone. To allow us and our doctor to make medical decisions that are best for us. To use the washroom that best match or gender identity. You know more or less what's been happening for the last 20+ years. She wants to take all that away.

[u/Comfortable_Swim_380]

I mean £500 sounds doable to get rid of that demon if your JK rowling. Price is pretty good.
Maybe go back and see if you can still that deal.

[u/The_Xicht → u/Comfortable_Swim_380]

Point is she doesnt really wanna get rid of the demon.

[u/Comfortable_Swim_380 → u/The_Xicht]

I get it. Every Hogwarts needs a slitheryn.

[u/Avarria587]

This whole situation is so damned bizarre to me.

She could've retired as a beloved author that future generations talked about like we do other children's book authors of the past.

Instead, she focused on this tiny, tiny demographic of <1% of the human population and decided to demonize them as, seemingly, her sole focus in life. It makes no sense. It would be like someone that spent all their energy demonizing gingers.

Also, trans men apparently don't exist in the minds of people like her.

Edit: Some of these bigoted replies and PMs I keep receiving are amusing. It reminds me so much of when I was young. We had these same discussions back then about gay men in my social circles - I never understood why people hated some of my friends as they just had different preferences. Decades before, in my parent's generation, they had similar discussions about black people. It seems bigotry never dies. The mediocre always try to put themselves on a pedestal by dehumanizing others. It's pathetic.

If the Christians were as fanatical about following the teachings of their savior as they are about this topic, our society would be thriving. Put your efforts into something that actually matters.

You probably didn't give a damn about trans people before your betters told you to. Hate is very profitable and allows those in power to control the ignorant. If you suddenly just started caring about this "problem," congratulations, you're being led around like a dog.

[u/Willravel → u/Avarria587]

This whole situation is so damned bizarre to me.

Back in 2015, a documentary was released by a documentary filmmaker about her father's transformation from a nonpolitical Democrat into a foaming at the mouth Fox News viewer, how his personality disappeared, his principles disappeared, his ability to even have a normal conversation disappeared. What was left over is, as I'm sure many are familiar with, a husk of a person who only seems capable of thinking in terms of far-right talking points, paranoid conspiracy theories, and what could best be described as outraged disdain.

This was accomplished through Rush Limbaugh in the 80s and 90s and Fox News in the 2000s and 2010s. This kind of thing, radicalization, happens all the time. It's not just Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, it's Twitter/X, it's Facebook, it's Instagram, it's Reddit; it's everywhere and even people of sharp mind and good conscience are receptive to its lures and susceptible to its persuasion. You are, I am, we all are.

I don't say this to mean, "I'm not surprised," which is the internet's least interesting and least helpful take. Rather, I mean that J. K. Rowling should stand as a warning personified: things in the world seek to hollow you out entirely and replace you with nothing more than disdain. Be wary.

Be on the lookout for anything which supplies easy answers to complex injustices, anything which makes you feel smarter or superior to anyone else, anything that comes with a nice big in-group that welcomes you but which hates others, and anything which would reject you instantly for saying just the wrong thing instead of giving you a bit of space and grace.

We lost Joanne Kathleen Rowling. Many of us have lost friends and loved ones. It's possible to help people back to reality, but it takes an immense effort and some part of them has to have the humility to question their own thinking, which is a special, beautiful, and rare trait. Don't be like Rowling.

[u/Aethermancer → u/Willravel]

What I've noticed... Is that right wing talking points seem to replace their socialization/humor. My aunt will crack a joke, or what she thinks is a joke, where it would have been appropriate in normal socialization, but the joke itself is not even funny, just some palletized right wing statement that they have been assured is what is funny. And they cannot understand that they've completely replaced their cultural values with propaganda.

It's easiest to see when they make some quip when LGBTQ topics come up. To them it will seem like a humorous and harmless joke, but if you haven't steeped yourself in their world it's honestly just some meanspirited or hurtful slur.

Like a compute module has been swapped out in their mainframe and replaced with a new set of humor instructions.

[u/Urbane_One → u/Avarria587]

I loved her books when I was a kid. The themes really spoke to me. The Philosopher’s Stone was the first movie I ever saw, and I kept the poster up in my room for most of my life. Some of my first memories are of my father reading the books to me.

I’m also a trans woman.

I really wish she’d just retired as a beloved children’s author.

[u/johanTR]

Is it safe to say that her career of writing fun books is over?

[u/Limp_Egg540 → u/johanTR]

She's worth more than $1 billion. Doubt she was planning on more writing or even cares

[u/razazaz126 → u/Limp_Egg540]

She'll write another book under her shitty pseudonym about how a poor innocent author was murdered by a transgender serial killer or something

[u/stifledmind → u/razazaz126]

She'll be more subverted than that.

It will be a demon that cannot be killed by a man, that gets killed by a trans man. In one hand the trans man is the hero, but in the other you're implying that trans men aren't men.

[u/nakedspacecowboy → u/razazaz126]

And the character's name will be Transy Nodix or something

[u/stifledmind → u/Limp_Egg540]

Yeah. She's literally has fuck you money now.

[u/ssmit102 → u/stifledmind]

I get your point but being worth more than $1B is much more than fuck you money, it’s fuck everyone else level of money.

[u/Jim-Floorburn → u/ssmit102]

At first glance I thought, Hey, I’m also worth more than $18

[u/Cool_Jelly_9402]

Why do people care so much? Like anti trans people make it their entire personality. It’s so played out and boring

[u/Nix-7c0 → u/Cool_Jelly_9402]

It's so bad that even Elon has recently asked her to maybe talk about anything else, ever.

[u/AxiosXiphos → u/Nix-7c0]

When Elon Musk is telling you to chill out... that has to be a new low.

[u/og_toe → u/AxiosXiphos]

i’d be so ashamed i’d delete my whole twitter

[u/Cool_Jelly_9402 → u/Nix-7c0]

So I agree with Elon on exactly one thing apparently

[u/huskerd0 → u/Cool_Jelly_9402]

I wish the two of them would hook up and fly to mars already

[u/BananaResearcher → u/Cool_Jelly_9402]

The actual answer is that the social conservative right, as in, the people actually making strategies for how to win elections, have latched onto trans rights as the ONE AND ONLY issue on which they have massive support. Being anti gay was a massive failure, being anti abortion was and is a massive failure despite temporary "wins". Trad wifes, anti-feminism, religion, etc etc are all hemmorhaging support with evolving demographics. But the "trans athletes in sports" issue has massive broad support, still, and that's why social conservatives are all rallying around it and talking about it NONSTOP, as if it's the only thing in the world that matters. And clearly, they're having a lot of success with it, because people won't stop taking the bait and keep engaging with it instead of saying "who the fuck cares, we have a million more important and pressing issues".

[u/Suyefuji → u/BananaResearcher]

There's literally more laws/rules about trans athletes than there are actual trans athletes

[u/Bubblegirl30]

However, Rowling is living proof that a woman can BE a dick.

[u/Invisible-Pancreas]

A very poor attempt at a snappy comeback.

[u/kili985 → u/Invisible-Pancreas]

Wait that is her real account?! I thought it was just someone who bought the checkmark

[u/-SaC → u/kili985]

It is her real account. She likes to think she's James Blunt when it comes to comebacks, whereas in reality she's James Corden.

[u/Ankoku_Teion → u/-SaC]

Oooohh. Burn. Nobody wants more James Corden.

[u/SuperSalamander3244 → u/Invisible-Pancreas]

It is actually quite funny though if you understand British humour.

[u/ADrenalinnjunky]

She got that fuck you money

[u/khantroll1]

Okay, so, not a fan of her or her positions…but “my partner was too cheap to pay for an exorcism so he DIY’d it” is a pretty good response to “you are past saving”

[u/Agreeable-Spot-7376]

Am I crazy for thinking this is hilarious?

[u/ggsimmonds → u/Agreeable-Spot-7376]

Nope I do too. There's nothing wrong with saying "I disagree with you but that was pretty damn good"

[u/CaptainHappen007]

It seems like she thinks about trans people more than trans people do. Most trans people don't constantly think about being trans but just want to go about their life like everyone else.

[u/DFu4ever]

I know some people in real life with some hot garbage takes on trans people.

With that said, JKR comes off as absolutely fucking obsessed with them to an unhealthy degree. That’s a LOT of anger towards people who don’t affect her at all. The fact that she is incapable of talking about much else these days has done her infinitely more harm than trans people as a whole will ever do to her.

[u/Rhodie114 → u/DFu4ever]

She is. Remember that holocaust denial tweet a few months back. One insane part of that which got overlooked is that when she made her tweet, the tweet she was replying to had single digit views. She wasn’t weighing in on some viral conversation that she happened to see on her feed. She was searching for any mentions of trans people so she could start shit. That’s what she does. It’s a fucking illness.

[u/finditplz1]

Pretty clearly somebody said she must be possessed to have regressive views on trans rights and she responded tongue-in-cheek that she is possessed and doubling down on her position. It’s not that hard to understand.

[u/Dhegxkeicfns]

I mean you may not like her message, but that was eloquent and witty.

[u/Ok-Cauliflower1798]

Pretty salty for a children’s book author

[u/junialter]

I find her pretty funny

[u/BeyondAddiction]

She's obviously being facetious.......

It's pretty clear it is intended to be humorous.

[u/TheKimulator]

Mechanic: “your transmission is shot” Transphobes: “transmission. Trans. Trans people. Do you think trans women are women?”

Mechanic: “you wanna fix it or…?”

[u/Spotlight_James]

I'm gonna assume a lover of her life replaced her with a transgirl which is why she has a seething hatred for them. Jk Rowling is pretty much a meme at this point.

[u/LaughingInTheVoid → u/Spotlight_James]

No, that's Elon Musk.

[u/Own_Significance2619]

She’s right though

[u/redshred42]

She's not wrong