Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Or, yes, it's problematic, but the magic goes on)

Let's talk Potter.

Again.


I don't want to say that the HP fandom has been dead since 2007 (when Deathly Hallows came out) or even 2011 (when Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out). Because it hasn't been. There are intriguing fan theories, beautiful fan art, the continuing lives of the actors. There is and was the site pottermore.com, the controversial quasi-canon source of extra-series information.


Willow started reading Potter around 2009. At least, that's when she started talking about it. [correct me if I'm wrong] I started reading Potter in the summer of 2012. It was part accidental, part a long time in the making. My family had owned Sorcerer's Stone for a while. I finally picked it up, and I was hooked. I went through the series in about two weeks, averaging a day for each book: I'd start a new book in the morning, read it during the day during breaks, and finish it usually by the time I slept. Neither of us followed the fandom from the first book release. But now we're both die-hard Potterheads, and I don't think either regrets it. I am a Potterhead.

But The Cursed Child is changing all that.

Primer: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a new play. It's Rowling-approved, technically canon. It's a script published on July 31, 2016 (because that's Harry's birthday, and also Rowling's. Though obviously not this year). It's a two-part, four-act play currently being performed in London. And it's a Thestral in the room for the fandom, and the fandom is doing some weird discourse about this.

Here's the problem as I see it, based on the discourse of other people who see it. The magic of the Harry Potter books is based on the fact that these characters do not just exist in paper and ink. They live. And Hogwarts and the Wizarding World live, too.

**Very Mild Spoilers**

Harry Potter is problematic. People can write essays on his flaws and his actions and his choices and his bumping into suits of armor when looking at maps and the significance of this in the revealing of his innermost thoughts. (Has anyone ever read Harry Potter and Philosophy? It's actually a quite fascinating set of essays.) Ron Weasley's friendship can be expanded by people who fill the spaces between the lines and between the scenes and between the chapters with day-to-day life at Hogwarts and the power of friendship and platonic love between two boys--men--who might as well have been born brothers. Hermione Granger's very canonical descriptions can be analyzed to their core by scholars or by fangirls or by the beautiful people who can be both or by the artists who bring their vision of Hermione to their very own lives.

Joanne Rowling took an idea that came to her on a train to Manchester and expanded it to fill seven volumes, thousands of pages of words that built a world hiding just behind a platform barrier from ours. And she set it loose into the world, and people built their own magic upon it. And since 2007, people have been drawn into the world of those books. People have been building worlds inside worlds, the stories of unvindicated characters.

And we were Book Eight. "We Are Book Eight" is a slogan of the Harry Potter Alliance. It's an organization that gathers fans of fantasy to bring them together in acts of real-world activism, fantasy expanding into the real world, love of community and words weaponized. "The Weapon We Have Is Love."

But now Book Eight is a position that's taken, a position usurped by a play that comes in nine years later. A position that was filled before it came. A position filled by the millions of pages of fanfiction and fan art and headcanons and ideas and activism that is Book Eight.

And all that. Gone. Vanished like potion out of Harry's cauldron in Snape's dungeon. Officially noncompliant. Cather Avery's Carry On, Simon after Simon Snow and the Eighth Dance. The feeling of finality of headcanons and fanfictions that all became AUs at the crack of midnight on July 31st.

People have written about the nextgen. Rose Weasley. Teddy Lupin. Albus Severus Potter. Scorpius Malfoy. Poof. Avada Kedavra.

So I'm against Cursed Child, on principle. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to read it or not.

My takeaway: Cursed Child has the same kind of impact as Pottermore.com. It's technically canon. Fanon doesn't agree. And while I was doubtful at first, I agree with fanon.

I want to read canon where Harry is no longer a main character. Where the nextgen is about the nextgen. Where the children of Dumbledore's Army have, like their audience, accepted the problems of the previous generation and moved on to bigger and better things. Where Teddy Lupin unites the Blacks and the Potters and the Weasleys. Where Albus Severus's name is a homage to two problematic headmasters who did wonderful things and terrible things and both for wrong reasons and redemption is in the form of a hero's son's name. Where not all the drama happens around the Quidditch field. Where there can be Slytherin hangings in the Room of Requirement. Where you don't need a time-turner to explore new worlds. The canon that's already been written by fans in the void of online and the caverns of seventeen-cent notebooks and in the King's Cross stations that are imaginations.

But I read The Cursed Child. In an evening.

And, well, objectively, I disliked the first three acts (of four). In hindsight, that might be due to the script medium, a medium I feel maybe didn't capture the magic in its stage directions and cast descriptions that can be built up by a few well-written full sentences or a shot in a movie. It might be due to the time-travel plot that I felt was a little bit cliché. It might be due to the characterization, where every returning character felt like a shadow (Ron, Ginny) or a parody (Hermione, Harry). And all the opportunities that fans have written for Ginny's strength or Ron's imagination or Harry's hope or Teddy Lupin's power to unite families or anyone's opportunity to build interHouse relationships weren't there. It might be due to the worldbuilding and the flashing through different realities that seemed almost without plot. It might be due to the fact that I didn't really like it from the beginning, and I went in with a preconception, something I regret.

But the fourth act got better. And it redeemed, for me, a little bit, the plot. In the fourth act, I was reading to find out what happened next, not to move through pages. This feels hollow and short, but I quite liked the ending. Considering the beginning, I think it was a good ending.

But it's like the How To Train Your Dragon movie adaptation. I don't think they're the same characters. I don't think Cursed Child Ginny is Original Ginny. I don't think Cursed Child Draco is Original Draco. Because Original Ginny would have grown up differently. Original Draco would have been redeemed.

Here's what I'm doing following The Cursed Child.

1. I've read the book. I've acknowledged its existence and its impact. I've noted that objectively I disliked the book at first, but it got better in the end.
2. I will continue to recommend Harry Potter as one of the best things I've ever read. I will recommend Harry Potter as the original seven. I don't think I will recommend The Cursed Child.
3. If I want to write fanfiction in the near or distant future, I will write is as if J. K. Rowling's final words on the subject were on Pottermore.com or in the "All was well" of the epilogue.
4. I will continue to Be Book Eight.

What are you doing?
~Citali

I'm Willing to Wait For It: Books and Movies To Come This Fall

Fall is my favorite season. Partly because of leaves and hot cocoa and rain, but also because, for some reason, it's when some of the best books come out!

Not all of these come out this fall, of course, but here are the books and movies I'm really waiting for. Let the pre-hype begin!

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. October 18, 2016. This is the second book in a new favorite (favorite used comparatively, similarly to best as in "She's one of my best friends" as opposed to superlatively, as in "She's my best friend") trilogy, once again *sigh* introduced to me by the wonderful one and only Willow, which can only be described as SPACE OPERA AWESOMENESS. Well, not only described as SPACE OPERA AWESOMENESS, but I'd argue that that's pretty accurate as well as relatively comprehensive. Gemina follows a new pair of characters in a new setting in the same 'verse (get it, universe, it's sci-fi... no?) and looks just as amazing as its older twin. I'm really hyped!

Lodestar by Shannon Messenger. November 1, 2016. This is the fifth book in the also favorite (comparative adjective) Keeper of the Lost Cities series, recommended/thrust into by the wonderful one and only Lauchlan. It is fantasy perfect if you love, like, or have never read Harry Potter. By which I mean, of course, that it is amazing and everyone should read it. Telepathy, elves, magic-as-science, and fun characters that can make you laugh in the midst of a kidnapping if they wanted to. Lodestar follows their increasingly intense adventures in this series that just hasn't let up since its first book.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. November 18, 2016. A cinematic return to the Wizarding World following a British wizard, famed Hufflepuff Newt Scamander, in 1926 New York City. American wizards, people! Do I have to count the reasons I'm excited about this? 1. Harry Potter universe. 2. American history. 3. American wizards. 4. Hufflepuff recognition (hey, I'm a Ravenclaw, but we've got to stand with our less-recognized-House buddies)! I want to know what mischief this guy can raise, what amazing new magic we'll see.

Moana. American Thanksgiving (November 24, 2016). This is a Disney princess movie whose MC are a body-positive, girl-powered, absolutely beautiful girl named Moana on a quest to become a master wayfinder, fulfill her ancestors' quest, and save her people. It's based on Polynesian mythology and history and attempts to imagine the answer to the question of the end of the Oceania exploration across the wild Pacific. If that's not enough reason for you to be excited for the newest Disney princess, the music was also worked on by the amazing Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton fame). From the Hawaiian tunes to the amazing heroine to the Disney, there's little in this movie I'm not looking forward to!

Rogue One. December 16, 2016. Remember the Star Wars original trilogy? **Spoilers** Luke Skywalker's heroic Force-assisted destruction of the Death Star would not have been possible without the plans that Princess Leia risked capture to bring to Ben Kenobi. Rogue One is a return to that time in the Star Wars universe to tell the tale of rebel Jyn Erso and her accomplices. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things, these previously unsung heroes (though fictional, of course) enabled the celebrity deeds of the original trio. Not to mention that it's sounding like this is a female, unconventional, non-Force sensitive heroine who made this all possible.

What are you waiting for? What do you stall for? (We won the war, what was it all for?) Admittedly, December's not quite fall. However, this is my wishlist!

Happy reading and watching!
~Arianne

Happy Birthday, Jason Todd!

Jason Peter Todd, Batman's second Robin. Killed by the Joker at age 14. Came back to life; became the Red Hood.

Happy birthday, Jaybird.

A FANGIRL GOES TO THE HARRY POTTER STUDIOS: Part Philosophical

Happy summer, void-that-is-the-Internets-and-readers-or-dearth-thereof!

Merlin's pants, I just got one of, not going to lie, one of the best experiences I have ever had. I got to go on the Warner Brothers Studio Tour London this July! Which is a (boring) name for SEE THE ACTUAL SOUNDSTAGES AND THE PROPS AND COSTUMES AND SETS WHERE AND WITH WHICH HARRY POTTER AND THE WIZARDING WORLD CAME TO REAL CINEMATIC LIFE.

The Studio Tour focuses on the movies, not the books. As a cinematic company, the props and sets and costumes and special effects saved from the movies are what is their forte and what they have to work with. One won't find J. K. Rowling's original drafts there, nor a model of that train to London on which she got her first spark of information, nor her emails with her agents. There, the focus is on the world and its physicality, not on the characters and their themes; not that these are unimportant in the movies or vice versa, but merely different.

I think most Potterheads have seen parts of the Studio Tour at least, in the form of pictures.

But, to be cliché, there is nothing like seeing it for real. Letting eyes travel up the massive and real doors of the Great Hall. Seeing the towers of Hogwarts right there. 

I think the magic here is seeing the commitment to this story, to this epic that is Harry Potter. That people took J. K. Rowling's story and made it real. By reading it and letting more books pour out of her amazing mind. By seeing this as something that would be incredible made visual and cinematic. And then by making and saving it as real, actual, physical items and places. I don't think I appreciated how big the Potterhead fandom was, or think I appreciate it now, going past the mania in school hallways, past the huge online following, past the continuing writing and its fans, past the people from every corner of the world and their collective excitement walking around those sets.

Okay, cut! Philosophy over; actual details to come later.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Book vs. Movie

I'm aware I'm about a decade behind the world at this, but I'm slowly going through the Harry Potter movies. The most recent: Prisoner of Azkaban. And I've got a bit to say.

Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite HP book (even though that's like picking between favorite children). But among the first three movies I've watched, it has to be my least favorite.

**Book and movie spoilers ahead. Protego!**

Why Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite book:

Remus John Lupin, Werewolf McWerewolf, everyone's (I dare you, anyone, to fight me on this. Wizard's duel me on this.) favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Ever. Compared to being literally possessed, a total airhead, kind of sort of evil, definitely evil and disgustingly political to boot, the worst possible outcome of a love triangle, or bigoted, cruel, evil monsters... He doesn't have fair competition, but he'd rise above the best. He comforted Harry and Neville, taught them spells worth using, could stand up to Snape successfully, and continues to have an amazing role even after his resignation. He was the only DADA teacher to succumb to the post's curse more or less of his own will; he wasn't killed, incapacitated, or evil, which is annoyingly rare for a DADA teacher. 

Sirius Black, godfather certainly extraordinaire. I think one of the best part about Rowling's characters is their imperfection, and he is no exception. He might mean well, but he scares Harry in his Grim Animagus form. He still wants to murder, although of course Pettigrew would deserve it. He's an imperfect father figure, but we can appreciate the feeling behind it all. He loves Harry, after all is said and done. 

Hermione Jean Granger. Despite how amazing she is, it's important that sometimes she can be overprotective, closed-minded, or bossy. She's not perfect either. And here, with her unflinching Gryffindor loyalty to Hagrid and to Crookshanks and to Wizarding law, she shows how complex she is as a character. Also, a witch with smarts and a cat? Every fangirl's aesthetic. 

Staying in Diagon Alley! Florean Fortescue! (collective sigh of regret from the Pottermore Potterheads.)

The Firebolt. Doesn't everyone want to fly?

Buckbeak beating up Malfoy… who 100% deserved it, come on. 

But I can't seem to love the Prisoner of Azkaban movie as much. Here's why.

I feel that one of the main purposes of movie adaptations of books is to use the very visual media to worldbuild, worldbuild, worldbuild. And while this is definitely fulfilled in the amazing Harry Potter septology, I worry that it comes at the expense of character development and complexity of the sort that it's nearly impossible to do without voiceover narration. Of the sort that, as ranted upon above, makes Rowling's writing as amazing as it is and specifically makes Prisoner of Azkaban what it is.

While I can understand this, I feel like it was executed unusually poorly in this movie:

They cut some of Lupin's best lines! Notably, they significantly (and imho, negatively) changed the beloved Boggart scene. I miss moments like Waddiwasi!-ing Peeves or telling off Snape, not to mention the important fact that he stopped Harry from facing the Boggart (dementor) without making him feel bad about it (giving him and Hermione points anyway, for answering questions). It's a combination of lack of explanation--of his care for Harry, of his dislike for Snape's bullying--and of strange trade-offs.

Scenes like the cinematic longshots of Harry on Buckbeak seem less useful to me than explanation.

Harry has to talk more about how he wants to go to Hogsmeade. Sirius needs to explain the Marauders better. Lupin needs to explain the complex transfer of Secret-Keeping that led, partially, to Lily and James' death (*sob*). The whole Scabbers/Crookshanks/Padfoot deal was only brushed over, not explained as in those midnight scenes of Crookshanks prowling.

And just appearance! The Grim (Padfoot) is meant to be bearlike, not that skinny shepherd dog. A werewolf (Moony) is meant to look like a wolf, not that awkward and horrifying man-wolf creature. They're meant to be almost indistinguishable, to the point that you need page 394 to find out the difference (not that Snape is known for making his lessons useful... "Excuse me, are you the imprint of a departed soul?" comes to mind). Pottermore has it right on this point, Alphonso Cuaron. Sorry.

All this to say that I love the Marauders, Lupin-as-professor, all that good stuff. I'll always love the books more, while I can admit that the Wizarding World of the movies (Wizarding cinematic World?) is pretty awesome. I love the little moments of the movies that are harder to fit in in the books, all the ships' little moments (Nevilluna, I'm looking at you).

Respectfully disagreeing,
Happy reading and watching!
~Citali

Willow Liveblogs Voltron: Legendary Defender

Okay, so I will freely admit that I only thought of liveblogging this halfway through the first episode. Still. I've heard people talk about how good this show is, so I decided to try it out. Forty minutes in, and HELLO NEW FANDOM.

Here we go, and be careful: Spoilers for the first episode ahead.

• Purple aliens! Cool.
• There's a moon of Pluto called Kerberos. I'm guessing Kerberos is the Roman form of Cerberus, Hades's 3-headed dog? Fun fact: Cerberus, literally translated, means something like "Spot". That's right. Hades, lord of the Underworld, named his dog Spot. Nerd.
• Hunk no don't vomit-- too late.
• Pidge is so smol. So. Smol. 
• Pidge is also, apparently, really smart. Nice.
• So this is the Shiro I've heard so much about. Hmm.
• There's an immediate Lance/Keith rivalry. Interesting.
• Giant blue robot lion aww yeah.
• Giant blue robot lion vs. evil purple aliens aww yeah.
• It's a pretty wormhole!
• Princess of an ancient civilization, and she's not white. Nice.
• Shiro is such a Dad Friend oh my gosh.
• C o r a n ' s  m u s t a c h e.
• Aww, Pidge. Smol insecure genius child. I want to hug you.
• Hunk. Chill. It'll be okay. 
• "Go. Be great." my little HEART just melted.
• With a name like Zarkon, there's no way he can be anything but evil. 
• Coran, not helping.
• Pidge. Oh, Pidge. I love you.
• The whole "Allura-in-a-computer-garden" thing is giving me River Song feelings.
• Why is forming Voltron the only way to stop Zarkon? 
• Armor. Sweet!
• *snaps fingers* That's it! That's who Lance reminds me of! Sokka!
• Yesyesyes. Keith is Zuko. Lance is Sokka. Even the color schemes match.
• Shiro, honey, you okay?
• Oh. Oh. Pidge, poor baby.
• "What the quiznak?"
• Helpful mice are helpful.
• Nice going, Keith.
• So. Apparently I have a thing for one-armed butt-kickers. Anakin, Bucky, and now Shiro.
• BLACK LION IS ACTIVE. SWEET.
• Oh, quiznak. This looks bad.
• Oh, yes. 

In conclusion: AWESOME. Go watch this right now.

Pros:

• Good characters
• Humor
• Character development
• Nice animation

Cons:

• Literally only one woman
• Minor plot holes

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch the next episode.

Happy watching,

Willow

Too? Many Books: June Book Haul (and I suppose July too)

In the end of school, I read more words than I said in actual human non-paper conversation. I'm pretty sure. But now it's summer and time for freedom and working towards more human interaction. I'm pretty sure, anyway.

In an attempt not to make this a dump of books titles, I'm going to try to include a bit of a blurb about each (read) book in addition to the usual information. So now, it's just a completely overdone, crazily long post! *canned applause*

(I've been delving into more... teen... literature recently. These are marked with T's [in the case of them having been read].)

Nota bene: I took too long on this post... so it's been shunted sideways into July. With more books, so hopefully that's okay?

Read

• Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (Incarceron Duology #1). Incarceron's inhabitants know it's a prison. The Realm, its queen, and the warden who looks over Incarceron think it's a paradise. The Realm is consigned to follow Protocol, a series of rules forcing the Realm to adhere to the practices and appearances of an era their technology has long outpaced. The book follows the warden's daughter, trapped in a marriage arrangement when her teachers know she could do so much more, as well as Finn, a prisoner at the bottom of the dangerous social hierarchy of the prison. Their worlds collide when both find mysterious devices, keys to the prison.

• Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (Incarceron Duology #2). Sequel to Incarceron, Sapphique is named after the "one who got away", the legendary man who escaped the prison. In the midst of near war, characters both inside and outside the prison struggle to find a solution to the problems that've been developing both in Incarceron and the Realm. (terseness due to attempt to avoid spoilers)

• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle #2). (T) This sequel to The Raven Boys features everyone's favorite character in the Raven squad, Ronan. If he's not your favorite from the first book (and I don't blame you), you'll love him after this one. (again, terse)

• (I was going to blurb these, but I realized I read/reread THE ENTIRE SERIES SO HERE'S THE BLURB FOR THAT.) (T) Maggie Stiefvater's epic of the Raven squad (seriously squad goals), featuring demons, psychic's daughters, prophecies, the best and most complex/potentially problematic/still endearing characters you will ever find, thus putting all writers to shame, Welsh mythology, private school boys, trashy chic, double romances, mild and thus forgivable love triangles, ravens, sleep patterns, and names like Blue and Gansey. I switch my favorite book series a lot (The Lunar Chronicles, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl) but this is definitely up there with them. Read. Please.

• City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster. This. Book. Has. Some. Of. The. Best. Worldbuilding. I've. Seen. *fangirls* In an empire devastated by loss of its magic, families are limited to only two children. And no family wants girls. So the City of a Thousand Dolls is created, a home away from castes for abandoned and orphan girls of the empire. They're trained as accomplished wives, musicians, bodyguards, dancers, courtesans, and scholars, and fetch prices from those wishing to hire, apprentice, or wed them. But for a girl whose position in the city is dubious, the intrigue and murder in the air are dangerously close.

• Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter. (T) The full libretto (written lyrics) of the musical Hamilton: An American Musical. Photographs and footnotes that will make any musical fangirl, history fangirl, or book fangirl love it. 

• The Glass Swallow by Julia Golding (Dragonfly and The Glass Swallow #2). In the realm set up in the prequel of this duology, a girl glassmaker, secretly the genius behind the most prestigious designs, must fight for her life and her way home as she travels to a kingdom rife with chaos and class systems to fulfill her talents as a glassmaker. You'll love the worldbuilding, the realistic diplomacy and politics, and the characters' dramatic irony.

• Inheritance by Lisa Forrest. An interestingly set Australian novel featuring a girl who joins the circus... only to be thrown headfirst into a world of danger, escape, and magical powers stemming from ancient origins from a group called the Cirkulatti, reaching back to ancient Egypt, Macedonia, and Rome.

• The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd. (T) A dark and legitimately scary classics retelling of H. G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau. I actually wouldn't recommend this. Dark, scary, thought-provoking, terrifying. Good if you're into that; I'm not. However, it is cool that it's classic sci-fi but with noticeably more girls!

• The Siren by Kiera Cass. Chicklit, but great! From the author of the Selection series (one of my guilty pleasures? Maybe? Depends on definition of guilty pleasure) comes the story that she says spurred her on to be a writer, which you should read just for that. Need more? Multicultural mermaids, destruction of stereotypes, quirky romance, interesting mythology twist.

• Thor: The Goddess of Thunder by Jason Aaron. This comic book is an amazing and interestingly new twist on Thor... she's a girl! Enough said, isn't it? Get over your culture shock, it's a great book in itself (even if you, like me, aren't quite into the medium.)

• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (The Illuminae Files #1). (T) I can't summarize this well enough, so I'll just quote and link to the coauthor's Goodreads comment here, which is beautiful and should win some kind of Pulitzer: "ILLUMINAE is the classic tale of Girl Meets Boy. Girl Loses Boy. And Parents. And Planet. And Ends Up on a Crippled Spaceship. With a Mad Computer. And a Deadly Virus Outbreak. In the Middle of an Interstellar War. It's without a doubt the coolest book I've ever written. I'm pretty sure you've never read a book like it." (Click the link for gifs that make the comment so much better, too). And read this book! It's all he said and more.

To be read

• Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Soundless by Richelle Mead
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
• Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers (His Fair Assassin #2)
• Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers (His Fair Assassin #3)
• Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #4.5 [indicating a series add-on after book 4])
• For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Thanks for enduring through this streamy-of-consciousness post. Read some of these, though!
Happy reading!
~Citali