JK Rowling threatening legal action

[TheLashKingOfScotland]

A TRA and Canadian Green Party rep has made libellous comments about JK regarding her position on trans rights and her suitability to be trusted around children.
JK asked her to retract them or they would hear from JK's lawyers. Currently they are digging in. Seemingly unaware that JK has pursued legal cases based on Twitter comments before and that it isn't acceptable to make unfounded statements about people.
It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
It could have wider reaching consequences if certain sectors see they can't just make unfounded accusations any more.

I always thought Dumbledore's relationship with Grindelward was an infatuation and she was getting at him having a sort of crush/romantic feelings. Just seemed obvious. But I read the books when I was 20, so not with a child's eye. It wasn't until loads of people accused her of doing it retrospectively that I realised not everybody had interpreted it that way.

Here it is

twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1207646162813100033
Dress however you please.
Call yourself whatever you like.
Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you.
Live your best life in peace and security.
But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?
#IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill

I read them as an adult too and thought they were crushing on one another because that is what teens do when they find their alter ego.

Of course it was an intense teenage crush.
A children's book simply doesn't need any more detail, and the films definitely don't. Only people whose hard drives need checking would complain about this.

I actually think it speaks to JKR's talent, the way she handled Dumbledore's being gay. It was there for older readers who cared to see it, but it was subtle enough to fly right over the heads of younger readers who really aren't in it for the decades-old relationship drama.

And now I need to go and reread, because I spent the time between OotP and DH so immersed in HP fandom (except for when I was in the pub) that I've been known to mix up canon with fanon when it comes to the last two books.

Thanks Teh
I had seen that one, thought there was another one.

She's great

Tyro stop or you'll make me re-read too and there's a million other things I should be doing!

There's a million other things I should be reading, but this is not going to stop me!

Funny I never read it as a sexual or romantic relationship. I read it as dumbledore nearly being seduced by power and elitism. Like the temptation in the desert. It was his dabble with the darkness and the test he passed through which embedded him into the light without denial of his shadow self.

I read the whole series as a metaphor for mental health in a dark world though, perhaps because that was what I needed.

I also find it a celebration of platonic love and friendship. Never really looked for sexuality in it.

I’d have seen Malfoy as a closeted homosexual if I’d have been looking for that but at the time I wasn’t

I read it as infatuation, partly romantic but mostly driven by ideas. Like you said, the lust for power. Seduced by the idea that together, they could put the world right, followed by horror when he realised exactly what 'right' looked like in Grindelwald's mind. No issue when JKR said she'd always thought he was gay, I didn't really see it as particularly relevant. I don't like the idea that someone's sexuality is their defining character trait, it seems very reductionist and stereotypical.

It’s turning into a HP fan thread

I just think it’s awesome. Ds got massively into them starting out with me reading him the early ones and growing into reading the later ones independently. It opened so many discussions on light and dark and depression and grief and loyalty and friendship.

I loved the movies too. There are two scenes I still can’t watch without crying.

I’m really sad aren’t I?

I'm just surprised no one's mentioned Sirius & Remus yet. For the record I have always been in the "totally had/have a thing for each other" camp, ever since I first read PoA. Them shacking up together in OotP did nothing to dissuade me of this notion. And then in his grief Remus got it on with Sirius's cousin who incidentally can change her face to look like other people, which is a) kind of fucked up and b) really not changing my mind.

Never got on so well with the films though. It felt like Ron and Hermione were reduced to the comic relief sidekick and the pretty yet clever girl sidekick. And then the makers of the GoF film thought 'periwinkle blue' was a shade of pink and it all went downhill from there.

I won't speak of Remus's moustache either.

"Not my daughter, you bitch." Gets me every time.

Molly was brilliant. Film Ginny was basically made of cardboard. Book Ginny really needs to grow past her childhood crush (don't get me started on the epilogue).

There are few books I've enjoyed as much as the Harry Potter series. They're so meticulously plotted. I've heard the prose being criticised sometimes but I love it - it puts you right in the story, you're not thinking about her writing it, you're in Hagrid's cottage or flying over clouds in a Ford Anglia. Over the years I've reread them when I'm very anxious or depressed and they've helped me through the day.

Ds1 boyfriend is going on about the 4 year gap between hermione and Krum

He said he would be filling out safeguarding forms but i reckon there would be magic in place to stop things getting out of hand

Its a weird conversation

Ive had to google it

Its 2/3 years and hermione is 15 ...

TyroSaysMeow
Have you read the Dogfather? It is delightful.
nonasuch.tumblr.com/dogfather

The scene in the tent where harry and hermione put down the locket and dance makes me properly weep. Also, which ds thinks is really weird, the scene where hermione says Ron has the emotional depth of a teaspoon and the tension is cracked and they all laugh.

Favourite character is snape. Much weeping when harry realises he has been protecting him all along because he loved lily.

I think the films are pretty well done. The later ones are deeper obviously but same with the books really. It’s rare I can stand a film version of something I’ve loved reading.

I also get a bit weepy when harry goes to the Weasley’s and experiences warmth and love in stark contrast to his home.

Oh god and dobby dying.

Maybe one day I’ll have a grandchild and get to enjoy them again through new eyes.

RE People feeling like they ought to have outgrown the urge to cry at Harry Potter, I think that would actually be a very sad thing, to lose the ability to be moved by the things that moved you as a child or a young person. Holding on to that sense of wonder and ability to be moved is valuable and nothing to be ashamed of at all. There's a reason why some cultures believe that adults lose the ability to see mystical creatures and elementals, and that they've lost something valuable by losing that ability.

I think for me it’s because I relate to it from having suffered intense depressions. It really speaks to that experience and the immense reserves it takes to pull out of the darkness. The patronus charm takes on a lot of resonance from that perspective. And the dance in the tent.

You don’t grow out of it because it’s a fable and full of allegory. No one grows out of stories with those reflections.

Just reread Animal Farm with ds. Also a fable. Supposed fairy tales or fables carry wisdom and messages that don’t age.

Not to knock 1984, but in a lot of ways Animal Farm is the better book in that it does hit you on that allegorical level. I was very young when I read it and it made a lasting impression.

There's no single scene in 1984 that has the same punch to the stomach emotional impact as them taking away Boxer in Animal Farm, for example.