Latest Posts by mikailakay - Page 4
Personal ranking of HP characters based on who did the most to least shitty things during their school years:
1. Tom Riddle: murders, student endangerment, using a deadly creature as a weapon, framing an innocent for his crimes, manipulation of others, encouraging delinquency, school rule breaking and creating a horcrux.
2. Sirius Black: attempted murder, frequent harrasment and bullying of a vulnerable student, intimidation, school rule-breaking, illegal animagi transformation, unauthorized surveillance of staff and students, using an illegal spell, risking his friend's future, belittling his friend.
3. James Potter: attempted sexual assault, frequent bullying and harrassment of a socially vulnerable student, hexing of other students, coercion, threatening, school rule-breaking, illegall animagi transformation, unauthorized surveillance of staff and students, using an illegal spell.
4. Draco Malfoy: multiple attempted murders, affiliation with a terrorist group, repeated use of hate speech, abuse of power, use of an unforgivable curse, school rule-breaking, bullying and intimidation of others, assisting malicious prosecution of an innocent animal.
5. Peter Pettigrew: enabling and participation in rule breaking and unethical behavior, bullying, illegal animagi transformation, unauthorized surveillance of staff and students.
6. Severus Snape: school rule-breaking, use of hate speech against his best friend, affiliation with an extremist group that hates his best friend and practices dark magic on students, invention of a dark spell, ignoring Lily's valid concerns about the company he kept.
7. Hermione Granger: kidnapping and blackmailing of Rita Skeeter, assisting identity fraud, illegal brewing of a potion, theft of ingrediences, school rule-breaking, arson, assisting a prison break, disfigurement of another student, physical assault, unlawful entry of the Ministry, emotional neglect in favor of appeasing Dumbledore.
8. Harry Potter: attempted involuntary manslaughter, physical assault, identity fraud, school rule-breaking, international law violations, aiding a fugitive's escape, theft of ingrediences, invasion of privacy, spying and stalking, unauthorized surveillance of staff and students, unlawful entry of the Ministry.
9. Remus Lupin: continuous enabling of rule breaking and unethical activities, avoidance of responsibilities and duties, unauthorized surveillance of staff and students, allowing a student be harrassed.
10. Fred & George: endangering of students through reckless behavior, unethical experimentation on underage students, school rule-breaking, unauthorized surveillance of staff and students.
11. Ron Weasley: international law violation, identity fraud, assisting illegal brewing, theft of ingrediences, school rule-breaking, emotional neglect in favor of appeasing Dumbledore, betrayal of trust, unlawful entry of the Ministry, enabling of reckless behavior.
12. Lily Evans: dismissing her friend’s struggles, classist behavior towards a vulnerable student, close association with individuals known for illegal behavior and immoral actions towards her ex friend.
The reason some individuals who committed more crimes than others are ranked lower is that I took intent and ethical justifications into consideration, as well as my personal feelings about their actions. Hopefully, I haven't missed anything important.
Not true. If you read carefully it is not hard to correctly assume the canon personalities of our characters. Sirius, who is described to have his hair falling elegantly without seeming to try, who when he's bored wishes it were the full moon despite knowing his friend is a werewolf and saying this unprovoked—bored. Then acting like a predator sensing his prey the moment he sets eyes on Severus. He was described to be one of the best students, constantly in pair with James, hexed a student in his 7th year and many more. He also let Severus into the shack without telling him what's there, endangering his life and risking Remus's future. As an adult he doesn’t appear to be remorseful about it. Remus frowns but does nothing else to stop Sirius and James from harrassing and humiliating Severus. He can be self depricating about his condition, but it's clear there's resentment towards Sirius when he says 'you might', even if he never brings it up. Peter is cheering and loving it when he sees Severus being harrassed. He openly admires James when he's playing with the snitch. He seems stressed about exams and his performance which suggest confidence issues. He doesn’t really defend himself when Sirius mocks him. Lily appears to be an emotional person, but also non confrontational because we often see her walk away from a conflict, she merely gives a "bad look". She raises her wand at James only after many attempts at reasoning with him, so she prefers to talk rather than be physical. She was described as vivacious, smart and cheeky and we can see her being able to have fun instead of caring for rules too much. She is curious and asks questions. She has tolerance for difficult personalities. There is so much more you can deduce from the text, it isn’t that difficult. So please drop the notion that "canon is non-existent" because we do have a canon foundation, the only problem is that people are lazy to engage with it critically and instead prefer to pretend their fanon ideas have canon validity. Just admit you like au's and ooc-ness.
ppl be posting shit like "I miss canon Marauders"
Babes, there is no "canon" Marauders. Most of the shit ya'll think is canon, are just old headcanons that used to be widespread before other (usually queerer) headcanons gained popularity.
There is so little information about the "canon" Marauders - and even the info we have cannot be trusted because it's usually memories, influenced by a character's bias - that trying to make a somewhat comprehensive character out of the given material is impossible, let alone 4 characters.
Everything is fanon. Everything is headcanon. And that's the beauty of this fandom.
(Ofc my favourite part is when something actually is canon via the books or movies, and people reject it as fanon.)
Spot the difference
Why do Dramione fans confuse Draco's persona with Blaise's? Blaise is the canonical ice prince, the arrogant, nonchalant, and cold Slytherin who looks like he can't be bothered with anything and treats everyone as beneath him. Draco, on the other hand, is too much of a tryhard, desperately seeking validation at every turn, and it’s painfully obvious. He’s a drama queen, wannabe ice prince, while Blaise does it effortlessly, and Draco resents him for that.
men should start competing with each other in being good people. we get it, you run the fastest and punch the hardest and sex the brutalest. can you be good at the grownup stuff now? like impulse control and cooperation and self-awareness? can you find the big boy in you sometime soon? it’s fucking boring.
There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Lily wasn’t a feminist and, at most, had a basic understanding and practice of it, limited to choice feminism and girl-bossing. While that isn’t real feminism, it was probably the norm in the 70s.
But her life choices make it clear that she wasn’t a feminist icon and was perfectly content with following patriarchal traditions and taking part in patriarchal dynamics. It seems far more likely that she wasn’t a feminist than that she was.
So when I see someone saying she was a feminist, I just roll my eyes and scroll, because the idea seems pretty laughable to me.
The post: You can’t say Lily Evans was a feminist because a person with feminist awareness wouldn’t marry a privileged cishet man who abused his power by being a bully right in front of her.
The Snaters: LILY WAS FREE TO CHOOSE JAMES, DID YOU EXPECT HER TO CHOOSE SNAPE?
Me: At what point did I say she had to choose someone? At what point did I say I ship her with Snape? At what point does questioning a character’s political mindset turn into reducing her to an object of desire between two men?
Of course Lily was free to marry whoever she wanted; I have no problem with that. My issue is with people trying to portray her as some kind of feminist icon of the 70s when there is nothing in the canon to suggest that, and when that theory is contradicted by her life choices. A feminist woman from the 70s wouldn’t marry the class’s rich bully, wouldn’t end up with a hyper-toxic white guy who spent his time abusing classmates, wouldn’t end up with a spoiled and obnoxious brat who publicly stripped a working-class classmate against his will. And this has nothing to do with whether Lily should have ended up with someone else. Lily should end up with whoever she wants—no one is debating that. What’s being debated is the attempt to portray her as a feminist icon when she simply wasn’t.
Lily was a white girl from the 70s who was completely alienated from the patriarchal structures of her time, only cared about social issues that directly affected her, and chose a traditional life that was entirely in line with the patriarchal expectations for women of her era. She was not a revolutionary, she was not a feminist—she was a teenage mother who married her high school boyfriend, who happened to be a rich jerk. And saying that does not imply in any way that she should have chosen another man. The fact that Snaters are so obsessed with this just proves that all their so-called progressive rhetoric online is pure performance, because anyone with even a minimal understanding of the subject would never assume that criticizing a female character’s political stance means she has to pick one man over another.
Honestly, what a drag. But what’s even more exhausting is how all these people attack not only by twisting your words and making completely irrelevant statements but also by trying to argue their points with nothing but fan theories and assumptions based on their own biases or whatever fandom content they consume as if it were gospel. And the moment you counter them with canon-based arguments, suddenly, they decide the conversation is over and that they’re going to "leave it at that." Because, of course, the moment canon gets thrown in their faces, it turns out they have no ground to stand on, and their arguments are invalid because they’re built on nothing but the pillars of their imagination—so they have to retreat to avoid embarrassing themselves further.
I’ve said it over and over: I don’t care if people come to throw hate my way, and I don’t care if people come to debate. But if they do, at least have the guts and the dignity not to run away with their tails between their legs when I completely dismantle their cheap hate-filled discourse—because, honestly, it’s as embarrassing as it is disappointing.
So to catch you up to speed
Luigi Mangione is an innocent man who has not been confirmed to have been involved in any crime.
We have police documents confirming he was not DNA tested or fingerprinted, and confirmation no usable DNA or fingerprints were recovered at the crime scene due to incomplete prints and immense DNA contamination of New Yorks streets.
No evidence has linked him to the crime.
No facial recognition has even remotely come close to identifying the cctv suspects face as that of Luigi. His own family and friends do not see a resemblance. Most people agree the features in the cctv do not match the very well documented features of Luigi Mangione.
Luigi Mangione has no history of violence nor with firearms. He is a vegan pacifist with no history of mental illness and an aversion to killing even bugs.
He is still only a SUSPECT and all involvement in any crimes are merely ALLEGED at this time. Alleged by the most corrupt police force in the entire nation; the NYPD who do more organized crime than they've ever stopped.
Luigi Mangione's attorneys confirmed they have been shown absolutely nothing that even places Luigi at the scene of the crime.
People have repeatedly tried to recreate the entire timeline of events and found it is not physically possible to do what was alleged in the time frame police gave. Especially dubious for Luigi Mangione to have done given his recent, crippling back injury.
Luigi Mangione in his own words has said police planted evidence on him and are not being honest about his arrest or what he had on him at the time.
There is no body cam footage of Luigi's arrest.
There is no autopsy report for Brian Thompson.
Luigi has so far been:
Stripped of his hat, jacket and shoes and forced to walk in the cold in December wearing wet socks.
Forced to urinate on himself where police then took and published humiliation photos of him.
He was then stripped of his shirt pants and socks and put in a blue psychiatric gown and strapped to a chair inmates called "the torture chair" and left for prolonged periods of time. To the point the entire inmate population at the prison protested in anger.
He was slammed unto a brick wall, choked, and shoved by various police officers for no reason.
Was marched through nyc at gunpoint by officers with military firearms, forced to wear chains
Was called a murderer by the mayor of NYC on national television.
Was then placed in solitary confinement for weeks. Something extremely damaging psychologically to be exposed to for even just a few days. Something usually reserved for cannibals.
He is now being forced to sleep on the floor despite again, a crippling back injury.
Again, he has not even had trial yet. He is an innocent man by the very definition of the law. He has nothing tying him to any crime. And even the crime itself was a nobody being shot in a city where nobodies are shot everyday, seven days a week. And those shooters don't get this treatment. Cannibals don't get this treatment. Serial killers don't get this treatment. Why are they doing this? Because we entered an oligarchy and they want people who are rich to matter more than people who are not. The NO ONE, no name, insignificant person that Brian THOMPSON always was and WILL ALWAYS BE is more important because of his net worth, to the fascist oligarchy we've entered into, than the innocent man, data scientist and robotics engineer with a promising future that is Luigi Mangione.
The NYPD doesn't want him to be innocent. They are torturing him gleefully and postponing his trial because they know he's innocent. They just want to scare the public into understanding that the ultra rich, even those who's names will never be remembered as anything other than markings on a never visited tombstone, are the only persons who matter now. Not yours. Never yours. You're poor. They'll torture you without a trial too. Your life means nothing to them. Your children dying in school shootings means nothing to them. Pinning a crime on an innocent man they can beat to scare the public out of class consciousness is the only thing that matters to them now. Depose them.
one of the v. important things the movies missed about ron is just like, how down to fight he was at all times. like not even duel just he was always ready to physically beat the shit out of people who insulted his family or friends and WOULD if no one stopped him.
there are so many points in the books where its just casually dropped in ‘and so Harry and/or Hermione had to physically restrain Ron’ usually from Malfoy but if Harry or Hermione weren’t paying attention it became ‘and so Ron punched Malfoy in the face’.
Like, Ron cursing Malfoy for calling Hermione Mudblood wasnt just a one off thing like every time he did that in the future when Ron was there it was like ‘ron had to be stopped from ending Malfoy’s life’ just thrown in there. Same for any other severe insults.
My absolute favorite instance of this is in the first book when they’re just watching a Quidditch game and Malfoy just starts bothering Ron and Hermione during it and is finally like ‘man its pretty funny how the Gryffindor quidditch team is recruited based on pity like y’know Potter has no parents, Weasley’s brothers have no money they should include Longbottom for having no brains” and Ron just flings himself at Malfoy and starts punching him and rolling around under the bleachers and Neville is like “uh shit i guess i better fight CRABBE AND GOYLE BOTH AT ONCE so they don’t go after him” (very underrated moment of courage from Neville he knew he had no chance but he just went for it honestly almost more impressive than confronting Voldemort in book 7)
and they’re just fighting for like twenty minutes and Hermione doesn’t even notice because she was so focused on tuning Malfoy out and watching the game and when its over she looks around like “where’d ron go” and then later its mentioned “Harry sees Ron and his face is covered in blood and he’s like “GOOD JOB WINNING THE GAME HARRY I GAVE MALFOY A BLACK EYE SO WE BOTH DID GREAT THINGS TONIGHT oh btw i have detention for a week and neville’s unconcious but they say he’ll be fine”.
Ron is ride or die and will fight u for $0 y’all
I recommend that you read some Andrea Dworkin, Laura Bates, Kate Manne, Angela Davis, or Soraya Chemaly to help expand your horizons, because the authors you mentioned clearly failed to engage your brain in any critical way that would make you realize that, yes, a word created to degrade an oppressed group of people, in this case women, is a slur.
Perhaps you'll also encounter a new term of the week: 'internalized misogyny.'
I love it when Marauders stans try to portray Lily as the ultimate feminist icon when any woman with half a brain and even the most basic understanding of gender studies knows that you’d be safer locked in a cage with a hungry lion than with a rich brat who publicly strips people and blackmails you into dating him in exchange for not committing sexual assault. Like, what world do you even live in? Seriously?
I love it when Marauders stans try to portray Lily as the ultimate feminist icon when any woman with half a brain and even the most basic understanding of gender studies knows that you’d be safer locked in a cage with a hungry lion than with a rich brat who publicly strips people and blackmails you into dating him in exchange for not committing sexual assault. Like, what world do you even live in? Seriously?
Dolores Umbridge, who was a quiet, insecure and unpleasant child in her first years, was one day in her 6th year paired up with Regulus Black. They had a similar work ethic, and that’s where their quiet camaraderie started. But since she wasn’t a pureblood and wasn’t much to look at, he kept to himself and mostly ignored her presence.
But in their 7th year, everything changed when they had a casual encounter that led to a deeper talk, where they both realized their ideas for the wizarding future were the same and their passion was just as intense. They talked for hours about Voldemort, exchanged ideas on the many ways Muggleborns and half-breeds should be subjugated, and developed mutual crushes.
Regulus, whose passion and intellect weren’t always reciprocated and who was a lonely boy, found solace and friendship in Dolores, and they both enjoyed each other’s presence while it lasted.
Then Regulus died, and Dolores’s heart hardened with a mission to keep going and succeed at what she had dreamed about with Regulus. She suppressed her pain, became a Ministry worker, and pledged to make the lives of half-breeds and Mudbloods worse. Her loneliness, and the only ounce of deep connection she had ever been given—whom she now grieved for—kept driving her actions.
I believe canon Sirius was straight, but if he was gay or bi, there is no way he would fall for Remus. Sirius would be pining hard and miserably after James Potter and he'd die pining after James's ghost.
Thank you for opening me up to this, I have never entertained such possibility till now.
dolores umbridge born in april 1961, sorted to Slytherin, so she was in the same year with regulus
i imagine many possibilities in their dynamic
i actually cannot express how much i need the fic of them falling in love via pinterest, as they both curate #aesthetic voldemort fan pages.
i actually never ever want AO3 to be censored bc nothing is more fun than reading the tags on a fic and going “huh. didn’t know there was a market for that.”
real
regulus is not posting books and sad boy poetry on instagram he’s spreading propaganda on 4chan
Comes from people who don't engage with fanon, so they think of canon James and Regulus and cannot comprehend why or how it became so popular.
The funniest thing about jegulus haters is that they are SO opposed to a completely average ship. like... it's an age-appropriate queer rivals to lovers/best friend's brother, and you're hating on that?
Why don't you go bother snily shippers if you mind the death eater/order member trope? Why don't you go bother james/severus shippers for taking away from jily? Why don't you go hate on Tom/anyone fic for being toxic or ooc? (I do not condone hate on any ship, I am pointing out the principle!!)
As someone who plays around with weird (generally problematic) ships and tropes, I've never got a mean comment, but Jegulus riles you up?
How did you get into harrymort?
I read the books
Well, kind of. I mean, it suggests he probably doesn’t care much about his hygiene, which could be a result of his depression, or, when he was a kid, a result of parental neglect and poverty. Or maybe he always had naturally oily hair, which might have given the impression that he doesn’t take care of it.
Yk, people are really getting a bit carried away trying to argue that Snape’s hair isn’t greasy, just because they’re uncomfortable with his unkempt appearance. But Rowling consistently describes his hair as greasy; it’s not just Harry’s biased view, but it’s in the narration itself. Harry notices it when he first spots Snape, before any animosity has developed and before his bias kicks in. This is a deliberate part of Snape’s character, contributing to the complexity and depth of who he is. There’s a reason for it. So yes, Snape’s hair is greasy and it’s not just pure bias.
"Why can't the freaks on AO3 just go and make a site for all the gross stuff and leave AO3 alone."
Because AO3 is that site. Because AO3 was that site long before you decided AO3 was better than the sites you bullied us off of before, and I can promise you if someone somehow comes up with a fanfic site you like better specifically for the 'gross stuff' you'll try to bully us off that too so you can benefit from it.
AO3's specific core purpose is to preserve fanfiction, yes, but it was also instigated as a host site for the fanfiction that kept getting yeeted off other platforms like Wattpad. Its designed to preserve all fanfiction, not just the fanfiction you, personally, think is 'allowed' to be written.
AO3 is the site for all the gross stuff the freaks make. We've been there just as long as you. We've been funding it just as long as you have. AO3 has specifically said you have a place here. The timeline was literally:
Wattpad/FF.net/LiveJournal purge fanfics > AO3 is born > The people who's fics got purged moved over to AO3 > AO3 gains popularity as the best functioning site > The people who pushed for the fics to be purged off Wattpad move to AO3 > The same people try to push for AO3 to purge fics.
AO3's source coding is open-access. You go make a polished, strict, rigid site where nothing 'icky' is allowed. You go make a site where you can control what is hosted. We already have our space.
Hinny wasn’t an epic romance. It wasn’t meant to be at the time. It fits Harry perfectly not to fall in love and develop a close romantic bond with someone during a time when he was grieving Sirius and had tons of responsibilities on his shoulders. After reading the books again, I have realized that Harry didn’t actually like Ginny for who she was but merely for what she represented. She provided comfort and a hopeful future. She was a distraction, just like stalking Draco was a distraction. That doesn’t mean Ginny and Harry didn’t mature and develop genuine love as adults, but it was not like that during the war. It was a teenage, shallow, physical distraction based on hormones and the need for comfort/sense of normalcy. At least for Harry. I’m not sure about Ginny.
It always pains me to see Remus so far away from the group in the Order of The Phoenix photo. I mean what close friends suspect their friend of betraying them? Probably those who aren’t actually close.
Honestly, people talk about Peter and Remus as if they were on the same level as James and Sirius, when in reality Peter acted like a cheerleader whom James and Sirius treated like a damn pet, and maybe James considered Remus somewhat, but Sirius clearly didn’t give a damn—I mean, he was willing to let a classmate be killed by him with everything that entails, and then he was the first to distrust him during the war and think he might be a traitor. The supposed friendship between those four wasn’t as idyllic as their fans try to paint it. It’s clear that James and Sirius were the leaders and the ones who had the real friendship; the other two were just complements.
Tired of it
Just thought to myself "can't women have a bad time in fiction without rape being involved" which really shows you how much you're in the fucking trenches if you are both a horror fan and women fan
Educated = Hot
The Class Dynamics between James Potter and Severus Snape: A Critical Analysis:
This is a dedication to all those who say that class has nothing to do with the bullying that James exerted on Severus, to those who claim that James couldn't be classist because "he never proactively despised anyone for being poor" or because "he was friends with Remus," to those who say "Snape also attacked him" or suggest it was a "rivalry" and that they were on equal footing, or simply to those who say they are "fictional characters" and that fiction has nothing to do with reality, blah blah blah. This is something I have written with bibliographical references because, once in a while, I can stop being a simp goof and show off my university degree in political science. And yes, I am going to be an authentic pedant because I can, and because many people seem to live in a candy-coated world regarding these issues, and it wouldn't hurt them to get a bit educated. That said, here goes my essay:
When analysing the interactions between James Potter and Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" universe, it is common to find vehement defences of James, arguing that his bullying was not class-motivated. However, it is crucial to untangle how class dynamics operate structurally and how this influences interpersonal relationships. James Potter, as a member of a wealthy, pure-blood family, represents the dominant class, while Severus Snape, coming from a poor, working-class background, embodies the subordinate classes. In the magical world, pure-blood lineage is associated with inherited privileges similar to aristocracy in the real world, where blood purity is a marker of status and power. Authors like Anderson and Löwe (2006) have explored how heritage and lineage have been determining factors in the distribution of power and privileges throughout history, both in fictional and real contexts. This socioeconomic background plays a crucial role in the power dynamics between characters like James and Severus, highlighting how class structures affect their interactions and perpetuate inequality.
Social class, according to Marxist analysis, is a structural category that determines individuals' positions within society based on their access to the means of production. In "Harry Potter", pure-blood status equates to magical aristocracy, while Muggle-borns, Half-Bloods with muggle parent and those from humble origins, like Snape, represent the working or marginalised classes. James Potter, on the other hand, embodies the privileges of the elite, not only through his wealth but also through his lineage, which grants him a status that influences his interactions with others.
The bullying James exerts over Severus cannot be disconnected from its socioeconomic context. Although James may not have explicitly expressed disdain towards Severus for being poor, the way he exploits his superior position to humiliate and subdue Severus reflects power dynamics based on class. Pierre Bourdieu describes how power structures are reproduced through symbolic violence, where the dominant classes impose their cultural and social legitimacy over the subordinate ones, perpetuating inequality. In the context of 'Harry Potter', this symbolic violence is reflected in how the magical aristocracy imposes its values and norms on those of humble origin. The public humiliations James inflicts on Severus are not just acts of bullying but also manifestations of a structural power that favours the privileged like James. Besides Bourdieu, other theorists such as Michel Foucault could provide complementary perspectives on how power is exercised and perpetuated in institutions, in this case, Hogwarts as a microcosm of magical society.
In James and Severus's case, this symbolic violence manifests in the public humiliations James inflicts on Severus, using his status to ensure there are no significant repercussions. James's position as a popular and privileged student grants him social immunity that Severus, due to his humble origin, cannot counter. This demonstrates how class structures influence the dynamics of school bullying, where resources and social capital determine which behaviours are acceptable and which are not.
The "Harry Potter" fandom often minimises James's actions, portraying him as a mere prankster without malice, while pathologising Severus's response, attributing it to resentment and bitterness. This narrative reinforces the whitewashing of the actions of the rich and popular to the detriment of the poor and marginalised. Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, in their "Dialectic of Enlightenment", explain how the culture industry and hegemonic discourses contribute to naturalising domination relationships, presenting them as inevitable or even fair. Their analysis reveals that modern media perpetuates class dynamics by presenting power structures as natural and immutable. This can be observed in how the dominant narrative in the 'Harry Potter' franchise tends to glorify high-class characters like James while marginalising figures like Severus, whose resistance to the system is viewed with suspicion or disapproval. Contemporary studies, such as Mark Fisher's "Capitalist Realism" (2009), also highlight how media reinforces the current economic and social status quo, making it difficult to imagine alternatives to the existing system.
By justifying James's bullying as mere youthful pranks, the fandom perpetuates a narrative that excuses the abuse of power and classism, ignoring the impact these actions have on individuals like Severus, who are already in a structurally disadvantaged position. This reinforces social hierarchies and strips victims of their agency and dignity.
Severus's portrayal as a bullying victim is intrinsically linked to his social class. His marginalisation is not just a product of his actions or personal choices but a consequence of social structures that privilege figures like James Potter. Antonio Gramsci's theories on cultural hegemony are useful here to understand how the dominant class's ideas are imposed as normative, silencing the oppressed voices and legitimising the violence they suffer. In the 'Harry Potter' narrative, this hegemony manifests through the glorification of the values and behaviours of pure-blood characters like James, while the perspectives of the marginalised, like Severus, are dismissed or vilified. For example, the Marauders, led by James and Sirius, both rich pure-bloods, are portrayed as mischievous heroes despite their aggressive behaviour towards Snape, who is depicted much more negatively even when acting in self-defence. This reflects how cultural hegemony shapes public perception, perpetuating a value system that favours the privileged and marginalises the oppressed. Authors like Stuart Hall have explored how media and popular culture reinforce these hegemonic structures, underscoring the need for critical analysis to dismantle these dominant narratives.
Severus, in this sense, represents those who are constantly repressed by power structures and whose narrative is distorted to fit a worldview that favours the privileged. His resistance and eventual adoption of extreme ideologies can be understood as a response to this marginalisation, a desperate attempt to reclaim agency systematically denied to him.
To fully understand the relationship between James Potter and Severus Snape, it is essential to acknowledge the influence of class structures on their interactions. The narrative that minimises James's bullying and blames Severus perpetuates a simplistic and biased view that ignores the complexities of social inequality and power. By applying a critical analysis based on Marxist theories, we can unravel how classism permeates these relationships. Studies on young adult literature, such as those by Maria Nikolajeva, and the analysis of victimisation frameworks in popular culture by Henry Jenkins provide a theoretical framework that reinforces the need to re-examine fandom's conceptions to avoid perpetuating these structural injustices. These investigations highlight how narratives of power and oppression are often shaped by dominant interests and how this affects the public's perception of marginalised characters like Severus.
I cannot emphasize enough how much everything In-ho did during his time in the games was in service of breaking down Gi-hun. Every glance, every story, every comment was incredibly and deliberately calculated.
His first interaction with Gi-hun immediately places the blame on Gi-hun for the games continuing: "I pressed the O because of you." He also explicitly asks for Gi-hun's help on behalf of the group. This sucks Gi-hun into being a mechanism of the games themselves (not just a player, but one telling others how to play) while robbing him of his agency to do so: whereas he was confident in helping during the first game, because it was his choice, In-ho's request forces him to share about the Dalgona prematurely, and he then has a nightmare about misleading the players. This also leads to many players becoming hostile when the game is not Dalgona, which--who could have guessed?--In-ho jumps in to stop. He orchestrated the situation so that Gi-hun would feel maximum pressure and guilt, before In-ho himself relieves it to build trust between them.
Then there are the introductions. In-ho uses Gi-hun's name before they are introduced, which may have been a genuine slip, but was very likely intentional given his response. In-ho's method throughout the games is to parallel and associate himself with Jung-bae, Gi-hun's only actual friend (he saves him during the merry-go-round games; he eavesdrops on Jung-bae's conversation with Gi-hun and directly uses the "get me a soju" line from that conversation to subconsciously build Gi-hun's trust in him during the firefight). So when he uses Gi-hun's name, he says he does so because he heard Jung-bae doing it, and Gi-hun allows him to continue--this creates the first of the links between them. But then, when they are properly introduced, In-ho laughs that "Seong" just means "last name;" in doing so, he implies to those who don't know him that Gi-hun may not be telling the truth, and in context of their conversation (focused on the significance of their names) highlights how Seong Gi-hun is "no one special." He's just an everyman.
Another reason that "slip" was almost certainly intentional is that In-ho is very deliberate about showing moments of weakness. His breakdown during the Six-Legged Race was designed to both further stress Gi-hun (and if Gi-hun had failed, they were in the very last groups present, so they could have been selectively spared as needed) and to strengthen their bond, as Gi-hun got to "encourage" In-ho; then In-ho helped Gi-hun and the team win by kicking with him the final time. Even cheering along with Gi-hun while the other teams went was in service of cementing their connection; and, any time a team failed, In-ho got to observe Gi-hun's reactions under the guise of empathy. In-ho may have felt some genuine emotions while cheering or comforting Gi-hun, but they aren't to be trusted.
That's particularly true because of his biggest "weak" moment: telling Gi-hun why he is in the games. The show confirms, when Jun-ho finds the winner file, that In-ho actually did join the games years before (from his family we know that it was because of his wife's illness), and that he won them himself. So he isn't lying about the details of his personal story--and he even gets emotional--but it is, once again, all in service of ensnaring Gi-hun and earning his trust. In-ho is not faking all of his emotions, but he is controlling and weaponizing them, which is why none of his apparent fondness for Gi-hun can be trusted. He uses his emotions as a tool, rather than being affected by them.
The ultimate result of this manipulation is that Gi-hun is made to feel that everything that happens is his choice (even the things he didn't choose). From the beginning, In-ho has said his choices are because of Gi-hun; throughout the games, there are several moments where In-ho suggests an approach and Gi-hun shoots it down, and In-ho always coalesces. Gi-hun gets to have "his way." But "his way" doesn't seem to work, and he, like the rest of the players, is changed by the games. His final plan, as In-ho forces him to face, involves a sacrifice of some for the good of the many. Only after he admits this (through his silence) does In-ho agree to help. Then, during the firefight, when Gi-hun tries to give In-ho the ammunition he risked his life to get, In-ho asks, "Are you sure?" Gi-hun's choice to trust In-ho leads to him running out of ammunition earlier, forcing his surrender; meanwhile, In-ho still "dies," and Jung-bae is shot in front of Gi-hun's eyes. None of Gi-hun's choices made things better--they made it all his fault. He is left with the blame, as the Frontman (who is In-ho! And always has been!) tells him point blank.
But none of Gi-hun's choices have really been choices. They have all been based on lies, within a system that uses the information they have to actively orchestrate events against him. The same is true of the players in the game; their choices are not free, because their circumstances (largely caused by unfairness in the world) have trapped them. The baseness they resort to is not what they would do if they really had the choice, and some are even able to choose virtue within the hellscape, but over and over, the system facilitates the dominance of cruelty. And In-ho, the personification of that system, targets Seong Gi-hun, the "Everyman," to make him submit to it--to make him choose to believe that there is no other way.
Now I have the urge to read Tonks/Snape for the first time in my life.
When Snape told Tonks her man was weak and she could do better, he ate.
Finished Squid Game 2 and I'm obsessed. It got me so hooked I literally cried so hard at the most random moments because of how impactful and meaningful everything felt and the metaphors for capitalism and class and omggg. Season 1 was great but this one just meant more for me and I'm so excited for this thing to become my new source of dopamine for the unforeseen future.
I was thinking about Luffy not wanting to be a hero when I realized something.
His very simple yet insightful line, "heroes share their meat, I want all the meat", very clearly shows that heroes make sacrifices. He doesn't want to make sacrifices. Perhaps it's because he's been the sacrifice himself.
Garp is a hero. He's cool too. But he was hardly present in Luffy's childhood. No matter how much he'd get beaten by his grandpa, I bet he'd still rather have him around than not ("being alone is worse than being hurt."). Yet Garp very clearly makes a sacrifice here. Being a marine being a priority over his grandson in the absence of the child's father.
Later, after Enies Lobby, he finds out that Dragon is a revolutionary. Literally a hero of the people. What's he done? The cost he paid for a greater good? He sacrificed Luffy.
So, while Luffy loves really deeply and fights for this love, he would rather have a death grip on his precious ones by being a pirate than let go and sacrifice and become a hero.
This may very well just be me looking too deeply into it, but the idea of Luffy being the sacrifice just did something to my insides that is hard to explain.
Zoro fascinates me as a character because like. He's insane. This man does things on a daily basis that scare me. And yet somehow I get the feeling he's the most stable person on the strawhat crew, at least where I'm at. Like Luffy is his own entire ball of wax I'm not even gonna touch, Sanji has every mental illness and his only recourse is to flirt, Nami copes with severe trauma by looking as cute as possible and being the ship's resident loan shark, Usopp can't deal with reality so he just makes it up, and Chopper is like eight and short circuits to screaming when shown affection. Zoro has trauma for sure, but his trauma is like...he lost someone, so he's protective and often reckless with his own life. So compared to the rest of the strawhats he's like the chillest guy ever. Man just wants to take naps and then make sure nobody else dies so he can get back to napping again. He's an alcoholic but this is never like,,, a problem. He's just there. Walking around like ok what are you nutcases up to today. I'm gonna go take my shirt off and swim in an icy river. This will have less crazy results than what everyone else decided to do today.
"Men are struggling" to not ruin my day for once
"Men are struggling" yeah men are struggling to impress me