I Actually Need To Know People's Thoughts On This Because At Least In My Experience The Answer To This

"Why didn't they just communicate?? They're so stupid!" Have you considered that communicating with someone you love and value and don't want to hurt is scary and that vulnerability takes practice and that perfect characters with perfect words make the most boring stories of all

Remus, Sirius, Marlene and Dorcas at pride

What’s this? A new chapter of BRTC???

Remus finally gets his haircut!

Saying that Dumbledore had to trick, force, coerce, manipulate, or anything else along those lines to get the marauders to join the Order of the Phoenix hugely takes away the marauders powerful desire to fight fascism, and their disdain for Voldemort’s rhetoric and those that followed it.

Those are core tenants of who they are.

They, and the rest of the Order, signed up as adults to fight an ideological war that would see the people they loved and cared about killed or, frankly, worse.

“What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" said Black, with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"

Disability in fiction

This was a tough post to write. 

I saw a post about disability rep, and I kept thinking about it, and wanted to share my own takes on the topic. 

I thought about it for days, trying to figure out how to word it. Then after drafting it, I stuck it in a file for a couple of weeks, trying to decide if I could even post it. This is not a topic that can be boiled down to a simple yes/no kind of answer.

Let’s start with two examples.

1 - I have a short story I started writing (it wants to grow up to be longer, so it’s waiting for time) where my original concept was to write about an older woman who is short and has major chronic pain, and I wanted to dig into fantasy reasons why this pain exists, but at the same time, have her be able to kick ass despite being exhausted and dealing with excruciatingly painful issues.

2 - I once drafted a portal fantasy storyline wherein a young man was transported into a fantasy world, and when he was given a horse to ride, he approached it very warily. He was encouraged to mount, did so, and sat there and exclaimed in shock, “My brain isn’t exploding with snot!” because his allergies hadn’t come with him into the body he had in the fantasy world.

Both stories were designed to be fun, a bit light, maybe even cozy.

So.

In one case, the disabled character remains disabled and kicks ass anyway. And in the other case, the character is magically “healed” and no longer has debilitating allergies that had wrecked his way of life.

This is the difficult part to express: I think both storylines are valid.

Bear with me while I dig into this.

First and foremost: I completely agree that we need more representation in all forms of fiction, especially when it comes to disabled people being able to live their lives. Characters with missing limbs, or non-neurotypical brains, or anxiety & depression, or hearing issues, or sight problems, or chronic pain, or… or… you get the idea. We need all of it, and we need it to not need to be magically healed in order for a story to be considered happy and cozy. Disabled people can be happy, too.

I’m all in for this, and I wouldn’t write the stories I do if I weren’t.

However, there are also moments where I am so exhausted by my body and by everything I deal with inside of it where I do wish for that magical ability to forget that my pain exists. Or for the ability to actually process information in a straight line, or make decisions without writing a hundred lists and accomplishing nothing from them. Or to be able to lie down in a field of grass without regretting it for days while I drip snot and fight sinus-pain-induced migraines.

Sometimes I want to imagine that my life is different.

And that is one of the joys of writing. I can choose to write a story where people like me or the people I know are the heroes/heroines exactly as they are, different abilities and all. Or I can choose to write a story where the problems magically resolve.

Both can be cozy, sweet, and adorable. I can give the character with chronic pain the ability to kick ass, take names, and have a sweet reunion with her ex-girlfriend. I can show all the ways that my disabilities may define how I handle my life differently than someone else, but do not define what I can and cannot do.

But I can also daydream about a life where it’s different, the same way I can daydream about having wings, or being able to teleport. For me, imagining a day with no pain is the same as a day where I can walk through walls. It is absolutely a fantasy, and about as likely to happen.

Here’s the thing: It’s okay to be angry to see what looks like disability being erased. It’s okay to wonder why the author did that, why they magically healed someone instead of letting them be who they were. But at the same time, maybe ask why, and what point of view it’s coming from. Or look a little deeper into the story and how the resolution occurs, and the effect it does have on the character (I suspect that were I to suddenly have a day of no pain, I’d be intensely reckless, given what an idiot I am while IN pain, y’know? And WOW would I regret that later…).

And for authors, think about what you’re writing. WHY is this particular event (keeping disability, erasing it, whichever or both) happening, because the reader will take note of it. They may see things that weren’t intended, but are there as unintentional biases.

Make conscious decisions for why things happen.

Someday I want to get back to both of those examples from the start of this post; I still like both concepts. But I’ll be writing them for very different reasons, and both will be healing my soul in different ways. Different kinds of daydreams. And again, I think that’s valid, too.

Them

HBO Releases Statement Defending J.K. Rowling's Involvement in New 'Harry Potter' Series

Rowling was “very, very involved in the process selecting the writer and the director," HBO's CEO Casey Bloys said at a press event on Nov 1

hey so those of y’all in the marauders fandom who are saying you’ll watch if ben barnes plays sirius and andrew garfield plays remus… better take those anti-JKR disclaimers out of your bios!

*grabby hands* WOLFSTARBUCKS CAFE AU!!

ok there’s really not much else to say on this one, sooo snippet!!

i am absolutely not writing this one in chronological order so they are already together in this snippet but it is a getting together fic, they start out as strangers and everything.

also this is almost entirely unedited.

Remus attempts to pick up where he left off like everything is normal. Because it is. A minor accident, that’s all it was. Standard. Run-of-the-mill. Accidents happen.

His boyfriends seem to disagree.

They’re both standing from their stools, and James is already reaching out to take his hand. Their fingertips brush, and he yanks his own back as if the touch is what burned him.

“Moony, baby, come on, let me see,” James says softly.

“I’m fine! I need to finish your drinks,” he replies, a bit snappier than he intended. He’s just…embarrassed. And stressed.

i promise they’re happy he’s just being dramatic 😭😭

i put remus in a pickle jar <3

dont worry he likes it trust me

HEAR ME OUT

You know the scene in deathly hallows where hermione and harry do the sad platonic dance and it’s beautiful and intimate and just so wonderfully sad right?

that same scene but it’s James turning on the radio during the summer post-prank but pre-forgiveness as he gets Remus up to dance a few hours before the full moon. Just a beautiful platonic dance but the intimacy is still deep and loving, James just craving that little crooked smile Remus does right before he laughs and Remus just desperate for a moment of love that doesn’t require Sirius.

Sirius, slamming a piece of parchment in front of Remus: That’s it! Sign here, and first thing Monday, I’ll see you in court!

James, Lily, and everyone else, frozen in horror: WHAT?!

Remus, calmly shaking his head: He means at the marriage registry. Babe, that’s the worst way to tell our friends we’re getting married.

Everyone: YOU’RE ENGAGED?!

Sirius, smirking: Not after Monday I’m not. I’ll be married.