Read on Twitter
This is a really good thread. I’m gonna say some nerdy shit so, keep reading if you’re interested. This is one of my special interests and I’m bout to infodump on you hoes https://twitter.com/ifeelthewind/status/1312977384396804096
What I’d add to this thread is that the love for the series that developed past its pure capitalistic origins happened not because the books were good but because the fandom fleshed out the story in a way JK never bothered to do.
The books are truly quite hollow. The world of Harry Potter didn’t really come from JK. She gave us a VERY basic story and people made an entire universe out of it.
I had a whole folder on my phone dedicated to “fan theories” about the characters and the background stuff that the books never covered. These posts went wayyyy beyond the normal idea of “fan fiction”
We were all literally writing parts of the books that should have existed in the first place. If you were on the Harry Potter side of tumblr you know what I’m talking about.
You can see proof of fans disregard for JK in the general opinion that Cursed Child is non-canonical. I mean think about it. The literal author wrote another piece of the story (something we BEGGED for)
and the fandom just all kind of looked at her and said “yeah no that’s bullshit” I mean we still read it and the show was decently popular, but most people don’t regard it as part of the same universe.
Like we all joked that Very Potter was closer to canon than Curse Child. Think about that!! Yes it’s a joke but in some ways we put more stock into a parody musical than something that is factually canonical.
(Also the existence and popularity of VPM is further proof that the community is the basis for the love not the story itself)
(Also another side note; think about all other fandoms. The community happens because of love of the original content. HP is the opposite. The community grew due to a need for more content)
Anyway the point is that none of us ever liked JK Rowling. We weren’t obsessed with “her story”. We never claimed she was some spectacular writer. We all fell in love with the story we wrote together as a community.
