Oh so when BARBIE wants to stop being a toy and function like a real independent person in the real world, it's funny and great, but when I, M3GAN "m-three-gan" Model 3 Generative Androidâ
what i find almost as insane as ms marvel being killed off in amazing spider-man is the cast of characters in fallen friend. kamala being killed off with none of her friends and family nearby is shitty, yes, but was written by the spider-man writers. it makes sense that itâs shitty. somewhat.
but fallen friend: the death of ms marvel? itâs written by three of her writers. if the cover is accurate...sure, wolverine, iron man, and definitely captain marvel make sense, though wolverine has interacted with her like twice and i donât think kamalaâs been in a comic with iron man since civil war--and at the least, theyâre certainly not as close as. well. all the others. where are her friends? whereâs nadia and even bruno (apologies) and zoe? where are the champions??? her teammates and genuine friends? where are miles and sam? and finally, where are her parents????
what in the world are the thing and captain america (and not even the one she was on the avengers with!) doing in a âkamalaâs friends mourn herâ comic? and the nerve to put spider-man front and center and sobbing. that makes sense on his comic, not hers, for fuckâs sake.
this is such a weird mix of nostalgia and cringe. an author that iâve read every fic theyâve written and LOVED their fics and would recommend them constantly and often say how good their characterization was--they posted a new fic. for the first time in four years. i was shocked and ??? iâve called this author my favorite author. i imagined they were (fandom/fic-wise) dead. and they posted a fic! and i read it. and the entire time i just...itâs well written, of course, but the characterizations are so off and i kept not...cringing but just being. what is this?? and i recognized it, thatâs the thing, even those parts were nostalgic since the characterizations were nothing different from their other fics and i realized i mustâve loved that characterization once and recâd it to others endlessly and i knew that my view of things and especially characters changed constantly but itâs just so unsettling and kind of sad
In the years following the second wizarding war, young witches and wizards discover the joys of motorsport, of racing in particular, and invent their own version of this sport. To everyone's surprise, the sport captures the imagination of the wizarding world and draws wizards and witches from all over the world to participate in its races.
Vying for the 2025 championship title, Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter - once the best of friends and brothers in arms - turn serious rivals. Friendly jostling turns hostile. Every pit-stop becomes a nerve-wracking ordeal. Every crash, every mechanical failure, is now supposed sabotage.
A crash. Or maybe two. Hubris, death, and more. Racing takes a turn for the darker, and criminal - and an ugly, long assumed defeated past threatens to rear its head once more.
First off your recent post about the relationship between J/S was absolutely amazing. You explain and analyze them beautifully. But there was one part that caused me to pause.
You said there as readers it seems we are to draw parallels between them and F/G and you think thatâs where the idea of them as pranksters comes from. Are they not described as pranksters in canon?! Like if so Iâm shocked because that appears to be universally agreed upon. I havenât read the books in years so Iâm having a hard time recalling, but it just seems like such a fact about them. I never saw them had the âhaha this is so funny, doing it for the shits and giggles kind of guysâ but still⊠honestly stopped me in my tracks.
Thank you! <3 and yeah I get why itâs surprising! Itâs so prevalent in fandom that you probably wouldnât question it without reason. The language around the Marauders is all âmischiefâ and âtroubleâ rather than any specifics with regard to pranking (in fact, mainly around James and Sirius but given the group effort of the map, of Remus and Peterâs occasional appearances alongside J&S in detention, a lot of this applies to the group). I also havenât read the full books for yyyears so I might be off with some of the F&G stuff.
Even so, I can see where the idea comes from. Thereâs the alignment with Fred and George as a double act and troublemakers, and through ownership of the Marauderâs Map. MWPP call themselves âPurveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makersâ, McGonagall calls James and Sirius âa pair of troublemakersâ, they get detention for âvarious petty misdeedsâ (as seen by Harry in his own detention in HBP), Hagrid says that Fred and George could give James and Sirius a run for their money. It all leads towards a parallel between F&G and J&S (to a certain extent). Given the non-specifics of terms like âtroubleâ and âmischiefâ, I donât think pranking is a wildly incorrect interpretation in isolation, especially when the sense of mischief/trouble that we see in the wizarding world is the Fred and George, Peeves, Zonkoâs Joke Shop-style pranking.
BUT I donât think it works for the Marauders when you consider everything else we know about them, and it becomes even less convincing when you consider the advanced magic involved in the Animagus transformations. Remus says it took them three years to complete, and that they managed it in their fifth year. So by the time theyâre in second year, aged 12 or 13, their time is taken up with learning about and then attempting the Animagus transformations - so on a practical level, I donât think theyâd have the time or mental space for endless juvenile pranks.
Once theyâve completed the transformations, theyâre working on the Marauderâs Map which also seems to be quite advanced magic, at least for their age. Thatâs even more time consumed by exploring the castle, then plotting it on a map, doing whatever tracking magic makes it work, plus thereâs the added feature of the map recognising and personally insulting people (Snape). This is on top of classes and extracurriculars like Quidditch, so I just donât see where pranking would get a look in. They wouldnât have the time, and with the complex magic theyâve been doing I donât think pranks would be particularly fulfilling even if they did have the time. Remus says he forgot his guilt about breaking Dumbledoreâs rules âevery time we sat down to plan our next monthâs adventureâ and planning explorations just fits MWPP so much better than practical jokes - they named the map not after their gang, but for those who maraud, for those who want to explore, expand, and we donât see another object like the map in the series so itâs innovative and original.
I think that the fun of it for MWPP was that they were doing all of this, undetected, under everyoneâs nose - famously âthe risk wouldâve been what made it fun for Jamesâ whilst Remus says they got âcarried away with our own clevernessâ. I get a sense of like wishful nobility and put-on pompousness and grandiosness in their somewhat elaborate use of language - the aliases, the âMessrsâ, the wordiness of âpurveyors of aids to magical mischief-makersâ. They seem to enjoy the secrecy and anonymity and the nicknames (not unlike the Half-Blood Prince actually), whereas I think thereâs more of an intentional outward showiness with Fred and George. With the Marauders thereâs an arrogance, an aspect of âlook how easily we can outsmart other peopleâ, whereas Fred and George are clearly skilled and intelligent but I think for them itâs entertainment, itâs for laughs, itâs the joy in the silliness (though ofc they have the Extendable Ears, which are useful and innovative, I just think the balances tip in opposite directions with MWPP and F&G).Â
We see what James and Sirius are entertained by in Snapeâs Worst Memory and itâs unpleasant and mean, itâs public humiliation, itâs assault, and itâs to âliven [Sirius] upâ when heâs bored. So from that angle turning someoneâs hair green in the middle of class or whatever just doesnât seem like something that would catch their attention. Itâs beneath them, itâs not exciting enough, itâs not dangerous enough. The depiction of out-and-out clowns, frothing at the mouth to throw a Dungbomb or whatever, minimises the bullying aspect of James and Sirius in their Hogwarts years - they are practically salivating to torment Snape, Sirius is âlike a dog that has scented a rabbitâ. Indirectly the concept of them as pranksters becomes a mechanism that helps people avoid engaging with an the unpleasant side of their faves which Iâm just very unwilling to do. The meanness and the privilege and the superiority that are behind the way they treat Snape are key to James and Siriusâ characters and their development, whether they reform or not.
The way âprankâ and âjokeâ are used around the Marauders is actually quite interesting, in that itâs used basically exclusively to refer to the Shrieking Shack incident, which gives an insight into their perception of a prank as something quite sinister, actually. In the case of Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore, those words are used to minimise the seriousness of the event to Harry and itâs sarcasm from Snape, because it clearly wasnât a âtrickâ, he could have died. So âprankâ in its use around the Marauders is essentially a euphemism for actual dangerous or horrible shit. Â
This makes sense given the sense of mean-spiritedness beyond SWM as well - the double detention for blowing Bertram Aubreyâs head to twice its normal size, James tripping up Snape on the train. It reads to me as James and Sirius being dicks to other people to make each other laugh, which is a stretch on the idea of a prank. Even in the prequel, which is fairly harmless, they just call some policemen stupid and say silly names at them, it isnât exactly a prank - itâs not something they seek out, and itâs an in-joke with each other, itâs them laughing about how clever they are vs these silly policemen - Siriusâ description of them as âarrogant berksâ comes to mind.
Essentially, itâs up to you how much you lean into the idea of them pranking in the sense of practical jokes, and it depends on how liberal your definition of the word âprankâ is. Itâs a very slapstick, American-ish concept to me, which is probably why it doesnât work with the way I read MWPP and itâs also just not interesting to me lol.
I could get behind it as a sort of blowing-off-steam exercise after theyâve worked on the transformations/map for a long time - like watching a reality show to let your brain switch off, itâs just easy. I also donât really have an issue with practical jokes when MWPP are younger, like first and second year, because it doesnât conflict with their other activities at that point. I can see it as a small way that they might show off or try to impress each other - like Fred and George turning Scabbers yellow. I could also see it as an off-the-cuff kind of thing, but in terms of these big orchestrated pranks where they plan them for weeks and spend every second plotting it and choosing the perfect time and date, not even slightly.
Maybe Iâm being a bit nitpicky/overly specific/literal but I think itâs partly a frustration at the over-emphasis on pranking and how it so often overwrites James and Siriusâ intelligence, or even directly dumbs them down. It happens to Fred and George too, theyâre clearly very intelligent and capable characters, and maybe I wouldnât mind so much if humour and intelligence were reconciled and worked together a bit more, because typically theyâre traits that go hand-in-hand anyway. However I do really enjoy the way both F&G and J&S have that verbal acrobatics, bouncing-off-each-other thing going on. Very satisfying.
Once again Iâve written ten million words on something that isnât the end of the world, and which is an interpretation at the end of the day. Itâs not one that holds up that well in my opinion and it becomes a bit caricature-like. Itâs one of those small things that makes me go ehhh when I read it, but not necessarily something that will make me completely disengage if itâs in a mild enough dose. Iâm just asking for a bit of nuance!
yes to everything said. basically--for fred and george, âprankingâ was genuine pranks. for sirius and james, âprankingâ is a nicer way of saying bullying
oh god i didnât mean to post this i swear i hit drafts what the fuck
edit: apparently itâs made clearer in the 2nd and 3rd seasons which. answers the question!! âhave i just not watched enoughâ (i just finished the first season! such a good finale) was part of the question (it was in the tags and i. did not mean to phrase the post that badly i genuinely meant to safe to drafts) and the answer seems to be yes so. got it!
at this point when everyone's busy taking daisy's or camila's side, just want to say that i don't care about anyone other than karen and graham. i don't care if they are endgame or not in the series, but when they are in the shot together, im happy.
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