SecondhandQuills

Harry Potter Sideblog. Jily obsessed fan. Percy Weasley appreciator Not in any a supporter of JKR or her awful views.

[petemcvries23]

the natural lifespan of a fandom is unlimited. when well tended a fandom can be functionally immortal. and yet everywhere you look you see newly bred fandoms withering and dying when they’re barely a year old. barely even six months old. fans are looking at their six month old fandoms and saying i think it’s on its last legs, should i euthanise it? when with the proper care that fandom could outlive them for decades. it’s sad. sad state of affairs we’re in.

[neverenoughmarauders]

Chairs or benches

In the earlier Harry Potter books, the great hall uses chairs, but (I suspect because of the movies), this changes in the later books to benches.

Examples from the various books:

PS:

And now there were only four people left to be sorted. “Thomas, Dean,” a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. “Turpin, Lisa,” became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron’s turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, “GRYFFINDOR!” Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.

COS:

Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and scampered away. Percy sat down and grabbed a mug from the center of the table.

GOF:

“It’s made him think he’s got to come back!” said Harry, now slamming his fist on the table so that Hedwig landed on the back of Ron’s chair, hooting indignantly. “Coming back, because he thinks I’m in trouble! And there’s nothing wrong with me! And I haven’t got anything for you,” Harry snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, “you’ll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food.”

But from OOTP (which is also the one and only time we get a mention of shirts being part of the school uniform: "Weasley, your shirt’s untucked, so I’ll have another five for that." otherwise it's always just been robes), we're suddenly getting benches in the great hall:

OOTP:

“At least it’s only lines,” said Hermione consolingly, as Harry sank back onto his bench and looked down at his steak-and-kidney pie, which he no longer fancied very much. “It’s not as if it’s a dreadful punishment, really...”

HBP:

“I’ll tell you later,” said Harry curtly. He was very conscious that Ginny, Neville, Dean, and Seamus were listening in; even Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had come floating along the bench to eavesdrop. 

And before you go headcanoning that there was a chance to the furniture that nobody remarked upon, there were now also benches in the 1970s.

Harry heard Snape let out a tiny groan. Lily took off the hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then hurried toward the cheering Gryffindors, but as she went she glanced back at Snape, and there was a sad little smile on her face. Harry saw Sirius move up the bench to make room for her. She took one look at him, seemed to recognize him from the train, folded her arms, and firmly turned her back on him. 

Anyways, I know I am like the one creature on this planet to hate how the movies influenced the later books, but there we go.

[secondhandquills]

Also fun fact! The table is mentioned to have a white tablecloth. (At least during the start of Term feast.) Please amend your view of the Great Hall accordingly.

'Clang. Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention.'

Chairs, golden plates and goblets and white tablecloth.

Imagine something fancy like this-

[secondhandquills]

small tower

@jilymicrofics July prompt 1- tent. Dialogue only for fun. Might continue and turn this a a multipart with the other prompts. Just the one for now though.

Prompt 1 – Tent

“I hate you.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Evans. We both signed up for this, as you well know.”

“And what exactly possessed you to take this class in the first place?”

“You’re asking this halfway through the year?”

“Typically, I try to minimise our interactions, Potter. And yet three times a week I’ve been forced to endure the disturbing sight of you without your entourage.”

“Oh Evans, you don’t know how hard it’s been for me! Why, if it wasn’t for your half-dead expressions greeting me each lesson, bolstering my spirits, I’d have lost the will to live by November.”

“I’d have skived off if I’d known.”

“And disappoint all the poor forest critters and dear Professor Kettleburn?”

“They’d understand. In fact, I’m highly considering disappointing them again now. Two whole weeks in your company?”

“Indeed.”

“Don’t sound so cheerful about it!”

“Do you want me to lie? Do you want me to hide the fact that I’m happy to spend time with you?”

“…”

“Evans?”

“…There must be something I can do about this. I refuse to spend my Easter holidays alone in a tent with you of all people. Do you think it’s too late to cancel?”

“…But you were so excited about this trip a few weeks ago. Camping and actually getting to do the finding of those fantastic beasts.”

“That was before I learned they were sorting us by House for some accursed reason and you just so happened to be the only other Gryffindor taking the Care of Magical Creatures NEWT!”

“And you just assume I’m going to make it terrible for you?”

“Yes, I know you, Potter.”

“No you don’t. You think I’m some demon who exists purely to ruin your day-”

”You are-”

“When I’m actually a fellow magical creatures enthusiast who’s just thrilled to go on an adventure now that we can both legally use magic.”

“Oh? So you’d be happy if we weren’t paired together?”

“I’m committed to having a great time, yes, and I won’t let you ruin it with your constant sulkiness and inability to have fun.”

“Wow Potter. Such a gentleman as always, aren’t you? I can’t stand another second with that fat head of yours.”

“Wait Evans! Seriously, lighten up, won’t you? Hey, wait a minute!”

“Get out of my way.”

“Just, wait a minute. Seriously.”

“I don’t want to infect you with my constant sulkiness.”

“Oh, that broom has long since flown away. I’m way past infected.”

“…”

“Not the time? Heh, nevermind. Please Evans. Just… let me show you the tent, okay? It’s a wizarding tent. We’re not exactly going to be sharing a sleeping bag.”

“I suppose I must at least examine our equipment.”

“We’re well stocked for an adventure. There’s a little a tower for stargazing over here, and see this mast? It comes out and allows us to go sailing if we get very, very lost.”

“The tent comes with a tower?”

“Yeah! See those steps there? It’s actually an endless staircase. It keep going up and up until you’re at least above a short tree. Though I hear newer models allow you to customise the height.”

“Potter, I hope you know this is against the very spirit of camping.”

“It’s just a little tower - I think it gives the tent some character.”

“Tents shouldn’t have towers! It’s meant to be living in nature, with minimal comforts.”

“Why?”

“Because its not supposed to be easy! It’s meant to be rough, without being pampered. Not that you’d ever know what that was like.”

“Things aren’t meant to be rough just for the sake of it! We are going to be living in nature. There won’t be any running water or like a kitchen or anything, so what’s the problem with having nice rooms?”

“It’s not preparing you for the real world. If you’re ever in danger, or travelling, you won’t have access to all these comforts.”

“Yes I will! I’m a wizard. I can transfigure any of the furniture in this room if I wanted to. I know lightening charms and warming charms and all that. And so do you. Are you really so determined to be miserable?”

“Don’t make it all sound so simple Potter. But fine, the tent isn’t terrible.”

“I mean, the tower is kind of underwhelming from the outside. I think we might be settling for not terrible.”

“I was thinking it was kind of cute, once you get over its general existence.”

“Hmm Evans, maybe you’re right. It reminds me of me.”

“Crooked and unnecessary?”

“Cute and charming – once you stop trying to judge it.”

[secondhandquills]

waltzing walnut

@jilymicrofics July prompt 2- Fire. Continuation of previous prompt. Guess its a series now. Once again, Dialogue only.

“Here we are! It begins. With only the broom on my back and my wand in my pocket, Potter and Evans take their first steps into the vast unknown.”

“Potter please! We’re thirty seconds from our portkey. Must you brag about the incredible feat of walking past a tree?”

“A tree we surpassed with grace and flair, like we do everything. Oh calm down, I’m just breaking the ice!”

“This is going to be a disaster, I can feel it.”

“As, we descend deeper into the woods, Evans feels a sense of foreboding. What could this mean for the journey ahead?”

“Stop the running commentary, I beg you.”

“Evans makes a request-“

“Potter.”

“I’m stopping! Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You’re so easy to wind up.”

“Let’s just focus. The portkey dropped us here for a reason, right?”

“Indeed it did. And by chance, did you notice that tree we so effortlessly walked past was a Waltzing Walnut?”

“Wait really?”

“’Course. It was spinning. And you know of course, that Waltzing Walnuts always come in pairs.”

“Then this means the forest is home to some Laughing Larrikins too!”

“Hopefully. Oh, I can’t wait to get some pictures of them dancing. The Professor will be dead impressed. You’ve got the camera right?”

“I lost it actually.”

“…?”

“Cheese! That means smile for the camera, Potter.”

“Don’t catch me by surprise like that, Evans!”

“I’m just trying to capture an image of the creature in front of me.”

“Oh shut it. You know if you wanted pictures of me, all you had to do was ask.”

“Stop trying to mess up your hair. Though maybe a Larrikin will mistake it for their nest.”

“You know you like it. Anyway, let’s hide out in this undergrowth. With any luck the trees will feel safe enough to waltz and then the Larrikins should join in. That clearing ahead is littered with walnuts so they must like to dance around here.”

“I’ll go over here - I’ll need the space to take a few photos. You can hide under there being useless.”

“Useless?! I’ll have you know I’ll be journalling our day. But fine, I’ll make myself cozy in these vines.”

“Good.”

“…”

“…So Potter, how long do you reckon we’ll be waiting?”

“I don’t- know. An hour- or-or so?”

“Potter?”

“C-can’t breathe!”

“Get out of there!”

“’m trying.”

“Lumos! Oh- oh that’s Devil’s Snare!”

“Urg- Can’t -m’wand.”

“J-Just hold still Potter! Don’t panic!”

“Nn.”

“Let’s see- Devil’s snare, devil’s snare. I need- I need-“

“-Fire!”

“Yes! That’s it! Incendio!”

“Aaahh!”

“Potter! I just -I just set you on fire!”

“Ahhh! Put it out! Put it out!”

“A-aguamenti! Aguamenti!”

“Urgh. It burns. You… you set me on fire.”

“And then I put it out again. Are you alright? I’m so sorry! I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you. You were getting all tied up. Here, let me help you out?”

“Mmm thanks. Everything feels like its burning. Aguamenti! Glaciate!”

“I didn't mean to panic. I just forgot. I should’ve done a sunlight spell to scare it off. And now you’re covered in burns. But don’t worry, I can make a burn salve in no time!”

“Heh, no worries Evans. I’m fine. It’s okay.”

“You’re not mad?”

“I’m always mad about you. But uh seriously, it’s cool. Honestly, it’s pretty amusing, right?”

“Damn… your good spirit is truly irrepressible Potter.”

“I can’t believe you set me on fire! And then felt bad about it. You have to admit, it’s a little funny, isn’t it?

“It’s nothing of the sort! You take nothing seriously. Does nothing phase you?. Still… glad you’re not upset.”

“Can’t let a little fire between friends get between us and the Larrikins!”

[secondhandquills]

small tower

@jilymicrofics July prompt 1- tent. Dialogue only for fun. Might continue and turn this a a multipart with the other prompts. Just the one for now though.

Prompt 1 – Tent

“I hate you.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Evans. We both signed up for this, as you well know.”

“And what exactly possessed you to take this class in the first place?”

“You’re asking this halfway through the year?”

“Typically, I try to minimise our interactions, Potter. And yet three times a week I’ve been forced to endure the disturbing sight of you without your entourage.”

“Oh Evans, you don’t know how hard it’s been for me! Why, if it wasn’t for your half-dead expressions greeting me each lesson, bolstering my spirits, I’d have lost the will to live by November.”

“I’d have skived off if I’d known.”

“And disappoint all the poor forest critters and dear Professor Kettleburn?”

“They’d understand. In fact, I’m highly considering disappointing them again now. Two whole weeks in your company?”

“Indeed.”

“Don’t sound so cheerful about it!”

“Do you want me to lie? Do you want me to hide the fact that I’m happy to spend time with you?”

“…”

“Evans?”

“…There must be something I can do about this. I refuse to spend my Easter holidays alone in a tent with you of all people. Do you think it’s too late to cancel?”

“…But you were so excited about this trip a few weeks ago. Camping and actually getting to do the finding of those fantastic beasts.”

“That was before I learned they were sorting us by House for some accursed reason and you just so happened to be the only other Gryffindor taking the Care of Magical Creatures NEWT!”

“And you just assume I’m going to make it terrible for you?”

“Yes, I know you, Potter.”

“No you don’t. You think I’m some demon who exists purely to ruin your day-”

”You are-”

“When I’m actually a fellow magical creatures enthusiast who’s just thrilled to go on an adventure now that we can both legally use magic.”

“Oh? So you’d be happy if we weren’t paired together?”

“I’m committed to having a great time, yes, and I won’t let you ruin it with your constant sulkiness and inability to have fun.”

“Wow Potter. Such a gentleman as always, aren’t you? I can’t stand another second with that fat head of yours.”

“Wait Evans! Seriously, lighten up, won’t you? Hey, wait a minute!”

“Get out of my way.”

“Just, wait a minute. Seriously.”

“I don’t want to infect you with my constant sulkiness.”

“Oh, that broom has long since flown away. I’m way past infected.”

“…”

“Not the time? Heh, nevermind. Please Evans. Just… let me show you the tent, okay? It’s a wizarding tent. We’re not exactly going to be sharing a sleeping bag.”

“I suppose I must at least examine our equipment.”

“We’re well stocked for an adventure. There’s a little a tower for stargazing over here, and see this mast? It comes out and allows us to go sailing if we get very, very lost.”

“The tent comes with a tower?”

“Yeah! See those steps there? It’s actually an endless staircase. It keep going up and up until you’re at least above a short tree. Though I hear newer models allow you to customise the height.”

“Potter, I hope you know this is against the very spirit of camping.”

“It’s just a little tower - I think it gives the tent some character.”

“Tents shouldn’t have towers! It’s meant to be living in nature, with minimal comforts.”

“Why?”

“Because its not supposed to be easy! It’s meant to be rough, without being pampered. Not that you’d ever know what that was like.”

“Things aren’t meant to be rough just for the sake of it! We are going to be living in nature. There won’t be any running water or like a kitchen or anything, so what’s the problem with having nice rooms?”

“It’s not preparing you for the real world. If you’re ever in danger, or travelling, you won’t have access to all these comforts.”

“Yes I will! I’m a wizard. I can transfigure any of the furniture in this room if I wanted to. I know lightening charms and warming charms and all that. And so do you. Are you really so determined to be miserable?”

“Don’t make it all sound so simple Potter. But fine, the tent isn’t terrible.”

“I mean, the tower is kind of underwhelming from the outside. I think we might be settling for not terrible.”

“I was thinking it was kind of cute, once you get over its general existence.”

“Hmm Evans, maybe you’re right. It reminds me of me.”

“Crooked and unnecessary?”

“Cute and charming – once you stop trying to judge it.”

[petalsonparchment]

There are no “pre-war marauders” to romanticise, because by the time they all meet, the war was full-fledged.

The conflicts with Voldemort started gaining traction around 1966 when he started traveling (after the creation of his fifth horcrux) with what he called his death eaters, throughout Asia and Africa. During this time he was performing dark magical experiments, including killing muggles to turn them into inferi.

By 1968-1970 Voldemort had his followers convinced that to truly create a world full of peace and power, the old regime needed to be torn down and only those who shared pure blood, magical skill and idealism would be allowed to live in it

The 1960s were a time when the tide of social progress (like electing the first muggle born prime minister) clashed with the entrenched social order (the continued rise of pureblood-only ideals after the defeat of Gridlewald in 1945). For example, Squibs and goblins were asking for their own rights as magical beings, which caused the pure-blood supremacists to riot as well. With so many magical minority groups demanding to be treated as equals, the old, elite pure-blood houses obviously supported Voldemort’s vision because their world was growing smaller.

Voldemort placed the jinx on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position sometime around 1970, which is the year before the marauders started at Hogwarts. By this point, Dumbledore was fully aware of what Voldemort was doing, which is why he turned down the position of teacher that Voldemort had requested.

It was after this, sometime in late 1970-early 1971, that Voldemort revealed himself openly, proclaiming himself the Dark Lord, and when he started to commit extreme acts of terrorism in Britain. With his army of dark wizards and the dark creatures he’d created, Voldemort launched an assault against the British Ministry of Magic with the intention of toppling it and creating a new world order run by pure-bloods.

Death Eaters, who’d begun killing any “blood traitors” and muggles at random, started using the dark mark around this time as well. Voldemort was killing anyone too powerful for his death eaters to take on, or anyone he deemed important enough to gather his interest.

The only place Voldemort didn’t go near was Hogwarts, because he feared the headmaster. In that time as well, Dumbledore formed the Order of the Phoenix in 1971 or 1972, to take the fight directly to the heart of the issue, with the renegade party doing surprise attacks and working underground to infiltrate the enemy.

But there was never a time in which the Marauders lived together at Hogwarts, where a war on magic and blood wasn’t going on.

There was never a time when Remus wasn’t in danger of being killed for being a werewolf.

There was never a time where Sirius’s family wasn’t forcing the pure blood ideals on their children.

There was never a time where Peter wasn’t frightened of being killed by Voldemort’s followers.

And there was never a time where James falling for Lily, wasn’t considered traitorous to his blood status.

[ladydiamond456]

jily wedding

[ladydiamond456]

Jegulus is a product of fandom misogyny, analysis

The rise of Jegulus is not a coincidence. It is the result of a fandom culture that repeatedly prioritizes male characters over female ones and treats women as obstacles to be removed rather than people worth exploring.

At the center of this issue is Lily Evans. James Potter already has a canon love story. He already has a relationship that shapes his character, influences his growth, and becomes one of the most important relationships in the entire series. Yet fandom routinely pushes Lily aside in favor of Regulus Black, a character with significantly less narrative importance.

This pattern reveals the real foundation of Jegulus. The ship only became possible because fandom decided that a male character deserved Lily's place in the story more than Lily herself.

The treatment of Lily within Jegulus spaces demonstrates the problem clearly. She is frequently erased, diminished, rewritten, or reduced to a barrier standing in the way of the relationship fandom actually wants. Meanwhile, Regulus is elevated into a central romantic figure despite the fact that his canon role is far smaller and morally worse.

The contrast is impossible to ignore. A woman who fought against blood supremacy is pushed aside. A man who voluntarily joined a terrorist organization is transformed into a romantic lead.

This is not a celebration of complexity. It is the result of a fandom culture that consistently grants male characters more sympathy, more attention, and more narrative value than female characters.

The popularity of Jegulus also reflects fandom's broader tendency to view male-centered stories as inherently more interesting than stories involving women. Female characters are expected to justify their presence. Male characters are automatically considered worthy of endless analysis, redemption arcs, and romantic reinterpretation.

As a result, Jegulus has become less about the characters themselves and more about the replacement of a female-centered relationship with a male-centered one.

For these reasons, Jegulus is not a challenge to existing fandom biases. It is one of the clearest examples of them. The ship thrives within a culture that repeatedly sidelines women, minimizes their importance, and reallocates their narrative significance to male characters. Its popularity is inseparable from that pattern.

[bimarymacdonald]

hate hate hate hateeeeeeee “haha james is so dumb” jokes like sorry he’s smart. academically. There’s actually no way that lily evans would fuck a stupid man BYE

[casablancas21]

Willow repost

To anyone who might be interested, I'm rewriting Willow and will be posting the story again in the upcoming days. I was preparing myself to write another Hogwarts-centric fic and decided to reread Willow to help me dive back into the universe; which in turn took me to discover so many grammar mistakes and inconsistencies 😅

So I just decided to edit the whole thing and post it all again. I've also included a few new scenes and deleted others, so while it's still basically the same story, I expect it to be much better and make more sense now. Either way, it's going up this weekend.

I hope some of you can enjoy this again :)

[cartoonrival]

im completely addicted to Open Link in New Tab

[cartoonrival]

if Open Link in New Tab is wrong then baby i dont want to be right

[wewereinfinitelywolfstar]

Like we always talk about Sirius’ dog traits and Peter’s rat traits…what about James? Does he freeze when he sees headlights? Does he have an affinity for salt licks? What do deer even do?

[vagueenthusiast]

Occasionally, Lily will walk in on him rubbing his head against the bedpost.

[wewereinfinitelywolfstar]

One year after James got Sirius a box of dog treats for his birthday as a joke, Sirius got James a salt lick for Christmas…

…neither of them say anything when they walk in on each other indulging in said gifts…

[vagueenthusiast]

A day or so later, Sirius was peeved to find that his half-empty box of dog treats had been pillaged, with only a few crumbs left behind.

At dinner that night, Remus ate much less than usual.

[wewereinfinitelywolfstar]

Peter just looks at all of them like they are crazy until they buy him a giant wheel of gormet cheese for his birthday and he nearly cries from happiness

[siriusblackfoot]

james suddenly decides to become a vegetarian around fifth year 

when he sees something strange, sometimes sirius involuntarily makes that little *boof* sound dogs make when they don’t know if they should fully bark

peter is actually the first of the four to grow any facial hair, just a few wispy blonde mustache hairs on either side of his mouth, right about where whiskers would be…

[angryslothqueen]

Okay but imagine them being outside for whatever reason and James is absentmindedly playing with the grass before he just picks it up and puts it into his mouth without even realizing why anyone is staring at him.

[wewereinfinitelywolfstar]

James: *chewing on grass*

Sirius: mate…the fuck?

James: *stops chewing for a second.* oh please, we all saw you bury that chicken bone from dinner the other day.

Sirius:…point taken…

Sirius:…wait…*eyes narrow. Growls* you saw?

Remus: *sigh* Sirius no one’s going to steal your bone…

Sirius: damn right they won’t. *gets up.* EVERYONE CLOSE YOUR EYES. NOW I HAVE TO MOVE IT!

[wewereinfinitelywolfstar]

James also wakes up literally at the crack of fucking dawn and it drives everyone insane

[asktheboywholived]

And poor Minerva never understood her inexplicable urge to hiss whenever the marauders entered the room.  

[wewereinfinitelywolfstar]

• Deer don’t sleep for extended periods of time. They dose. James is up and down all night. The marauders get used to it eventually, but it drives Lily absolutely crazy.

• They prefer to sleep against solid objects. James can’t sleep if the mattress is too soft and it’s not unusual to find him napping on the floor or propped up against the wall.

• everyone assumes Peter is the lookout during pranks, but Deer have an amazing ability to sense even the slightest danger. James was incredibly on Order missions.

• mature bucks assert their dominance by trying to intimidate others with constant eye contact. This has caused a lot of stare downs between James and Sirius, which usually results in the two of them wrestling each other because they are both too stubborn to back down.

He stares down others also. Peter always gives in right away. James never dares to stare Remus down.

BONUS:

Before mating, Does often play “hard to get” and make the bucks chase after them before allowing the bucks to “catch” them…

Ladies and gentlemen of the fandom, I give you Lily Evans.

[l0vegl0wsinthedark]

HOLY FUCK I LAUGHED MY WAY THROUGH THIS POST BUT THAT LAST ONE AND NOW MY MIND IS FUCKING BLOWN

Not to forget that one post (WHERE IS THAT POST) that was about how deer get jealous and possessive and often go lick the neck of their does on the neck or something (James randomly plastering his tongue against Lily’s neck when she’s talking to a guy) LMFAO 

[trashof2manyfandoms]

I have this thing with my dog that he starts howling at any high pitched frequencies he hears. Just imagine something blows up in the classroom and everyone’s ears and ringing and Sirius just starts howling

[wewereinfinitelywolfstar]

Do you think Sirius hates the mail man?

Like when he and Remus have their first flat in a muggle neighborhood Sirius just sits at the window, glaring outside….

“Moony! Moony he’s here again!”

“It’s the postman, Pads. Relax.”

“I don’t like him.”

“Well that’s just too bad. Let the man do his job.”

“I don’t trust him Moony- AH! THERE HE IS! HEY! HEY YOU!”

“Padfoot stop shouting at the bloody postman!”

[tsmirrorball]

i can’t stand when people make james and sirius seem stupid. do they laugh at stupid jokes? ofc they do, cause that’s normal for friends???? just because they are loud, messy, popular and maybe sometimes annoying doesn’t mean they need remus and lily to think for them. leave my sons alone

[5ummit]

AO3 Ship Stats: Year In Bad Data

You may have seen this AO3 Year In Review.

It hasn’t crossed my tumblr dash but it sure is circulating on twitter with 3.5M views, 10K likes, 17K retweets and counting. Normally this would be great! I love data and charts and comparisons!

Except this data is GARBAGE and belongs in the TRASH.

I first noticed something fishy when I realized that Steve/Bucky – the 5th largest ship on AO3 by total fic count – wasn’t on this Top 100 list anywhere. I know Marvel’s popularity has fallen in recent years, but not that much. Especially considering some of the other ships that made it on the list. You mean to tell me a femslash HP ship (Mary MacDonald/Lily Potter) in which one half of the pairing was so minor I had to look up her name because she was only mentioned once in a single flashback scene beat fandom juggernaut Stucky? I call bullshit.

Now obviously jumping to conclusions based on gut instinct alone is horrible practice... but it is a good place to start. So let’s look at the actual numbers and discover why this entire dataset sits on a throne of lies.

Here are the results of filtering the Steve/Bucky tag for all works created between Jan 1, 2023 and Dec 31, 2023:

Not only would that place Steve/Bucky at #23 on this list, if the other counts are correct (hint: they're not), it’s also well above the 1520-new-work cutoff of the #100 spot. So how the fuck is it not on the list? Let’s check out the author’s FAQ to see if there’s some important factor we’re missing.

The first thing you’ll probably notice in the FAQ is that the data is being scraped from publicly available works. That means anything privated and only accessible to logged-in users isn’t counted. This is Sin #1. Already the data is inaccurate because we’re not actually counting all of the published fics, but the bots needed to do data collection on this scale can't easily scrape privated fics so I kinda get it. We’ll roll with this for now and see if it at least makes the numbers make more sense:

Nope. Logging out only reduced the total by a couple hundred. Even if one were to choose the most restrictive possible definition of "new works" and filter out all crossovers and incomplete fics, Steve/Bucky would still have a yearly total of 2,305. Yet the list claims their total is somewhere below 1,500? What the fuck is going on here?

Let’s look at another ship for comparison. This time one that’s very recent and popular enough to make it on the list so we have an actual reference value for comparison: Nick/Charlie (Heartstopper). According to the list, this ship sits at #34 this year with a total of 2630 new works. But what’s AO3 say?

Off by a hundred or so but the values are much closer at least!

If we dig further into the FAQ though we discover Sin #2 (and the most egregious): the counting method. The yearly fic counts are NOT determined by filtering for a certain time period, they’re determined by simply taking a snapshot of the total number of fics in a ship tag at the end of the year and subtracting the previous end-of-year total. For example, if you check a ship tag on Jan 1, 2023 and it has 10,000 fics and check it again on Jan 1, 2024 and it now has 12,000 fics, the difference (2,000) would be the number of "new works" on this chart.

At first glance this subtraction method might seem like a perfectly valid way to count fics, and it’s certainly the easiest way, but it can and did have major consequences to the point of making the entire dataset functionally meaningless. Why? If any older works are deleted or privated, every single one of those will be subtracted from the current year fic count. And to make the problem even worse, beginning at the end of last year there was a big scare about AI scraping fics from AO3, which caused hundreds, if not thousands, of users to lock down their fics or delete them.

The magnitude of this fuck up may not be immediately obvious so let’s look at an example to see how this works in practice.

Say we have two ships. Ship A is more than a decade old with a large fanbase. Ship B is only a couple years old but gaining traction. On Jan 1, 2023, Ship A had a catalog of 50,000 fics and ship B had 5,000. Both ships have 3,000 new works published in 2023. However, 4% of the older works in each fandom were either privated or deleted during that same time (this percentage is was just chosen to make the math easy but it’s close to reality).

Ship A: 50,000 x 4% = 2,000 removed works Ship B: 5,000 x 4% = 200 removed works

Ship A: 3,000 - 2,000 = 1,000 "new" works Ship B: 3,000 - 200 = 2,800 "new" works

This gives Ship A a net gain of 1,000 and Ship B a net gain of 2,800 despite both fandoms producing the exact same number of new works that year. And neither one of these reported counts are the actual new works count (3,000). THIS explains the drastic difference in ranking between a ship like Steve/Bucky and Nick/Charlie.

How is this a useful measure of anything? You can't draw any conclusions about the current size and popularity of a fandom based on this data.

With this system, not only is the reported "new works" count incorrect, the older, larger fandom will always be punished and it’s count disproportionately reduced simply for the sin of being an older, larger fandom. This example doesn’t even take into account that people are going to be way more likely to delete an old fic they're no longer proud of in a fandom they no longer care about than a fic that was just written, so the deletion percentage for the older fandom should theoretically be even larger in comparison.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the author of this "study" KNEW the data was tainted and chose to present it as meaningful anyway. You will only find this if you click through to the FAQ and read about the author’s methodology, something 99.99% of people will NOT do (and even those who do may not understand the true significance of this problem):

The author may try to argue their post states that the tags "which had the greatest gain in total public fanworks” are shown on the chart, which makes it not a lie, but a error on the viewer’s part in not interpreting their data correctly. This is bullshit. Their chart CLEARLY titles the fic count column “New Works” which it explicitly is NOT, by their own admission! It should be titled “Net Gain in Works” or something similar.

Even if it were correctly titled though, the general public would not understand the difference, would interpret the numbers as new works anyway (because net gain is functionally meaningless as we've just discovered), and would base conclusions on their incorrect assumptions. There’s no getting around that… other than doing the counts correctly in the first place. This would be a much larger task but I strongly believe you shouldn’t take on a project like this if you can’t do it right.

To sum up, just because someone put a lot of work into gathering data and making a nice color-coded chart, doesn’t mean the data is GOOD or VALUABLE.

[5ummit]

Centreoftheselights is back at it again, posting their new 2025 "stats" and continuing to double down on their misleading methodology and presentation. You know what to do.

As an aside, I think it's pretty funny that they've decided to add a new note at the top of their latest post, tone-policing their critics (aka anyone who doesn't worship the ground they walk on) and trying to make the case that it's okay to spread misinformation to millions of people if you do it in your "unpaid free time." I'm one of the people they've blocked (shocking) – despite never once threatening, attacking, or harassing anyone – so I'm unfortunately unable to help the poor souls in their comments understand why the data in the pretty color-coded chart doesn't match up with their own fandom experience and the numbers they can see with their own eyes. Anyone wiling to venture into the comments and help spread the word would be much appreciated. Just be… tactful about it. COTL doesn't take kindly to critique, no matter what they say otherwise.

[pheobesaphirra0330]

Brewing and Prejudices (63,714 words) by pheobesaphirra Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Explicit Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter Characters: Lily Evans Potter, James Potter Additional Tags: Marauders Era (Harry Potter), slight AU, Nearly Lovers, Angst, Romance, Dark Times, Blood and Injury, Brewing is a Turn-On, Prejudice Against Muggleborns, attempt at law-building, Smut, Drama, Pining Maybe?, jily Summary: Brewing was something Lily Evans could rely on, a steady comfort in a world unraveling at the seams. Through her work, she could quietly supply the Order, keeping people alive one careful draught at a time. As long as she stayed focused, stayed indispensable, everything would remain under control. It would all be fine. But what happens when something threatens her secured position?

[yallthemwitches]

Some other old school Jily from deviantart (ac: Izzybelle )

[bidonica]

there are notps and there are whytps. You aren't even annoyed by the ship you're just baffled that particular combination of characters has shooters

[bidonica]

delighted to see this post getting traction every now and then and being tagged with pairings and fandoms I have absolutely no idea about. Keep it going

[jilymicrofics]

Many thanks to this year's participating authors! (I tried to only tag you all once so Tumblr actually does the ping thing!) Everyone got their fics in on time for reveals, and we had no need for pinch hitters - that's serious success in our books!

Check Them Out:

You've ruined my life (By not being mine) by emmathecasualauthor for alpacasinsnow

Honey, Honey by Hydrangea_aspera for @siriuslychessi

Never Enough by @annabtg for @formerlympp

A Hostage Situation by mppmaraudergirl for MaryPictorSomnians

The autumn chill in the amber skies by @abihastastybeans for emmathecasualauthor

forays into organic chemistry by alpacasinsnow for Rebeccaseal

Scarlet Haze by @nodirectionhome--ao3 for @fiendishfyre

An Invitation to Mystery by @trinitydaydabbles for @tedwardremus

Where's the trophy? (He comes flying toward me) by TedwardRemus for @wearingaberetinparis

Five Days by @sophie-hatter-jenkins for abihastastybeans

Songbird by FiendishFyre for @apalapucian

Operation Love Languages by Rebeccaseal for AnnaBtG

I think we ought to live happily ever after by siriuslychessi for sophie_hatter_jenkins

happy bloody valentine's day (literally) by apalapucian for nodirectionhome

Pick Your Poison, Babe (I'm Poison Either Way) by ritaskeetered for Hydrangea_aspera

Marauders language by MaryPictorSomnians for TrinityDay