very funny when people describe naomi novik's scholomance as dark academia because yes of course it's a critique and subversion of dark academia as a trend in fiction & as an aesthetic about desiring certain forms of power and prestige. so yeah i guess it's dark academia in that it's participating in the genre, except for the fact that the novels consist of the protagonist hitting the genre with a steel chair until the genre gives up and admits that colonialism is bad maybe.
but also like yeah it is dark academia in the sense that the light conditions in the scholomance are fucking terrible. broken lights constantly. also everything is grimy. no one is showering properly and nobody has brushed their teeth with toothpaste in 4 years. dark academia in the sense that the characters are barely visible under a layer of dirt. just try turning THAT into a pinterest board
@acavatica #‘it’s better on the isms because it doesn’t discuss them’ might be the whole thing here#‘it doesn’t make me uncomfortable’ isn’t necessarily better than ‘dated thing had an awkward discussion but they tried’
Yes, yes, YES! Starting a new post, because this sums up so many of my frustrations with fan crit. Like, Animorphs clumsily attempts to tackle AIDS and slavery reparations and environmentalism and disability justice, and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. But at least it tries. AniTV strips all of that out in favor of a far blander "yeerks bad, humans good, we ignore race here" story.
There's this fallacy, where it's easier to criticize a failed attempt than it is a total lack of trying. In the Heights (2021) got smacked up, down, and sideways by critics and fans for its failure to include more dark-skinned characters; meanwhile A Quiet Place II (2021), Venom II (2021), Free Guy (2021), and Black Widow (2021) get no such critiques because they each include Exactly One Black Actor. Scholomance gets review-bombed for "fake" "forced" "diversity" (X) for featuring kids from all over the world, while Mortal Instruments gets a total lack of criticism for its cast having Exactly One Asian Guy (who is half-white).
I vividly recall a media professor ca. 2013 mansplaining to me that, actually, Orange is the New Black is sexist because it shows male characters having power over female ones, and there's no onscreen sex between the Black lesbians. Somehow he didn't feel the need to say this about Breaking Bad, Supernatural, Peaky Blinders, or any other series that went entire YEARS without passing the Bechdel test. No wonder TV shows have again embraced colorblind racism.
It's like when a series tries to tackle the big issues, there's enough there there for critics to get their teeth into; better to blandly replicate the status quo. And studios notice: Better to avoid all controversy by having the Animorphs inhabit a world where no one ever notices Jake and Cassie being an interracial couple, where Marco lives in a McMansion and Tobias's home life is never mentioned at all, where the closest we ever get to discussion of gender is Marco saying Rachel "throws like a girl" only to get belted with a baseball. That way no one can ever find enough examples of sexism to edit into a clever 60-second video montage of "12 most sexist moments of AniTV you've definitely forgotten!"
Book 1 of Naomi Novik's beloved 'The Scholomance' trilogy comes to Wraithmarked as an illustrated deluxe hardcover! And in FULL-color!
Sharing this over here for those of you for whom this will be relevant to your interests! Wraithmarked Books is doing a Kickstarter to raise funds for an incredibly fancy deluxe edition of A Deadly Education. I know it's very pricey, sorry! ;_; But even if you can't pledge, everyone can enjoy the fantastic art on view in the KS page!
Another scholomance reread (I know, okay, I know) and it’s so cool to reread the first book with the perspective on the school’s intentions that comes from reading the second book. It’s a point early on that people who are alone are at the highest risk of dying, and the school goes out of its way to force the students to work together. El’s magic mirror can only be made by one student from each track, and that’s part of what brings her and Aadhya together. There’s a history paper that has to be about a civilization whose language you don’t speak, which drags Liu and El into translating each others’ primary sources. I’m keeping an eye out for other examples, but it’s such a simple thing that these aren’t necessarily making the students learn better, or learn more- it’s just forcing them to work together, because people who work together are more likely to survive, and everything else about the school scares them into isolating self defense.
What protects the wise, gifted children of the world? Group projects, apparently.
Edit: more examples! During the build up to graduation and the attempted repairs, El describes how others are able to do the school work of the students who are doing repairs- “The school will come after you if the work doesn’t get done, but it doesn’t care in the slightest if you cheat.” It’s something that makes no sense for a school where learning is the only way to survive, but apparently cooperation is more helpful to survival than actually knowing the answers to your exams.
recent Scholomance graduates in the battle at the end of book 3 like, “Shit man, this wizard war is fucked. I just saw a guy clap his hands together and say ‘the ten hells’ or some similar shit, and every one around him turned inside out, had their tibia explode and then disappeared. The camera didn't even go onto him, that's how common shit like this is. My ass is casting frostbite and level 2 poison. I think I just saw El Higgins show up and start yelling at people to stop killing each other before she turns them all to stone. I gotta help her.”
Scholomance: A Series In Conversation With Harry Potter
(and often, that conversation is 'fuck you')
So I've seen posts (and made some myself), talking about how Scholomance is a response to Harry Potter, perhaps the most recent being this addition to a reblog chain of alternatives to the HP-series in light of Rowling's raging bigotry.
For folks who aren't familiar about the series, I think it's very possible you'll go "oh yeah because they're both in magic schools, sure". Or even "yeah all YA-adjacent fantasy in the last 20 years is influenced by Harry Potter, duh".
But no. I mean, specifically, the author Naomi Novik is a known fanfic writer who has spent years emersed in fandom, and I think she wrote the series in part as a response to critiques of the HP series. Some of this is more tongue-in-cheek playing with fandom specific tropes and ideas, but others I think are very insightful responses to how Rowling ended up creating a world based on British hegemony and replication of the status quo. Which isn't to say that the Scholomance series don't stand on their own-- I think they do!-- but if you were someone who grew up playing in that space, it'll have a whole other layer for you.
So, whether you've read the series, or are curious and want a spoiler-minimal break down, here's my thesis, starting with:
Harry X Draco
The two leads, El and Orion, are designed to parallel and reflect common tropes given to Harry and Draco in the HP fandom, though not necessarily in a one to one. Beyond the rivals-to-lovers romantic pairing, we have…
El: The protagonist, struggling against the perceptions of a prophecy, the social outcast, Angry and Scowly (Harry)
Takes on the roll of the apparently-evil nascent dark wizard who secretly has a heart of gold (Draco)
Orion: the golden boy, the hero (Harry)
Latin name, Comes from a powerful and established family, parent is a major villain, silvery-blonde (Draco)
Their relationship arc requires El to unpack that Orion's upbringing was not necessarily happy for all it was privileged, while Orion needs to recognise he had privilege in the first place, and other people had to struggle where he didn't-- which are common arcs in Draco/Harry fics.
HP Adults Are Useless
A constant (sometimes joking, sometimes serious) complaint of HP, was how the adults were functionally useless, requiring the kids to constantly save the day.
Honestly, I think this is just one of the fundamental elements of the genre: YA fiction will have Young Adults do the plot stuff.
Nonetheless, Scholomance has an elegant solution to the accidental byproduct of making the adults seem idiots and/or negligent—the adults can’t help, because there are none in the school.
Even once they graduate, it’s not so much that adults are useless per say; some are in fact quite helpful! But many of the most powerful have been co-opted by corrupt corporate systems, and those who haven’t are struggling with intense trauma that makes them unwilling to rock the boat.
Man, The Way HP Treats Muggles-Born Is Kinda Whack
Sure is!
Scholomance amps this up even more. Magical kids born of non-magical parents don’t last long. This is because young wizards are basically yummy mana snacks for monsters. The one “muggleborn” kid we hear about getting schlorped up by the Scholomance is said to have died painfully and messily due to any lack of knowledge, equipment, or allies. It encapsulates the failings of the current system.
Why Don’t Wizards Help Muggles?
As an extension of the last point, wizards in HP consistently treat non-magical people with disdain at best. At worst, they actively hurt them, as evidenced by stuff like innocent civilians suffering brain damage due to repeated memory wipes. They certainly don’t do anything like use their magic to help cure disease, duplicate and/or transport food, or provide clean energy, all of which seems easily within their power. The reasoning for this is pretty unexplored (bad blood from witch trials?) and seems kind of laughable given that the average witch or wizard should be able to easily overpower the average muggle.
Again, Scholomance has an elegant solution here: magic just doesn’t work around non-magical folks.
Rather, magic is powered, deep down, on the belief that it’ll work. And deep, deep down, normal people don’t believe magic is real. Monsters become weak in their presence; spells fizzle out. Indeed, a smart strategy for survival as a wizard is to hide yourself deep among non-magical crowds.
Otherwise, mana is expensive. Even if you could cast a cure-cancer spell in a mundane hospital with confidence it wouldn’t just fail, that would be prohibitively mana-hungry for all but the most secure Enclave wizards.
How Can There Be Any Material Poverty In The Wizarding World?
A lot of the HP books are obsessed with class. Like the Weasleys are poor. Really poor. They seem to struggle with basic expenses for food and clothes, let alone stuff like school supplies. How does that make any sense, when over the series, we see ability to near instantly repair items, replicate food, etc?
In Scholomance, poverty has nothing to do with material wealth over mundane things, like food and clothes. Indeed, it's explicitly said getting money is trivial. The currency is mana, which is what you need to cast any spells... Which is what you need to not get eaten by monsters.
HP’s Wizarding World Has So Few Jobs!
An oft-repeated critique of Rowling’s worldbuilding is that there were like, five jobs (teacher, cop, merchant, healer, and government official).
Scholomance’s worldbuilding focuses hugely on the wide variety of careers available in their world, with everyone very preoccupied with what job they’re going to take, since it actively impacts their survival both in and out of high school. We hear about maintenance workers, water sanitation, food scientists, doctors, artificers, gardeners, and more.
That said, everyone who graduates ends up being a skilled martial combatant, cuz if you aren’t, monsters eat you. Ouch.
… this probably has an impact on why wizard society, at large, is so combative and dog-eat-dog.
Why Are HP Spells Only In Latin?
All the spells the students learn in Hogwarts are Latin. IIRC, we might see some French and Nordic spells when other schools visit in book 4, but we get pretty much no world building an explanation. Why Latin? Out of universe, of course, it’s because it has associations with sophistication and academia and lost knowledge. By why in-universe? Do spells simply not work in English? What about other contemporary languages? Why would that matter at all? Do languages become magic if they're old enough? What's the logic here?
Scholomance answers all of these questions. Different languages have different schools and philosophies around spell crafting. While all contemporary languages have their own spells, anyone who wants to be competitive needs to learn spells from other languages, both modern and archaic. “The Language Track”, which El is on, is necessary for those who want to become particularly flexible and skilled spell-crafters.
Actually, HP’s Global Worldbuilding In General Is Either Non-Existent Or Downright Shitty
Sure fucking was.
As a refresher for those who never read the books or have just forgotten, the HP series is pretty disinterested in questions of what the so-called “wizarding world” looks like outside Europe, or even Britain. We get glimpses of French and Nordic wizards, as mentioned. We hear about dragons from a variety of countries; we know there’s “curse breaking” on Egyptian pyramids. That’s about it.
On the official HP extended lore site “Pottermore”, Rowling began to write short stories and other material to fill in the gaps. These were bad. Really bad. Things like there being a single wizarding school for all of China. Or the Indigenous witches and wizards of the Americas apparently not being very good at magic, until European wizards came, taught them how to make wands, and set up the first school on the continent (which every kid, presumably including Indigenous ones, go to.) Wow.
Again, Scholomance-- both the series and the titular school-- is designed to answer these critiques.
Why is there only one magical school? Because it was an incredibly complex and mana-hungry construction project.
Why is it so British and American in its design? Because those were the main builders/funders, and they intended to keep it for themselves... Until they realised they needed to put more kids in there to up the chances for their own childrens' survival.
But while Britain and America have an outsized impact on the school, they are not the only major players. International politics is a huge theme of the series, with Enclaves from all around the world fighting for power and influence. China in particular is becoming a rising star, and is pressuring for more seats in the school, or else they might break away and make one of their own. Everyone is bracing for an international wizard war that seems liable to start any moment.
Our protagonist, El, is of both Welsh and Indian descent, notably both nations that were colonized by the British. As the series goes on, that colonization becomes a major theme, arguably the one that underpins the whole series.
In order to counter this, El needs to cultivate friends and allies from all around the world. While I think it's telling that her first real friend ends up being a Desi-American girl, her core team ends up including folks from China, Germany, Malaysia, and more. All of these nations are shown to have their own cultural backgrounds and approaches to magic. Notably, the powerful ancient magical tome that holds the promise for potential peace, the Golden Sutras, are rooted in Indian culture, just like El.
Harry Potter Is Pretty Heteronormative, Huh?
Sure is. And while there were critiques of this even when the books were coming out, its failure there has become much more damning in hindsight given Rowling's descent into becoming perhaps the most politically active and powerful transphobe on the planet.
Sadly, I don't believe Scholomance has any explicit trans representation (though let me know if I'm forgetting something). I will say, though, that on top of having some background queer rep, El is bisexual, who has an on-page sexual relationship with another young woman. (I adore that whole relationship so much frankly, but it's kinda out side the scope here, so I'll leave that aside for now).
Status Quo
And then, the crux of it. Harry Potter, for all the series presented itself as a counter-cultural rebellion against a fascist take over, ends right where it started. Voldemort is defeated, sure, but none of the systems that led to his creation and rise to power are dismantle. Harry grows up to become a wizard cop, marries his high school sweet heart, and has three kids.
Without spoilers, Scholomance ends on a much more open note. There is no single villain to defeat. Fixing the system is a long, hard, slow process. The powers that be will try to block El and her allies at every turn. But she's still determined to try.
... PS
My Immortal
Galadriel Higgins is a goth who puts up her middle fingers at preps. The end.
el was raised by gwen higgins. gwen higgins, who has an affinity for healing, who values hard work and doesn't discriminate who deserves to live. she's a healer in the basest sense. everyone who wants something from her, who is brave enough to ask, deserves to be cared for and loved. she loves el so much that she instills that love into el, pouring affection and care and guiding her towards kindness as a choice. it's the main reason that el isn't a mass murderer. because her mother wanted a child, and got a weapon, and loved her all the same.
orion was raised by ophelia rhys-lake. ophelia, who pulls malia, who wants to be as powerful as possible, who sees power as a shield against the worst of people. the ends justify the means, and she's willing to sacrifice humanity (her own, and her child's) for the power and control she can wield. she loves orion, and that's also why he is the way he is. she doesn't want destruction, she wants protection, but thinks that the only way to stop herself from being completely destroyed is to wield destruction herself in quantities she can control. she makes orion into a hero, because she wanted a weapon, and got a child, and loved him as both.
even their nicknames for their children are indicative of this dynamic. my darling girl: affectionate, loving, cherished. it has nothing to do with what el can do; it's merely affection, placed on a person, because they care. my star boy: bright, affectionate, but dangerous and powerful. there's a distance there, keeping orion at arm's length. you love the constellations, but too close and you'll get burned.
both ophelia and gwen got weapons, got violent dogs to care for. ophelia gave praise, training, a guiding hand towards protectiveness. gwen merely gave love.
Thinking about graduation allies in Scholomance- we're told that those alliances last beyond the school because you owe them your survival, and we see it briefly in The Golden Enclaves- you treat your kid's allies as honored guests, maybe even as if they're family themselves. If I remember correctly El implies she recognizes the word for ally even in languages she doesn't speak, so we can assume it's something other students know as well, even if they aren't language track.
And if you think about it a little- isn't every student in The Last Graduate part of one big graduation alliance? The whole senior class did practice runs and graduation projects together. The entire school trusted their survival and future to El and Orion and Liesel and Liu and every single other student who stayed in their line and group instead of running as every fucking mal in the world streamed past, holding their shields and sharing their healing. And even the class before theirs- the class in A Deadly Education who thought they were doomed and then got to run through an empty, freshly cleansed graduation hall- wouldn't all of them consider El and Orion and the others on the repair mission as allies?
And thinking about it like that adds another layer to the end of The Golden Enclaves- where even in the middle of a fucking enclave war, everyone in her year walks away from their enclave to follow El, trusting and supporting her the same way that Liu and Aadhya do. Because, as the books say, graduation alliances can be the most important relationship of a wizard's entire life, and El is the one who got them out.
And if you think about it like that- that every wizard in a certain age range would see El and Orion that way, if they thought about it- then I think it's part of a minor arc in the series: El starts as someone who is welcome nowhere, and becomes someone who is welcomed everywhere. She isn't welcome in the commune that loves her mother, or her father's family, except for her mother there is nobody who will do anything to help her, even when she's an elementary schooler alone in a yurt screaming in terror- and then she is someone everyone welcomes but only because she's connected to Orion- and she ends the series as someone who people will do anything to help, even walking away from their enclave allies or going into a place in the void that's supposed to fall, who will be welcomed by anyone except for the people making mawmouths.
And also, all the other seniors count as allies to each other, because they all worked together on the plan to graduate- and the Scholomance made sure that all of them did the work- which means all of them have a lot of connections across the globe. Which makes it much harder for any of the new generation of wizards to take the easy but cruel choice, the choice the books are all about rejecting- "I can be safe and have all the things I want, if I do something that has horrible impacts on other people far away from here, outside my community, who I will never see." For the last graduates of scholomance, those far away people are your community, and you have seen them- and now you have other options to be safe, which don't require causing suffering for other people. So that's another way that the one big graduation alliance made the world a better place, in addition to all the other ways it did that, by choosing to reject the systems in place and help everyone, even though it was harder than only caring for yourself.
