undiagnosed mental illness:

J. K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. And we need to accept that.

Harry Potter isn’t some pure unproblematic beacon of perfection that we can just choose to erase the scummy author from and enjoy without guilt. Harry Potter is very much rooted in Rowling’s view of the world. The blatant antisemitism in the portrayal of the goblins, the entire race of slave creatures that actually really like being slaves and Hermione’s attempts to free them are largely played off as a joke, the almost complete dearth of canon characters of color (and then when she does put canonical characters of color in, they’re… Nagini…), the complete lack of respect for other cultures (the Japanese wizarding school literally translates to “Magic Place” in Japanese, Cho Chang is not even remotely a proper Chinese name, don’t get me started on her usage of Native American folklore), the almost complete lack of LGBTQ+ characters, the “Dumbledore is gay!” baiting, the lycanthropy-as-HIV metaphor that involves one of the werewolves intentionally infecting as many people as he can, with a preference for targeting children, no less…

These are all very much present in Harry Potter. They’re not things you can just ignore. And they’re there because Rowling wrote them in.

I know you read Harry Potter as a kid and loved it. I know when you read Harry Potter as a kid you probably didn’t even notice how shitty all this stuff was. I certainly didn’t. But you can’t go back to that time. You can’t go back to when you were 10, when you were consuming this media and loving it uncritically without notice or regard for its more problematic elements. You can’t go back to being a kid again.

And that’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’re required to wholeheartedly condemn this important part of your childhood. You can still enjoy these books while acknowledging that they’ve got some really shitty things in them. You can enjoy Harry Potter as a mature adult. You don’t have to be a kid again to like it. And you’re perfectly allowed to hate on Rowling for her shittiness, past and present, while still loving Harry Potter.

losers: clown

pennywise:

Beetlejuice: I got this

Beetlejuice, yelling from a window: C R E E P E R

you got a character that is a straight up gremlin? absolute bastard?? put ‘em in green.

So I binged 13RW yesterday and I have a lot of feelings about it.

What I liked:

Tyler: His storyline was my favorite part of the whole season. I feel like they handled it well, I still think they fucked up by showing the rape so graphically last season, but this season his arc was handled with proper care. I cried really hard when Tyler told Clay what happened to him, when he told Jessica, and when he stood up in the assembly and admitted that he was a sexual assault survivor. Watching Tyler find friends and happiness was so satisfying. I’m glad he made up with Cyrus and the punks, and that Zach finally gave him a chance. Devin Druid proved he’s a wonderful actor and shined like the star he is.

Jessica: I’m super proud of Jessica for becoming an advocate for victims and survivors herself, for standing up against Bryce and Monty, for being there for Tyler (seeing two sexual assault victims come together was super important), her scene with Mrs. Baker was also incredible. I’m still not crazy about Jessica and Justin as a couple, but I’m glad Jessica has found herself again and is able to have a positive sex life after what she went through.

Tony: I didn’t expect the ICE storyline with Tony and his family, but it was very emotional and it hit me really hard. I’m glad Caleb was there for Tony and I love their sweet, supportive relationship. Clony was back! I love that they shared ‘I love yous’ and that the friendship went back to its old roots.

Justin: I won’t lie, when he admitted to Jessica what happened to him, I was shocked. That was a beautiful scene and I’m super proud of Justin for opening up. His brotherhood with Clay was also on point this season, and I hope he can officially be adopted in season 4.

Clay: Clay has a heart of gold, and this season proved that, AGAIN. I love how loving and supportive he was towards Tyler, and how he was there for him. His scenes with Mrs. Baker were also moving and reminded me how much I miss Hannah.

Mrs. Baker and Jessica not forgiving Bryce: I feel like this is important to address. Yes, Bryce regretted his actions and apologized, but just because someone apologizes doesn’t mean they should be forgiven. Bryce caused A LOT of damage to multiple people, and no matter how sorry he was, the damage was done. Everyone has the right to apologize, but no one is entitled forgiveness and I’m glad both women didn’t change their minds about him. I also thought the scene between Olivia and Mrs. Walker was well done.

Zach being a good friend to Chloe: I’m glad it didn’t turn romantic and that Chloe was able to make her own decision not to have the baby. She’s young, in high school, and has plenty of time to be a mom or not, that’s up to her.

Alex, Jessica, and the killer reveal: After all that wait, the reveal did not dissapoint. Bryce was a fucking dumbass, Alex was helping him get up and he sealed his fate by threatening Zach and Jessica, so Alex pushed him and he and Jessica watched him drown. Well, bye, bye, dude. Oh, and I’m happy Jessica said Alex was her best friend and the ‘FML Forever’ moment was perfect.

What I didn’t like:

Ani, her hypocrisy, and the weird Clay/Ani/Bryce love triangle: So Ani becomes friends with Jessica, knows Bryce is her rapist, but still hooks up with him and has this whole flirty, romantic comedy relationship with him and barely gets called out for it??? I feel like Jessica should have been allowed to tell her to fuck off and stop defending her rapist. Ani spent the entire season accusing everyone of killing Bryce, defending him and talking about “the other side of Bryce”, and I found myself rolling my eyes so many times at her I lost count (and she also accused Jess of sleeping with Bryce… UGH). HE’S A RAPIST!! Why would anyone want to sleep with and be nice to a rapist? I kept waiting for her to reveal that maybe Bryce reminded her of someone she knew, or that she was messed up and that’s why she was with him, but zero, nada. I feel like that ‘relationship’ was there to add more drama, and to make Clay pissed, which he was right to be. This isn’t the same as Clay being mad about Zach/Hannah, this is VERY different, I’d also lose my shit if my friend/crush was dating a known rapist. I don’t know why Clay still chose to be with her after all her Bryce stanning, and after she accused him of being a murderer. I know Ani ended up helping at the end, but the whole ‘triangle’ was weird and it made me super uncomfortable. She was a hypocrite for protesting against rapists while dating and defending one. Anyway… I missed Hannah Baker.

Bryce ‘Cry me a River’ Walker: Yes, Bryce was sorry. Yes, sometimes pieces of shit like him regret their actions. But Bryce was a serial rapist, and showing 15 scenes of him crying/suffering didn’t change my opinion of him. He still raped girls, he still bullied kids, and I think it’s up to the audience’s interpretation whether you think someone like him deserves another chance. Like I said before, I believe you don’t have to forgive your abuser if you don’t want to, and no matter how much a bad person tries to atone for their sins, the damage is done. But anyway, I don’t want to talk about Bryce anymore, his dead corpse can rot now.

Monty: So… Monty was gay. I think making the violent rapist a guy who was dealing with internalized homophobia was… a choice, but at least they gave us a positive gay couple with Tony and Caleb. Yes, Monty had a horrible father and problems of his own, but he still chose to hurt Tyler and be a bully, so I don’t forgive him, and I don’t care that he was framed for Bryce’s death or killed in prison. Good riddance.

Bryce calling out Monty for being a rapist was like watching Ch*rles M*nson call out T*d B*ndy for being a serial killer.

That said… Justin Prentice and Timothy Granaderos are brilliant actors and I respect them.

Missing characters: Not enough Courtney. No sign of Sheri or Nina (who were also survivors and it would have been so powerful to have them in the scene where Jess gives her speech and be part of the HO group). Scott Reed was also MIA, and tbh he wasn’t much of a character in season 2, but he had ties to Bryce and Monty, so seeing him this season would have been interesting. I think Charlie took over his ‘helpful jock’ role this season, but I did like Charlie, so that’s good. I still don’t know what happened to Marcus, but oh well, who cares.

doctor: have you tried exercising, eating fruit and losing weight?

chronically ill person:

jacob : alright, that’s enough

me :

alice: “and that was the time i ran a smuggling ring during the prohibition, and that—”