Still stuck on random Harry Potter thoughts

[conuly]

The Weasleys are bad parents and I will die on that hill.

And while thinking that, it suddenly occurred to me that if Ron and/or Ginny ever tried to distance themselves from their toxic (but not wholly abusive) parents, Molly would absolutely use Harry to try to make them feel bad. And it would work, because I think we all can agree that Harry Potter is very easily manipulated. Also, he has dead parents and was raised by the Dursleys, so the dialog pretty much writes itself.

I also now have this half-assed idea of Ron and Draco bonding over their terrible, emotionally manipulative parents. (The wizarding world, side note, is in dire need of the internet.)

These ideas are free to a good home. I don't write fanfic. I get weird anxiety over the mere existence of other people's opinions.

You all have to humor me, I'm only thinking about Harry Potter at all because now I have two dead parents.

Also, random link: For instance, witchcraft beliefs are linked to weak institutions, low levels of social trust, and low innovation, as well as conformist culture and higher levels of in-group bias—the tendency for people to favor others who are similar to them.

Weirdly, that description manages to map onto my impression of JKR's wizarding Britain.

**************************************

Thanksgiving tradition started by mistaken text lives on for a seventh year

I've brought. . . some corn for. . . popping.

Initials and squiggles reveal hidden literacy of early modern England

World Record Goldfish Caught in France

See Some of the Year's Best Nature Photos

Breaking down the 50th anniversary of Stove Top, the foodstuff that changed our relationship with stuffing. There’s a lot of herbs and spices here.

Meta researchers create AI that masters Diplomacy, tricking human players

The Average Home Size in Every U.S. State in 2022

FDA approves first treatment to delay onset of type 1 diabetes

How monoclonal antibodies lost the fight with new COVID variants

The "Labor Shortage" Is Being Used as a Pretext to Harm Workers

Younger Chinese are spurning factory jobs that power the economy

‘Zombie Debt’: Homeowners face foreclosure on old mortgages

Tax filing websites have been sending users’ financial information to Facebook

Survivors of Black Wall Street Massacre Challenge Tulsa’s Atonement Strategy

The Judge and the Case That Came Back to Haunt Him

Carrying out executions took a secret toll on workers — then changed their politics

Comments

[brokenallbroken]

I've said this before, and I'll say this again - to real people, that is, not fictional ones - nine times out of ten, the only way you're "caught in the middle" between two adult people who have a difficult relationship is if you continue to put yourself in the middle.


Oh yes, absolutely. And even if everyone else is OOC, I find Harry to be well-characterized in those exactly because he puts himself in the middle. Someone who grew up with the Durselys would have no idea why someone would want to go no-contact with someone who feeds them and fusses over them, and as Molly's new Golden Child of course he'd want to keep her happy as well as staying Ron's friend or supporting Ginny as his wife. Notably, the "but faaaaaamily" only extends to those two; he's perfectly happy to write off Percy with the rest of them.

[conuly]

Percy's only real crime was not agreeing with his family on literally everything, and occasionally objecting to the way they all treated him.

[hashiveinu]

Someone who grew up with the Durselys would have no idea why someone would want to go no-contact with someone who feeds them and fusses over them, and as Molly's new Golden Child of course he'd want to keep her happy as well as staying Ron's friend or supporting Ginny as his wife. Notably, the "but faaaaaamily" only extends to those two; he's perfectly happy to write off Percy with the rest of them.

+1