To all those who read Harry Potter, I thank you, for being the awesome peeps that you are. I thank you, for being part of a community along with me. I thank you, too, because you are the only people who will truly understand what I've tried to express here.
I don't like to say, 'I've read Harry Potter.' I prefer, 'I read Harry Potter.' Because Harry Potter is not something you read, and like, and then put aside. It's not just another series on your 'Books I've Read' list on Goodreads.
Like Daniel Radcliffe has been quoted as saying, Harry Potter is like the Mafia. Once you're in, you're in for life. Except, with Harry Potter, it's because you don't want to leave. It's not a phase that you get over after a while. Once you get into the fandom, you'll stay with Harry, until the very end.
How is that so, you're wondering, I'm sure. Here's how. Harry Potter is not a series of books, it's a whole world within our own (like a pocket universe, if you're a sci-fi fan). It's a lifestyle, of sorts. There is just so much to do, once you've jumped onto the fandom wagon. So, hold on tight and get ready for the ride of your life.
You read the books. You watch the movies. You ask everyone you know to do the same. You even listen to the audio books. You watch the Starkid adaptations and that starts another landslide fandom for you. You listen to songs from A Very Potter Musical all day long. And before you know it, you're watching every single video related to Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, and the cast, that you can find on YouTube. You talk about it not just to your friends, but to unknown people on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and what not. You spend hours completing chapters, practicing spells and brewing potions on Pottermore. You end up making a facebook page, a separate Twitter account, just for fangirling. You scroll down your News Feed/Timeline commenting on HP-related posts and pictures, discussing theories, answering quizzes, and then you post your own edits, or memes you found on the net. You fight in shipping wars. You want to take part in cosplay. You mourn the death of your favourite characters each year, on the sixteenth of May, the anniversary of The Battle of Hogwarts, along with tens of thousands of potterheads across the globe. You read fanfiction on the internet. (OMR, the fanfics! There are new fics on the internet every day. There would never come a day when you'll be able to rightfully claim that you've read all the fanfics ever written. This is something that will play a significant role in ensuring that you never stop reading Harry Potter.) Then, one day, anxiously, you write a headcanon and then your own fanfic, or at least you try to do.
At the end of the day, whether you've managed to do none, some, or all of these things, all you want to do is get in bed and read the books all over again!
And that's not the end of it, either. These are just the things that you are able to do right after reading the books. And most of them are things that people from all fandoms do. But there is so much more. Stuff that you want to do, stuff that you're not sure you'll be able to do yet you keep dreaming about. One day, you tell yourself, one day I will do all this. Here's my bucket list for y'all to read:
1. Collect Harry Potter book sets in all my favourite book jackets.
2. Buy all the HP merchandise that I can possibly buy. This includes Hogwarts robes, scarf, a wand, charm bracelets, rings, lockets, yada, yada, yada.
3. Get Harry Potter tattoos, at least three.
4. Meet J. K. Rowling (and David Yates, Tom Felton, and Emma Watson, and oh my god, so many other people!). Okay, this one is definitely not going to happen, but I'll never give up hope.
5. Go to the following places (which are all half a world away from where I live):
(That sounded so much like a tag line, it made me laugh. But I always did enjoy laughing at my own dumbness, so that's nothing new.)
Now, rejoice, my imaginary readers, for this is where I stop blabbering on about my fandom. But it's just what I do. D'you know why? Because I read Harry Freakin' Potter.
******
The title says 'Owl Post' because that's a new section I've started, where I'll write about Harry Potter. So, if any of you want to avoid my Potterhead ramblings, just ignore my Owl Posts. :)
I don't like to say, 'I've read Harry Potter.' I prefer, 'I read Harry Potter.' Because Harry Potter is not something you read, and like, and then put aside. It's not just another series on your 'Books I've Read' list on Goodreads.
Like Daniel Radcliffe has been quoted as saying, Harry Potter is like the Mafia. Once you're in, you're in for life. Except, with Harry Potter, it's because you don't want to leave. It's not a phase that you get over after a while. Once you get into the fandom, you'll stay with Harry, until the very end.
How is that so, you're wondering, I'm sure. Here's how. Harry Potter is not a series of books, it's a whole world within our own (like a pocket universe, if you're a sci-fi fan). It's a lifestyle, of sorts. There is just so much to do, once you've jumped onto the fandom wagon. So, hold on tight and get ready for the ride of your life.
You read the books. You watch the movies. You ask everyone you know to do the same. You even listen to the audio books. You watch the Starkid adaptations and that starts another landslide fandom for you. You listen to songs from A Very Potter Musical all day long. And before you know it, you're watching every single video related to Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, and the cast, that you can find on YouTube. You talk about it not just to your friends, but to unknown people on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and what not. You spend hours completing chapters, practicing spells and brewing potions on Pottermore. You end up making a facebook page, a separate Twitter account, just for fangirling. You scroll down your News Feed/Timeline commenting on HP-related posts and pictures, discussing theories, answering quizzes, and then you post your own edits, or memes you found on the net. You fight in shipping wars. You want to take part in cosplay. You mourn the death of your favourite characters each year, on the sixteenth of May, the anniversary of The Battle of Hogwarts, along with tens of thousands of potterheads across the globe. You read fanfiction on the internet. (OMR, the fanfics! There are new fics on the internet every day. There would never come a day when you'll be able to rightfully claim that you've read all the fanfics ever written. This is something that will play a significant role in ensuring that you never stop reading Harry Potter.) Then, one day, anxiously, you write a headcanon and then your own fanfic, or at least you try to do.
At the end of the day, whether you've managed to do none, some, or all of these things, all you want to do is get in bed and read the books all over again!
And that's not the end of it, either. These are just the things that you are able to do right after reading the books. And most of them are things that people from all fandoms do. But there is so much more. Stuff that you want to do, stuff that you're not sure you'll be able to do yet you keep dreaming about. One day, you tell yourself, one day I will do all this. Here's my bucket list for y'all to read:
1. Collect Harry Potter book sets in all my favourite book jackets.
2. Buy all the HP merchandise that I can possibly buy. This includes Hogwarts robes, scarf, a wand, charm bracelets, rings, lockets, yada, yada, yada.
3. Get Harry Potter tattoos, at least three.
4. Meet J. K. Rowling (and David Yates, Tom Felton, and Emma Watson, and oh my god, so many other people!). Okay, this one is definitely not going to happen, but I'll never give up hope.
5. Go to the following places (which are all half a world away from where I live):
- Comic Con International in San Diego (at least once).
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida.
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Hollywood Universal Studios in LA.
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Japan Universal Studios in Osaka.
- The Warner Brothers Studio Tour (Making of Harry Potter) in London.
(That sounded so much like a tag line, it made me laugh. But I always did enjoy laughing at my own dumbness, so that's nothing new.)
Now, rejoice, my imaginary readers, for this is where I stop blabbering on about my fandom. But it's just what I do. D'you know why? Because I read Harry Freakin' Potter.
******
The title says 'Owl Post' because that's a new section I've started, where I'll write about Harry Potter. So, if any of you want to avoid my Potterhead ramblings, just ignore my Owl Posts. :)
