Game of Thrones and Hogwarts Houses

Kylie’s take:

Since we’re supposed to use this journal as more of a jumping off point and less of a critique/praise kind of thing, I thought I would sort some of the characters from one of my current fandoms into Hogwarts houses. I’m not sure how familiar you are with the television show Game of Thrones, but I watched it over winter break and absolutely fell in love with it. I’m currently re-watching it with my boyfriend and I’m enjoying it almost as much as I did seeing it the first time. There are so many characters that I won’t be able to do all of them, but I’ll do a couple of main characters and give you my reasoning for why I put them there. Like Magdalena, I give the disclaimer that these are my opinions and so if you love GoT and disagree with me, I’m sorry! (Spoiler alert if you haven’t watched the tv show!)

Cersei Lannister: She’s obviously a Slytherin. She’s very cunning and ambitious, always trying to secure power for herself and for her family. Shewas able to take control of a situation where she had very few allies and get rid of all her enemies at once. She’s a Slytherin, through and through

Tyrion Lannister: I would put Tyrion in Ravenclaw. He is very intelligent and, more importantly, he values intelligence. He knows that he needs to be smarter than his opponents because they often are stronger than him and have more power. He’s also one of the funniest characters on the show, because of his wit.

Arya Stark: I had to think about this one a little, but I think that Arya would be a Gryffindor. She’s incredibly brave and has a strong sense of justice, which is evident by her wish to avenge her family member’s deaths. She also has a temper, which is a negative trait that is commonly associated with Gryffindor.

Daenerys Targaryen: Like Arya, this was a hard one for me, but I settled on Slytherin. Daenerys is incredibly ambitious and perseverant; she doesn’t let any obstacles stand in her way. She’s obsessed with success and taking back the Iron Throne, which bleeds into every other aspect of her life. I think she’s the perfect example of what Slytherins can be at their best.

Ned Stark: I would put Ned Stark in Hufflepuff (most people would probably put him in Gryffindor, but hear me out). The two things that define Ned to me are his loyalty and his refusal to play “the game” in King’s Landing. He believes in being loyal to Robert and doing the right thing all the time. He is brave, of course, but I think that his belief in loyalty and fair play outweighs that and puts him firmly in Hufflepuff.

Jaimie Lannister: I think that Jaimie would be in Slytherin. I don’t think Jaimie is ambitious as his sister, but he values his own life and acts in self-preservation a lot. He’s very resourceful and is good at getting himself out of sticky situations; he can think quickly on his feet and is a good fighter.

Jon Snow: He’s a Gryffindor. Jon Snow is all about being brave and chivalrous. He has a very strong moral compass and he won’t stray from it to the point of self-detriment. He can also be a little reckless and take unnecessary risks, which is a Gryffindor trait.

Sansa Stark: Sansa would be a Hufflepuff. She’s very conflict averse and loyal to her family. She cares about others and values friendship very highly. She is also very trusting, which can sometimes get her in trouble.

Stannis Baratheon: I think that he’s a Ravenclaw. The whole reason that people dislike Stannis is that he isn’t a very good people-person, which is (in my opinion) a very Ravenclaw trait. He’s also an excellent strategist, which requires a lot of intelligence.

Petyr Baelish: I had a hard time picking between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, but I ended up going with Slytherin. Baelish has said that he bases all of his choices off of whether or not the results will bring him closer to the Iron Throne or not, which is something a Slytherin would do. He’s very cunning and ruthless in his actions to get what he wants.

Krista’s Re-Mix

I am really biased toward cats. I think they are the best creatures. I love what Krista did for her re-mix project. I honestly don’t remember reading that Mrs.Figg had so many cats. I only really remembered that she was sent to watch Harry in the Order of the Phoenix. I thought that Krista’s idea was unique and a great way to bring real world interests to the Harry Potter world.

It was cute that she used pictures of her fellow Ravenclaw member’s cats. Overall I thought that that gave the entire project a more person feel. I thought it was well thought out that she detailed personalities for the cats. I loved that the one was a Mothman enthusiast, as I am as well.

Overall I thought her re-mix was a cute idea to begin with and was supported with an interesting level of detail. I would have like to see a bit more detail on the cat’s lives. I went back to read that section and saw that Mrs. Figg tripped over one of her cats and broke her leg. I would have liked to see maybe more stories about the cats and how their day to day living with her was.

Reading Journal 06 – Krista Shellhammer

My journal is about the issues revolving around the ideas of “enemyslash” and “powerslash” in fanfiction, and why it is perhaps for the best that the old trend was to write around “buddyslash” particularly in a fan culture such as Harry Potter, which inevitably attracts children to its audience, and therefore needs to set a safe example for queer youth.

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Infatuation or Obsession: When is the Love of a Character Too Much

Within Hannah Schmidt’s article, A Magically Nice Guy: Parasocial Relationships with Harry Potter Across Different Cultures, the idea of parasocial relationships are discussed. Parasocial relationships are defined as a one sided relationship in which one party doesn’t know that the other person exists. This is seen mainly in your every day person becoming infatuated with a fictional character, or a famous person. These relationships can be healthy in helping a person to lead a better life, but they can also turn into an unhealthy obsession. This leads us to ask at what point we draw the line between infatuation and obsession.

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New Remix Idea- Katherine

I know that I already posted about my remix, but I have done a ton of brainstorming since then. My new idea is to make a Howler brochure for mothers of Hogwart’s students. Basically, different colors will represent what type of howler your child will receive- red – anger, blue- disappointment, etc. I found instructions on how to make one, so my plan is to make at least one to show the class during my presentation.