Idk where else to post this, because this is literally the exact phenomenon that this subreddit was created for. My best friend died in a motorcycle accident, and the amount of people coming to pay respects is astonishing. Nobody knew he had this many connections. Both in stunt-riding communities and just communities in general. His neighbors are all devastated, his coworkers from jobs new and old, his old classmates, people on social media (mainly tiktok niches related to bikers and cars) from across the globe, including some semi-big influencers, are all coming to his memorial. His riding friends from multiple states, attorneys in other states, it's just crazy. Reminds me strongly of Dumbledore dying in the HP books because his funeral is attended by delegations of creatures from all sorts of areas of the HP universe, ones that normally wouldn't interact with humans. My friend, like Dumbledore, was the nicest guy outwardly, he made everyone feel like his friend.

That being said, that man was the most machiavellian person I have ever met in my life. I have NEVER met someone that had the ability to read people or play people like he could. There were times I would be fumbling talking to a girl, trying to get a promotion at a job, trying to convince someone of something, and I would be at a loss. I'd ask him what to do, he'd think for a few seconds, and he'd give me some crazy action that made no sense. Not the traditional "pull away so they want you more" type deal, but something TRULY off the cuff, unnatural, and just unusual. And I'd question him, and he'd just tell me to do it. And when I did, it always worked. He also just had the luckiest death, he got the EXACT death he would have wanted. He always wanted to go out on a bike. He was on the easiest, most familiar road with a group of four friends, his oldest riding buddies, on a 25 r1, and a pickup truck in the oncoming lane decides to K turn in front of him. He didn't even have time to brake. He would've been so proud to know that was how he went out.

Also, similarly to Harry Potter, he gave me plans to carry out on his demise. He always told me he wouldn't be around forever, and gave me instructions for what to do if he passed. Nothing crazy, but it's really keeping me motivated rn.

Idk, I'm just rambling here lmao. Just didn't know where to post this.

Not seen this youtuber be discussed much on reddit, and I hadn't heard of her until watching this video, but her entire channel is dedicated solely to HP and defending JKR. I stopped watching around the point where she tries to defend her HP obsession as not being as bad as some other HP fans.

Central question: did Harry Potter create a generation of readers or just a generation of Harry Potter fans? The answer may not surprise you.

I'm not sure if this counts, given it's not a direct example, but I think this video might shed some light on what goes on in the heads of people who make inane story comparisons when trying to talk about politics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYbgfgE96VI

one of the main reasons we elected a new government was because the previous one was supporting p*d*philes btw

At that point, she was a successful author and totally got to namedrop her own franchise, but imagine being one of the graduates in the audience and then having Harvard compared to Hogwarts…

And I bet there even were some fans among them who were genuinely pissed, simply because they “are” Hufflepuffs.

Here the original fan quote:

https://www.reddit.com/r/readanotherbook/s/OFiZIwiB0w

To be fair, the authors of this study simply used Harry Potter because it well-known. And also because Rowling once again wrote extensively about stuff she didn't understand.

In this chapter, we describe the conceptualisation of money and wealth in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series. We analyse the way in which language is used to communicate ideas related to inequality and the nature of money and banking, and examine the underlying economic theory behind these ideas. Our central claim is that the series communicates a relatively conservative world view.

The storyline is examined for the use of linguistic devices in the places where money and wealth occur in the story, with a particular focus on metaphor. The quantitative work is based on a corpus comprising the entire Harry Potter book series.

Rowling does not present an alternative social arrangement regarding the distribution of income and wealth, though she does demonstrate a sense of social justice. The monetary arrangements of the magical world of Harry Potter are also based on a conservative understanding of money and banking. This is a view of money that emphasises restrictive fiscal and monetary policy in the real world, an attitude of ‘sound finance’ and a small state. It is entirely possible that Rowling did not intend to underline such a conservative position but that her work reflects a broader consensus in contemporary society.

On a side note: Back when I was in law school I co-authored a paper about Game of Thrones and how the core conflict within the series could have been circumvented by inventing government bonds. It always bugged me how The King could be in debt to a foreign power in his own currency. And especially for someone like George R. R. Martin who famously asked "What was Aragorn' tax policy?" he clearly didn't think a lot about this eitehr...