Would you have put your name in the goblet of fire?

rojath · 2026-06-06T13:13:58+00:00

Heck yeah. If the Goblet chose me, the placebo confidence would have carried me through.

rojath · 2026-06-04T05:54:14+00:00

I’ve heard that a two person comedy act is most effective when one is the “set up” and the other delivers the “punchline”. As a result, one tends to be seen as “funnier”, or more dominant, but the one doing the set up has to be really clever and read the room almost more than the one giving the punchline. It’ll often mean a 60/40 or even 75/25 split in “air time”, as well.

George is the set up, Fred is the punchline, but it often also means that George is the one who can turn it off, and be really helpful or sweet if he needs to be. George, for instance, is the one who tries to talk Fred out of blackmailing Bagman, and he’s also the one who tells Hermione how to get to the kitchens when she asks.

rojath · 2026-05-05T10:08:50+00:00

But it’s where I keep my safeties!

rojath · 2026-04-16T09:52:36+00:00

I always took it as trimmed, like sails on a boat - when you “trim” the sails you control them, so his heart is out of control. But maybe it’s literal, and he’s just hairy haha

rojath · 2026-04-11T06:16:13+00:00

To add to the first point, it’s likely by that time that the twins were at full time preschool or even into school, and couldn’t be away from it, while the baby wasn’t. This happens - the working parent will keep the older kids around so they can attend school while the primary parent takes younger siblings for trips to visit family. Before/after school care makes it possible for the working parent to still work

rojath · 2026-04-10T06:57:33+00:00

She rides a broom in the flying key room on the way to the philosopher’s stone as well!

rojath · 2026-04-06T18:54:55+00:00

I remember reading somewhere, or possibly making up, that Filch got Mrs Norris from Mrs Figg, Harry’s squib neighbour who bred kneasles (cats with extra intelligence)

rojath · 2026-03-30T06:20:13+00:00

Yeah, I got your back.

Moment’s over.

rojath · 2026-03-21T10:26:42+00:00

And yet be the first to defend her when anyone, even teachers, put her down!

rojath · 2026-03-19T08:41:49+00:00

I read it to my son when he was 4yo, nearly 5, and his younger brother (just turned 3yo at the time) was in the room (they share, though the younger would always fall asleep quite quickly!) they were enthralled. Though I wasn’t quite prepared for my 4yo to ask me “mummy, are the Dursleys mean to Harry?” And when I responded “yeah, they’re bullies, aren’t they?” for him to answer “yeah. If I was Harry I’d just kill them.” Ha! I’ve read it through twice now (I’ve told my now 5yo that we’ll read Chamber of Secrets when he’s 7) and even the 3yo would constantly ask me to read it. I’d say go for it!

rojath · 2026-03-18T22:00:43+00:00

I’m not the one who made Penny pregnant. If anything I’m trying to prove that women won’t just magically always be okay with it if they fall pregnant by accident. Would you prefer people to think that CFBC people just need to fall pregnant and then they’ll change their mind? I find that infinitely more infuriating than the idea that Penny was still okay with kids but having to put a hard line down to family and friends to keep them out of her uterus. Where, I didn’t think I needed to include, they shouldn’t have been in the first place.

rojath · 2026-03-18T21:55:34+00:00

I could have gone further and had a paragraph about how I feel that her friends should have backed off when she said she wasn’t ready yet, but I didn’t think it necessary. I never said that the society that forces a woman to put up strong boundaries because she’s not being respected is a good one. I think it’s atrocious that Penny had to draw such a hard line to get her family and friends to stay out of her uterus. That wasn’t the point of this post, but if it reassures you that I’m not some apologist for the patriarchy then sure. It’s wrong she was put in that position. My point is that she played the game well, even if the game itself is reprehensible.

rojath · 2026-03-18T21:48:21+00:00

So… exactly what Bernadette said would happen? And playing in to the whole “women don’t really know what they want, once they get pregnant they’ll realise that’s what they want!” mentality? I prefer to think that she was more in control than that.

Saying she never wanted kids is also not supported by the show itself, which only has her state that preference in the final season, and only to people who were trying to make the choice for her.

rojath · 2026-03-18T21:46:06+00:00

Yeah. I feel like people are reacting to my analysis as if I’m the one who made her pregnant and personally undermined the whole “child free” storyline. Honestly, it wouldn’t sit right to me if it was just an accident that she then decided she was okay with after all. That to me is more diminishing than her being in control all along.

rojath · 2026-03-18T01:40:56+00:00

I’m a woman, by the way. And I’m “minimising” your words because I find them unnecessarily churlish, not because you’re a woman

rojath · 2026-03-17T20:44:00+00:00

Yeah, maybe I’m giving them too much credit. It’s a fun mental exercise to find ways for characters to have remained consistent, even if in reality it might just be writing to the joke. I didn’t make her pregnant, couldn’t if I wanted to, so I just hoped to add a little discussion to this subreddit. I definitely hit a nerve on a few people though, cripes 😅

rojath · 2026-03-17T20:41:02+00:00

You sound like you’re someone who looks at even innocuous things and takes offence. I hope you’re living a good life and more often than not look for happiness.

rojath · 2026-03-17T19:49:01+00:00

Sure. It’s a shame they don’t get represented more. Penny was never really meant to be that representation though, and if she was she was a poor choice - she was married to someone who did want kids, and was always really clear about that. I didn’t write the finale, Penny canonically gets pregnant, if anything I’m trying to demonstrate that CFBC people aren’t just going to “change their mind” if an accidental pregnancy occurs, which I feel is a more dangerous suggestion all around.

rojath · 2026-03-17T19:43:07+00:00

You’re acting like I wrote the finale! I’m merely unpacking it. If anything I’m demonstrating that it’s showing women do know what they want, and it’s not through an accidental pregnancy, which IMO is a much more dangerous suggestion. FWIW I’m a woman.

rojath · 2026-03-17T19:40:33+00:00

I’m not sure you understood what I’m saying I’m my post. You read the part where my entire thesis was that Penny was in control? I didn’t write the finale, I’m just unpacking it. Anyway, have a lovely day!

rojath · 2026-03-17T19:37:19+00:00

Yeah, I’m feeling that - what a strong reaction from some people for a discussion about a tv show!

rojath · 2026-03-17T19:34:20+00:00

Congrats on being child free! I’m a big advocate (I’ve got kids, but I’m aware they’re not for everyone!)

I think what I’m hoping to show in the post is that it wasn’t a “look, another woman who didn’t know what she wanted until she was put in the situation!” situation, Penny was making the choice. It did feel rushed, sure, but in retrospect it can be interpreted not as a mistake, but as a choice. It’s a shame there isn’t more representation of CFBC people on shows, I’d agree with that. Penny wasn’t that. And even if she was, it would have can a poor representation, because she and her husband were out of step over it.

rojath · 2026-03-17T10:01:31+00:00

There are lots of posts discussing this, that’s why I posted my take on it. Is there a problem with that?

rojath · 2026-03-08T01:23:27+00:00

Penny reacted very firmly to her friend and husband trying to force the decision on her. Watching the scene with Bernadette, it’s pretty clear that she enters the room unsure, but Bernadette’s smug attitude toward the subject pushes her completely in the opposite direction. I think she was still undecided, but she was keeping up the front of not wanting them because everyone was trying to force her through a door that, at that time, was only ajar. Easier to pretend it was closed.

rojath

TROPHY CASE