Transcript for Queer Platonic Time Buddies with K Alexandra Mills

Talia Franks: Hello and welcome to Into the Archives. Today, I’m joined by a special guest, K Alexandra Mills.

Talia Franks: K is a Motown made and Southern raised writer, educator and activist. Having earned her BA in English and MFA in creative writing, she enjoys all sorts of creative expression, but is particularly fond of poetry and personal essays. Currently as a K through 12 educator, she gets to live out her passion of inspiring students to engage in literature, cultivate their own stories, and pay attention to societal and global trends.

Talia Franks: Kay is a member of the board of directors for Fandom Forward and poetry editor for Wizards in Space Literary Magazine. As a freelance writer, she has contributed to avenues such as Nerdist, Carefree Magazine, the Kitchn and Black Girls Create. K, thank you for being on today. I’m so excited.

K Alexandra: Not as excited as me.

K Alexandra: Hey y’all!

Talia Franks: Hello, hello! Right so I gave you that cute little introductory speech. But do you want to sort of introduce yourself to listeners, talk about who you are, what you do, current/ past projects, things you want to talk about?

K Alexandra: Hey y’all again, I am K Alexandra, a poet, writer, teacher, trivia enthusiast, infrequent reader.

K Alexandra: And I enjoy talking about fandom and styles of writing in fandom and particularly how Black and brown folks find their ways in fandom. Member of communities like Black Girls Create, Wizards in Space, Fandom Forward. And just kinda navigating life day by day. Currently I teach 10th grade English in Detroit and not bad for, for somewhat old folks. I realized that I am two years away from being a Hobbit. So I’ve excited. Yeah, that’s about it.

Talia Franks: I feel like family is, one of the most important things that we have, whether or not that’s the families that we grew up with, our biological family, our found family. I think really at the heart of it is community is one of the most important things that we have in life.

Talia Franks: And, that’s definitely one of the things that drew me to fandom, is the connection to community.

K Alexandra: Absolutely, for a while, growing up, it was just kinda like my dad and I reading the comics together, or me sitting with my grandma watching jeopardy or exploring the children’s section of the library at school, (Talia mhmms) or even the city library which was always playing that really silly version of the Hobbit. I still can’t get over it. But it’s – despite being into the nerdy fandom things in junior high, and high school, and even college, I had never put vocabulary into what those communities meant to me. It was just, oh, these are my friends, these are my people, and as an adult, it’d became, this is the fandom.

Talia Franks: Mhmm.

K Alexandra: Um And, getting into BGC [Black Girls Create], and getting into Fandom Forward, and getting into Wizards in Space, and following people like Stitch, and following people like Connie, and a whole host of other people – like you, and the hosts of Witch Please, and Potterless, and Sacred Text – going into events and also being a part of servers like Black Hotties at Hogwarts. It’s great that my mind has shifted to “there’s no one” to “Holy crap. I’m gonna forget someone and they’re going to be mad at me that I forgot them.” (Talia laughs)

Talia Franks: Yeah, no, I definitely feel that. And I was hoping too, that you could talk a bit more about, which fandoms you have been a part of and participated in specifically, I mean, obviously the biggest one is Harry Potter. Many of the things that you just listed were Harry Potter related, and so I was hoping that you could talk a bit about your relationship with Harry Potter and some of your thoughts about the series. I know personally, Harry Potter has meant a lot to me.

Talia Franks: I mean the listeners have heard me talk about this before, about how I have a lot of love for Harry Potter and not any love for J K Rowling after all that she’s done, which is in particular, why the fanfic that we’re going to be reading today is so queer centered and –

K Alexandra: Great.

Talia Franks: – features also lots of characters of color.

Talia Franks: Which is something I know that’s important to both of us. But anyway, I just talked a lot. So as I was saying, I wanted to hear more of your thoughts.

K Alexandra: Yeah. I honestly think anybody that I’ve had the pleasure of running into, or they’ve had the dubious fortunate for running into me, depending on how they spin it.

K Alexandra: HP has been a center of my life because of the people that it brought into my life.

Talia Franks: Mhmm.

K Alexandra: Um, conceptually as a book, it’s like, “Okay, why are you hanging on to fourth grade material?” Like I have to check myself a lot on that. And so I finally ran into a group of students that did not like reading Harry Potter and talking about Harry Potter much. But they allowed me to shape my experiences with the book to pass those lessons on. I’m thankful because they never said that they hated Harry Potter to my face.

K Alexandra: But I’m grateful for that book and that series bringing so many genius creatives, and activists, and writers, and artists, and educators, and philanthropists, into my life (Talia mhmms) and allowing me to just hold space in a way.

K Alexandra: When I finally met all the people that I have been wanting to meet at LeakyCon I just – I got so overwhelmed. I had to burst it to tears.

K Alexandra: And I think about because of HP, I have friends in Australia, and New Zealand, and –

Talia Franks: Mhmm.

K Alexandra: Wow. I’ve raised money! In the name of LGBTQ organizations and Black Lives Matter through Harry Potter trivia with folks from New Zealand! That is wild!

Talia Franks: Mhmm.

K Alexandra: Um. It is, it is wildly humbling to think that that is what fandom can do. Like (Talia mhmms) that fandom can bring you friends, and professional opportunities, and opportunities to change the world, for the world to change you, to fall in love, to fall out of love.

K Alexandra: And I – I hope that people are able to use those opportunities wisely, and with great heart, cause you can also see fandom become toxic, (Talia mhmms) and arrogant, and disillusioned, with itself because our fandoms are a mirror of our society as well.

K Alexandra: And being able to take hold of that and realize “Hey, if fandom is not producing the society that I want, I can go in and press delete and refresh and make it what I want.”

K Alexandra: And I honestly think that that is the power of fanfic?

K Alexandra: That creatives who have not seen themselves in these worlds and these stories and these characters that they love, then get to use those characters in a way that they see fit?

Talia Franks: Mhmm

K Alexandra: Um, and reach out to other people who want to see that world too.

Talia Franks: Mhmm.

K Alexandra: Surprisingly enough, that did not first happen with HP with me. Probably because I grew up as a hopeless romantic I wonder how carefully I should say that on public record. But I’ll never forget. I was in the fifth grade, I had a giant crush on a guy named Ari Driver, and –

Talia Franks: Wow, you’re just going to say a whole name like that. Government and everything.

K Alexandra: I mean, I haven’t seen him in years. He hasn’t seen me in years. I’m probably a distant memory at this point. I don’t even think we’re Facebook friends.

Talia Franks: Okay. Sorry for interrupting your story

K Alexandra: No, it’s quite all right. But I was friends with a guy named Terry Hughes, and Terry Hughes was an artist before we started calling each other artists, right? Like, back then it was the kid that could draw, right? So, I was helping him with homework and he was like, “Can I draw something for you?” And now I, I realized that that was like, trade bartering kinda deal, and I wish that I had finessed that a little bit more, but I was like, “I’m a big Sailor Moon fan. Can you draw Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask for me?” And he did, and he drew them kissing, and my dad found this picture in my backpack and flipped out about (Talia laughs) this guy drawing me a picture of my couple kissing.

K Alexandra: And that was way before I had even started talking about fandom, and shipping, and it was like, the kid that could draw drew me a picture of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, like Serena and Darien, and I was just in love with that concept. And. I mean it was pajama day at school today. And I had my Sailor Moon pajamas, and kids are like, “:You like Sailor Moon, Miss Mills!” I’m like, “I love Sailor Moon.” and one of my girls was like “Miss, uh – Sailor Moon is a copy. She’s chipped off so-and-so and such-and-such, and she’s naming all of these animes that have come way after Sailor Moon, and I was like that Aslan meme, that is like, “Don’t quote the magic to me, Witch! (Talia laughs) I was there when it was written!”

K Alexandra: I was like, “You weren’t there, when Sailor Moon dropped at 4:00 AM! I was there in 93 or 96 or whatever. You weren’t even a twinkling twinkling your mother’s eyes.” I sounded very old today, and – (K laughs)

K Alexandra: but that’s fandom to me now. That is the exploration and the passing along to another young kid, or anybody, young, old, or in general, like, my favorite facilities guy at school is such a huge Marvel fan, every time I run into him, we’re talking about What If?, or we’re talking about Shang-Chi or we’re talking about we’re so excited for No Way Home, and that’s what community is, is meeting strangers, and finding those threads, and those strangers become strangers no more. (Talia mhmms)

K Alexandra: And I’m such an Enneagram four. I’m so sensitive. (Talia laughs) I’m like, “Wow. All of these people are so unique and so interesting and yet we all have these things in common.” And it’s just about taking the time to figure out what those commonalities are.

K Alexandra: I get excited about that.

Talia Franks: Yeah. I got so into what you’re saying, that I completely lost my train of thought. I was like, “I have something I’m going to say. I don’t remember it. (Talia claps for emphasis) but yeah, no, I feel like the community aspect of fandom just cannot be understated.

Talia Franks: And like you said, it definitely – with regards to fanfic, I feel like the ability to imagine alternative worlds, and alternative possibilities, when we ourselves aren’t seen in a story is really important.

K Alexandra: Absolutely.

Talia Franks: And that’s one of the cornerstones of why I appreciate it so much. I think it’s definitely one of the key facets of why I read and write fanfic, is because it’s important to me and it’s important to see the stories that I want written And part of that is why I write original fiction, but a part of writing fanfic is also about – like I said with alternative universe fics, a lot of it’s also imagining alternative worlds, but a lot of what I read is fix-it fic, which is fic that fixes the things that are wrong (Talia laughs) with the original universe or things that went wrong and need to be better. And in some ways the fic that we’re going to be talking about today is a fix-it fix because they literally time-travel to the past and fix everything that went wrong with Voldemort, but also it’s a fix it fic in that it makes the whole story deliciously queer, so fills in the story with a lot more characters who are not –

K Alexandra: Fixedly and devastatingly straight?

Talia Franks: Fixedly and devastatingly straight, who aren’t just white, heterosexual, cis-gender, like –

K Alexandra: Yeah.

Talia Franks: – cookie cutter people and sort of explores the ways too , in which we can imagine those characters. And also, some of it is adapted and shifted and changed using gaps that were in the story, but some of it also explores the ways which J K Rowling, in all of her terribleness, unintentionally wrote very queer themes and narratives into her stories.

K Alexandra: Oh yeah.

Talia Franks: Like she wrote Tonks! One of the – She wrote Tonks and Remus, who is literally such a queer couple –

K Alexandra: Yeah.

Talia Franks: – for me.

K Alexandra: And Charlie Weasley! Which –

Talia Franks: Yeah. This, this like –

K Alexandra: How did like – how did such a terrible person have created Charlie Weasley? Like, I know –

Talia Franks: I mean Charlie Weasley doesn’t really have very much of a personality in the books, so I feel like a lot of his queerness is shaded in by other people, but I think that’s also one of the great things about fandom and fanfic is that we can create our own visions for who that person is. I’ve talked about how the Charlie Weasley in one of my fics is gender fluid and in a queer platonic relationship with Tonks –

K Alexandra: Yes!

Talia Franks: – who is also gender fluid.

K Alexandra: Yes! I wish I had a thing where people can hear that I’m affirming you, and on deck with all of that, because I often feel like when I’m having these conversations now, I’m not even speaking from the Canon material anymore. I am speaking –

Talia Franks: Yeah.

K Alexandra: – from fic, and conversation, and fan art, and all of these things that have just fixed it for me.

K Alexandra: And to still see people who claimed to be a part of the fandom in this healthy way, but are honestly the key proponents of the toxicity that comes with it, to see them still push back on why people in the fandom want to fix these things so that other people in the community can feel comfortable, and loved, and seen, and appreciated, it’s like, “Why can’t you just let good things happen?” Like, why can’t Charlie Weasley be gender fluid? Why can’t Hermione be Black? Why can’t –

K Alexandra: I can’t even – I can’t begin to go down a laundry list of things that we continually are in this wash and rinse, spin, repeat cycle about with fandom. It’s like, “You’re a part of this great community and you still don’t want nice things? Why? What is the harm? And what way does this not get better for you?”

K Alexandra: And maybe because I anchor so much on my own accomplishments and personalities into her character, and I see so much of her and of me in her, I still get so bent out of shape that people go so hard about Hermione being white. And I’m just like, but her being a black woman, her being a black girl, only makes the story better. (Talia mhmms)

K Alexandra: It only makes it more true, and only makes it more authentic, and more believable, and more inspiring to think about who she was as a person in spite of it all. And it only brings the theory, the education, that that book, that that series, is supposed to present to it’s readers, to it’s so-called fans, more alive.

K Alexandra: But as I’ve said on a bunch of podcasts and I’m probably am starting to sound like a broken record on all of them, white people are so used to seeing themselves at the center that any part of the spotlight not being on them drives them fucking nuts.

K Alexandra: At first it was maddening, and at times it can still be infuriating, but now at this point, at my age, and maybe even wisdom, it’s just sad.

K Alexandra: And now I’m working on the same concept with straight people, because I’m also one of them, I am fixedly and devastatingly straight, (K and Talia laugh) and having to think about why that is so, and why it took me so long to see that in fandom and to be like, ” Oh, boy meets girl is not the only trope there is (Talia mhmms in agreement) and that’s okay.” and then seeing that in society too like, seeing my friends, seeing my family members, seeing my students – Gosh, there’s nothing more humbling or inspiring then seeing a teenager be like, “This is who I am, and this is how I ascribe myself, and it’s not the way society has put me in this box and I’m here and devil may care,” and being able to be one of the people that they trust in that process, cause I’m starting to see that that process is not always safe, and it’s not always secure, and it’s not always happily ever after, either.

K Alexandra: I’m excited for this story you picked tonight.

Talia Franks: Do you want to jump into the story then?

K Alexandra: Yeah, I think we’ve covered all the bases, right?

Talia Franks: Yeah. Yeah Let’s get to it.

Ad Break

Talia Franks: So the story is called “You Only Live Twice” by drift99.

Talia Franks: It’s on Ao3, but you can also find this story, by going to linktr.ee/gayfiction, where you can also find a Spotify playlist.

K Alexandra: Oh! Period. Okay!

Talia Franks: Yeah. So this fic takes place in the 1970s and the very early eighties, and so it has a lot of great music.

K Alexandra: Disco!

Talia Franks: And so you can listen along and get a feel for the vibes. I’d play some of it now, but don’t wanna come across copyright, so you have to find the Spotify playlist yourself.

Talia Franks: But yeah, so, this fic, as I said, is a time-travel fix it.

Talia Franks: So, beginning of the fic, Remus Lupin wakes up in his 15-year-old body because it’s the beginning of fifth year. So he wakes up, it’s 1975, and he’s like, “Whoa, great. It worked.” Like, “Can’t believe I’m back.” And there’s no explanation for what he did or why he’s there.

Talia Franks: It’s just he woke up in 1975 he’s glad about it, and he can’t wait for September 1st, and he’s just going about his life. He’s just so glad to be back with the marauders. Everything’s chill. Everything’s happening. Anyway, he gets to the Great Hall, they’re having the Sorting Feast, and oh my goodness there’s a new fifth year who’s going to get sorted, and her name is Hermione Longbottom!

Talia Franks: And Remus is not expecting her. Turns out, mysteriously, the Longbottoms had a visitor who was this woman who came upon their doorstep and said to Frank Sr, “Hey, by the way, you have this daughter that you never knew about, and I’ve been raising her in secret, but she’s your responsibility now.” and just dropped her off, and we don’t know who this mysterious woman is, we don’t know why the Longbottoms believed her, but now suddenly Hermione is just there dropped off in the story.

K Alexandra: Wow. So, but she’s not Neville’s sister?

Talia Franks: She’s not Neville sister. No, but she supposedly Frank Longbottom sister.

Talia Franks: This is a 1975. So this, so Frank Longbottom’s Father is also named Frank Longbottom. (K, at the same time “Oh! Frank Longbottom Senior!”) Frank Longbottom Senior. Yeah.

K Alexandra: Oh. Okay.

Talia Franks: Yeah, but you see, the thing is, this is where Hermione being Black is, again, really interesting to me, because there’s this whole thread of the fact that the Longbottoms are ashamed of her because she’s illegitimate, because she was the product of an affair, but they still house her, and give Hermione, and a stipend to live, and actually after 6th year when she turns 17, they buy her a flat in London, and she just lives there, and she’s no longer living in Longbottom manor.

Talia Franks: But it’s this interesting thing too, where Hermione is Black, so it adds an extra layer when you think about this rich, white, pure blood family, who all of a sudden has a Black daughter dropped into the family that they never expected.

K Alexandra: Oh, absolutely. I was just about to say, I know the Sacred 28, got their tables shaken by that and it plays along with my theory about the Potters as well.

Talia Franks: I mean, this is also a Desi James Potter fic so.

K Alexandra: Okay.

Talia Franks: And actually I really like too – One of the great things about this fic is that it doesn’t just say, “Oh, this person is a character of color.” It actually like, goes into their backstory too, (K mhmms) and so it talks about how Euphemia Potter and Fremont Potter met, and how they got together, and how they ended up living in England.

Talia Franks: And it talks about too Marlene McKinnon, because she’s also a character of color, I’m trying to remember her story. I know it was her mom’s Japanese and I forget the story of how she got together with her dad. But I do know that the story was actually in the fic. It’s a really long fic, I should say. It’s 95,000 words. So not like super, super long, but it’s 47 chapters and a lot happens and I’m just, I’m getting off track.

Talia Franks: Sorry, I haven’t even gotten to the best parts. But the point is, it also talks about Dorcas Meadows, who is another minor character that was just a name in the original books, who’s elevated to actually being the reason that Lily knows that Remus is a werewolf. Because in this story. She’s Jewish and she’s also a character of color, she’s black.

Talia Franks: And in the story, it talks about how, I don’t know how many people who are listening know this, but the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, and so all of the holidays are based around the moon.

Talia Franks: And so basically what happens is that Lily is really good friends with Dorcas Meadows, and so she celebrates all of the different holidays with Dorcas, and she realizes that Remus is never around for like Purim or any of the other holidays that are around the full moon. And so, that’s the tie in to how Lily found out that Remus was a werewolf.

Talia Franks: But anyway, sorry, getting back to the main meat of the story.

Talia Franks: Hermione Longbottom shows up. She gets sorted into Gryffindor, of course. Remus is like a little bit fascinated by her because he’s like, “How the fuck is Hermione in 1975?”

Talia Franks: And the other marauders are all loud and don’t go to sleep for like, ever. But then finally, when they’re all asleep, he sneaks downstairs to the Gryffindor common room and she’s like, “You took forever.” And then he’s like, “I couldn’t get away from them.”

Talia Franks: But, anyway, so they go to the Room of Requirement and then they talk about how they traveled back in time, but they can’t actually talk about it because they realize that they’re under a kind of curse where they can’t actually say the name of the entity who brought them back in time.

K Alexandra: Oh!

Talia Franks: Yeah. So the reader doesn’t know how they got back in time.

K Alexandra: Gotcha.

Talia Franks: But anyway, they sort of, go about their Hogwarts time, trying to figure out how they’re going to defeat Voldemort, they set up a kind of, lair in the Room of Requirement and basically they spend so much time together that people just assume that they’re dating and they just let people assume that because it’s the easiest thing.

Talia Franks: But Remus tells Hermione that actually he’s gay, and then she’s like, “but I thought you dated women.” And then he points out that Tonks is non binary, and also it’s not that he hasn’t dated women, it’s more that he’s queer for queers. Which I think is great.

Talia Franks: So it’s more that he is basically saying that, sexuality is nebulous, but for the most part he likes men. So he’s gonna say he’s gay. And Hermione is just sort of like, you know, mostly thinks she’s straight, but is like it’s kinda nebulous. She hasn’t really deeply considered it.

Talia Franks: And then Marlene McKinnon makes her more deeply considerate throughout their years at Hogwarts.

Talia Franks: So fifth year, isn’t super remarkable. Somewhere between fifth and sixth year, Hermione joins a boxing club with Marlene. Um. So that’s kinda fun. And notable.

Talia Franks: Over the summer they joined a boxing gym and learn more self-defense because Hermione is really intent that she and Remus get more physically active so that they can be able to defeat Voldemort. And they have this whole training regime. They also get piercings, and they make this whole list of things that they want to do before they die, and before the end comes, because they might die defeating Voldemort and everything.

Talia Franks: Then sixth year comes, there’s the whole drama with Snape, and so the marauders split up, Remus’s mother dies. It’s all very sad. But then, basically what happens is, he and Hermione get really drunk and destroy the Shrieking Shack?

Talia Franks: They conjure up baseball bats and break a bunch of stuff in the Shrieking Shack and that’s really cathartic, and then Remus makes up with the rest of the marauders.

Talia Franks: Anyway, summer between sixth and seventh year, Hermione, like I said, gets her own flat from the Longbottoms, because it’s not that they don’t care about her, but they just want to sort of push her out of the way. And so Remus because the full moon corresponds with the end of the school year he tells his father he’s staying at Hogwarts for the summer, but he actually goes to London and moves in with Hermione in her flat in Soho.

Talia Franks: And they end up basically having this whole summer where – let’s see, I think I’m remembering the course of events correctly, they go to a pub, Remus really likes this guy’s haircut. So then they go to a hairdresser. And I remember Hermione is unsure whether or not the hairdresser is going to be able to do her hair, but then it turns out, but the hairdresser – she’s also a black woman and she has locks, she can definitely do her hair. And so then she does their hair really great and invites them to a party and then Hermione ends up in a relationship with Billie. And s boyfriend Elliot, who is trans, ends up having a few flings with Remus.

Talia Franks: And basically they spend the whole summer, having fun at clubs, and just doing whatever they want, Remus gets a bunch of tattoos cause Elliot is a tattoo artist, and this is where the music comes in also from the Spotify playlist.

Talia Franks: But then, while they’re in the club at one point, they see an ominous pair of glittering eyes, and then you realize that while they’re having fun now, it can’t last forever.

Talia Franks: And meanwhile, even though they are doing all of this fun rebellious teenager, shit, they also destroyed the Basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets, and also hunted down a few horcruxes is in their spare time.

K Alexandra: So basically teen Lupin and teen Hermione go back from 1998 to 1975 to basically cut Voldemort off at the pass?

Talia Franks: Yes.

K Alexandra: Okay. So – which is dope and awesome – but I just wonder like – and Lupin is the only one that recognizes Hermione?

Talia Franks: Yeah, because he’s the only one who also went back to the past.

K Alexandra: Okay. So that’s really interesting to me.

Talia Franks: I mean, why else would anyone recognize her? She’s a Muggleborn.

K Alexandra: That’s true.

Talia Franks: And at one point, when she’s about to be born, she intentionally runs into her pregnant mother.

Talia Franks: Tricks her into a conversation about baby names, introduces herself as Hermione, tells her how much she hates having the name Hermione in order to convince her mother to name her something else.

K Alexandra: Wow.

Talia Franks: So that when the other Hermione gets her Hogwarts letter and ends up going to Hogwarts, even though they’ll look identical, they won’t have the same name, and hopefully by that time, the older Hermione will be old enough that her resemblance to the younger Hermione won’t be as obvious.

K Alexandra: Wow. So, do Remus and Hermione ever confront Tom head on?

Talia Franks: Oh yes they do. I just haven’t gotten to that part yet.

K Alexandra: Okay.

Talia Franks: Yeah. Sorry. I’m taking a long time because I – I just really enjoyed their exploits.

K Alexandra: No, I’m enjoying them too. I just wanted to be sure that I’m keeping up correctly.

K Alexandra: So Lupin is gender fluid.

Talia Franks: I mean, I’m not sure if he’s gender fluid, he uses he, him pronouns throughout the fic.

K Alexandra: Okay. He him pronouns, but is in a relationship with Billie’s boyfriend?

Talia Franks: No, he actually he actually has relationships, relationships with people with lots of men throughout London.

K Alexandra: Okay.

Talia Franks: So it’s not really relationships.

Talia Franks: It’s just a series of one night stands sometimes with the same people.

K Alexandra: Gotcha. Stands, flings, okay.

Talia Franks: He has a lot of flings.

K Alexandra: Gotcha.

Talia Franks: End game, this is actually a WolfStar fic.

K Alexandra: And then

Talia Franks: I just hadn’t gotten to that part yet.

K Alexandra: And then Hermione and Billie are together right now.

Talia Franks: Yes. Although Hermione did have a few times where she made out with Marlene McKinnon, and that was her.

Talia Franks: That was her lesbian awakening.

K Alexandra: Gotcha.

K Alexandra: So wait, and this was because now I’m also trying to think about what is this, this is before. Okay.

Talia Franks: What are you thinking about?

K Alexandra: So this is trying to prevent Voldemort in the first wizarding wa war, right?

Talia Franks: Yes.

K Alexandra: Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. Got it.

Talia Franks: Sorry, should I should have mentioned that from the

K Alexandra: beginning.

K Alexandra: No, I had to give myself a history lesson. Right, right then. Cause I was like, these are all the people that were in the first war. Gotcha.

Talia Franks: Yes. They were all the people that were in the first war. So,

K Alexandra: So are are they able to prevent these people’s murders?

Talia Franks: Just listen to the rest of the fic, lemmie tell you!

K Alexandra: Okay!

Talia Franks: Alright, so then Hermione and Remus, my ended up destroying the the diadem. They go to, they go back to school. Um, Snape at this point knows that Remus is werewolf.

Talia Franks: Can’t do anything about it because of Dumbledore. So he decides that instead, he’s going to bully Remus because he’s gay. He doesn’t know that Remus is gay, but Remus has a very a very, he has an aesthetic and the aesthetic is one that

K Alexandra: like effeminate?

Talia Franks: It’s, it’s not effeminate it’s more like it’s, it’s queer. It’s, it’s unusual. It’s something that clues Snape in to the fact that Remus is “Other” from the rest of the students at the school, because, he has tattoos, his hair is stylized. Like but he also has a general confidence about him. And, he’s confident because when Snape tries to bully him and toss notes at him or whatever, he basically just gets really fed up.

Talia Franks: And he says, what is it that he says exactly? He says… he basically he stands up on top of the table casts an amplifying charm. And they’re they’re in study hall and says, “please excuse the interruption, but I’ve got something to say I’m gay. I’m really incredibly gay. Queer. It’s not an insult. I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t give a flying fuck what you think.” And then he says, “and just to be clear, I’m not perving on any of you ugly assholes, because I have something called standards.” (Talia is clearly trying hard not to laugh)

K Alexandra: I’m choking.

Talia Franks: “Sorry, Severus, you’re going to have to find someone else’s Dick to suck. I’m not interested.”

K Alexandra: Screaming. Ah, wow, damn.

Talia Franks: And then he insults him for passing notes because it’s juvenile.

K Alexandra: Wow.

Talia Franks: And then Hermione and then Hermione, like steps up and says, also with the amplifying charm and says, “I just want to say that I really, really like women. I’m bisexual, unlike Remus. I’m definitely crushing on a few of you already. So if you’re a girl and maybe you’ve thought about kissing other girls, you should come find me this year. I can also pretty much guarantee a give better head than any of your ex-boyfriends.” (Talia continues to fight against laughter while speaking)

K Alexandra: Put me in the casket, I’m deceased. (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: Wow. Wow.

Talia Franks: And then they run out of the hall, giggling.

K Alexandra: That’s the content we deserve.

Talia Franks: It is the content we deserve. I love it.

K Alexandra: Period. And I love that this is like a complete 180 from the Remus that’s like ashamed to love anybody. Who’s ashamed to be werewolf, who’s very us astute, but still very downtrodden.

K Alexandra: And like, you, you want, it’s just a precious bean that we want, like the best for, and this is, this is such a fixing. And, and my, my biggest deal has always been that Hermione deserves so much better than Ron and. It’s almost to the point where I was like, I don’t care who she ends up with as long as it’s not Ronald Weasley. And (Talia laughs) and that’s a, that’s a hill I’m willing to die on.

Talia Franks: Okay then.

K Alexandra: And I’m so glad it I’m sad that it takes us going back in time to fix (Talia laughs) these grievous errors. But if that’s the way that the author wants to handle it, I’m with that. I also think that time traveling itself is like this fabulous trope that a lot of us lead into.

K Alexandra: And I’m not I’m not the big Doctor Who fan Unlike

Talia Franks: Shame,

K Alexandra: I know I I’m, I’m getting there. As soon as I can clear some, any sort of calendar to find any sort of time

Talia Franks: What is time?

K Alexandra: You right. But like the idea that like our favorite characters are able to love out loud, even in the ways that we ourselves have not been trained to love is something that I was slowly but steadily leading into. And I’m enjoying that ride.

K Alexandra: I just wonder. Then is is Remus still the responsible one of the marauders? Because he sounds very much like Sirius at this point? And it’s like, who gets that shipwreck together?

Talia Franks: No, he’s still the responsible one. And I should say more about Sirius. Sirius is like, such a precious bean in this story. One of the, one of my favorite things about this story is that Sirius is an absolute cuddle bug. So well before he and Remus get together, there’s a lot of scenes of him just like cuddling with Remus and James and, and like literally talking about how he has a tendency to like crawl into their beds and just like cuddle through the night and throw himself at them. And then after Remus comes out, he doesn’t stop with any of that. He’s like just keeps on keeping on with it. Because he’s well, one of it is he doesn’t want people to think he doesn’t like Remus because he’s come out as gay. But also he he, is still close with Remus. The other, the other thing is when they get to new years, they all ended up going to Hermione’s apartment and they’re all pissed because Hermione’s been holding out on, Hermione and Remus have been holding out on them that Hermione had her own apartment.

Talia Franks: I think Peter had to go home, but James and Lily and Sirius go stay at Hermione’s apartment for new years and Sirius kisses Remus on new year’s and Remus still doesn’t get that Sirius is into him. He like tells Hermione that he thinks Sirius kissed him as just a friend. (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: I’m tired.

Talia Franks: I’m tired too.

K Alexandra: Come on Remus, get it together!

Talia Franks: But they eventually do get it together and they become a couple.

Talia Franks: And it’s really cute. But then of course, once the Hogwarts years are over, that’s when the angst begins because the war has kicked up. Although actually I will say actually before the Hogwarts years are over Remus and Hermione make a point to sneak down to the Dungeons, find Regulus Black, and be like, “there may come a time where you can’t trust anyone or be able to count on anyone. And when that time comes, find us” and like they’re super vague about it. And he’s like, “guys what the fuck?” (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: It’s like you’re reading my mind at this point, because my next question was going to be. So what happens to Regulus? Because

K Alexandra: Yeah

K Alexandra: You’re talking about them destroying all these horcruxes and I’m like, wait is,

Talia Franks: Yeah. So that’s what happens with Regulus

K Alexandra: Wow

Talia Franks: He’s like, they give him that vague and ominous as fuck message.

K Alexandra: So if okay. If regulus is, if they went and did the same thing to Regulus,

Talia Franks: Wait, just wait, just wait for me to finish. I’ll get to Regulus.

K Alexandra: Yeah, but I was, I was honestly, and the color color, everyone shocked because I usually don’t want to talk about this person at all. But does Remus remember that Snape is a spy?

Talia Franks: Yes, but they hate Snape. Oh. So they just.

K Alexandra: You don’t know how much hatred you got in your heart to like, just let somebody to know somebody’s future and just do and say nothing. Wow. Love to see it. That’s the type of petty I aspire. (Talia giggles)

Talia Franks: I think At one point Remus did have a kind of feeling like they might want to do something for Snape it was at whatever part in the story where the Snape calling Lily a mud blood happens

K Alexandra: Mhmm

Talia Franks: that part in the story, the aftermath of that Hermione gives Remus a lecture about why Snape is an asshole and how just because they’re in the Wizarding world, doesn’t lessen the effects of racism and using slurs and how basically Snape is the worst and he’s reprehensible and they don’t need to do anything for him.

K Alexandra: Cutthroat

Talia Franks: love to see it.

Talia Franks: And she’s just like, you didn’t see how Snape was with Neville and with Harry and how he just could not let go. And basically she’s like Snape ain’t shit.

K Alexandra: Makes sense. And herself.

Talia Franks: Yeah, but Hermione never thinks of herself. She always puts other people first.

K Alexandra: Absolutely.

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Talia Franks: Anyway. Sirius as all upset because Remus doesn’t want to move out from Hermione and move in with Sirius. He wants to stay living with Hermione instead of moving with Sirius, and Sirius is like, “but we’re dating” and Remus is like, “but I really like living with Hermione” and he can’t say that it’s because they need to hunt horcruxes together. Because like the curse thing that’s keeping them from saying everything is keeping them from telling anyone about it.

K Alexandra: Mhmm.

Talia Franks: Um. So, but basically so Remus and Sirius have kind of a fight about it. But then James again is the perpetual mediator. So he gets them to get back together. James is so good at mediating disputes. It’s like obnoxious. But anyway,

K Alexandra: wow. Starting fights to ending them. Talk about growth.

Talia Franks: What?

K Alexandra: I said Oh, he went from starting fights to ending them talk about growth.

Talia Franks: Yeah, James is has a lot of growth because he like ends up being the one who’s like really glues everyone together.

Talia Franks: And anytime that Remus and Sirius have a fight, it’s always James who gets them to see sense.

K Alexandra: So this is 1979, right?

Talia Franks: Yes. This is 1979.

K Alexandra: Okay.

Talia Franks: Well, right now I’m talking vaguely about the period from 1978 to 19 to 1979. And I’m covering a large swath of period with what I’m about to say.

Talia Franks: So basically so basically James and Sirius decide to join the aurors, Hermione gives them a really big lecture about policing. (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: Oh, you mean the one she should have given Harry? Fix it author!

Talia Franks: And….

Talia Franks: So basically Remus and Sirius are sort of having a bit of tension because. Sirius things that Hermione and Remus are like, having a thing.

Talia Franks: But it’s really just that Hermione and Remus are super close because as I was telling you earlier, Hermione and Remus are in a, I forget if I told you this before or after we started recording.

Talia Franks: But Hermione and Remus are basically in a queer platonic relationship, though they don’t call it that. I mean, I don’t know the exact history of the term, but if it, if it was a term, it wasn’t widely known back in the 1990s and 1970s, it just wasn’t one that they knew to use. But that’s basically what it is. And so, it turns out in 1979,

K Alexandra: I was going to ask. So at this point in the story, how many horcrux has have they destroyed?

Talia Franks: I lost count. Because here’s, what’s going to happen in 1979. Kreacher is going to be taken by Voldemort. Regulus is going to decide he doesn’t want to be part of Voldemort’s plan anymore. And so he goes, takes Remus and Hermione up on that incredibly vague offer and starts working with them to actively destroy Voldemort’s horcruxes.

K Alexandra: Gotcha.

Talia Franks: And so that’s when things really start taking into gear and at that point, Remus and Sirius are not, are not doing so well. And then especially Remus is feeling guilty that he’s hiding Regulus in his apartment. And Remus decides to come clean to Sirius.

Talia Franks: But what ends up happening is that they’re like mysterious person who took them back in time, shows up again and is like, “Excuse me. I didn’t tell you you could tell anyone.”

K Alexandra: Ohhhhh

Talia Franks: And drops them off in the middle of the forest in Sweden at Christmas. It’s literally Christmas.

K Alexandra: Okay. So then that means if I had to deduce just by actions, this sounds like a very petty Dumbledore moves, but that

Talia Franks: It’s not Dumbledore,

K Alexandra: but I was going to say it couldn’t be Dumbledore because then the whole going back to Hogwarts thing would not be it. It’s Nicholas Flamel, isn’t it?

Talia Franks: It’s not Nicholas Flamel.

K Alexandra: Dang it! Um.

Talia Franks: It’s not any Harry Potter character.

K Alexandra: Oh, wow. Now I gotta

Talia Franks: I’ll tell, You’ll figure it out.

K Alexandra: Is it the watcher?

Talia Franks: It’s not the watcher. It’s this fic isn’t a crossover with anything.

Talia Franks: Anyway, the point is the person who took them and dropped them off in Sweden forged a note that looked like it was from Hermione saying that she had taken Remus on a surprise backpacking trip. But anyway, so this person left Remus and Hermione, in the middle of a forest in Sweden without their wands and no money and no wallet, no identification.

Talia Franks: And so they had to make their way back to England.

K Alexandra: Listeners, my mouth is wide open.

Talia Franks: Wow.

K Alexandra: Yeah. That’s cold blooded. Literally.

Talia Franks: Yeah, it was pretty bad anyway. And then they make it back and Remus goes straight to Sirius and is like, “I’m so sorry.” And Sirius is like, “I’ve had enough of your excuses. We are not okay.” And then he’s like, “I have to go on a mission for Dumbledore. Maybe we can talk when we get back.” And then Remus goes back to his apartment and Regulus is there. And it turns out that he had gotten an opportunity to steal the diary from Lucius but now that means that he’s on the run, which means that now Hermione and Remus are on the run because they’re all in this together.

Talia Franks: And so Remus has no chance to say goodbye to Sirius so he’s just vamoosed. (K says “Oh my God” at the same time)

Talia Franks: Yeah. So now they’re camping again. (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: Wow. So Hermione is back where she was, camping.

Talia Franks: Hermione is camping again.

K Alexandra: Two men and all they problems. (Talia laughs) Wow. Hate that for my sis.

Talia Franks: But they end up setting up so that they’re they end up like setting up close enough to a town and they don’t randomly hop around places. They set up a like permanent camp and they like go food shopping. Cause there’s not, like undesirables.

K Alexandra: Yeah. Like I was gonna say cause snatchers are a second war concept, right?

Talia Franks: I mean, like they do end up putting a taboo on Voldemort’s name and have snatchers come up. But what they do is they end up creating their own anti dark mark. That’s like a Falcon eating a snake.

K Alexandra: Wow, that’s cool.

Talia Franks: Yeah, at least I think it’s a Falcon eating a snake. That’s what I remember. That’s what I pictured it as in my head. I might’ve been, I might’ve misremembered it, but it’s, it’s pretty cool.

Talia Franks: And the, and basically they come up with a plan to defeat Voldemort. The last horcrux that they need is the one from Gringotts. And so their plan for that is they have Regulus go visit his own vault. And basically he and Remus go like wearing hooded cloaks and then Regulus like shows his face just enough to prove who he is.

Talia Franks: And then he, Imperiuses the goblin to take him to the Lestrange vault instead of the Black vault. And then he gets the horcrux with a trash, like gripper, a trash picker-upper thing. I forget what they’re called. And then they escape. But as they’re escaping, like the aurors are alerted because the goblins figured out something was up, but the aurors that have come to take them are Sirius and his auror partner, who he hates because the auror partner’s homophobic.

Talia Franks: But Sirius hesitates cause it’s Remus. And he recognizes Remus. So what does Remus do, but stun Sirius steal his motorcycle keys, and run away with Regulus.

Talia Franks: So just imagine you’re Sirius in this moment, your lover who has disappeared for months finally shows up again, having just robbed a bank with your baby brother. Who’s a death eater and has also been missing for months. And then he knocks you out. Steals your motorcycle without saying a word.

K Alexandra: Wow. I’d be out done.

Talia Franks: Also. I forgot to mention, but Regulus chopped off his lower left arm to get rid of the Dark Mark.

K Alexandra: Hey did what!?

Talia Franks: (Talia laughs) He chopped off his lower left arm. At least I assume it was only his lower left arm. He might’ve chopped up the whole arm. I don’t know.

K Alexandra: Oh my God. This is the wildest rollercoaster I’ve been on. Wow.

Talia Franks: It only gets wilder from here.

K Alexandra: I would love to say, so what does Sirius do when he wakes up?

Talia Franks: Well, you don’t see it from Sirius’s perspective. You only see Remus being very upset at the fact that he had to do that to Sirius. Oh, also over the course of them all being camping in the woods together.

Talia Franks: Regulus and, oh, I almost forgot to mention Hermione broke up with her muggle girlfriend to protect her.

K Alexandra: Muggle girlfriend?

Talia Franks: Billie, remember I told you about her?

K Alexandra: Oh, the hairdresser,

Talia Franks: the hairdresser. Yeah. Although actually she’s no longer hairdressing. She’s now studying to be a clinical psychologist.

K Alexandra: Gotcha. Okay.

Talia Franks: Also at least I think that’s what she’s studying to be. She’s studying to be some kind of psychologist or maybe a social worker. I forget for some reason the term clinical psychologist popped into my brain.

Talia Franks: Anyway, so then I read this fic like a week ago. It’s been stuck in my brain since, but a few of the details are a little loose.

Talia Franks: But most of the details are there. But she also okay. But in all their conversations in the tent, because they have a lot of conversations in the tent. Cause they’re all three people trapped in, a tent together, camping in the winter time.

K Alexandra: Right.

Talia Franks: You find out that Regulus is on the ace spectrum which is great. I love to see ace representation in a fic, it always warms my warms my little asexual heart. Every time I see ace representation in a fanfic. And yeah,

Talia Franks: Anyway, so then they decide it’s time, once they destroyed all the horcruxes to defeat Voldemort for once and for all, but they’re like, how are we going to lure him out? When I tell you the way that they lure him out, okay, you’re not ready for this. So they approached this radio station and this wizarding radio station, and they’re like, Hey, we want you to live, broadcast our fight with Voldemort, do a live commentary of our fight with Voldemort. We want to like issue a challenge to him for duel. So they issue, the challenge to Voldemort for a duel to meet him on this, like to meet him on this Quidditch pitch.

Talia Franks: And so, and luckily the Order of the Phoenix comes to back them up even though basically because they’re like, y’all are y’all are wild, but we can’t let you just die. So we’ll come to back you up. So all the death eaters show up, but, but Voldemort doesn’t until (Talia is trying very hard not to laugh)

K Alexandra: You say what?

Talia Franks: Voldemort it doesn’t show up until, what they do is they enact plan dumb-ass which Remus starts singing Boogie Man by KC and The Sunshine Band

K Alexandra: This is the most outrageous thing I’ve heard and it’s only Tuesday.

K Alexandra: Really?

Talia Franks: Yeah Really?

K Alexandra: (K sings quietly) I’m the Boogie Man. I’m the Boogie Man. Turn me on.

Talia Franks: Yeah

K Alexandra: It’s, it’s really fascinating too, though. I mean, aside from disco culture cause you, you, you don’t outside of the weird sisters and like Celena Warbeck. Get a lot of musical references from the Wizarding World. (Talia mhmms) So it’s really cool to see like fan fiction authors include.

Talia Franks: The, so the other songs on this, on this playlist are” The locomotion. Golden years. How deep is your love? Moonage daydream. Let’s get it on. Young hearts, run free. You should be dancing. Just what I needed. Werewolves of London, Rasputin. You make me feel. Strange magic. I’m your Boogie Man. Another one bites the dust. Use me. Make it with you. I want to get next to you. Bless the telephone. I was dancing in the lesbian bar. Baby got back. He’s the greatest dancer. And You’re my best friend.

K Alexandra: Oh, period. I can’t wait to listen to that playlist.

Talia Franks: It’s a great playlist. Like I said, linktr.ee/gayfiction

K Alexandra: Period. So Voldemort doesn’t show up until Boogie Man comes on,

Talia Franks: He does not.

K Alexandra: And I’m guessing this is like halftime, right?

Talia Franks: So basically what happens is Voldemort shows up then the fight begins.

Talia Franks: Like it’s a standoff,

K Alexandra: Oh okay.

Talia Franks: No one started fighting yet.

K Alexandra: I was like,

Talia Franks: Voldemort’s not there yet. And they enact plan dumb ass, which is Remus dancing to “I’m your Boogie Man.”

Talia Franks: (Talia sings) I’m your Boogie Man.

K Alexandra: All right.

Talia Franks: Anyway, but then what happens is Remus and Voldemort start dueling and Hermione and Regulus surround them in a ward that they can’t escape and then surround the ward with fiendfyre.

K Alexandra: Wow.

Talia Franks: So basically Remus and Voldemort are fighting in a circle of fiendfyre and Voldemort basically beats Remus, breaks his wand, Remus is like almost defeated, but it’s all a trick so that he can use wandless magic to push Voldemort into the fiendfyre when Voldemort isn’t expecting it.

K Alexandra: Oh.

Talia Franks: Cause it turns out that all that like seeding through the story that they needed to do, like physical training and trained wandless magic and all that stuff was like all leading up to it was all leading up to being able to dodge magic without a wand and being able to push Voldemort with wandless magic.

K Alexandra: Gotcha.

Talia Franks: But the thing is, is that even after all this Voldemort is defeated, right?

K Alexandra: Right.

Talia Franks: Voldemort is defeated in chapter 37 and there are 47 chapters in this fic, because like I said, war is traumatic.

Talia Franks: And so the author literally dedicates 10 chapters to unpacking the layers of trauma and PTSD that all the characters have gone through. And actually so that the characters can actually do the work to mend their broken relationships with each other.

K Alexandra: What!

Talia Franks: And it’s so great.

K Alexandra: You mean it’s not a three-page epilogue that happened 19 years later?

Talia Franks: Yes! It’s actually like like I will say like content warnings for PTSD and panic attacks, because those like do happen in the, in those sections. And like this fic also has fairly frank discussion of genocide and slavery at certain points too.

K Alexandra: Okay.

Talia Franks: Mostly in comparisons between the Wizarding worlds and the muggle world.

K Alexandra: Yeah.

Talia Franks: Also Regulus and James’ form a queer platonic relationship. So it’s so then Regulus and James and Lily are like a polycule, which is great.

K Alexandra: Okay. So,

Talia Franks: Yeah.

K Alexandra: Does Hermione join the ministry?

Talia Franks: Yeah. So what happens is Hermione and Regulus work together to start getting better rights for house elves and werewolves and all other subjugated magical beings.

Talia Franks: And Hermione is basically like, “you have privilege and you’re going to use it.” And Regulus is like, “absolutely right. I am.”

Talia Franks: And then Remus is like, I need to get a job. Like I can’t just be and like, Remus at this point, he has PTSD and he falls into a bit of a depression, but one of the great things is that Regulus is like, “you’re always talking about how capitalism is terrible and there should be wealth distribution. So I’m just going to give you money and you can just live and you don’t have to get a job and you can just focus on self care.”

K Alexandra: What happened between him and Sirius?

Talia Franks: Oh yeah. Remus and Sirius do eventually mend their relationship and get back together. But it takes a while because they went through some traumatic shit and bad things happened between them and they needed time.

Talia Franks: Like just jumping back into the relationship wouldn’t work.

K Alexandra: Okay. Fair.

Talia Franks: That’s what I said. Well, there’s 10 chapters of unpacking that trauma.

K Alexandra: Are you going to drop the link to this?

Talia Franks: Yes I, of course. I, of course, I’m going to drop the link.

K Alexandra: Okay. Because

Talia Franks: I’m going to drop, I always drop the link in the episode description. And also it’s already in the it’s already in our episode outline that I shared with you.

K Alexandra: Wow. Now they’re, now the listeners are gonna know that I have.

K Alexandra: See, forgive my heart guys, I do pay attention. I promise I do. I’m just excited to stay up all night. Says teacher on school night. (Talia cackles)

Talia Franks: I hope your students don’t listen to the podcasts you’re on.

K Alexandra: Oh my gosh. No. They’re. Wow. Wow. I’m just so excited. And fall break is around the corner. This is definitely on my fall break to do

K Alexandra: list.

K Alexandra: Wow. Oh

Talia Franks: But yeah. This is such a fun fic.

K Alexandra: It is. So,

Talia Franks: And Hermione gets back together with her, with her girlfriend. And it’s and Elliot, her girlfriend’s boyfriend is the one is the one who helps Remus, unpack a lot of his trauma, which is great.

K Alexandra: Wait, hold the goddamn phone, Billie Elliot. (Talia laughs)

Talia Franks: You said it not me. (K laughs)

K Alexandra: Oh sick

Talia Franks: I don’t even know if the author made, intended it that way.

K Alexandra: They absolutely did. Ain’t no way. I am. I am violating reader law and assuming authorial intent. (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: Oh, I’m sick about it. So wait, so now we’re basically in 1980, right? So

Talia Franks: Yes, Harry is Harry is born. Harry, Harry, Lily’s pregnant. Harry is born and so is Neville. Hermione’s an aunt.

Talia Franks: Oh, and actually I was going to say, before we go, the person who did all this reveals themself!

K Alexandra: Okay,

Talia Franks: Basically what happens,

K Alexandra: Wait!

K Alexandra: I still get to guess, right?

Talia Franks: Yes. You get to guess.

K Alexandra: Okay. So you said there was no crossover, (Talia makes a negative noise) so not the watcher. Dang. That would have been cool about, and

Talia Franks: The Watcher doesn’t do nothing. You don’t think The Watch, The Watcher would intervene The Watcher never intervenes.

K Alexandra: True. But he does contemplate What If…? (Talia laughs) Um, but you, but you also said this is not someone from the Harry Potter universe.

Talia Franks: It’s not.

K Alexandra: Okay. So is it not someone from the Harry Potter universe, but it is mentioned in the Canon of the Harry Potter universe.

Talia Franks: I don’t think they are mentioned in the canon of the Harry Potter universe.

K Alexandra: Because Merlin does have a chocolate frog,

Talia Franks: It’s not Merlin.

K Alexandra: Okay. Is this somebody that I should know? And I’m

Talia Franks: It’s a mythological figure.

K Alexandra: Mythological Greek?

Talia Franks: No.

K Alexandra: Roman?

Talia Franks: No.

K Alexandra: Norse?

Talia Franks: Maybe.

K Alexandra: Odin?

Talia Franks: It’s not Odin!

Talia Franks: Who do you think it is? Well no. Okay. It might be Odin, so it’s never actually officially said who it is, but it’s implied that is Loki.

Talia Franks: I’m insulted that Loki wasn’t the first person you thought of.

K Alexandra: I’m sure he would’ve have crossed my mind eventually, but oh, of course,

Talia Franks: because the whole thing is so

K Alexandra: like variants,

Talia Franks: so the, the person who’s been doing all this basically appears to them as Regulus, stages, this dramatic as fuck reveal, reveals that they aren’t Regulus shape shifts into the version of themselves that they were when they dropped Hermione off as Hermione Longbottom.

Talia Franks: And then is like, By the way you’re allowed to talk. Now I’m lifting the curse. Thank you for traveling back in time, participating in all these shenanigans with me, I appreciate you fixing the timeline and all that whatever um, like, I’ll let you have your voices back and then, so they like disappear into a puff of smoke and then real Regulus walks in is like, “what did I miss?” (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: Oh, I’m sick. Oh my goodness. Wow. Wow.

Talia Franks: And then, so they reveal that they’re from the past or whatever, and so then Remus has to admit that he used to date Tonks who is now like a five-year old. Cause Tonks is a kid at this point.

K Alexandra: Oh my God!

Talia Franks: But so Sirius is like, was it weird for you dating me and the dating Tonks?

Talia Franks: And then Remus has to awkwardly explain that they didn’t date in the other timeline (K exclaims wooooooow at the same time) because in the other timeline Remus and Sirius never got together and Remus just thought Sirius was straight the whole time. (K says awwww at the same time) And then Sirius was like, “how did we never get together? And also, how did you think I was straight?” (Talia snorts and they and K both laugh)

K Alexandra: I’m crying. Wow.

Talia Franks: But anyway, so Sirius, it’s just shook the he and Remus, never dated in the other timeline.

K Alexandra: Does Hermione ever meet the Weasleys?

Talia Franks: I mean, like it’s implied that they all know Gideon and Fabian Prewett, but I don’t think they ever meet Arthur Weasley. They might at some point meet Arthur and Molly Weasley, but I don’t remember.

K Alexandra: No, I’m just happy to have my sis dodging a bullet, good for her. (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: Wow. Wow. Can’t wait to read. Period. Dang.

K Alexandra: So, what, so does Loki ever explain, like why he just decided enough was enough?

Talia Franks: Nope. It’s never even explicitly confirmed that the person is Loki.

K Alexandra: Oh.

Talia Franks: It’s just like Hermione says, “we assume it was Loki, but we’re not sure.” (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: Wow. Period.

Talia Franks: Like “we know it was one of the Norse gods. We’re assuming it was Loki but we’re not sure.”

K Alexandra: Dang. Wow. Cool. I’m excited. Can’t wait. Can’t wait to read.

Talia Franks: Yeah. So final thoughts?

K Alexandra: Never underestimate Loki, I guess. (Talia laughs)

K Alexandra: Yeah. I’m, I’m excited to read more about, I mean, seeing Remus and Sirius together has, is it’s not my first time at that, at that ship, but I’ve never really been like actively involved in their ship and I’ve also never heard of a story that made me like completely buy into their ship.

K Alexandra: Though I do always appreciate fanart about the two of them raising Harry together.

Talia Franks: I love WolfStar fanart!

K Alexandra: It makes my squishy heart even squishier!

Talia Franks: All right. Well, where can people find you on the interwebs? Not where you live.

K Alexandra: Twitter, [email protected], W R I T E not R I G H T though, I often feel like I am R I G H T.

K Alexandra: And Facebook, I guess, if you still use it K Alexandra Mills.

K Alexandra: A whole bunch of slacks. Also check out Fandom Forward, check out Wizards in Space Literary Magazine, check out Black Girls Create they’re the bees knees, check out black hotties at Hogwarts. If that’s your jam.

K Alexandra: And I hope to see some folks at in-person events sometime soon. Eventually.

Talia Franks: Well, thank you for being around on this episode of, Into the Archives. I appreciated having you.

K Alexandra: Thank you so much for the invite.

Talia Franks: You’re welcome.

K Alexandra: And yeah, looking forward to diving into the archives once more. (Talia laughs)

Talia Franks: You’ve been listening to Into the Archives, a fanfiction podcast from Talia Franks. You can find us on Twitter and Instagram @ArchivesPod. Join the party. Send me your favorite fanfics and fanfiction memes. You can also send us an email at [email protected] or visit our website intothearchivespod.com.

Talia Franks: And if you’re sick of me, pretending I’m not just the one person behind this podcast, you can find me Talia Franks @Talia_Franks on Twitter and Instagram. I’d also love to have your support on Patreon, where you can find me at patreon.com/taliafranks, and find extended cuts of Into the Archives episodes and more. If you have a moment, I’d appreciate a review on Apple Podcasts or another podcatcher site. Have a good night and try not to stay up too late reading fanfic. Do, as I say, not as I do.