I totally disagree with you. The author always "knows" every character better than the reader, and lots of character development and background doesn't make it into the book because it's not pertinent to the story being told. That doesn't make the character's history up for grabs. And if you think as you've written…

Well, sure, and like I said, it wasn't a theory I subscribed to, even after considering the evidence people cited, until book 7. I'm just saying, there really were a fair number of people who insisted there was canonical evidence for Dumbledore being gay at least as far back as book 3, so while there's undoubtedly…

Clearly we had different fannish experiences! I don't know if I'd refer to it as "one of the prominent theories," but at least in my experience, it wasn't a particularly rare one, either. Like I said in other posts, it wasn't a theory I personally subscribed to, and I always thought the evidence laid out was rather…

I didn't *always* know, but I thought the whole story about his youth and his history with that other wizard made it super obvious he was gay. I felt he was clearly in love with the guy, and it colored all of their interactions. However, if one isn't used to looking for that sort of thing or examining relationships…

What? How did people not know that Dumbledore was in love with Grindelwald? The book basically spells it out for you. Of course it wasn't in the movies, but most of that kind of stuff wasn't.

Agree with everything except the bit about Ron and Hermione. They are literally the ONLY couple that was set up from the very beginning. I would have been more surprised if they didn't end up together. I started rereading the novels earlier this year and I'd forgotten how often Ron rushes to defend her or "protect her…

I think that if you are accepting of different sexual orientations, it shouldn't 'squick you out' that an old man is gay, or even that your grandfather is gay. Or if it is disorientating for a moment or two, you eventually accept it.

So you don't think the creator of the work can add to that work after it is out there? I mean, she could turn round and say half the characters in there had a great big gay orgy after defeating the bad guy at the end and people could be pissed, but it is her story. It is her world and realistically she is the only one…

I think it actually is pretty implicit in Dumbledore's backstory as laid out in Deathly Hallows. His history with Grindlewald feels a bit out of character otherwise: Grindlewald was essentially a terrorist, and Albus allowed turned a blind eye to his activities for far longer than seems logical. He basically admits he…

I thought Ron and Hermione were perfect for each other! She should have made Neville gay. Coming to terms with his sexual orientation would have helped explain Neville's abrupt transition from awkward schlemiel to badass warrior. Plus, it would have shut down all the hope for a relationship between Luna and Neville.…

Frankly, I was one of the several who saw hints of it with Grindelwald in the books. I think there is a difference between it not being there and it just not being bluntly described. That's why we have literary criticism, literary analysis, intertextuality, etc as academic disciplines.

Yeah, it's not exactly as if people can accuse her of being some sort of "famous for nothing" aristocratic brat, or a Wall Street leech. She's literally self-made, and if anyone helped her along the way, it's people just like her "ex-fan", and myself, who willingly gave her our money for an awesome product.

The thing is, if you paid attention to Harry Potter fandom throughout the years? A lot of people said that, long before Rowling made the announcement. I have no doubt that there are people who jumped on it after the fact, but it was being widely discussed as a theory as far back as the publication of the 3rd book.

<nerd alert> I am a fan of the Harry Potter novels and re-read them all many times as a child and teenager. There were actually a few hints about Dumbledore being gay throughout the books, but it's important to recognize that Dumbledore was very private and secretive, and he always evaded any personal questions people…

I agree with you that it would have been better if she'd mentioned Dumbledore's orientation in the books. Or, come to think of it, if she'd included ANY openly gay characters. But the way she did it was pretty awesome too. She wrote some books that everyone in the world fell in love with, kept them from being overly…

Which I'm not arguing against in the least bit, but you feel scolded so you had to climb on your high horse about something. Words matter. The only time people don't think words matter is when they don't want to feel bad for using one incorrectly.

She was asked about Dumbledore's love life in a Q&A session with fans, so she told them. it wasnt click baiting

But there also wasn't any evidence he was heterosexual - it's not like they had him talk about an ex-girlfriend and then she pulled a bait-and-switch. The reason it seems surprising is because in general our society assumes heterosexuality - unless you 'prove' you're gay everyone is going to think you're straight.

Significant pet peeve: The revelation of Dumbledore's sexuality is not a retcon. A retcon, or retroactive continuity, means established facts in the cannon are altered by later work in order to put the later work inline with continuity. There is nothing in the original Harry Potter books that establishes Dumbledore to…

I know that, yes. If you pay close attention, you'll see my writing is a mix of English conventions, and my English speaking friends hail from all over the world. I've had plenty of discussions concerning the c-word, as well as other words. I don't consider any gendered insult to be mild. I don't use the b-word as a…