'Dumbledore, A Personal Favourite White Boy?'

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Thought some of you may enjoy the read - I just came across this essay on Dumbledore that pleased me greatly. The facts are nothing new to us, of course, but they're outlined in a lovely cohesive discussion of his many flaws that fans tend to excuse or overlook.

And even though the author's not a Snape fan, I like that they acknowledged how Dumbledore screwed him over as well. I was of course furious with Dumbledore coming up with the plan to commit suicide via Snape (which unwittingly placed him in Voldemort's firing line over the Elder Wand), but I haven't thought of using the fact that this was done without informing the Order and thus squandering the possibility of any intel from Snape during DH. That could've been useful!

***The title refers to a term explained in a previous article, basically: "Personal Favorite White Boy (n.): A (usually white) male character who can commit acts ranging from “pretty damn douchey” to “outright atrocities”, but is constantly defended by or stanned for by a furious fan base who will go to any lengths to excuse their actions and vilify critics. A male fave who is portrayed as a precious cinnamon roll who are only ever victims and heroes, and anyone who says differently is evil or illiterate."

Comments

[vermouth1991.livejournal.com]

Percy Ignatius (who was Ignatius?)

The one "Ignatius" I can recall from canon is Ignatius Peverall, a.k.a. the Third Brother who asked for Death's invisibility cloak.

[jana-ch.livejournal.com]

The Peverell brother with the invisibility cloak was named Ignotus, which is Latin for “unknown,” not Ignatius, which means “fiery one.” I’m not sure why Percy is more fiery than the rest of the red-haired Weasleys, but “unknown” is certainly an appropriate name for a man who supposedly spent his entire life in hiding. Another appropriate name might be Ignavus, which means “coward.”

In fact, I think this is my new headcanon. The third brother in the story had been called Ignavus, because the original message of the tale was that living your life in hiding is a cowardly act, not a noble, philosophical one. A publisher belonging to the Potter family slipped a name-change into an edition of Beedle back in the 18th century that went on to become the most popular version of the book, and the headstone in Godric’s Hollow is a 19th century re-creation by Potter antiquary.