Thoughts about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
I haven't really ever been a part of the Harry Potter fandom proper, though I do like the books/movies/world, but I saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them today and found I have some things to meta/theorize/speculate.
-I think Jacob Kowalski choosing to go out into the obliviate rain saved himself a big load of PTSD, even if he never intended it. At that moment, he’s still partly running on adrenaline from the whole experience, so he's coping, but his familiar concepts of reality might be starting to kick and freak out. Given time to settle, he'd be in the normal world with no sign it happened and he might develop some issues. By getting obliviated, he let the spell bury it in his subconscious to work through the trauma and weirdness of everything on its own, (that was the most literal 'stress-baking' I've ever seen) and when Queenie turns back up and triggers his memories, he's already processed the majority of the weirdness and stress-related issues through dreams. And baking! \o/
-Creedence is totally alive. That little wisp is going to go off and corporealize somewhere where no one will hurt or manipulate him again. He'll not have to suppress his magic anymore and will slowly redirect and reintegrate the Obscurial, maybe with help from Newt or some other friendly wizard who will also help him through remedial wizardry (they'll take him to an American version of Diagon Alley and get him a wand and things! I bet it's a department store in the U.S., like a Magical Macy's!) and get him caught up enough to go to Ilvermorney for the final few years. (Can wizards be home-schooled?)
-What is Creedence's birth name? Graves/Grindelwald knew what family Creedence had come from, obviously, because he'd thought Creedence was a Squib. (Interesting giveaway that, since Grindelwald is from the part of Eurasia that sends students to Durmstrang, he uses the term Squib instead of whatever the American term is. From the stuff involving Durmstrang in the books and other movies, they use the term Muggle as the British wizards do. Since the Americans have a different term for Muggles and seem to have a different attitude toward them, they likely have their own term for non-magical kids of wizarding families too. Creedence wouldn't know either term since he's outside the wizarding world, and wouldn't think it was weird that this American wizard is using the European term. (Also, if you want to really get meta, could also be a touchback to when U.S. publishers changed 'overly British' terms to American in the first runs of "'Sorcerer's' Stone", but I'm likely overthinking that.)) I'm kind of wondering if Creedence isn't the little brother or other relation of Tina and Queenie, or is some historical wizard mentioned in the background of the books.
(Yes, I know they're working on a sequel that might address a lot of this stuff and make Creedence's happy home-schooled wizard grad future naught but a silly dream, but for now I'm just speculating.)
So anyway, there's my thoughts. Other people have probably had similar or entirely different thoughts and that's absolutely fine too. I'm not here to convince anyone of anything, I'm just here to babble. :-)
-I think Jacob Kowalski choosing to go out into the obliviate rain saved himself a big load of PTSD, even if he never intended it. At that moment, he’s still partly running on adrenaline from the whole experience, so he's coping, but his familiar concepts of reality might be starting to kick and freak out. Given time to settle, he'd be in the normal world with no sign it happened and he might develop some issues. By getting obliviated, he let the spell bury it in his subconscious to work through the trauma and weirdness of everything on its own, (that was the most literal 'stress-baking' I've ever seen) and when Queenie turns back up and triggers his memories, he's already processed the majority of the weirdness and stress-related issues through dreams. And baking! \o/
-Creedence is totally alive. That little wisp is going to go off and corporealize somewhere where no one will hurt or manipulate him again. He'll not have to suppress his magic anymore and will slowly redirect and reintegrate the Obscurial, maybe with help from Newt or some other friendly wizard who will also help him through remedial wizardry (they'll take him to an American version of Diagon Alley and get him a wand and things! I bet it's a department store in the U.S., like a Magical Macy's!) and get him caught up enough to go to Ilvermorney for the final few years. (Can wizards be home-schooled?)
-What is Creedence's birth name? Graves/Grindelwald knew what family Creedence had come from, obviously, because he'd thought Creedence was a Squib. (Interesting giveaway that, since Grindelwald is from the part of Eurasia that sends students to Durmstrang, he uses the term Squib instead of whatever the American term is. From the stuff involving Durmstrang in the books and other movies, they use the term Muggle as the British wizards do. Since the Americans have a different term for Muggles and seem to have a different attitude toward them, they likely have their own term for non-magical kids of wizarding families too. Creedence wouldn't know either term since he's outside the wizarding world, and wouldn't think it was weird that this American wizard is using the European term. (Also, if you want to really get meta, could also be a touchback to when U.S. publishers changed 'overly British' terms to American in the first runs of "'Sorcerer's' Stone", but I'm likely overthinking that.)) I'm kind of wondering if Creedence isn't the little brother or other relation of Tina and Queenie, or is some historical wizard mentioned in the background of the books.
(Yes, I know they're working on a sequel that might address a lot of this stuff and make Creedence's happy home-schooled wizard grad future naught but a silly dream, but for now I'm just speculating.)
So anyway, there's my thoughts. Other people have probably had similar or entirely different thoughts and that's absolutely fine too. I'm not here to convince anyone of anything, I'm just here to babble. :-)