u/Teknevra

I keep seeing posts like this one, complaining that TMDB removes amateur content from the TMDB platform.

And that got me curious:

I've never understood why there isn't an alternative to TMDB / TVDB, but for Indie content (ie festivals, Movies, Shows, etc.)

That way, indie content gets its own place, and doesn't overrun TMDB/TVDB with non professional content (no matter how good the indie content is, or not).

And then, later on, when the user becomes professional, they would then graduate to TMDB / TVDB

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Perhaps call it something like:

The Indie Database (TIDB),

or

The Indie Movie Database (TIMDB),

or something.

It could even potentially be a fork of TMDB / TVDB.

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Sorry for any mistakes, I'm currently at work.

I stumbled upon this song on YouTube, that is apparently an expanding upon of the song "Odo the Hero", that Hagrid and Slughorn sang it at the funeral of Aragog, in HBP.

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Odo\_the\_Hero

And I was curious: is this how the ACTUAL song went, or is this just a fan-made version/expansion upon?

Ik that Hagrid and Slughorn only sang a few lines in HBP, as well as Hagrid singing it with Charlie Weasley (as well as another, squat wizard in a purple pork-pie hat) in DH.

But I wasn't sure if Rowling had had put the full lyrics up on the official website (i.e. perhaps back when it was still WizardingWorld.com, similar to what she did with the extra stories), or something.

I recently stumbled upon Criticker, and, while it looks interesting, I was curious:

What is the difference between Criticker, and Taste.io?

I (and a lot of other people, I'd guess) read and write fanfiction.

But as far as I know, there's never really been a federated fanfic platform — nothing that plugs into the fediverse the way Mastodon does for microblogging or PeerTube/Loops does for video.

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Then I stumbled upon SquidgeWorld Archive (SQWA), an AO3 alternative that actually runs on the same codebase as AO3 otwarchive.

It's got way fewer users than AO3, which honestly gives it a cozier, more small-town vibe. The devs/maintainers behind it, squidge.org, even run both Mastodon and Bluesky accounts.

The catch: people have posted that fics pulling thousands of views on AO3 get little to none on SQWA. Makes sense — it's just a much smaller pond.

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So, two half-formed ideas that I wanted to possibly toss out:

Suggestion #1 — "colonize" SQWA.

What if fediverse-native fanfic folks just started actually posting there? Cross-link your fediverse socials, bring your existing following over, treat it like planting a flag. It already exists, the maintainers are clearly fediverse-friendly, it just needs bodies.

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Suggestion #2 — fork it (and ao3) and actually federate it.

AO3's otwarchive code is open source, which is exactly what SQWA is running on. What if someone forked it and built out real federation — ActivityPub support, the whole deal — instead of just being a second standalone AO3 clone? That feels like the "real" long-term fix, but it's a genuine software undertaking, not a weekend project.

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I'd love to take a crack at #2 myself but I don't have the time or the technical bandwidth for something that size right now, so I'm just putting it out there in case it resonates with anyone here.

Curious what this community thinks — is #1 realistic, or does fanfic just need a ground-up federated archive to actually work?

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Edit: Sorry for any mistakes, I'm currently at work.

I was curious if anyone knew of any good Vampire!Harry fics?

Either ones where he's already a vampire from the start, or he ends up getting turned at some point in the story.

The darker, or maturer, the tone, the better.

Bonus points if the fic actually digs into what being a vampire means for him: bloodlust, changed morality, how the wizarding world/friends, acquaintances/loved ones/etc react, etc., rather than just slapping fangs on him and calling it a day.

---

A few asks:

Any length is fine, but preferably not recs that are abandoned/dead — I'll still take them, but nothing's worse than getting invested in a fic that stops at chapter 12 with no updates since 2013.

Any pairing works, monogamous or non-mono, or gen/no pairing at all

Crossovers are also totally welcome ( I am somewhat curious if there's good overlap with Twilight, Vampire Diaries, Underworld, Dracula, Cirque du Freak, TMI Series, or even original vamp lore, as well)

Bonus if it's canon-divergent in an interesting way rather than pure AU

EDIT: Just to help clarify, there can also be other magical beings / creatures, but Harry himself would be a vampire.

I was curious if anyone knew of any good Vampire!Harry fics?

Either ones where he's already a vampire from the start, or he ends up getting turned at some point in the story.

The darker, or maturer, the tone, the better.

Bonus points if the fic actually digs into what being a vampire means for him: bloodlust, changed morality, how the wizarding world/friends, acquaintances/loved ones/etc react, etc., rather than just slapping fangs on him and calling it a day.

---

A few asks:

Any length is fine, but preferably not recs that are abandoned/dead — I'll still take them, but nothing's worse than getting invested in a fic that stops at chapter 12 with no updates since 2013

Any pairing works, monogamous or non-mono, or gen/no pairing at all

Crossovers are also totally welcome ( I am somewhat curious if there's good overlap with Twilight, Vampire Diaries, Underworld, Dracula, Cirque du Freak, TMI Series, or even original vamp lore, as well)

Bonus if it's canon-divergent in an interesting way rather than pure AU

EDIT: Just to help clarify, there can also be other magical beings / creatures, but Harry himself would be a vampire.

So this has been bugging me, and I can't find anything that fully resolves it: the films (starting with Hellbound) give us Leviathan as the big cold geometric overlord of the Labyrinth, no Satan/Lucifer in sight.

But then Scarlet Gospels and The Toll flip that completely — Lucifer's the one on the throne, Leviathan doesn't even exist in that continuity, and the Hell Priest is out here trying to usurp an actual fallen angel instead.

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Barker's on record saying the novels and films/comics were meant to have their own separate continuities, so I get that this is partly just "different medium, different canon" and not something meant to be reconciled.

But I'm curious how people in here actually think about it in their heads when the two aren't hard-separated:

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Do you treat them as fully separate non-communicating universes (like Halloween timelines), full stop?

Do you headcanon it as a multiverse / stacked-dimensions/realities thing — different "layers" or versions of Hell, and existence, existing in parallel? Ie something similar to PJO/American Gods, where beliefs shape reality, or how the show Supernatural / MARVEL / DC / etc have multiverses that are filled countless different versions of the same characters?

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That last one could also potentially help with the Hellraiser 2022 reboot, with having it be yet ANOTHER reality.

This is more of a random idea for a potential HP crossover fic that I had.

I've been re-reading When Harry met Wednesday, and my thought was:

There quite a few of HP x Addams Family fics:

(The aforementioned) When Harry met Wednesday

The Harveste Addams series

Absinthe Addams

The Herido Addams Series (unfortunately abandoned)

etc.

Which usually involve Harry falling to the Dark.

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My thought was, in those stories, there is never any opposing side, for the Light.

Yes, there is Dumbledore, as well as the OOTP, the Ministry, etc., but, what I'm talking about is a family that is just as, or nearly, as well as the Addams Family, but for the Light, instead of the Dark.

A sort of a Yin, to The Addamses Yang.

And then, I thought, The Munsters would be PERFECT, for that potential role.

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Think about it:

The Addams are all about the macabre, gothic, etc., PERFECT for The Dark, where The Munsters are all about Monsters who are attempting to be Human, *PERFECT for the Light.

Sorry for the rambling, I'm at Work.

I just had to get the idea out of my head.

This is more of a random idea for a potential HP crossover fic that I had.

I've been re-reading When Harry met Wednesday, and my thought was:

There quite a few of HP x Addams Family fics:

(The aforementioned) When Harry met Wednesday

The Harveste Addams series

Absinthe Addams

The Herido Addams Series (unfortunately abandoned)

etc.

Which usually involve Harry falling to the Dark.

---

My thought was, in those stories, there is never any opposing side, for the Light.

Yes, there is Dumbledore, as well as the OOTP, the Ministry, etc., but, what I'm talking about is a family that is just as, or nearly, as well as the Addams Family, but for the Light, instead of the Dark.

A sort of a Yin, to The Addamses Yang.

And then, I thought, The Munsters would be PERFECT, for that potential role.

---

Think about it:

The Addams are all about the macabre, gothic, etc., PERFECT for The Dark, where The Munsters are all about Monsters who are attempting to be Human, PERFECT for the Light.

Sorry for the rambling, I'm at Work.

I just had to get the idea out of my head.

I'm terrible at writing, so I guess that this is part discussion, part fic prompt.

I'm looking for an alternative to the Galaxy S24.

I originally bought it new, around three years ago.

And while it's served me well, I've recently started to become bored with it, as well as being annoyed with all of the bloat that SAMSUNG stuffs into it.

I'm also trying to de-google, as much as possible.

---

Basically, what I'm looking for is:

preferably flagship, although it doesn't have to be,

with good battery

decent software updates / support,

adequate gaming capabilities (I rarely if ever use my phone for gaming, but I like having the option to),

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Currently, I've been having my eye on the Google Pixel 10, as well as the Motorola Edge 2026.

I also had a look at the Nothing Phone (3), although I saw this post, in another Subreddit, about how they are installing the dodgy hidden system app AURA from Israeli company ironSource on all of their non-flagship phones.

Also, the chipset has been mentioned as being somewhat weak.

I also had my eye on OnePlus, but decided against it, since they are leaving the EU and USA.

I also heard that they (OnePlus) has been dealing with bootlooping issues.

---

Although, if anyone else has another phone suggestion, I'm all ears.

I'm on Verizon, Buisness Plan.

Budget:$800-1200

I'm looking for an alternative to the Galaxy S24.

I originally bought it new, around three years ago.

And while it's served me well, I've recently started to become bored with it, as well as being annoyed with all of the bloat that SAMSUNG stuffs into it.

---

Basically, what I'm looking for is:

preferably flagship, although it doesn't have to be,

with good battery decent software updates / support,

adequate gaming capabilities (I rarely if ever use my phone for gaming, but I like having the option to),

I'm also trying to de-google, as much as possible.

---

Currently, I've been having my eye on the Google Pixel 10, as well as the Motorola Edge 2026.

I also had a look at the Nothing Phone (3), although I saw the post in this Subreddit about how they are installing the dodgy hidden system app AURA from Israeli company ironSource on all of their non-flagship phones.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PickAnAndroidForMe/s/T75CMV7rBj

Also, the chipset has been mentioned as being somewhat weak.

---

Although, if anyone else has another phone suggestion, I'm all ears.

I'm on Verizon, Buisness Plan.

Budget:$800-1200

The director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History pushed back Tuesday against a recent White House report that branded the institution’s leadership as radical activists who cannot be trusted.

The testimony from Anthea M. Hartig came as President Donald Trump has engaged in a broad national effort to reshape the stories of America told by cultural institutions controlled or influenced by the federal government and, in particular, to purge diversity, equity and inclusion elements from those narratives. Many historians are alarmed by the revisionism.

“As we continue to fact check the report, we unwaveringly attest that it does not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum,” Hartig told a House Oversight subcommittee. “There is always room for improvement. But I also know the beauty and the inspiration and the expertise that lies in our collections, our exhibits, and our programming.”

Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of American independence, the White House Domestic Policy Council released a report on July Fourth arguing that the museum, a centerpiece of the sprawling Smithsonian complex on the National Mall, doesn’t tell history “in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.”

Republicans on the panel reiterated some of those concerns on Tuesday.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]:  https://fortune.com/2026/07/21/smithsonian-history-museum-white-house-report-woke-diversity-republican/?utm_source=reddit/

What the title says.

I definitely think that the films were iconic / nostalgic, and I'm not trying to hate on them in any way, but they never really felt like (at least IMHO) very British/English.

At best, it felt more like this watered down, Americanized version of Britain.

What the title says.

In the books, Ron swears a lot, as well as makes rude gestures.

How do you think that they may potentially deal with it?

The old "loud noise" trick?

Where he goes to say it, but a loud noise happens., thereby muting him?

Or.........