And we are back!

Thanks to our server host, we are on a new server with a brand new motherboard! The DNS is propagating so it may take a few more hours until the Park is fully back up. Please let us know via a comment here or email help@fictionalley.org if anything is still not working mid-afternoon today.

ARCHIVED: What happened? Was it Voldemort? Grindlewald?

No, it was a crash of the FictionAlley motherboard.

It happens, and it's nobody's fault, not really. It crashed yesterday morning (EST on Nov. 28) and it's taking a while for it to come back online. First they tried to reboot it, then they realized the motherboard was ruined, and they've been working to put our hard drive onto a new server.

We don't expect that any content was lost but when it comes back online, we'll check. It's possible a few Park posts may have gone missing, and we know there were awesome conversations taking place then and we hope you can resume the magic when the site is back online.

None of the links on the right work now. But they will again, soon!

More info as we have it....

The good news is, our site host is giving us December for free - which is important because we had plans to ask you for money today, which is #GivingTuesday.

Our hosting and domain name fees are about $2500 per year; the site mods have been paying more than half of these costs for the last few years, and we bring in a few hundred dollars every year via Google Ad revenue and from people making purchases via our Amazon urls, but we need your support. If you are able to donate ten dollars, twenty dollars, or even fifty dollars or more, it would make a huge impact on FictionAlley's annual costs.

FA founder Heidi8 will double the first eight donations, as well as all donations on December 8, 2016. Also, if we raise $4000 (to cover the next 18 months of costs/fees) by February 28, 2017, all other donations in 2017 will go to hiring a programmer to rebuild FA's hosting system and forums.

The Last Two Decades of Pop Culture....

FictionAlley and founders Heidi and Flourish were featured in an article at Slate Magazine this week

that focused on fans as the "New Powers That Be" and talked about Harry Potter, the triumph of fandom, and the future of creativity. 

Harry Potter launched a phenomenon that’s seldom acknowledged and barely understood, but that’s as powerful and lasting as the books themselves: the first massive internet-born fandom. That fandom and its legacy have transformed today’s cultural landscape—creating new audiences, nurturing new billion-dollar media properties, and forever changing the way creators and consumers interact with each other and with the world.

It's been over 15 years since FictionAlley first went live, and we want to thank all of you for being a part of this fandom, and creating this legacy that continues to have fantastic and magical vibrations and unexpected impacts on so many things in pop culture, society and even politics. Let's keep changing the world!

Mugglenet Academia

FictionAlley founder Heidi Tandy was a guest on this week's Mugglenet Academia's podcast for Lesson 49: “Rights, Copyrights, and Playwrights - The Legal Side of Rowling’s Magic”.  
The Lesson features a deep dive into publishing and licensing procedures, the impact of a well-drafted contract, relationships between J.K. Rowling. her literary agents and Warner Bros. and the legal frameworks of copyrights and trademarks on merchandising and extended content such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Cursed Child productions and subsequent book productions. What are some of the legal ins and outs associated with all of these projects and who leads it all? Is it Rowling herself, Blair Partnerships, or the Harry Potter Global Franchise Division?
Click the Play button below to listen, or download via the link above, or access the podcast via iTunes. 

Have you read "Cursed Child" yet? Have you seen it?

The Cursed Child discussion forum is open in FictionAlley Park - as of now the spoiler policy is in effect until August 10, 2016 but we may change that to August 2.

Was it magical? Was it everything you expected? Let's flail, squee and discuss it together.

Fantastic Beasts Livecast from SDCC

We are live at the Fantastic Beasts livecast from Leavesden & San Diego Comuc Con - you can follow along at https://www.facebook.com/fantasticbeastsmovie/ for a Q&A with the cast & director -- and some magic, too!

The Wizarding World at San Diego Comic-Con

In July of 2016, fans of Harry Potter & the Wizarding World will get to experience a lot of magic at San Diego's world-famous Comic-Con. 

The annual fandom panel will again feature reps from all corners of fandom talking about canon, magic, fandom, and creativity - and include a pre-show with trivia from Dumbledore's Army of Los Angeles. 

On the Expo Floor, Funko will showcase their new Newt Scamander figure, and many hope Fantastic Beasts will be featured at SDCC in other ways, too! We'll keep you posted!

Fantastic Beasts Featurette

Leviosa!

Witches and wizards are heading to Las Vegas from July 7 - 10 for a fantastic fan convention, LEVIOSA! Experience a weekend of Harry Potter & YA Literature amazingness–get panels, workshops, meet-ups, performances, special events like our Magical Ball & more! 
Day passes are still available on their site, and at the event at the Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa in Henderson, NV. 

Fantastic 20s and How to Time Travel to Them

In honor of the forthcoming release of Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (Pt. 1), we're reverting to our Wizarding World of the 1920s theme, thanks to lovely artistry from Starling and Priscilla. We're time traveling through over twelve years of fandom, and about 90 years of history, to recapture the fashionable shine of decades past. (And weren't they prescient? As good at predicting the future and the past as Professor Trelawney!)

Fan Film Rec

Last summer, FA's Heidi moderated the Harry Potter Fandom panel at San Diego's Comic Con; one of her panelists was Justin Zagri, whose fan film - Severus Snape & the Marauders - is now up on YouTube. Check it out here, because fan creativity in any medium is magic!

(Update: Entertainment Weekly loved it, too!)

RIP Alan RIckman

Today, we lost our beloved Alan Rickman to cancer, and we raise our wands in his memory.

Our friends at the HP Alliance memorialized him, magically; they speak for us:

"This is what we’re about. The idea that story can change the world is at the heart of what we do and how we do it.

"But before we were building an organization, planning campaigns, or sharing in the power of story and the power of love with a community built on both, we were reading and watching Harry Potter. We were being enchanted by actors like Alan Rickman, who brought our very favorite story to life with incomparable commitment and skill. To think about the films is to think about that inimitable sneer, that drawl nobody can ever unhear.

"Those performances and their impact never faded. In the past month alone, we’ve seen references to Alan Rickman’s Snape in puppet shows and lyrics, from Yule Balls to Draco and the Malfoys’ house show. And in the years before that? Too many good times to count. We don’t think Alan could possibly know exactly how many or exactly how grateful we are.

The truest thing Severus Snape ever said was simple: “It’s real for us.” It all is: the message, the memories, the magic. The best way to move forward is to carry that with us.

"If that first potions scene struck fear - or anger - into your heart, if Alan Rickman’s immaculate portrayal made you feel something, to want to do something, to want to be kinder and to never abuse your power over those in your care and to stick it to the man, that was real. It is real. The power of a community coming together in a time of darkness and creating light is real, too. Don’t lose sight of it. Use it to change the world."

FictionAlley was founded on the belief that creativity is magic; Alan - Professor Rickman - showcased creativity and magic in all he did. Our thoughts are with his family and friends today - and also with all of you. Our grief is real, legitimate and worthy of sharing within our fandom community.

And also, FUCK CANCER.