Malfoid and the Importance of Storytelling

Art by the wonderful @MaroonR19

Watching Malfoid explode across the Internet as a phenomenon has made me reflect on the state of storytelling in the modern world. With Malfoid, we have a honest and organic desire to remake a popular story with one simple change.

There is a genuine attempt to understand the characters of Malfoid and Harry Potter, along with the ripple effects that this has on all the other characters. There are legions of people asking themselves and debating each other about the structure of the story: what works, what doesn't, why does this in particular strike a chord, why does this ring hollow. I've read more deep literary analysis on Malfoid in the past week and a half than I have read in the past 10 years combined, not to mention the feeble attempts of writing it myself.

For some reason, this is all frowned upon by people of all kinds. The usual suspects over at Bluesky are up in arms for the usual reasons, but I also see people here on Twitter that have lost their mind over why people would "waste their time" on something as gay and as cringe as Harry Potter fanfics.

Nothing here has been a waste of time, so long as you choose to let it change you in a positive direction.

To the "gay and cringe" accusations, I would like to remind them the purpose of storytelling:

Stories are how we pass lessons on amongst ourselves and to the next generation. Some stories are repeated, if they are relevant to the human condition, and they are expanded upon and adapted and copied and transformed. The original story is gone but the core structure remains reflected a thousand times in a million different stories.

The Hero's Journey is probably the most famous example of it.

Everyone knows this structure. Point out any famous story, especially in the West, and this basic circle is there. It exists as a meta-story that we all go through. This eternal circle is what we repeat over and over and over again all through our lives. It is a core description of one aspect of the human condition. So long as humans live, this story will be told.

There are more to stories than this. Not every story needs to be told about knights going out and slaying dragons to rescue a princess.

Some are about how to deal with cultural problems.

Some are teaching morality to children.

And of course, some are about love.

Malfoid touches on just that. It transform Harry Potter from just a 7-book repeat of the Hero's Journey (which it fits fairly well) and adds an additional layer of how to deal with love: love between different social classes, love that persists through adversity, and love that ultimately saves both the man and woman from a danger that only they can defeat together if they love each other.

It's a tale as old as time, but one that has been missed as of late.

I do not need to tell you, dear reader, that romance is almost dead as of late. Men and women have been torn apart by nefarious forces, making every innocent interaction and attempt at igniting love a prisoner's dilemma. I still feel that myself, despite my honest attempts at trying again.

That fear, the little voice in the back of my head (and your head as well) tells me the same things over and over again:

"Don't try it."

"It's going to backfire."

"She's going to destroy you and your entire life because she's heartless."

"There's nothing there anyways."

"You don't deserve love and never will."

"Save yourself from the guaranteed pain and suffering."

"Changing your life for marriage and parenthood will not be worth it as she'll take it away from you the instant she can gain off of you."

"Give up."

Perhaps that voice will never leave, even if I am successful in my endeavors. It's not entirely wrong. There's potential truth in every one of those statements. It sounds, on the surface, compassionate and logical.

But it's still wrong. Even if you, dear reader, have no experience with romantic love, you know it's wrong and you know how to fight against it.

Because of stories.

You read stories like Malfoid fanfics and learn how to navigate love. This isn't just directed at the men reading this. Women learn these lessons as well. Love, nurtured and maintained through hardship and adversity, is something worth fighting for. It is far more meaningful than a swipe on an app, a one night stand, or a complicated situationship with someone that really doesn't care about you the second after they collapse on the bed beside you.

Waking up next to your love, day after day, and building a life together is something we all want. We may have been tricked and convinced into wanting something else, but at our cores we always yearn for this.

The quiet night on a lake, by a fire, sitting together and watching the stars.

Putting the kids to sleep and then curling up together in bed and falling asleep.

Stressing out about some difficulty in life, be it bills or medical hardship or death or even something else, and knowing beyond all doubt that there is someone there beside you, supporting you, and you in return are there support them.

If we don't have an example of that in our lives, for whatever reason that might be, we must turn to stories to know that we aren't insane. To know that what we want is not only not evil but is actively good. To know how to quiet that voice in our head when it starts to spit venom as it speaks.

Who cares where those stories come from?

There's this odd sense of demanded accreditation, where if a good thing comes from an unusual location, then it must be derided and attacked unless and until the proper channels have approved of them. These people demand that a good thing must be approved of by organizations that have sold out all of our tomorrows for the organization to have a better today. Surprisingly enough, that approval rarely, if ever, comes. Then, these same people demanding approval are surprised that nothing good is made any more. It's yet another demand for perfection in our slightly more-than-average fallen world.

This, too, makes me tired.

There is nothing but the desire to win over your enemies, at any and all costs. Victory achieved by any means necessary is the name of the game. If you don't play it by that standard, then you will be screwed over by the other.

Or in other words, a prisoner's dilemma.

The only way out of this is forgiveness.

Forgiveness is desperately needed in this world. I'm not saying to instantly forgive some one or some thing that just stabbed you in the back seconds ago. However, if someone comes to you, showing genuine repentance for their actions and asking for forgiveness, do the illogical thing and forgive them.

We are not perfect beings. We make mistakes. It's time we remember that and start to at least try to build a better future for us all. It's going to be tough, I don't deny that, but the alternative is quite a bit of suffering that we can avoid with a little forgiveness.

I hesitate in accepting that myself. I've been conditioned over my entire adult life to expect betrayal, both from women and from society at large. I have lived in a fortress of solitude of my own creation for years, wasting my life away but remaining as protected as possible.

"I can't be betrayed if I don't trust anyone."

I lived by that for just over five years, and I wasted those five precious years of my life. I did not see a way out. I holed up alone and drifted through life. I sleepwalked from work to home, day in and day out, week in and week out. I had forgotten the stories told to me when I was young because I was more focused on survival alone. After so many years of betrayal, and of such a large magnitude, who could blame me?

And then Malfoid came along.

And now I'm so much happier and I strive for more than just survival.

There's a lot of forgiveness I need to embrace. For others, for my family, and most importantly, for myself. I've made mistakes. I've wasted years of my life. I've said and done things to people I love out of a desire to win. I need to be the forgiveness I want to see, and, God willing, I'll receive it from those I hurt.

Funnily enough, all this came from a Harry Potter fanfic. I'm quite certain that they'll be (more) people out there mocking me for this, but I don't particularly care as the source is good enough.

We all need to start embracing that mindset in our lives. Reject the incessant desire for perfection from your fellow man (and woman). You will be failed, in some way, shape, or form, by family, friends, and acquaintances. And of course, you'll do the same to them. That's a guarantee.

Forgive them for their imperfections and their failures, and they should forgive you for yours.

If Harry can forgive Malfoid and live happily ever after, then you can forgive as well.

And if that lesson has to come from something as gay and as cringe as a Harry Potter fanfic, then so be it.