What's your favorite headcanon? 3: The mods must be crazy

[Gnoman]

In one of the Harry Potter books (I think it was Prisoner of Azkaban?) Harry and co. go shopping in Diagonally together, and we get to meet Hermione's parents exchanging money at Gringotts so that she can buy her school gear. They're presumably exchanging British Pounds for Wizard coins.

Now, money exchanges generally don't go only one way. If a financial institution is willing to "buy" your money, they must be expecting to be able to sell it at some point. And there are only so many Muggle aficionados like Arthur Weasley who'll buy it for the novelty (it's clear the one time he did use Muggle money onscreen that he has a very poor grasp of how it works, and this is a man whose main job is "interacting with Muggles").

So who in the Wizarding World is spending Muggle money? My theory: Goblins. They're forbidden from using wands by the British Ministry, but as a species, they're known for metallurgy and technical prowess. Unlike Wizards, Goblins have very good reason to invest in Muggle technology because they can't use traditional magic themselves.

Sure, maybe the ancient sword of Goderic Griffindor is made of "Goblin Steel," but nowadays, fashionable Goblins wouldn't be caught dead without their Goblin Space-Age Ceramic Polymer Blades. The abacuses and analog scales at Gringotts are just for show: they've got computer terminals with Microsoft Excel on them in the back rooms where the actual accounting takes place.

The Ministry clearly has need of British money from time to time, for renting land and such. It is very possible that ordinary wizards have to do the same sort of thing from time to time to get their houses and such, unless that's handled through the Ministry.

Which leads to a new headcanon of my own that in the HP universe, a lot of the "empty investment houses" around the world are actually wizard dwellings and businesses hiding in plain sight.

[Dargaron]

The Ministry clearly has need of British money from time to time, for renting land and such. It is very possible that ordinary wizards have to do the same sort of thing from time to time to get their houses and such, unless that's handled through the Ministry.

Which leads to a new headcanon of my own that in the HP universe, a lot of the "empty investment houses" around the world are actually wizard dwellings and businesses hiding in plain sight.

Huh. You know, I'd just assumed that wizards were squatting and relying on spells to keep anyone from inquiring about "that weird house on our land." But the idea of having to pay property taxes on Malfoy Manor or the Lovegoods' house is a lot funnier.

[Peelee]

Huh. You know, I'd just assumed that wizards were squatting and relying on spells to keep anyone from inquiring about "that weird house on our land." But the idea of having to pay property taxes on Malfoy Manor or the Lovegoods' house is a lot funnier.

Old fiction: "Wizards exist? BURN THEM!"

New fiction: "Wizards exist? NEW TAX BRACKETS!"

[Rater202]

In Mass Effect, part of the reason why Liara helped Cerberus retrieve Sheppard's body was becuase she was expecting Sheppard to end up like all of the Cerberus experiments you encounter in the first game.

It would work too well, the experiment(Sheppard reborn) would break free, kill everyone in the facility, and then take it over.

[Ruck]

Imean, McKean is an acting powerhouse. Spinal Tap may not have been a serious dramatic role, but it's clearly one hell of a job to pull off.

Well, don't sell Hartman short as an actor. He was the glue on SNL for a reason. (His roots in sketch comedy and character comedy are another parallel to Odenkirk and McKean, the former with The Ben Stiller Show and Mr. Show, the latter in his early days of comedy-- he and David Lander actually created Lenny and Squiggy while they were in college-- and with the Credibility Gap. Also, Hartman had a pretty interesting other career before he got into comedy.)

Simpsons headcanon: Marge needs Homer more tha homer needs Marge.

My headcanon is that nothing after season 9 is canon (and maybe not some things in it, either-- Armin Tamzarian my butt), which throws out a lot of the episodes you're talking about. But I think there are a few good points here.

-Marge definitely has a tendency to addiction; a few of the situations you've mentioned from the classic episodes highlight this. "$pringfield" is most obvious, but you're right about the adrenaline-chasing in "The Springfield Connection," and let's not forget in "You Only Move Twice" when she doesn't have any housework to do she starts drinking every day.

5: homer is really the only person who 1: Knows what Marge is like, 2: Loves her despite her flaws, 3: Treats her like a person instead of an object.

This is also true. Marge's sisters were pretty rotten to her and destroyed her self-confidence; Homer really values her and regards her highly in a way that she'd never experienced before. He's also very devoted to her (when he remembers to be-- Homer's ability to only think about what's immediately in front of him is very reminiscent of a dog).

That said, we have quite a bit of evidence that Homer can't function without Marge, either. "$pringfield," the same episode that gives us Marge's gambling addiction, also shows how quickly the household falls apart without her. And "Scenes From a Successful Marriage" has Homer falling into complete disrepair about a day after Marge kicks him out. He certainly needs her, too.

I don't think it's an either/or thing.