#i rly loved this era

[aq2003]

MILLIE ?!

[superfallingstars]

Personally I think jily is supposed to be idealized (like how James and lily were idealized) to Harry. James gets knocked of his pedestal in swm and so does jily by Harry questioning if his father forced his mother into marriage. Later when talking to lupin and Sirius James and Jily get a slight defense and Harry is back to feeling alright but with the knowledge that things weren’t perfect.

I personally don’t read Jily as abusive (even though I read James as being abusive to snape at school, but I don’t think that violent, physical behavior was extended to Lily) but I definitely don’t read them as a “good” couple (whatever that means). I think you can read it in many different ways given there is so little of them and I think an interpretation that their relationship wasn’t the healthiest is perfectly plausible with the scant information we’re given.

Yeahhhh that’s probably what JKR intended. James and Lily are the fridged parents who are dearly mourned and missed, and as a result, their flaws are completely smoothed over in everyone’s memories. But in Snape’s Worst Memory, Harry learns the hard lesson that things aren’t always what they seem, and that nobody is perfect, not even his dead father. Hurrah.

My problem with this is that I think it’s very boring, LOL. Like it really is probably exactly what JKR intended (given her middle-of-the-road takes on every moral and political question that happens in these books), but man, it feels like such a cop out. James basically ruins Snape’s life for no reason, and the conclusion we’re meant to draw from this is just, well, people are complicated! NO!!!! Bad answer!!! Like, Snape also did some terrible things, but at least he spends a ton of pages actively suffering/atoning for his sins. But James, on the other hand, is only somewhat implied to have changed maybe slightly a little bit somewhere off-page, and we just have to take #1 James Potter fanboy Sirius Black and serial understater Remus Lupin at their word. So if James was supposed to be “redeemed” – or even just excused – wow, it really doesn't work for me. You can't go as dark as "protagonist questions if his father forced his mother into marriage" and then just brush it off like no big deal, Joanne! And it’s so frustrating, because all it would've taken to fix this would've been to show James being a good person instead of just telling the reader that he was one (proof: trust me?). Ugh.

So because of all that, I agree that from what we’re given, it’s quite difficult to read Jily as “good.” We rarely see them interact, and when we do, James’s behavior is wayyyy too similar to the trope of “terrible guy eventually gets the girl even though she seems to hate him with every fiber of her being because his persistence and not taking no for an answer is just toooo romantic to resist.” Which sucks, lol. It feels like JKR is basically being like, “eh, James was young and dumb, whatever” and giving him a huge out for all the grief he caused Snape (and Lily, for that matter) – and she expects that the reader will agree that that is a legitimate excuse for his behavior, and by extension think that it's reasonable for Lily to forgive and eventually marry him. And man, I am just not sure if that is enough to convince me. (And evidently, I'm not alone, considering the “Jily is abusive” meta post that likely sparked this ask!)

With that said, I agree that it’s a stretch to say that James was abusive (or even implied to be abusive) toward Lily. It’s not a completely unfounded take – it could probably be written well in a fic, and even be canon compliant – but you would really have to extrapolate that dynamic from the little information we’re given (as you pointed out). And more importantly (at least, re: that meta), I don't think JKR intended that interpretation at all.

Personally, I just don’t think it makes sense for the narrative for James and Lily to have been in an abusive relationship. And by the narrative, I mean Harry. If Jily is an abusive (or even just bad) relationship, that would have massive ramifications for the way Harry sees his parents. Ideally he would have to come to terms with that at some point – I don’t think it makes sense for James’s and Lily’s relationship to have been this way and not have significantly affected Harry – but imo JKR clearly does not want to deal with that. Like you said, the point of SWM – aside from foreshadowing Lily and Snape’s relationship – was to knock James off his pedestal and basically go, See, nobody’s perfect. <3 And the story is not interested in engaging with James’s behavior on a level any deeper than that lol. Which ok, I don’t love it, but if we’re not going to spend time dealing with morally gray James, then it doesn’t make sense for him to be even more morally gray (or rather, have him fall face first over the line into becoming a downright despicable person) by making him abusive toward Lily.

So that's my Doylist analysis: no way in hell did JKR intend Jily to be an abusive relationship, but she also didn't do a good enough job defending and/or redeeming James after SWM, so we're just left to speculate about how much he really changed. Still, I don't think "JKR is a bad writer" is a very satisfying answer. After all, the only reason that I'm engaging with this text in the first place is because I'm a fan of it, so I think it's also worth looking at it from a Watsonian perspective – or at least, to accept the events of the book as they're written and try to fill in the blanks. (Imo so much of the fun of fandom is trying to fill in those blanks in a satisfying way, to expand upon a character and try to reach a more interesting conclusion than the author did... And I would be remiss not to mention that, because it undoubtedly influences the way that I (and probably also you, if you're on this side of tumblr) engage with the text.)

So for me, as a Marauders era fan, I’m faced with: ok, I don’t really like the idea of these two characters together, but they canonically got together, and I think the story is better because they got together, and it’s better if they genuinely like each other, and it all had to happen somehow – so how can I explain it in a way that both makes sense with the story and is satisfying to me? And my answer to that is twofold.

First, I imagine that James was not always quite such an awful guy (as in, not always as showy, combative, and cruel as he was in SWM). After all, there is a glimmer of goodness in him when he chooses to save Snape’s life during the Prank, revealing that somewhere deep down, he does in fact have a moral compass. And second, I think that he has to have changed. And I mean a genuine change – one that might not have resulted in completely different behavior (after all, he was still hexing Snape through his seventh year) – but regardless, something that makes him seriously reflect on his actions and reconsider his motivations. His behavior in SWM is just too inexcusable for him to get with Lily – partly because Lily is generally framed as a Very Good Person, and partly because regardless of how she is framed, James was still awful to her – without any self-reflection or growth. Of course, the problem then becomes explaining this in a satisfying way!

And I have some ideas in mind – but they’re definitely more speculation than fact, and omg this post is long enough already. Luckily, I received another ask on this topic, so I will save my self-indulgent headcanons for that.

There is one last thing I want to mention, which is (part of) my reasoning for why James may not have been such a bully all the time and why I think he has the capacity for change, and it's been nagging at me ever since I read that meta post (which again, presumably started this whole thing). I think one thing that bothers a lot of people (including me!) about James is that it seems like he chooses to pick on Snape in SWM because of Lily’s presence. He wants to show off to her, so he keeps looking over to the girls by the water, he ruffles his hair, he deepens his voice, and he tries to get her attention by targeting Snape. Following this logic, we can presume that James wouldn’t have done any of this if Lily hadn’t been there – and that’s the part that got me thinking. I have to wonder if Lily was perhaps not the only person who James wanted to impress in that scene… in fact, I think it’s incredibly likely that James would have acted differently if the Marauders hadn’t been there! (Harry has "the distinct impression that Sirius was the only one for whom James would have stopped showing off," and Sirius saying that he's bored is the inciting incident for James spotting Snape...!) Yes it’s going to be a James masculinity analysis because this is what happens every time I talk about these fucking characters apparently. So idk, stick around if you’re into that.

And of course, thank you for the ask!

[annabolinas]

Top, L-R: Rosalie Crutchley as Catherine Parr in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), Episode 6: Catherine Parr (written by John Prebble)

Bottom: Rosalie Crutchley as Catherine Parr in Elizabeth R (1971), Episode 1: The Lion's Cub (written by Rosemary Anne Sisson)

edited by me

[sweetnnaivete]

i feel about dorlene how some people feel about wolfstar. like i literally cannot ship dorlene with other people they are the couple of all time

[yume-fanfare]

thinking about how hokuto is chill with yuzuru, loves tori a lot, hates eichi deeply and won't pick up the phone in case it's him calling (he is his boss and this has led to trouble), and has whatever it is that he has going on w wataru

[uris9158]

what if uriel discovers yuri one day and has a himejoshi awakening. fujoshi angel becomes himejoshi angel (YURIel)

[lotuslate]

at any point in a day, in the middle of a week, at any moment,,, these parts are ALWAYS always in my head

wwx your little moments of unhinged and brutal rationality make me go insane and are, in my opinion, peak moments of the entire book

[nonranghaes]

heads up: upset reader. not elaborated on why.

junkyu doesn't expect to see you standing outside of his and jihoon's apartment. to be honest, everyone thought that the food had arrived for their game night, and thankfully junkyu had drawn the short straw to go lug everything inside. instead, you're there, face wet with tears as you hug yourself again.

"did something happen?" he says softly as he steps out, pulling the door almost shut behind him. he knows the others know that something is going on, but it allows him the slightest privacy. "are you okay?"

you shake your head, and then step forward. he's already wrapping his arms around you as you bury your face into his hoodie, breathing in deeply. his cologne is faint underneath the smell of fabric softener, but you swear you can still smell it. "just..."

he says nothing. you let out a long sigh.

"i dunno. everything just sucks today, and i know i'm ruining your game night, but my roommate went out with her friends and wouldn't pick up and--"

he shakes his head. "it's okay," he says softly, hand rubbing soothing circles onto your back. "do you want to come in? you can watch us play--or join if you feel like it."

your eyes meet his. junkyu hasn't introduced you to the other half of his friend group yet--just because the timing never worked out. jihoon knows you, sure, but you've only heard stories about hyunsuk and yoshi. "are you sure?"

"i'm sure," he smiles at you, and it somehow does wonders to ease your stress. "they won't mind. i promise. you'll like them."

junkyu's hand slips into yours, and he runs his thumb alongside the back of your hand. at least you know junkyu will be there when you need him the most, smiling proudly when he introduces you to his other friends.

[boyblundering]

YOOO JUSTIN BIEBER FANART 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ I LOVE THAT GUY 🗣️🗣️ THAT SHOULD BE ME HOLDIN YOUR HAND 🗣️🗣️

[lilachobbit]

this ghoul really said ↪️

[aq2003]

what i like about ten is how genuinely unfit he is as the doctor. his tragedy is that he's too mortal to be immortal. he's immediately set to crash and burn the minute he spawned in. he's like an outlier and an outsider in basically every way and tbh it's wild that he became one of the most known incarnations of the character + some later incarnations have taken after him bc his whole thing to me feels very "i wish i wasn't who i am but i am terrified to be any other way". twelve on the other hand feels so much more definitive. like this is what i feel like the doctor would be like on a regular basis and more incarnations (in this era of nuwho at least) would realistically be more like him. this is the doctor at their core when they're not actively trying to disguise themself as something else. they are ancient and tired and angry and it shows clear as day

[shootingthe-stars]

chapter 19 of nowhere man is out!

we’re getting close to some pretty big stuff rn :) also summary is real asf the entire chapter everyone’s confused

[annabolinas]

From left to right: Anne Stallybrass as Jane Seymour, Keith Michell as Henry VIII, Dorothy Tutin as Anne Boleyn, and Annette Crosbie as Catherine of Aragon in a promo picture for The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)

Edited by me

[yippee-optimistically]

hey guys. dndads s1 glenn posting rn

[skitskatdacat63]

I have a problem.

Further evidence:

[bunnykaye]

Iain De Caestecker for Telegraph 📸: riischroer