#snape is having the happy and healthy relationship he deserves in here

[spooning-pluto]

Grey (a Snape x wife!reader oneshot)

Summary: After a rough day for you, Snape discovers your first grey hair. Back in the day it used to be you who talked some confidence into him, but suddenly your roles switch. Set in a Snape lives au.

Warnings: none, just pure fluff

Notes: This is a lot of dialogue with big monologues in between. Writing this I imagined Snape to be in his early 50s, the reader in her late 40s, but their ages are not specifically mentioned in here.

“Earlier I didn’t even ask you how your day was, I’m really sorry about that,” Severus said as you slipped underneath your duvet to join him in bed. It was true, he has not asked about your day over dinner, but you didn’t care since he was well distracted by a big change his editor wanted to do in Severus’ manuscript of the new second year potions textbook. “No big deal. I know how important that textbook is to you and I absolutely love how passionate you get about it, so don’t worry, okay?” you replied, crossing your legs and leaning against the headboard.

He only disapprovingly waved his hand and cleared his throat. “Would you mind telling me about your day now?” He was impatient to make up for what he thought was a mistake he made. You couldn’t help but smile a little at this character trait of his. “You look... exhausted today,” he added, his voice laced by a bit of concern.

“To be honest, I am”, you deeply sighed,” And not just a bit. When I went into the grocery store today it was jam-packed, it took me almost two hours to get everything from my list and there wasn’t even that much on it. After I’ve brought the groceries home I sat at the café for almost an hour until Narcissa finally arrived. Turns out she was shopping for a birthday gift for Scorpius but couldn’t find anything she thought he would like, because she – as she admitted to herself – doesn’t even really know what he likes. I felt pity for her so I recommended her that book we wanted to get him -”

You stopped your flow of speech as you realised that getting him that exact book was actually Severus’ idea and you suddenly felt guilty for giving it away. “Was that okay?” you timidly asked. He looked at you with his eyes wide open and quickly nodded, urging you to go on. “Well, that left us with no birthday gift for Scorpius and me with another task for today. First I scanned every bookshop around the area for something I have not yet seen on his shelves yet and wasn’t very successful, as you can imagine. Until I had an idea. I apparated to London and got him a childrens’ encyclopaedia at a muggle bookshop. And then I apparated home to you to help you with-” Your own yawning put a more dramatic ending to your story than you had intended.

“Oh love”, Severus said, his brows furrowed, taking your hands in his, “I wish I could have accompanied you for at least half of your day. I really am so sorry for letting you run all of those errands for both of us today. Can I - can I do something for you now? Do you want to take a bath, shall I give you a massage – anything, just say the word.” You merely shrugged your shoulders and replied “Stopping to fuss over this and cuddling me will do, Sev.”

He softly laughed as he let go of your hands and wrapped his arm around you to pull you closer. He moved to kiss the crown of your head but briefly stopped mid movement, then he continued like nothing had happened. A few years back you would probably not even have noticed that something had stopped him in his tracks, but over the course of your relationship, and later marriage, you have gotten used to almost all of his movements. And that one you just witnessed was odd.

“Is everything alright?” you asked. “Yes,” was his only answer, his bright smile detectable in his voice. Carefully he ran his index finger from your hairline towards your ear. Abruptly you jerked your head up to look at him, causing him to draw his hand away again. “What are you doing?” you asked, with more urgency in your voice than before.

“You’ve got a grey hair,” he stated plainly, his rare expression of pure enthusiasm still not leaving his face. “Wow”, you sarcastically commented, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I got that one today.” Snape looked into your eyes for a moment, regarding your reaction, his bright smile faded into a mildly concerned frown. “You really are not the slightest bit excited, are you?” he then asked.

“Counter question – why on earth are you? Is it that satisfying to you to watch your wife grow old right in front of you?” It stung his heart to see how insecure you were about this. First he wasn’t sure how to phrase what he wanted to say without hurting you any further, but he decided to go for it anyway. “Look at this”, he said, holding his left hand so close to your face you had to acknowledge it, “I wouldn’t have this ring if I didn’t sign up for you watching me grow old and vice versa. It’s going to happen to both of us and is certainly nothing we should be afraid of. So actually, yes, I am looking forward to it.” You let out one loud breath, an attempted laugh that got stuck in your throat, as tears threatened to fall. Suddenly it felt terrible to be so scared of something he was so kind and positive about.

You looked up at him, finally looking into his eyes again, swallowed and whispered “thank you” so quietly that it made you feel even worse. It made you feel bad for not even being able to phrase your feelings properly. And as he pulled you into himself once again you couldn’t keep a few stray tears from rolling down your cheeks.

“It actually isn’t the first one. I plucked the actual first one out maybe two weeks ago,” you admitted rather to his neck than to him after a few moments of silence, you couldn’t bear looking him in the eye. “Age is something I always thought is so far from us that I never gave it a second thought – but now that I am sweating constantly, my skin becomes sort of loose and I apparently grow grey hair – it’s so real all of a sudden. I am just - so afraid of soon not being attractive to you any more, of being an undesirable, dull, wrinkly, old lady, that I couldn’t find the courage to tell you about my first grey hair to you or even show it to you. Instead I chose to pretend I didn’t see it either. I know that that’s stupid.”

“It is not”, he explained, drawing tiny patterns on your back with his fingers, “I know what it is like to feel like you’re aesthetically not pleasing enough for your partner. And I also know how long it takes for one to believe their partner when they say that that’s nowhere true. But if I am honest, a part of me is also relieved that it seems that I can now repay the confidence lessons you taught me all those years ago.”

He pulled away a bit to look at your face, relieved that your silent crying had come to a halt. You blinked a few times as you looked up at him, then you smiled softly. “Would you do me the honours?” you asked shyly. Once again he took both of your hands in his and began to quietly tell you things that sounded like he was prepared to say them for years.

“You are the most beautiful creature on this earth to me, but others are aware of that, too. For example when I’m out shopping with you, other men often tell me how lucky I am to have you when I am waiting for you in front of the changing cubicles. Or remember Lupin’s and Black’s reactions to finding out about us? It was something like ‘how did Snape bag her’ both times. They didn’t even know how brilliant, kind and intelligent you are yet, they all say that just about your appearance. And those comments only increase with the time we are together. You still have that muggle bias that makes you believe grey hair and wrinkles are unattractive, while actually they just show that you’ve lived, that you laugh frequently and that there is a huge personality behind that pretty face. And, Y/N, you’re a witch. If anything makes a witch even more powerful than she was before, then it’s her looks matching up to the wisdom she has.”

He tenderly wiped away some of your once again falling tears with his thumb and gave you a few moments to collect yourself. Just as tenderly he then kissed your cheek, his lips lingering there for a short instant before he continued praising you. “In the following years I will get to see a new kind of beauty on you, a kind of beauty that will suit you amazingly well. So please, Y/N, let your body unfold it’s true magic that it has been building up and working on your whole life. I can’t wait to see it.” A slight blush replaced the streaks of fallen tears on your cheeks as you tried to come up with anything to reply. But you were too choked up with emotion to give a verbal response, instead you just leaned towards him, the side of your nose brushing his before your lips met in a chaste but loving kiss.

A moment later you combed through his thick, still completely raven black hair as you looked into his nearly as dark eyes. “I think your hair will never turn grey, Sev,” you sighed, half sarcastically, half in earnest. “It does seem that way right now”, he gave in, “but I am not immune to ageing either. Sometimes my bones crack so loudly you ask me if I’m alright. From the other room.” With the laughter you both shared after this remark of his, all of your fears were gone.

“And besides that,” Severus slid a hand down his torso, following it with his gaze, “I’m gaining weight. Nothing I’m necessarily proud of, but that’s what happens, I guess.” You joined your hand to the one of his that was resting on his stomach, caressing the back of it with your thumb. “But I really like that! It makes you look as cuddly and soft as you have always been on the inside.”

“See? And your grey hair makes you look as wise and brilliant as you have always been.”

“Yes, I see.”

Later, after you have turned off all the lights and cuddled into Severus’ side, ready to fall asleep, he whispered into your ear “If you should really feel terrible with it and not feel comfortable in your own skin any more, you know that there are potions that temporarily return the hair’s colour. If it would make you happier, I would brew them for you, but still I ask you not to take them. I’ll think you’re beautiful no matter what colour your hair has.”

“Don’t worry”, you answered, “I won’t ask for them. I’m not that afraid of ageing any more, as long as I know that you are by my side, with all your cracking bones and your bit of tummy fat. I love you so much, Severus.”

“I love you even more. Now sleep well, you deserve rest after a day like this, my love,” he said, kissing the spot where he memorised his now most cherished hair of yours.

[bluebellefox]

Severitus Recs

(for @hayalee8)

Now I should probably say that when I say Severitus, I really don’t mean stories in which Snape is Harry’s biological parent, but ones that they develop some sort of guardian/ward, mentor/student relationship. Now that’s out of the way, here we go! 

(If I didn’t link some of the author’s tumblrs, they don’t to my knowledge have one) 

1.  That Awful Boy series by @paracosim

TAB is probably my favorite Snape-centric fic of all time, it’s so fucking amazing. As in I reread it every month or two, literally cannot recommend it enough! If you read it and enjoy, send the author some love, he more than deserves it! 

The first part is completed and the sequel is currently being written (if you have preferences about that sort of thing). Word count: 168k+ 

TAB takes place during the summer before OoTP. Because of the failing blood wards around the Dursleys, Harry is sent to Spinner’s End to spend a few weeks with Snape learning occlumency. 

TAB can also be found on ffnet, if you have a site preference. 

2. Crime and Punishment by mlocatis 

This one’s another of my favorites! Currently ongoing and housed on ffnet and ao3. Word count: 170k+ 

Also set during the summer before Harry’s fifth year. Dudley sets up Harry to be arrested for a burglary he didn’t commit. With his relatives content to let him be left exposed to Death Eaters in a muggle holding cell, Dumbledore sends Snape to go pick him up and house him until his hearing. 

Honestly, I normally prefer my Snape to be a little less put together and a little more feral than he’s portrayed in this story but it’s wonderfully well-written and compelling. Harry and Snape develop a very sweet relationship over the course of the plot so I’m willing to let loose on a few rules. 

The author’s other stories, the ongoing Snape’s Promise (or here on ffnet) and the completed Mors Certa, Hora Incerta are also Severitus (or at least, Severitus-adjacent) and very good! I believe they also have a Snily story with a Severitus sub-plot as well, but I really can’t speak for it as I haven’t read it. (Personally, I don’t read Snily but you do you!) 

3. O Mine Enemy by Kirby Lane 

Currently ongoing but nearing the end of the story and it updates biweekly. I do believe you can only find it on ffnet. Word count: 403k+

OME is a post OoTP fic but largely ignore HBP and DH, it takes place during the summer after fifth year. When an injured Professor Snape shows up on the Dursleys doorstep with a warning of impending Death Eater activity, Harry must keep him out of sight of the rest of the house. 

There’s some really interesting magic-system and world building in this one. OME has it all, tender Harry and Snape moments and some gut wrenching angsty bits too, what more can you ask for!  

4. Far Beyond a Promise Kept by oliversnape

It was very hard to just pick one of their Severitus fics so I went with the first one I ever read by them.  It’s completed and can by found on ao3 and ffnet. Word count: 140k+ 

FBaPK starts off in the summer before third year but continues until the end of fourth year. After running away from Privet Drive after blowing up his aunt, Harry is found by Snape who then takes him for the summer and begins to help him prepare to take down Voldemort. 

Again, oliversnape has some amazing Severitus stories and it was hard to just pick one but To Recollect the Future (ao3 and ffnet), The Redefining Life series (ao3 and ffnet), and Keep Your Enemies Closer (ao3 and ffnet) are all wonderful works. They have a very particular way of writing Snape that really highlights all the little ways that make him human, and Harry is written in a very believable teenage way. All these stories have a really nice mash-up of angst and fluff. 

5. Never Say Remember by Malora 

Completed and can be found on ao3 and ffent. Word count: 93k+

NSR is a PoA AU that involves cannon Harry switching places with a different iteration of himself from a different timeline where Lily lived and marries Snape, who has adopted Harry as his own son. The story follows both Harrys and their relationships with their opposite Snapes. 

I don’t normally read Snily if that puts how good this fic is in perspective for you. It’s a beautiful story that broke my heart a little, very bittersweet ending. 

6. Where the Heart Is by @kohakhearts

Completed one-shot and I do believe it’s only available on ao3. Word Count: 15k+

This one takes place the summer before sixth year. Harry spends his summer days at the park, writing Sirius letters he can no longer answer. He finds help in an unlikely source. 

This hurts in all the right places, some angst with a hopeful ending. The dialogue in this one is what keeps drawing me back to it, Harry and Snape have some pretty heartfelt conversations. 

While sifting through the author’s ao3 page for this one, I saw some other Snape & Harry fics that seemed very promising! Be sure to check out their other stuff if you enjoy this one, it’s what I’m headed off to do!

If you’ve read all of this, thanks for letting my ramble on about some of my favorite Severitus fics. Hope everyone is staying healthy and happy! 

[milf-lover42]

Bellatrix and Azula are the same character, change my mind

As most people can tell, Bellatrix Lestrange is my all time favorite character. I might get new favorites every time I watch a new show, and they all share a general similarity (let’s face it… I have a type, and if you’re reading this here on tumblr dot com… you do too, don’t lie). However, no character has ever come close to beating Bellatrix for top spot. And then I watched A:TLA for the first time a few weeks ago. I didn’t watch it as a kid, I was just young enough (2003 babeyy) that I wasn’t watching tv when it was on. Azula is obviously my favorite from this show, and is also the only character to ever come close to Bellatrix’ spot in my heart. But thinking about this and all the headcanons that people have made for the Black family dynamic… it seems like a pretty straightforward connection. Azula is essentially just a young Bellatrix.

Almost all of these Black family headcanons have been taken from fanfictions I have read over the years, and so the credit goes to their respective authors. Many overlap so I cannot pinpoint each author to each one, and it has been a while since reading some of them. Most notable of these would be Glass Silence by Zarrene Moss. There are many more fantastic stories I have drawn from but I couldn’t remember every fanfiction I’ve read to pick out each detail. For all the Azula stuff, I am drawing from Hello Future Me’s video on Youtube “The Psychology of Azula | Avatar: The Last Airbender”. If you want to spend an hour watching that I highly recommend it. Basically none of this is mine, I’m just using the headcanons and research of others to tie Bellatrix to Azula.

Let’s start with their family dynamics. Bellatrix is the oldest of the Black sisters, and has no brother. Although not stated in canon, (because apparently she’s too minor a character to deserve a backstory) it is presumed that all the duties of a male heir fell to her in a way. Marry young and marry a rich pureblood, carry on the family name and power, and secure a high social standing. Pureblood society is extremely archaic, if the treatment of muggle-borns is anything to go by, so we can safely assume that they are a very patriarchal society. Cygnus and Druella Black almost certainly wanted a son to carry on their name, especially given Walburga and Orion had both Sirius and Regulus. We can also assume that they weren’t exactly the kindest parents. At best, Druella was a silent wife subjected to abuse from her husband and ultimately was unable to keep her children safe; at worst she actively joined Cygnus in abusing their children. Each of the sisters have a unique way of dealing with this. 

Andromeda handled it by running away, completely rebelling. She fell in love with Ted Tonks, a muggle-born. I doubt this in itself was an act of rebellion, I think she simply realized how stupid blood supremacy was after speaking to him. Once she fell in love it’s clear she wanted to break away from her family so that she could marry him. Clearly her parents knew, and it’s likely she told them herself. Given Ted was a muggleborn I can’t imagine her parents reacting with a simple, “No he is beneath you, we forbid it.” They probably acted harshly in an attempt to make it stick in her head that the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black would not associate with m*dbloods. Either she ran away or was kicked out, but either way she stayed with Ted and didn’t listen to her parents.

Narcissa shut off and blocked all her emotions. Obviously as an adult she actively practices the same beliefs her parents did, but as a teenager I don’t see this as being who she was. As an adult she is very cold and unemotional. The only person she truly cares about is her son, Draco. She cares about Bella still, she just doesn’t show it because she wasn’t allowed to as a child. As for her feelings toward Lucius... it is unclear. Depending on where you stand, she either could have been forced into a marriage with him, or they were in love as teenagers and got lucky enough that their parents arranged for them to marry each other. My personal opinion is they were forced. I think Lucius was supposed to be married to Andy but when she ran away, the Blacks had to hold up their end of the deal with the Malfoy’s and so Narcissa was married off to him. She embodies the whole “Ice Queen” personality. In order to cope with the trauma and her unwanted marriage, she just blocked all emotion to keep herself sane, only showing it for Draco.

And then we come to Bellatrix. Bellatrix, who had too many expectations to live up to, so many roles to fill, and no positive reinforcement from parents who just abused her if she messed up. She felt everything. She was the oldest and cared greatly for her younger sisters, and probably did her best to take any of the abuse that was going to be given to Narcissa or Andromeda. She used herself as their shield because they were the most important thing to her. Even after joining Voldemort and going insane she makes it very clear how she feels about Narcissa. Bellatrix would follow Voldemort's orders to the ends of the Earth, but the second she is asked to trust Snape, she says that Voldemort has made an error in judgement. Cissa wants to go to him and ask him to keep Draco safe, but Bellatrix advises against this. Only when her sister is in potential danger does Bellatrix doubt her master. Even at the height of her insanity her sister is the most important thing to her. We can assume as a child she felt the same for Andy. In fact in my opinion she never really stopped caring about her until Azkaban, I think she pretended to hate her when she came out about Ted Tonks, but only did so so that Andy would run away and live her life with the man she loved. She was safer away from their parents anyway. It didn’t matter if Bellatrix thought negatively about muggle-borns; she just wanted her sister to be safe. After going insane however, she truly seems to hate Ted for being a muggle-born, and she kills their half-blood daughter Nymphadora. 

In order to cope with the trauma of her childhood Bellatrix used all of those emotions as fuel for her magic. She is an incredibly powerful witch and is massively intelligent (although why she didn’t just use Legilimens on the Golden Trio will baffle me forever… it would have been so simple…). However because of this coping mechanism, she is driven insane. It’s not instant, in fact it probably took years (probably that stint in Azkaban, lads) for the insanity to fully develop and take hold. All of that exposure to Dementors would have forced her to relive the trauma of her childhood over and over, while taking away the happy memories of her sisters. 

Bellatrix was given a support system to break away from her family. Now it’s not a good or healthy one, but it is one nonetheless. After being treated so poorly by her parents, and forced into a marriage with Rodolphus, she needed freedom. When Tom Riddle comes along and praises her skill and offers her a spot as his best lieutenant? Of course she’s going to take that. Finally some recognition, and a good amount of safety. Not to mention missions and tasks given to her and others to her husband that mean she doesn’t have to be around him. Bellatrix was mistreated by her father and mother, but probably always wanted her father’s recognition. Her mother probably preferred Narcissa because she could be groomed into the perfect pureblood wife. Bellatrix latched onto Voldemort to gain recognition, praise, and power. But I can imagine as a teenager, having a complete breakdown at least once, especially after being told she’d be married off to Rodolphus. Demolishing her room with magic, windows breaking, personal items being thrown either by hand or by magic, and screaming and crying at the end. Very similar to Azula’s breakdown in her final scene.

Now we come to Princess Azula. She has an older brother, Zuko, but is always given the limelight. She receives a ceremonial headpiece that she is always seen wearing, but Zuko does not. He might be the boy, but he isn’t expected to take the crown. Azula is even named after her grandfather Azulon, who was Firelord. She was always expected to be the next Firelord over Zuko. Her future was never her own. She is a firebending prodigy, always showing off her skills, whereas Zuko falls behind. She is favored by her father Ozai for sure, but she is never truly praised. She is simply a means to an end to him. She was always expected to be the best. Although it isn’t shown in the TV series, in the A:TLA comics Ursa and Ozia’s relationship is depicted as abusive. He cuts her off from her family saying that he is all she will need. 

 There are theories as to whether or not Azula has a Machievellian personality type, or ASPD or NPD that could have been a root cause of her diminishing sanity, and after looking into those they seem very plausible. She lacks empathy, she emotionally manipulates everyone, and she has a messed up sense of right and wrong. Altruism just doesn’t make sense to her, and emotions are not genuine, simply stories made to get your way. Ursa rewards empathy, love and trust, which is why she clearly favors Zuko. But Ozai rewards power, cunning, and loyalty. They are complete opposites so it is not possible to please both of them. If she has any of these mental disorders it would be impossible to please her mother, so she focused on making her father proud. But Ozai never really shows any level of praise towards her, so she constantly tries to better herself. If she isn’t perfect, she’s failed. 

At the end of A:TLA, Ozai forces her to stay behind in the Fire Nation. He says it’s because they need a Firelord because he will be leaving. Azula is disappointed to not partake in the final battle, but it’s what her father wants, so she obeys. However, he only leaves her so that he can become the supreme leader of everyone, or “Phoenix King”.  Azula doesn’t really get a promotion, just a fancy name. In the finale, she is shown as her mental state quickly deteriorates. Her perfect image is gone, her hair is not up, her makeup undone, and she is paranoid that everyone is out to get her. This is the beginning of her breakdown. When she is unable to put her hair up by herself, she cuts her bangs. Her hair is all of a sudden asymmetrical, which is unheard of. She then starts to hallucinate. By the time she fights Zuko and Katara she is extremely unstable, and the fact that she can actually still bend is incredible, because it requires control of your emotions. She instead manages to use her emotions to fuel her bending. At the end when she is defeated, she finally breaks. Her bending is out of control, and she is left screaming and crying. 

Azula never had anyone  take her under their wing and give her the recognition she craved. Zuko had Iroh. Bellatrix had Voldemort. If Azula had been introduced to someone like Voldemort she would have gone down the same path as Bellatrix. Likewise, if Bellatrix hadn’t been introduced to Voldemort she would have ended up broken just like Azula. Their stories aren’t identical obviously, but there are some strong parallels that place them together, so I can see them as the same person with different outcomes to their story.

Does this stupidly long character analysis have any significant purpose? Nah, not at all. But like… I’m clearly right so… yeah.

[rogueninja]

Okay so we all know who your top ships are... who are your unpopular ships? Or obscure ships? What characters from what series do you think about often in either good or bad ways? Who is a character that you hate that others love? If you could rewrite a story or part of a book, what would it be and what would you do differently?

Ok I am digging through my brain right now bc if I’m not able to hyperfixate on something then I tend to forget I even liked it. Ok buckle in bc this is gonna be long af. YOU ASKED FOR THIS, REG.

I’m putting a readmore so as not to torture my followers lol

Thinking about Veronica Mars. About Veronica/Logan. Do they have a ship name?? But I love that show and i was THERE for them. They were kind of a surprise ship for me, in that when they got together I was like, wait, WHAT? Like I was totally caught off guard. But there first kiss is, like, sooo romantic to me haha. It’s my fave scene in the show. But Logan is suck a prick sometimes. And they break up like every five minutes. And every season Logan gets accused of murder which of course he ends up not being the murderer. And they get back together eventually and I’m like really? But deep down I am rooting for them lol. I really enjoyed the new season of Veronica Mars that came out last year, actually. The ending made me SO SAD THO.

I also used to watch Supergirl and I thought Kara and Mon-El were adorable. He was very Carswell Thorne-esque, RH, I *think* you would like him. I never watched past season 3(?) though, and he shoots off into space and I never caught up so a few months ago I actually googled what happens and [spoiler] he ends up marrying someone else in the future or something so I was like, ok I’m not investing any more time in this show lol. (Also I had to google Mon-El’s name just now bc i forgot which is a bad look BUT I WAS REALLY RIDE OR DIE FOR THEM FOR A WHILE lol). Also I loved Martian Manhunter in this show, he was my favorite character. But the CGI for him was awful, omg. He had practical makeup at first, they should have just stuck with that.

Speaking of Martian Manhunter, I also used to watch Young Justice and loved Miss Martian/Superboy. Am I basic??? lol oop. But I love basic love stories. Anyway, I thought they were super cute. In season 3 though they’re kind of on the rocks. I haven’t watched season 4. I also loved Artemis/Wally West, but of course that had to end tragically.

Also, let’s talk about Nightcrawler. Allow me to set the scene. Little Kat is 13 and just rediscovered the cartoon she saw a few times as a kid called X-Men: Evolution. And thus, a weird obsession with the German, blue demon boy began. I loved Kurt Wagner. In the cartoon he starts a relationship with Amanda Sefton and I thought they were a-dor-a-ble. She accepted him for who he was, and they had a really nice healthy relationship. A lot of ppl shipped him with Kitty too which i am honestly all for idec I JUST WANT THE BLUE BOI TO BE HAPPY.

Can we talk about A:TLA too??? Like, obviously Zutara, amiright? Power couple. Like, Kataang is.. fine, but its probably my least favorite part about the ending, haha. Also, consider: Tokka. Toph is bae and can get anyone she wants, and she clearly had kind of a crush on Sokka and I think they could have been awesome. It actually kills me that they never say who Lin and Suyin’s father is in LoK. I had a whole theory that it was that kid The Duke from Jet’s band based on like 2 scenes from the series. There’s a tumblr post I made about it somewhere in the ether lol.

I also just remembered Tahnorra (Tahno/Korra) from Legend of Korra. It’s hard for me to explain this one. It’s a weird combination of being hyperfixated on the first season of the show when it came out, and I think I stumbled upon some fic or something???? And I thought Tahno was hot or something??? And FUN FACT, he was voice by Rami Malek BEFORE HE WAS COOL. So like before Rami really got big I knew who he was. He also basically played the Avatar in Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 and I thought that connection was hilarious. It was kind of a problematic crack pairing but there was one author in particular whom i follow to this day hoping she’ll update her Tahnorra fics…. *sigh*

Okay one last ship…. I used to be ride or die for Outlaw Queen in Once Upon a Time (aka Regina/Robin Hood). Like, before TLC, I had a personal tumblr renaissance for that ship alone. My only existing published fanfic is for that ship. Taylor Swift’s 1989 came out that year and I related every dang song to that ship. I loved Regina so much and I just wanted her to be happy. That show is a dumpster fire, though, and spat all over my hopes and dreams. *sigh*

Also, lightning round for obscure pairings I ship and/or never talk about:

Frank Castle/Karen Page (The Punisher) ok this one isnt that obscure but I never talk about it… but the pining, oh god the pining

Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth (GoT) THEIR 5 SECONDS TOGETHER ARE THE ONLY WORTHY PART OF SEASON 8. everything after that never happened

I already listed Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye (FMAB) as a top pairing previously but I feel the need to mention it again bc it was for real my OG OTP… LIKE U WANNA TALK ABOUT PINING…. *sobs*

Percy/Annabeth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) This used to be my fave book series and i loved how their relationship developed over the course of the books

Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter) ok can we TALK ABOUT THIS??? They were both badass misfits and they were perfect for each other. But noooo JKR has to announce they marry some nobodies…. this is the only change the last movie did right

Midna/Link (Zelda: Twilight Princess) I honestly have no explanation for this lol

Qui-gon Jinn and Shmi (Star Wars) CAN U IMAGINE if anakin had a proper father figure and didnt have to abandon his mother to slavery

Obi-wan/Satine…. (Star Wars: The clone Wars) we know whats up

OK, to answer some of your other questions: character I hate that others love. HMMMM…….

This one seems too easy/obvious but Professor Snape? Like obviously there’s already a ton of discourse surrounding this but he was gross, mistreated his students for years, committed atrocities, couldn’t get over his high school crush, and we’re supposed to believe he’s a hero in the end and HARRY WOULD NAME HIS SON AFTER HIM….. uh no. “Always” is gross.

I’ve literally been wracking my brain for days and I can’t think of any more characters for this. OK I did some googling and I remembered some LOL.

Ross from friends…. I literally can’t stand him. He’s so entitled and just the worst. He tries to act like he’s the nice, sensitive guy, but really he is so full of himself. Joey on the other hand is portrayed as a womanizer but is actually super sweet and I love him

Archie from Riverdale… I have only seen the first 1.5 seasons ish but he is the worst…. we’re supposed to believe he’s some easygoing musically gifted football player but instead he manages to pull off being bland as heck and actually kind of a terrible garbage person

Nick from chilling adventures of Sabrina. I hate characters that are like hitting on the main character even though she has a bf and are like dark and broody and sexy blah blah blah…. I liked Harvey way better. I never finished season 2 tho

Emma Swan from Once Upon a Time? Idk she was fine she just got old after a while

If you could rewrite a story or part of a book, what would it be and what would you do differently?

HM. First, Harry would name his son Remus Rebeus Potter LOL. Ok but real talk there was a headcanon floating around forever ago that Harry should have become a professor at Hogwarts instead of an auror and I am 100% on board

Ok, ok….. what abouuuttt…… OK, is star wars when Han and Leia get together. I like them as a couple, but the entire first half of the movie Han is being such an ass. And when they kiss the first time, he’s being SOOO creepy. It’s like so quintessentially 80s romance. and HERE’S THE THING. They actually filmed (or maybe just wrote?) a version of that scene that WASNT CREEPY. And i’m like WHY DIDNT YOU USE THAT?!? So I like to pretend that’s the version that actually happened.

This part is way harder than the shipping portion. If I think of anything else i’l dm you. I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING THIS NOVEL LENGTH POST OF ME RAMBLING ABOUT MY FIXATIONS OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS. If anyone actually read this far, you deserve a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket

[whataplottwistyouwere]

My thoughts about “How I Met Your Mother” finale

The Mother:

Despite her short amount of screen time , I loved mother. When the season started my biggest fear was : not learning much about mother. But I loved her anyways!! Of course I would prefer seeing her more but it didn’t make her less lovable. Right now I’m going to talk about her death (I will talk about her relationship with Ted later on)I understand why they killed her because their goal was to make RobinXTed from the very beginning. But I don’t think Robin and Ted is a healthy relationship ( I will detail it later on ) Because of these reasons I was so sad when she died but I understand why they did that. She had to die in order to make RobinXTed happen. But I think mother is one of the best characters in HIMYM ever and I never thought I could love someone with that amount of screen time

Robin and Barney

Ohhh here we go ... Robin and Barney. So first of all I want to say that ,in my opinion best relationship for Robin was Barney. And as many others my biggest problem in this season was that an amazing relationship like RobinXBarney being rushed. Okay so I want to talk about Barney and Robin’s impact on his life. We all know that Barney never thought about a serious relationship and never loved anyone; until Robin. Was this relationship %100 perfect ? No. But I still loved them anyways. Barney truly loved Robin. And some people say he never loved her as much as Ted but everyone has their different ways of showing love . And watching 9 seasons proved me that ; Barney truly loved Robin more than anything and anyone . But they rushed their realtionship. For example when they first started dating they showed them as fat couple and this was basically saying “ they aren’t good for each other” then they acted like nothing happened (but it’s not only in BarneyXRobin , Ted and Robin continued like nothing happened too) but during the time they dated Barney loved her more. We saw him watching Robin and trying to accept that he loves her . But nothing like that happened in Robin ,which makes me really sad because Barney and Ted was the lover and Robin never loved them that much . Okayy so they broke up , continued like nothing happened , they literally said they had bad impact on each other and Barney continued being a playboy . Then Robin realized she loved her but that wasn’t love : that was jealousy. Cause at the time Barney was with Nora and after Robin ,he finally found another serious relationship . And we see Robin being jealous. Okay then proposal ; it was so rushed -at least for me- Robin was never sure of her emotions and then when I saw Barney on the rooftop I thought he was going to ask her out. But out of no where ; MARRIAGE. I don’t think Robin was ready for it , i don’t think Barney was ready either but Barney truly loved her so that wasn’t a big problem for him. Then their relationship was rushed ; I mean I wished we saw more of their relationship as fiancées. But despite everything being rushed ; I still loved them cause I know how much Barney loves her . Anyways the last season : THE WEDDING. Okay disclaimer #1: I actually loved that the whole entire season was dedicated to a weekend. I loved watching it from different POVs and I think it was a great concept . But during the wedding what Robin did was to doubt doubt doubt and doubt . She never thought when she said “yes” and she never realized how much Barney loved her . So when the time came she was like “ I should’ve marry you Ted” (I’ll come to that in a minute) and then she tried to run away but Tracy stopped her. But some people say “ anyways they got married so it doesn’t matter” . Okay let’s go with that , everything is fine cause they got married. WE WATCHED 9 seasonS TO SEE THEM TOGETHER AND AFTER THE EPISODE THEY GET MARRIED THEY GOT DIVORCED!!!!!!!!!!! Okay so I know time was a problem but rather than making them get divorced AN EPISODE LATER you could’ve made the wedding earlier . To be honest, I don’t know but that’s not Barney deserved . Ohhh and why did they got divorced : BEAUSE OF ROBINS WORK. Look what I’m saying is if Robin TRULY wanted to make this relationship work she could’ve . ( for example : Robin declined a work offer FOR DON FRANK [ his co-host ] ) She did that for Don but couldn’t she do it for Barney???Barney tried so hard for this relationship and I’m so so sorry for him. The only thing I can say is everyone deserved more than wedding episode followed by a divorce episode

Barney

Okay I talked about Barney in the other section but there are some more stuff I want to add. First of all they turned him into a playboy after the moment he divorced with Robin. I’m not against it but he literally turned what he was in season 1 ( I’m not saying he was bad in season 1 but after everything happens ; divorce,marriage... he could’ve looked for something more serious) But in this horrible writing of RobinXBarney the victim is clearly Barney and I’m so sorry for him. He deserved so much better. Barney is an amazing character and he didn’t love someone as much as he loved Robin. So in the end of the season we learn that he has a baby. I really cried at that scene because it was so emotional. Barney never cared about anyone except robin ( and of course his friends) but in this episode he starts to care about someone else more than anyone : his daughter. Of course these scenes were so emotional but as the rest of the season it was incompleted. We should’ve seen the mother because Barney probably will try to work things out with her , for his daughter . So yeah we could’ve seen the mother , but if they showed her , there would’ve been more explanation that should be made and we have no time so I kinda understand that. Long story short : he deserved better, but in the end I’m happy that he is happy with her daughter

TedXRobinXTracy

Okay so this will be 3 parts. I will first talk about RobinXTed then TedXTracy then Ted himself and who is better for him and why

A) ROBINXTED

so I want to say SOMETHINg; when I started HIMYM I knew that robin and ted was going to end up together and for the first couple of seasons it made sense. Even though they broke up and came together ; they were meant to be. Ted never forgot about robin and loved her in a way no one did . So it made sense to me. Until I realized ; “ no this is a toxic relationship “. Okay so let’s look at these ; Robin never loved Ted the way he loved her and she even admitted that. Ted’s love for robin was something else . And the only thing robin did was to make Ted jealous. He brought 278181 boyfriends when ted dated someone. Her main goal was to make him jealous. And when we watched more seasons he never cared about Ted the way he did. He choose other boys over Ted over and over again:Another sign that this relationship was toxic. But ted never un-loved her which effected his relationship with other girls. She left them for Robin while Robin didn’t care that much. And I think it was just so weird that they stayed as friends . I know ted didn’t want to lose her ....but anyways. Okay so let’s come to the wedding. First of all I just want to say that Ted is just a wonderful person. I never appreciated him that much. But he is so self sacrificing. What he did for Barney in the first seasons even though he loved Robin. What he did in order to get them engaged. It’s just so incredible. I always believe that “ If you truly love someone than you let them be happy with someone they love; even though that person isn’t you” ( that’s why i hate snape [HARRY POTTER] but anyways) and ted lived up to that rule. And robin saying ted “ I should’ve been with you” is just so annoying and selfish : you are about to get married and the person who will marry you loves you so much , and now you say this to their best friend. Also you know that Ted loves you and now you are confusing him. Robin loved the attention Ted gave to her; Finding her necklace, stealing the blue French horn, making it rain for her...... But this relationship wasn’t good for ted. And in the end : they ended up together ; and I fully understnad the reasons , but don’t forget that Tracy and Ted were soulmates. Yes , ted always had something for Robin but he still loved Tracy more. So you can ship Robin and Ted but robin wasn’t good for ted , she should’ve been with Barney ( she wasn’t good for Barney either but...) !!! ted x Tracy >>>>

B) TedXTracy

Okay let’s talk about the best relationship in the series ( the best relationship is either them or Lily X Marshall idk) Ted has always been the chaser in the relationship. He cared more , he loved more . But in this relationship he finally wasn’t the chaser. Tracy loved him as much as he liked her. Even though he has feelings for Robin that will never go away. He never thought about Robin romantically when he was with Tracy ( I posted something about that you can Check it out) Also it was destiny. The yellow umbrella and everything. Their relationship proves that they are great for each other , they complete each other and they are soulmates. This is the relationship that made Ted truly happy. They both believed in “ the one” and “soulmates” and they finally found it. I don’t think anyone dislikes them cause there is no reason to. He made ted stay in New York and even Lily said “ this one is different” . Also Tracy was everything ted ever wanted. I understand why people ship him with Robin but If you truly care about ted’s happines you can understand that he was truly happy with Tracy.

C) Ted

So looking back to everything I wrote it’s clear that Ted is best with Tracy. All these seasons he talked about how he wanted someone that will love him, understand his obsessions and Tracy is the one . Everyone should agree on that. I just think it’s so good cause he always thought that “ Robin is the one for me “ but actually he never focused on anyone besides than robin , when he met Tracy he understood that his only chance wasn’t robin. For 9 entire seasons the only relationship that made him genuinely happy was With Tracy. I think he deserves Tracy and Tracy deserves him. Even after the finale TED will never love Robin as much as Tracy. I think at this point we should leave our favorite ships aside and think what makes him happier. And I’m so glad that Ted spent his years with Tracy

Robin

After all I wrote you may think that I hate robin ; but I don’t . I think she DOESNT deserve ted or Barney . But that doesn’t makes her a bad person . I wish she didn’t upset them , but even after all these years I don’t think she will be ready for a relationship or being loved. She loves being loved so much that she thinks she loves them too. I’m so sorry for Barney and ted but I don’t hate her

The group

As you see I didn’t mention lily and Marshall . Because this isn’t my opinions on HIMYM this is my opinion on The finale . The one thing that upset me is that they didn’t stay close or will stay close . Okay listen to me ; I’m sure lily ,Marshall,ted and Tracy stayed close but we can’t say this for Robin and Barney . Robin was traveling so much she didn’t have time for her husband how could she have for her friends . And now Ted Marshall and Lily can stay close friends as usual, but now TED and robin are dating for the 3838282th time and Barney divorced with her ?? I know they are used to these “awkward situations” but all of them have families rn and this is just so uncomfortable. I know Robin and Barney are okay. But you can’t say Barney isnt sad that Robin didn’t make any effort to keep their marriage alive

OVERALL

I wrote A LOT so my overall opinions: Barney and Robin should’ve been the endgame or at least they shouldn’t have divorced right after they got married. Robin didn’t deserve Ted nor Barney but I don’t hate her . Ted was happiest with Tracy .

I WOULD LOVE TO DISCUSS IF YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING TOO. I know I wrote a lot so thank you if you read this far.

[silverinia]

Is McHart unhealthy?

I need to get this out. Feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree.

So, over the cause of my writing of my latest fic 'Beyond the scope', I've been thinking a lot about the make-up of their relationship. And while I was writing and later editing I had to pause quite some times, second-guessing if I could write certain paragraphs the way I did without having them portrayed as unhealthy, because I didn't want to do that. I never saw them as an unhealthy couple but it all came so close to the border of emotional abuse on both sides sometimes and I never really wanted to see them like that when I watched the series. But then I thought about it again.

People tend to romanticise unhealthy relationships. I'm thinking Blair and Chuck from Gossip Girl, Snape and Lily and just about every ship that involves Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, I mean hell, there are people out there who ship Alicia and Peter, which, in my opinion, is the peak of unhealthy. To each their own, I'm not here to judge other people's OTPs and I get the appeal of some of them, but some ships, in all their perfection on the outside, are just super problematic.

Okay, back to McHart. In TGW, I think it's safe to say that Diane and Kurt had by far the healthiest relationship of all. That changed, especially during the first half of the second season of TGF, for obvious reasons. BUT, what made me rethink everything, was the fact that he cheated on her at all. In my opinion, Kurt as we've seen him on TGW never would have cheated. They had the perfect relationship, it was brutally obvious how much he was (and is) in love with her and he was probably the most loyal and honest character on the show. But we also never got a lot of screen time with him. We can count the times we've seen him and Diane in a domestic environment on one, maybe two hands and that's not a lot for seven years. We've always seen glimpses of them together but we never got the real thing. And that is why, personally, I think there must have been at least some unhealthy parts of them that we never got to see. He wouldn't have cheated if it had been all sparkly fairytales as we were led to believe, especially in seasons 6 and 7 (excluding the series finale). And he also didn't just cheat, no, he had an affair. It wasn't a single slip, one moment of weakness as they call it. It happened more than once and he did it several times.

So, this really got me thinking. They always had their differences, but those never really stood in the way of their relationship. I always had the feeling that they really respected each other and that was what made them so appealing to me. But I realised that his respect for her must have slipped from time to time, or else he wouldn't have slept with another woman, right?

I still believe that they respect each other but now I also believe that they didn't always do that. I have to believe that they were more flawed than I'd like them to be because otherwise I will never accept the fact that he betrayed her.

And maybe that was the one thing that really caused them to work on their marriage now. "We never tried being married." is what Kurt has said to her last season when they had decided to reconcile. And I think that he is right. And I hope that they are really able to start over in season 3, I think that this is the only way for them to make it work. Of course, there will be drama, that is already more than obvious, but I really hope that they will get through it in a healthy way. That we will see them find healthy ways to get through it together.

I get why people like the idea of them resolving problems by having sex. But realistically speaking, that's still not the way to work anything out. And I really wish that we will get to see them do that or at least try to do so.

Because otherwise, I don't think that their love can survive outside the bubble. And that would be a pity, because they deserve to find happiness together like no one else.

[azeher]

The Villain Problem (which is easily solved)

I’ve seen frequently a lot of posts and threads (making emphasis on “frequently” and “a lot”) here on tumblr and on twitter making a claim that people just don’t want their villains to be redeemed because they refuse to give them character development. This is my take on it and how I solve it.

Well, for starters, character development goes both ways so a villain that starts as someone who wants to do mildly bad things but ends up mass-murdering, raping back and forth, torturing other characters and so on, already got character development. They went from bad to the absolute worst. Of course, a writer’s storytelling skills have the power to make or break a story, so even this can be poorly executed.

To continue, at least in my case, I’m only not into the “redemption” thing when the villain has reached a point of no return, because their actions are bigger than anything else. Something like the example I provided above. And no amount of sad backstory caked with child abuse will change my mind.

Actually, when a story (and by “a story” I mean all of them) gives me the sad backstory and the child abuse excuse--which is an insult to every real child abuse victim ever who chose not to harm anyone, and to those who were victims of people who used this excuse, it completely loses me. Not every bad person had a bad childhood. Having a bad childhood doesn’t excuse them from owning their bad actions. And in the case of the villain, last time I checked, having their mother killed in front of their eyes when they were a little kid didn’t prevent them from creepily smiling when brutally killing a woman in front of her innocent child’s eyes. At this point, having a story give me a sad backstory for Evil Guy not only makes me roll my eyes so far back I can see my brain cells dying, not only increases my anger towards Evil Guy, not only diminishes what respect I might have for the author and their ability to tell a good story, it also actually makes me lose any interest I could’ve had about the villain. And villains are supposed to be interesting. They’re supposed to be the spice of your story.

Other instance in which I might be against the villain’s redemption is when the redemption actually takes away from the story. Some villains were born in the whimsical space of our minds to be evil and go grand about it and tell a message about it. Suddenly redeeming them erases anything that the writer was trying to say.

So how to tell when a villain can be redeemed? Everything depends on writing skills, really. You’re the one writing your story, right? Then you’re the one who will know if this villain can or deserves or wants or needs to be redeemed. You’re the one to know if your story will suffer from it or gain from it. It’s not the readers who decide this; what they feel about the villain, positive or negative, is completely up to them and their fanfics. It’s only you and your intention to tell a good story what matters here.

My list of personal tips, tho, are:

a. Treat your villain as another Main Character, which in a way they are. Villains that are faceless shadows lurking in the awfully decorated halls of what looks like a BDSM dungeon and the result of a quarrell in IKEA, are boring. And I’ll bet not even you fear/care for them.

b. Give Evil Guy a goal that matters to them as a person. Goals are better and more believable than stupid tragic backstories. Also a must if you want a 3D character. They don’t need to be huge goals. I mean, some people would harass and send death threats to someone else over ships, right? Think about that.

c. Add the sad backstory if you want to. Just know that its actual purpose is to give the villain an origin story, not excusing them. Heros also have sad backstories usually and you can still see them being normal people, working on retail at the start of their hero journey. Actually scrap the sad backstory if you have your hero or villain working on retail, that’s enough torture already.

d. If you don’t like or have any interest in your villain, why are you expecting others to? When you don’t like or have any interest in your villain it is because of different reasons: They’re not believable, their goal isn’t believable, you just don’t know what kind of person they are. Do what I do. Talk to them. Sit alone, organize an interview or a really messed up date and get to know the guy. (I do this with every character, really, but villains make for really big experiences).

e. Be prepared to love-hate them. You’re creating a monster. You have to be happy with the kind of monster you came up with. “You’re the worst and don’t have a place outside of the deepest pits of hell. You’re perfect!”

f. Only after you know your villain and how far they’re willing to go to accomplish their goal, you can consider whether or not to redeem them.

g. Realize what role this villain plays in the lives of the rest of your characters. And they must play a role since Evil Guy has been antagonizing them since the beginning of the story. Sometimes, there are other kind of relationships or ties involved that might be the ultimate decisive factor. Let’s use Kubo and the Two Strings as an example. (SPOILERS) Evil Guy was Kubo’s grandfather, but the story chose to give him a new chance to be good and care for his grandson because Kubo had literally no one else. It was such a powerful resolution, because Moon King also despised humankind and their warmth and having to look at them, and thought of himself as superior for being immortal, but then he was turned into a human, was convinced that he was the most compassionate man, and was made to look at humans in the eyes every day until he died someday. But MOST IMPORTANT, it was Kubo’s decision.

(Don’t force a character to end up with or forgive their abuser. Kubo did it amazingly but it’s not something everyone or every story can do. Forgiving is a very personal and intimate thing that isn’t about the abuser but the victim. Forgiving doesn’t mean allowing the abuser back into your life and it definitely isn’t about falling in love with them. It shouldn’t be played as the exoneration of the abuser).

In mp100 (SPOILERS AGAIN) Shou forgives his father. Shou took the decision to give his father another chance. A chance to finally be the father Shou deserved to have. A chance for Touichirou not to disappoint his son again. It was all about Shou, and mp100 is a story about growth and decisions and choosing to be better, so Touichirou also chose to take the chance Shou was giving him. This completes the themes of the narrative and is not forcing us, the readers, to sympathize with Touichirou, it’s only showing us what kind of person Shou is, what his needs are and why we have to respect them, and what he and his father decided to do about their conflict.

h. Realize what sort of story you’re telling or trying to tell. You know, sometimes the message can be pessimistic. Sometimes you want to talk about morality, sometimes about amorality. Sometimes you simply really want your villain to mean something. Once you define this you can choose HOW you want to redeem them (if you had chosen to redeem them that is).

i. In general, antagonists that take bad decisions but deal with an internal conflict of good and evil are the ones we all want to see redeemed. Think Zuko, Loki and (tho it never happened) Draco Malfoy.

j. No matter what sort of redemption you gave your villain or why, make sure they still get to face the consequences of their actions. It doesn’t matter if you love them so much that you are willing to overlook murder cuz “Aw, c’mon, I don’t go to jail for killing all my chances for a decent future, do I?” or “It’s medieval times! Everyone had at least killed five people by the age of 18 back then”. Their actions must come back to them, somehow. It doesn’t have to be jail time, or death or stuff like that, but they must feel real regret. If they don’t, you’re not really redeeming them, you’re just letting your Evil Guy win by gaining MC’s trust and getting to live a full live without any inconveniences. I mean, I guess that’s what uncaught serial killers, corrupt politicians and some Nazis got to do so it’s not that unthinkable.

I, myself, have a thing for villains, which is a reason why I don’t understand the oversimplified posts that go: “People who don’t want villains to be redeemed think you’re evil if you like villains. People just don’t want character development for villains.” I may think that any specific villain doesn’t need a redemption, that doesn’t mean I think no villain can have a redemption. I may think that the villain that doesn’t deserve the redemption is a literal disgusting creature, that doesn’t mean I can’t be impressed by how amazingly and cleverly constructed the villain is. My biggest example: The Joker. And every character needs character development, else they’re not really characters but plot devices.

As for the other side of the argument: “They think you’re evil if you like villains”. I might be missing something here, but the one complaint I’ve heard barely reminiscent of this claim is the one that surfaces when a fandom collectively justifies or ignores the villain’s actions (as if that’s necessary to be allowed to like the villain) and that’s a complaint as valid as any other; or when the story itself justifies the villain’s actions then chooses to never mention them again, which, yeah, is bad writing (see Snape).

If you choose to ignore a villain’s actions, doesn’t that just mean that you like the character but not exactly what they did? Tho, the route you’re taking isn’t the best but still. If you justify a villain’s actions (murder is common, rape is worse, they were having a rough day, they were depressed--bitch, I’m depressed!, she asked for it, it’s okay because they fall in love later, they just don’t know how to express love in a healthy way that doesn’t involve emotional and physical and sometimes even sexual abuse, they grew up in a violent and/or manipulative environment, they have an awful father…), and then make a big deal out of that and talk about it online, don’t be surprised if someone disagrees with you, or you touch a nerve with an actual real life person and get called out. Because, it was you who made it internet-relevant.

It’s your right to like a villain for whatever reasons you want and you don’t owe an explanation to anyone, but thinking critically about your fave, recognizing their flaws, or the themes they embody are also important things. And even if you just don’t feel like doing that, which is fair, that doesn’t change the fact that the villain is a piece of shit and other people will notice it. Not everyone will love your sinnamon roll. You’ll have to deal with the two sides: Enjoying your small villain fandom with your nice group of peers, and seeing posts where other people trash your fave. That if the story itself doesn’t do it.

[skamfairy]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - thoughts after reading it for the first time

oh my god it’s come to this. we made it. WE ARE HERE. at the end. im emotional. shsajhahjs THATS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. This whole book has left me so emotionally drained but not in a bad way. it made me feel so so so much and change everything and i’m just shjjhsahjas I GOT A LOT OF THOUGHTS but i’m also worried i’ll forget things cos i took a long time to read this and a lot happened so ashjashjas let’s see how i go (i really should have kept notes as i read but i’m chaotic and it’s too late sajsahj i’ll do that if i ever review a book on here again) 

THIS IS SO LONG so if you read all of this then sajhsajha wow you must really love me or harry, or both sdhjasjhahjssajh 💖

ALRIGHT lets start with dudley!! it feels like years ago now but when he actually showed feelings towards harry it was soooo good and unexpected and i really really loved that choice. like showing that he’s not a villain or anything and that he does actually care for harry despite being such a brat his whole life sahjsahj idk it made me remember that he’s just a kid too who was also raised by the dursley’s you know? anyway i loved it and i’m hoping harry and him do sorta keep in touch. 

this also feels like a big part of the theme in this series i want to touch on. I feel like instead of villainising characters straight up, we sorta get to see that when you are shown nothing but cruelty and disrespect then they are the traits you will only know as you grow and it’s really sad but also creates incredible empathy and understanding in the reader when you see characters like draco and dudley kinda follow what their parents teach them. and then when you get that reminder with both characters that that’s not really them and once they begin to think for themselves or get shown something else they can finally branch away from that and be who they really are. That’s what i love so much in this series! being able to see that they aren’t evil or bad they’ve just been taught shitty behaviour and they can change once they follow their own beliefs and not those of their parents.

i also had a slight critique about slytherin’s potrayal here shjashj but i deleted it cos i felt like i ranted more than i should ashjashj but basically i just felt like there was sooooo much anti-slytherin content in the series but i got it cos i figured it was all building up to a big SLYTHERINS ARE GOOD TOO LETS BE FRIENDS moment and i mean i wasn’t wrong? we got that sorta, in the end when harry talked to his son and told him that slytherins are cool too, although the example was snape jhsjhsa. but yeah i think after all that i was expecting something more idk. especially cos i found it weird that not a single slytherin was in dumbledores army or fought on the order of phoenix side in the battle. like they all just left! but idk maybe i’m too new to hp to understand sahjsahj i just thought at least a couple slytherins would fight just to show that not all of them are bad but maybe they were scared cos of voldemort’s ties to the house shjashj sorry this still turned into a bit of a rant but i’m not like annoyed just surprised. imagine a character who was in the squad but they were slytherin sjhasjh

ANYWAY back on track shjasjhas 

hedwig dying broke my god damn heart 

IM CRYING remember when fred and george got turned into harry’s and they turned to each other and said in sync “WOW WE’RE IDENTICAL!” im sorry i just flicked to that page by accident to remember what to discuss next and that just made me laugh again im sahjahjhjsa

SO I GUESS THAT MEANS IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT FRED AND GEORGE. okay yes so they are two of my fave characters EVER not just in hp but in anything i’ve ever read or watched. they bring me so much laughter and happiness and while reading this series, when i was feeling down and i needed something to get my mind of things, i would read hp. but every single time a line from fred or george came up, it would make me feel SO much joy and i can’t express how much they both helped me and brought light into my life while reading this series. and they’ll always hold a special place in my heart. i’m so thankful for this series because it introduced me to some of the most beautiful characters i’ve ever met. and fred and george are two of them. They showed how much you can give and help in such a horrible situation, just by giving people something to laugh about and that was so so so incredible to read. to see that you don’t have to be super brainy like hermione or strong or brave like ron and harry to be important and a hero. bringing light and laughter in people’s lives during a dark time is just as heroic and meaningful as anything else and i love that fred and george represented that power. (but also they had everything else too sajashjhjas) anyway i really love them. and i remember while reading this book, fred pulled the same joke he did when we first saw him in book one and it made me emotional because we have come so far and he’s still just as warm and joyful as he was 7 years ago. losing him was the worst thing in the whole series, not worst in the sense that it didn’t make sense or anything because it did and i’m glad i could feel soooo much but it was the worst thing by it hurting the worst for me personally and ishjajhashjsa im never gonna get over it. everytime i think about it i cry like i am now dammit sdhjsahjajh SO LETS CHANGE THE SUBJECT 

oh my god one of the things that broke my heart early on wasn’t even a death but hermione erasing herself from her parents minds to protect them???? That’s absolutely heartbreaking and sad and i love her so much. she is so clever but also so caring and brilliant and she does whatever she needs to and it’s just fucking hell it was so sad and i just hope it all worked out and she was able to undo it cos i’m really stressing about it i don’t want her to lose her parents :(( and they love her so much like we never got to see them much but i remember in the second book how supportive they were even tho it was so out of their element and scary they were just happy for their daughter and GAH I’M EMOTIONAL anyway i love hermione so much, moving on.

Ron and harry fighting??? MADE ME AGE A THOUSAND YEARS OUT OF STRESS AND PAIN that’s the worst, i hate it. i hate it when they fight. it breaks my heart because you know how much ron means to harry. he’s his number one, he’s his family, his best friend, the first person to ever love him and show him loyalty and love and what it’s like to have a brother who loves you like sahajshhjas IM SORRY ONE OF MY FAVE THINGS IN THIS WHOLE SERIES IS THEIR RELATIONSHIP 100% they mean everything to me. Ron is so insecure because he constantly feels like he’s in harry’s shadow but what he doesn’t realise is that when it comes to harry, everyone else is in his shadow because ron is the most important person to him. i mean don’t get me wrong they love hermione too ashjsahjahj but like ron and harry <3 it’s special they need each other im super asjhhajs im sorry im so passionate about their friendship and chosen family it means so much to me. like i hated it when they fought in goblet of fire and THEN I HAD TO GO THROUGH IT AGAIN??? but the scene where they made up literally made me cry and scream in happiness i love them so much i don’t want them to ever not be in each others lives. 

honestly i like ron and hermione! idk if that’s unpopular or what but i feel like they do make sense and their relationship was actually built up based on actual connection and years of developing.....unlike some people who never even talked and then woke up and suddenly were in love for no reason *cough*

TIME TO TALK ABOUT SAD THINGS AGAIN! dobby dying was absolutely horrible that whole chapter was SO DARK and scary and i was actually genuinely frightened for the first time in the series i was so so so scared it was horrible and then dobby came like an angel and saved the day and then he was just....gone??? it was so unfair and so sad and just i hate it so much i can’t comprehend it. he was a free elf! he didn’t deserve this. no one deserved this. that’s what was so tragic about the deaths in this series and it’s what makes everything so real. im so sad god dammit let me find something less sad to talk about again. 

HARRY IS THE DESCENDANT OF THE BROTHER WHO CHOSE THE INVISIBILITY CLOAK FROM THE DEATHLY HALLOW STORY!!!! ahhhhh im so happy i love that harry is related to something so cool and ahhhhhhhh it’s honestly so good and exciting how everything came together naturally like that. and CAN WE TALK ABOUT HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?? like how he literally went from saying he would choose the ressurrection stone, to in the end, just leaving it in the middle of the forest? im so proud of him he breaks my heart and i just wanna protect him forever i’ve never loved someone so much like ashjsajhsa i need to stop but seriously, harry is my absolute everything i love this god damn kid help. 

speaking of people who love harry.... jhsjhassjjas i really really love draco. like i feel so protective of this kid? i want to know more more more about him and i want to help him and go back in time and keep him away from all that bullshit dark stuff i can’t wait to read all the fics that analyse him because i know he’s actually a genuine good? i feel like he is. his parents let him down and he didn’t have any healthy relationships in his life to help him see another side of things even tho i know and really feel like if he did, things would have been different. he was just a kid and you could see he didn’t want this he hated it, he was so scared and alone and sahjsahjhjsa IM SORRY I LOVE HIM 

OKay can i just roast voldemort for a sec by saying, he is TERRIBLE at researching plans before execution and thinking through things like he acted like a silly egotistic child im so. how did the death eaters take him seriously? i don’t understand OKAY YES I KNOW HE HAS SO MUCH POWER but pfft he kept taking snapes credit for killing dumbles. but then it turned out dumbles asked snape to anyway so like sjshjjhsa and harry roasted him with that himself. i love that kid. anyway yeah i can’t wait to make voldemort memes forever this dude is so sjsajasjkajsk i hate him but also enjoy hating him. 

Remus and tonks :((( im so sad i love lupin so much it’s not fair but also now teddy is an orphan after a war just like harry and now harry is the godfather to teddy just like sirius was to him :(( im emotional. 

MOLLY SLAYED BELLATRIX I LOVE HER “NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!” jhsdjhsjhsdj queen

okay okay okay finally i’ll address the thing that MESSED ME UP oh my god sajhhjashjsa so i have been complaining for ageeeees that i want LILY! BACKSTORY! and when i didn’t get it in half blood prince i was devastated sahjsahjjhsa and i figured it was never going to happen and then when i least expected it I GET ACTUAL LILY BACKSTORY CONTENT from the man i have been roasting and hating since book one im sahjshajhjas the irony kills me. anyway lily was just as amazing as i thought she was. i love her so much she’s so beautiful and kind and loyal and compassionate. she’s everything <3 and honestly i was actually able to empathise with snape? their friendship was so pure and sweet and i can’t believe he was her best friend in hogwarts this whole time. it’s really sad how he let himself be drawn to dark magic because she was never going to give up on him. him being drawn to that magic, and calling her a slur was what pushed her away and also brought her closer to james so, thanks for helping harry be born mate ashjjhas idk it’s sad and i empathise with snape now and now i can understand things i couldn’t before. LIKE EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE NOW. it’s like the missing piece has been found and i can see everything with new eyes it’s insane. and i remember seeing something about obsessive love in half blood prince and guessing that it was foreshadowing something and i think this is it. it’s just sad :(( and he actually was on dumbledores side im so sahjsahjhjas this whole thing was such a mindfuck idk what to think. but yeah i do emphasise with snape. do i like him now? no 🙈 sorry BUT i can understand him better and his character intrigues me it’s just really sad but he’s still an adult who bullies children. and daaaamn he hated harry, lucky for us he loved lily more than voldemort tho whoop i’m pretty sure my older sister loves snape tho so maybe i’m being too harsh idk 

HARRY WAS A HORCRUX??? i can’t that was epic and such a shock what in the world. i’m so happy how things turned out but holy shit that was insane. yet it made so much sense im so sjjshahjas

oh i love luna ashjahjshjas just gotta say that she’s my everything <3 

NEVILLE I LOVE NEVILLE HIM KILLING THE SNAKE WAS ICONIC !!!!! im so so so happy it was him. i love him so much he really showed how much bravery and potential he has i love this kid. 

okay so hands down the Kings Cross chapter was one of the best chapters in this whole series. seeing dumbledore finally tell us everything and getting to hear and see his mistakes and flaws and his truth was so so so emotional for me and it felt like final closure. im so dhjahjhja the way it was written!!! just all of it every single bit of it made me feel something and OPEN AT THE CLOSE im asjhhjsahjas ofc im just god the whole thing was sooooo jhsjhasjhas THE FEELINGS im sorry im not at all articulate when it comes to this im just the whole thing played in my head so well and i still have chills just from thinking about it i really don’t want this to end :(( 

finally the ending, im surprised that harry married ginny (i mean i guess not surprised cos he’s her love interest, maybe just jahsjhsasahj indifferent?) but im happy that we got to see him happy and again i love that he told albus it didn’t matter if he was in slytherin cos slytherins are cool too jsshjahjsa that was so important. ALSO draco!!! they nodded 👀 also shjsahja luna and george weren’t mentione :(( 

OH MY GOD I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT HOW MUCH NOSTALGIA I GOT IN SNAPES MEMORY WHEN WE SAW JAMES AND SIRIUS FIRST BECOME FRIENDS ON THE TRAIN IT MADE ME THINK OF THE FIRST BOOK IM EMOTIONAL

Now i just want to say i genuinely love harry so so so much. he’s sassy and brave and selfless and caring and he has so much anger and frustration but that never stops him from doing what he can to help people and it just :(( he deserved a happy, free and loving childhood. i love this boy with all my heart and i always will im so thankful i finally let myself actually read his story. 

This series brought me so much laughter, wonder, tears, pain and magic. i’m so so so happy i finally read it sahjsajh despite avoiding and judging it my whole life lmao i was so wrong about it and this series has made me fall deeply in love with every single character and now im obsessed shjashjhjas LIKE I LITERALLY CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT i can’t im so asjhashj

im actually obsessed with harry potter i didn’t think this would ever happen to me. thank you for taking this journey with me angels 💖

anyway now i got 8(?) movies to watch for the first time sahjashashj stay tuned 💖 

[messrsmemoirs]

do you think Remus ever forgave Severus? i mean he said he did but how could he? (this is about the last post you reblogged)

I’m such a poor ask answerer that I’ve forgotten which post this was. I tried to go back and find it but I ran into Remus’ birthday marathon (90 posts, I think) and... I realized I tend to leave asks a little too long. Whoops. Sorry! So that just means you’ll be getting a broader post about a couple more Snape-Remus incidents, to really tackle the issues of Forgiveness.

To answer the question most openly and honestly, no, I don’t think Remus forgave Snape. There’s a lot of significant things happening between them over the years, and I think Remus tried to. I do genuinely believe that he tried, that he wanted to be the person that could and that perhaps he even told Harry that for more than just appearing to be the mature Adult. I think part of that is trying to also reaffirm to himself that it happened. But Remus is one of those people who has struggled in a particularly subtext way: I’m betting he’s had his fair share of “Get away from me werewolf”, (sorry Ron), but I’m willing to bet even more that on top of that is a layer of, “Yeah I don’t think we can hire people like... that.” It’s easier to be cruel behind the scenes. Remus suffers prejudice and poor reputation before he opens his mouth. And he tries to cement a few times that it hasn’t affected him, that the world can keep on pushing and that he’ll keep on chugging. But... let’s be honest: he’s a little bitter in his heart.

“Dumbledore wanted a spy, and here I was... ready-made.” HBP16.

“This time tomorrow the owls will start arriving. They will not want a werewolf teaching their children, Harry.” PoA22

These are little examples of the ways Remus doesn’t openly speak of his experiences, but they are hinted at nonetheless. Up top, he’s not mad at Dumbledore. He’s bitter that Dumbledore’s right--that he really is the man for the job that he really doesn’t want. That he’s already a werewolf, so why shouldn’t he be the one to go and face the others of his kind, something probably traumatic and triggering--or at least disturbing and uncomfortable for Remus, a man who straight up abhors anything wolfy let alone werewolfy. And the second? He just knows without having to think about it how mothers and fathers will react to him: the same way job makers do when he applies for a position, the same way landlords do when he applies for a lease. Hell, half his conversations in OotP are about how it’s impossible for him to find a job, and even the werewolf bitten in the ward is getting scared looks a full two weeks before his first transformation. Remus constantly pushes himself down, degrading his accomplishments and personal character, describing himself as a monster when we know he’s a kind, loving, brave, fiercely loyal and intelligent man. But nonetheless, he’s been beaten and brutalized mentally so much that he’s internalized it and he happily does it to himself, too. That’s not a happy man. That’s a bitter man. Remus says otherwise, but his words speak the truth for themselves.

To keep with that, Snape has never treated Remus particularly well.

He snapped his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew into his hands. “I’ll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the dementors will have a Kiss for him too--”

“Don’t ask me to fathom the way a werewolf’s mind works,” hissed Snape.

These are minor quotes from right around the same part of PoA as the above. Look at the disdain Snape has for Remus--not even as a person, but as a creature. Snape doesn’t say, “I’ll drag the professor,” or, “I’ll drag Lupin,” no--it’s: “I’ll drag the werewolf.” “Don’t ask me to fathom how a werewolf’s mind works.” In other words, “Remus Lupin is not a man, he’s a savage beast who doesn’t even think like a human because he isn’t one.” And I’ve got several things to say about “drag the werewolf” too, but... I won’t. Not here.

Anyway.

Snape and Remus may have had their childhood quarrels, which explains Snape’s personal dislike. But during PoA Remus tries more than hard to maintain a civil relationship with his colleague, save the incident with Neville which I’m willing to write off was more to really deflate Snape in Neville’s mind than to straight up humiliate Snape, who by then had already spoken to Dumbledore about not hiring Remus at all and who was making wolfsbane potion for Remus anyway. Remus had had 12 years to distance himself from Snape, and he probably didn’t want to start stirring the pot on day 1.

At this point, it’s arguable whether Snape has done anything that really warrants forgiveness. Remus and Snape haven’t seen one another in 12 years, and I’m sure there are incidents we don’t know about. But the one we do know of is the most important one from that period: the Shack incident, in which Remus was seen by Snape and Snape was forced into secrecy. I sincerely doubt that Remus would actually hold this against Snape in any way. Remus knows Snape has it out for him. Remus expects the behavour our of Snape. And everything would have gone as normal if it weren’t for Sirius. Sirius is the one at fault here, not Snape, and I don’t think Remus felt any lasting resentment for that. Rather, I think he felt fear at having his greatest weakness handed to his worst enemy by a friend. I would argue that even knowing Dumbledore had bidden Snape into secrecy that Remus lay awake at night in terror of what Snape might do with that information. And I further argue that Snape probably made Remus’ life a living hell when he could, using that specific information. Just look at what he does 12 years later as a grown man: the infamous “turn to page 394″ business. It’s no secret that Snape was trying to get the students to figure it out, and quite actively. He was trying to get someone to shun Remus for him, because he was tied by some darn red tape into being a decent person and keeping his mouth shut.

But this doesn’t prevent Snape from spilling the beans by the end of the book, of course. And this is the first of the larger-scale things I would argue fall under the “forgiveness” umbrella, because while I think after having been loose on the grounds, arguably an understandable accident but dangerous nonetheless, that Remus would have resigned anyway. He knew that was an unforgivable error on his part, accident or no (not that he sees it that way, though) and that he didn’t want to allow the possibility to manifest ever again. Resigning was the right choice. Now, Dumbledore didn’t fire him, either. Formally, Remus quit. But Snape went ahead and told the entire school about his dirty laundry anyway. Snape outed him to the students, who outed him to their parents, who outed him to the larger wizarding world through gossip and outrage. I’m sure there was a Prophet article, and even a controversy about it. But the thing is, Dumbledore convinced the Minister of Magic himself that Remus was trying to save their lives that night. So Snape, outraged about the loss of his Order of Merlin, took it upon himself to “accidentally let slip” that Remus was a werewolf. At breakfast. In front of the entire school.

And Remus?

Lupin shrugged. “The news would have leaked out anyway. We both know he wanted my job, but he could have wreaked much worse damage on me by tampering with the potion. He kept me healthy. I must be grateful.”

Except that Snape was under orders to make the potion, obligated by potential murder charges and job loss to make it correctly, and Remus is essentially saying, “Sure, he cost me the best and most stable job I’ve ever had, but at least he didn’t poison me.” I mean, Snape did want to have Remus’ soul sucked out of his mouth and all, too. But Remus has to be grateful. What’s worse is that Remus believes that he has to be grateful, too. Sure, he says, he and Snape will never be bosom buddies. Too much history with Sirius and James and Severus. But at least he didn’t poison me.

I probably didn’t explain this in the best way, but think of it all like this: Remus thinks he deserves that kind of treatment, or he isn’t surprised by it. He expects it. But that doesn’t mean he’s not affected by it, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have to live with the realities of what Snape does to him. And that doesn’t mean that he isn’t privately bitter about it, because as we’ve seen he is affected profoundly by the life he’s lived. Whether he goes, “I hate Snape” or not, I don’t think Remus forgets that Snape has that part to play in the way his life has unfolded. I don’t think Remus is angry about it, but that doesn’t mean he forgives Snape even if he expects it. Remus trusts Snape because Dumbledore trusts Snape. That’s enough for him. But I don��t think they would actively work together without that tie to bind them together. I think Remus probably feels that Snape is a largely unchanged man, and I doubt he would honestly go to Snape for help unless he was going to die, and then he’d half expect to be laughed at, die, and have Snape kick his body off his doorstep like a man flicking something disgusting off his shoe. How can Remus not feel a level of resentment? Even if he wants to be the bigger man and say, “yes, I have forgiven him,” I don’t think that’s completely true. And I think that’s okay, that that’s human, and it’s especially so that Remus is trying to get himself to forgive. It’s astonishing, really. But I still think that there’s a pocket of underlying resentment that really stops it from becoming completely true, if that makes sense.

And I had more thoughts on this so I may edit or reblog and add more, but alas my free time has ended and now I have to cut it short here. So anyone else, feel free to add on to this or start a discourse or what have you.

Like what you see? Help make it happen. Give me things to write about! Or, buy me a coffee! Ko-fi.com/messrsmemoirs

[amorremanet]

Arthur/moody, lucius/moody, lupin/snape?

the brutally honest ship opinions game

Arthur/Moody: ……okay, like, I have basically no positive feelings about Alastor Moody — I mean, I feel the same need to defend him from JKR’s ableist garbage that accidentally got me in too deep with Lockhart, but we are still talking about a guy who supports using Dementors on people and apparently dngaf about what someone’s done, just send ‘em all to fucking Azkaban (GOF ch. 30, the flashback of Moody we see in the first Pensieve scene)

who thinks that the best present you could give to a kid who’s lost his parents and just watched a classmate be murdered…… is going over a photo of the First War Order and telling him about how all of them died horribly and he doesn’t ever stop to think that this might not be the best idea (OOTP)

and who is legitimately less sensitive to other people’s needs and less dismissive of people who aren’t his exact model of “useful” than a literal fucking Death Eater one of the biggest points where Barty Crouch Jr. drops character in GOF is when he takes Neville to his office and gives him a pro-Herbology pep-talk, and goes, “so, hey, Longbottom, Professor Sprout said you’re super-good at this subject, why not pursue it,” because based on the actual canon about him? The real Alastor Moody would never do something like that.

Like, he might have the moment he has with Harry and Hermione, where he goes, “so, hey, both of you could be gr10 aurors if you wanted, you should think about it” because that, from Moody, would be a compliment, and Harry and Hermione more closely fit his own ideas of usefulness, but not so much the Neville moment)

—but seriously, do you hate him or something? Why else would you even dream of shipping him with Arthur Weasley? (okay, fine, I acquiesce that there is enough of a canonical basis for some people to roll with here, and I myself have made ships out of far less…… but seriously, why would you ship anybody with Arthur Weasley. Like…… wow, rude.)

Lucius/Moody: again, I’m not on the Alastor Moody fan-train or anything, but why would you even do this. Nobody deserves to be shipped with Lucius Malfoy, like? He’s not even an entertaining villain, he’s just pathetic. He’s a sad, pathetic fantasy-fascist who gets his kicks by bullying twelve-year-olds and torturing muggles who can’t defend themselves. He’s a complete waste of character space and forcing anyone to be in a ship with him is just unfathomably cruel

Lupin/Snape: meh, whatever. Like, it’s not my thing, but… *shrugs* meh?

Like, idk what you’re looking for here, nonny, but I’m guessing, based on the other two ships, that you’re looking for me to get cranky and ship-bashy and figured that Snu//pin was a good way to get there, since there are a lot of legitimate Problems with this ship in the text

But the thing is, I’m just under 900 years old (at least in fandom terms), and I remember the days back before HBP came out, when Snu//pin was the second-most popular Remus ship (after Wolfstar, to the surprise of no one), and was, in fact, so popular that it had its own private archive and got black-listed from most rarepair comms because it, “wasn’t really rare, just less popular than D//rarry, Wolfstar, Ro//mione, Dra//mione, H//inny, and J//ily”

—I mean, there was a short stretch before OOTP where I tried to make myself like it because there was a BNF whose art I loved, and she shipped Snu//pin, so I felt like I had to be missing something obvious and cool and because I was, like, twelve, I tried to make myself ship the thing. That didn’t work and I eventually just moved on, but one thing that I recall about the Snu//pin fandom that appears to still be more or less true, based on everything I’ve seen of the present-day Snu//pin fandom?

Is that they came out about the same as the Wolfstar fandom, in terms of how many shippers ignored or made excuses for #Problematic things about the ship vs. how many shippers work those things into the overall fabric of how they ship the thing, how many shippers LIKE the ship because of those Problematic parts and having the opportunity to explore them in fiction, how many shippers actively dive head-first into exploring those parts of the ships because that’s where they find the most engaging character interactions or whatever they’re into, etc.

For examples of what I mean when I say #Problematic things about the ships:

the fact that all three of them are self-loathing [human or werewolf] disasters who are often passively suicidal and either prone to acting out on those feelings (Sirius and Severus), or prone to repressing those feelings until they explode all over some innocent bystanders (Remus)

the fact that all three of them have suffered horrific abuse in their pasts — whether from their parents or other sources — and find ways to take it out on other people (Severus on his students, Sirius on Severus and Kreacher, and Remus on almost anyone who tries to get close to him, even as he makes it seem like he isn’t doing that)

Severus outing Remus as a werewolf because he’s upset and felt like punishing someone else for it, thereby leading to Remus tendering his resignation

the fact that Sirius assuming Remus had to be the spy would’ve been at least partially based on anti-werewolf prejudices, and Sirius still clearly had at least some of those prejudices on his own, because even if Peter totally manipulated them in his favor, there had to be something there for Peter to manipulate in the first place, so???

the fact that Remus doesn’t help shit anything, in any situation ever, with his habit of trying to weasel out of any Emotionally Difficult™ conversations and his tendency to mentally spin most situations so that everyone is going to leave him in the end anyway so it’s acceptable to shut down, close himself off, and pull stunts that more or less come down to, “totally up and bailing on everyone,” which is understandable, given his backstory, but dude, that doesn’t make it okay or helpful??

basically, “literally anything about the characters as individuals, or in terms of their interactions with each other — both past and present — that could potentially cause problems for either/both/any/all of them and potentially make the relationship unhealthy (or unhealthier than it already was, in the cases of Snu//pin and Snack because…… oh boy, let’s not even act like either of those — or any ship with Sev in it, for that matter — is ever going to be ‘healthy’ by any definition)”

So, like? Is Snupin #Problematic? Yes, definitely. Are some of its shippers prone to ship it in #Problematic ways? Oh, yes, absolutely (Hell, the BNF whose art I used to like even flat-out said things like, “Sirius would never be able to be there for Remus like Snape could” and… um? Even granted that this was pre-OOTP: ummm???)

But on the whole, Snu//pin shippers aren’t actually any worse about totally ignoring and/or excusing these elements of their ship than Wolfstar shippers are (and, actually, they might be doing better than a LOT of the present-day Wolfstar fandom, since I usually don’t see any more recently made Snu//pin that doesn’t grapple with at least some of the #Problematic elements of it — they don’t always do it well, but at least they’re trying, which counts for a lot, to me, because most people don’t even try — while most Wolfstar these days flat-out ignores all the #Problematic elements of Sirius and Remus as characters, and of their relationship, in the name of what often amounts to borderline-OOC caricatured fanon nonsense, so…)

(……Look, I love Wolfstar, and I have for longer than some people on this website have been alive. But I don’t love a lot of Wolfstar shippers, which has been the case since the beginning of my Wolfstar shipping

stayed the case when HBP came out and I was all, “Hey, guys? I don’t like this BS Remus/Tonks thing either, but can we NOT erase bisexuals or treat Tonks like garbage when we’re talking about it, it’s not her fault that Molly Weasley is a meddling nosy garbage buttinski who thinks it’s her job to play matchmaker to fully-grown adults who didn’t ask and don’t want her input,”

and is still the case as I’m over here, all like, “ugh, man, at least we used to have SOME people in this fandom who enjoyed reading Wolfstar angst, now it seems like nobody cares about anything unless it’s all fluff, all the time, with absolutely no room for anything else because god forbid you ever want to write about LGBTQ characters whose lives aren’t 5,000% perfect, that obviously must mean that you’re a gross fetishistic cishet and not, for example, a neurodivergent, mentally ill lesbian survivor who feels left out by the trend towards forcing every LGBTQ person to act like we’re happy, all the time, and to act like we’re only interested in fictional LGBTQ people who are perfectly 5,000% happy all the time

“and to decry any and all depictions of LGBTQ people being UNhappy as gross fetishistic straight people garbage even when they were actually created by and for LGBTQ people, only to be misappropriated by straight people, as if there’s no way you could possibly be LGBTQ and NOT feel ~used and maligned~ by depictions of LGBTQ people that are less than 5,000% perfectly happy, even when they are being created by other LGBTQ people, yeah? ……but yeah, no, clearly: the fact that I like angst obviously means that I am a straight person because no ~real~ LGBTQ person ever has any need for those ~gross negative feelings~ or fictional outlets for them, never mind how many LGBTQ people get excluded from our narratives and spaces by this bullshit bc lmao who cares amiright. ://”)

—anyway, my motto has been and remains, “It isn’t a question of WHAT you ship, it’s a question of HOW you ship it,” so hey. Snu//pin is not my thing (it’s not even as non-shippingly interesting to me as Sirius/Severus is, because I love how much those two hate each other while unwittingly being perfect foils for each other), but I don’t actually have any desire to ship-bash it and most Snu//pin shippers are okay with me because unless they’re actually doing anything that’s harmful to anyone else, it’s not my business what they ship

That said: “Snu//pin” is still one of the worst portmanteau ship names ever and it still sounds like a deadly virus or something, but *shrugs* Whatever, it’s not the shippers’ faults that their ship members’ names don’t smush up all that nicely