#the bare minimum

[mersei47]

just thought of something funny like, if hank was actually hired by phobos, he probably got a free-pass to roam around nexus tower and then just straight up ask whoever he saw about jeb's whereabout so he could go kill him

[arkadijxpancakes]

James Potter and the "bare minimum"

Lately, I've seen a couple of discussions centering on Lily and James (and Severus), in which people claimed that joining the Order of Phoenix was the bare minimum James could've and should've done. A very similar argument crops up, when it comes to why Severus joined the Death Eaters. In his case, it often boils down to "What else could he have done?" and "Most people in his situation would have joined the Death Eaters, too."

Personally, I don't think these arguments work. They can't work, because they expect that they had to choose between joining the Order or joining the Death Eaters.

Which is flawed in and of itself, because those aren't the only options. They are not even the normal options - they are the radical ones.

At their cores, both the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix are anti-state terrorist organizations. They operate outside of laws, work in secrecy and are willing to use (lethal) violence to achieve their goals.*

And, on average, most people just don't join organizations like that.

They either keep their heads down, try to stay "apolitical", form civilian groups that operate within the laws, or join governmental organizations.

For James, the bare minimum wasn't to join the Order of the Phoenix. The bare minimum was to do no harm. The bare minimum was to love Lily, to support her and to be by her side and protect her, if needed. Apart from that, the only "bare minimum" that should be required is the bare minimum that is true to all relationships: pull your weight in the relationship and don't be abusive to your partner. (And while James was abusive towards Severus and a jerk towards Lily during SWM, he was also fifteen or sixteen during that time and the books state that he matured at least somewhat after that. So it's completely possible that he did fulfill that requirement.)

Joining a militant organization to fight for the rights of muggleborns exceeds this bare minimum. Most students, who went to school with him, didn't do that. Most people probably kept their heads down. Even if they were anti-Death Eaters, they might voice these views, but they wouldn't fight for them. (And they might not voice them either, because Death Eaters attacked civilians over this!) And if they wanted to oppose the Death Eaters, they probably joined the Ministry instead.

So James joining the Order - whether by joining together with her, inviting her in or following her - is actually a pretty big deal. A lot of people - including completely fine and loving people who were probably far nicer than him - would not have done that.

And a similar thing is true for Severus. When people say "most people in his situation would have joined the Death Eaters, too", that's just not true.

The only way you can come to that conclusion, is when you ignore all the decisions he has made prior to SWM. I mean ... yes. An abused teen who gets bullied at school, who denies the hate crimes committed by his friends, who heavily sympathizes with an anti-state terrorist organization that targets his best friend and people like her, and who just fucked up his relationship with said friend (who was the last person who kept him from joining up) ... will probably go on to join said anti-state terrorist organization that targets his (former) best friend and people like her.

But Snape made decisions before SWM.

Because, let's face it: Most people will never even think of the idea of joining an anti-state terrorist organization, especially if said organization is targeting their friends. And this does include most people who are abused at home and/or bullied at school.

Severus isn't most people. He decided to become friends with Mulciber and Avery. He also decided to excuse their behavior. He decided to listen to propaganda (despite having a friend who was directly affected by that). And he probably decided to join up, long before SWM happened.

So what could Severus have done?

The bare minimum. No, he didn't need to join the Order and fight side by side with his former bullies. But he could've refused to do harm.

* I'm well aware that this isn't particularly well written. Rowling never manages to show fundamental ideological differences between the Death Eaters and the Ministry of Magic or between the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix and the Overton-window is basically so far to the right, that left-leaning ideologies aren't even within sight. We know that both the Death Eaters and the Order are anti-ministry, but they are ideologically so close together, that it seems like they're fighting about minutiae, like the amount of violence that is acceptable and who can be targeted by this violence. I'm mostly going off of how this was probably intended, with the Ministry of Magic as the status quo and the Death Eaters further right and the Order of the Phoenix further left.

[mistressemmedi]

Francesca: 😢😭😢😭

Carlo Conti: 🧍🏻‍♂️

[0honeybones0]

POV: You have pink paint and Rebecca doesnt.

The bare minimum, I’m afraid.

[sadguysontradingfloors]

The face you make when you realize you are only wearing 16 pieces of flair.

[thencomethecherryblossoms]

Also, the Rudy Pankow hate is certainly a choice….?

[thepeacefulgarden]

[its-just-me5]

Some people like me for my body and some people like me for my mind. But how hard is it to understand, you can't have me unless it's all of me you want?

[lylylychee]

i want nothing less than eternal devotion, i expect you to look for me in every lifetime

[anorganizedstreet]

[phuljhari]

According to Islamic teachings, completely stopping all communication with men, regardless of the situation, is generally not considered halal (permissible) as it would be considered an extreme interpretation;

shut the fuck up don't tell me what to do

[madameevil]

This is honestly so nice of them. For those with abusive relationships, who lost their mother, or who simply don't have one, this is considerate of their situations. I really wish more companies would acknowledge it too.

Not all families have a mother nor do they need one.

Not all mothers are loving and deserving of a celebration.

More companies should acknowledge this.

[hero-of-the-wolf]

Hey man, sometimes we just have no energy :/

I struggle with motivation issues a lot, so I understand. I hope you find some joy in something today, tomorrow, or anytime this week. Have a great day/night, and don't feel pressure to chuck out content. You don't owe us anything, and I want you to know that we can wait for you :)

I think I'm just burned out 😭 and it was getting better but I keep procrastinating my homework even tho I only have less than two whole days to finish everything and aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I just need to not have to have to do anything for awhile 😭😭😔😔😔😔 it's highkey killing me using all of my energy to do things I have to do Or Else and I miss doing stuff I wanna do and going places for fun—....

[sailing-with-100-ships]

You see how Carlos let Charles through because Charles has more pace and Carlos knows he has to let him go in front. This is Carlos Sainz Jr.

[queenie435]

[antics-of-a-spiteful-stickbug]

Y'know, parents, if your child regularly wishes that one of you had killed the other when they were younger, you're probably horrible parents! :D

Just food for thought really, I'm by no means an expert after all :]