Who Was Gonna Tell Me That Writing Takes Longer Than I Thought And Part Of My Emotional Stability?

Thank you SO much! This helped me a lot, I’ll be sure to read the fanfics you recommended during the weekend.

Also, if anyone else has an idea please let me know regardless of what you think of Snape. I will do my best to be as neutral to him as possible while considering the suggestion. As I mentioned in the ask, I don’t want to represent him as wholly bad.

Hello! I’m rewriting the HP series, starting from the Marauders’ Era.

I’m an Anti-Snape, but I don’t want to portray him as wholly bad like most people who think like me tend to do. I want to have reasons for Lily to stick with him and defend him for so many years other than him just being her childhood best friend or something. Really, I’m asking for some headcanons? Little moments that Snape and Lily treasure? Little quirks that Snape might have (he likes spicy food, loves bugs, literally anything) to help me humanize him more? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

(To everyone who messages me or replies: if you’re respectful of my views on Snape, I’ll be sure to be respectful of yours!)

Thank you! @ottogatto suggested I come here for help, so I decided to give it a try.

Hello! First of all - best of luck! Rewriting the series from a specific era involves a lot of love and labour. ❤️🌻 Secondly, I appreciate you reaching out to humanise Snape a bit :) It's usually my pet peeves in Marauder fanfics that you really can't see what Lily was holding onto while her friend is being radicalised. There is something complex and dsyfunctional here and it says a lot about both of them. The fact that you want to put effort into characterising him instead of making him one note vessel to be bashed is commendable ❤️

Anyway - things I see Snape and Lily do that lends some complexity to the friendship:

1. Snape is the one who told Lily she is a witch and is the one giving her the background of wizarding world (Azkaban conversation, wondering how Dumbledore sent the letter to Petunia etc etc).

Lily, when we first see her, has fairly good amount of control over her magic and is also a bit reckless with it (jumping off swings to float in air). I can see both her and Snape experiment with magic a bit. They are also both very good at Potions - so I can imagine child Snape and Lily practising a lot of wandless magic together and also have Potions bonding time as they grow older.

A fic that does this wonderfully and I recommend with my whole heart is Check the Spindle by @copper-dust

Here is an exchange from the fic that captures how I see the dynamic between 9 year old Lily and Snape, and why I see teenage Lily having difficulty letting go of him:

'Being in a place isn’t playing,’ Lily laughed. ‘Playing is playing. You have to pretend to be something and that everything is something else, like you could be the conductor, even, and pretend the trains are still running.’

Severus bit his lip. ‘I don’t normally...do pretend things.’

‘Well, that’s silly.’

‘It’s not silly!’ His voice sharpened like a pencil tapered to a point. ‘Being silly is like… doing things that aren’t real. I can do real magic, so I don’t have to play pretend.’

‘Well, so can I!’ Lily was offended by the implication that her special gifts were in any way less real than his. ‘I make stuff move all the time without touching it. Just because I do make-believe doesn’t mean I can’t do…’ She lowered her voice, though there was no one around the deserted field. ‘Magic.’

‘I didn’t say you couldn’t...couldn’t do magic. I know you can. I was the one who told you!’

She followed him out into the wheaty grass, away from the rails. He had turned away from her to face the gingerbread-coloured bricks of the distant foundry. ‘Why don’t you want to play anything?!’ insisted Lily, to his back. ‘I thought you wanted to be friends!’

‘Because I don’t know how, alright?

2. I usually take the cue from Harry's relationship with the Half Blood Prince textbook as a mirror for Lily's own friendship with Snape. When Harry is shocked by Sectumsempra ("he felt like a beloved pet had gone savage"), I see a more intense version of this playing out between them. Harry thinks of the Prince as a "clever boy who had helped him" - and I definitely see Snape's cleverness as part of the draw for Lily.

The volatility and ambiguity of her friendship with Snape and when she loses him to his bigotry and radicalisation, in my head, plays a part of why she is drawn to James, who is so vocally militant about his progressive politics. She feels safe with James - James won't hurt her by something that is a part of her identity, in her head. There is a wound in Lily - with regard to both Snape and Petunia.

(I also recommend work by acciosalmon - she captures the bittersweetness of the friendship without toning down any flaws. And although Snape only appears in a cameo, I thought @izzythehutt also captured the dynamic well in her Sirius-centric AU)

I also talk about a more flawed Lily here

3. Snape loves his mother, but hates his father. He identifies as half a "Prince" - his mother's maiden name. We also see him wearing her clothes - I read this as a defiance against his abusive father (and also the Snapes are dirt poor, so if Snape wants a hand me down, he will only take his mother's). I go back and forth on whether he takes Lily home at any point - but I personally see him as too ashamed of his home, compared to a more well off Lily. I do see Lily pushing a bit to understand her angry, sullen friend more. I talk about breakdown of their friendship here

4. I can see him hoard rare Potion ingredients and be super enthusiastic about Lucius Malfoy's dark objects collection in his manor. (he will think Lucius taste in peacocks is garish and kinda funny - which I think he will unthinkingly bitch about to Lily, and Lily won't like the implications of him hanging out with Malfoy). She may share his enthusiasm for rare Potion ingredients too. And yes, I think he will love bugs too. (btw, the Malfoys genuinely regard Snape as their friend and Snape reacts unconsciously when Harry names Lucius as a Death Eater, Narcissa knows where he lives and asks him to save her son's life - there is a relationship there, even though Snape is technically betraying their ideology by being in the Order)

5. He smokes ( he is self destructive, and doesn't take care of himself, so his habits are combination of depressive neglect and outright destruction). He enjoys reading - especially rare academic journals. If he wasn't radicalised and went down the path he did, I can see him turning into a reclusive researcher as an adult. So I tend to give him reclusive researcher interests. Snape hyper-identifies with magic and is very interested in expansion of his understanding and knowledge of it. I talk about Snape's draw towards powerful men with regard to his attachment trauma here

Also recommend The Atoners by @copper-dust for difficult teenage Snape interactions, but still in keeping with his humanity and guilt.

6. He is very, very aware of his social standing and class! @floreatcastellumposts captures this in a wonderful paragraph in her fic Phyrric:

She’d let Potter call the baby Harry, he’d heard, and he was sure, somehow, that it was Potter that had come up with the name. It felt like a Potter name - on the surface common and friendly and non-threatening, but when you stopped and thought about it, it was usually still just posh boys that were called things like James and Harry and Thomas and William and John and Richard and David and Edward. Kingly sort of names, princely - royal. Just as pretentious as Latin, but with the added sanctimony of an attempt at approachability or equality.

Also the quote that best sums him up is "a child weaned on poison considers harm comfort"

Feel free to chat with me in case you have any more questions. And good luck once again! ❤️

Can you explain why many people think Harry Potter is desi? Not hating just curious! That's so lovely!!

Tbh because there’s no good reason not to.

All the blood status in the hp universe is a metaphor for racism but you know what’s boring? Metaphors for racism that only involve white people. Harry is often described as “dark” and like if James Potter’s family was desi and Lily Evans’s was white, that would enhance Harry’s feelings of otherness while growing up with the Dursleys because lbr Vernon was probs a flaming racist.

“Potter” could easily be an anglicized version of a south Asian last name like Potdar or Potluri, and you could make an argument for a pure blood family like the Potters engaging in and profiting from cultural exchange through the British colonization of India so there was an opportunity to establish generational wealth there.

Also on the night he died, James was making pretty-colored lights for Harry. That was October 31st. In 1981, Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, started on October 27th. It lasts five days.

For the rewrite thing, can you please show a Hermione & Luna friendship instead of what they had in canon?

Definitely! I always thought Hermione and Luna could’ve balanced each other out so well.

I want to change the way the girls viewed each other in the books. Fleur is no longer going to be hated on for being feminine. Cho (whose name I’m planing to change) will not be made fun of for grieving her dead boyfriend. And so many other things.

guys i need attention and love and someone to yell at me to write that fucking rewrite :(

What's your opinion on each of the Weasleys?

Hi! That’s a really great question! I might be adding some headcanons into the mix, hope that’s okay.

Bill Weasley: I had a major crush on him when I was younger, he was just so badass. I still like him, but now I focus on Fleur. Anyway, I picture him as a third-parent because the oldest kids (especially in big families like his) are always plunged into the responsibilities of caring for the younger ones when the parents are unavailable for any reason.

Charlie Weasley: He’s asexual, you can’t tell me otherwise. I also had a Charlie phase when I first read about him, mostly because of his dragons. I think he was also forced into the responsibility of being yet another parent, but perhaps not as much as Bill. I also think he intentionally decided to be far from his family, not because he doesn’t love them or anything, but perhaps because home got overwhelming.

Percy Weasley: There’s a lot of controversy here. I don’t think about him much, but I relate to him in some ways. I think he was feeling forgotten. In a big family, the kids are constantly fighting for the spotlight, for the love and praise of their parents. But then, when you add Harry to the mix, it just becomes impossible to get your parents to listen for a minute. I think he got lost in his search for validation, though in no way do I think he’s way of handling it was correct.

Fred Weasley: Everyone says that he’s the harsher twin, that he’s the leader, and honestly, I see it. I do think he was extremely sensitive, despite the way he behaves in public. Like you insult something he’s already self-conscious about and he’ll cut you down with words, but he’ll also sulk about it for the rest of the day.

George Weasley: He’s my favorite. Solely because of the immense post-war potential now that he only has one ear. I feel like people should realize that this is the perfect opportunity to introduce the Deaf community into the wizarding world. (Am I self-portraying here? Yes, yes I am). George Weasley talking in sign language? Sign me up!

Ron Weasley: I don’t understand why so many people dislike him. He was an amazing friend to Harry, he was brave, he was loyal, he was just awesome. I think a lot of people saw him get jealous a few times and clung to it. He’s one of the youngest kids in his family, the pressure is insane especially because of all the accomplishments each of his siblings have. Cut him some damn slack.

Ginny Weasley: The movies destroyed her. She was incredibly badass throughout the entire series and I loved her. One thing I will complain about is the way she treated Fleur for no reason. Like, sweetie, your internalized misogyny is showing. Other than that, loved her. Also I have this headcanons where she shaves her hair off after the war, and Molly completely flips because her daughter had such pretty hair.

Molly Weasley: She was, by no means, a perfect mother. There’s a lot of things I really didn’t like about her (like the way she never bothered to differentiate her twins), but I never doubted her love and devotion to her kids. Plus she was such an angel when it came to Harry, she was just what the poor guy needed.

Arthur Weasley: Please don’t kill me, but I’m very neutral about him. He’s a good father, of course, but I personally don’t feel any kind of attachment to the man, I don’t know why.

I think I’ve got all the Weasleys, whew! Thank you, Anon, for the question. It was fun to answer 💜

Do you actually understand what radfems believe? I don't think you do (and no, vague callout posts don't count)

*record scratch*

This is the point where you benevolently instruct me on what radical feminism "really" is, invoking a no-true-scotsman fallacy for the vast majority of radical feminists I have encountered, educating me into a benevolent version of radical feminism that is "just" about recognizing women as an oppressed class, "just" acknowledging biology, "just" about protecting the lesbians that are under imminent threat of being raped by men that use trans inclusive legislation to "access women's spaces."

At which point I am supposed to go, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, and I guess the whole TERF thing is piggybacking on a long trend of people hating feminism for no reason!"

Unfortunately for you, you're not the first person to try this, nor am I unfamiliar with the so called Radical Feminists, and I know that what probably appears and feels like innocent and important critical thought is the mouth of a deep pit with hateful bigotry, batshit assumptions, and oppressive, restrictive bio-essentialism at the bottom of it.

You possess only benevolent concern for trans men, until you start calling recipients of mastectomies and hysterectomies "ruined" and "mutilated." You just want to stop abuse, until a woman is alleged to be an abuser, and this doesn't seem possible to you. You just want to acknowledge the reality of biology, until a person born with two X chromosomes and a vagina and labia who also has facial hair and a deep voice wants to use the bathroom, and it feels to you like she shouldn't.

The radfem understanding of "biology" and its importance is wrong. There is no need to "affirm" or "deny" biology. It just is. No matter what your opinion on the nature of intersex conditions, a strict biological sex binary in human bodies objectively does not exist. We are talking about science. There is no "should."

To consider the conditions necessary for reproduction, or anything that is evolutionarily advantageous, as a moral imperative is bonkers. It is not "better" to conform more to a sex binary. God is not watching. My uterus does not "make" me a woman because it's not "for" anything. I potentially CAN become pregnant but biology does not "want" me to, evolution has not made me "for" being a woman, evolution does not think or want or intend ANYTHING. Categorizing people based on which size gametes they could produce under ideal circumstances is 100% a choice.

To judge human reproductive biology as a moral ideal is survivorship bias; yes, we "have to" have "biological sexes" (which really doesnt mean anything outside of having differentiated gametes) to cOnTiNuE aS a SpEcIeS. No, this does not mean that everyone does fall into one of two categories, or that everyone should, or that we should care about the consequences if we don't. "Humans have two sexes except for disorders" is not the objective statement you think it is. On a cosmological scale, life itself is an anomalous disruption of equilibrium. We are disorder.

Y'all are like 4% away from being far-right evangelicals in MANY of your ideas. When you assert that trans men only "identify" as men because they're unhappy and you're only benevolently concerned about them, you're repeating something that homophobic fundamentalists very much do say about lesbians (and the most threatening thing about lesbians to these fundamentalists is their gender non-conformity!) The same group of people cites human reproductive biology as evidence that no one is "really" gay.

And of course, if you take producing eggs as both the fundamental defining quality of a woman and as more sacred or defining than anything else, and you feel entitled to the bodies of trans men to the extent that you think you have any say at all in what medical procedures they do or don't have, you fundamentally don't support reproductive rights. You don't support the rights of women to their own bodies, you don't support the rights of men to their own bodies, and there are indeed many self-identifying "pro-life radfems," who have taken this idea to its logical conclusion.

Do not do this. Stop. Your ideas about trans people are repugnant, don't get me wrong, but fundamentally this stuff hurts everyone. I would not be a "radfem" even if it wasn't for the bigotry toward trans people. The whole ideology is ass backwards. And it is stuffed to the brim with people who are willing to hurt anyone, even those they are supposedly defending, in order to hurt the people they hate.

Harry Potter Rewrite: Help!

I’ve been outlining more or less what I want the final result for my Harry Potter rewrite to look like but I’m stuck on two outcomes of Hari’s childhood:

NOTE: I have a headcanon in which the Potters are Indian, so James names his son Hari. I think I mentioned this before, if I didn’t, feel free to ask about it.

Hari is raised by his Aunt Petunia, but she leaves Vernon.

Petunia’s marriage starts falling apart when Lily dies.

Vernon didn’t let her go to her sister’s funeral because he was sure that the place would be crawling with “freaks”. Even if Petunia begged, he would still prevent her from going.

Vernon made nasty comments about Lily and James’ death, saying that they’re two less freaks to worry about.

Eventually Petunia leaves her husband and moves back in with her parents (who are alive in this version).

Petunia decides to go to college, a decision supported by her parents since they promised to help her financially and with the boys.

She studies to become an English teacher.

She loves her job. Also, she might fall in love with the History teacher.

She remarries, and it’s a man who treats her right and is good with the boys.

Both boys are treated equally while with her.

Dudley and Hari get along well. Although whenever Dudley returns from his weekends at his father’s, they fight a lot.

Hari grows up knowing he’s a wizard and knowing (more or less, because Petunia didn’t have all the details) what had happened to his parents.

Many more…

Hari is raised by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Remus, along with several other people who believed Sirius was innocent, start protesting and putting pressure on the Ministry so that they can give Sirius a proper trial.

Sirius is renamed innocent.

Dumbledore still refuses to hand Hari over to them, even though they were the rightful guardians of the child.

The last straw is when Dumbledore casually corrects them and says that Hari’s name has been changed to Harry.

They whitewashed his name. They were livid.

Remus and Sirius, along with some handpicked friends to help them, manage to kidnap Hari.

They take him to Wales, further away from Remus’ former home. They cast an insane amount of spells to hide themselves from Dumbledore. They were untraceable.

Other than the protections needed, they lived a muggle life.

They have other children (the names I’m still working out), there’s five kids in total.

Two of those children are werewolves, attacked at a young age by another wolf pack that’s not Fenrir Greyback. They—Remus, especially—wanted to bring them comfort when he found out about them.

Hari lives in a loud, chaotic household in the middle of nowhere.

Lyall Lupin eventually moves in with them because Remus worried for his father—the man was old and alone.

And many more…

NOTE: The outcome of the votings will determine the overall plot of Hari’s era. Choose wisely, what do you want to see?

Not the same anon but honestly feminists have the right to focus their movement on the rights of female people, it’s literally in the name. Trans activism is for trans people. A liberation movement needs to stay focused, or nothing will be accomplished.

That’s true. However, while the trans activism is made for all different genders within the community, these radfems are excluding a group of women simply because there was a glitch in nature for them.

I really don’t think including trans women is going to derail our purpose as feminists or anything of the sort. In fact, we seem to be doing quite fine with our fellow cis and trans women. A lot of our struggles as vagina-havers are different depending on our race, which country we are in, whether we’re disabled or not, and whether we even identify as women.

Wouldn’t it be absolutely beautiful to be one united front instead of pitting ourselves against other groups of women just because they’re different?

sometimes I try to have nuance and consume media critically like “oh even though I personally don’t like snape because he was a cruel and abusive man that doesn’t mean he’s a bad character because he did ultimately give his life for the cause 😊” or “yes I think dumbledore was a manipulative puppet master who treated people as pawns but he did have good intent and I think he truly loved harry” but then I randomly remember some of the fucked up shit they did and the rage comes back in full force

like snape picking ruthlessly on poor orphaned harry who literally was traumatized his whole life and bullying neville and exposing remus as a werewolf and telling voldemort the prophecy and being willing to let james and harry die just to save lily for his twisted obsession. or dumbledore raising harry to be slaughtered and testing him at every opportunity but telling him nothing and leaving the fate of the world in his young hands. or you know abandoning an innocent sirius to rot in prison without a trial even when he pulled strings for snape, or manipulating persecuted and marginalized people like hagrid and remus to worship the ground he walked on so he could use their loyalty when the time came

Harry Potter Rewrite: Religion.

The original Harry Potter series was heavily influenced by the Christian religion. I never thought it made much sense, so I decided to make it so that the majority (especially purebloods and half-bloods) practice paganism. They’ll have their own traditions and festivals and holidays.

There will be other students who don’t practice paganism, but that enjoy some of their holidays. So far, some of the students (in the Marauders’ Era, since that’s what I’m working on at the moment) who aren’t Pagans are:

1. James Potter—Hinduism

2. Peter Pettigrew—Atheist

3. Severus Snape—Atheist, but has Catholic leanings due to his muggle father

4. Lily Evans—Atheist, family is Catholic

Of course, other religions such as Judaism, Islam, and many more, will be included. I’m just currently doing my research on these religions so that I can portray them well. Any help or suggestion is welcomed.

Any thoughts?