fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2212 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2212 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 063 secrets from Secret Submission Post #316.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I never understood why people hates James. He wasn't a saint, okay. Big deal. He did save Snape's life, which proves that he's a good person at heart. Plus, he eventually grew up and became pretty amazing. And anyways, it's not like Snape was a saint either - he was gearing up to join the Death Eaters.

I haven't read Marauder era fanfics in a while, but another thing that bugs me is when the Marauders treat Peter awfully/leave him out completely.

I've seen a lot of posts praising Snape for how amazing a person you'd have to be to protect your enemy's son, and they always feel the need to add that they can't imagine James doing that. But... James risked his life to save SNAPE when he was fifteen. How can they not see James protecting an innocent kid, even if he/she was related to Snape, when he was a mature adult? When on top of that, James risked his life all the time for innocent people by working in the Order, when he didn't even know them. The hate gets really irrational with James; I've seen several people claim that his behaviour towards Snape is evidence of a lack of humanity and empathy and that he'd therefore be abusive towards Lily and Harry. It's so insane, I don't even know how to respond to those people.

James was arrogant, and he took his jerkish behaviour too far sometimes, but the way fandom treats him, you'd think he murdered people (though, considering how they worship people like Snape and Lucius Malfoy, apparently murder is more forgivable than bullying).

though, considering how they worship people like Snape and Lucius Malfoy, apparently murder is more forgivable than bullying

You're probably being sarcastic here, but you know what? You're probably right on the mark.

Some -- not all, but I'd bet anything a good-sized portion -- of those people who defend Snape to that extent are probably a specific (and hopefully small) subset of bullying victims: the ones who happen to also be horrible people themselves, but never acknowledge it because in their minds, it's impossible to be both a victim and a bad person. A lot of victims are good people, of course, but there's no rule that states it's impossible for a bad person to get bullied.

They don't understand this though. They were bullied, which was unfair, therefore they are completely blameless for any horrible thing they do. And because they relate to Snape, Snape is also blameless for every horrible thing he does. Because he was bullied too, and "bullying victim" is synonymous with "innocent pure blameless saint" to them. It HAS to be, otherwise their own excuse for being a horrible person themselves falls apart.

They don't care about past mistakes. They don't care about proportionate retribution. They don't understand regret or personal growth. They don't comprehend personal responsibility. They don't understand that the world is bigger than their own pain. All they know is that they were bullied as kids -- and while no one deserves to be bullied, not every single kid who is bullied magically just so happen to be a good or innocent kid -- and in their minds, bullying IS worse than murder, because they remember the pain of being bullied, but are too sociopathic to understand that their pain is NOT so big and important than it would justify horrible actions on their part. They themselves probably feel that their bullies deserve to die, that that would be a justified punishment, even if their bullies were stupid, ignorant kids who have grown out of it.

And meanwhile, because they just so happened to be bullied as kids, nothing they do, no matter how horrible it is, will ever be unjustified in their minds. And by the same logic, neither will anything characters like Snape do.

This is great insight, anon. I'd never really thought of it this way, and it does explain a lot. I was always confused at how some Snape fans would condemn James for his actions as a teen, but completely dismiss Snape's bullying as an adult (and as a teen, to be honest).

You should post this on tumblr.

I haven't read Marauder era fanfics in a while, but another thing that bugs me is when the Marauders treat Peter awfully/leave him out completely.

OMG I hate this SO much. It's like, wow, way to miss the entire reason that story is so tragic! Also, way to make James and Lily and Sirius look like total morons for trusting a guy they apparently didn't really care about with their and Harry's lives, rather than making them look like victims of a betrayal by trusting a guy they thought was one of their best friends in the world.

It's one thing to portray the Marauders as being slightly dismissive or belittling towards Peter in a way they thought was totally innocent but which he secretly resented, or something, that would make sense and would even make things really interesting and even more tragic, but portraying James and Lily as not trusting and caring about him at least as much, if not more, than Remus undermines all the logic and character dynamics of their story.

I so agree! And so many people seem incapable of imagining why they would trust Peter, when it was "obvious" he was weak, but they forget that Peter put loads of effort into becoming an animagus for Remus's sake, and kept his secret for 11 years (by that point). That's huge. If Peter was weak, he would've freaked out and ran the other way, or told people about it. He might not have been as talented as James and Sirius, but they clearly valued him as a great friend if they let him in on all their wrongdoings and illegal activities that could've easily had them thrown out of school.

I get the feeling they joked and teased each other like siblings do. Sirius even sort of mocked James in Snape's Worst Memory, and we know how much those two loved each other. I doubt Peter was resentful about it, though, because that definitely would've been brought up at some point for his characterization. I think Peter just... caved. When it was just them at school, it was easy to stand up against the dark side, but when torture and death became a real threat, his survival instincts kicked in and he lost sight of what really mattered.

Exactly. I tease my friends, too, but it doesn't mean I don't like them. In fact, if I tease someone it's because I DO like them and feel comfortable enough to make jokes like that. I don't know if Peter was resentful about it or not, but even if he was, I doubt it was strong enough to make him specifically betray his friends. He was just scared. That's what makes him an interesting character IMO, though of course I understand why people might dislike him.

And as for the Peter being "weak" - he wasn't confident, and I get the feeling he wasn't as academically talented as the rest of the Marauders, but you know what? They didn't judge him for that. That's why they were good friends. You're right, they wouldn't have included him in the Animagus thing or their pranks if they didn't trust him. If a fic has them basically bullying Peter because OMG he's so stupid/worthless, I stop seeing them as sympathetic characters.

[ SECRET POST #2212 ]

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