Characters We Ended Up Hating After Reading Fanfics-- and Vice Versa
There are certain characters whose fanon selfs sometimes make us completely loathe those characters and vice-versa, those we hated and grew to like after fanfics. Who are those characters for you?
Lily Potter nee Evans.
Honestly, when I first read canon I was quite indifferent to her. I hated that suppressed smile during SWM but generally I neither liked or disliked her.
I started reading fanfics and was introduced to Saint Lily and she got on my nerves so much that I went from indifference to loathing.
On the other hand, I didn't really care about Regulus but after reading how some fanfic writers portrayed him, I really started to like him, especially when he is written as Snape's close friend.
Then there's Harry or a particular version of fanon Harry who ends up inheriting all of Wizarding Britain, is somehow descended from every single magical family there is and becomes the next Dark Lord....slow down will ya?
Yeah, I completely loathe the fanon Harry especially the so called Indie! Harry.
I agree about Lily as a character I grew to hate. This girl is mostly portrayed as Saint Lily who is absolutely right, her all decisions were correct and starts giving moral lectures to Snape.
A character I grew to like is Ginny Weasley. I didn't like her much initially but some fanfic portrayals have sold her character to me. She is indeed flawed but a far better version of James Potter for me.
This is gonna be a little confusing, but I'd also go with Lily Evans; this is gonna go in a few directions.
At first, I was indifferent to her, as I didn't really know what she was like as a character. However, I knew Snape loved her, and as Snape became my favorite character, I started studying her to figure out why. Reading her characterization in the books, along with the circumstances around her failed friendship with Snape, made me more interested. After gaining enough interest, I started reading fanfiction, specifically Snily. In the time that I've read, I've found three different forms of Lily (some might overlap, some might not).
- St. Lily: I don't like St. Lily. I don't hate her, but I don't like her. This is a Lily who has lost the flaws that make me interested in her, and any Snape redemption arcs with St. Lily feel too easy and without proper development and conflict. Alternately, this may be a Lily who is completely blameless, which places all the canon blame onto Snape despite both of them having their own problems.
- Lily Potter: When I say I hate Lily Potter, I don't mean I hate regular Lily Potter, the woman who married James and sacrificed her life to save Harry. I mean I hate the sort of Lily who either throws herself at James (yes, I have seen this) or chooses to continue loving him after finding out that he lied to her about his treatment of Snape. This is probably too simplistic a description.
- Lily Evans: Lily Evans, the Lily that befriended Snape, had a tumultuous friendship with him, had her faults and flaws, and ultimately ended the friendship, is my favorite Lily. However, the Lily I'm referring to here is a Lily who goes through her own character development and discovers parts of herself that she was blind to, hopefully helping her learn from her mistakes and rectify past decisions made.
I want to read a Lily that argues with Snape to the point where they need to spend time away from each other, or to a breaking point where one of them comes to a realization about something major.
The first character that comes to mind is Hermione Granger -
Loathing her fanon/fanfic version, makes me loathe her in canon.
In fanon she is portrayed as this sweet, caring, friendly, considerate, empathetic person, when...she really isn't in the books. She reserves some empathy for non-humans (eg, Buckbeak, House Elves), but when it comes to her friends, she fails to understand from their POV, because only her's seems to matter to her, and will do things behind their back without telling them. Fanon erases her bitterness, her jealousy, her cruelty, her condescending tone, the physical acts of violence she enacts on those who she disagrees/opposes, and turns her into this absolute sweetheart who is understanding of everyone's problems and is this social butterfly who occasionally gets nervous. In canon, she talks down on others making them seem stupid and incompetent, especially if she doesn't agree with them or thinks she is right, and yet fanon dilutes this rather heavily. She is a very teary and emotional person in the books, yet fanon pretends she is emotionally mature/'mature for her age'.
(I'll stop there because I'm afraid I'll go into heavy bashing territory).
Her portrayal makes me avoid 90% of fics where she is the main character.
@sanctuaryangel huh? We seem to come across very different Hermiones.
The ones I often see turn her into the sexiest student at school who is also a magical Amazon warrior queen! I don't even know where that comes from 😂 I'm sure the cursed child and Helena Bonham Carter have something to do with it
The other thing that bothers me with her portrayal is how her romantic relationships start. Often Snamione or Dramione fics feature her getting raped within the first two chapters and then falling in love with said rapist and seeing the necessity of the situation the chapter after. Stockholm Syndrome has become a favorite plot point for those fics but seriously stop.
I do like her in canon though. She has flaws but it makes sense she is a girl growing into womanhood. Hermione is an only child and being one myself, I know how much we struggle with making friends. Only children are in certain ways mature for their age because they're surrounded by adults too much. I notice that with many children who grow up without siblings or those who are taken to grandparents instead of after-school nurseries and have limited contact with those their age. I think that's the case with Hermione. She ends up being bossy and sounding like a know-it-all. She does look out for her friends but the way she attempts to do it is infuriating for the other party like the firebolt incident in third year. Hermione meant well and she was right in handing over the fire bolt to McGonagall for testing especially since the year prior Harry almost died because his broom was jinxed.
She can be narrow minded towards different points of view (see Luna) that don't make sense but in the end she cares for those she loves and is deeply loyal to them.
Quote from Dark Angel on August 19, 2023, 3:27 am@sanctuaryangel huh? We seem to come across very different Hermiones.
The ones I often see turn her into the sexiest student at school who is also a magical Amazon warrior queen! I don't even know where that comes from 😂 I'm sure the cursed child and Helena Bonham Carter have something to do with it
The other thing that bothers me with her portrayal is how her romantic relationships start. Often Snamione or Dramione fics feature her getting raped within the first two chapters and then falling in love with said rapist and seeing the necessity of the situation the chapter after. Stockholm Syndrome has become a favorite plot point for those fics but seriously stop.
I do like her in canon though. She has flaws but it makes sense she is a girl growing into womanhood. Hermione is an only child and being one myself, I know how much we struggle with making friends. Only children are in certain ways mature for their age because they're surrounded by adults too much. I notice that with many children who grow up without siblings or those who are taken to grandparents instead of after-school nurseries and have limited contact with those their age. I think that's the case with Hermione. She ends up being bossy and sounding like a know-it-all. She does look out for her friends but the way she attempts to do it is infuriating for the other party like the firebolt incident in third year. Hermione meant well and she was right in handing over the fire bolt to McGonagall for testing especially since the year prior Harry almost died because his broom was jinxed.
She can be narrow minded towards different points of view (see Luna) that don't make sense but in the end she cares for those she loves and is deeply loyal to them.
Oh, I didn't risk touching up upon sexualised Hermione, because that's a can of worms I did not want to open lol
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on August 19, 2023, 1:51 amI want to read a Lily that argues with Snape to the point where they need to spend time away from each other, or to a breaking point where one of them comes to a realization about something major.
You've done that very well in your fic. I tolerate your Lily quite well given that it's Lily 😂. I love how they do have ups and downs and that Severus slowly sees her flaws instead of worshipping her like a goddess and that Lily becomes aware of her own flaws as well instead of only seeing Snape's.
I stumbled upon a cool Dudley redemption fic once.
Then there's Peter Pettigrew. I hated him in canon. But in fics, I've seen them give him a tragic background where he's just a kid who was raised by a single mom who was an addict and his so-called friends are always making fun of him and being mean, then they harass him to the point that they push him into a war that he didn't want a part of, and he's just really scared because people keep dying and he just wants to feel safe.
Quote from Namesakesnake on August 19, 2023, 8:42 amThen there's Peter Pettigrew. I hated him in canon. But in fics, I've seen them give him a tragic background where he's just a kid who was raised by a single mom who was an addict and his so-called friends are always making fun of him and being mean, then they harass him to the point that they push him into a war that he didn't want a part of, and he's just really scared because people keep dying and he just wants to feel safe.
I think that's The Path Not Tread, and yeah, I really like Peter in that.
In canon though, I don't really hate him that much, especially after reading SWM. Sure, he's a bully, but my read on it is that he's just taking part in it because he wants protection, much like how Snape wanted protection from the Marauders.
