Quote from Naaga on August 19, 2023, 1:09 pm

I actually don't hate Peter, I mean I hate him least among the Marauders. I think he was someone who was treated like a cheerleader, a tag-along taken in by pity of Lupin as written in his biography.

He was a hatstall between Gryffindor and Slytherin. All his life he was always motivated by self-preservation. He stuck to Marauders because as Sirius put it, he liked to be with biggest bullies.

I don't think he voluntarily participated in war. He was dragged along by his friends, realised they'd lose and he switched side to save himself. There are hints of some remorse from him, first when his demenor was noticed by Lily in her letter to Sirius and second, when Harry reminded him of owning him in DH so I think he did regret betraying his friends and paid for his cowardice by living as a rat for 13 years and treated as vermin by Voldemort and Snape.

Quote from mmlf on August 20, 2023, 3:32 am

Quote from Dark Angel on August 19, 2023, 3:27 am

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.

What the...? I don't have a problem with rape in fiction and it's true that many rape victims having a close connection with their attacker. So those parts aren't implausible. But 'seeing the necessity of the situation'? Unless they're portraying Hermione as entirely passive and subservient (which she isn't in canon), then this is implausible. I can see a different character trying to justify what happened, as many rape victims do. But not automatically agreeing with it. Yeesh. Do these fanfiction authors do any research before writing these fics, one wonders?

Quote from mmlf on August 20, 2023, 3:37 am

Quote from SanctuaryAngel on August 19, 2023, 1:58 am

The first character that comes to mind is Hermione Granger -

Loathing her fanon/fanfic version, makes me loathe her in canon.

Oh no! *cries* 😀

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.

I would disagree by saying that Hermione often thinks her way is best for her friends, not just best for her. And she has the advantage of having saved their lives, which makes her feel that her decisions must be right. It's absolutely true that she has a great deal of difficulty accepting when she is wrong, but this is precisely one of the reasons why I like her.

Granted, I haven't read these fanon depictions that you're describing. They sound incredibly one-dimensional.

Fanon erases her bitterness, her jealousy, her cruelty, her condescending tone, the physical acts of violence she enacts on those who she disagrees/opposes,

Again, these are all reasons why I like Hermione the most. Only Snape can challenge that.

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.

Not necessarily true. She did, for example, risk Snape's wrath by helping Neville with his potion when the latter predictably failed.

She is a very teary and emotional person in the books, yet fanon pretends she is emotionally mature/'mature for her age'.

Yes: Hermione has real difficulty controlling her temper. She's almost as bad as Ron in this regard. I find these canonical outbursts quite funny to read.

Quote from mmlf on August 20, 2023, 3:39 am

Quote from The Gestalt Prince on August 19, 2023, 12:12 pm

Quote from Namesakesnake on August 19, 2023, 8:42 am

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.

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.

Yeah, I have always seen Peter as being a coward.

Quote from Krystal on August 24, 2023, 1:49 am

I've come to hate Marlene McKinnon since fanfics. I used to be indifference to her because she was just a named character but she is usually portrayed as this bitchy anti-Severus girl who also joins in bullying of Severus and tries get Lily to dump him. Thanks to @thegestaltprince who managed to make his fic's Marlene even worst, now she also hates Severus without a good reason and also a hypocrite.

Quote from JaySM on September 28, 2023, 10:35 am

Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, Lily Potter née Evans, and Severus Snape.

Albus Dumbledore- I quite liked him in the book but reading posts from fans in blogs and fanfiction highlighted his more questionable decisions. When I was first swayed to their opinion it was like I fell into a rabbit hole I couldn’t get out of Dumbledore bashing where I wondered if I wasn’t as moral because I didn’t bash him too. Eventually I settled for seeing him in as a flawed character who is very grey. Dumbledore was my “in” for liking grey characters.

Harry Potter- I was annoyed with his repetitive mindset and how most of his accusations were wrong. His adventures, and the wizarding world were an interesting concept and I enjoyed the dynamics between characters. I encountered a lot of Snape fans who put Harry down and other characters down to put Severus in a positive light. It took me a bit to be able to find myself and what I liked or disliked about him and come to terms with it and base my own opinion.

Lily Potter nee Evans- Pretty much for the same reason Gestalt has brought up. I was pretty neutral towards her but fanfics highlighted her less than stellar moments in a negative light that I grew to dislike seeing her in fanfics and until I knew how stories were going to turn out. It was actually reading Severus centric fanfics and writing analysis that steered me back to more neutral grounds.

Severus Snape- I wish I could say it was fanfics that made me really dislike him but it was Rowling herself. For every positive thing about him, he had a pile of negatives behind it. Then there was the way Harry and the other characters acted around him that really made me wonder why I was even trying to assess the character in the first place and I thought maybe he really was just as one dimensional as Harry says.

I’m sure others could relate when “The Prince’s Tale” changed all that. It was a wild and confusing story that I found it hard relate to due to my age but his feats and his love were admirable. A lot of fanfics portrayed him in an almost vicious light at times that it had uprooted past feelings of resentment on behalf of other characters but something clicked in me one day and I realised that I had a lot more in common with Severus than I did with any of the other characters in the book.

With that mindset, I started to delve into story and character analysis to come to my own opinion of him and his more complex personality and through him I was able to discover that Lily is not as one-dimensional as I thought. Through him, she gains a sense of dimension through his words and actions, his choice or lack thereof. There’s something there about her that I can see in him that is within arm’s reach that had me going back and reassess her. She’s a complex character too who hasn’t been fully fleshed out yet by JK Rowling. So, because I doubted Severus while reading the books, I’ve decided to trust that he knows Lily better than I do especially when he thinks so highly of her.

 

Quote from Sam on September 28, 2023, 10:56 am

It might be rather silly and cliche of me to say this, but I never had much of an opinion on most characters. I liked Snape for his dramatic depiction and the SWM just made me angry. To be fair, I haven't read all the books but watched all the movies. And that was back in highschool. I started reading H.P fanfics somewhere around last year. Later made the ffn and ao3 account. And I have read way too many fanfics in that short duration since then, but they always annoyed me in their depiction of marauders, lily and Severus. Most of the fandom is either extremely OP harry or Severus being paired with every male character. Then there's the bashing stories, which aren't even that good regardless of which character is being bashed. But, I am a glutton for reading so I have read quite a few stories from all the tropes.

Now, staying on topic. I dislike Dumbledore for his malicious incompetence as well as the biased behavior from the staff. The marauders are nothing but privileged bullies who had been given too much leeway. Lily is always depicted as a saint without any flaws, or if the flaws are ever mentioned. It's due to pairing James with Regulus or Sirius. Severus is my favorite character and dare I say, the true protagonist of the series. But, he's always portrayed as a simpering fool, doormat and a punching bag even in the time travel stories. Or how this unrequited love is the greatest and whatnot. This was the reason I started writing my silly little stories, which often borderline on being pure cringe. But, I have an excuse for that and it's me not being a writer but rather a reader.

I just wish that more authors could come up with unique ideas and write a happier snape rather than the usual misery porn of him being abused over and over, while the perpetrators get away with nothing but a slap to the wrist. Now, obviously there are quite a few good stories that I have read. Even if they're not quite exactly what I want but beggars can't be choosers. Alright, that's enough whining from me. Stay blessed and safe everyone.

Quote from Naaga on September 28, 2023, 11:08 am

Quote from Sam on September 28, 2023, 10:56 am

It might be rather silly and cliche of me to say this, but I never had much of an opinion on most characters. I liked Snape for his dramatic depiction and the SWM just made me angry. To be fair, I haven't read all the books but watched all the movies. And that was back in highschool. I started reading H.P fanfics somewhere around last year. Later made the ffn and ao3 account. And I have read way too many fanfics in that short duration since then, but they always annoyed me in their depiction of marauders, lily and Severus. Most of the fandom is either extremely OP harry or Severus being paired with every male character. Then there's the bashing stories, which aren't even that good regardless of which character is being bashed. But, I am a glutton for reading so I have read quite a few stories from all the tropes.

Now, staying on topic. I dislike Dumbledore for his malicious incompetence as well as the biased behavior from the staff. The marauders are nothing but privileged bullies who had been given too much leeway. Lily is always depicted as a saint without any flaws, or if the flaws are ever mentioned. It's due to pairing James with Regulus or Sirius. Severus is my favorite character and dare I say, the true protagonist of the series. But, he's always portrayed as a simpering fool, doormat and a punching bag even in the time travel stories. Or how this unrequited love is the greatest and whatnot. This was the reason I started writing my silly little stories, which often borderline on being pure cringe. But, I have an excuse for that and it's me not being a writer but rather a reader.

I just wish that more authors could come up with unique ideas and write a happier snape rather than the usual misery porn of him being abused over and over, while the perpetrators get away with nothing but a slap to the wrist. Now, obviously there are quite a few good stories that I have read. Even if they're not quite exactly what I want but beggars can't be choosers. Alright, that's enough whining from me. Stay blessed and safe everyone.

Agreed 100 percent, I wonder if those writers and readers get off on Snape's misery porn, that can be the reason it's in high demand. 😹😹

Quote from Sam on September 28, 2023, 11:17 am

Quote from Naaga on September 28, 2023, 11:08 am

Quote from Sam on September 28, 2023, 10:56 am

It might be rather silly and cliche of me to say this, but I never had much of an opinion on most characters. I liked Snape for his dramatic depiction and the SWM just made me angry. To be fair, I haven't read all the books but watched all the movies. And that was back in highschool. I started reading H.P fanfics somewhere around last year. Later made the ffn and ao3 account. And I have read way too many fanfics in that short duration since then, but they always annoyed me in their depiction of marauders, lily and Severus. Most of the fandom is either extremely OP harry or Severus being paired with every male character. Then there's the bashing stories, which aren't even that good regardless of which character is being bashed. But, I am a glutton for reading so I have read quite a few stories from all the tropes.

Now, staying on topic. I dislike Dumbledore for his malicious incompetence as well as the biased behavior from the staff. The marauders are nothing but privileged bullies who had been given too much leeway. Lily is always depicted as a saint without any flaws, or if the flaws are ever mentioned. It's due to pairing James with Regulus or Sirius. Severus is my favorite character and dare I say, the true protagonist of the series. But, he's always portrayed as a simpering fool, doormat and a punching bag even in the time travel stories. Or how this unrequited love is the greatest and whatnot. This was the reason I started writing my silly little stories, which often borderline on being pure cringe. But, I have an excuse for that and it's me not being a writer but rather a reader.

I just wish that more authors could come up with unique ideas and write a happier snape rather than the usual misery porn of him being abused over and over, while the perpetrators get away with nothing but a slap to the wrist. Now, obviously there are quite a few good stories that I have read. Even if they're not quite exactly what I want but beggars can't be choosers. Alright, that's enough whining from me. Stay blessed and safe everyone.

Agreed 100 percent, I wonder if those writers and readers get off on Snape's misery porn, that can be the reason it's in high demand.

It's just sad to see, in my honest opinion. Obviously, we're all entitled to like and dislike whatever we wish. Just wish that things could be a bit different.