Fan Pairings
I definitely agree with strongly disliking the bully/victim dynamic present with the Marauders/Severus. I will say that for some reason certain Snupin fics work for me, perhaps because Lupin seems to be the only one who might genuinely regret his actions, but the idea of James, Sirius or Peter being with Snape just makes me want to learn occlumency so I never have to think of that again. I can enjoy messed up relationships if they're written deliberately and with awareness, but any realistically canon relationship between them makes my stomach churn at the coercive implications.
I also agree with the above negative opinion on Jily; James likely loved Lily, but his manipulations mean that their relationship is founded on lies, and his repeated, vicious attacks on her best friend and habit of ignoring her boundaries irked me. None of that ever seemed healthy to me, and that they died so young made the idea that they either only married that young for Harry or regretted getting married more plausible to me. There's just so much we don't know; I read a fic that wrote Canon Lily, but through the lens of her being a sociopath, and it was eye-opening to see how her actions could have had so many reasons behind them. Their characters have very little meat on their bones, but at least that means there's more possibilities for us to think about.
I agree with you almost completely on the Snape/Marauder dynamic, although I'll say that even pairing him with Remus doesn't work for me. Not only is Remus a werewolf, he's also an enabler, and Snape would see that as weakness and cowardice.
As for the other Marauders, the only way I can see that relationship (and I don't want to) is if it's explicitly abusive, as in James and/or Sirius is abusing Snape.
Sociopath Lily is a disturbing concept, and I would dread reading that; it would make her friendship with Snape all the more fucked if that was what she was actually like.
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on February 21, 2023, 1:31 pmSociopath Lily is a disturbing concept, and I would dread reading that; it would make her friendship with Snape all the more fucked if that was what she was actually like.
Agreed.
I tend to be sensitive about/protective toward Lily, so I've always had trouble reading stories that portray her too negatively. I've also gotten into countless arguments with other Snape fans who vilify her, whether it's calling her shallow or claiming that she mistreated or even abused him.
Part of this comes down to Lily herself, because I don't think she ever did anything terrible. It's never easy to see the characters you love get hurt, but acting like the conflict between her and Severus was 100% her fault is unfair and hypocritical. I don't like seeing a 15-year-old girl blamed for having blind spots, lacking communication skills, or any of the other relatively minor (and normal) flaws she demonstrates in those flashbacks. We can wish that she'd handled things differently, but we also have to remember that she had neither the maturity or the benefit of hindsight to make all the right decisions.
Neither did Severus, for that matter, who made even more mistakes than she did. They were both flawed, immature people, little more than children… excusing the actions of one while vilifying the other is as inaccurate as it is unfair.
The other reason "Evil Lily" bothers me…
Severus was used, abused, hated and/or ignored by damn near everyone in his life. We know how alone he was, how much he suffered, what precious little happiness he had the chance to experience in an otherwise painful existence. I want him to have that happiness, one thing in his life that was pure no matter how badly it ended. I just don't get why anyone would want to spoil that, taking the one person that was truly kind to him and poisoning that, too.
Don't get me wrong. I'll read anything if it's written well enough, and "Evil Lily" is no exception. In general though, it does bother me on principle… I feel that she, Severus, and their relationship deserve better.
Oh, I completely agree about evil Lily! I was just curious about the sociopathic premise and it was executed chillingly well. Most of the time I prefer fics that acknowledge her age and position, not fics that act as though she should have been a perfect friend. I also love to see Lily and Severus both grow to understand each other better
Oh yeah, my mini-rant wasn't directed at you at all. I've just seen a lot of "Lily sucks" rhetoric over the years, so my frustrations come out from time to time. 🙂
I wouldn't mind checking out that Sociopathic Lily story if the writing is that good. Can't promise I'll love it, but I do enjoy straying outside of my boundaries from time to time. I do that with Severus too, though admittedly, it's been a while. The occasional dark/villain interpretation can be interesting to read.
This is one that I've read where it's less sociopathy and more vengeful Lily: Winter. An extremely unhealthy form of Snily from both sides, but fascinating to read in terms of character motivation.
The one I found is the Portrait of a Sociopath as a Loving Mother
I'll be sure to check out Winter!
And yea, it can be really interesting to have your entire view of a character flip upside down for the right storyline 🙂
I just realized I never wrote which pairings I actually like, so here goes. This post is going to be for the mostly-healthy ones.
Snily is my favorite overall pairing for Sev, as I think they can be soo cute together and something about Sev's devotion is absolutely compelling. As is seeing how he might allow himself to act when in love; all that power and willpower and self control turned towards love instead of war? Beautiful possibilities! Or, focused on protecting love during war; even more possibilities! And how interesting it is for Lily to be on a relationship with someone who actually listens to her, knows her from childhood, and actually tries not to deceive her or restrict her relationships, and is terrified of hurting her? And seeing them grow together and support each other, even if the world is against it... Ahhh my heart!
Hermione/Severus used to feel weird to me, but then I read a few brilliant ones and now I quite enjoy them, though it depends entirely on how Hermione is depicted. Some ideas I just cannot stand, such as OP young Hermione who is just as skilled or more than the triple spy of 2 decades.
Same with Harry/Severus: it just took trying a few good ones.
Lucius/Severus; I can only see this in a grooming way considering the age and class gap when they're young, but it is super interesting to me. Narcissa makes it even more intriguing; does she approve? Does she know? Is this a ruse for whatever sneaky reasons?
Narcissa/Lucius/Severus; man I think this could be great. Rich pure bloods protecting him at school and being a home away from his awful home? Could be done in a manipulative, grooming way, but could also be done in a healthy, secretive but loving way.
Narcissa/Severus; maybe Lucius tells her to go to Sev for help when he's put in Azkaban, and Sev has to help keep other Death Eaters off of her? Idk could be v interesting , and same thing as Severus/Lucius above with the permission thing
Severus/Remus; depends on how Remus is written and how old/lonely they are; sometimes it's a comfort thing, or a messed up you're the only one left sort of thing. There are some banger fics out there though
Here are the messed up ones, almost never healthy;
- One of the less messed up ones is Draco/Severus, but specifically during Death Eater time where Sev has to pretend to or has to actually hurt Draco to keep him alive. Something about that dependent and desperate dynamic makes it interesting to me, and it's such a rare pairing for how popular both characters are! I don't normally ship them, but boy do I think they'd be interesting and angsty when forced together. Same with Minerva/Severus if Headmaster time is even more messed up.
- Speaking of fucked up: Severus/Albus. Ngl I can only see this happening if it's really manipulative and abusive, but gosh it's intriguing and feels strangely possible to me (only with certain versions of Albus's character of course, ones that use Sev's draw to power/or self hatred to try to control him through whatever means possible) and much more interesting than the pure sadism/humiliation that the marauders would be. Soooo messed up tho
- Even more fucked up (maybe, depending on opinion of Albus): Severus/Voldemort. The Dark Lord rewarding/punishing/manipulating his right hand by using physical and forced mental intimacy and Sev secretly hating it no matter what but not being able to say no, and especially hating himself, especially if some part of Sev does still feel drawn to the power and the idea of being owned, that he belongs even only in this fucked up way? Nuff said. Again, not healthy at all, but that's not why it's interesting to me.
Me accidentally stumbling across a Severus/Voldemort fic:
So far, that hasn't happened, though I have to admit I'm morbidly curious. Also, you just gave me an idea for another recommendation thread…
