Quote from Heatherlly on July 27, 2024, 1:47 pm

Quote from ZombiePotter04 on July 21, 2024, 11:25 am

Haven't read the original story, but this sequel of yours does intrigue me! Like basically everyone else here, I don't see Severus being a r*pist or anything close of the sort AT ALL. Personally, I think he is heavily against it (considering the bad relationship his parents had and the heights that gets taken to in some fanfiction). So, to have the actual r*pist be an impostor instead of the real Severus (maybe via a very overpowered Polyjuice Potion?) sounds way more believable to me as a story arc. Maybe the actual Severus will be Lily's hero here? Because, like you and @robaku90 (hi!! Long time no talk!! ), I have a hard time rooting for James at all. :p Curious to see what you will come up with!

Well, it couldn't be Polyjuice because the story is a Muggle AU. The author used the character names, but this "Severus" is just a creepy, middle-aged schoolteacher.

Since you said you're not going to read it, I'll summarize below:

[spoiler title="Spoilers"]A new family moves in next door to Severus. He immediately becomes obsessed with one of the daughters (Lily) who is 11 years old at the time. He spends the next few years spying on her, building up this fictitious relationship in his mind. For example, he can see straight into her bedroom (which she's unaware of). He assumes that the normal things she does in private (e.g. changing clothes, sleeping in her underwear, exploring her body/sexuality) are for his benefit… she knows he's watching and is essentially teasing him.

When Lily is 16, she meets a boy named James Potter who is visiting for the summer. Nothing much happens between them (maybe a kiss?), but "Severus" sees her sneaking out to meet him one night and is furious.

Soon thereafter (after James leaves town), Severus and Lily have their first encounter. It's worth noting that up until this point, they'd never spoken and Lily may or may not even know who he is.

One night, cc him walking by and asks him to buy a bottle of alcohol for her and her friends, and she's still underage. He agrees, though instead of giving her the bottle when he comes out of the liquor store, he drags her into a nearby alley and rapes her. Of course, he doesn't think of it as rape. He's so deep in his delusions that he interprets all her signs of distress as evidence that she wants it as much as he does.

The story ends with Lily stumbling away, shaking, injured, and traumatized. Severus watches her go, already fantasizing about their next encounter.[/spoiler]

Obviously, these aren't the characters from the series. The only similarity I saw (other than Lily having red hair/green eyes) was that James was a bully who humiliated Severus a couple of times, but even that doesn't make any sense in this context. The real James bullied Severus because he was jealous of his friendship with Lily and disliked Slytherins. They were also the same age, while in this story, you have a teenage boy bullying a middle-aged man for no apparent reason.

As for the imposter idea…

Muggle Severus wouldn't have access to Polyjuice, obviously, but I did think of another idea. What if Severus (the real one) kept a diary in his younger years, the diary somehow got lost, and ended up in the hands of this Muggle? Fake Severus is depicted in the story as a loner/outcast… it's not hard to imagine him relating to things that real Severus would've written in his diary. Fake Severus could be drawn in by real Severus, seeing him as the only person who truly understands him. He turns real Severus into a hero of sorts, starts adopting aspects of his identity, and soon enough, he's so lost in his delusions that he no longer sees himself and the boy in the diary as two separate people.

Within that context, it makes total sense that he'd latch onto "Lily". She might be a different person and she's certainly the wrong age, but it doesn't matter. Fake Severus has interwoven his identity with real Severus, a boy who loved a girl named Lily and lost her. So, when a little girl with red hair and green eyes moves in next door…

My idea is that her name won't even be Lily. That's part of fake Severus's delusion as well as a call back to Lolita (real name Dolores). Maybe James won't be named James either. Fake Severus merely associates them with characters from real Severus's diary, when in reality, they're just random people.

So how does real Severus find out about this and what does he do about it? That remains to be seen. I do think it would be fun to write the characters side by side though, demonstrating the stark difference between love and obsession.

Quote from mmlf on July 27, 2024, 2:12 pm

Quote from Heatherlly on July 19, 2024, 3:53 pm

Quote from mmlf on July 18, 2024, 5:31 am

That was quick! Nice! Any preliminary ideas (although if you don't want to give out spoilers, by all means, ignore!)?

[spoiler title="Spoilers"]My main issue with that story (other than the obvious) is that everything felt unresolved. What happened after Lily was raped? Did she report it to her parents and/or the police? If so, was "Severus" convicted and sent to prison or did he find some way to escape justice?

Alternatively, what would've happened if she didn't tell anyone? That's equally plausible, if not more so, which leads to even more unanswered questions. Based on that final scene, we know that Severus is still deep in his delusion, that violating Lily didn't satisfy his obsession with her, and that he expects it to happen again. So, assuming that she doesn't tell anyone, what would he do next? What would she do?

One idea I had was based on the latter premise. Lily doesn't tell anyone and the situation continues to escalate. I was thinking I turn it into a rape revenge sort of thing… the hunter eventually becomes the hunted and all that.

My other idea is a bit more fuzzy (just came to me a few minutes ago). Obviously, the Severus in "I Can Rip It Open" is nothing like the Severus we know and love from the series. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who read that story and thought, "this is a completely different person who just happens to have Severus's name".

What if I took that idea and ran with it? As in, this isn't the real Severus Snape but a Muggle imposter who stole his identity? There are so many directions I could go with that, but the point of the story would be to highlight the differences between them, demonstrating that Muggle pedophile Severus is so out of character that he literally isn't Severus at all.

I could easily combine those two ideas. Lily doesn't tell anyone, fake Severus terrorizes her, real Severus gets wind of what's going on and confronts his Muggle doppelgänger.

Either way, I don't want "Severus" to get away with what he did. That more than anything is why I wanted to write a follow-up.[/spoiler]

Oh, completely missed this response! Yes, the aftermath of the attack created a very strong image in my mind. These are intriguing ideas. At the very least, a Lily POV afterwards would be fascinating enough. (EDIT: I am reminded of The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.)

Quote from mmlf on July 27, 2024, 2:16 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on July 20, 2024, 12:19 pm

@heatherlly

Nabokov's genius was that nothing in his novel was named or said directly! This word juggling was truly amazing! The film with Irons was already clearer, you know, it's a film. But the book... You really have to have talent! Additionally, it was placed on the index of banned books in many countries. This proves something. Besides, his hero didn't seem disgusting, unlike Severus from this story. 

I really liked your second idea for a sequel. I know you'll do it brilliantly because you write so beautifully. Thanks to this, you will also whiten the "real" Severus, it is very uplifting.

When you wrote about the sequel, I thought about the Stockholm Syndrome thread. Despite the great harm, Lily would write letters to Severus in prison. The victim's psyche is very complex and everyone deals with trauma in different ways. I know that epistolary novels are not as interesting as they were in the 18th or 19th centuries, but the plot itself seems interesting to me. Great villains did not complain about the lack of attention, even though their behavior was sick. 

Of course, these are just my loose suggestions.

I really like epistolary novels. Ironically, my favourite one is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Choderlos de Laclos, about a scheming pair of seducers, one of whom is a man who becomes obsessed with a very young girl, seduces her, sleeps with her, and eventually ruins her. Might be another reference book for stories in this vein.

Quote from Robaku90 on August 2, 2024, 4:25 am

Quote from mmlf on July 27, 2024, 2:16 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on July 20, 2024, 12:19 pm

@heatherlly

Nabokov's genius was that nothing in his novel was named or said directly! This word juggling was truly amazing! The film with Irons was already clearer, you know, it's a film. But the book... You really have to have talent! Additionally, it was placed on the index of banned books in many countries. This proves something. Besides, his hero didn't seem disgusting, unlike Severus from this story. 

I really liked your second idea for a sequel. I know you'll do it brilliantly because you write so beautifully. Thanks to this, you will also whiten the "real" Severus, it is very uplifting.

When you wrote about the sequel, I thought about the Stockholm Syndrome thread. Despite the great harm, Lily would write letters to Severus in prison. The victim's psyche is very complex and everyone deals with trauma in different ways. I know that epistolary novels are not as interesting as they were in the 18th or 19th centuries, but the plot itself seems interesting to me. Great villains did not complain about the lack of attention, even though their behavior was sick. 

Of course, these are just my loose suggestions.

I really like epistolary novels. Ironically, my favourite one is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Choderlos de Laclos, about a scheming pair of seducers, one of whom is a man who becomes obsessed with a very young girl, seduces her, sleeps with her, and eventually ruins her. Might be another reference book for stories in this vein.

@mmlf

In a twist of fate, the role of the evil seducer was played on the theater stage by Alan Rickman himself! 🤩🤩🤩

 

 

 

 

Quote from Robaku90 on August 2, 2024, 4:27 am

Quote from mmlf on July 27, 2024, 2:16 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on July 20, 2024, 12:19 pm

@heatherlly

Nabokov's genius was that nothing in his novel was named or said directly! This word juggling was truly amazing! The film with Irons was already clearer, you know, it's a film. But the book... You really have to have talent! Additionally, it was placed on the index of banned books in many countries. This proves something. Besides, his hero didn't seem disgusting, unlike Severus from this story. 

I really liked your second idea for a sequel. I know you'll do it brilliantly because you write so beautifully. Thanks to this, you will also whiten the "real" Severus, it is very uplifting.

When you wrote about the sequel, I thought about the Stockholm Syndrome thread. Despite the great harm, Lily would write letters to Severus in prison. The victim's psyche is very complex and everyone deals with trauma in different ways. I know that epistolary novels are not as interesting as they were in the 18th or 19th centuries, but the plot itself seems interesting to me. Great villains did not complain about the lack of attention, even though their behavior was sick. 

Of course, these are just my loose suggestions.

I really like epistolary novels. Ironically, my favourite one is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Choderlos de Laclos, about a scheming pair of seducers, one of whom is a man who becomes obsessed with a very young girl, seduces her, sleeps with her, and eventually ruins her. Might be another reference book for stories in this vein.

@mmlf

You are truly unique if you like stories constructed this way, it's rare these days! People are bothered by the fact that there is not so much action and events, and yet - this is how the first modern stories were written!

 

Quote from ZombiePotter04 on August 7, 2024, 4:45 pm

Quote from Heatherlly on July 27, 2024, 1:47 pm

Quote from ZombiePotter04 on July 21, 2024, 11:25 am

Haven't read the original story, but this sequel of yours does intrigue me! Like basically everyone else here, I don't see Severus being a r*pist or anything close of the sort AT ALL. Personally, I think he is heavily against it (considering the bad relationship his parents had and the heights that gets taken to in some fanfiction). So, to have the actual r*pist be an impostor instead of the real Severus (maybe via a very overpowered Polyjuice Potion?) sounds way more believable to me as a story arc. Maybe the actual Severus will be Lily's hero here? Because, like you and @robaku90 (hi!! Long time no talk!! ), I have a hard time rooting for James at all. :p Curious to see what you will come up with!

Well, it couldn't be Polyjuice because the story is a Muggle AU. The author used the character names, but this "Severus" is just a creepy, middle-aged schoolteacher.

Since you said you're not going to read it, I'll summarize below:

[spoiler title="Spoilers"]A new family moves in next door to Severus. He immediately becomes obsessed with one of the daughters (Lily) who is 11 years old at the time. He spends the next few years spying on her, building up this fictitious relationship in his mind. For example, he can see straight into her bedroom (which she's unaware of). He assumes that the normal things she does in private (e.g. changing clothes, sleeping in her underwear, exploring her body/sexuality) are for his benefit… she knows he's watching and is essentially teasing him.

When Lily is 16, she meets a boy named James Potter who is visiting for the summer. Nothing much happens between them (maybe a kiss?), but "Severus" sees her sneaking out to meet him one night and is furious.

Soon thereafter (after James leaves town), Severus and Lily have their first encounter. It's worth noting that up until this point, they'd never spoken and Lily may or may not even know who he is.

One night, cc him walking by and asks him to buy a bottle of alcohol for her and her friends, and she's still underage. He agrees, though instead of giving her the bottle when he comes out of the liquor store, he drags her into a nearby alley and rapes her. Of course, he doesn't think of it as rape. He's so deep in his delusions that he interprets all her signs of distress as evidence that she wants it as much as he does.

The story ends with Lily stumbling away, shaking, injured, and traumatized. Severus watches her go, already fantasizing about their next encounter.[/spoiler]

Obviously, these aren't the characters from the series. The only similarity I saw (other than Lily having red hair/green eyes) was that James was a bully who humiliated Severus a couple of times, but even that doesn't make any sense in this context. The real James bullied Severus because he was jealous of his friendship with Lily and disliked Slytherins. They were also the same age, while in this story, you have a teenage boy bullying a middle-aged man for no apparent reason.

As for the imposter idea…

Muggle Severus wouldn't have access to Polyjuice, obviously, but I did think of another idea. What if Severus (the real one) kept a diary in his younger years, the diary somehow got lost, and ended up in the hands of this Muggle? Fake Severus is depicted in the story as a loner/outcast… it's not hard to imagine him relating to things that real Severus would've written in his diary. Fake Severus could be drawn in by real Severus, seeing him as the only person who truly understands him. He turns real Severus into a hero of sorts, starts adopting aspects of his identity, and soon enough, he's so lost in his delusions that he no longer sees himself and the boy in the diary as two separate people.

Within that context, it makes total sense that he'd latch onto "Lily". She might be a different person and she's certainly the wrong age, but it doesn't matter. Fake Severus has interwoven his identity with real Severus, a boy who loved a girl named Lily and lost her. So, when a little girl with red hair and green eyes moves in next door…

My idea is that her name won't even be Lily. That's part of fake Severus's delusion as well as a call back to Lolita (real name Dolores). Maybe James won't be named James either. Fake Severus merely associates them with characters from real Severus's diary, when in reality, they're just random people.

So how does real Severus find out about this and what does he do about it? That remains to be seen. I do think it would be fun to write the characters side by side though, demonstrating the stark difference between love and obsession.

This is such an interesting idea! Wow! Very creative on your part! 😀

Ohh, I hadn't realised that this is a Muggle AU. (The mention of the age difference itself already creeps me out, though. People are allowed to write whatever they want, but let me just say... WTF?! Yeah, from your summary I can already conclude that these characters are only the same as the ones we know in name and looks (excluding the age difference between Sev and Lily).)

Again, your take on the story / follow-up story is really intriguing! Really interesting to read about your ideas! 😀 <3

Quote from mmlf on August 9, 2024, 3:28 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on August 2, 2024, 4:27 am

Quote from mmlf on July 27, 2024, 2:16 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on July 20, 2024, 12:19 pm

@heatherlly

Nabokov's genius was that nothing in his novel was named or said directly! This word juggling was truly amazing! The film with Irons was already clearer, you know, it's a film. But the book... You really have to have talent! Additionally, it was placed on the index of banned books in many countries. This proves something. Besides, his hero didn't seem disgusting, unlike Severus from this story. 

I really liked your second idea for a sequel. I know you'll do it brilliantly because you write so beautifully. Thanks to this, you will also whiten the "real" Severus, it is very uplifting.

When you wrote about the sequel, I thought about the Stockholm Syndrome thread. Despite the great harm, Lily would write letters to Severus in prison. The victim's psyche is very complex and everyone deals with trauma in different ways. I know that epistolary novels are not as interesting as they were in the 18th or 19th centuries, but the plot itself seems interesting to me. Great villains did not complain about the lack of attention, even though their behavior was sick. 

Of course, these are just my loose suggestions.

I really like epistolary novels. Ironically, my favourite one is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Choderlos de Laclos, about a scheming pair of seducers, one of whom is a man who becomes obsessed with a very young girl, seduces her, sleeps with her, and eventually ruins her. Might be another reference book for stories in this vein.

@mmlf

You are truly unique if you like stories constructed this way, it's rare these days! People are bothered by the fact that there is not so much action and events, and yet - this is how the first modern stories were written!

 

I think the speed of modern communication has made people less patient to sit down and read a letter, and of course, very few even write letters these days. It's a shame!

Quote from mmlf on August 9, 2024, 3:32 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on August 2, 2024, 4:25 am

Quote from mmlf on July 27, 2024, 2:16 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on July 20, 2024, 12:19 pm

@heatherlly

Nabokov's genius was that nothing in his novel was named or said directly! This word juggling was truly amazing! The film with Irons was already clearer, you know, it's a film. But the book... You really have to have talent! Additionally, it was placed on the index of banned books in many countries. This proves something. Besides, his hero didn't seem disgusting, unlike Severus from this story. 

I really liked your second idea for a sequel. I know you'll do it brilliantly because you write so beautifully. Thanks to this, you will also whiten the "real" Severus, it is very uplifting.

When you wrote about the sequel, I thought about the Stockholm Syndrome thread. Despite the great harm, Lily would write letters to Severus in prison. The victim's psyche is very complex and everyone deals with trauma in different ways. I know that epistolary novels are not as interesting as they were in the 18th or 19th centuries, but the plot itself seems interesting to me. Great villains did not complain about the lack of attention, even though their behavior was sick. 

Of course, these are just my loose suggestions.

I really like epistolary novels. Ironically, my favourite one is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Choderlos de Laclos, about a scheming pair of seducers, one of whom is a man who becomes obsessed with a very young girl, seduces her, sleeps with her, and eventually ruins her. Might be another reference book for stories in this vein.

@mmlf

In a twist of fate, the role of the evil seducer was played on the theater stage by Alan Rickman himself! 🤩🤩🤩

 

 

 

 

Oh really? That is something I would have loved to see!

Quote from Robaku90 on August 10, 2024, 1:17 pm

Quote from mmlf on August 9, 2024, 3:28 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on August 2, 2024, 4:27 am

Quote from mmlf on July 27, 2024, 2:16 pm

Quote from Robaku90 on July 20, 2024, 12:19 pm

@heatherlly

Nabokov's genius was that nothing in his novel was named or said directly! This word juggling was truly amazing! The film with Irons was already clearer, you know, it's a film. But the book... You really have to have talent! Additionally, it was placed on the index of banned books in many countries. This proves something. Besides, his hero didn't seem disgusting, unlike Severus from this story. 

I really liked your second idea for a sequel. I know you'll do it brilliantly because you write so beautifully. Thanks to this, you will also whiten the "real" Severus, it is very uplifting.

When you wrote about the sequel, I thought about the Stockholm Syndrome thread. Despite the great harm, Lily would write letters to Severus in prison. The victim's psyche is very complex and everyone deals with trauma in different ways. I know that epistolary novels are not as interesting as they were in the 18th or 19th centuries, but the plot itself seems interesting to me. Great villains did not complain about the lack of attention, even though their behavior was sick. 

Of course, these are just my loose suggestions.

I really like epistolary novels. Ironically, my favourite one is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Choderlos de Laclos, about a scheming pair of seducers, one of whom is a man who becomes obsessed with a very young girl, seduces her, sleeps with her, and eventually ruins her. Might be another reference book for stories in this vein.

@mmlf

You are truly unique if you like stories constructed this way, it's rare these days! People are bothered by the fact that there is not so much action and events, and yet - this is how the first modern stories were written!

 

I think the speed of modern communication has made people less patient to sit down and read a letter, and of course, very few even write letters these days. It's a shame!

@mmlf

The modern world is much too fast, I agree... 😔