#artemisia-black

[seriousbrat]

Sometimes the discourse around Snape and Lily very much reminds me of ‘male loneliness epidemic/ incel’ talking points.

That women are responsible for the emotional wellbeing of maladjusted men.

It bears similarities! I think because culturally we're taught that women should be caretakers, particularly to men, and that the inner lives of men are much richer, complex, and worthwhile than women's. We're taught to empathise with men and see women as objects. And that idea is much, much older than the incel movement or the so-called 'male loneliness epidemic,' so it just all kind of stems from the same place. Like basically I don't think it's coming from incels haha rather just general cultural attitudes towards women.

It's particularly sad when you see this attitude from other women, though, and it's sad knowing that in the end it won't help them. I think there's a lot of social pressure on women to separate themselves from what they see as 'bad women' which is why you see women judging other women soooo harshly all the time. It's kind of a 'but I'm not like that' kind of thing. I dislike the term 'pick-me' because I think it puts the blame on women and has kind of become a misogynistic term in itself at this point but you do see this a LOT, especially with women on the right who seem to actively work against their own interests. It's a form of self-hatred and it's sad to see.

Anyway, that was a bit of a tangent, but my point is that I think it is an issue that people seem so unable to empathise with women (whether real or fictional) and over-identify with men. I know I bring up Amber Heard a lot but it's just such a clear cut example. Hordes of women believing that they know this man, that he could never be like that, so obviously she must be a lying manipulative bitch. They see what they want to because of their presuppositions about men and women.

Like I see a lot of people saying they think it's 'unrealistic' for Lily to have been kind and selfless. I'm sorry but that seems very indicative of how you feel about women in general, because it's not any less realistic for Lily to be selfless than it is for Harry to be sefless (and he is.) And as we see with Harry, a generally selfless person can have moments of ego, flaws, mistakes, be less than perfect at times, even act selfishly on occasion-- that's just part of being human. When I say Lily was selfless I don't mean she was a flawless perfect saint (so tired of this btw.) Her being selfless doesn't preclude her being flawed.

[mariekavanagh]

Have your opinions on any characters/points of characterisation majorly changed over the years? ♥️

Interestingly, yes.

As a child I was a basic HP fan, loving the books and films but not looking too deeply into it, then took a long break from it all over most of the 2010s when the films ended and the hype died. It was always in the back of my mind (I'm a Millennial, of course my Hogwarts house was a defining character trait in my teenage years) but I didn't delve too deeply into it, and certainly not on Tumblr.

I can't remember how but I wandered deeper into the fandom properly in early 2019 and was loving getting to know the Harry Potter universe again. For the first time I used both Tumblr and AO3 to explore the HP fandom and, in the process, I realised that a lot of people were super into Harry's dad and his friends, who weren't people I'd thought too much about before, but I was soon one of those people who found them very interesting and wanted to focus on their part of the story more. I delved deeper into the Tumblr post and fanfics and realised that a lot of people were super angry about how physically, emotionally and just all round abusive Sirius's parents were. I couldn't remember these details myself but to be fair I hadn't read the books in a long time. But a lot of people were talking about it and writing endless fics about it so I guessed it must be in the text somewhere.

Likewise, the fandom reminded me that not only was Sirius short, camp as a row of tents, obsessed with Queen and covered in piercings and tattoos, but he was also madly in love with Remus Lupin. Another apparently canon fact that I had managed to completely forget in the time since I'd read the books.

I spent a few months fully subscribing to these 'canon' characterisations (they must be, so many people said they were), reading a lot of fanfics and even enjoying some of them. I fully accepted that Sirius's parents were evil, abusive, threw him out and disowned him and was at one point a borderline wolfstar shipper. I had a couple of friends IRL at the time who also subscribed to this side of the fandom which definitely encouraged me.

One day, however, I stumbled into the side of Tumblr which explained that none of these things were in fact true to the books. What's more, the opposing side could actually back up their argument with book evidence.

It was a lightbulb moment. The more I reacquainted myself with actual, factual canon material instead of using AO3 to revise the story, the more I realised that the ideas I'd had about the marauders-era characters (they didn't call themselves the marauders btw) just weren't true and didn't even make sense. My stance on these characters completely changed and I'm now far more confident in examining them in the far more nuanced way that the canon material allows us to.

I try to base my stories and headcanons around canon as far as possible, and particularly in the case of Sirius's parents and his relationship with them, I've discovered it's far more interesting to write and read stories in which both he and his family have their positive and negative traits than Sirius simply being crucio'd to hell and back and somehow recovering fine, or being sent off to school with 10 different broken bones and somehow still walking. Looking back I struggle to see how I actually believed that to be canon and to be satisfied with these shallow interpretations.

Thanks for reading my own personal character growth arc.

[leogichidaa]

Murder is the Black family’s love language. Sirius was so ready to cut a bitch for Harry

So true, and they're so right for that. How can you be sure anyone loves you if they haven't even threatened to murder their childhood friend in front of you to ensure your safety?

[coffeefrenchandhistory]

The Veil of Death

So @artemisia-black​ asked me to write up a meta commentary, and I’m absolutely going to do so. 

The Veil of Death in the Ministry for Magic. A giant stone archway in the Death Chamber of the Department of Mysteries. When Harry and co. arrive to rescue Sirius from the Death Eaters, they encounter it. 

But more importantly, this stone archway had whispers emanate from it. Hermione couldn’t hear it. Harry could, whispering that he couldn’t quite make out, and Luna could as well. Luna says “there are people in there!” It’s curious that it’s Harry and Luna who hear the whispering — two individuals who had seen and understood death. Harry, who saw Cedric be murdered; and Luna, who saw her mother die. 

In the book, Harry "had the strangest feeling that there was someone standing right behind the veil on the other side of the archway... all that could be seen was the other side of the tattered black veil." (OoTP, Ch. 34). Harry’s instincts and deduction skills are usually very good. Look at his deduction in Chamber of Secrets when he works out how the students had gotten petrified. If he thinks there’s someone right behind the veil, there probably is. 

But where does the Archway come from? It’s said to predate the Ministry, that they built the Department of Mysteries around the Veil of Death. How could that be? Where would the Veil come from? 

Because it’s not just a veil. 

It’s a bridge. The bridge. 

In the story of the Three Brothers — Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus — the three of them were: 

“travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river, too deep to wade through, and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands, and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it, when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure, and it was Death. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river.” (The Tale of the Three Brothers)

Death was furious at the brothers and pretended to congratulate them. So why would he give them gifts, angry and frustrated as he was, and not ask for anything in return? 

I think he did. But first he gave them gifts that were from the river. The river that separated life from death. 

To Antioch, Death “crossed to an Elder Tree on the banks of the river” for the man who wanted an unbeatable wand. Elder trees in Celtic mythology, after all, symbolized regeneration; the end and the beginning. To Cadmus, he “picked up a stone from the riverbank” for the man who wanted to bring back those who died. A stone which had touched the waters that always killed. And for Ignotus, who wanted to be crafty and slip away from Death... he received a cloak. 

Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped. 

“I’ve heard of those,” he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavor Beans he’d gotten from Hermione. “If that’s what I think it is -- they’re really rare, and really valuable.” 

“What is it?” 

Harry picked up the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into the material.” (Philosopher’s Stone, Ch. 12)

The water of the river, which always killed the traveler, woven into the cloak. And that brings me back to the cloak and the veil. Death was angry at the brothers. They had cheated him of his due. The river always killed the traveler — and the brothers had cheated him. And Death is not the kind of entity who would let these three get the better of him: the braggart with the unbeatable wand, the obsessive who craved his loved ones beyond the veil, and the brother who wanted to hide away. 

So Death gave the brothers their gifts, their prize, in exchange for something. 

Antioch was killed by his own bravado. Cadmus died for his obsession. But Ignotus? How do you catch a man who can hide invisibly? 

You lure him, of course. You get him to cross a bridge. 

Death gave the brothers their gifts, yes, but he took something in return. The bridge that forded the chasm between life and death. The bridge the brothers had created out of stone. Death created an archway and placed as a veil the remains of the cloak he wore as a curtain. 

He would tempt them. Luna and Harry, after all, and seen and comprehended death. Luna saw her mother die. Harry saw Cedric murdered. They saw and understood death. And when they were near the veil, they heard the whispers of their loved ones. “There are people in there!” said Luna. 

Death would give the brothers Peverell a gift, yes — but he would never again be cheated his due. He would ensure he would never be cheated again. He would lure them to the bridge, to ensure he would never have to hunt for who he wanted for years. 

The bridge would lead always and forever lead to Death…

[seriousbrat]

Sirius distributes the pictures of him in a ruff to people who won’t leave him alone no matter how many times he says he’s not interested

Real but unfortunately this would have the opposite effect as intended. They'd just be like aww you're showing me a baby pic?? this means ur in love with me.

[seriousbrat]

I think it would be interesting to see how thoughts on class status would play out between Sirius and Petunia.

I see Petunia as very conscious of her class status and wants to climb the class lady, whereas Sirius actively scoffs at his family’s grandiosity and turns away from it ( although how much he’s untangled it internally is up for debate).

Yeah!! I think there would be an interesting clash there because they are kind of opposites in this regard. Which is why I think Sirius would have a certain disdain for Petunia's obvious (to him) attempts to climb the greasy pole haha, because he's trying to slide down it fireman-style.

But it's also interesting to think about since while I think Sirius has a certain aristocratic air that he can't quite shake off, and Petunia would immediately clock this, she also inherently scorns and rejects anything to do with magic. So I'm not sure to what extent Sirius would 'count' in her eyes, because what Petunia desires is conformity within her world and Sirius doesn't really fulfill this. It would be an interesting contradiction to see play out within Petunia haha.

Like I've said before I do like seeing Sirius as something of a Muggleboo (weeaboo for Muggles) so he might also find her life pretty interesting! And tbh, Petunia is probably the LAST girl on earth Sirius's parents would want him to date haha, so that's kind of fun too and might be an added appeal for him.

[seriousbrat]

I have defo said this before but Sirius and Snape are so similar that it’s wild that their fandoms don’t like the other.

The main difference between them is exemplified by their fight at Grimmauld. Where Sirius shouts, but Snape gets quieter (but both are being petty af).

In other words, they present different (despite the immense similarities) because they are a Scorpio and a Capricorn. And us astrology girlies (gender neutral) know that Capricorns are just Scorpios in a business suit.

Right???? The Sirius-Snape parallels always get me 🥲 we should all just be friends about it.

ANYWAY what's also interesting to me about their Grimmauld place confrontation is that I see it as a reversal of their confrontations in school. For once Snape is the one with power and control over the situation, and Sirius is the one who can barely keep his emotional response in check. Imo it was the exact opposite when they were teens. 👀

[seriousbrat]

It’s so difficult to explain the British class system to anyone who hasn’t lived it.

To really explain how all encompassing it is and how it effects the way you dress, speak, what type of dog you own, the supermarkets you shop at.

How class insults and assumptions are baked into everything we do.

When ever I get pushback when analysing Snape v the Marauders through the lens of class, I can always tell when the person isn’t British.

Yeah I agree. I always find the idea that Lily was particularly, NOTABLY classist towards Snape pretty ridiculous. In the grand scheme of things and especially in the context of wizarding society, they're really not that far apart. They're from the same industrial, working-class town in the Midlands. Yes the difference in income in both families would seem important to someone like Petunia, and in general to people for whom this is a daily reality and concern, but the difference between them would be negligible to someone like Lucius Malfoy. (apart from Snape being half-blood ofc)

This doesn't mean Lily wouldn't have assumptions and beliefs that are rooted in classism. Everyone does, like you said it's just baked into general culture. Even Snape would have. So I'm sure she could say and believe things that are classist, as could he, but it wouldn't make her a notably classist character lmao, just an average person in a specific society.

Like just for reference, popular characters who might have similar accents/dialects to what Lily and Snape might have grown up around** are Cook from Skins and Kelly from Misfits. (Derby. It's East Midlands English anyway.) I think even viewers from outside the UK can tell that those aren't supposed to be upper or middle class characters lmao. It depends where you situate Cokeworth in the Midlands though obv, East Mids is just what I went with. But anyway ultimately it's an industrial, working-class town in the Midlands and I just don't think the Evanses are meant to be middle-class honestly.

(**Tho this can often depend on other things, like your parents/household-- Snape was probably a solitary child primarily raised by his mother so his accent might not have been as local as Lily's, who would have gone to the local school. And I also think both would lose their accents somewhat in favour of whatever is more commonly spoken at Hogwarts, plus Petunia and Snape are characters who would actively try to change their accents imo.)