sometimes i feel bad about james potter the character. no, not the guy, the character.
he was a bully. a sexual harasser. he fought for the light (which doesnt mean much, but still) and likely helped and protected those hurt by "dark" magic. he and sirius were most likely too interdependent. he allowed sirius' behavior about remus' condition. he tolerated peter because both of them (p/j) were jerks; james likely saw peter as a smart, capable wizard but also somewhat like a crony of his (like crabbe/goyle and draco, just without the social dynamics of slytherin). most likely he saw himself as above peter, and remus--most likely he only ever saw sirius as worth his actual time. he was loved by his parents. loved by sirius. loved by everyone (once you take slytherin + those who hate bullies out of the equation)--including hagrid, which indicates he didn't bully anyone who hated slytherins, or atleast didn't treat them that harshly. he harassed lily until she gave in. he faced tom wandless and gave his life for lily and harry. he was smart and capable and great at quidditch and had no respect for people's privacy in his pursuit of doing whatever he wanted (the Map).
there is so much one can do with his character. the internal fighting between his prejudices and biases vs what being "of the Light" actually means. a chance at redemption for all he did to the slytherins, especially snape. infighting with remus, which would lead to remus likely being cowed because as much of a capable wizard remus was and as much of a marauder he was, james still knew his secret, and james potter was james potter. absolutely hating the black family. pranking regulus and his cronies. using minerva's and albus' own favoritism towards gryffindors to his advantage. being jealous of severus. hating severus. who knows, perhaps even being insecure with respect to severus. slowly realizing what severus was. realizing that what he (james) had been doing was not, in fact, chivalrous or "right" or "deserved". conflicts with sirius over that. being dragged in, again, to his previous state of mind; resorting to the shit he did his entire adolescent years. even if jegulus happened, he wouldn't have been the "golden retriever" to regulus' "black cat".
james potter was a toxic, narcissistic, prejudiced man and he took things that challenged him as either something to be overpowered, even if he despised whatever the fuck tom riddle was doing.
but no. what has fanon made james potter into?
a knight in shining armor. always in the right. always concerned with justice--James the Just, actually. he loved his friends. he'd "do anything for their moony". the golden retriever, who got turned on by being insulted by a black, taking said insults in a stride and grinning like a fool while doing so. he'd never bully anyone, or tolerate any bullying. he'd stop and actually think about what he was doing. whatever he did to severus, severus deserved every bit of it. james would try to be humble and whoever said otherwise (cough severus cough) was just hateful and bitter. there would be no power imbalance among the marauders. that peter betrayed them was just a result of peter being a coward and nothing on james' part (yes, it was a result of peter being a coward but i do think that the other marauders indirectly unintentionally contributed to it aswell).
it just feels...almost tragic to me. james potter wasn't a good person, but i feel bad for his character. and i say this as someone who loved and adored fanon james for years.
