Snapedom

Hi. Yes, I've read your Severus and Lily; the way they really would have been fic and I loved it (I loved your fics about Severus 'Jack' and his muggle wife Dora as well - they are among my most favourite fics! I really *meant* to review them but I am *so* busy with two parttime jobs and a thesis that simply will not do what I want it to do... so I will take this opportunity to say 'whee! great fics!')

I've read Swythyv's essay about Dumbledore having Aspergers and another about him being a Narcissist, and I fully agree. Personally I think Dumbledore is the most evil character in children's lit, ever, and I don't care wether JKR thinks the sun shines out of his nether orifice, so there! *evil grin*

Yes, when we look at James' actions instead of the authors opinion of him, we see quite a different picture, and not a flattering one at that. If we take Lily's actions at face value we don't see a nice girl either, but she clearly chooses Severus' side before entering Hogwarts but changes sides a few years later. As I've said in response to another post above, what changed between first years and fifth year? Why is Lily choosing James' side, even when she will readily claim that James is a git.

The easy answer would be 'Lily is a shallow bitch, who believes all the 'Gryffindor is Superior and Slytherin is Teh Evuhl' shite that even the teachers will endorse at school. She is a golddigger who ditched her poor, halfblood friend to marry a spoilt, bullying jock and good riddance to her', and that was *my* first reaction too.
But if this is the case, the consequence must be that Severus is a sad, puerile puppy who is stuck in his mind in the false belief that his childhood friend cared for him, even though she clearly never did. And that doesn't sit well with me, because in the whole sad, bloody awful series, Snape is the one character who acted as an adult; he looked at his own actions, saw the consequences of them and changed. This is adult behaviour that Harry or Dumbledore never reach.

So we look the evidence again. How else has Lily changed? Well, we see that before and during Hogwarts she was a girl who was never afraid to open her mouth to say what was on her mind. She was 'spunky'. Yet when the Big Bad enters her house, she doesn't even raise her wand? She sits there, cowering? She *begs*?

Enter the 'James has an manipulative, abusive personality' theory.
If James is indeed a manipulative, nasty git, who charmingly fed Lily bullshit about Slytherins in general and Severus in particular for *years*, who actively, by bullying Severus in such ways that Sev looks pathetic, drives a wedge between her and Sev, then this will explain how:
* Lily has turned from a feisty young girl into a cowiring, ineffective moomy.
* Severus still feels responsible for her even though she clearly made her choice by marrying James.
* Severus feels guilty for her death for twenty years. It can't have been that stupid McGuffin prophecy. Any Voldie sympathiser could've gone to the Ministry and checked out that prophecy. Besides, James and Lily were on Voldie's hitlist anyway. Severus pleading for her live was Lily's only chance, not her doom. So why the guilt? Because if only he had played things better, James would've been demasked and Lily would've realised what a cunning piece of shit he was and she would never have married James and wouldn't be on Voldie's hitlist etc etc.

The 'James Was A Manipulative, Possibly Abusive Bastard' theory gives us a likable but tragic Lily, a lovable but tragic Severus and a Very Nasty Wanker (instead of a plain Stupid Wanker) James.

I can live with that scenario. *grin*