#hp characters in therapy

[thistlecatfics]

Harry Potter characters in therapy with me

(as a EMDR-trained therapist specializing in trauma primarily working with older teens and young adults)

Dumbledore

If he’s an adult, I refer him out. I very rarely work well with adult men (or older adults in general), and I think he’d be particularly difficult. 

Teenage Dumbledore though???

Slow, slow, slow relational psychodynamic trust building to start. Let him try to dazzle me, acknowledge it, and acknowledge he doesn’t have to. Unconditional positive regard goes a long way.

When he admits he still loves Gellert and it’s safe to say that in therapy, I leave the session and immediately burst into tears because I’m so proud of him. 

EMDR around the memory of Ariana’s death + any associated memories around the core belief “It was my fault” and moving towards “I did the best I could.” 

Harry

Ok let’s say it’s in his early 20s, and he’s lost without his saviour identity and also his PTSD (/CPTSD) is really starting to wreck havoc in his life

Start with some grounding and stability around dealing with PTSD symptoms - lots of DBT skills

Honestly I think EMDR might not be a good idea because everything is fractured and hanging on by a thread but I would never raise the possibility to him because he’d be like “no I want to do the fastest most intense way to get through this” immediately. There would be such a therapeutic rupture around this if it came up, and I think he’d stop going to therapy for a couple months. 

IFS!! His very loud protector parts need some thanking and acknowledging and re-directing. 

Cho

Very much My Type of Client

I’d seek supervision around traumatic grief because I feel like I don’t have enough experience with it and would be super insecure, and my supervisor would be like “you go this.” 

Start with some grounding skills but in a very careful and client-directed way so as to not add onto the shame of having feelings

Lots of validating feelings

Practicing viewing feelings nonjudgmentally 

Potentially EMDR around the memory of Cedric’s death and her thought that she should have somehow been able to stop it. I think she’d be super into EMDR as soon as she clears the first memory. 

Ginny

A CSA survivor (because I think that’s the best equivalent of her experience with diary Tom) who goes on to be a high achiever super athlete savior type? totally my type of client lol

Trust building stage is deceptively long because obviously she wouldn’t talk about the diary for a long time, and she’s theoretically only coming in to help her quidditch performance lol. It takes a year to mention Fred and then YEARS before she mentions the diary.

Family is SO complicated -- very much would be defensive of any possible criticism of her family, and so I’d tread very carefully there, and let her be the one to say anything that might be critical. 

She’s absolutely a chatty, shoot-the-shit kind of client, and I’d probably let her get away with that for a year before I start to push her on it. 

A lot of unconditional positive regard and harm reduction talk around her chaotic substance use. 

Please ask me more <3 <3 (feel free to add an age + motivation for seeking services if you want) 

[acourtofquestions]

A Maasverse note because I think sometimes characters get poorly judged both by other characters, plot lines, & fandom reception (of course this is all fictional… so this post is also purely fiction… and probably has some “fictional world differences” or “rules” to apply… but still😂)

This started with the *sarcastic* “lovely” talk with Darrow about the “people of Terrasen” because the idea of blaming Aelin — who, btw, let the record show was ONLY an EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CHILD!!! — for “abandoning them” when she WAS A CHILD really got on my nerves. Especially as even this conversation is taking place with a 19-year-old… while not 8, and “old enough” in her own right; SHE IS STILL NINETEEN… and if you ask me IF ANYONE did any “abandoning” it was the people of Terrasen who simply went “hmm… we can’t find our queen… oh no! She must have drowned! No need to think further!!! MOVING ON!” meanwhile she was KIDNAPPED, after having her ENTIRE family assassinated IN FRONT OF HER (at EIGHT) and nearly drowning to outrun the assassin trying to KILL HER, & Arobynn was NOT much better; she couldn’t escape (cause SHE WAS EIGHT and with an ACTUAL ASSASSIN) and by the time she had “learned” (been forced into & through traumatic, abusive, horrifying, painful experiences for YEARS) enough to be “allowed” to leave the keep and at all able to even possibly run far enough to somehow get to Terrasen it was already GONE there was nothing left for her to go back to or save, and (even then) she was STILL A CHILD. She came back in under 10 years, barely an adult, she SURVIVED, give the girl some CREDIT PLEASE!!! And yeah, she was an assassin, no it’s not the most moral of jobs (but this is fiction) it was that or death, she went to hell & back (this was NOT some pampered upbringing) and YOUR queen endured it FOR you (and YOU damned her to it, or is it not fair to blame you? Oh, so it isn’t fair to blame y'all… yet the EIGHT-YEAR-OLD is fine?!) and to be honest, from her lineage (which kind of doomed her already) to the state of their world, they may actually NEED/want to have an Assassin as a Queen. Like yeah, she did that, she SURVIVED that, she is capable and smart and can actually lead a war. Can any of you old men gawking at her say the same??? Hmm??? No, you can’t because even though you all saw horrors, we all know the CHILDREN of Terrassen endured the worst; Aedion fought your wars, Elide was also kidnapped (not that any of you care; but it did keep her alive—I guess?), so can we just be glad you all are alive?!? AND LEAVE AELIN BE FOR ONCE, PLEASE! (I’m sure Darrow “has his reasons” and a backstory, but as a general point & issue I really can’t stand it).

wow sorry don’t know what got into me there maybe it is a lil personal?😅😂

Then into one that keeps popping up and bothering me: the argument & anger towards Nesta & Elain. Now while it does have its place (and I have been there too during points of my first read), I also am taking it all into account, and while I’m sorry that they let her go into the woods they were children. Nesta was a CHILD. Elain was a CHILD. (Maybe I don’t know exact ages, but they can’t have been in their 20s & 30s😂). THEY WERE ALL CHILDREN TOO. While Feyre was the youngest, while Feyre deserved safety & protection, while Feyre truly did go through a lot (and the fact she didn’t feel loved is absolutely gut-wrenching and wrong) some of which she may have been able to be spared from… she also wasn’t the only child, freezing, starving, losing parents, and terrified. Even Nesta as the oldest was still a kid. Elain is not that much older than Feyre, and she was a kid too. And yes, Feyre was a child, she was FOURTEEN, she was their little sister, and she was a child too even more. But honestly the truest guilt relies on not the sisters (THREE CHILDREN) but on the ACTUAL ADULTS; their father; who did have his issues & eventually redemption (and yes parents aren’t always capable that does happen; disability, pain, grief, depression, they are beasts), but also he still remains FAR more responsible than Nesta or Elain or even Feyre EVER should have been in the first place. It lies on THE ENTIRE VILLAGE that abandoned them; CHILDREN, whose mother had DIED, whose father was CLEARLY UNWELL, who were freezing & starving (& while the village may have been struggling they COULD have struggled TOGETHER and NOT LEFT CHILDREN to their own); THEY should have been the ones to step up. Not Nesta. Not Elain. Not Feyre. The three sisters were all children. And while any oldest sibling knows we are capable of filling roles, that doesn’t make it right; nor does it make anyone’s brains fully formed… so… like… they literally couldn’t think beyond more sometimes. And yes, while I can’t imagine sending one of my siblings (older or younger) off into the woods alone for any reason (I also could understand going off before they could stop you; I can understand why & how Feyre might’ve without them even knowing; because if it were my family it wouldn’t matter I’d do it, even if someone older was there), but I also can’t pretend it would be oh so easy to keep all four people alive by yourself (to a certain extent Nesta needs to be alive because she is the only “semi-adult” in the first place) and still as a child abandoned by the world (she had her issues too) she was a daughter so sure her father would save them begging for it in agony over it and lost in the world. While I in Nesta’s shoes would NEVER have let Feyre be near anyone during a break in, we don’t know the full story, Nesta may not have had options; she may have just run, grabbed Elain who was close by, and hid because at least she could keep them alive; and she was also a terrified child. And while Elain “went along” in Nesta’s shelter without protest; WHY WOULD’NT SHE? All children crave & deserve protection, safety, kindness, love, she has that in Nesta; why would she run from the only stability she has; especially as the child that lost something else (where Nesta was the favorite & simultaneously resented their mother, and Feyre was the “forgotten” child who never got to be a child or know such a kind of safe love, Elain did which means she knew the loss of it she had a mother to grieve) she was young and terrified and holding on to the only thing she could? And what happened to Feyre was terrible, she was forced to shoulder a burden alone, she also took it on (not blaming her, just saying she also didn’t say anything; because it was survival) and yes, it was wrong. But what happened to Nesta and Elain was also wrong. The three of them were children, and they could have done better, but they did their best and survived. As adults, they have begun healing those wounds. What else can we expect other than accountability from the ACTUAL adults at fault?! *and by actual I mean fictional😂*

The past is past. (To some extent in this context side at least)

So I guess all I’m saying is WHY ARE ALL THESE YA NOVELS BASED ON BABY’s AND TEENAGERs AND WHERE ARE ANYONE's PARENTS (oh wait their all orphans that tracks now) CAUSE I GUESS IT'S THE TROPE 🤦‍♀️ and the next character that gets all political & sexist & “my way or the highway child” during the middle of a WAR by blaming Aelin (or gods forbid poor the more I learn) Aedion for what they did to survive as children during Empire of Storms is going to get my wrath😅😂🤣 and don’t you dare Darrow EVER talk to Lysandra like that again!!! *thank you, Rowan, for protecting them; your family; with pride* (at least the 200-year-old stepped up to the plate😅😅😂… too soon?)

Shoutout to iwantavaldezinator for fandoming with me about the Terrasen issue😂

[aro-culture-is]

aro culture is just having to think about the fact a majority of one of your fandom's fan-media is shipping with not much general 'characters vibing' media to balance it

.

[theblacktulip9]

Made some of my Charecters using the template made by @Ohcerrie !

Charecters in a nutshell

Ace: Egyptian/ Panamanian guy who was neglected his whole childhood and never saw a kid till the age of 11, who is also from a pureblood supremacist family who forced him to marry a girl In other pureblood family. He has a massive crush on Daniel.

Donna: French girl who has a trans twin named Bella, whole life was organized for them the moment they were born, befriend twin boys named Victor and Vincent, who are from a Mafia, Donna witness her sister's leg get cut off by mom, killed mom, then dad, ran away to grandma's, never got caught.

Valentin: Romanian Human -> Vampire from the 1353, Mother got burnt at the stake by her husband for being a witch, Valentin got then sold off to a guy who turned out to be a Vampire and then got Valentin turned into a vampire, a bit of Astarion lore from Baldur's gate 3 stuff starts happening, finally found peace in 1578, Found friends named Carmilla and Dracula (no not the actual ones from the books but inspired by), went at hogwarts during Hogwarts Legacy era.

[rewritingcanon]

ive been writing this scorbus fic on and off and i thought it would be just a throwaway one but its now four years later and im still developing it

[enfinizatics]

finished reading ‘a difference in the family: the snape chronicles’ and guys, do i have some splendid news to share: my head hurts from crying!!

[dykedragons]

ogh i had another really good time at my frands house im thinkin this is becoming a theme

[hp-fanfic-archive]

Mandy Brocklehurst's House of Dreams by anxiousgoat Pairing: Mandy Brocklehurst/Luna Lovegood Rating: G Word Count: 352 Podfic available here Read by: A_Door Length: 0-10 minutes Crafting dreams is a delicate business, but for Mandy and Luna it is a labour of love.

find the full podfic library here

[ifyouknowmenahyoudontt]

something that piss me off with the new jegulus craze, is mostly that in order to make that ship work (because no matter how much you believe in it it doesn’t make any sense with what we have on those characters) everything else gets erased. in order to make jegulus work they erase james and sirius’s friendship. they erased how much james cared for sirius and stood with him against him. they erased who james WAS his values and thoughts. they erased sirius’s character completely. saying that he would be mad that they “dated” and yapping about it, turning him into a dumb jealous bimbo who only cares about himself. they erased the importance OF LILY EVANS. the woman at the center of the series. the woman that fought for what she believed in all for people to take all of her personality and give it to someone who was partly responsible for her death? they erased regulus’s character gave him lilys or sirius’s or andromeda’s. they erased sirius’s strength and his story by making it about regulus, who was never abused and thought exactly like ( even more) his parents. i understand that people can ship what they ship. but like at this point this is not even the hp universe anymore. why is everything about people projecting onto characters i don’t get it. characters that had soooo much potential and depth became completely irrelevant and for what? a random ship and a loser guy that didn’t do shit but is pretty enough for people to love and to project all of their trauma on.

bring back lily. bring back sirius. bring back peter???? why is regulus the new 4th marauder??? why do pathetic facist men always get so much popularity.

what is so appealing about him over the over character that aren’t a pretty white boy but that did everything that you SAY that he did but didn’t. i truly don’t understand

and MOSTLY. why is everything so depressing now. people writing stories and adding plot lines like SA? WHY IS IT THAT IN ONE THE MOST FAMOUS FICS FOR JEGULUS FANS MARY GET SA’ED AND THEY STILL MAKE IT ABOUT HIM?????making everyone that a good person bad? what the hell is up with the projecting and why is this fandom so obsessed with adding random trauma to everything like. everything that was good and fun in this fandom is GONE.

i’m BEGGING some of you to go to therapy instead on projecting on characters and crying when people don’t agree with you.

[ravenclawloverofseverussnape]

What are your opinions on snarry?

Hi, thank you very much for asking, I hope more people ask what I think about other ships, Snarry in particular..... I don't like it and I have several reasons for this.

the age difference

veran Severus is 20 years older than him, oh 21? I don't remember, the point is that the age difference is huge for me.

He is the son of James Potter

Harry is James Potter's son, which in itself leaves me conflicted. I have no opinion of Harry, but I do of James. I hate him for being a bully and practically cheating on his wife about how he "grew up," demeaned Vernon and Petunia, and intimidated muggle police officers when he's supposed to be locked up because of the prophecy.

Oh, and don't get me started on Snape's worst memory, damn, that was UNFORGETTABLE AT ALL.

He is the son of Lily Evans Potter

you see, I don't like this character very much, I've already explained why but I'll say it in summary: the fandom, J.K Rowling's writing etc paint her as "the good popular girl who wants to be with the bully even though she knows he's a bastard and falls into the clutches of that bastard (James)" it is said that she is a good friend.... but she doesn't want Snape to defend himself, despite the fact that she knows that , although the marauders DO NOT use dark arts, she continues to defend them just because of that fact and calls Snape "obsessed with the marauders" uff That's a low blow for me.

He then doesn't ask Snape about the werewolf prank, doesn't question him if it's okay, just claims that "he should be grateful to James for saving him" and claims that's what happened, doesn't bother to ask any further questions, indicating that he doesn't really care.

Let's not talk about her lack of intervention in Severus' worst memory, she spent the whole time talking to him instead of asking if Severus was okay, Lily is a popular girl who could have tried to call someone to help her or if she's so smart she could have freed him or called a teacher if she was afraid that Sirius or Peter would attack her, she could even call Remus since he's a prefect! So many things wrong with her

Harry is the product of one of HP's most toxic couples

I don't think that Jily is a good couple, James made fun of Vernon Dursley, the fiancé of Petunia Evans, the sister of his wife Lily, bragging about riches that they do not understand being muggles, Lily does not intervene in that probably, which makes his relationship with Petunia break even more, with this point also James put Lily's life at risk by running away from home knowing that Voldemort is looking for him, he being hidden in an invisibility cloak and I firmly believe that Lily was making excuses for the (childish) behavior of her husband James Potter.

For me it seems like double standards when they say that using magic on muggles is horrible, but when James shows off his wealth to Vernon and Petunia it's okay (if these characters are detestable but they are still muggles, whether we like it or not)

Lily (even though I don't like her) deserves better than James Potter.

Why did you mention Jily in a post about giving my opinion of Snarry?

Simple, the mere creation of Harry would be a trigger for Severus, yes as a fan of Severus I am aware that Harry is not to blame for having been conceived by one of the most toxic couples in the Harry Potter series, but Harry himself would be a trauma trigger for Severus when remembering the face of James Potter, a character who... until now we do not know if he redeemed himself since he died at 21, but we have seen that Severus has a trauma when seeing Harry.

Severus would need a lot of therapy to be able to have Harry as a couple.

It would take a lot of therapy to heal his past traumas, to cope with them and not see Harry as an extension of James Potter but as an individual being.

Entiendo por qué a algunas personas les gusta Snarry: la dinámica de enemigos a amantes es muy interesante, tengo que admitirlo (como alguien a quien le gusta Snirius), pero no me gusta Snarry por estas razones, creo que Severus merece alejarse de la fuente del trauma (Hogwarts, spinner ends, etc.).

[thistlecatfics]

ALSO SNAPE. older teens/young adult period is such a ✨fun time✨in his life! so many possibilities! pre DE baby snape era… SWM era… immediately following voldemort’s defeat… right after harry begins hogwarts… he totally wouldn’t, but aaaagh i would LOVE to hear him unpack that first potions lesson with harry in therapy lmfao.

… also thanks to the snames post i now can’t help but imagine james and snape in therapy following SWM. i feel like james would be a much more… workable? client than sirius, especially if his parents were encouraging! would be a fun fic i’m just saying 👀

Ok he is the last one for the night because I was just like "oh I'll jot down an idea or two" and then I look up and it's suddenly 20 minutes later.

Adult Snape -

His character is like… DEFINED by not being in therapy. He (or at least part of him) is constantly living in the past and in each traumatic moment, and he does. not. move on. He survives. He does not heal. He is not interested in healing. 

Could you imagine Dumbledore trying to force him to go to therapy as a Hogwarts employee? LMAO. Snape would be like “You first, bitch.” 

Though I would love for Dumbledore to force him on a sabbatical where he did an intensive residential trauma treatment program for six months then six months to do potions research somewhere with no children and no one to ask him questions, and it would be the reward for completing the program. (That and a year off from teaching first through fifth years.) (I hc he actually likes teaching 6th and 7th years since he can be selective about them.) 

(I’ve never worked in non-substance use inpatient so I can’t say much about it and it would absolutely be a referral. Dumbledore’s like “so I have this guy I want in therapy…” and I’m like “... have you considered residential for him?”)

Adult Snape and I would not work well together. It would not be worth trying. (Though it’s easy to think of him as an old man but he was in his early 30s in the books lol.) 

Also if he’s being forced into therapy as an adult, he would absolutely remain silent the entire time as a test of wills with the therapist. 

Ok but younger Snape??

He only goes to therapy for Lily. Let’s imagine pre-SWM, Lily is like “I love you but I no longer like you. Go to therapy. Work on yourself. Then maybe we can be friends again.” 

Self-esteem!!! Identity! Identity in a social justice lens!! 

Definitely a lot of praise for his intelligence, but also slowly naming other values too. It would totally be a situation where I’m like “It’s ok if you disagree, but I think you have inherent worth, just as you are, separate from your intelligence. You don’t have to believe me, but I believe it. I’ll hold onto that belief until you’re ready to hold it too.” and he’d roll his eyes. Lol. 

Unconditional positive regard again as the key therapeutic factor!!

Being really careful to avoid any impulse to “fix” him and just bear witness and build trust and slowly co-create space where he can be honest about his feelings and hurt. 

As a teenager, I can’t imagine he ever mentions his family at all. I think it’s purely about his life at Hogwarts - he keeps those worlds so separate. (One of those situations where the therapist is immediately like “oh your family is FUCKED” but waits for the client to give an opening.) 

Ok post SWM???

James -

Also, yes, you’re absolutely right James would be an easier client to work with in many ways. Basically, he has a secure attachment style from parents who were able to meet a decent chunk of his emotional needs as a child, and so he is able to trust people more easily, which means therapeutic work can go deeper faster since the trust building stage is much shorter. 

I think the hard part for him in therapy would be motivation – why is he seeking therapy? He’s forced to by the school? He’d be absolutely in denial that he did anything wrong. 

I have a colleague at my old job who worked with students who were found responsible by the Title IX Officer for violating sexual harassment/violence rules (but not expelled), and I think I’d want James to go through that pretty structured program. I think I’d be too easy on him when the necessary step would really be around taking responsibility for his own actions (within a very complicated situation in which he’s not entirely in the wrong!) 

I also think he’d work better with a male therapist but maybe that’s just my bias. I’d want him to work with someone who feels more comfortable pushing him, and that’s just not my vibe. 

Snape post SWM?? 

He ABSOLUTELY shuts down. Talk to this bloody shrink about what happened?? Absolutely not. 

His main (only authentic?) relationship was just cut away (his fault, but still, it would be intensely difficult.) 

I headcanon that he really dives into dark magic during this time – not so much the Death Eaters but only Death Eaters as they are vehicles for the opportunity to explore the Dark Arts, an area where he can feel in control and powerful and so self-soothe. 

I would try to engage with him through magical theory and the Dark Arts and whatever his main interest in the present was (no judgment, confidentiality made clear), and see if we could use the magic he was creating and experimenting with as a vehicle for considering himself and his own internal experiences and feelings and needs. 

He’d be the type of client where I end up binging research after I see them to be able to keep up with them and try to be able to use it as an in for therapeutic work. 

I do think he really wants an audience for his experimentation, and so he might eventually start to enjoy talking about what he works on and we would SLOWLY build that therapeutic rapport. 

It might work, it might not, but I’d hold fast to my optimism even when it was hard. (And he would make it very hard.)

(And canonically, I think there just wouldn't be enough time to build that rapport. He'd join the Death Eaters and stop going to therapy before we get the opportunity to do some real work.)

[nobodiesunshine]

i have something to admit but i hate jily😭😭

I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS THEY JUST FREAK ME OUT SO BAD!!

this is NOT recent, when watching hp when i was younger I just didn't like the snippets we got of them, literally don't know why they've just always disgusted me 😭

even during my drarry hyperfixation in 2020 if jily mentions popped up i got so uncomfortable.

idk man they just are not my pookies

and it's not even because they're a straight ship, I LOVE BARTYLILY!! pandora / xenophilius (is that how i spell it?), peter/sybil, etc are all ships i enjoy so it's not because they're straight.

it is also NOT BECAUSE I THINK LILY GETS IN THE WAY OF JEGULUS 😭😭 i know this because i ship moonwater too, along with bartylus and sunstarrosekiller (or is it starkillersunrose?? help whats james x barty x evan x regulus???)

YES jegulus is my main ship

YES i hate jily

NO those 2 things are NOT connected!

and it's so weird because i actually do like jegulily??? and i LOVE james and lily's characters i think they're so complex and i love them both sm separately but i HATE them together??

part of me thinks it may be because i mostly hc lily as a lesbian but also like i said i really love bartylily so clearly not??

like i am a multi shipper to my CORE it genuinely makes me so confused

and the thing is i don't WANT to be a hater, i've tried exposure therapy and it actually freaked me out so bad i genuinely had a nightmare i WISH I was joking 😭😭 and their ship name is so cute like FLOWERPOT?? ARE YOU KIDDING?? thats ADORABLE how could i want to hate that??

i guess it also doesn't help the jily community is so.... toxic but like i've said i've always disliked jily so i dunno

how do i get over this obscure phobia???😭😭

[loneamaryllis]

Snarriet Rec List - Long fics (100k+)

Certain Dark Things

by evejenson (rentachi). Rated M. Nearly 900k, WIP. Slytherin Harry. Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived. Mentor Tom Riddle.

They sought her out for conversation sometimes, cornering her in the garden or at the park, not that they ever had much to say. Really, Harriet thought snakes were rather dull.

---------

Harriet Potter has always been odd. Between having a shadow that moves on its own and chatting with grass snakes, learning she's a witch really isn't the strangest thing to happen to the bespectacled girl with a lightning scar on her neck.

Harriet attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she makes new friends, encounters a prickly Potions Master, learns about the Boy Who Lived, and meets the enigmatic Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, Professor Tom Slytherin.

Why I rec it: This is the best HP fic, period. A retelling of the entire series, where Harriet is sorted in Slytherin in a world where Voldemort won (but not overtly so). Incredible character work, dense world-building fed to us in perfectly-sized bites, clever foreshadowing, and really, really great writing overall. Plus, if you love Voldemort, you'll love what the author did with him in this fic. I can't recommend it enough.

Saving Snape

by @loneamaryllis. Rated E. 206k. Auror Harry Potter. Sentient Hogwarts. Courting Rituals.

Severus Snape is receiving death threats. The Ministry decides that Auror Harrie Potter should be assigned to his protection.

Why I rec it: A self rec! Someone is trying to kill Snape and Harrie has to protect him. There's a mystery, some angst, some pining, a lot of smut in the later half of the fic, and a sentient Hogwarts who ships Snarriet.

Carrying Atlas

by @hirukochan. Rated E. 126k, WIP. (Underage) Daddy Dom Severus Snape. BDSM Contract. Collaring.

On a late night walk Snape stumpled upon no other than Harriet Potter who was once again in trouble. How deep the trouble ran and why none of those close to her realised how badly she was taking the loss of her godfather would remain a mystery but Snape had sacrificed too much to let her give up now.

Or

Harrie tries to cope through meaningless sex with strangers and Snape decides in order to keep her safe from depraved men only wanting to exploit her he has to become one of them and make it worth her while.

Why I rec it: The Snarriet BDSM fic! Harrie enters into a contract with Snape as some sort of therapy. The smut is ultra hot, Snape is very respecting of Harrie's boundaries while having to deal with his own issues, and while there's angst, there are also a lot of fluffy moments. Plus there's not a lot of Snarriet fics where Harrie calls Snape Daddy so if that's what you're looking for, you're in for a treat.

The Blood of the Enemy

by @rose-colored-glasses7. Rated M. 154k, WIP. (Underage) Blood and Violence. Morally Grey Harry Potter. Toxic Relationship.

Cedric Diggory is dead. Following the terrible ending to the Triwizard Tournament, Emma Potter has returned to the Dursleys to mourn the death of her boyfriend. However, soon enough, an attack on Privet Drive leads to her arrival at 12 Grimmauld Place - the headquarters to the mysterious Order of the Phoenix. The blood wards have fallen. When frightful visions begin to consume her mind, Emma's forced to take lessons with her hateful potions professor. Cruel, sadistic, dark, by any right the lessons should make her hate him even more. Only, as the lessons continue, she finds herself more and more drawn to him... Lord Voldemort has returned. As the latest Defense professor wreaks havoc on Hogwarts, Emma searches for answers about the terrible connection between her and Voldemort - and why, exactly, he came after her all those years ago. The web of truth and lies is unraveling… and she begins to wonder if Emma Potter was ever really alive at all. With war looming on the horizon and the Ministry in firm denial of his return, Emma begins her worst year at Hogwarts yet. The question is, can she survive it?

Why I rec it: Emma Potter is a great take on a female Harry. She's a bit darker, a bit more cerebral, and her connection to Voldemort takes more place than in canon. Her relationship with Snape is wonderfully multi-layered and so tense!

Gravity

by SlytherinsQuill. Rated E. 268k, WIP. Violence. Trauma. Eventual Happy Ending.

What if Harry Potter was born a girl and known as Rosalie Potter? How might it change the dynamics of life as the most famous teenager in the Wizarding World? At the end of Rosalie Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, war has broken out in the Wizarding World as a result the attack on Hogwarts. Forced to spend the summer at Grimmauld Place for her own safety, Rosalie learns more about herself and the people around her than she ever thought possible. Relationships form, friendships change and she learns just how much the people in your life influence who you are and who you have the potential to become.

Why I rec it: A great fic depicting the evolving relationship between Rosalie and Snape with the hunt for Horcruxes as a background. The smut scenes are so well-crafted, very emotional and both soft and passionate. Some scenes are so epic they'll stay with you for a long time.

The Never-Ending Road and its sequel No Journey's End

by @laventadorn. Rated M. 656k, WIP. Female Friendship. Protective Severus Snape.

AU. When Lily died, Snape removed his heart and replaced it with a steel trap. But rescuing her daughter from the Dursleys in the summer of ’92 is the first step on a long road to discovering this is less true than he’d thought. A girl!Harry story, starting in Chamber of Secrets and continuing through Goblet of Fire. Future Snape/Harriet. (OotP - DH will continue in a separate story.)

Why I rec it: An epic retelling of the series, starting at Year 2. My favorite thing in this fic are the description of Snape's eyes. Intense and so poetic! The world-building is great, and the relationships between the characters are well-developed.

Wearing Only a Sneer

by pluperfectsunrise. Rated E. 100k, WIP. Slow Burn. First Time. Love Confessions.

With the war finally over, Harry Potter is dead set on losing her virginity. What will happen when she decides that the perfect candidate for a partner in this endeavor is Severus Snape?

Why I rec it: I love the way Harriet slowly convinces Snape to get in bed with her. The smut is so tender and also so hot! Also the only Snarriet fic to feature Harriet pegging Snape, to my knowledge.

Grey Hours

by @spicedlantern. Rated M. 101k, WIP. Time Travel. Angst.

She'll need to put them in various boxes in her head to cope - constant reminders of where they end up, no matter where and what they are in her present - no matter what her eyes see. Lily Evans - murdered. James Potter - murdered. Sirius Black - murdered. Albus Dumbledore - murdered. Remus Lupin - alive - alive with a son, and that, at least, she has to hold on to -

Severus Snape -

Traitor.

--

Or: In June 1999, a group of rogue Death Eaters led by Bellatrix Lestrange breaks into the Ministry. They steal six "true" time turners.

In August 1975, Auror Harriet Potter appears in the middle of Albus Dumbledore's office. He offers her a job.

Why I rec it: Another one of spicedlantern's excellent fics. An original plot, some truly great tension between Harriet and Snape, one adult Snape, one teenage Snape, and a Lily who gets to shine as a lot of chapters are from her POV. The author weaves a plotty tale with deliciously smutty moments once the Snarriet happens.

[petalsthefish]

Okay okay I hear ya. I'm an OG, 30+ fan who agrees with you on Jily.

But the question I need to know is Wolfstar - virtually canon or a fan fever dream?

Please base this on your experiences as an OG fan and not in the hellscape that modern Wolfstar has become!

I’ve always liked wolfstar, I think it’s fun, but it’s not my be all end all! Also, a lot of the newer wolfstar seems to have changed the Remus and Sirius characters a ton, which is interesting to me because the characters were a good match without the gradual fanon interpretation in the last five years.

Anyways, based on what canon gives, I have my own opinion on all four marauders below:

James is Straight. He dates girls, loves girls, and marries Lily aka HIS SOULMATE. The man honestly took one look at Lily and said “I’m gonna be an idiot for the rest of my life just for her” and I support that jocks choices with every fiber of my being. That being said, I love reading modern AUs with bi James as long as he’s not with R3gul*s, Sn8pe, or other Slytherins who join the DE. I’d be defending Prongsfoot faster than I’d get with wolfstar tbh

Sirius is Asexual. He don’t give two flying fucks. I have one sentence in the entire series to go off of for this so no one get mad at me if you think I’m delulu for this one okay. I like my delulu land where Sirius is asexual even if everyone else in this fandom wants him with Remus or Marlene McKinnon. let me have more asexual Sirius in more fics!!! fellow asexual Sirius writers help me out with this plz!!!!

Remus is Straight. I mean, he doesn’t stand up to his school buds when they’re being dicks because he likes being included, he falls in love with a manic pixie dream girl despite her being younger than him by several years, he desperately needs therapy due to PTSD but doesn’t go, he turns into a wolf once a month but is honestly probably so hairy even when it’s not the full moon, he has a baby and immediately forgets child support is a thing because he wants to run off to war with his dead best friends kid…I mean… idk. Don’t get me wrong I love Remus Lupin, my stupid son, but he screams straight to me.

Peter is Gay. I definitely think closeted so he dated girls to keep up with the straight persona. I don’t think this is a widespread thing that people agree with; I just have a personal head canon that he is actually in love with James due to the way he’s described by the adults in canon HP and the way he is depicted in the flashbacks in canon HP. Plus it makes his betrayal more fueled by something other than being a big baby coward. And I mean he still is a big baby coward, but I’d like more emotional depth with my betrayal plots.

[margotbamborough]

I'm just jotting down a few themes I've noticed so far in the Running Grave!

Food/hunger/weight: while Robin's undergoing forced starvation in the cult (again, a common form of mind control used by cults) Strike is on a diet. A lot of references are made to characters being under- or overweight. For instance the detail that one of the ex-cult members developed a binge eating problem following her traumatic experience with the cult. Food (and Strike's and Robin's respective relationships to it) has been a pretty consistent motif that has popped up throughout the series so far and it's being made very explicit in TRG. There's definitely an idea of unhealthy relationships with food being explored. (Though also jkr just likes to write about food lol that's pretty clear in hp as well)

Disconnection from family: While Strike is actually connecting with his family more than we've seen before– forging a new bond with Lucy and her family, taking care of Ted, getting to know Prudence– the cult's MO (as is the case with most cults) is the opposite, to alienate victims from their families. We're getting to know several families who have been torn apart by UHC. The central family to the mystery is of course Mazu, Wace, and Daiyu. There's specifically a focus on mothers: there are several mothers or expecting mothers in the cult, Leda, Mazu, Ilsa (the book starts at her son's christening with her as a new mother). Even Bijou's apparent baby-trapping schemes fit into this theme, though I'm not sure how thats going to play out yet.

Mental illness/trauma: Prudence is a psychologist, and several of the cult victims either suffered from mental illness before being recruited or as a result of the trauma they experienced. Lucy discloses the fact that she's in therapy to Strike, a fact which surprises him, and encourages him to pursue therapy as well. Robin and Strike are both characters who have a great deal of unprocessed trauma, which they've slooowly been coming to grips with throughout the series, but I think so far this is the book where it's been most directly addressed. As of yet mostly in Strike's case, though given the nature of what's happening at in the cult I imagine I'm going to start seeing some of Robin's too.

Empathy/forgiveness: I'm not sure how to word this one but there's a feeling that Strike is becoming more open to understanding others and feeling more empathy towards them. He's a character who has previously been somewhat harsh and judgmental towards the people he deals with both in his personal life and his work– I'm not complaining, it's a good bit of characterisation. But after having criticised/scorned Lucy's lifestyle for the entire series so far, he's finally beginning to understand why she is the way she is and respect her. His realisation that she's actually incredibly brave was a HUGE moment. In general, Strike's inner monologue has been much less critical of the people he interviews than it typically is. The cult has a very black and white mentality, people are either good or evil, and I think this is something Strike has tended towards in the past- so TRG seems to be putting forward the notion that people deserve understanding and kindness. That nuance is important. A big issue when dealing with victims of cults is that many of them have been coerced into doing terrible unconscionable things that are difficult for the rest of us to understand, and many of them struggle with guilt, while outsiders struggle to forgive their actions. Steve Hassan explains this very well in his book (which is referenced in TRG and read by Strike)

I may expand on this!! These are just a few thoughts I've had so far

[olderthannetfic]

It's kind of funny how people get mad at others for liking HP, but not FNAF, even though the creator of FNAF is actively donating to anti-LGBT lobbying groups and supports conversion therapy. Whenever I see kids running around with their pride icons with a FNAF character and a pride flag I can't help but sigh. Dude, he's not going to make lesbian Chica canon. He's trying to make being a lesbian at all not a thing.

--

Around here, it's probably because we're 20 years too old to even know what FNAF is.

(But yes.)