but James didnât âblackmail Lily into dating himâ i donât think Lily cared enough about Snape by the time she and James started dating, for this âblackmailâ to even have worked. James had stoped bullying âfor funâ (except for Snapeđ) and had matured a little, these are literally the reason we were given for why Lily started to go out with him (âBut she hated him!â âNah she didnâtâ) because Lily never actually cared that much to begin with.
So find it intellectually dishonest to say âJames blackmailed Lily into dating himâ you were obviously being hyperbolic, like I get that, but thatâs simply not a fair assessment. No, Lily didnât marry James to protect Snape. Ridiculous.
Just like people prejudiced against Snape calling him an incel are intellectually dishonest.
Also I never said that James behavior was okay. Yes it was obviously patriarchal but him being a toxic, entitled, childish asshole in 5th year was literally the whole point.
Just like it was the point to show that Snape had a similar attitude towards Lily and also âviewed her as objects to be obtainedâ in earlier flashbacks.
I have no interest in excusing the behavior of James or any of these characters, or in oversimplifyed thought terminating cliches. I want to have honest and nuanced conversations and engage critically with the text and this fandom space sometimes feels like a kindergarten with the same conversation happening every day, it gets so old.
Letâs get one thing straight about basic reading comprehension, because itâs honestly fascinating how you rant about wanting "nuanced conversations" and "critical engagement with the text" while completely making up a scenario just to have something to argue against. Read what I actually wrote, not whatâs convenient for your argument: I never said Lily agreed to date James because of blackmail, nor that she dated him because of Snape, nor that she married him to protect anyone. You pulled all of that out of thin air just to deliver this self-righteous lecture.
The blackmail ATTEMPT happened. Period: In 5th year (SWM), James has Snape hanging upside down and literally tells Lily: "Go out with me, and I won't do it again." That is, by definition, attempting to blackmail someone into a date. The fact that Lily told him to piss off and didn't accept doesn't magically erase the fact that James tried it. That is a literal text-based fact from the books, not an opinion. That was my point.
High intellect, zero reading comprehension: Itâs ironic that you accuse others of being "intellectually dishonest" when your entire monologue relies on twisting my words to debunk arguments I never even made. If youâre going to preach about maturity and literary analysis, step one is learning to comprehend what youâre reading before launching into a sermon.
If youâre tired of the fandom feeling like a kindergarten, maybe start by not acting like the kid who makes up what the other person said just to win an argument. Less arrogance, more reading comprehension.
