Title: The Measure of a Man
Author:
gilpin25Summary: I’m sixteen years old and I’m in love with a girl who thinks I’m an arrogant, bullying toerag, and I don’t know how to change her mind as everything I do just makes it worse. James Potter, who usually has all the answers, has none for this... (James/Lily)
Rating: R
Warnings: Language; violence
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Comments 35
I especially loved his conversation with Remus, very revealing of both their characters. Also the hints at what is yet to come for all of them with Remus's comment about Peter (“I asked Peter. He always cracks under pressure if you find the right key.”) and Snape's own integrity despite his hatred of James.
Anyways, this was just really wonderful and I'm so glad to have found the fic!
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I did think a lot about James beforehand, trying to make sense of the (sometimes) contradictory clues we see in canon. Part of the enjoyment of writing this was trying to show that he made a conscious decision to 'grow-up' and assume responsibility for his actions. Probably it might have happened in time anyway, but I like to imagine Lily was the driving force behind this, as he has to get from her viewing him as an 'arrogant toerag' to going out in year seven somehow!
Am so glad you liked the conversation with Remus as I'm a huge Remus fan and normally write fics with him in. So I hoped it was feasible he'd have a starring role in this, even if James was a little oblivious to a few things there. And, yes, I wanted to show Snape as, typically, having his own odd form of integrity, as well as getting completely the wrong end of the stick about James' behaviour because of their past and the mistrust between them.
Thank you again. I really appreciate
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“I asked Peter. He always cracks under pressure if you find the right key.”
Foreshadowing, but not overdone and not by demonizing Peter.
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I did think a lot about James beforehand, trying to make sense of the (sometimes) contradictory clues we see in canon. Rightly or wrongly, I wanted to show that he made a conscious decision to 'grow-up', and assume responsibility for his actions. Probably it might have happened in time anyway, but I like to imagine Lily was the driving force behind this, as he has to get from her viewing him as an 'arrogant toerag' to Head Boy and going out in year seven somehow!
Many thanks again. :)
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I'm very pleased you liked this as it gave me a fair few headaches. Not actually writing it, which was hugely enjoyable, but trying to sort out in my head beforehand (and during) where I was going with it, and how I saw James from all those well scattered canon clues. Some seem to contradict the others, but then that made it interesting to try and come up with a way his 'growing-up' could have started, and what prompted it. I like to imagine it was a conscious decision on his part to take responsibility for his actions, and the affect they had on others, and that Lily provided the motivation. Which left me with a still arrogant James in some ways, but one who was very uncertain when it came to romance and things he'd never had to consider before, such as being disliked.
I felt so bad for Remus during that whole conversation, and sort of glad that James never cottoned onI know. :( I was trying to write it to sound half as if Remus had a crush on ( ... )
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Oh you should!! I would love to hear Auntie Siri's advice to the lovelorn!
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What I loved most about this was the characterisation, especially James. He's such a flat character in canon and there are so many things left unexplained by JKR. I think you fleshed out the whole Marauder dynamic really well, which must be pretty hard to do, given how complex it seems to be from what we do know in canon. I think you must have put a lot of thought into it all and it really shows.
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I'm so glad you liked the characterisation because I did put a lot of thought into this one beforehand, especially trying to sort out the (sometimes) contradictory glimpses of James in canon. I wish we'd got more of the story of the Marauders in DH but, alas, it wasn't to be. It did leave me free to imagine how he could have got from the obnoxious James we see in Snape's worst memory, to the one who is an admired Head Boy, and going out with Lily in year seven. I like to think he made a conscious decision to 'grow up' and take responsibility for his actions. And that other people may have played a part in this, lol.
As for the Marauders - I think the dynamics are fascinating, with so many possibilities to write about...
Many thanks again. I really appreciate it. :)
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