Curate, connect, and discover
Sometimes, I'm just very normal about James Potter and Lily Evans but then I'm not. So growing up, I watched the hp movies first so I never quite had any interest in their relationship, they just seemed like a tragic straight relationship to me so I never bothered with it. But then I read the books and I went immediately like this- "No wonder James Potter worshipped Lily Evans, I would too." Like, this woman is the legit reason why the whole harry potter thing started, and to see the fact that most of the time she's just blatantly ignored or being stripped out of her original identity to be a strong independent lesbian (I don't have any problem with her sexuality, people can imagine her with whomever they like but it kind of ridicules Lily's motherhood in some way) who absolutely either hates James Potter or Insults him for fun just bcz he has a crush on her or being a side chick for James's steamy cheating romance flings hurts me more than I think it should.
I get it, the marauders fandom wholly embraces the fanon so dearly to them like a warm blanket because of many obvious reasons, but sometimes I think we just totally miss the point of this whole franchise. It's obvious that jkr sucks at writing romances which is why most people don't get the spark of canon ships like romione, hinny and remadora but completely missing the point about Lily being a mother figure in Harry's life and as a lover figure in James's life truly pisses me off a lot. Even though everybody is allowed to dislike certain ships because not everybody has the same taste, but I think we miss the fact that Lily was always more than just a mother and a wife in a way that molded her into what she wanted to be.
The reason why I'm completely enamored by Jily is not because it's just a canon ship which literally started Harry Potter, but because the way Lily Evans just had an effect on everyone who crossed their paths with her. Professor Slughorn himself was so besotted with her, Professor Minerva McGonagall teared up at the news of her departing because who wouldn't like her? She's so brave, so full of joy and laughter that she always forgot her own pain in favor of sucking the pain out of another. James was indeed quite taken aback by her beauty and charm, but I'd like to think it developed into something more after seeing the way she treated her close individuals. Lily was the younger sibling, and because she was a witch, she constantly faced harsh behaviors from her elder sister for being a "freak" according to her sister's standards. She may have had an inferiority complex, and she also hanged out a lot with snape, despite facing discriminations in Hogwarts for being friends with a half-blood poor Slytherin. She was willing to change snape, always defending him left and right but it never worked out in the end. Which left her feeling very defeated, she gave up because she felt like she was not worth it, maybe those bullies were right and she really was just a mudblood. And James, developing a crush on her while continuously harassing snape didn't help either. But if we analyze James's character, knowing that he literally took in Sirius just so that he could escape his abusive family, he knew that Lily was downrightly getting used and snape was taking advantage of her kindness and her stubbornness, he knew it because Sirius was in Lily's place once too, always constantly reminded of how they were never enough, so he wanted to save her ( in his own pathetic loser way ofc ) I think there are many hints of Lily noticing James quite a lot because if you really claimed to hate your enemy then why were you so bloody obsessed with the way how their hair looked like after playing quidditch hmmm 🤨🤨
But not just that, let's also talk about how she literally single handedly MADE THE JAMES POTTER, the absolute arrogant toe-rag quit bullying and hexing people for fun, knowing that he's been like this for the most of his life, but he decided to change for her just like a snap of a finger! Not only that, but she also quickly befriended Sirius in a way that he literally turned out to be her future son's Godfather and the secret keeper. The absolute hold she had on the marauders really needs to be studied!
The love James and Lily had for each other was an act of rebellion in it's own way, because back in that time, muggleborns were seen as scums of the earth and inferior to the wizarding society. But James literally went against every single pureblood tradition just to be with someone he loves and believes with his whole heart. That was always the main point. The reason why both of them were so cherished. He literally went up against Voldemort without a wand not just because of his son, but also for Lily, who he absolutely trusts with his whole life, the only person worth loosing the pureblood title for, the only person worth taking the risk of taking the Avada curse to his heart, he just loved her so beautifully, just like the way she always deserved. And Lily, oh lily, always saw the good in everyone, but saw the best in James, decided to sacrifice her life for their one and only son out of pure love and devotion. And the sacrificial love was so strong that the strongest dark wizard of all time succumbed to his own curse and it tore apart a piece of his soul in revenge of separating the two soulmates whom were always destined to find each other and get woven together in every single timeline. It changed the tide of the entire war. She ended it single handedly.
Yes, she was depicted as a girl who was just a close friend of snape, as a sister who's facing discriminations from her own elder sister's profound jealousy, as a lover and wife of James Potter, as a mother of Harry Potter- the boy who lived. But I think there's so much beauty in every single role she was depicted in. It gives us a glimpse of how much impact she had on everybody around her, how much she meant dear to everybody who cared for her, of how much diverse and forgiving person she was, of the way she was always a reassuring shadow around harry even though she was no longer present in the mortal world. No, motherhood doesn't make her one dimensional or boring, it only enhances her ability of loving people the way they deserve. It makes her so complex, but so powerful at the same time. She was a proud mother, and a lover, a friend, and a woman.
Lily Evans, what an absolute Goddess you were. And you'll always be. No other fictional character ever had a hold so strong on me the way she has.