Fandom Discussion -- Characters and addictions

[themostepotente]

Somebody asked me the other day what my hang up with absinthe was -- and why I write Snape as having an addiction to it.

That got the old wheels a turnin'.

Simple -- Snape as well as any other character should have a weakness if you will. Since Severus is a potionscrafter, an addiction to something he'd have easy access to made great sense to me. And there is something very glamorous about absinthe in the hands of a very unglamorous man that trips my trigger.

I've actually seen a few people addict Snape to (or have a fondness for) absinthe besides scribbulus_ink and myself. Stand the fuck up and be counted people!

And what about poor Remus Lupin? Is he addicted to the wolfsbane potion yet or has he built up a tolerance to it?

I hate, hate, hate when people write characters as being infallible. JFC -- since when did the Q Continuum cross over into the Potterverse?

And Goddess bless the hotness that is Lucius Malfoy, but goddammit when I pinpoint his achilles heel, I will use and abuse it.

So what about other addictive substances? I've a bit of a kink with characters being addicted to Muggle narcotics as well as cigarettes and organics.

I've seen fics with opium and snuff addictions. Yes -- I find this exceedingly hot as well. I'm strange, I know. You knew this or you wouldn't be over here reading :P

What about hardcore abuse and addiction? Cocaine, heroin? Why don't more Snapes have a datura addiction? Bigtime painkiller, folks.

And okay, what about nymphomania and satyriasis? Can't you just picture poor Harry seated in a circle of chairs, eyes upon him as he stands to say;

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter, and I'm a sex addict."

I'm getting off the beaten path here, folks. I want to hear your thoughts on HP characters and addictions. Have a link to leave? By all means, please do.

--P

Comments

[lunarennui.livejournal.com]

i very much support the snape/absinthe connection. it's just something i SEE him using.

it is entirely possible that this is because i'm in love with snape and absinthe, but hey.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

We should start a support group :-)

[cranberryink.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily like to see characters with addictions as their weaknesses. I mean, Snape and absinthe is obvious, right? But for me, it's a little too obvious. I think what turns me off the most about it is that while not everyone has addictive personalities, a lot of writers do, and I feel like a writer is projecting their own quirks onto a character when they give him or her substance addictions. It seems too...almost Mary Sue-ish, if you will.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

You make a very interesting point, and I am certainly guilty of inflicting my clove smoking obsession off on Snape and Black.

But Mary Sue-ish?

What's an acceptable weakness for you then?

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I like to see well written obsessive-compulsive Hermione.

Not an HP writer, but I have played with cocaine addiction in one of my main fandoms, and I was writing self-harm (as a pretty minor plot point, and mostly combined with substance abuse) in another fandom before it reached epidemic proportions elsewhere.

Gina

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Not an HP writer

*gasp*

Don't worry -- you hang around here long enough and you will be :-)

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

*os laughing heartily*

Actually, in a WIP of mine ( that will hopefully be done) Snape is initially addicted to marijuana. I have written (and taken down)a fic where Severus was addicted to heroin and opium-proximity to ingredients and all. And Lucius would join him in nightly orgies of kissing, shooting up, and attempted lovemaking. However, Severus seems to be the type who would know when to say when.

Sirius has been written as a former heroin addict ( see fabularasa)- person who may have been chasing some sort of feeling through experimentation. That would suit his devil may care attitude.

Remus is addicted to comfort, and so is wary of it. Chocolate has a subtle, relaxing effect upon the body-perfect for a person who has to go through a bitter life.

Albus is addicted to nothing. He has probably go through it all. Same with Minerva.

Also, note that the kids in HP sure start in withthe drink rather early.

[alchemia.livejournal.com]

Albus is addicted to nothing.

hmmm, I dunno- you know what I heard was in those lemon drops....?

;-)

[fiendling.livejournal.com]

*wants you to get on aim so she can show you how the merry smutmas is comoingkjaherg ommmgggg*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I have only one thing to say...

WoM! *snickers*

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I've got a cupboard full of absinthe. No one will drink it!

[alchemia.livejournal.com]

Come visit me, bring absinthe =P

[puppy-tenchan.livejournal.com]

I can totally see the attractiveness in addiction. The total dependance on some substance or action is a sexy weakness. However, to say I hate drugs, would be an understatement. I am absolutely apalled by them, and even more so by anything that makes them appear more harmless than they are. Which sadly, most addiction fic does. That renders me unable to really enjoy those fics. (With some rare exceptions.) I just immediatly get a feeling of rage and disgust when I am confronted with anything about drugs and addiction. It's a completely emotional reaction. But, like I said, on a rational level, I completely understand the appeal. Which gives me a nice conflict =D

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Which gives me a nice conflict =D

You ain't kiddin' sistah!

[prettyclever.livejournal.com]

Liz has commanded me to friend you, and here I am. I'm going to sleep now, but I'll likely be back to annoy entertain with my lusty rambling.

I agree about the absinthe. It's delightful stuff, no? I enjoy addicted characters as well, possibly because of my own addictive personality, possibly because I adore human frailty. That's all then. Nothing else to say just now.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Liz cracked the whip, eh?

*chuckles*

Welcome to my journal, dear :-)

*friends you back*

And ditto on the human frailty!

[ptyx.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Snape/Absinthe forever. I wrote about that on my first story, "Baphomet".

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Where? Where? I must read! Link!

[lunulet.livejournal.com]

Oh, OH!! Drug use in fic is one of my HUGEST KINKS. But so is the presence of interesting magic, and I want to see the author come up with something that suits the spirit of the Potterverse. Muggle synthetics and derivatives, like cocaine and heroin, have no place in HP. Datura, hell yes. ;) But I want to see henbane, morning glory seed.. come up with something of your own, in fact. Absinthe has a folk-magical sort of history to it, and is pretty otherworldly. I think it's lovely in fics. But POTIONS, people. Give me POTIONS.

Hmmm..... a list of drug use in fics would be funnn. :D

[lunulet.livejournal.com]

Hmm, actually, I take that back.. For characters that interact in Muggle society (like Sirius) I think Muggle drug use is just fine. I'd believe it. But not for Snape, I think?

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

I've given Remus an opium addiction before. I can easily see him using it to dull the pain of the change, and getting hooked.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I can totally see that too.

I'm curious -- did he obtain that from Severus too?

[roitelet.livejournal.com]

I enjoy fics that include an addicted character. The addiction puts an interesting spin on a character, and certainly makes that character's life more dangerous and unpredictable - an addict's behavior can be controlled very effectively by manipulating their supply. I love fabularasa's Sirius, who is a reformed heroin addict. It gives him a level of insight and compassion that is attractive (read attractive as HOT). I've also seen heroin-addicted Lupin, which seemed to fit, given his level of loneliness and pain after the Potters died. Another addiction scenario that makes sense to me is an addicted DE Snape turning to Dumbledore for help, willing to give up Voldemort in return.

And, for some reason, addicted Alpha males are much sexier than other addicts. I suppose it's just a desire to see a weakness or "softness" in a very driven man...

This is a fascinating thread to me, and one which I will follow with great interest. Thanks for bringing it up!

BTW, how can one procure absinthe? It isn't anything that can be purchased at the liquor store, right? I think I have read that it's illegal in the US; is that correct? Not that I want to, you know, buy any or anything like that...

[alchemia.livejournal.com]

its illegal to sell it, but not to own/drink it. If you're in the US you can buy it online from a business that operates in a country where its legal and have it shipped. Larger orders sometimes raise suspicion when they get to the border as they might think you are buying a quantity to sell, but if you're just buying a couple bottles 99% of the time they don't even take a second look. If it interests you, its worth spending the money to try it. But if you do, its also worth it to spend extra for a good brand- there's some cheep piss out there. Here a helpful link for more info: http://www.feeverte.net/

[a_belladonna]

One of my favourite fics is this fic where Snape is a heroin addict and also an alcoholic: For Tomorrow Ye May Die at Fanfiction.net. (It's a WiP)

I like how Snape and his addiction is described, and how Lupin is absolutely appalled at Snape's actions- the author isn't glorifying drug use here, in fact Snape is described (through Lupin's eyes) as being a disgusting wreck. (And Snape hates himself for being that weak to use Muggles drugs, but is torn between his addiction and his pride.) Perhaps I should add that so far this story is gen, Snape being too busy to get his next fix to have sex ;)

Somehow I can mostly imagine Snape being addicted to something (I think it was dovielr who once said that Snape's mood changes could be because he wanted his drugs ^^), but I could imagine Sirius and Lupin being addicted to something as well. (And wasn't there a smell of alcohol around Sirius, when Harry came to Grimmauld Place after the attack on Arthur?)

And yes, there should be more stories about nymphomania and satyriasis, I've only read two, one about Harry dealing with Sirius's death and "Hogwarts a Rehabilitated History" (Which features a marijuana-addicted Lupin, btw...)

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

And yes, there should be more stories about nymphomania and satyriasis, I've only read two, one about Harry dealing with Sirius's death and "Hogwarts a Rehabilitated History" (Which features a marijuana-addicted Lupin, btw...)

That was the funniest thing evah. I was talking to snaples over IM when she was illustrating paper-caned Lucius :-)

[starrysummer.livejournal.com]

I have a big thing for drug use in fics, whether it's recreational use or addiction. In one of my fics, I made Ernie Macmillan addicted to certain potions. I'm really attracted to the idea of more ambitious characters trying to find more hours in a day. Seriously, with his claim of eight hours of studying daily before OWLs, I had to wonder if he wouldn't jump at the opportunity to substitute substances for sleep.

Anyway, the fic is here (http://www.skyehawke.com/archive/story.php?no=3131) if you're interested. It's Ernie/Hermione/Bellatrix among other things. And if I were less hungry and less lazy, I could probably pull up some fics that aren't by me.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link, lovey :-)

Should be interesting. I'm curious to see how Bellatrix fit into the grand scheme of things.

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

My Harry is addicted to cigarettes. I actually worked this whole scenario out in my head once. Basically, he picked it up from Sirius. It's a solitary activity; it gives him something to do when he's brooding about his friends dying and having to kill Voldemort. And, it drive Hermione crazy.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I can totally picture Sirius with a whole mess of bad habits that Harry would try and emulate. He's got the same reckless personality that his godfather had.

[cnary-crem-dght.livejournal.com]

i was thinking about this post on the way to school and something struck me.

i think the absinthe thing is very much like the artist thing. i find the fandom (myself included) wanting to make snape into some sort of intelectual artist (the art of potions making, or drawing, or reading poetry) and absinthe + artist is something that equates easily in my mind. look at the whole history of early modern art. From manet, van gough and gaugin, to picasso they all are drawn (no pun intended) to absinthe and have created art about the drink.

i think it's more of an intellectual status and therefore more written about and widely accepted, unlike some of the other drugs. i know all sorts of people use cocaine, but there's really not alot of romantic history behind that...

[blackletter]

i know all sorts of people use cocaine, but there's really not alot of romantic history behind that...

'Cept Sherlock Holmes.

[-bestrafe-mich-.livejournal.com]

I could see Lucius in an opium den...

So in other news I totally agree with you about the "god mode" characters in stories. Not enough people take into consideration that it doesn't matter who you are but every one has a weakness. I often wonder why we don't have more "hamlet" endings in stories these days. Every great author gives their main character a weekness or some kind of mental "tick." Think about shakespear's plays, Othello's weakness was jealousy and Iago was a psychotic man with schizophrenic tendancies. If we never give a character a weakness we never truly give that character life, I don't know about you but I prefer to read about "people" not characters and giving them an addiction or a problem gives them life, they are no longer words on a page they are peopl living in the daily hassle of the world. Ok I've ranted long enough... sorry about that, this is just somthing I'v thought a lot about.

P.s. please forgive any typing errors I've just got a new laptop and I'm having trouble with the keyboard.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I could see Lucius in an opium den...

So could I. And in a bathhouse. A high class brothel.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

I think any or all of the adults were probably smokers in the '70s, when everyone was, and probably experimented, and it's certainly possible that Mundungus Fletcher is a drunk and that Sirius is on his way to becoming one in OotP.

In other fandoms, I've written heroin addiction and alcoholism, because it seemed to suit the characters, but it seems to me that in HP, most of the characters I'm interested in are so freaking tragic already that it seems like piling on. Of course, I feel the same way about disability fic.

I think the characters already have weaknesses to be exploited, and while I can see the attraction to making one of them an addict, I also think the topic is too often badly handled in fanfic.

Otoh, there's nothing wrong with someone enjoying a couple drinks or a joint every once in a while, without it being an addiction.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I think the characters already have weaknesses to be exploited, and while I can see the attraction to making one of them an addict, I also think the topic is too often badly handled in fanfic.

I would tend to agree, and I think this is because people are too lazy to put any effort into researching.

You make a very good point about there being enough character tragedy already. And as I know you are a diehard Sirius/Remus shipper, I don't think I need to point out that the boys were doomed from the get go :-)

*pets them both*

[arachnethe2.livejournal.com]

Well, this might not count as teh great addiction, but I like to write Sirius as a chain smoker. You know, as if every single cigarette could be his last one. :)

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I do that with my cloves -- chain smoke, that is.

Here from quickquote

[jollityfarm.livejournal.com]

I don't see Severus as a drinker. I think he's one of those people that heavy drinkers scorn and scoff at for wanting to be "in control": I believe the idea of being "out of it" would absolutely horrify him. You may say "yes, but he's not that well controlled, is he?" but I still say that restraint and control are things he values highly. Plus, people who drink too much often do really dumb things and wind up with everyone laughing at them. Someone like Severus, with his background of bullying, with his obsessive need to be in control, in charge and to have power over people, and with his lack of popularity and probable terror of becoming the butt of someone's joke, would probably be repulsed, quite literally, at the very idea of getting trollied for "fun".

Plus, I do rather suspect that connecting Severus and absinthe is along the lines of connecting Severus and glamourous Byronic dandies who compose witty bon mots while supping at their highly potent liquor and no doubt planning an evening of further debauchery in and out of a frilly shirt. Anyone is welcome to whatever interpretation of Severus they feel is right, but I just can't see the glamour inherent within him.

I do think, however, that he smokes. It would explain the yellowish tone to his skin and teeth (and I'm sure canon says he's got yellow fingers too). And he smokes roll-ups, and confiscates tobacco off kids when he finds them smoking, then smokes it himself later. He's annoyed at his addiction to tobacco, and has tried to give up. And I think he's tried cannabis back when he was a teenager, because a group of his friends were smoking the stuff. However, I don't think he did it again, because he's one of the last people in canon that ought to be on the humourous cigarettes. Cannabis is a mood-enhancing drug, and there are some moods that really don't need enhancing.

There is also caffine, and I have no doubt that Severus is a Serious Coffee man. By which I mean, no "tall skinny lattes" or "cinnamon-sprinkled moccachino" or whatever they serve at the fashionable coffee-houses. None of that namby-pamby milk and sugar nonsense. Serious Coffee worth the capitals is thick, black and with a personality of its own. It could almost walk across the table and pour itself into the mug. And the mug is the last unbroken one from a set of four, badly chipped and stained brown on the inside, possibly the outside too. Severus and a number of the other men in canon are probably Serious Coffee men in this manner, using vile strong coffee to keep them awake through work, heroics or just life in general.

As for the other canon characters, I think Sirius is a heavy drinker (but not much of a smoker; I like the idea of he and Severus having complimentary/opposing vices and wildly differing moral values on the subject) and I think James et al probably followed suit in their younger days, although perhaps not Remus so much. I also think Ron's shaping up to be potentially quite a heavy drinker. After all, who is it in their circle who is the first to suggest underage drinking? I think that as soon as he gets his hands on enough alcohol, he's going to go crazy for a while. Harry will probably gamely try to keep up, but he won't be putting it away like Ron. Not in public, anyway: I can possibly see Harry becoming a sad secret drinker, but Ron will be one of those "wild" party guys.

Re: Here from quickquote

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I don't see Severus as a drinker. I think he's one of those people that heavy drinkers scorn and scoff at for wanting to be "in control": I believe the idea of being "out of it" would absolutely horrify him. You may say "yes, but he's not that well controlled, is he?" but I still say that restraint and control are things he values highly. Plus, people who drink too much often do really dumb things and wind up with everyone laughing at them. Someone like Severus, with his background of bullying, with his obsessive need to be in control, in charge and to have power over people, and with his lack of popularity and probable terror of becoming the butt of someone's joke, would probably be repulsed, quite literally, at the very idea of getting trollied for "fun".

Hmm -- now see because I could never really see Severus 'losing control' with another human being, drink seemed the perfect escape to let loose his inhibitions.

I do think, however, that he smokes. It would explain the yellowish tone to his skin and teeth (and I'm sure canon says he's got yellow fingers too). And he smokes roll-ups, and confiscates tobacco off kids when he finds them smoking, then smokes it himself later. He's annoyed at his addiction to tobacco, and has tried to give up. And I think he's tried cannabis back when he was a teenager, because a group of his friends were smoking the stuff. However, I don't think he did it again, because he's one of the last people in canon that ought to be on the humourous cigarettes. Cannabis is a mood-enhancing drug, and there are some moods that really don't need enhancing.

It's one of the most logical explanations for his having yellowed teeth. I mean, I would hate to think of Snape as never picking up a toothbrush.

[fernwithy.livejournal.com]

Over from d_s.

I dunno. I guess I think of addictions as kind of a boring thing to add to a character--very after-school special for me. I like exploring the Achilles' heels that might lead to an addiction to something, but could easily lead to something else as well. Remus... well, Remus has a lot of weakness, and one of his chief ones is being totally self-absorbed a lot of the time. I don't know that Wolfsbane is addictive--we're given no particular cause to assume it is--but it would hardly matter if he's addicted to it, as he has to take it one way or the other anyway if he's going to have anything resembling a normal life. Snape? I can't really see him with an addiction to an intoxicant, because he has a horror of being humiliated, and intoxicated people do humiliating things. He's got quite enough of an addiction to torturing his students emotionally; he doesn't really need a chemical one on top of it.

I guess it just really doesn't seem to fit in the Potterverse, which hasn't tended to deal with these more surface sorts of issues, instead going for the deeper questions of personality and morality that might contribute to them (one of the reasons I like it). A story could include an addiction, but the interesting part of any such story is always what it is about the person that made the addictive behavior attractive in the first place and fed it.

[fernwithy.livejournal.com]

PS: I've noticed that other people have mentioned Sirius's heavy drinking. Definitely true, and I think there's an argument to be made that he was on the fast track to alcoholism when he died. But again, that wasn't alcoholism per se as a story line, just one (rather muted) part of the general self-destruction he was going through, probably somewhat less important than his tendency to go up to Buckbeak's room and mope.

[teshara.livejournal.com]

The addiction thing has always irked me a bit. Most of all because most young authors use their fics as 'Just Say No' campaign without knowing anything about the drugs the characters are using. (Trust me, I read one today about Hermione getting high on anti-seizure meds.)
Please people, ask for help if you have no experience with what you are writing about. If you were going to write about Egypt you would read up on it, right? Right?
Um....right?

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

(Trust me, I read one today about Hermione getting high on anti-seizure meds.)

It's entirely possibly to get high on phenobarbital. It is a schedule three narcotic.

[kleio-the-muse.livejournal.com]

First of all, I must confess to never having tasted absinthe in my life. To be rectified, asap! But I can quite easily imagine Snape to be obsessed by that stuff, the sort of sexy gothic figure that he is;)

As for other addictions, I'd actually prefer to see more Magic Addicts, meaning wizards/witches addicted to some substance, not of the Muggle, but of the Wizarding Word (not necessarily Ogden's, though, as that's grown a bit old, I think). Especially these pure-blood-enthusiasts aren't exactly likely to develop a habit with anything Muggle, so why not come up with a whole new range of Wizardidng substances, including absinthe and perhaps even a brand of cigarettes, just to make it more about the wizards and less about us muggles trying to force our likes and dislikes onto the HP characters.

Anyway, addiction is a great plot device - yet another obstacle standing in the way of romance:) - so, I definitely don't want people to stop writing about it, but perhaps make it a bit more Wizarding?

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Anyway, addiction is a great plot device - yet another obstacle standing in the way of romance:) - so, I definitely don't want people to stop writing about it, but perhaps make it a bit more Wizarding?

Like Snape and Black really need another obstacle? LOL!

yeah...

[the-original-4.livejournal.com]

ok, like i can totally see the snape/ absinthe thing and i can totally dig it. i dunno why but l like imagining the H.P. characters as drug and ehemcoughsexcoughhemhem addicts... i read once in a slash ficcy that draco was so fuckin hung up because harry kept forcing him into kinky ehempositionshemhem and when draco resisted harry beat him up and left him close to death and alone. so since harry never came back draco sat himself up and drank a whole shitload of vodka tequila absinthe you name it he drank it. then he found a stash of muggle painkillers and depressants. he took everything and just sat there. he o.d'd and died. harry came back (just to recollect his things) and found draco's body there. harry killed himself after that.

[starkittyn.livejournal.com]

Absinthe seems like the perfect Snape drink really. Maybe I'm influenced by Johnny Depp in "From Hell" or reading too many fics where absinthe features prominently. (I have an unhealthy interest in vampires who always seem to be drinking the stuff) I like that he needs a weakness although I tend to see the fact that he tries so hard to control everything as being a weakness in and of itself.

And Lucius' weakness is ...*Drum roll* either the pimp cane of doom OR the black hair ribbon of doom.

*snickers* I saw you friended me and I'm friending back. You're interesting. :)

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Absinthe really does taste like fucking crap though.

*chuckles* Me? Interesting? You have me confused with my evil twin. *halo*