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

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I could see Lucius in an opium den...

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

[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*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

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

[arachnethe2.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the dumb question, but what are cloves?

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.

[timebomb.livejournal.com]

The problem with having a character addicted to marijuana, is that marijuana doesn't have an addictive substance in it. You have to be an obsessive compulsive personality to actually become physically addicted to it. In which case, it's a psychological addiction anyway.
So, he'd either just smoke it a lot out of other reasons, or have an obsessive compusive behavior problem.


Albus is addicted to nothing.
Haha. He probably has the sweet tooth to rule all sweet tooths, thought.

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can totally see Sirius slipping Harry and the Weasley kids cigarettes and stolen sips of fire whiskey when Molly wasn't looking in Book 5.

[-bestrafe-mich-.livejournal.com]

I've got a list.... and plot bunnies...

[raendrop.livejournal.com]

Heehee! Oh, that makes the whole Snape thing make so much sense now.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Remus... well, Remus has a lot of weakness, and one of his chief ones is being totally self-absorbed a lot of the time.

You think Remus is self-absorbed? Sirius, probably. Lucius, definitely. But Remus Lupin?

Addiction isn't necessarily chemical dependency. It can take the form of many things. The internet for example. Fuck, even fandom.

Addiction was meant to be a non-specific topic. I just choose to prattle on about drugs, particularly absinthe because I am familiar with the taste.

[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.

[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!

[teshara.livejournal.com]

Nope. klonopin 2mg.
Had to look it up on their website. It wasn't very informative about recreational use. Go figure :)

http://www.livejournal.com/community/deleterius/1039784.html#cutid1

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.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

Yes, true absinth is illegal here. You can get alcohol called absinth, but it has no thujone. But, hey, there are ways around that. So, I'm so frikkin clever I got some of the real stuff. But it's so foul I can't drink it!

[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*

[starkittyn.livejournal.com]

I figure it must not taste too good given what it's made out of. That's what the whole sugar cube thing is about isn't it?

I tend to imagine Snapes elegant fingers (and no, I don't know why I think they are elegant, they just...are in my head. Fanon oh fanon!) stained with various potion substances and that whole green glow is just so Slytherin to me.

Ha! I see those horns under there!

*polishes own horns*