And now it’s time for a blast from my past! All Kidding Aside by Kihin Ranno was one of those fanfics that just really affected my time in high school. My friends and I quoted this fanfic almost as much as we quoted the Harry Potter books.
All Kidding Aside is a Harry Potter fanfic that takes place during the time of the Marauders were in school together with Lily and Snape. Notably, Snape has no real role in the story unlike most other fics written in this era, and is firmly focused on the Marauders, particularly the relationship between Sirius and Remus.
The story begins with Lily observing Sirius and Remus, who constantly make jokes about being a couple or being attracted to one another. This then causes Lily to wonder what exactly is going on between Remus and Sirius. When Lily actually asks them in front of the other Marauders at first things are fine, but then begin to spiral out of control when James makes the mistake of calling Sirius a liar. This causes Sirius to react badly as he views his whole family as a bunch of liars, and Sirius regards it as James of accusing him of being like his family.
Sirius actually quickly forgives James, but he and Remus devise a plan to get back at James, Lily, and Peter by pretending that they actually are gay but then revealing that they aren’t so that their friends feel silly. Without spoiling anything let’s just say things don’t go as planned.
There are several reasons I love this fic and one definitely has to be the dialogue; each character’s voice comes through brilliantly and the Marauders are just as hilarious as you expect them to be.
“Padfoot, could you pass the toast?”
“No, I will not pass the toast. I refuse to pass the toast. I will have nothing of your toast passing. Toast passing is for grandmothers and Slytherins! Toast passing is vile – the work of Satan – and I will have none of it! In fact, I suggest we all partake in a boycott against passing the toast. So decrees the Great and Mysterious and Beautiful and Charming and Altogether Wondrous Sirius–”
“Here’s the toast, Peter.”
This quote just says so much about Sirius and how goofy he is in general. As the fic progresses each little bit of dialogue furthers our understanding of the characters and what kind of people they are.
Another amazing thing about this fic is that the author doesn’t forget about Peter. Peter is often the forgotten Marauder in fics, because fans don’t like him for betraying Lily and James. The author of this fic has Peter contribute just as much as the other characters; furthermore, he is actually an extremely likable character throughout the fic. Although there are occasional hints to Peter’s dark nature, the author doesn’t dwell on it, because that isn’t the focus of the story and it’s not like the Marauders know that Peter is going to be evil anyway. Plus, there has to be a reason that Peter was friends with James, Remus, and Sirius — they didn’t just put up with him, they were all close friends! The author captures this perfectly.
Overall, if you want to read a fun fic about the Marauders that will have you laughing along with them this fic is for you.
I’ll admit that I’m also guilty of this. Snape is my favorite character, and after reading the fifth book, for the longest time, I loathed James Potter. However, in recent years, as I’ve come to terms with the more problematic aspects of Snape’s character, I got to thinking that I should give James another chance. Unfortunately, even then, something about James still struck me the wrong way. Despite being a widely popular character among fans, we don’t know all that much about James outside what we are told by other characters—it’s hard to say whether or not he was even a good person—and what we do know about him is that for much of his life he valued ideals that reinforced toxic masculinity.
Lady Geek Girl and Friends 