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rj_andersonMy reaction to finding out that Snape was a Capricorn instead of a Scorpio:
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Er, was I supposed to care about this?
Sorry, I've just never had the slightest interest or confidence in astrological signs as a means of personality determination. I don't think I even bothered to decide when D&L Snape's birthday was, since it never came into any of the stories. Besides, if Snape were a Scorpio, as many people sincerely believed suited him to a T -- dude, that would make him the same sign as Kalan Porter (you knew I had to get a reference in there, didn't you?). Any astrological sign which can encompass both those personalities is so vague as to be completely useless, if you ask me.
Speaking of Snape, I've heard rumours -- I'm so out of the loop these days -- that Snape is "really" completely obsessed with his own selfish ambitions to the exclusion of all else, and that he is "really" evil or at least completely amoral and only prepared to support whichever side appears to be winning at the time. *yawn* Sorry, but I seem to recall having this discussion around the time PoA (the book, not the movie) came out and it didn't interest me much then either. JKR will let us know what's really going on in Severus's mind in good time, I'm sure. In the meantime, there are perfectly good canonical reasons to believe that he is not entirely self-interested, and the game of "My Snape Is More Canonical Than Yours Because He's Meaner" smacks of pettiness and wishful thinking to me.
Personally, I'll take any Snape who appears to look, speak and behave similarly to the way he does in canon, and where any obvious deviations from canon are noted and intelligently addressed in the context of the fic. I'm tired of Snapes who are sekritly beyootiful, expert oenophiles, and own sprawling manor houses to which they invite a host of wide-eyed Mary Sues (Hermione!Sue very much included) -- but I'm also tired of Snapes who are actually more vicious, selfish, and flagrantly amoral than I've ever seen Snape behave in canon. Oh, and Snape is not a dribbling psychological mess, either. He certainly has Issues, but if he really had all the Issues that some fic writers foist upon him, the guy would never get anything done because he'd be curled up in a corner in the St. Mungo's psych ward somewhere, gibbering.
My Snape, for the record, was born and raised a perfect gutter-snipe (snape?). After years of teaching at Hogwarts he's no longer desperately poor, but he's careful with the money he does have and is not inclined to spend it on indulgences -- except perhaps, in his younger and more nervous years, the occasional cigarette. He is on good terms with McGonagall and respects Dumbledore: though he is fully conscious that neither of them is perfect (Dumbledore especially can get on his nerves), he nevertheless appreciates what they have done for him. He has perfectly rational reasons (based on his somewhat limited knowledge) for disliking Harry and bullying Neville, but deep down he also enjoys being nasty to them and doesn't find it much of a stretch. However, he also has enough of a conscience to know that this is not the way he ought to behave, so he can't even get enough enjoyment out of it to make it worthwhile. This makes him extra cranky, so it's a bit of a vicious cycle.
He adds grease to his hair (which also tends to be naturally greasy and lank to begin with) to lend credence to the illusion that he is still in every respect the same as he was in his Death Eater days. But really, it's all because Sirius Black mocked his appearance when he first came to Hogwarts, and at that very moment Severus Snape gritted his eleven-year-old teeth and swore that he would never, ever, ever change the way he looked lest he give Black the satisfaction of thinking he'd won. Now that the odious Black is dead this isn't so much of an issue, but he still thinks it isn't a good time to go drawing attention to himself through even a minor change in his habits and appearance, so the grease and the yellow teeth (leftover from the old pack-a-day habit) remain.
Even underneath the grease he is not classically handsome. He is not handsome at all, in fact. His only beauty (if it can be called that) is his voice, which he carefully trained out of its original uncultured accent and has polished smooth through years of practice. He does not go around wooing the female populace with it, however, even if he thought any of them would pay him the slightest attention (or that they would be worth his attention in return). He prefers to keep The Voice for the purpose of menacing his students and cowing weaker adults into submission.
I've already written a lengthy essay about the question of Snape's redemption, and a number of stories about the possibility of him having a successful romantic relationship, so I won't bother repeating any of that here. Basically, if my view of Snape is deemed hopelessly romanticized and uncanonical in certain quarters, no skin off my nose. Those who enjoy the stories I write will go on enjoying them, and those who don't are perfectly free to move on and seek out the kinds of stories they do like.
...
...
...
Er, was I supposed to care about this?
Sorry, I've just never had the slightest interest or confidence in astrological signs as a means of personality determination. I don't think I even bothered to decide when D&L Snape's birthday was, since it never came into any of the stories. Besides, if Snape were a Scorpio, as many people sincerely believed suited him to a T -- dude, that would make him the same sign as Kalan Porter (you knew I had to get a reference in there, didn't you?). Any astrological sign which can encompass both those personalities is so vague as to be completely useless, if you ask me.
Speaking of Snape, I've heard rumours -- I'm so out of the loop these days -- that Snape is "really" completely obsessed with his own selfish ambitions to the exclusion of all else, and that he is "really" evil or at least completely amoral and only prepared to support whichever side appears to be winning at the time. *yawn* Sorry, but I seem to recall having this discussion around the time PoA (the book, not the movie) came out and it didn't interest me much then either. JKR will let us know what's really going on in Severus's mind in good time, I'm sure. In the meantime, there are perfectly good canonical reasons to believe that he is not entirely self-interested, and the game of "My Snape Is More Canonical Than Yours Because He's Meaner" smacks of pettiness and wishful thinking to me.
Personally, I'll take any Snape who appears to look, speak and behave similarly to the way he does in canon, and where any obvious deviations from canon are noted and intelligently addressed in the context of the fic. I'm tired of Snapes who are sekritly beyootiful, expert oenophiles, and own sprawling manor houses to which they invite a host of wide-eyed Mary Sues (Hermione!Sue very much included) -- but I'm also tired of Snapes who are actually more vicious, selfish, and flagrantly amoral than I've ever seen Snape behave in canon. Oh, and Snape is not a dribbling psychological mess, either. He certainly has Issues, but if he really had all the Issues that some fic writers foist upon him, the guy would never get anything done because he'd be curled up in a corner in the St. Mungo's psych ward somewhere, gibbering.
My Snape, for the record, was born and raised a perfect gutter-snipe (snape?). After years of teaching at Hogwarts he's no longer desperately poor, but he's careful with the money he does have and is not inclined to spend it on indulgences -- except perhaps, in his younger and more nervous years, the occasional cigarette. He is on good terms with McGonagall and respects Dumbledore: though he is fully conscious that neither of them is perfect (Dumbledore especially can get on his nerves), he nevertheless appreciates what they have done for him. He has perfectly rational reasons (based on his somewhat limited knowledge) for disliking Harry and bullying Neville, but deep down he also enjoys being nasty to them and doesn't find it much of a stretch. However, he also has enough of a conscience to know that this is not the way he ought to behave, so he can't even get enough enjoyment out of it to make it worthwhile. This makes him extra cranky, so it's a bit of a vicious cycle.
He adds grease to his hair (which also tends to be naturally greasy and lank to begin with) to lend credence to the illusion that he is still in every respect the same as he was in his Death Eater days. But really, it's all because Sirius Black mocked his appearance when he first came to Hogwarts, and at that very moment Severus Snape gritted his eleven-year-old teeth and swore that he would never, ever, ever change the way he looked lest he give Black the satisfaction of thinking he'd won. Now that the odious Black is dead this isn't so much of an issue, but he still thinks it isn't a good time to go drawing attention to himself through even a minor change in his habits and appearance, so the grease and the yellow teeth (leftover from the old pack-a-day habit) remain.
Even underneath the grease he is not classically handsome. He is not handsome at all, in fact. His only beauty (if it can be called that) is his voice, which he carefully trained out of its original uncultured accent and has polished smooth through years of practice. He does not go around wooing the female populace with it, however, even if he thought any of them would pay him the slightest attention (or that they would be worth his attention in return). He prefers to keep The Voice for the purpose of menacing his students and cowing weaker adults into submission.
I've already written a lengthy essay about the question of Snape's redemption, and a number of stories about the possibility of him having a successful romantic relationship, so I won't bother repeating any of that here. Basically, if my view of Snape is deemed hopelessly romanticized and uncanonical in certain quarters, no skin off my nose. Those who enjoy the stories I write will go on enjoying them, and those who don't are perfectly free to move on and seek out the kinds of stories they do like.
Tags:
- characters,
- essays,
- hp,
- snape,
- theories
