snapedefender

[snapedefender]

no i said what i said. they should fall in love, kiss, and fuck nasty, send tweet.

i need someone, ANYONE to write the au where snape doesn’t die and harry “i was happiest teaching my fellow students” potter becomes the dada professor like he SHOULD have and they have to sort out being coworkers after spending most of their time hating each other and eventually it’s like “hey, we actually have shared trauma and similar senses of humor and what the fuck i may actually like you as a person” and they become best friends & research partners & eventually maybe fall in love

please write it so i don’t have to, please

[snapedefender]

lol this got long sorry.

tbh i agree that rowling bungled snape’s redemption arc - i think she got too used to using him as a red herring narrative hook (esp considering one of her major cliffhangers is built around snape’s inscrutability) and struggled to find a way to competently answer the question of “is snape good or bad” and did it in a way so dissatisfying people still have heated opinions about his redemption. i’ve said this before, but his redemption is ultimately badly planned because it’s presented to the reader in the past tense - we never really see him redeeming himself in the narrative as it’s happening, we only get the story of it from his memories as it’s already happened. that makes it immediately less vivid to the reader and takes away a lot of the power his redemption arc could have had, had we seen it in motion.

so yeah, i agree rowling bungled that one. but where i disagree is that snape’s narrative spot in the books could have been done if he had just given them too much homework/too many detentions. like. there’s other teachers who do that in the books. snape did have to be extra mean/nasty because his job in the story is to be a central antagonist and obstacle to harry & co in a way mcgonagall or trewlany can’t be. he is the Mean Teacher and no, i don’t think that can be accomplished necessarily by simply giving them detentions. 

take book one. the central tension of that book (as a kid - as an adult, it’s definitely easier to see through, but considering book one is the 100% meant to be a children’s book, we can leave that aside for now) is that harry & co know - they just Know! - that snape is the one trying to get on the third floor and to the stone. i don’t know that they would be as convinced it was snape if he just gave them extra homework or more detentions - they have to seriously believe that snape is nasty enough to be actively trying to steal the stone. there’s a reason the plot twist works well in that book: we’re given two teachers, one innocuous and seemingly inoffensive, and one obviously, in-your-face Nasty, and we’re told that one of them is doing Bad Things. obvs kids (and the characters!) believe it’s the in-your-face Nasty teacher, so the twist when it’s the innocuous teacher instead is much stronger! and it wouldn’t be as strong if snape was just blandly annoying or strict - he needs to be Mean.

and that’s true for a lot of the strength of snape as a narrative hook and red herring. because harry and co believe so strongly in snape’s unerring meanness, it’s a lot easier to hinge plot twists on snape doing unexpected things. and it’s part of the reason that his redemption even works at all, despite the bungled set-up: we’ve been told and seen that snape is Mean and Hurtful all this time, so it’s an effective twist to see that he IS actually one of the good guys, and DID actually work against voldemort. even the follow-up that he did all of that for love - something harry & co would never have suspected as a motivation for him precisely because of how Mean he is, which means they (and the reader) couldn’t have predicted snape’s behavior - adds to the twist. 

idk man. that kind of narrative power just isn’t going to be accessed by a teacher who just gives extra detentions. he needs to be Mean and Hurtful and Heartless. the characters (and the readers) need to have inscrutable proof that he is an asshole... because it makes it that much bigger of a shock when it turns out he’s doing the Right Thing anyway, you know? 

and since you brought up draco - in many ways, he is a minor version of snape, but he also fulfills a different narrative role than snape. until book six, we aren’t actually ever relying on draco for narrative tension. his role in the story is to be the rival, its own obstacle role and one that is meant to highlight the best parts of the protagonist and their values. like we joke about narrative foils a lot on tumblr, but that’s definitely draco’s role for most of the books - he is meant to be the antithesis of harry in many ways, and showcases harry’s positive qualities as a protagonist. draco’s role becomes more complex as the books become more complex, but ultimately he is less about providing narrative tension for the reader and more about providing thematic tension as a foil to harry. 

i wouldn’t argue that rowling portrayed all of this in an indefensible way or that she couldn’t have done it better (in many ways i think she could have!). but i do think that the (usually adult reader) anger over snape’s attitude and treatment of the students is in part because the narrative necessity it is to underline his particular position in the books and the effective way (yes! effective!) it’s used to provide particular narrative plot twists goes entirely unexamined. (idk about you, but little!me was 100% shocked that snape was not The Bad Guy at the end of book one. i never saw quirrell coming, and it was one of the first times anyone had pulled that particular narrative twist on me.) my point in the original post is that we also have to examine characters as they work in the books - and that snape’s Meanness is a trope and narrative hook as much as it is anything else. and the kids in the book largely see him as The Nasty Teacher and obstacle that he is, not as like... a traumatizing abuser. 

to be totally honest i feel like people forget that hp is a children’s book series and that the characters in it function the way they do to fit the narrative structure of children’s books. like. 

we can boo-hoo about snape being an abuser or w/e the fuck but the fact of the matter is that his place in the narrative is to be a mildly annoying antagonist. that’s why literally none of the kids except maybe neville are really that bothered by him beyond a “ah fucking SNAPE” attitude. like even that moment where snape insults hermione’s teeth gets blown over in like five pages??? in the next scene she’s totally fine. 

because snape’s narrative purpose is to be the annoying mean teacher. plot-wise, he functions as a narrative hook (what’s snape doing? why is he so suspicious?) and an obstacle to the goals of the protagonists. if we look at the events of a lot of the books, without snape in them there’s immediately way less tension because without snape in them, harry & co would immediately have a much easier time achieving their goals. like yeah, he’s mean but i think we’re also like… forgetting that “mean teacher” is as much a trope as like “prophecy child” or w/e. idk what to tell you except that it’s the same kind of annoying discouse that surrounds people who gasp in moral outrage over child protagonists being made to like fight the evil villains. because for most children’s stories, this isn’t a commentary on child soldiers or loss of innocence or anything like that, it’s just because… these books are for children and kids want to read about themselves conquering evil. it’s that simple. it’s a similar thing with snape. like at no point when i read this series as like a 10 year old did i think “wow that teacher is sooooo abusive and traumatizing his students!!! evil man!!!” i was like “wow he’s mean!! damn him, stop getting in harry & co’s way!!! foiled again by snape!!!” like when i was reaching as a kid/teen i regarded him as a scooby doo villain (affectionate) not a child-abusing sadist. 

and i think it’s just… really necessary to remember that characters in books serve a narrative purpose and also that the way they interact with their world is actually dependent on their genre, you know? and also because i had to read someone’s like four paragraphs on why snape is an evil abuser and i was thinking 2 myself yet again about how it’s Not That Deep. like. he’s a mean teacher. his function in the story is to Be The Mean Teacher. he’s an obstacle, not an abuser and the fact of the matter is harry & co always treat him like that bc that’s his purpose in the narrative. sorry 2 break it to you.

[snapedefender]

to be totally honest i feel like people forget that hp is a children’s book series and that the characters in it function the way they do to fit the narrative structure of children’s books. like. 

we can boo-hoo about snape being an abuser or w/e the fuck but the fact of the matter is that his place in the narrative is to be a mildly annoying antagonist. that’s why literally none of the kids except maybe neville are really that bothered by him beyond a “ah fucking SNAPE” attitude. like even that moment where snape insults hermione’s teeth gets blown over in like five pages??? in the next scene she’s totally fine. 

because snape’s narrative purpose is to be the annoying mean teacher. plot-wise, he functions as a narrative hook (what’s snape doing? why is he so suspicious?) and an obstacle to the goals of the protagonists. if we look at the events of a lot of the books, without snape in them there’s immediately way less tension because without snape in them, harry & co would immediately have a much easier time achieving their goals. like yeah, he’s mean but i think we’re also like... forgetting that “mean teacher” is as much a trope as like “prophecy child” or w/e. idk what to tell you except that it’s the same kind of annoying discouse that surrounds people who gasp in moral outrage over child protagonists being made to like fight the evil villains. because for most children’s stories, this isn’t a commentary on child soldiers or loss of innocence or anything like that, it’s just because... these books are for children and kids want to read about themselves conquering evil. it’s that simple. it’s a similar thing with snape. like at no point when i read this series as like a 10 year old did i think “wow that teacher is sooooo abusive and traumatizing his students!!! evil man!!!” i was like “wow he’s mean!! damn him, stop getting in harry & co’s way!!! foiled again by snape!!!” like when i was reaching as a kid/teen i regarded him as a scooby doo villain (affectionate) not a child-abusing sadist. 

and i think it’s just... really necessary to remember that characters in books serve a narrative purpose and also that the way they interact with their world is actually dependent on their genre, you know? and also because i had to read someone’s like four paragraphs on why snape is an evil abuser and i was thinking 2 myself yet again about how it’s Not That Deep. like. he’s a mean teacher. his function in the story is to Be The Mean Teacher. he’s an obstacle, not an abuser and the fact of the matter is harry & co always treat him like that bc that’s his purpose in the narrative. sorry 2 break it to you.

[snapedefender]

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This closes in about two hours, if anyone’s interested!

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This round closes on January 29 at 11:59PM CST.

[snapedefender]

saw a post about redemption arcs and i realized that a lot of our discussions would be improved if we discussed villains for what they are (pieces of a narrative whole) instead of what they definitely are not (real people on trial)

[snapedefender]

broke: snape timed all of his Dramatic Entrances by creeping around and listening in to find the most appropriately dramatic time to show himself

woke: snape can sense the opportunity for Dramatic Entrances from 50 paces and every single one of his creepy entrances in the books are the result of pure instinctual timing and raw Drama talent

[snapedefender]

Hi ! Sorry to bother you, it was just to say that I really like your blog ! ^^

I recently joined the Tumblr Snapedom because I was a huge fan of Snape when I was a bit younger but quitted because of all of the haters' arguments I've seen, mainly on YouTube and the tumblrs posts shared on Pinterest.

Blogs like yours, with the metas who debunk all those shitty arguments that I've seen literally everywhere and who respond to the snaters' nonsense always make my day and help me feel better in my fandom experience.

Sorry for the long ask, it's my first and I really wanted to say it ^^

aw, thanks!

i'm honored to be your first ask! never apologize for the length - it's so great to get nice, long asks in my inbox.

it's a great group of snape fans on tumblr tbh - you'll find so many great blogs defending him and a warm welcome from everyone as you get settled in.

[snapedefender]

sometimes i randomly remember that like three-day period following my post supporting trans!snape headcanons and i lose my mind all over again. it was like message after message of idiots in my inbox and i had to answer the same three questions with slightly different wording for two days. over a headcanon. insane. 

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When people think you love Snape because of his ‘romantic,’ sad backstory and the fact that he was revealed to actually have been ‘good’ all along… no, sir, actually he had me at the creepy pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the dungeon walls. That’s the Snape I fell in love with

[snapedefender]

very underrated moment in the series is when snape (with karkaroff following him around) is walking through the rosebushes, blasting them apart, having a go at all the couples he finds, and then he sees ron and harry together too and has a go at them, and it’s like. from his perspective. what’s he supposed to think two inseparable students were doing together at a ball, separate from the third member of their trio, in a rose garden which, other than him and karkaroff, is entirely filled with couples.

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you know that interpretation that percy is the “slytherin” weasley because he has the gall to *checks hand* not want to live in poverty and be politically ambitious? it amuses me GREATLY to think of him applying that slytherin mentality and trying to manipulate snape into being his mentor. 

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i see all the long impassioned essays on my percy & snape post but i’ll be honest with you, i will die on the hill of snape being percy’s favorite teacher irregardless of how well-argued and well-intentioned these essays are, mostly because it’s the funniest possible option and therefore my favorite

[snapedefender]

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