#and then you blame Snape

[iamnmbr3]

i think it's interesting that the harry potter series holds up the weasleys as the 'poster child' poor family but given that they are supporting 9 people on Arthur's single salary they aren't doing THAT badly. Yes there's a lot of stuff they can't afford and they have to be careful with their budget but they still seem to live in relative comfort, especially given the large size of their family - there's always enough food on the table, almost all the family members seem to have their own room without having to share, they don't worry about losing their home, the kids don't feel pressured to work during summers to earn enough money so their family can get by, the house is in relatively good condition etc.

this is not to say that you cannot be poor and also have basic comforts or that someone cannot suffer from financial hardship even if they aren't literally starving on the street. but it's striking because of how much more sympathetically the narrative frames the weasleys' poverty than it does the poverty experienced by snape or tom riddle or the gaunts. all these characters are not 'good victims' and do not cope as gracefully with their circumstances without complaining or showing visible signs of it in ways that might make make people uncomfortable. and idk. it's weird and I'm not sure I like it.

[maxdibert]

Of course, it's comparable. Being bullied is no excuse for someone trying to kill you. No one would ever think that your bully might actually try to kill you. And, in any case, when someone is constantly harassed to a level where they are truly desperate for anything that might make the bullying stop (in this case, through the expulsion of the aggressors), they are capable of putting themselves in quite problematic situations. And yet, they remain a victim. Because a group of pureblood kids (the magical equivalent of the aristocracy) with powerful surnames and lots of money, in addition to social capital, targeting a kid without resources, raised in a Muggle neighborhood, without family support, and clearly disadvantaged, is an abuse of power, bullying, and internalized classism. And those of you who equate both cases, when there is a clear disadvantage on Severus' part not only numerically but also socially, are ignoring how systems of oppression and class dynamics work in exercising violence. You are blatantly ignoring the canon, where it is clearly they who attack him for the first time on the train, where they are the ones who ambush him on a random day just because Sirius is bored and strip him in the middle of the school yard, and where they always go after him when he's alone and at a disadvantage.

To defend a bunch of rich kids because it turns you on to imagine they are Pinterest models you can play with in fanfics, you are willing to whitewash abuse and classism, and that is nauseating. But the most nauseating thing is that people like you use arguments that are clearly victim-blaming. "Well, he shouldn't have gone; he knew what he was getting into." Okay, then don't get in a car; you're exposing yourself to having a car accident. Don't smoke tobacco; you're exposing yourself to getting cancer. If you do, don't complain later. Don't go out alone at night as a woman; you're exposing yourself to being raped. It's the same damn crap; you focus on the victim and not the aggressor. It doesn't matter that he went after them; it doesn't matter that he listened to Sirius. There was a crime called attempted murder, and it wasn't Severus who committed it.

And no, you don't support SA victims because, in fact, Snape is a victim of SA by James, and you dedicate yourselves to pinkwashing and romanticizing James. You are a bunch of hypocrites with double standards who like to pretend to be defenders of the weak, but the reality is that your favorites are precisely the rich kids at the top of the social hierarchy abusing their power. Honestly, the cognitive dissonance is impressive, and your way of overlooking violence and social inequalities at your convenience should be something worthy of study.

"The marauders bullied Severus so bad" "They weren't comparable enemies, Severus was just protecting himself"

Riddle me this; If Snape really was bullied, why would he go to the shack?

If your bully came to you saying "hey, why don't you come to the local HAUNTED HOUSE in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? There's something special for you 😌" WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU COME?

[atlasdoe]

IF I HAVE TO SEE ONE MORE "DUMBLEDORE WHERE HAVE YOU BURRIED ALL YOUR CHILDREN" TIKTOK WITH A BUNCH OF CHARACTERS WHOS DEATHS DUMBLEDORE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH I AM GOING TO LOSE MY GODDAMN MIND

[maxdibert]

"I don’t understand how you can defend Snape if he literally didn’t give a damn that Lily’s husband and son were going to die."

You're right, I shouldn't defend him. If I were in his place, besides completely ignoring a kid I’d never seen and couldn’t care less about — who, by the way, is the actual main target and beyond saving — I would have also begged, sincerely and as part of my pleas, that Voldemort not only kill but torture to death the guy who made my life hell for seven years. Severus Snape was a real nice guy, full of trauma and guilt. I don’t have that much Christian conscience when it comes to abusers, guys, you’re trying to moralize the wrong person.

[fafodill]

How would Sneep fare if his partner is a VERY attractive person who dressed impeccably and gets a lot of attention due to their stellar good looks?

He'd feel exceptionally unworthy and wait for them to come to their senses and leave him. Or for someone better looking and overall better than him to swoop in and leave with them. Because that's what's gonna happen, right? RIGHT??

He'd be super insecure, honestly.

He'd only believe it after they stay with him for a long time. And still he'd be like '?????'

[bythepen98]

Severus 🐍

Aside from Harry and Hermione, he is arguably the next character whose pov I read about the most (gen or ship wise). Can't help that he's too interesting of a character for me to ignore when written right.

[z-eel]

Snape and Sirius hate fucking, and they both tug at each other's hair. Suddenly Snape's greasy hair is not the grossest thing that Sirius has had his hands in.

STOP!!!

you're going to make obsessed!!!! i don't have the mental capacity to like another ship rn. im already trying to write to many fics!!!!

i can't like this one as well!!!!!

Sirius started to suddenly like his hair and help him take care of it because he really like to watch him mess with his hair when he's thinking.

[batwingsrosa]

You want to hold Severus accountable?

Let‘s hold the other characters accountable as well, shall we?

There is something to be said about the morals of certain Harry Potter characters and about how the fandom treats them all respectievly.

Dumbledore is idealized not only by the wizards and witches around him, but by the fandom too.

And i am not saying, that he was entirely bad.

But when we look at his past and his morals and beliefs he held throughout his life-

It should be very clear, that he was very far from being entirely good.

There was a reason he was in a relationship with literal Grindelwald.

Also he treats Slytherins far worse than every other house, like they are inherently evil. Which then helps those who are evil to turn them dark.

He never interfered with the bullying of not only Severus but others too.

Instead it seems like he rewarded their bullies.

Like when he didn‘t punish the marauders in any impactful way at all- and expulsion would have been the least- but instead silences the victim.

Absolutely despicable.

There is Sirus too.

He is being a really horrible person in many many instances he appaers in the book.

And yet that seems to be entirely overlooked by the marauder fandom especially.

He literally tells Harry: „If you want to know what a man‘s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.“

Then proceeds to call Severus Snivellus in front of order members.

After he inflicted horrible childhood trauma on him by calling him that name and you know, helping dear old James in stalking and se*ually as*aulting him.

No guilt, absolutely none.

Also he treats Kreacher- his inferior- absolutely horrendous, too.

Oh and let‘s not forget the werewolf incident.

Not only did he try to murder another child, not only did he continue to bully said child even after this „incident“ but he would have also damned one of his so called best friends to be punished severly by the ministry. Possibly detained for the rest of his life or even killed. It probably wouldn‘t have been off the table.

We know how werewolfs are treated in this society.

And so did Sirius.

Remus too, he doesn‘t anger me because of his actions though, but because of his inactions.

He doesn‘t stop his friends from harrassing and torturing other students, eventhough that is is literal job as a blo*dy prefect. Just stands there and watches like a fu***** coward.

Dude later aknowledges that bullying Snape was wrong, but does he ever try to make amends? No, not at all.

He does not apologize.

Oh, also he tries to leave his pregnant wife, … Yeah.

One of his best moments for sure.

Remus does not tell anyone about a map that could apprehend a presumed mass murderer. Who already presumably tried to kill Harry. Because this is what it looked like at the time.

Also Remus was not responsible for being a werewolf.

But he was entirely responsible to not cause harm to anyone- especially students- by drinking his damn potion. Which he did not.

Minerva apparently did not interfere with Snapes bullying.

Which was her responsibility as a head of house. And a bl*ody teacher.

She also sends children into the forbidden forest, accompanied by Hagrid. At night.

I repeat: Accompanied by Hagrid.

Anyone remember how she questioned Hagrids ability to deliver Harry to the Dursleys? Must have been a reason for that, no…?

This woman also punishes Neville, for something he did without any ill intentions by forcing him to sleep in the corridor.

While a mass murderer is on the lose.

Like i can‘t even.

Lily Potter is treated like a saint.

The same girl who marries the man who tormented herself and irredeemably traumatized her so called best friend over literal years.

Lily Potter who had to surpress a smile while her friend was horribly a*saulted.

You know who is a fucking saint?

Harry Potter.

This little soul has been through so much and still holds so much love and empathy in his heart.

Harry would be deserving of the word.

(Luna too, she‘s an angel.)

The point of this post is, that many characters in this franchise act not only questionably but absolutely terrible at times.

And only one person here seems to be held accountable for every single thing he ever did.

The fandom holds him accountable for breathing wrong for christs sake.

Severus, who tries probably more than any other character to atone for his sins and redeem himself, who regrets calling Lily a slur (in the heat of the moment, while he is being horribly horribly a*saulted) as soon as the word leaves his mouth.

Who apologizes to her. After she you know, tried to surpress a smile during his assault- which is more than any of the marauders ever did.

Who loses his temper at Nigellus, when he calls Hermione a mudblood. „Do not use that word!“

Who is absolutely shocked at Dumbledores revelation about Harry.

„You‘ve been raising him like a pig for slaughter!“

Severus who runs through the castle in the dead of night in his nightgown because he heard screaming.

Severus who when asked by Dumbledore: „How many men and women have you watched die?“

Answers: „ Lately only those i could not save.“

The thing is it doesnt‘ even matter if he succeeded to redeem himself in your eyes.

What matter in the end is that he honestly tried.

Because i see people on my list here that did truly horrible things and did not try to atone for it.

You like to hold someone accountable but decide not to do the same with other characters.

Which says a lot about you i am sure.

You believe you and the character you like are better than others when they were just as horrible in their own ways.

You act like you have some moral highground when you have absolutely none.

And don‘t get me started on the victim blaming in this fandom.

[lilithofpenandbook]

Sirius Black is proof that love doesn't make someone selfless, Severus Snape is proof that hate doesn't make someone selfish

[halfblood-princes-crown]

new hc about eileen prince, severus' mother:

she had an affair with abraxas malfoy and got pregnant, but he was already engaged, so she ran away and hurriedly married a muggle man she slept with and that treated her fairly well (at first) to cover it.

That's why Lucius was so nice to Severus after meeting him. he knew it was his half-brother, his little sibling..and also why tobias hated them both so much

This is so good… but it messes with my Snucius brain 😭😩 I still love it tho, this is turning my GEARS

I’m starting to love this ship lowkey…

You guys know what time it is, right?

I have to do this, I’m sorry (no I’m not)

Also, what’s the ship name for these two?

[vazaha-tya]

the fact that fans consider snape a poor and abused orphan and a hypercompetent prodigy at the same time is... interesting.

i suppose it's canon-accurate, the man does contain multitudes. when it's time to highlight how much the marauders suck, severus snape is defenseless against his horrible classist bullies. when it's time to show off how smart he was, he knows a wide array of curses and potions and invented some himself. the gap in canon comes when someone asks if he just fantasises about using those in his textbook margins, or if he actually used them. if he did, then against who, and why was is it never addressed by the narrative?

maybe because then the author would have had to work harder at writing a proper redemption arc instead of killing him conveniently and revealing he turned to the right side because he was childhood friends (and/or in love) with lily evans.

don't get me wrong, i want to like snape. i want to like the talented yet emotionally stunted potions professor who made the wrong choices and despises harry but still wants to do right by him and the wizarding world. i want to like the spy who hates kids but is forced to endure them because the dude who made sure he didn't go to jail is his former headmaster and he wants to keep him close at hand. i want to like the abused kid who was radicalised because he was offered power and a way to be vindicated after spending his life subjected to a horrible family dynamic where his father's hatred of magic features heavily.

but he's a bad spy, his motivations for switching sides are not compelling and the marauders-snape conflict, which could have been a smart way to represent a microcosm view of the wider issue i.e the clash of ideology and the brewing civil war existing at the time, instead becomes about a girl. eyeroll.

(but that's part of a wider conversation about how all the death eaters who turned against voldemort turn out to have done so only for selfish reasons and not because they saw his ideology as wrong. sigh. i'll headcanon it away as much as i can, but that's the textual information the books give us. thanks, i hate it.)

i even think it was a good idea to make the death eater an underdog who joined because he yearned for acceptance and respectability and also despised his muggle father while the front kids on the light side are two posh purebloods who have "no" stakes in this. it adds some complexity to the conversation, introduces nuances, and... is plainly something jkr couldn't handle. because she doesn't really do nuance.

and some fans can't either, i suppose, since i just saw a post saying that when remus and sirius talked about snape knowing more curses than half the seventh year while they just entered hogwarts, they actually meant curse words. eyeroll. why do you want him to be blameless? let him be a cunt. he's more interesting that way.

[elisedonut]

fuck i'm actually going to end up enjoying Sevpercy huh

maybe in a picky I like them when they are in my head or when I do it kind of way

or in a time travel way because when it comes to Snape I like his teenage self a lot more than his adult self

[maxdibert]

"Severus Snape hated Muggles!"

Well, guys, I hate Muggles too. I mean, have you even watched the news? Pure common sense, mate.

[fafodill]

Snape doesn't understand how we yearn for the Faffodil soft-smut art... Maybe if he was a lil SKIMPY once in a while we wouldn't NEED to long for said smut art but HERE WE ARE!

Well fucking said.

ref

[blitheringmcgonagall]

Re the Lily and Snape conversation. I think it’s very human to overlook the flaws of people we love. In fact I think Lily, giving Snape leeway is a parallel to James thinking it the height of dishonour to doubt his friends.

She loved Snape and I no doubt his difficulty at home bought him the benefit of her doubt as Lily was known for her kindness.

Ugh why can’t fandom let female characters have blind spots and the boundaries.

She was right to drop him as a friend and it’s also understandable why it took so long.

Of course! @artemisia-black that’s very true. As you say, given his background, Lily if anything was too loyal!

Misogyny refuses to let Lily be human and simultaneously exaggerates her flaws, which is why people talk about her being “disloyal, extremely selfish and self centred” 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Let female characters have blind spots & also set boundaries!

[lilithofpenandbook]

He's in a constant state of anxiety, confusion, and sleep deprivation, and has no idea what the heck Albus is even talking about anymore because he wants his dinner and all he's been able to focus on is the fact that that one tile is an inch out of place and has thrown the rest off