Blut | HP & GO

https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlutEngel/profile

[ari-leah-arts]

Roll Credits

I may have been a little self indulgent on Snape. I’m ace, but I have always found human anatomy aesthetically pleasing.

[writingdotcoffee]

“Writing is nothing more than a guided dream.”

— Jorge Luis Borges

[thearchmanofgreenfield]

Me: *writes basic plot for a story*

My brain: That's too cliche, you should make it more complicated.

Me: *Makes plot more complicated*

My brain: That's too complicated, no one will get it.

Me: *rewrites plot again*

Me months later... after getting absolutely nothing done except losing my own mind over this DAMN PLOT...

P.S: Help, I am losing my sanity.

[deathdaydungeon]

Two up, two down

We talk about Potter as a timeless series, as quills and parchment will never date, but there are a few key elements which are of their time, and I sometimes suspect that eventually, their original meaning may be lost.

Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is one of these.  If you visit Surrey, a house akin to Number 4 on Privet Drive can be found on hundreds of identical estates.  Indeed, the three-bedroom house with a garage, and both front and back gardens, situated on a private housing estate in leafy surburbia is one that most British people will have strolled through at some point.

But Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is the opposite of the Dursleys’ aspirational abode, and is somewhere that few modern readers will have seen in its original form with their own eyes.  Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is a traditional two up, two down through terraced house, mired deep in a maze of identical cobbled streets, overlooked by a looming mill chimney, and seemingly – by the 90s – entirely abandoned.

The difficulty that some may have in accurately picturing this scene is because these houses, in this state, no longer exist.  A large percentage of two up, two down terraces were demolished as part of slum clearance, which should tell you all that you need to know about the state of the houses.  

Those which remained have been extensively modified – usually knocking down the privy (outside toilet), and then building a two storey extension across the bulk of the yard to create a third room downstairs, and a bathroom upstairs.  Some houses only have a single extension; it is rather common in some areas of the Midlands to have a bathroom that leads off the kitchen downstairs – because the bathroom was the missing room, and it was cheaper to build one storey than two.

Pottermore had an article earlier in the year which explained how the filmmakers originally wanted to film on location, but could not, because the houses simply did not exist in their traditional state.

The houses were typically constructed with two rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs with a tiny backyard entry leading to the outhouse. Craig actually considered shooting on location, but even though the buildings were intact, they had been brought into the modern era, with up-to-date kitchens and plastic extensions, so the set was built at the studio.

Throughout the 20th century, cobbled streets were routinely replaced by various other road surfaces, namely tarmac and asphalt – and, of course, the scarcity of cobblestones now means that such streets are aesthetically desirable.  However, the cobblestones in Spinner’s End are not an indication of affluence, but an indication of an area left behind. This is further illustrated by the rusted railings, the broken streetlights, and the boarded up windows.

These were workers houses, often funded by the owners of the mill, and therefore tied – meaning that rent was deducted from your wage before you received it.  There were benefits to being in tied accommodation, including being close to work and having a guaranteed landlord – but that was as much benefit to the mill owner as the worker.  Seeing great competition, some mill owners invested in their properties to entice workers – but Spinner’s End is not an example of this; Spinner’s End would’ve been regarded as little better than a slum even when fully occupied.

The narrow streets are indicative of when these houses were built, presumably in the late 1800s – cars were not a concern, and the attitude was to build as many houses on as small a piece of land as possible.

By the time the 90s roll around, and we see Narcissa and Bellatrix descend upon the street, Spinner’s End appears to be mostly deserted.  With the closure of traditional manual industries, families would be keen to relocate to where work could be found.  Estates which hadn’t already been cleared by the 60s would find themselves left to rack and ruin, their former occupants long gone – whether seeking a new life elsewhere, or having died.

For once, Bellatrix is not being anti-Muggle when she sneers at the Muggle dunghill; she is unnervingly accurate. It is a slum by her standards, but most importantly, it was a slum by everyone else’s standards as well.  By the time Severus was born, work should’ve been well under way to clear the area, or to renovate it.  This evidently did not occur – which itself explains how undesirable the area is; nobody wanted to spruce it up - they wanted to leave.  There were no jobs, no amenities, no services – and eventually, no people.

We often ponder why Snape remains at Spinner’s End, but perhaps there lies the answer; he wasn’t just hiding from the magical world, but he was also hiding from the Muggle world as well…

[equna-deactivated20180414]

It always fucks me up when people and fanfictions ignore the fact that Snape was CANONICALLY born in a slum and lived his childhood in a slum. It is a part of his character that is so rarely explored in fics. Because from young Snapes’s point of view, even the Weasleys would have looked rich. And then he had to share dorms with people like Malfoys and Blacks. It just fucks me up.

[professormcguire]

The cycle of poverty that informs Snape’s behaviour and the classism inherent in the bullying that Snape experiences at Hogwarts are endlessly fascinating to me, and something that fandom as a whole does not take into account nearly enough.  I wrote once about the potential psychology behind Snape’s decision to remain in Spinner’s End, but this visceral – and historical – reminder of exactly how desperately poor the Snapes were is important.

Americans especially don’t have a native understanding of this – for Americans, these kinds of industrial slums were largely already a thing of the past by the 1950s, when America was experiencing a post-WWII economic boom.  This is not to say that no American in the 1950s was trapped in poverty, but overall American society was made richer by the war.  British society, on the other hand, was still recovering from wartime scarcity, rationing, and destruction, and industrial slums were still very much a part of its makeup.

The Snapes were poor in a way from which it was virtually impossible to escape.  The Snapes were not poor like the Weasleys, who are poor by wizarding standards but never go hungry and never live in literal filth.  The Snapes are poor by Muggles standards, by post-WWII Britain standards, by anyone’s standards.  The Snapes were the kind of poor that seeps into your pores at the earliest age and never leaves.  The kind of poor that informs almost everything about Snape, from his idolization of magical society, to the way he deals with social humiliation, to his arrogant rage masking a deep-seated self-hatred, and especially to his resentment of popular, loved, pampered, wealthy James Potter.

[solenyasasquatch]

I saw a post a few months ago that talked about how Snape going to Hogwarts was almost analogous to a poor kid in the UK getting a scholarship in a really fancy public school (like Eton) due to his intelligence but then gets bullied by the richer kids because he’s not one of them. It is a comparison that I found very interesting because of course in some of these private schools kids can get scholarships and stuff but they never truly belong in that same social circle, i.e. they would never go on nice fancy holidays or school trips etc. It is certainly an interesting mirror of Snape always seemed to struggle fitting in Hogwarts due to his poverty and I feel like its something thats very specific to the British social class system

[nephilimeq]

Snape’s Wand

HOLY CRAP, GUYS. I JUST HAD THE BIGGEST EPIPHANY EVER!!!

So, remember in Order of the Phoenix, when Snape first teaches Harry about occlumency? He pulls his wand out of a tool kit…he DOESN’T KEEP IT ON HIM.

Do you realize what this means? Unlike all of his colleagues (and pretty much most every other wizard we’ve seen so far), he doesn’t rely on it on a regular basis. He sees it as a *tool*, not as a necessity.

This is incredibly telling for his character and the kind of man that he is. His wand is a used only when absolutely necessary. He prefers to use his mind and his wits, and that is an interesting aspect of him that’s never really been discussed, as far as I can tell.

His wand is a last resort.

I repeat…his wand is a last resort.

[deadcaffeinatedpoets]

Okay y’all

like for sirius

reblog for snape

i’m just tryna see something

[pet-genius]

Snape forever

[hpfanonsteroids-blog]

Yesss Sevvvy

[em1dkwhatelse]

Severus obviously

[swiftvaticfawn13]

Sev. Always.

[sempervenefica]

Severus Foreverus

[badhxhmemes]

“he’s my comfort character!” then comfort him, he’s drowning in an indescribable emptiness right about now

[ruffboi-mags]

no.... he's not done marinating. /reaches for the angst/

[bluthatesfabrikk]

That's how I'm doing while writing my fave character

[wilczawisnia]

I realise that most stuff posted on Pottermore should be taken with a grain of salt, because not all articles are written by JKR herself, but every now and then a gem like this appears:

Severus Snape had a ‘slight natural ability’ as a Legilimens, and we know he didn’t have the happiest childhood. Imagine feeling the mirth of your bullies as they mocked you, while hearing all the names they wouldn’t dare call you out loud. Or knowing your best friend, who you’ve developed secret romantic feelings for, was daydreaming about someone else. We don’t know exactly how young Severus experienced the world, but Legilimency might have made his school days extra miserable.  (source)

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not convinced they got it 100% right. They draw a lot from Queenie’s skills and well, even without JKR telling us so, it’s rather easy to say that their skills differ a lot. Severus insists that more often than not an eye contact is necessary and scoffs at comparison to mind reading, whereas it’s more or less what Queenie does - she simply reads mind, thoughts included. And I really don’t believe that Severus possesses her level of skill, especially as JKR said he only had a slight natural ability.

The thing, however, is that once you (general you) saw that stuff on Pottermore, you can’t jus unsee it, so here I am wondering just what exactly was he able to pick up as a child and a teenager. Not exact thoughts, for sure, but perhaps some hints of emotion? And as it is, it’s hard not to go through some events that happen in the books and dig a bitter better into them, thinking what exactly Severus may have picked on in some scenes. Scary thoughts, really. And I still  find it interesting that he hadn’t had any trust in Voldemort’s promise to keep Lily save, but somehow he trusted Albus Dumbledore to do the deed, despite the price he had to pay for it. What was it? Instinct? Unconscious Legilimency?

And well, I’m pretty sure that Occlumency is about not letting other people any insight into your own mind (or alternatively show them in it what you want them to see), but could it in some way be used to manage the effects of unintentional Legilimency? Assuming the skill is not too strong, that’s it. I think Queenie knows pretty well which thoughts are not hers, but what about someone with just bits of that skills? Could Occlumency help them to put the barrier between what is their own thoughts and what they may pick up from others, no matter if they want it or not?

[ironborealis]

I’ve wondered about this often – mostly in that angst-y sort of way.  

How much does Legilimency come up in books and conversation when there isn’t a war on? Does it show up outside of advanced textbooks? Is Legilimency a heritable trait?  Would Eileen have mentioned that a first cousin or some such was a Legilimens? Is a teenage Severus terrified he’s gone schizophrenic because he’s hearing faint voices in his head that aren’t his?  That his mother’s wizarding blood couldn’t save him from Muggle madness?  Even after he figures out that it’s legilimency, and how to control it with occlumency, is he still afraid that he still might be crazy?

[sal-absinthii-deactivated202311]

I’ll be a tremendous downer and say it likely developed for the same reason as occlumency: to protect himself from abuse.

For like, 10+ years I thought of occlumency as being some awesome and admirable skill, and it wasn’t until very recently that it occurred to me at all that it wasn’t supposed to be. Adult Snape has to do it to fulfil his mission as a spy without getting killed, but young Snape cutting off his own emotions and experiences and memories as a survival mechanism? He’s good at occlumency because even as a kid he had to hide, and he doesn’t trust anyone. Legilimency is the other side of that coin. Queenie can apparently just read minds, like the post above says. Snape explicitly denies that legilimency works like that (in his experience), and for him it’s more about sensing emotions and memories and these fluid things under the surface, and the skill is in interpreting them. It sounds very like someone who grew up in an abusive household becoming hypervigilant to the signs that their abuser/s are in a bad temper, something that sticks with you even when you leave that environment. You’re constantly on guard for the slightest changes in people’s moods, because you need to know if they’re angry at you, or if they are in a volatile mood even if they aren’t currently specifically angry at you. Everybody is a threat and you have to pick up on tiny signs other people would never notice and would think you were crazy if you tried to explain, like being on edge because someone set a glass down just a little harder than normal, or because you know they saw something that reminded them of something that will put them in a bad mood. You have to learn to predict when the other shoe is going to drop. You have to get inside their minds to a degree and anticipate what is going to set them off. Snape’s kind of legilimency just sounds like magical equivalent of that.

JKR uses a lot of metaphors/allegories for trauma and abuse and it wouldn’t surprise me if these skills were themselves supposed to reveal something about Snape, more than just being a convoluted plot device for Harry to see a memory. He is good at hiding and lying and covering up and pretending to be someone he’s not because he has to be, to protect himself from Voldemort’s wrath but also to protect himself against abusers, against people discovering his vulnerabilities, and possibly against his own memories and painful emotions. What is occlumency but dissociative barriers, really? He has to be compartmentalised to an extreme degree in order to keep the dangerous thoughts/feelings hidden from people who can invade his mind at their whim. He can’t even acknowledge the existence of the stuff that’s locked away without raising suspicion. That’s an extremely difficult and unhappy way to live. If Dumbledore and Voldemort are such great Legilimens, they are probably more like Queenie and can straight-up read your mind.

So now I still think it’s good ability, but it’s sad to think about why he probably was able to develop it so well.

[casasupernovas]

so many harry potter fans completely erase snape's past and write it over to make him a snobby rich kid who speaks like he's 40 year old count and i think it is so interesting.

because it proves to me that the reality of snape being a kid living in a poverty stricken and abusive household on spinner's end makes you all uncomfortable.

i sure know it made me uncomfortable to re-read the books for the first time and see all the comments about his greasy hair and sallow skin with the new knowledge that these were markers of his poor upbringing. we've heard the saying how being poor never really goes away. snape keeping these two markers as an adult is the author's way of doing it. he's an adult with a better income now but he never quite shakes off spinner's end.

he also stays there as an adult as a way to punish himself, if the front room described as a 'padded cell" is any indicator. he can't move on and he won't allow himself to, and dumbledore won't allow it either. it is he who twists the knife with harry's eyes and tells him this is the only thing he can do to prove he truly loved lily. despite you know, dumbledore apparently not believing this dhe to his shock at snape's patronus 17 years later.

both times in snape's past when he butts heads with petunia is because she insults his background, something he cannot control. she calls him the 'snape boy' from spinner's end, a clearly 'turn up my nose' moment. harry goes through most books referring to snape as 'snape' because snape is a bully and therefore does not have harry's respect. many times adults correct him to say professor. and his first name isn't said often. so this puts a distance to him, almost others him to this 2D character. but 'snape' is an actual person, with feelings and a past, present and future. so severus snape doesn't take kindly to people insulting his family which is why he claps back at petunia.

we also know snape is a muggle name, his muggle father tobias' name. we only find out in book 6 that snape is a half blood. because what wizarding family do you know with the name 'snape'. and prince isn't part of the sacred 28 either. when harry breaks into snape's memories accidentally in occlumency, seeing those three quick snapshots of his life, it's the first time snape starts to become a real person to harry.

moreover, 8 year old snape is described as dirty, unwashed, wearing clothes that are so mismatched it looks deliberate. he hasn't got clothes of his own, wearing an adults jacket and a woman's smock. snape's family either cannot afford to properly clothe or wash their child or they simply don't care too. when petunia insults him again, this time instead of his father she goes for his mother, as she points out snape wearing his mother's blouse, we get another example of underage magic as he causes a tree branch to fall on her.

now despite this, we know it is likely snape really did want to cause her harm due to her insult. snape already is shown to have poor social skills and snaps rather quickly at any point of animosity, but he was also raised in an abusive household. his father whipped him, and shouted at his mother and god knows what else. makes sense that an 8 year old responds to tension with either insults or violence, mirroring his home. snape is also very reluctant to talk about his homelife at all, ending the conversation very pointedly with "he doesn't like anything much." so it's not surprising that a child raised in this kind of environment would respond violently. even worse, he does it without really realising what he has done considering he looked confused when petunia and lily ran away.

on platform 9 and 3/4, snape is eager to get out of his muggle clothes and when put next to james potter, the stark difference between someone who has been loved and adored and someone who hasn't is explicitly put in the books. and lastly when snape calls lily a mudblood after being yanked upside down exposing dirty underwear, lily points that out. her way of saying 'don't you dare say you are better than me - im filthy? how about you wash your clothes.'

all in all, i think the fans write over this backstory because people do not want to give snape any sympathy. he's not the right kind of sympathetic character. he's an unpleasant adult who made terrible decisions. therefore his tragedy doesn't count. it's much easier to hate him when in your head, snape is a rich, snobby supremacist, rather than a penniless, neglected and woefully misguided teenager.

odd that peope can understand the impact of certain characters childhoods like sirius, regulus, draco or harry and how it affected their actions as teens and later adults...

but not snape.

in fact, snape is probably the poorest character in the entire series apart from maybe voldemort, although the orphanage didn't seem underfunded or anything. fans characterise lupin as poor but there is little evidence for him being poor as a child, more as an adult. i've seen people say this was because of the fact that his father worked at the ministry and arthur weasley worked there and he is not rich but the weasley's are poor because there are 7 of them living on one income. and we can assume lupin's muggle mother worked. if anything, lupin's childhood was comfortable but became unstable due to them constantly moving after he was bitten.

abd that's pretty much it, we don't know too much about anyone else. the dursleys are middle class as are hemrione's dentist parents and while the weasley's are poor, they are not poverty stricken - ron never goes hungry. snape also never really adresses his muggle past either. he doesnt bring it up ever. for all his 'life is unfair', he never speaks about that part of his life, choosing to solely reference the marauders. and the two main bullies, james and sirius both being rich kids bullying the poor boy is not lost on me. especially when they constantly reference his greasy hair all the time.

poverty greatly affects a person well into adulthood and we see with snape; it never really goes away. sure he's well spoken now, and doesn't wear mismatched muggle clothing but the remnants are still there. in fact, one of the reasons he hates harry intially is because he thinks the boy has been pampered. quite unlike his upbringing. so i think it's telling how many people refuse to acknowledge its very existence or the how it shaped snape as a person.

becuase i think it all makes you feel really uncomfortable. why else would you ignore or completely erase it?

[repoart]

Crowley on fire.

[totallysilvergirl]

wait what

this is stunning

[bbluxart]

I saw THIS and immediately thought of these two. 

[bbluxart]

bringing this one back bc it’s still funny

[itsallavengers]

I just physically can’t understand how any of y'all could think iron man was wrong in civil war lol

[cinnamon-rell-deactivated202204]

can you honestly tell me that if you had actual super powers, you would be ok with only ever being able to use them when the UN decided that you could?

[itsallavengers]

That’s the thing. It’s not about the superheroes. It’s about everyone else. It’s about the people of Lagos wanting justice because a group of Americans went into their home and blew up their people. It’s about the police officers who were trying to do their job and were thrown onto the main road by Steve Rogers because of it. It’s about every single non-powered individual, looking at the ones in power and going ‘I don’t feel safe around you’.

And if I had actual superpowers, I sure as hell would not be okay with finding out that’s what my community thought when they saw me. 

Because that is what Civil War was about in the mcu. It was 117 countries coming together and voting that they needed these superheroes to be controlled, so they didn’t just run riot everywhere and put people at risk, even if it was well-intentioned. And whether the argument they made was right or not, you cannot deny that Steve and Team Cap all decided that they knew better than all those 117 countries. They all decided to put themselves above the democratic vote and go ahead with their own agendas anyway. If I was a normal individual, watching those powered individuals do that??? Say a big ‘fuck you’ to my vote that asked them to be put in check????

I’d be fucking terrified. That’s what I’d goddamn be. 

So yeah. If I were the superhero. I probably wouldn’t be happy about the UN deciding what I can and can’t do, you’re right (and that’s why Tony was saying they could be changed & amended, fixed so they fit better for everyone). But if I were the goddamn civilian?? Which is what 99% of the rest of the world was? Then I would be living in the fear that these ‘heroes’ who didn’t listen to the law would come and ruin my life whilst trying to save someone elses one day. 

And That’s why I think that Iron Man was right.

[bloodydroplets]

You sound like a grade A super villian. Congratulations on that. You fit all the best criteria. 1. Youre against the super heroes. 2. Your motives are arguably better than the heroes. And 3. You sound intelligent enough to actually come up with a plan to enforce your ideals on others.

[itsallavengers]

Moi: Civilians deserve to feel safe around the people in a higher position of power to them and like their votes & thoughts are being listened to

You, for some reason: You’re literally a supervillain. You know that right??? You sound like a fucking supervillain. You’re going to enforce your ideals on the whole world you rat bastard evil dictator

[andromath-old]

Can I just add, it isn’t just about protecting citizens. That is one part of it, but another is that its about the fundamental power of the state and its ability to actually enforce and hold the Avengers accountable when they violate the law. Its about the rule of law and state sovereignty.

State sovereignty is the legal principle that, essentially, justifies the state’s authority to create & enforce laws within its territory. Even the power of constitutions are based on this principle. It is also what makes international politics a huge mess. Because a lot of international law (particularly human rights) goes right to the heart of what a state has the power to do. Countries don’t like other countries telling them what they can and cannot do, which is a big reason it is insanely difficult to enforce international law.

The rule of law, obviously, is about there being a mechanism so that nobody is above the law. That laws are administered equally and non-arbitrarily, regardless of social status, wealth, political power, etc. Its never been perfectly executed, but it is an ideal the world strives towards, and the public in particular.

Sovereignty is the reason that getting 117 countries to agree to the Accords so quickly, and the rule of law is the reason the public support it.  The only reason every gov’t agrees is because the threat the Avengers are to their sovereignty, able to come in and operate freely in their territory regardless of their permission. The reason the public agrees is because they see the blatant violation of their laws by the Avengers with no consequences. The Accords would have been priority #1 when the Avengers became “the private security service branch Stark Industries” (aka a private army like Blackwater) if not for the trust/respect they earned from saving the world and because the massive legal teams held off the governments.  

Now look at the Avengers and the Accords from an international perspective. They are based in America, are mostly American citizens, have connections with the American government or directly work for said government (Rhodes). So right off the bat countries are going to think they are out for American interests. Yet they operate without impunity just entering whichever country they want. Remember The Winter Soldier? The World Security Council was pissed when it was discovered the Lemurian Star was operating in India’s sovereign waters.

The guy funding them and developing their tech, Tony Stark, is the official head of a US government agency dedicated to collecting, storing and studying alien technology. Red flags for other countries. Because in the great wide world of international politics, everyone hears this and thinks “weapons development”. In AoU, the Avengers can come in, fight, take all the tech and bring it back to the US (with the Scepter going to Asgard). It isn’t an unfounded fear either, given SHIELD was doing exactly that with what Damage Control collected.

The Quinn Jet is a top of the line spy plane that is completely untraceable. It allows the Avengers to go anywhere, ignoring borders and leave whenever they want. They can launch from the Avenger’s tower and go anywhere in the world at any time with no oversight. And they can be gone long before anyone can arrest them.

So when situations like Johannesburg happen, what can countries do? The Avengers flee before law enforcement can apprehend them. Normally citizens, cities, governments will take legal action, such as law suits. But how do you enforce a lawsuit against someone with no property or is not in the country? You can’t. Trying to get other countries to enforce them is extremely difficult to the point you’d be better off spending all the money you’d be paying lawyers on lottery tickets.

Age of Ultron is the first time these things really get discussed by the public. The Avengers operate with impunity. Hulk terrorizes a city, and nothing can be done because they leave and that countries gov’t can’t touch them. There is the Stark relief foundation, but not only does that also operate privately, it does nothing to actually hold them accountable in a court of law.

The one country in a position to take action, the United States, chooses not to. So now we are in a situation where the Avengers are completely unaccountable to all laws and sovereignty of most of the world. The rule of law has become illusory.

Understandably, the public all over the world doesn’t like this. And neither do the countries. So in come the Accords, a mechanism to ensure accountability and enforcement of the law. Tony understands this perspective, understands that nobody supports them anymore. Understands that yeah, this is how they’ve been acting. He understands that the Accords are happening one way or another, and its either accept them, retire, or go to prison. He doesn’t necessarily like everything about them, but he understands he doesn’t have a true choice in this matter. That they shouldn’t be above the law. 

Steve’s perspective on the matter makes sense for Steve. He is informed by his experiences with HYDRA and Shield. He isn’t wrong from his perspective or those of his friends that understand where he is coming from. But he is wrong from everyone else’s perspective. This is the real dichotomy of the film: you have to choose between the emotional and rational. Steve feels like the Accords are bad news, Tony understands rationally the necessity of the Accords.

The Avengers are unaccountable and protect their own interests first. Nothing says this more than what happens with Bucky throughout the movie. Cap puts his friendship and love for his best friend before the law that says he has to retire. And he is right about Bucky being innocent. But instead of working within the confines of the law, proving Bucky was innocent and sending a message about the Doctor, he takes his own path.

He decides to do it all himself. He puts his own interests in how to do things above the law. He storms an airport instead of calling Tony and saying “hey the Doctor caused this, we need to talk because there are other winter soldiers and he is about to unleash them”. He claims to trust Tony, but also can’t trust that Tony can bring them in peacefully and make sure the real threat is dealt with before the UN shoots Barnes in the head. Tony only wants to protect his friends and if they leave, there is nothing he can do to protect them or support their claims. They are only proving Ross right; that the Avengers hold themselves above the law. And he does, by causing another Johannesburg.

Not that there aren’t problems with the Accords. Secretary Ross is the biggest one, replace him with CIA Ross and there isn’t much of a problem. But like even the instigating factor for Cap in CW is that they treat Bucky, a highly dangerous assassin suspected of multiple murders, as a highly dangerous assassin suspected of multiple murders. Again, its Cap prioritizing his personal feelings of the situation. Ross also clearly makes the wrong decision in ignoring Zemo despite Tony’s warnings. There isn’t really much to dispute that, even under the Accords its a dumb decision.

Which is deliberate, showing that neither Tony nor Steve were perfectly right/wrong. Tony is right about the necessity of the Accords, but Steve is right about the Accord tying their hands sometimes.

Its really a character development movie for both of them. Tony who started as someone that put himself first, recognizing his own mistakes and that he wasn’t perfect and shouldn’t put himself first. And Cap, who started as someone that put the interest of the collective first and wanted to fight for his country, recognizing that his country has flaws and sometimes he needs to stand there and say no.

But on a whole I gotta side with Tony looking at the situation rationally. Which is why I’m Team Iron Man in the whole thing.

[brucie-deactivated05092020-deac]

This is very well said and you guys should read it all

[hedgehog-goulash7]

Team Iron Man all the way. “The safest hands” are NOT “our own.” That’s an arrogant statement; a mercenary’s argument.

[desigurlie]

I agree with this whole heartedly. And I want to add something. If I remember correctly the Accords was about the Avengers needing permission from the UN to enter soverign borders and extradite criminals from there one way or another. I dont remember them dictating when to use their power staying in their own country for their own individual purpose which won’t effect anyone else. If I am a superpowered individual I definitely wont have a problem with this. What the fuck do I know about any security or political atmosphere or socio economic miliue of a foreign country that I would barge in to save the day as it is. And if using my abilities harms other people somehow, it would be barbaric to continue doing so irrespective of whether I like my powers or not.

Thats why Tony was right. If they couldn’t handle the limitations prescribed on their powers then they are no better than the bad guys.

And I somehow believe that Steve might have come round to seeing Tony’s perspective and realized the necessity for the Accords had Bucky not being involved in this mess. As much as I love Rogers, I have to admit the mere mention of one Bucky Barnes turns him into an apoplectic mess.

[avegollum97]

Every single one of the people who became superheroes at some point decided they were above the law , and while their motivations differ they are essentially vigilantes who saw the darkness in the world around them and decided something needed to change one way or another when they put on the costume for the first time . Team iron man had the moral high ground here but , I believe he was being way too naive to believe that there wouldn’t have been a lot of bush back from the people that already take the law into their own hands on the daily and that believe that their actions are always in the name of good .

[desigurlie]

I don’t think Tony being who he is, a multi-billion dollar corporate shark who has a history of dealing with both the US Senate and the Defence Department will be even a wee bit naive. He must be having enough political clout to push forth any sort of amendments required once they atleast signed on the original draft. Tony would’ve kept Ross on a leash. Its frankly believable.

[momo-t-daye]

“Uh, Professor, er, sir,” Harry stumbled over the seldom-used honorifics in his bafflement. “Uh, on your mouth…?”

“Lipstick, Potter,” Snape sneered, the expression all the more pronounced with the cosmetic assistance.

“Oh, uh, it’s, um, it’s black?” Harry hadn’t known lipstick came in anything other than his aunt’s subdued pinks or the vivid shades of red that Petunia considered sinful and salacious (and intolerably reminiscent of Lily to ever be permitted back into the precariously normal life of Number Four, Privet Drive).

“Very good, Potter,” Snape said sarcastically. “Twelve years old and you’ve learned your colors.”

That was pure nastiness and entirely unfair.

“I’m fifteen!”  Harry protested, which earned him a merely sardonic eyebrow. “Almost fifteen,” he amended.  “I’ll be fifteen on Monday.”

Harry longed to surpass Snape in sheer churlishness and considered pointing out that muggle men generally didn’t wear skirts.  Certainly not in Little Whinging.  Definitely not when Dudley and his gang were roaming the streets.

He’d seen plenty of oblivious wizards sporting spiffy new dresses as their muggle disguises at the Quidditch World Cup the previous summer (a lifetime ago, before Cedric was murdered and he hadn’t been able to stop it from happening).  But there was something peculiarly well-tailored and suspiciously well-worn about the Potions Master’s garb that suggested less “disguise” and more “daily wear”. He found that his brain was oddly unwilling to acknowledge the existence of Snape’s psychedelic cardigan. His mind kept trying desperately to wallpaper something sensible over the bizarre image his eyes insisted on perceiving.

“…nice skirt,” he mumbled.

“Thanks,” Snape drawled the false gratitude out with a smirk. “It has pockets.  Dipshit and Dumbass there were too excited to get on the road this morning and didn’t give me any time to do laundry.”

“Am I ‘Dipshit’ or am I ‘Dumbass’?” Sirius whispered loudly, grin gone well past manic.

“I believe Severus called me a ‘dipshit’ among other things for forgetting to take my Wolfsbane last year,” Remus replied thoughtfully, “So, Sirius, that probably makes you the dumbass.”

“I’m more of a hot piece of ass, but okay,” Sirius said with a wink. “Hi, Harry!”

“Hi, Sirius,” Harry said weakly, glad for the excuse to sidle past Snape.  “Uh, what are you doing here?” The Daily Prophet hadn’t said anything about Sirius being pardoned and news like that, while less of an urgent headline than Voldemort’s return, wouldn’t lurk about in the society pages or behind an advice column.

“Dumbledore told me to lie low at Lupin’s place,” Sirius beamed with an innocence so intense it could only be artificial.

“And, er, well, what with one thing and another, it really hadn’t seemed like a good time really to mention that I’d been, ah, evicted,” Lupin added, “…again.”

“Renting really seems like such a bother,” Sirius opined. “So I bought a house for Remus here.”

“Oh,” said Harry, who had witnessed Aunt Petunia compulsively twitching the curtains as she tried to discover how Mrs. Number Seven had eluded neighborly surveillance and, somehow, managed to sell her house to a person or persons unknown to the remaining residents of Privet Drive. “Isn’t that supposed to take a long time?”

“Building a home takes a lifetime,” Sirius said sagely. “Buying a house just takes money.”

Snape’s scornful snort brought Harry’s attention back to the least welcome visitor to Little Whinging.

“So, uh, why did you bring,” Harry gestured vaguely, unsure if the word ‘him’ could accurately encompass the snidest professor present, “Snape?” He’d rather noticed that Snape hadn’t lifted a finger to help Sirius and Lupin move any of the large boxes from the lorry into Number Seven.

“Severus knows how to drive,” Lupin explained gently. Sirius’ mouth opened, prepared to protest.

“Severus,” Lupin repeated, louder this time, “Has a valid muggle license to drive.” Sirius’ subsided.

“And I know how to hot-wire cars and lorries,” Severus added smoothly. “And,” Lupin echoed wearily, “ Severus knows how to ‘hot-wire’ muggle vehicles.”

“I’m learning to do that,” Sirius said helpfully, “I’m going to figure it out too.  I’ve nearly got it.”

“Talk is cheap, Black,” Snape scoffed starting to stroll in the last direction Harry wanted him to go, “I’ll believe you when I see some tangible results.”

“Wait!  Stop!” Harry wondered if he’d get in trouble for tackling a professor outside of Hogwarts.  It would be worth it, to try to alter Snape’s trajectory towards the front door of Number Four.  “Stop, stop, stop!”

For all Harry’s desperate scrambling, Snape maintained his lead.

“Please stop!” Harry begged as the professor hitched up his skirt slightly, “Use the bell!  You don’t have to kick the door in!” Aunt Petunia was probably at the door, surely she’d spied them across the street at Number Seven.

Snape kicked the door, already unlatched in Petunia’s nosy anticipation, open.

Aunt Petunia let out a shrill little scream.

“Hello, Piss-Tuna,” said Severus Snape, far more gleeful than he’d been even when Harry and Ron were facing the threat of expulsion after flying a car into the Whomping Willow. “You look as awful as ever.”

Piss-Tuna, Harry thought as his world tilted on its axis, Snape, Professor Snape, just called my aunt Piss-Tuna.  This can’t be happening.

“You—!” Her face was white, her eyes were wide, and Petunia Dursley, née Evans, practically growled in her outrage.

Harry found himself thinking that Brazil might be a very nice place to live. It was far away from Privet Drive, for a start.  He wondered what it would take to get there.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in, Tuney?” Snape’s foot had blocked the door from closing.  “I’m more than happy to have this confrontation on your front step if you’d prefer.”

“We, ah, brought some biscuits,” Lupin added. “Store bought. Assorted.  With chocolate.  Er, I’m, ah, we’re the new neighbors. So nice to meet you again.”

Petunia goggled at the lot of them.

She also stumbled back, which Snape seemed to take as an unspoken invitation.  Harry found himself dragged along in the professor’s wake, with only Sirius’ hand on his shoulder to steady him in the swift tide of strangeness.

“I can’t believe your taste in interior decoration deteriorated into this level of disgusting kitsch and doilies, Tuna,” said the man who decorated with floating dead things in jars. Severus surveyed the photos on the wall, on the mantle, on the little side table.  So many perfectly posed pictures of a happy family of three- mother, father, son- and a lock on the cupboard under the stairs. Narcissa had been absolutely right.

“Is that my jumper?” Harry jumped.  Petunia’s voice was high and thin and quite peculiar.

“You’ve really done a terrible job of raising Potter,” said Snape, and Harry bristled. Of course Snape wanted to criticize him, Harry had been expecting the criticism, but he loathed the thought of his two biggest critics were now sharing notes and combining forces.

“Not only is he, like the majority of students, a careless menace in the laboratory, but I have also wasted entirely too much of my already limited time deciphering his atrocious penmanship to correct insipid essay after insipid essay only to see the same flawed reasonings repeated week after week.” It was news to Harry that he was supposed to read the sea of spidery red notes Snape deposited on every essay.  It seemed rather unfair, given that Snape could fit five lines of text for every one line Harry wrote. The single “P”, or the occasional and welcome “A”, was more than sufficient in Harry’s view.

“That’s my jumper.” There was a touch of hysteria in Petunia’s tone now.

“He will be taking his O.W.L.s this year, his O-levels if you prefer,” Snape continued, demonstrating more confidence in Harry’s continued survival than Harry typically expected to hear from the Potions Master. “Unfortunately, his current record of scholastic mediocrity, his stubborn refusal to revise, and a peculiar incuriosity about magical theory does not bode well for his continued academic career.”

“You little bastard! That’s my goddamn jumper!” Petunia’s shriek derailed Snape’s momentum.  The unexpected profanity from his aunt made Harry’s brain stutter to a halt.

“Tuna,” Snape frowned, “We’re not here to discuss my sartorial decisions and I will never take wardrobe critique from you.  I only deigned to enter this suburban hellscape to discuss your horrendous failure to raise and parent Mr. Potter.”

“Biscuit, Harry?” Sirius offered, retrieving the tin from Remus.

“You stole my jumper!” Shockingly, Petunia’s epiphany failed to shatter glass.  Yet.

“Didn’t,” sniffed Snape.

“I thought it was Lily who stole my jumper!”

“She did. I just hid it for her.” 

“I bought that jumper myself!  I’d saved up!”

“Yes, I know.”

“It was for an interview!”

“We wanted to spare you the humiliation of being seen in public wearing such a hideous thing.  You even got that position, even if you didn’t keep it for very long.”

The biscuit was rather good, even without tea, and it was beginning to dawn on Harry that Snape and Aunt Petunia were more inclined to tear into one another than join forces against him. He felt oddly inclined to cheer for Professor Snape, despite the ranting about Harry’s scholastic shortcomings. Perhaps it was because Harry knew so little about his mother that every glimpse was a pearl he treasured.

“I want my jumper!” Did she learn that tone from her little Diddykins or had Dudley inherited that petulant demanding pitch from Petunia?

“And I want you to understand how your failure to nourish any academic inclinations Mr. Potter may have shown before the age of eleven may have rather dire consequences for futures beyond his own, but I fear we can’t all get what we want.” Remus handed Harry another biscuit before he could think to protest.

“Give me back my jumper!”

“Fine!” Snape finally snapped, fingers tearing at the buttons in wrathful haste.  “Fine, here!”

Petunia caught the cardigan with her face and a squeak.

Severus Snape looked like a stranger again, in the ratty, oversized band shirt, hair disheveled from the jumper’s passage.  Harry hadn’t seen the Dark Mark his professor had shoved under Minister Fudge’s nose in the Hospital Wing those few weeks ago, and he found himself oddly glad that the mark was concealed under a peculiar leather bracelet with metal studding.  A wand holster, perhaps.

“Are you prepared to face your shortcomings now, Tuney?” That dangerously silky tone was entirely familiar, and Harry took another biscuit before he was told to go serve detention during summer vacation.

“It smells like Cokeworth,” Petunia’s complaint was bitter, for she dreaded the day her neighbors discovered the lingering taint of the Cokeworth streets sullying their Surrey security.

“Hey,” said Sirius, who had gone oddly still.

“I wasn’t going to take it to Hogwarts, was I?” Snape said.  “It’s acrylic, you know that sort of stuff doesn’t hold up around magic.”

“Hey,” said Sirius.  “Hey.” His face was a rictus of delight, as pleased as Petunia had been put out. “Snape. Isn’t that, isn’t that my shirt you’ve got on?”

“Oh, oh,” snarled Severus.  “Not you too!”

[ari-leah-arts]

POV: You’re Albus Dumbledore, and you just told your resident Ex-Death Eater that Harry Potter will be returning to his abusive relatives for his “protection”.

[catchymemes]

[s-n-arly]

OMG!  I thought it was going to be a message about perseverance or it never being too late to follow your dreams, but nooooooo.  This is excellent storytelling.

[horse-on-a-porch]

I’m fine. I’m fine I am not at all emotionally wrecked by this.

[astronova-00]

everyone: *fighting for their lives in the Hogwarts Battle*

severus: fuck this *pulls gun and murders voldy*

everyone:

harry: what

hermione: the

ron: bloody

mcgongall: FUCK! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING US SEVERUS? YOU HAD THAT THE ENTIRE TIME, WHERE WAS THIS 15 YEARS AGO!!!

severus: *runs*

[ari-leah-arts]

Whoever is threatening Harry is about to learn ‘an object in motion, stays in motion unless acted upon by another force’ via a sleep deprived, nicotine addicted professor, with homicidal tendencies.