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localcalico

Wip - Year 1

digitkame

Potion man’s hair has its own personality, albeit unhinged:(；ﾞﾟ'ωﾟ')

maxdibert

Calling Snape a stalker, creepy, a racist, or a homophobe (which drives me crazy because he’s literally the only man of his generation who could pass as queer-coded and is especially marginalized and attacked for his appearance and for not fitting the alpha-male standards) or a woman-abuser (when canonically the characters he’s shown to be the least aggressive and most accommodating with are always women, while his relationships with men tend to be much more conflicted) just shows a complete lack of reading comprehension, not to mention blatant classism and a total ignorance about how power structures work and how they impact the lives and decisions of people in vulnerable situations. And when Marauders fans come in trying to whitewash their high-born heroes by making things up that don’t happen in canon, or when they fail to respond to a well-supported argument about class dynamics, it tells me one thing: the rainbow flags and Rowling hate are just a facade, and they have no real understanding of how discrimination and social inequality actually work at their root.

maxdibert

do you think in his youth Snape was a racist? Not as an adult but when he was at Hogwarts and joins the DE group.

First of all, comparing the issue of blood purity to racism seems quite biased to me because racism has very different cultural roots and foundations. Racism involves quite complex factors such as colonialism or imperialism, intertwined with physical prejudices that have nothing to do with the sociopolitical context of the magical world regarding blood supremacy. Wizards have no way of knowing if someone is a Muggle-born unless that person openly references their origins. They can't look at someone and automatically discriminate against them; it doesn't work that way. There’s also no previous history of colonization, slavery, and mass genocide of Muggle communities, nor of intervening in and erasing their cultures. In fact, it's the wizards who hide from the Muggles, the wizards who have to be careful not to be discovered by Muggles, and the wizards who restrain themselves in front of Muggles. I think if Rowling was trying to make some sort of metaphor here, she failed miserably because she completely overlooked the socio-historical roots of racism. But well, Rowling is terrible at analyzing social issues and drawing conclusions about them, so I can't say I'm surprised.

Secondly, Severus is literally half Muggle. He’s not a half-blood because his parents were Muggle-borns, or because he had mixed-blood parents, or one pureblood and one Muggle-born parent. He’s half-blood because his father was a Muggle, and he grew up in a Muggle neighborhood, in a Muggle house. I don’t think it takes a genius to understand that if he feels so much disdain toward Muggles during his youth, it’s basically because to him, being Muggle is his father, it’s his crappy neighborhood, it’s his social position where he can’t even have his own clothes and has to wear his mother’s. He rejects Muggles because what he knew of the Muggle world is something he doesn’t want to have anything to do with, period. It also seems completely logical to me, given his life experience, that he would be attracted to the idea of being someone who was above his father, someone who, because he had powers, was better than that man who had ruined his childhood, and that people like him had no place in the world promised to him by the purebloods in his house. I also think it’s pretty logical and understandable that he would like the idea of having the right, just by being a wizard, to do whatever he wanted with his father and take revenge for everything he had put him through. I honestly think his affiliation with the Death Eaters, aside from the fact that he had a pathological need to be accepted somewhere after years of constant marginalization and that the idea of power attracted him since he had never had anything like it, was intrinsically motivated by the idea that in this way, he could confront his father and rid himself of his shadow once and for all. I also believe that if four cool Gryffindor kids hadn’t tormented him for years, he probably wouldn’t have fallen so easily into the rhetoric of supremacism, but that’s another topic.

What I’m getting at is that no, I don’t consider Severus to be racist. I consider him a victim of circumstances who, in a situation of vulnerability very close to social exclusion, fell into the manipulation and promises of glory that a sect offered him. He’s literally the perfect victim for that kind of group.

starboysev

This. And Severus was never even an actual bigot, he got groomed into a cult that recruited in his literal bedroom since he was 11, while getting viciously bullied by the children of the "light side" and ignored by the adults of said light side. He was a victim.

#lily evans #gryffindor #red moodboard #green moodboard #red green #moodboard #severus snape #marauders era #slytherin #i think this actress is so her #she's beautiful #severus

maxdibert

Well, after reading Snater arguments on Reddit, there’s something I’d like to comment on. I mean, I’m a lawyer, and I’m a lawyer who advocates for social reintegration, not punishment. So when I think about morally questionable characters, I always think like a lawyer. It’s something I can’t avoid because I spent years memorizing laws, and that fries your brain, so you’re just going to have to bear with me here.

The point is, I don’t give a damn that Snape hung out with the bad guys. I don’t care that he followed Voldemort because, from a legal standpoint, Severus more than paid his debt to the community. First of all, there’s no evidence that Severus killed anyone before Dumbledore asked him to perform a rather shady kind of euthanasia. That means his involvement with the Death Eaters was essentially collaboration with a criminal group. If we take into account that he later switched sides and became cooperative with the “good guys,” then in any trial, that would already significantly reduce his sentence, which, considering that he didn’t commit murder, wasn’t involved in any attempted homicides, and didn’t directly collaborate in major crimes, would already be pretty short.

But if we also consider that after switching sides, he worked as a double agent, then we can count his service as a kind of probation with community service. In other words: serving a sentence. For me, Severus Snape served both time and punishment for the actions he committed. A sentence that was much longer and harsher than his crimes warranted. So I don’t give a damn what he did before because he’s already paid his debt to society, and any democratic legal system would see it that way. And I don’t believe in life sentences or the death penalty because they’re useless, capitalist punishments, so whatever. The point is that Severus paid. He paid with his life, both metaphorically and literally, because from the moment he joined Dumbledore, he had no life of his own. He had no future. His entire world became focused on doing whatever it took to pay his debt to society. A debt that, in the end, led to his death. So, yeah, he might seem like an asshole and a bad person to you, just like I see plenty of assholes and bad people who come into my office, but the reality is, if they serve their sentence, they settle their debt. And Severus paid more than he owed. Honestly, I wish there were lawyers and therapists in the wizarding world—maybe that’s why things are such a mess there, lol.

107vision

sneppu

The Reasons Why Severus Snape is Secretly a Cat, Actually.

I'm saying he's a neglected and abused stray little black cat and here is why

He's very meow meow. VERY kitten.

Black cats are vilified and assumed by some to be evil. Coincidentally, both of these things happen to Snape as well.

Difficult to befriend. Cats are already picky about who they like, and Cats who have had it rough are even more difficult. One cannot just waltz up to a cat like that expect friendliness, or even indifference for that matter.

Extremely bad, no good, very bad luck with dogs. Seriously, the man MUST have dog trauma by now. Werewolves? Sirius, one of his biggest haters and tormentors, a dog animagus? even Fluffy mauling his leg?? The first two were marauders, yes, but that's not a good thing when it comes to Snape. (not all dogs and cats dont get along, but its certainly interesting. Personally, I headcanon him as a definite cat person who has a bad associations with dogs but thats a whole other post.)

Very hissy and snarly and unpleasant when threatened - and sometimes, even when YOU think there's no apparent threat! This is premium Gato™ Behavior. An abused little shelter cat, horribly unsocialized, becoming hyper defensive anytime anything happens to him, even if the thing that is happening is kind.

it fits with the idea that hes "mean for no reason" because there IS a reason - cats are complicated little guys! Where you see a nonissue, He might see a threat. Where you see kindness, he might see mockery. Where you see playfulness he might see cruelty, and so on. After all, he's been on the receiving end of it all too often.

Cats like this usually end up stuck in shelters - not a home - because no one will take them. They're too offputting, they're too mean, they're too much trouble. One could argue that Hogwarts itself IS that shelter in this scenario; a place to be, but not a home. Not really.

Worth noting: maybe to Harry, Hogwarts can be considered a sort-of Home, but he actually found kindness and friends there. Severus lost his only friend and was tormented there. Better than his incredibly shitty situation with his family? Certainly! but Shelters often are.

SWM fits as well; A moment of extreme distress from being humiliated, afraid, and overwhelmed? all those jeering laughing faces while he is vulnerable and unsafe, defenseless at the hands of people who have continuously hurt him for years?? and to see and know that his friend - his BEST friend - the only friend; the only PERSON, he has, is there holding back a smile as it is happening too? Have you ever met a cat in distress? of course he lashed out. It's honestly astounding that he didnt lash out MORE.

and while on the subject of SWM, him lashing out at Lily applies here too. A cornered, distressed cat (especially one with a history of abuse) sees everything as a threat , even people it is normally friendly to, if it's distressed enough. Have you tried to bathe a cat? or maybe tried to coax one to get into a cat carrier for the vet? these things are very difficult but manageable at the best of times but "vulnerable, afraid, humiliated, and threatened" are NOT the best of times, I fear.

it even works with his occlumency and the way he deals with vulnerability as well. Cats, when in pain, do their best to hide that pain. This is because to be outwardly hurt is to be vulnerable, and that can lead to predation by bigger animals. Severus too, hides his vulnerability. The things that truly matter to him, his worries, his soft and squishy bits, and loyalties all carefully locked away.

Rivalry with Minerva?? that's just good ol' unserious cat drama. Have u ever seen an indoor cat staring down a stray through the window? silly little creatures. They'll grumble about it and act like its on sight (and maybe it is!) but when you're not looking, there'll be sniffing through the glass and pretending they dont care while they nap suspiciously close by.

Starved for affection and touch. An abused stray, past all the hissing and the fear and violence, once they're finally given a chance and finally understand that they are safe, just wants to be loved. They usually end up being the most affectionate and loyal cats of all! only to those they feel safe with, of course.

And speaking of loyalty, that applies here too. He was loyal to Lily, the first and only person to show him kindness (though my feelings for her are very complicated) and he was later loyal to Dumbledore. Unfortunately, neither of these people ever truly took in the stray, not really. And so the Stray was never actually socialized, and never completely safe, and never actually given a home.

and finally.. his death. Cats have a tendency to hide when nearing death, or dying.. and as such, often die in solitude. Severus may not have exactly had a direct hand in this of course, but.. there's something about him dying in this shitty little shack, far away from the action, presumably alone (or so he thought until Harry and his friends materialized out of nowhere under the cloak.). He wasn't actually alone in his actual final moments, but in the time leading up to it? Very lonely.

In a way, one could say that Lily came closest to adopting the stray Sev cat. And maybe she would have! maybe she wanted to take in the stray at one point - had planned to, even! But her friends told her he was dirty and gross, "who knows where that things been! he's probably diseased". and The marauders kept tormenting him, making him increasingly defensive and hissy and violent, as cats often are in that situation and then it was also "look how cruel and mean he is! he'll only hurt you". and maybe when the time finally came and that defensiveness finally WAS aimed at her it only confirmed what she had already begun to believe. And then she decided she wasnt a cat person after all. Who knows? One could make an argument for all of that. Do i see things that way? maybe, maybe not. My feelings toward every character who is not Snape are largely indifferent for the most part.

Verdict: Severus Snape is a Cat. He is a little kitten meow meow. Give this man a little cauldron to curl up in asap