Meta Monday

[sassy_cat]

As promised, a bit of meta for your Monday.

We all know that Severus Snape was a man who wanted respect and recognition, even an Order of Merlin. Within HP fandom, he's been both loathed and romanticized, but recently, there's been a strong resurgence of Snape hate.

How do you think Snape would react to fandom?

Comments

[torino10154]

but recently, there's been a strong resurgence of Snape hate.

Has there?

Um, that said, I think he'd find fandom a monumental waste of time. The epitome of "foolish wand-waving" and "silly incantations".

[akatnamedeaster]

Has there?

On Tumblr. Tumblr fandom has a hate-on for Snape.

[torino10154]

LOL So the jammy-faced infants?

[akatnamedeaster]

Pretty much. I gotta say, it's one of the reasons I don't give a tin-shit about Tumblr.

[verdande_mi]

I do not really participate in the fandom, more on the fringe in any case with some fic reading here and there, but I have noticed over the last months some hate/negativity towards Snape on tumblr. Beyond reading a few words and scrolling past it, I have not engaged. Snape was always one of my favourite characters in the books, with all his complexities, and I do not think he can so easily be boxed as all bad as seems to be the case for all the hate…

As to fandom, I do not think he would want to be interested, but still I think his curiosity would be peeked. Maybe not in regards to himself, but for fandom as a concept at least.

I need to re-read these books!

[sassy_cat]

I don't engage the Snape hate and usually scroll past it. There are the small things that can't be ignored like the popular: Is Snape still a douche? ---Really? Some of my favorite Snape moments are when he's being a bit of a douche so that one doesn't faze me, and I feel as though they've missed the point of his character.

Part of me thinks that Severus would openly hate but secretly follow fandom. His personality is perfect to support an internet addiction, and heaven knows, he has enough practice pretending to be someone other than himself. We know nothing of how he spent his leisure time before the war, but I like to think that he'd be the typical modern introvert and spend far too much time online.

I feel as if I'm always rereading the books :)

[verdande_mi]

I think many people are unwilling to look beyond Snape’s nasty behaviour. He does not act and say what he does in a vacuum and he is not just plain bad. I understand it is easy to paint him as such, but I think that is a too easy route to take with such a character. He is very complicated and complex, which is why I find him so interesting and I wish the books gave us more Snape.

I agree with your take on Snape being an introvert spending too much time online, and I think perhaps he would feel a sense of community he does not feel elsewhere.

I have only read the books once and that was years and years ago, but I have borrowed the first two from my niece today :)

[akatnamedeaster]

Personally, by the way I read Snape's character, I don't think he'd like it and find the whole thing a waste of time. I also think he would be insulted by the way he's often turned into a woobie. Snape does not come off as the type of person who would want anyone to pity him or paint him as a victim of circumstance even if canon suggests that he is at times.

So yeah, my feeling is Snape would have no use for fandom in general and would be giving us all his best sneer if only he could. ;)

[sassy_cat]

Oh, yes. The woobie outrage would be strong. When I imagine how he'd react to everyone knowing about the love he harbored for Lily and their daring to pity him, I cringe.

I would not want to hear that Snape rant.

[akatnamedeaster]

Phht! Rant nothing! You'd probably be hexed from hell to breakfast before you could get "Aww, I feel so bad..." out of your mouth!

(Thank goodness for fandom where we can pet, fondle, and smoosh him to our hearts content and he's not around to give us any lip.)

[perverse_idyll]

As for fandom - Snape would consider it lunatic rubbish and incredibly presumptuous. He'd want nothing to do with us, and he'd loathe all the speculation about his private life. He'd also be enraged by attempts to analyze his motives and background and by many of the conclusions drawn about him, even those (or especially those) by sympathizers. He was used to being reviled, and obviously took some pride in remaining committed to his path while despising most of the people who shared it with him. He could ignore haters with impunity and might even get some grim entertainment out of poking the hornet's nest now and then. Unsolicited friendliness, on the other hand, and claims to 'understand' him on the part of total strangers would most likely provoke contempt and revulsion. It's a familiarity he hasn't granted, so we'd have no business behaving as if he's invited us in

[writcraft]

I love this answer, it made me smile so much, and I completely agree with you and torino10154 on the "foolish wand waving" particularly if the wand being waved with regular frequency was Snape's own ;-) *coughs*

Although I have a weird headcanon for Snape (based on absolutely nothing in canon, of course, just my own flight of fancy) that he might have an appreciation for some saucy pirate/cabin boy literature from time to time, so who knows? I imagine there could be an element of protesting too much and I don't dislike the idea of him seeking out some smoking hot Snarry to read by candlelight, grumbling away but finding it all rather...intriguing :D

[perverse_idyll]

Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if Snape were fairly sexually inexperienced. I mean, considering his appearance and personality, I doubt his school years provided much in the way of an erotic education, and once he starts teaching at Hogwarts, it's not as if he'd have much chance to meet eligible partners or time to do anything about it if he did. Which leaves Spinner's End, and that doesn't exactly strike me as a hotbed of carnal shenanigans

[torino10154]

Thought about this a lot, B? LOL

♥

[starduchess]

I think he'd see us as tossers and reprehensible cretins. (And then secretly read and scoff in the darkness of his rooms.)

[sassy_cat]

Agreed! And he'd be absolutely alarmed by all the character pairings but would take delight in the fics and art where he bests one of the characters he dislikes aka pretty much everyone.