[ SECRET POST #2329 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2329 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 083 secrets from Secret Submission Post #333.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[seventh_seal]

No need to apologize for getting long-winded, I'm just psyched to discuss Snape again (he's been my favorite HP character since I was 11, which is, well, a long time ago). However, although I read and re-read the books all the time before DH, the final book was a disappointment to me and I had to struggle to re-read it - and that was years ago again. That shows in my false projection of the manner Snape's death over Burbage's - so sorry about that, although I guess we're all lucky it wasn't the other way round and Nagini didn't swallow Snape, too ;)

Talking about faulty memories - the Pensieve is one of those many incredibly powerful devices whose mechanism doesn't make much sense except MAGIC!. JKR created so many of these and then failed to meaningfully integrate them into her world - and then moved onto the next flashy thing. The Prince's Tale is a wetdream for every Snape fan, but it's also one of the most contrived, convenient and lazy chapters I've read. JKR traps herself in Harry's POV and for some reason, she needs to have him witness, solve and decide absolutely everything. The "some reason" is of course the fact that he's the protagonist, but I think she's taking it to a point where she does a disservice to her own story (the Order becoming passive and stupid, the McGonagall issue, Voldemort waiting around all the time, inexplicable break in culminating action with flashbacks, all so that Harry can take time and absorb it all.)

And I think it's this exclusive focus on Harry that prevents JKR from exploring any sort of aftermath of the Second War. She gives her hero what she always imagined as his happy ending and just ignores everything else - because it was never significant. All the themes and theories that the readers inserted into the books are revealed as non-existent, which makes sense in retrospect because - as you say - they were never really there (or were there as a superficial note, rather than a deep concern that would need to be addressed). JKR is great at decorating her world with quirky and interesting stuff, but she fails at world-building. So no post-war Snape for us because JKR brought the story to a complete full circle (boy without family gets family) and Snape would be an unnecessary disruptive element, "the incurable outsider" as you put it. I agree that it would be awesome to have him survive, though.

I stopped following JKR's interviews after the Dumbledore is gay, wait, you didn't know? fiasco, and it honestly doesn't concern me much what she says about Snape that's not in the books (maybe she just wants to keep the debate going - or wanted to, five years ago when this was still a thing ;) ). But I think that someone who gave Snape, a secondary character that could've stayed in the more caricature-like phase, some of the best lines in the books, fleshed-out background and believable motivation and who had her golden boy Harry assert him as brave in the wish-fulfillment fantasy called the Epilogue -- well, that someone must like Snape a lot. JKR was deliberately misleading before DH (for some reason she thought she had to keep the Snape as red herring trope going throughout every book) and basically, she said a lot of bullshit after DH. I think the books would've been a lot better if she wrote the entire septalogy before publishing it (no interaction with fan theories etc.), but that's just crazy.

Yeah, the only person Snape personally killed was Dumbledore, everything points in that direction.

And about Snape's lack of options - Like Aberforth in DH, I'm just exasperated with Dumbledore's "all for the Greater Good" motto and while this is what the books are based around and Aberforth's way is discredited by the extremely unlikely occurrences that lead to Harry winning and living in the end, I'm a sucker for "fuck your grand plan, you omniscient manipulator" kind of scenario. So I suppose I'm going to be forever disappointed with Snape's "You used me! But Lily! Ok, you're the boss" reaction.* The ability to let go of saving Lily's son for the sake of others shows growth on Snape's part, but also meek submission to one's fate that needs to be fulfilled (it's the same with Harry at the end). I'm not a fan of meek submission.

*I'm now thinking of an AU scenario where Snape takes the "fuck you" path and kidnaps Harry so he can keep him safe from the impending slaughter :D

(Ok, this comment is a monster and I think I've had my Snape fix now ;)