An interesting and insightful read on the professor JK fashioned Snape after.

[celestialbeing1]

This is old so I'm sure it's been read before, but for those who've not read it, read it and couldn't find it, or whatever the case, it's still amazing.

http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_whitehound/Fanfic/A_true_original.htm

Comments

[delphipsmith]

(Read this via droxy's link, so am copying my comments here.)

Fascinating! An incredibly detailed and intriguing analysis. I went a bit sniffly at the end; he sounds like quite a remarkable and lovely person. These two points in particular stood out:

Rowling's characters are manifestations of thoughts in her head and if she says that a particular character would act in a particular way, that's how it is, but I do not see that we have to share her moral evaluation of her characters' behaviour. A canon-compatible Snape cannot be so cloyingly saintly that Rowling couldn't have mixed feelings about him, whether we share her ambiguity or not...

To me as a pagan one of the most striking things about Snape is that he is the only character in the stories who comes across as what I would consider to be a real wizard...rather than a storybook character waving a wand. There is something powerful and shamanic in the way Snape keeps Harry safely on his broom in the first book by locking eyes on him and chanting, or sings Draco's wounds shut in the

[celestialbeing1]

I seriously have no idea about that fiercely anti-intellectual bit because I've come across some whom are soo pedantic...sooo analytical to a point where you want to politely ask them to shut up before they ruin things for you lol

But I'm glad Droxy told me to post this to LJ because it was a great read, and I'm glad you enjoyed it :D

[droxy]

"soo pedantic...sooo analytical to a point where you want to politely ask them to shut up before they ruin things for you lol" This...and its not just potter fandom

[celestialbeing1]

Oh wise Droxy, so it's not just me annoyed with this? Sometimes I feel like they're just being cynical and want to ruin things for others!! There's analysing...then there's nit-picking and ripping apart.

[droxy]

I'm the kid in lit class who says..that was a good story and that's all I can think of. I'd scratch my head when folks started coming up with stuff. I think..wait I didn't read that. where the hell did that come from? Cliff's notes use to boggle me as to "where the hell did they get that?"

I think writers write the stories because they need to. I seriously doubt they think they are making any kind of "statement". It's jarring to the fic when they try making "statements".

You are not the only one, I assure you.

I also apply this to the art world. I could gag on the pretentious.

[celestialbeing1]

I think I just fell in love with you even more.

Because...that's me perfectly. I'm all 'well, I enjoyed that, I thought it was very good'. Yes, some things I would analyze (my first book doing so being 'Of Mice and Men') but some of the things I read are just WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY to the left and I'm on the right, asking myself if I'm the idiot that missing something.

Exactly!! We write things because we need to. I know what I like to read and if I can't find it, then I write it myself. That's my golden rule. Don't complain about what you can't find--if it's that bad, write it yourself.

Someone just posted another one of 'those' essays on the fb page but I'll privately ask you about that because...well, just because.

Oh gosh. The art world. I just had this discussion about two months ago with my other half, I believe, and he said that a lot of them are just blowing smoke up someone's ass. I'm inclined to agree.