Snapedom

have not been forgotten, but come late, as usual.

Att.: geri_chan, the_bitter_word, wynnleaf, -L, mary_j_59, janus, 00sevvie, greedslayer, ether_bunny, hafren, duj, Hwyla, oryx_leucorix and terri_testing!

I'm very pleased that we're getting so many entries to the challenges, even if that means that I'm posting the banners here to avoid swamping you with images.

Under the cut is just one, for viewing. All the others can be picked up at the snapedomfan account. If you feel left out or I made a typo, please tell me. Don't be shy, it really isn't a problem and quickly remedied.

Oh yes, this one is a bit large... you can downsize it yourself. ;)
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Something a little different: You may or may not know that I'm one of the organizers of the severusbigbang. Which means that I am distracted often and don't come here quite as often at the moment, since I know that snapedom more or less works well without me.

If, however, there is something you want or need, don't hesitate to send me a mail. The address is on the profile page.

In response to 00sevvie's response to my Severus and Voldemort post.
00sevvie is a brilliant name, by the way. I am all admiration.

I hope I've answered some of your questions. Again - its really too long for comments. And again, I ramble on and on and on... I love to talk about Snape.

( cut for 2500 words of rambles )
He is the perfect adjutant - capable, with nothing to lose and nothing to gain. To want - anything - is to be cheated, to lose. From Voldemort's point of view, love can turn to hate, belief can turn to a feeling of betrayal. Severus is useful. Usefulness does not fail. Usefulness is what he gains from Dumbledore, why he serves him as well, and there are the years of use teaching and perhaps spying on his young charges during the time in which Voldemort was vanquished. Usefulness is what he gains from Voldemort. That is why he is valued by Voldemort, because it is pure and it is hunger, even terror that he will fall into nothingness.

What joy, you ask? Memory. And the things he always loved. Spells, potions, Slytherin House, learning, understanding from wizards. The hope for a fleeting, momentary look or hand of approval, praise, trust. A striving for redemption through service, penance through work.

There are a lot of unanswered questions about Snape and Voldemort...was Snape really the Dark Lord's right hand man, and if so, was he always, or did this only occur after Voldemort's return post-GoF? And how did Voldemort manage to recruit Snape and the other Death Eaters in the first place? I've seen it pointed out in other posts that what we see of Voldemort doesn't paint him as a particularly cunning or charismatic leader. It seems that aside from Bellatrix, most of the Death Eaters are serving him mainly out of fear.

All right, since it’s the end of March and I apparently have time to write insanely long responses to other people’s challenge entries, I might as well go ahead and attempt to put my thoughts on Sev and Voldie into some kind of order. J Be warned that this is not a proper essay arguing a point, but merely a long (very long!) ramble about my thoughts on different aspects of Sev and Voldemort’s relationship. Tangents, long detours, etc. may be ahead.

 

Sorry to make a separate post for this, but for some reason the site won't recognize my attempts to comment on the original post at any length (it keeps giving me an error message). However, I found the essay interesting and thought-provoking, and wanted to respond somehow. So I'm writing a separate post - I hope this is ok.

Janus:

As I said in my short comment to your post, this is a very interesting essay, with a perspective I haven't come across before. On a number of points I agree with you, particularly about using real emotions as a method of occluding, creating a 'face' for the legilimens to see. It accords pretty closely with my understanding of Sev's Occlumency. And yes, he is a complex man full of contradictions - verbally brutal to his students, yet willing to charge into danger when he thinks they're hurt, full of resentment and hate but also deeply loving, a DE and a member of the Order, etc.

However, I do have real questions/confusion on some points. Please don't feel attacked - I agree with you on some things, and for the rest I honestly am interested in hearing your response. I guess I'm trying to get a better understanding of your Sev's psychology. Please correct me where I misinterpret things!

This might be pretty long.

There was something that amazed everyone, a skill unprecedented that caused even Voldemort's enemies to exclaim in admiration. He was a brilliant wizard - the most advanced in decades. He really had power, and advanced magic. He had won awards at school, feared none but Dumbledore. His accomplishments were extraordinary. None of these elicits comment from his enemies, save one. Voldemort could fly.

There is no mention of anyone else flying unaided in the books. This was something remarkable, something he must have developed on his own. He was not a generous man; not one to instruct, to teach, to give; not one to take on protégés, to mentor or aid his followers or recruits. There is no mention of phalanxes of Deatheaters pursuing anyone freely through the air. Yet Voldemort taught Snape to fly.
( Cut for 900 words of wild justification of my own position, writing Snape and Voldemort )
But that did not happen. Voldemort took Snape under his almost literal wings, branded his arm, taught him, used him, valued him. Snape was, in my world, Voldemort's man as surely as he was Dumbledore's. Janus, I named him - the embodiment of contradictions, he who held good and evil, light and darkness, past and future, all simultaneously within himself. With sincerity.

Voldemort and Snape, along with Dumbledore, are characters given the "flashback" treatment in Rowlings' books, important enough to merit a backstory, but ultimately only a backdrop to Harry Potter's journey. Rowling reveals the bulk of their stories through passive devices, the Pensieve memory for the Slytherins and the tell-all book for the Gryffindor, thus limiting the character representations to her hero's somewhat unimaginative and unquestioning point of view. This means that for Voldemort, we are left with a psychopathic villain who has few dimensions. For Dumbledore, we are left with a complete reevaluation of his character in the last book. For Snape, for whom the author seemed to have little interest beyond use as a plot device in DH, we are left with many unanswered questions.

For example, we do not know how Snape was taken in by Voldemort. Snape warned that those who wear their hearts on their sleeves are easy prey for the Dark Lord. He did not say what sort of predator Voldemort was, however, or precisely how he became Voldemort's prey.

Author mary-j-59
title Severus and Voldemort

Just an informal ramble, off the top of my head. G-rated as always, gen essay, probably no more than 500 words. This is my response to the March challenge.
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This month's challenge was suggested by greedslayer. Details about that suggestion can be seen here.

Apparently Severus was Voldemort's right hand man. Was he really? Why? Was that intentional and pushed by Dumbledore or not? How did Severus' ego react to that position? Did he like it, hate it, not care about it? Did it affect his relationship to other Death Eaters? Was he always a trusted servant or only after the second rising? And, and, and...

So, after several lighter topics, we're having a heavy one this month. I'll make my way through your suggestions and try to alternate between lighter and heavier.

The tag for this challenge is march09