Meme! & Is It Yuletide Yet?

[amatara]

So, I actually really shouldn't be posting right now, because OW RIGHT WRIST TENDINITIS OW and I need to get back to work tomorrow and hopefully still be able to type on a keyboard, but oh, well - it's been too long, flist! How have you all been?  Here, have a meme:

Pick a character I've written and I will give and explain the top five ideas/concepts/etc I keep in mind while writing that character that I believe are essential to accurately depicting them.

Did I mention my main Yuletide fic is off being beta'ed this very moment, and I've written two treats as well, tendinitis be damned? I'm actually feeling pretty accomplished right now. :)

Comments

[amatara]

Sorry for the delay! And far be it for me to say I'm an expert in writing Snape, so none of this is going to sound revolutionary, but here goes:

(1) He is capable of feelings like love, devotion, and affection, but I wouldn't consider Lily a good example of that - not for the adult Snape we see in the novels, anyway. Everything he feels for Lily now is clouded by guilt, so who can say whether it really is love, or something that used to be love but has long turned into something else? But he does love Draco, I think, or at least cares deeply for Draco. He genuinely wishes to save him even after Draco refuses his help, and when he's healing Draco after the Sectumsempra incident, it's very clear how deep his concern for Draco really goes. So he is capable of love, but not, I would say, romantic love; he's scarred too deeply for that in my eyes.

(2) The relationship between Snape and Dumbledore is not pure, or clean, or nice, or happy. I don't doubt Dumbledore cares about Snape, but that doesn't stop him from ruthlessly manipulating him. Snape is entirely dependent on Dumbledore, his life is tied to him even more than it is to Voldemort; Dumbledore knows this, and takes advantage of it. I'm not saying Dumbledore is enjoying the hold he has over Snape - I think it's painful for him as well. But this is not a touching father-son relationship, even if there is sometimes genuine tenderness in it (as in Snape tending to Dumbledore's wounds).

(3) Snape is no woobie. He's a BAMF and he's fiercely intelligent and the very best at what he does, ane he knows it. The last thing he would want from anyone is pity, so when writing him as vulnerable in any kind of situation, exercise EXTREME caution. This is not a man who will take kindly to being woobified, oh no.

(4) He's an asshole to his students, period. Any teacher acting like that in real life should be fired. Yes, you could say students learn a valuable lesson from him about life not being fair, but that's not really the point of being a teacher, is it? Knowing he was abused as a child helps understand why he bullies others later, but it doesn't excuse it - especially not if those he's bullying are children who can't defend themselves (Neville! oh, dear!). No amount of bad experiences excuse that kind of behavior.

(5) There was a point before it all went to hell where he could have turned back from the darkness. He was heavily influenced by his Slytherin friends, yes, and he had had a crappy childhood, but it's hardly fair to say he had no choice in any of it. For one thing, he had Lily, who tried to show him another way. He made the wrong choice, period. And now he's paying for it. There are extenuating circumstances for what he did, yes, but he's still culpable, not purely a victim. (This also ties in with the "woobie" bit, I think.)