Quote from Artichoke Spectre on March 27, 2024, 1:54 am

Quote from mmlf on March 26, 2024, 3:19 pm

Welcome! Great introduction. What kind of pairings do you like for Snape?

Hello and thank you!

I was a big Snily shipper back in the day, but since then I've read a few fanfictions with other pairings that I love exploring.

I like toying with the idea of Snape crushing on Lucius Malfoy. Finding a male figure more mild-mannered and magical than his father must have been a refreshing experience for him, and having an older mentor help him navigate Slytherin and Death Eater life is bound to foster a deep connection. Plus, Sirius's accusation of Snape being his "lapdog" introduces the possibility of young Snape being a bit of a suck-up, and in general, Snape obsessing over people is an interesting avenue.

The Black brothers are tons of fun to think about. There is so much to do with Snegulus, because it's a blank slate and, as far as the original series is concerned, Snape's and Regulus's stories are unrelated. We don't get a whole lot of information about Regulus, so thinking about his relationship to Sirius, and how hanging around Snape would impact that, has a lot of potential, especially because Snape and Sirius are polar opposites in many ways. Speaking of, the possibility of those two having feelings for one another sounds crazy. A Tumblr post by annabtg (aimlessly wandering on Tumblr: Here's a thought: Sirius has been getting so much shit for the Prank and putting Snape's life in danger, but in The Prince's...) points out how Snape does not think to mention Sirius when relaying the events of the Prank to Lily. annabtg's reasoning is a curious angle about the scale of the prank and Snape's agency, but from a romance lens it raises questions on how big a slice of the hatred pizza was reserved for Sirius. Snape is so focused on James fancying Lily, but if he were to pay more attention to Sirius, what would happen?

The most out-of-left-field pairing I've seen was fanfiction author Cocohorse's Gilderoy Lockhart x Snape pairing, aging up Lockhart to put them in the same year. Their stark differences complement one another in The Prince's Knight (The Prince’s Knight - Chapter 1 - Cocohorse - Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling [Archive of Our Own]). I recommend it wholeheartedly. It was not a ship I thought I would get behind, but surprisingly, I was invested!

I think I prefer Snily as a tragic, star-crossed romance, but I've also enjoyed a lot of Snily stories with happy endings. What fascinates me about Snape is his function as the disruptor; he initiates and (accidentally) terminates their relationship with his actions. Finding out where he goes wrong and unpacking his feelings and motivations leaves me gushing every time I read "The Prince's Tale." Unrequited romance has always fascinated me in general, though I like to think the two met in the afterlife and patched things up. All this to say that this is the ship I think about the most.