Severus Snape in Fanfiction
I thought it might be cool to have a thread specifically for those of us who write (and read) fanfiction versions of Severus's character. This includes (but is not necessarily limited to) discussing common tropes, pet peeves, creative choices we love, different aspects of character development, as well as our own experiences with writing his character.
NOTE: While it's fine to comment on things you dislike, please don't single out specific stories for criticism. This isn't a place to bash other writers, just to share our preferences in a more general sense.
I think one pet peeve I have would be Snape's ability to make amends or even become friends with James Potter post-bullying, whether young Snape, older Snape, or a time-traveled Snape. This is divorced from whether or not I like the fic in question.
Yeah, I agree. I can't see Snape ever becoming friends with James. Most I can see is them working together in an emergency situation.
My pet peeve is some Snape fics removing Snape's flaws like his nastiness, pettiness and emotional outbursts. I enjoy Snape being a bastard to other people and reveling in it.
Totally agree with you @thegestaltprince. James is the last person Severus would (or should) ever fully reconcile with. I mean, I can buy a situation where they have to put their differences aside and be civil to one another, but that would be surface level at best. An actual friendship? Fuck no. That would be horribly out of character, not just for Severus but for James as well.
My biggest pet peeve:
Changing Severus's appearance.
Making his hair less greasy, having him put on a little weight and/or take better care of his teeth? I have no problem with that, especially in situations where he has a romantic interest and/or other reasons to take care of himself. We know he neglects his appearance because he's miserable, so yeah… it makes sense that he'd be more mindful of the way he looks under different (better) circumstances.
What bothers me is when writers completely transform his appearance. Totally different (sometimes even colorful) clothes, giving him a tan, reducing the size of his nose and/or straightening his teeth, and (*shudder*) cutting his hair. They change him to the point where he's no longer recognizable as Severus, which for me, is a huge problem. The character I love is a pale, (at least relatively) skinny man with long hair, a hooked nose, and billowing black robes. I don't want him to be "fixed", and frankly, I think it does an injustice to him as a character. It implies that he's not good enough the way he is, that he needs to be "prettied up" in order to be happy or loved or whatever. It also ignores the fact that his appearance is inextricably tied to his personality. Changing it to that extreme is not only shallow, but deeply OOC.
I agree on the appearance part. I've read one or two where Severus ends up tall and broad shouldered, which just isn't him. The only time where I'm fine with his appearance being different is if he goes through character development that would prompt him to take better care of himself.
Okay, this one might be controversial because a lot of Snape writers do it. Just keep in mind that this is a minor quibble, not something that would stop me from reading a story that is otherwise good.
Dunderhead
Severus only uses this once in the series, yet it's ubiquitous in fanfiction, meta, and other writings. Some authors only use it occasionally, but with others, it's a constant repetition. Dunderhead, dunderhead, dunderhead, everyone's a bloody dunderhead...
So why does this bother me?
Mainly, it's the lack of originality. I understand wanting to incorporate key aspects of a character, but this one is unimaginative/way overdone. It gives the word outsized importance compared to its minimal place in canon, and frankly, it's just lazy.
Much more important/defining aspects of Severus's character are that he's witty, highly intelligent, has an extensive vocabulary, and can deliver absolutely savage comebacks. Him referring to people as dunderheads over and over? Not only is that annoying, but it doesn't make sense for him as a character. He's far too creative for that, which I'd like to see more of in fanfiction.
(This is also true for "toerag", though that's a separate rant) 😄
Me: agrees
Also Me: sweats nervously at own work
Lol, I'm going to do a word search on my own work and see how many instances I can find. I'll be back in a bit with the results. 😂
@heatherlly, I agree on apperance aspect. I don't mind when apperance change occurs with character development but changing it in the beginning is like writer doesn't like his OG apperance and tries to make him more handsome for shipping.
