(TBAY) Re: Crouch - Dead Sexy? And Sadist!Snape

[wynnde1 at aol.com]

DISCLAIMER: I began writing a "regular" reponse to Eileen on this subject, 
and found that I was in the mood to write some TBAY silliness. So I did, and 
it turned out that really silliness is pretty much all that is here - I'm not 
sure I've said anything new of any substance - mostly, it's just a blether 
about Crouch, Winky's sex life, manipulative sadists, and Snape.  Plus there 
is a weird LotR moment which is meant to be funny, but I'm not sure if it's 
funny or just weird. But oh well. So, if those topics don't appeal, consider 
yourself forewarned should you choose to read this post anyway! <G>

***

Wendy was sitting on the shore of the bay, enjoying the discussion between 
Elkins and Eileen regarding the Crouch family, being careful not to get 
trampled by Elkins hobby horse. Part way through their discussion, she 
noticed Eileen take a break from talking to Elkins. Curious, she followed 
Eileen over to OT-Chatter, where Eileen asked, rather plaintively, whether or 
not anyone else ever thought of Crouch, Sr., as Dead Sexy. She also wanted to 
hear opinions on Elkins systematic destruction of Crouch's "good" name . . .

"Well," Wendy answers,"First of all - I thought the trilogy squared was 
FANTASTIC! And I am prepared to hop on board with Elkins, right down to the 
Crouch/Winky ship."

Eileen looks a bit hurt as she replies, "Don't hop aboard completely with 
her. I have a canon that's going to blow her out of the water on one 
particular point and do a bit of damage to the Crouch/Winky ship as well."

Wendy looks concerned at the thought that her comment might be the reason 
Eileen looked hurt. "Oh dear, Eileen - I didn't mean to upset you. You're my 
friend here - you're the one who brought me here in the first place! And 
after all, from my perspective, most of the arguments I've seen so far are 
from Elkins - I missed this discussion the first time around, so I've yet to 
hear what you have to say about the Crouches." Wendy glances around, looking 
to see if anyone else is listening. "I don't know if I should admit this 
here," she continues hesitantly, "but I'm very susceptible to being talked 
"fancy" to. Present a good enough argument, and I'll follow you anywhere. And 
Elkins presented a *very* good argument. But don't worry, you'll have a 
chance to sway my opinion. Remember, I'm happy to think of Rookwood as Dead 
Sexy based on some very flimsy evidence and the fact that others are doing it 
too. Peer pressure, and all that." Wendy grins a bit sheepishly.

Suddenly, a serious look flashes across her face. "But please don't do 
anything to harm the Crouch/Winky ship. Believe it or not, this is one of the 
few things that I actually *like* about Crouch. It makes him seem more human, 
less cold-hearted - that he actually had sexual feelings which he allowed 
himself to express. Let's not go into the subject of consentuality on Winky's 
part, shall we? In any case, she does seem to have been in love with him, and 
it also makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to think that, at least for a time, 
her love was reciprocated." Wendy smiles, sighing contentedly. Then she 
smiles crookedly. "Well, maybe not love. But at least she was getting some."

"To answer your other question, I don't think Crouch, Sr. is Dead Sexy," 
Wendy continues. "I much prefer Lucius Malfoy, or even Rookwood, for that 
matter. I prefer my men to be honest about their motives, not living a total 
disconnect from reality, the way I see Crouch as doing."

"Actually," Eileen replies, "I'm willing to stake anything that Rookwood was 
much more disconnected from reality that Crouch was. Cognitive dissonance and 
all that. He was living a very double life, and I've always pictured him as 
being rather like people in real life who did the same thing. In fact, I've 
been planning to write an essay on my vision of Rookwood after I've finished 
with the Crouches, which may not be a long time, based off Malcom 
Muggeridge's observation of double agents during
World War II. I think he was a hypocrite, hopelessly conflicted, out of touch 
with reality, and not some great loyal follower of Voldemort."

Wendy looks interested. "Hmnnh. I would love to hear your thoughts on this - 
sounds really fascinating. And Malcolm Muggeridge MUST be a wizard with a 
name like that!" Wendy grins before continuing, "Although if you are right 
about Rookwood, I will probably NOT find him sexy after all. I want him to be 
a sort of evil James Bond, not at all what you seem to be describing." Wendy 
frowns, "Darn! I would hate to have to retire my new Rookwood thong, I've 
been so enjoying life without panty lines." She looks around nervously, 
hoping it's okay to say something like that here without offending anyone. 
She shrugs, remembering that she *did* put a disclaimer at the beginning of 
this post, after all. 

Eileen looks thoughtful. "I think I've figured out the difference between us. 
You say you prefer honesty to a disconnect from reality. But I actually have 
always preferred
disconnection from reality to honesty when it comes to the not-so-upright 
characters. With a few exceptions. Connected to reality manipulative sadists 
can win me over, just not Crouch Jr. because the boy is just *not* sexy imho 
(and not really connected to reality either, family trait). He's pathetic. On 
the other hand, Edmund in King Lear is to die for. And that might explain why 
I've never ever skipped a heartbeat over Malfoy. He's too connected to 
reality, and he's not enough of a
manipulative sadist.""

Wendy looks alarmed, and shakes her head. "Not enough of a manipulative 
sadist, huh? And people think *I'm* bent?" Wendy grins wickedly. "I would 
really love to hear your thoughts on this one, about how it is that you can 
be won over by manipulative sadists. Am I correct in thinking that this 
explains why you prefer Sadist!Snape to 
OopsIAccidentallyBecameADeathEater!Snape, or 
NeverBloodiedHisDeathEaterHands!Snape? I have been doing a lot of thought 
about this issue, too, by the way. And I'm still not quite ready to give 
Sadist!Snape a room of his own in my house. But I have allowed 
BloodOnHisHands!Snape to move in. Shoes under the bed, and all." Wendy grins 
even more wickedly. "I'll allow that he most likely contributed his share of 
torture and mayhem to the mix. I'm just not sure he *enjoyed* it. I prefer to 
think that he found it distasteful, but something he resigned himself to 
having to do. Sort of the way I feel about putting away the laundry." Wendy 
frowns slightly. "Hmnh. I'm not sure that's really the best analogy." She 
smiles. "Oh, well! In any case, I've started going through the canon 
systematically, and writing out every instance where Snape appears or is 
mentioned. I'm hoping that once I've got that in front of me, I'll be able to 
better gauge my feelings about his impulse control, and his personality, and 
feel as though I have better insight into his character."
 
"Getting back to the subject of Crouch, however," Wendy begins, "I don't 
think his death scene was a true redemption."

Eileen looks alarmed, cowering before Wendy. "Wait a second! Even Elkins 
doesn't believe that."

A strange look came over Wendy's face. "Mwahhhahahahahaha!" she laughed 
loudly. Eileen looks nervous, and puts a bit more distance between herself 
and Wendy, as Wendy raises her hand. She looks somehow taller, and is sort of 
glowing. "In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a queen! And I shall not 
be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! All shall 
love me and despair!" Wendy lowers her hand, and as she returns to normal 
size, shakes her head.*

"Wow." Wendy says, looking a bit confused. "Where did *that* come from? I 
think I might be in the wrong book." She shakes her head as if to clear it, 
then continues, "What were you saying, Eileen? Something about even Elkins 
gives Crouch a real redemption? Well, I do look forward to hearing you wax 
eloquently about it, but the more I think about it, the more I don't see him 
as having a genuine redemption, at least by my definition. As Elkins pointed 
out, we have no solid canon to prove that he *understands* his true sin. <
Wendy scampers off for a few minutes, and then returns, looking a bit 
crestfallen> Aw heck, it's hard to say. I've just gone and re-read the scene, 
and Crouch *is* pretty pathetic, isn't he? In his moments of lucidity, he 
does sound as though he genuinely regrets what he's done and sees that his 
actions have wrought evil. So maybe it is a real redemption, after all. And 
him being all bloody like he'd traveled for days. That really gets me, it 
does. Darn. Maybe I won't dig my heels in for an Unredeemed!Crouch. I guess 
I'll just diminish, and go into the West, and remain Wendy.*

Wendy sighs. "And, for the record, I agree with you about Crouch Jr. Not sexy 
at all. A bit icky, actually. Maybe not as icky as his dad, but still pretty 
darned icky. I'm not familiar with King Lear, so I can't offer an opinion on 
the sexiness of Edmund. But I'm starting to suspect that you and I have 
different taste in men."

Then Wendy shakes her head, frowning slightly again. "I'm still stuck back on 
Lucius not being enough of a manipulative sadist. I really would like you to 
explain how that is possible." Suddenly, Wendy's eyes grow wide, and she 
looks excitedl, yet disturbed. "Although, maybe I think you're right about 
it, even though I don't fully understand. When I think about Malfoy, I do 
prefer to view him as being very sadistic. And manipulative. Perhaps more 
than the canon warrants. And there's no denying that I think he's Dead Sexy. 
So maybe you and I *do* share a similar taste!" She smiles crookedly, "What I 
can't decide is whether or not I should be alarmed by this, or just go out 
and have another brandy. Oh, and does my acceptance of BloodOnHisHands!Snape 
qualify me for a FEATHERBOA? I may have to go out and buy one. Purple, it 
would be. That's my favourite colour this year."


Wendy
(Who is probably damaging any reputation she might have as one of the groups 
few pacifists by all this talk of sadism and manipulation. It's just that 
there are some things she really enjoys in her fiction that she would never 
condone in real life. Isn't that true of us all?<g>)

* I'm guessing that Eileen and many others here will recognise the source of 
my little episode - but for those who don't, it's Galadriel from Fellowship 
of the Ring (Lord of the Rings). I adore that particular scene, and Galadriel 
is totally my hero there. "All shall love me and despair" - Too cool. In 
fact, that is pretty much my goal in life! <G> Just kidding. Mostly. <G> In 
any case, when Eileen wrote that she cowered before me, that scene is what 
sprang into my head. Being the Gryffindor that I am, I charged bravely (or is 
that stupidly?) ahead and posted it, even knowing that it might be a bit 
daft. <G>


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