LOLLIPOPS strikes back!

[Tabouli]

No: HPFGUIDX 34823

Under assault from all sides, the Good Battleship LOLLIPOPS sails on, can(n)ons gleaming...

Orrrrright (Tabouli dons her sailor's hat and polishes her captain's badge).  I can see we have a war on our hands here.  Time to start addressing the two main objections to the LOLLIPOPS way of life.

OBJECTION ONE: Too EWW to be TREWW (Marina, Cole, others)

As far as I can see, this objection is based on the view that LOLLIPOPS can't be true because it's mushy and sickening, an overused, trite plot device.  Pah, I say.  What sort of an argument is that?

For a start, let's have a bit more faith in JKR, shall we?  She has, thus far, managed to negotiate Harry being Saved By Mother's Love, his crush on Cho, the Yule Ball, Ginny's crush and various high school romances without descending into Sickly City.  Why are people so convinced that she couldn't handle Snape/Lily with similar style?  I think that the absence, so far, of any significant romantic twist is actually in LOLLIPOPS' favour, especially seeing she's spelled out that hormones will be taking hold in the next few books.  Better a tastefully handled romantic twist rather than the five billionth Polyjuice or Animagus twist any day.

For another thing, why is Snape/Lily by definition mushy and sickening anyway?  I can't speak for my entire crew, of course, but in *MY* version of LOLLIPOPS there is absolutely no need for Snape and Lily to have had a relationship at any point.  In fact, I think this is very unlikely.  I say Snape had a huge, unrequited crush on Lily (and since when are those mushy?  They're torturous and humiliating!).

Cindy:
> Good heavens, if Lily rejects Snape at Hogwarts, 
marries James and has a child by James, doesn't Snape get over this 
at some point?  Why isn't it equally likely that Snape would love to 
see Lily die as revenge for not loving him?  You know, "If I can't 
have her, nobody can have her?"  Indeed, given Snape's unforgiving 
and vindictive personality, isn't that scenario more likely than that 
Snape changes sides in the war because of LUV of Lily? <

It may be just me, but I think the sort of boy Snape would have been (victimised, resentful, insecure, bitter, long-term grudge bearing) is a perfect candidate for putting the first pretty girl who is kind to him on a pedestal and hanging on to a monster unrequited crush for years.  She can do no wrong.  I *know* men like that!  In my experience there is definitely a type of man who never falls out of love with his first love, regardless of whether she dies or marries (or *he* marries) or commits some terrible crime or goes overseas for ten years.

OBJECTION TWO: Not ENUFF to cover STUFF (Cindy, Dicentra, others)

This objection hinges on the view that LOLLIPOPS just ain't strong enough to explain all of Snape's behaviour.  It seems to rest on the assumption that LOLLIPOPS says love of Lily is the motivating force behind all of Snape's actions, namely, joining the Death Eaters, changing sides, becoming a spy at "great personal cost", continuing to fight for Dumbledore for the rest of his life, being mean to Harry, persecuting Neville, favouring Draco, his preferences in shampoo, etc. etc. etc.

Now come on.  Let's put that straw man back in the wheat field, shall we?  LOLLIPOPS is not screening a heartwarming feelgood Hollywood movie where Love Conquers And Explains All in the galley every night.  LOLLIPOPS argues that love of Lily was a Key Influence on Snape's actions, not the Holy Text by which he has been running his life since the age of 14.

The Good Ship is far more accommodating that her detractors seem to believe.  There is no reason whatsoever why George and the Prince of Lies and even Mercy couldn't embark with us... *none* of these theories preclude a crush on Lily.  In fact, my own Snape bio suggests a course of events which incorporates elements of all three of these theories.

I suggested that Snape was dabbling in the curses and the Dark Arts with his Slytherin buddies all through high school and felt rejected and alienated by Dumbledore and his darling Gryffindors (brilliant, handsome Sirius, Head Boy Quidditch Star James).  Naturally the prospect of entering an elite Dark Force where he might get respect and recognition for his skills instead of disregard and victimisation must have been tempting.  LOLLIPOPS just adds another layer to this... Lily criticised Sirius for lampooning greasy teen Snape out of kindness and principles, just as Hermione and Ginny stood up for Neville (note that Lily eventually went for the level-headed James, not the flashy Sirius), and Snape fell for her desperately, was too tortured and insecure to do anything about it other than try to be nice to her (hence Sirius' "slimy" epithet), and was insanely jealous when she took up with James instead.  He was already toying with the idea of joining Voldemort, and their marriage was the last straw, pushing him into it (no longer any motivation to be Nice, a lot of anger and bitterness and broken-heartedness to thrash out of his system).

*Then* we can have a dash of George and the Prince of Lies.  Snape joins the Death Eaters, but finds it's not all he hoped.  He blasts a few strangers and Muggles, and though it helps vent some of his anger, on another level he is strangely discomforted.  He is respected, but somehow the respect of fellow torturers and the cruel, half-mad Voldemort who Crucios his own followers is more disturbing than gratifying.  After the initial fury is vented he starts to feel uneasy about what he is doing.  Then he hears of the plans to murder the Potters, bringing back all his memories of Lily, who stood up for him against the persecution friends and future husband.  Much as he hates James and the very idea of Harry, this image brings home to him what he is actually doing - he is about to collude in murdering the two people Lily loves most in the world, causing her intense pain (perhaps V even assigned Snape to do the killing).  In fact, he has already done this to a lot of other people.  What does that make him?  What would Lily think?  What is he doing with his life?

Snape caves in completely in self-loathing and despair, breaks down, runs to Dumbledore, and turns spy (very very risky), passing information about V's plot to him to try to protect the Potters.  He succeeds for over a year before Wormtail finally gets a lucky break and hands over their location to V, resulting in the famous scene at the start of the series.

The "great personal cost" and incredible deed he did to convince D of his loyalty don't have to be anything which directly concerns Lily, as anti-LOLLIPOPS types seem to assume, though if one buys the LOLLIPOPS argument there's probably some connection.  Nor does his loyalty to Dumbledore fourteen years after Lily's death... after all, Dumbledore showed him Mercy and accepted him back into the Good Side after being a Death Eater... surely this is a major thing worthy of loyalty: the memory of Lily doesn't have to be the *only* motivator!  There's almost certainly a lot more to the Snape Story that we just don't know enough about at this point to theorise on.

I suppose we'll just have to wait for the next three books and see.

Captain Tabouli (who sees the remaining three volumes as the only real threat at this point - will she end up going down with her Ship?  Stay tuned for OoP...)


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