You're right, Snape is NOT Sexy

[Tammy Rizzo]

No: HPFGUIDX 56440

I have to chime in on this Sexy!Snape thing here.  There have been several points 
brought up, both for and against Sexy!Snape, and they are all very valid.  He's a 
slimy git, he's extremely unattractive (albeit we do only see him through the eyes of 
an adolescent boy, whose standards are, umm, shall we say, different from most 
women's), he seems sublimely cruel and heartless, he is quite powerful in many 
ways, he's not afraid to use and abuse his power, he's a poet, he has a dark and 
mysterious past, he is passionate about his potions, he turned his back on the 
ascendant power of Voldemort to fight his former master, he has an intellect over 
and above most other wizards we've met (think of that one wizard who couldn't 
understand why his woman's bathrobe was not 'proper' Muggle attire for the QWC), 
he shows great courage, he carries grudge-holding to a ridiculous degree, he has a 
silky voice, he holds the attention of a class full of antsy teenagers, he oozes 
danger, etc, etc.  He is all the best and worst of his House, the epitome of Slytherin 
-- ambition, power, determination, self-interest.  He is a wonderful literary creation, 
and a fascinating and intriguing character, and we all either love to hate him or hate 
to love him, or some combination of the two.

However, I think the whole Snape is Sexy thing is turning on the wrong term.  
Fascinating, yes.  Intriguing, yes.  Compelling, oh my, yes.  Mysterious, yes, yes, 
yes!  A character we feel drawn to in some awful way, like a car crash, absolutely.  
But sexy?  No, I think the word most suitable to describe our favorite slimy evil 
ratbastard git is not sexy but rather *seductive*.  He gets under your skin, like a 
thorn or a chigger, and you can't help but scratch at it, because even though it hurts 
like crazy, it still feels so good, too.  You get the feeling he could manipulate some 
poor innocent thing to her doom (or his, for that matter), and it wouldn't surprise you 
in the least, because you could see yourself falling under his sway, as well.

So, no, Snape is not sexy.  He is seductive.  He could pull you in and pull you under 
and you wouldn't even think to put up a fight.  He is, and may well always remain, 
one of my favorite characters of the Potterverse, and possibly of all my literary 
adventures so far.

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Tammy
tammy at mauswerks.net