The Appeal of Snape and Slytherins

[Cristin Anne]

No: HPFGUIDX 68085

(This is my first message to this group, although I've been a 
member for close to two years.  Apologies if something is done 
incorrectly.)

This is a topic I've seen brought up many times here, and none of 
the reasons given ever quite fit the bill for me.  I would like to 
state some facts to start out with:

a) Severus Snape is my favourite character
b) I am not in the least bit attracted to him, or men in general
d) I have absolutely no interest in making him 'nice', 'good', or 
even 'redeemed'

Where I think a lot of people get confused, or appalled, is the 
simple fact that they can't understand why I, and people like 
myself, like the 'evil' characters (not that I believe either 
Snape is evil).

The simple truth is that I don't like 'good' characters.  I 
normally find them rather boring, and not people that I would 
generally want to spend a lot of time with.  I'd end up punching 
Ron within a day, I'm sure.  I'd end up screaming at Hermione, and 
I'd want to slap Harry.

The simple fact is, I myself would never be a Gryffindor.  I would 
never be a Hufflepuff.  I'm either a slightly sadistic Ravenclaw, 
or an overly studious Slytherin.  And one tends to identify with 
characters that are like one's self.

Severus Snape is the type of person that I love to sit down with 
and just exchange barbed words with.  Yes, he's a bastard.  That 
doesn't change the fact that I honestly think I'd enjoy spending 
time with him.

This is not a phenomenon that's singular to Harry Potter for me - 
my favourite characters are often the grey ones, the multi-faceted 
villains.  I'm the person who comes out of some films grumbling 
because the main character was whiny and annoying, and why 
couldn't the 'bad guy' have won for once?

The thing is, the multi-faceted 'bad guys' and the grey 'good 
guys' tend to have more depth.  They're more interesting (to me, 
of course), have more subtext, have more stories to tell.  I 
wouldn't want to sit down and talk to Luke Skywalker, I'd want to 
sit and talk to Darth Vadar.  Just like I wouldn't want to talk to 
Harry, I'd want to talk to Snape.  Ask them 'Why did you do what 
you did?  Did you think it was the right thing?  Would you go back 
and change anything?  What spurred you to do it?' 

Grey characters, to be frank, absolutely fascinate me.  Nice 
characters, characters that seem almost too 'white' I find 
immensely boring.

I'm sure that this didn't really explain much of anything, but I 
wanted to try and get my explanation out there as someone who, let 
me repeat, isn't attracted to the character.  I just like him.  ^_~

(this is all, also, why I actually enjoyed Harry much more in this 
book than I have previously, but that's for another day.)

Love ya,
Cristin (who is looking forward to meeting people at Nimbus 
despite the fact that no one will know who she is)

-
"Slash happens."
		-Kate, Scapercon 2002

Lady Sorka's Realm - http://ladysorka.crosswinds.net
Cristin Anne's LJ - http://ladysorka.livejournal.com