why I ship Severus and Lily

[sunlit_music]

Here is the part where I go gooeey about my love of all things Severus/Lily. If you don't lik this pairing, by all means please skip this.

Why I love Snevans:

- They're so cute as children! XD

- Because they're both flawed people. Perfect people are great to meet, but boring to read about.

- They're both strong people. Pairings where one person is weak don't interest me.

- I have a soft spot for pairings where one person sees the beauty within the other person. I reckon Lily saw the beauty within Severus as a friend - so his looks don't matter to her. I know JKR sees Snape/Lily as always unrequited. My view? If she wants it to be seen as always unrequited, she should write it in.

- Severus changed his racist beliefs and allegiances for Lily. He truly became less selfish and more concerned for others due to his love.

- True love is about sacrifice. Tragedies and struggles make love stories seem more interesting to me. Severus sacrificed his safety and risked being tortured and killed when he changed his allegiances for Lily. Lily dies as a consequence for his actions. He shows his love through being a spy for Dumbledore (who manipulated and used him) and protecting Harry.

Snevans shippers, let me know why you ship them! :D

Comments

[paulshandy.livejournal.com]

I agree that Dumbledore used Snape, but I think "manipulated" is a strong word, isn't it? I only read the series once, but it seemed if Snape had the strength and brains to fool Voldermort, he would have the mental fortitude to resist being manipulated by Dumbledore's softer methods.

[sunlit-music.livejournal.com]

Hello Paul,

Sorry for the late reply. I was going to post links to explain my views, then forgot. I should have replied to your post much quicker.

I don't think being able to resist harder methods necessarily means you'd be able to withstand softer methods of manipulations. Plus Snape might have had a close relationship with Dumbledore (making it harder to resist him than someone who he didn't care for like Voldemort).

Here's montavilla's views on why she thinks Dumbledore is manipulative (I don't agree with everything she says, but I do think Dumbledore manipulated Snape).
http://community.livejournal.com/deathtocapslock/99429.html#cutid1

I used this definition of manipulate (3rd definition):http://www.thefreedictionary.com/manipulations

I think Dumbledore's use of Snape was shrewd. Not sure if it was devious (although it might have been).

[paulshandy.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was an interesting link. When I read discussions like that I can see why I'm not a professional critic. I just didn't put all that together.

[sunlit-music.livejournal.com]

I don't mean to offend you, but are you being sarcastic? Because I didn't mean to offend you.

Not sure if the people in the dealthtocapslock community are professional critics. Although a lot of them seem to be very intelligent (and have loads of time on their hands! I don't have the time to analyse the Harry Potter series as much as they do!).

[paulshandy.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not being sarcastic. I just don't remember that many details, and the series was too long for me to put it all together. If I wanted to be a professional critic, I'd want to be able to write about a theory in that level of detail. And no, I don't have that much time either.

[deathnchocolate.livejournal.com]

- They're so cute as children! XD

I second that XD

- Because they're both flawed people. Perfect people are great to meet, but boring to read about.

I would like to add that not only they are flawed as characters, but their relationship is also flawed. And that's what gives it it's particularities, what makes it so interesting.

My view? If she wants it to be seen as always unrequited, she should write it in.

OMG, it's so beautiful to see people who sees it this way *-*. Lots of people say you're hurting the canon by depicting them in a physical relationship and/or harboring mutual romantic feelings for each other. Bah. There are so worse things people do with canon in this fandom...
I mean, I love Sirius/Remus but, if it's okay to make them - two male characters supposedly heterosexuals who share an average friendship - a couple for 80% of fandom, what's so wrong about spreading a little bit the friendship between Severus and Lily - two straight teenagers of opposite sexes in phase of sexual discovery in which one of them had canonical romantic feelings for the other one - to something more?
Sorry for the tl;dr, just wanted to say it.

My reasons to ship it is basically the same as yours, and I'd add that I'm a sucker for ships that involve best friends.

[sunlit-music.livejournal.com]

Agreed! :)

The relationship does have flaws. And it is wonderful to see Severus turning into a better person despite his flaws, and his upbringing and life's tragedies going against him.

Flawed characters seem more real. I like flawed but likable chaarcters best of all (characters I consider flawed but likable are ones that change into better people. What do you think?)

I love ships with best friends too. If you dont' enjoy your time with the other person or have things in common, how can you truly be in love? Best friends have common interests or beliefs, and like spending time together. Plus their connection can make a relationship seem deeper if they are in love. I hope that made sense!