Just Another Book About Harry Potter Ships

Snarry (Snape/Harry)

SHIP NAMES: Snarry, Snape/Harry, Severus/Harry, HP/SS, R.M.S. Illegal Substances

THOUGHTS: OH MY GOD. FUCK NO.

Do y'all remember when I said in my "BIG OL' BUCKET OF DISCLAIMERS - PLEASE READ!!!" chapter that I'm working on showing more respect for people with very different ship opinions than me? Well...I'm still working on it, but WOW, ships like this really test my ability to come off as non-judgmental (although obviously I avoid Snarry spaces precisely because I believe that Don't Like, Don't Read is a great life motto. Don't harass real-life people over their fictional ships, y'all! Period! If you don't like something and don't want to see it, that's what blocking, muting, and blacklisting tags are for!)

I'm going to put on my "put myself in someone else's hypothetical shoes" hat for a moment and do my best to think about why someone might ship this before I get into my reasons why I REALLY dislike it. It's a clear Enemies to Lovers ship, with added Gryffindor vs Slytherin rivalry, being on opposite (but not really opposite?) sides of the war, and the angst of Snape's "love" for Lily (I'll explain why I put the word "love" in quotation marks in a moment) and hatred of James being condensed down into one person whom he hates but still protects. Add to this many people's personal attraction to Alan Rickman, and maybe a love of teacher x student ships, super slow burns, and all the angst and hurt/comfort one can possibly handle, and Snarry fits a niche for a very specific type of shipper (a niche that must not be all that niche, given how many fanworks exist for this ship).

But DEAR GOD do I personally hate this ship! First of all, Snape was "in love with" (more like completely obsessed with) Harry's mother, while he hated Harry's father's guts. He is exactly the same age as Harry's parents, which is just soooo uncomfortable and squicky to me, not to mention the way he projects his issues with Harry's parents onto Harry in a totally disturbing, emotionally immature, and abusive way. (Do fans use the term "squick" anymore? If not, us Certified Fandom Olds™ should totally bring it back because it's super useful.)

Second of all, Snape actually, genuinely loathed Harry, as confirmed by Dumbledore and Snape himself. He protected Harry for Lily's sake, not for Harry's, and even while he was "protecting" him, he bullied him. Snape bullied him constantly! Teachers should never treat their students the way Snape treated his students (no matter what traumas said teacher has gone through, and yes, I'm looking at you, Snape fans! Wait, are Snape fans called "snans"? 🤔 I really need to know the answer to this now lol), and now you want to ship Snape with one (or more) of the students that he actively bullied? Teacher x student fics already tend to have an uncomfortable power dynamic (although some people are really into that, Ig), but anything with Snape and his students would be especially unhealthy. I can guarantee you that any kind of "realistic" Snarry fic would be abusive. Not to mention the uncomfortable underage nature of the ship before Harry reaches the age of consent and an uncomfortably large age gap after. Remember, Snape is the same age as Harry's parents and was "in love with" his mother...... Also, did I mention that Snape literally shook Harry and threw him against the hard dungeon floor once in a fit of rage? When Snape was a grown adult and Harry was only fifteen and supposed to be under his care and supervision? No? Okay then.

Plus, even if we're going to somehow ignore Snape's history with Harry's parents, the age gap, the power dynamic, and how terribly Snape treated Harry for seven years (which are reasons enough to avoid this ship)...they have almost nothing in common, beyond both having sub-par childhoods, and there is absolutely no chemistry between them (god, I can't believe I even just typed that sentence......) I just don't understand how anyone could actually ship this. Even after reading some Snarry ship manifestos in an attempt to be as fair as possible with this chapter, I still gotta wonder, where is the appeal???

I'm trying to be as polite as I possibly can, y'all, but this ship is just a huge HELL THE FUCK NO!!!!! from me.

RATING: 0/10: NOTP to the max!

FANDOM RANK (AS OF JUNE 2022): #7

Thoughts? Let me know in the comments! And please remember to be polite!

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