Said Snape…

An analysis inspired by my username :)

There are about 300* times in the series that Snape’s delivery of dialogue contains additional descriptives beyond “said”, giving us insight into his tone. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what this can tell us about Snape’s character. And if you’re a fic writer looking to have your Snape reflect canon!Snape as much as possible (or even if not, and you’re looking to make choices that will distinguish him from canon!Snape), I figured this might be a helpful resource.

[Adverbs] Snape says things…

...softly or quietly, most often, followed by coldly, coolly, or icily, and then smoothly, silkily, or sleekly.

This trend holds when we look across not just adverbs modifying “said” but all verbs of speech. Here's how those descriptors are used across the books in the series:

And here's what that looks like split up by the different eras in Snape's life:

Snape is most often described as saying things “repressively” or “dismissively” as well as “calmly”, “slowly”, or “deliberately” in his double agent days, which are adverbs that convey a certain amount of control over the conversation, information, and his own temperament. Taken together, this may reflect his increased caution and the high-stakes nature of information at this stage.

Although Snape displays little patience for those not at his level even in his teenage years (“just shove a bezoar down their throats” comes to mind), his dialogue only reflects this with adverbs such as “sharply” or “curtly” once he has established himself as an authority figure. We will see a similar pattern below with verbs and adjectives conveying impatience.

[Verbs] When Snape doesn’t simply “say” something, he…

...Most often is expressing a negative emotion: shouting, yelling, bellowing or snarling and spitting. The largest portion of Snape’s shouts occur in HBP, specifically in Flight of the Prince, as he tries to direct the Death Eaters to leave and faces Harry. But looking across these first two emotionally-charged categories, about 30% of these (perhaps not surprisingly) occur in Prisoner of Azkaban, where Snape is spends a notable chunk of the book in an extremely emotional state.

However, he's not always shouting or snarling; approximately 15% of the time when he is not simply speaking, he is whispering or hissing, which complements the 25% of the time that he is speaking softly or quietly.

Let's look at this in relation to Snape's timeline:

It's fitting that the majority of Snape’s inquiries occur after Voldemort’s return, when he returns to his double agent role, gathering intelligence.

I also think it’s interesting what we don’t see in Snape’s school days. In childhood/school there’s relatively little superciliousness—instead, we see more argumentation; Snape argues, demands, pants, splutters, and backtracks.

Snape’s brand of snippy impatience and condescension (sneered/snarled/snapped, etc) is most evident in his days as a professor (before Voldemort’s return through his years as a double agent). In his deep cover years it declines; he no longer has the time and he’s focused on the task at hand.

Let's now look at the adjectives used to describe Snape's tone. Snape says things in a tone of voice that is…

...Most often soft, low, or quiet, followed by cold or icy, and then by sneering or sardonic. I find it fitting that Snape’s tone is described as impatient in GOF and HBP, both books in which Snape spends the year on tenterhooks, waiting for the axe to fall.

When we look at how these adjectives are distributed across Snape's lifetime, we can see that Snape’s vocalizations described as “terrible” only three times, and they occur at pivotal moments: Lily’s death and his own. Additionally, Snape’s unconcerned or bored tone comes out during his double agent years, and 3 out of the 4 times it is used as an affectation.

Misc. notes: It is also notable when there are a lack of descriptors surrounding Snape’s speech altogether. There are definitely fewer in the first two books, likely given their shorter length and lower reading level. However, there are three moments in Deathly Hallows that, taken together, really stood out to me: The Dark Lord Ascending, Voldemort’s visit to Hogwarts to take the Elder Wand, and Snape’s meeting with Voldemort in the Shrieking Shack (no descriptions of speech besides "blankly", up until the moment of Snape’s murder, during which he protests and lets out a terrible scream). The lack of description of Snape's speech is a neat nonverbal way to convey to us readers the flattening effect of Occlumency.

Anyway, hope this was interesting, and I’d absolutely love to hear any additional insights you all pull out of this!

*This is by no means meant to be the definitive, exhaustive analysis of Snape’s speech. This was completed doing simple searches for dialogue with “Snape” (didn’t have the raw text to write a script or anything), so it’s entirely possible that I’ve missed several instances of Snape speaking when referred to as “he” and the dialogue in question is several lines away from his name. However, I believe those cases are relatively few, so I’m fairly confident that I have a majority of the instances in which Snape’s dialogue is described with an adverb, adjective denoting tone, or with a verb other than “said”. It’s likely the remainder would follow similar trends if they are dispersed sporadically throughout the series.

something endearing about Snape

Something i’ve been kind of mulling over and thinking about in regards to Snape– and which I find frustrating, but endearing– is how… he is continually disadvantaged and disregarded by systems of power and persons of authority… but he chooses to work within their framework, anyways.

Snape is Lawful-neutral, to his own detriment. Hear me out.

Like, as a student, he gets bullied. It’s 4 against 1, and he’d have a hard time picking them off if he wanted to go a more aggressive or lethal route. In any case, he tends to be reactionary, rather than necessarily going out of his way to find and attack them… So, he tries to get them expelled, because that would be a way to remove all 4 of his threats at once, and it’s not as if they don’t consistently break the rules… Shouldn’t people who break the rules and mistreat others be punished? So when he’s almost lead to his death at the Shrieking Shack, he appeals to the system of authority (of whom Dumbledore is the purveyor, in this case) with what he feels is a pretty airtight case against his bullies…

…and he gets written off, and blackmailed into keeping his mouth shut.

If it were me, that kind of slap in the face would ensure i never respected another authority figure again in my life tbh. The Law and the gods that govern it would be dead to me. Anyways…

Being a werewolf does not inherently make Lupin a bad person. But being a good person does not make Lupin inherently safe. The point is: when you transform into a werewolf, you lose control of yourself, and that can result in you killing, maiming, or infecting other people. Lupin knows this. He’s known it for over 20 years,

As of 1993, there was this great new discovery: the Wolfsbane Potion, which helps to curb the effects of lycanthropy, right? It’s super expensive and super hard to make, but it’s an effective way to mitigate the more vicious effects of a transformation– it turns the drinker into a harmless wolf, rather than a werewolf, at the time of the full moon. A wolf, who is easier to control or subdue if one is confronted with it, and who seems to retain some semblence of control during the transformation (Lupin having described himself as curling up in his office during his transformations).

You may be thinking that wolfsbane potion is the closest thing to a preventative that the Wizarding World has circa 1993, and you’d be right. It’s not a cure, and people who drink it can still infect others, but damn, it makes it way more manageable.

We know that Severus, on more than one occasion, goes out of his way to give Lupin his potion (whether Lupin continually forgets to take it, or purposefully “forgets” to take it as a small power play/intimidation game against Snape is up for interpretation). Either way, we know that Lupin regularly forgets to take the life-changing potion unless prompted, which kind of makes him out as reckless. A timebomb.

Severus, who is not only a virtuoso on the Dark Arts and all that it entails (and thus, academically, very informed on the dangers that (non-medicated) Werewolves pose), is also intimately and personally aware of the threat Lupin poses to a school full of children as well as the staff, because of his experience in the 70s. Snape brings all of this up to Dumbledore…

…who repeatedly dismisses his well-founded and logical fears.

Snape is still beholden to Dumbledore’s insistance that he keep his mouth shut. Which he does for most of the year. The very explicit parameters of the system are: do not tell anyone that Lupin is a werewolf.

So, being the logical thinker that Snape is, he looks for (and finds) a way to achieve his desired outcome (informing people that Lupin is a werewolf) in a way that does work within those parameters. He can’t tell anyone outright that Lupin is a werewolf, but like… what if someone figured it out on their own?

Then we have Snape in the Shrieking Shack with the kids, Sirius, and Lupin.

Harry, in the moment after Black disarmed them all, straight-up wanted to kill Sirius. He gets his wand back, and he is about to fucking murder this guy, until crookshanks sits over his heart.

Snape comes up the stairs to the 2nd floor of the shack, right? He’s wearing the Invisibility cloak. No one knows he’s there or hears him coming. He could have killed Sirius in an instant, without anyone knowing. He could kill Sirius AND Lupin if he wanted to, and dump the corpses on the ministry steps, and convince the minister that he had deduced that they were working together months ago.

He could easily explain to the minister that he knew they were childhood friends, that Lupin started working at Hogwarts at the exact same time Black “wanted to infiltrate” Hogwarts, and that his speculations were dismissed. He could say all of this with the kids and Dumbledore to corroborate his story (since he arrives at the Shrieking Shack BEFORE the kids get the low-down on Pettigrew) and he would STILL get his order of Merlin (maybe 2?) But instead of killing them…

…he disarms and restrains them.

He’s like “Yeah, I’m handing you off to the Dementors, dickhead” but it’s important to remember… he disarms them, restrains them, and is willing to turn them over to the “authorities.” Even though, at this point, he whole-heartedly believes that 1. Black is a murderer, who killed like 23 people, and who broke out of wizard prison and 2. Lupin, a werewolf who has consistently not taken his potion and whom Snape believes has conspired to kill him in the past, is aiding and abetting said murderer… Severus Snape does not take the law into his own hands. He’s not about Vigilante Justice.

And… he gets disarmed, thrown against a wall, and almost ends up attacked by a werewolf for it later. heh

This is just up to the first 3 books, because i just finished re-reading them, but i’m certain there are more examples of these types of exchange in subsequent books. In any case, I love how the books have this consistent theme of “Harry distrusts authority, disrespects it, and challenges the system,” that’s all very good.

But i also love that Severus Snape, the dude that everyone argues is super unfair, petty, spiteful, etc… attempts to use strategic thinking to operate within the paramaters of these systems, and tries to maintain respect for these systems, and consistently gets his ass handed to him for it. I love you, you lawful-neutral dumbass.

1K notes View Post

the-doe-prince

1 year ago

I Love How Even After He Talks To Ema He's Still Like 70% Sure It's Coke

i love how even after he talks to ema he's still like 70% sure it's coke

4K notes View Post

the-doe-prince

1 year ago

Severus: studies shown that you are the stupidest person in the world

James: source?

Severus: me

574 notes View Post

the-doe-prince

1 year ago

“He’ll wake up, he always does.” - Snape has an unfortunate habit of passing out after arriving home from a DE meeting and ensuring Potter was safe.

The cruciatus curse doesn’t leave physical marks. A mouth filled with blood from biting his tongue was always a tell tale sign to Harry that Snape was gonna be on the floor for awhile and would have shaky hands for a few days to come.

-holds out my mug to collect tears-

2K notes View Post

the-doe-prince

1 year ago

The first page of a 4-page digital comic about the events of Turnabout Trump gone very wrong. The color palette uses a mix of desaturated colors with saturated colors used for emphasis.

The top panels show close-ups of Apollo’s hands behind his back with great emphasis on his bracelet, Olga Orly crying as she’s being taken away with Apollo and Kristoph watching in the background, and Phoenix’s face with a blank expression.

The next panel has Apollo looking at Kristoph, who has his arms crossed and is stone-faced, apprehensively. Olga’s hands and Phoenix are in the foreground.

The following panels show a close-up of a clock, Kristoph glancing to his right, Phoenix turning his head back, Kristoph’s raising his scarred hand to his mouth, a close-up of Phoenix narrowing his eyes at Apollo, and Apollo looking back scared, a reflection of Phoenix in his eyes.

Kristoph coughs to get Apollo’s attention, who looks at him with wide eyes. Kristoph turns to him with a disarming smile, the background of his panel is reminiscent of a halo. He says, “Ahem. I’ll see you on Tuesday then, Justice?” Apollo gives him an uneasy smile, plants with holes in them are shown in the background. Apollo says, “Oh- erm! Y-yes sir...! I-I’ll- see you…”

The next panel shows an extreme close-up of Kristoph’s blue eyes narrowing, a shadow casting over him. The next panel shows Phoenix who is turned away from them, looking on.

The second page of the comic. Apollo narrates throughout the page, “The backs were red.” The first panel is a whole illustration segmented into three panels.

The first box has Phoenix sitting at his swivel chair like the one in the Hydeout, cards in his hand as he leans forward, resting his arm on the table. The background has the forged painting Drew Misham made, there are cracks on the walls. The second has Apollo dressed like a waiter in the Borscht Bowl Club and posed like a figure of Themis. He is glancing at Kristoph on his left, his background is the courtroom. The third has Kristoph leaning down, smiling smugly as he looks at Phoenix, his glasses hide his eyes. A bloody grape juice bottle sits on the table, he has his hand on the arm of swivel chair where Shadi Smith dies.

The narration continues, “Mr. Gavin assumed they were blue.” The panel shows Apollo in Gavin Law Offices, absent-mindedly biting the tip of his pen as he reads a paper. In the foreground is Kristoph’s hand, putting two black pens on Apollo desk.

Apollo narrates, “Mr. Gavin thought they were blue.” The next panels show Trucy whispering in Apollo’s ear, Apollo visiting Phoenix in the Borscht Bowl Club, Apollo tensely writing at his desk as Kristoph watched over him, there are many clocks on the wall, Apollo shopping for groceries, and Apollo hanging out with Clay. Kristoph is present in all of them.

“Mr. Gavin said they were blue.” Apollo finishes. The next panel shows a newspaper clipping showing Zak Gramarye, a paused video of a 17-year-old Klavier Gavin during Zak’s trial, and Apollo hunched over, tiredly typing away on his laptop as Mikeko watches him.

He starts distractedly biting his pen again which is now looking rather chewed up, it pops, getting ink in his mouth. The next panel shows the two black pens Kristoph planted on his desk earlier. The color palette changes as he starts to reach for one of them.

The third page of the comic. The first panel has Mikeko standing on the kitchen counter meowing loudly. Apollo looks at him amused, he says, “Hellooo, Mik-Mik. Geez, I’ll feed you later! I gotta do some research first, ok?” The next panels show a newspaper clipping with Magnifi Gramarye on it, and Apollo writing things down.

“Ugh…” Apollo groans as bites his pen once again; he scratches his cheek. The next panels shifts the colors once again, it shows the clock behind him, which says that it is 4:00 P.M.

The next panel shows a close-up of Apollo’s finger pressing the delete key, he feels a bit shaky. The clock says that it is 4:01 P.M. On the next panel, Apollo starts coughing, he puts his palm against his throat as he drinks from his mug. The clock says that it is 4:05 P.M. The next panel starts to droop, Apollo’s shaky hand is shown, he says, “Ugh… My head’s spinning… Too much screentime maybe…” The clock says that it’s 4:09 P.M. The next panel shows a close-up of a sleeping Mikeko.

The bottom panels show a close-up of the clock striking 4:15 P.M. Apollo starts coughing violently, he is trembling and his eyes are starting to tear up. The next panel shows the coughs getting worse, he’s having a hard time breathing now.

The fourth panel of the comic. The colors are very dark compared to the other panels. The first panel is a close-up of Apollo’s eye, wide open and filled with tears. He starts choking. The second panel has him yelling, “K-KAH! HAHH- H-HELP!” He is hunched over crying; he has his hand against his throat. He starts coughing again, “I c-can’t- I-I…!” The following panels show him finally losing consciousness.

Time passes, it is now night. Apollo is dead on his desk, eyes still open. Mikeko is tapping his arm, meowing at him, waiting for a response, he can’t give one.

my comic for @aabadendingzine which is out for free over here.

extra stuff/commentary under the cut | like what i do? support me on ko-fi 💙

An image of the artist's selfsona (person with horns, short hair, and black clothes) redrawn as that one image where a figure is sitting with their knees close to each other, hands placed on their lap, and is looking at viewer mischeviously.

helloooo how's it going? i really hope you enjoyed the comic <3 it's rare for me to draw such wholesome things, i know [bats eyelashes]

A very messy sketch of the fourth page of the comic.

DFGHDJKF ok i know, it's evil, the entire zine is evil you should go read it!!!!!!! but also, i remember coming up with this prompt and the image of mikeko trying to wake a dead apollo up evoked such a visceral reaction in me that i audibly went "NOOOOOO" when i thought it up LOL

the fourth page is the first page i ever thumbnailed bc i knew EXACTLY how i wanted this thing to end!

A crop of the panels in the 2nd page. The panels show Trucy whispering in Apollo’s ear, Apollo visiting Phoenix in the Borscht Bowl Club, Apollo tensely writing at his desk as Kristoph watched over him, there are many clocks on the wall, Apollo shopping for groceries, and Apollo hanging out with Clay. Kristoph is present in all of them.

i think my favorite page of this comic is the 2nd page (the 4th page being my second favorite bc what can i say, i'm evil wheezes) i just really enjoyed drawing the montage of apollo going about his life and kristoph just. being there. always watching him.

i keep thinking about how spark brushel mentioned feeling like he was being watched those past 7 years. i imagined apollo would get a taste of that once he starts trying to find out the truth behind what happened in his first case.

A crop of the panels from the 2nd page.

The first box has Phoenix sitting at his swivel chair like the one in the Hydeout, cards in his hand as he leans forward, resting his arm on the table. The background has the forged painting Drew Misham made, there are cracks on the walls. The second has Apollo dressed like a waiter in the Borscht Bowl Club and posed like a figure of Themis. He is glancing at Kristoph on his left, his background is the courtroom. The third has Kristoph leaning down, smiling smugly as he looks at Phoenix, his glasses hide his eyes. A bloody grape juice bottle sits on the table, he has his hand on the arm of swivel chair where Shadi Smith dies.

and as for my favorite panel, I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE!! it's just fun shoving every important element alluding to the case 7 years ago to the moment when zak died!

and it's not very obvious but an element i really like about this one is zak still on the chair he died on. it's just his torso visible and i would've loved to make it more obvious that he's there but oh well.

i can't think of anything else to add about drawing this so i'll end it by saying: PLEASE GO READ THE ZINE, IT'S SO SOS SOSOSOS FULL OF LOVE FOR HURT AND TRAGEDY AND THE WAY MY FELLOW ZINEMATES EXPLORED THAT IS SUCH!!! GOOD AND HEARTWRENCHING STUFF!!!!!!!!!

i had to take a break from reading the zine when i went out to finish it bc my chest started to physically hurt bc ohhhhh lordy, it just hurt. it just hurt a lot! (please do read the trigger warnings before reading the thing bc this zine deals with a lot of heavy stuff!)

i like to joke about how i'm evil and enjoy evil things such as angst no comfort which. well, it's kind of true LMAO so i'm thrilled that i was able to be a part of this zine and cook up something completely terrible <3

here's the link for it again, go read it!

Google Docs

MeaCulpa_FullZine.pdf

6K notes View Post

the-doe-prince

1 year ago

cooking is always better with a friend

3K notes View Post

the-doe-prince

4 months ago

FoolMoon art for Persona 3 Secret Santa 💖✨️

Tags

persona 3 persona 3 reload kotone shiomi Shinjiro Aragaki p3p persona 3 femc shinjiham foolmoon THATS SUCH A COOL NAME????

972 notes View Post

the-doe-prince

11 months ago

I’m tired of people acting like Zhongli is a serious and chill guy who would never cause problems on purpose as if he isn’t one of the biggest menaces out of the Seven. He used to throw mountains at Venti for annoying him. He, the god of history, starts fights among historians for shits and giggles. He tried to gaslight the Traveler into thinking he was totally not at the Chasm guys really Aether/Lumine you must be seeing things maybe you should go see Baizhu. When Qiqi wanted “Cocogoat” milk he was like “Oh yeah sure totally let’s go look for it” knowing damn well it was a wild goose chase. He made the Traveler sing to a flower and then was like “Oh would you look at that” when a Whooperflower jumped out to maul them. I love him. He’s like a cat pushing things off the counter to see how people react. I would pay to see him interact directly with Neuvillette because I know for a fact he’d get on that man’s nerves and argue about water tasting just to feel something. Furina used freedom from godhood to take a nap and Zhongli used it to give psychic damage to anyone who talks to him longer than 5 minutes. Iconic.

34K notes View Post

the-doe-prince

1 year ago