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bohemianspirit (bohemianspirit) wrote,
@ 2009-04-29 04:59:00

Entry tags:

canon era, drabble, gen, severus/charity

Silent Sentences
Title: Silent Sentences
Author: bohemianspirit
Genre: Gen, Drabble
Characters: Miscellaneous students, Charity Burbage (implied Severus/Charity)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 100
Challenge: snape100 #279: Random Quotes 2009

This is the bitterest pain among people, to have much knowledge but no power. -Herodotus

"I hate Snape!"

"Me too. Yelled at me for nothing."

"Vanished my potion."

"Greasy git."

"Nasty bastard."

"Give him a good smack, if I dared."

"Join the queue."

"He needs to get laid."

Raucous laughter erupted.

"Right!"

"Who would?"

"Bet he's never done it."

Every day, she held her peace. She could only hear, and say nothing. Yes, Severus could be a surly, temperamental bastard, especially in class. But there was far more truth about him than the truth they were able to see.

Charity had been permitted to see, but she was powerless to say anything in his defense.

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slashpine
2009-04-29 11:16 am UTC (link)

OMG, I've been there. It's hard to hold your peace in front of students being idiots. OTOH, that's what education is about. I'm sure Charity will find a way to bring up the concept of "true knowledge" as opposed to rumor and snark, and at least one or two students will discover that it applies to something - someone - else.

Good summary of hostile lines, especially the way personal hurt at OMG NOT BEING PERFIKT is turned into sexual disparagment.

... Of course, Charity must realize (as teachers ought) that verbal nastiness about the teacher of another class is probably used against her, in another classroom. I wonder how Snape deals with comments about her?

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bohemianspirit
2009-04-30 08:39 pm UTC (link)

Glad you liked the story! As far as educating the students, well, she really can't say too much, because that would give away that she knows him more intimately than she and Severus are willing to make public knowledge. I see them keeping the relationship to themselves, partly out of normal teacherly discretion but mainly for Charity's safety and Severus' cover. That's why I see her as essentially "powerless" in this situation.

Good summary of hostile lines, especially the way personal hurt at OMG NOT BEING PERFIKT is turned into sexual disparagment.

Thanks. Assuming that Severus having any kind of personal life is a joke really irks the hell out of me. So the guy wasn't physically perfect, and so he had a snarky and perfectionistic side to him, and so the guy harbored a lifelong remorse over the death of Lily. People seem all too quick to add that up to Eternal Virgin Snape. Maybe they need to stop reading books for a while and reconnect with real life, in which hook-nosed people with crooked yellow teeth and oily hair, people with painful regrets that always haunt them, and people with sarcastic, bristly personalities still manage to find compatible people with whom to have sexual relationships.

I wonder how Snape deals with comments about her?

Oh, hey, thanks for the plot bunny. :-P I'm sure, now that you mention it, that Severus hears plenty of snark about Muggle Studies (which of course they wouldn't enroll in) from his Slytherins!

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slashpine
2009-05-01 01:09 am UTC (link)

Oh, hey, thanks for the plot bunny. :-P

Haha, I was happy to be very, very obvious ~~and pushy~~ and hopeful. Did it work? *wiggles excitedly* (Although I figured you would already have thought about that ... and 2716 others ... anyway.)

Assuming that Severus having any kind of personal life is a joke really irks the hell out of me.

Me too. First, because what's ugly is people assuming that only pretty people have sex lives. WTF?!! Frankly, I don't want to know that this many fans are this prejudiced about surface appearances! But also, because IMNSHO, Snape might well *not* have much of a sex life, but it would be by choice - his choice, because I think that's the kind of strong-willed person he is; a person whose past is so problematic he tries to take control of things in every area that he can. Like his classroom. His research. And how he runs his House. Snape chooses very deliberately how he interacts with other faculty, and his style of dress, his demeanor at meetings and meals, and certainly what he eats. I think he'd have rather strong control over his sex life too, as far as that is possible, which could mean wild gheh secks weekly at every club, park, and filthy Alley around - or no sex, because that's what he decides.

That's not to say I don't enjoy virgin!Snape and inexperienced!Snape fics. :D :D :D Just as much as I enjoy earthy-bloke!Snape fics, but also high-libido, does-his-research, could-write-the-book-on-sex!Snape fics, and wotthehell-let's-fuck!Snape fics. And most definitely, your normal-real-human-person Charity/Snape fics! I takes my Snape mos' any way I can get him, so long as he's reasonably IC and convincing in the scene. (This does rule out more than a few: like feminized frightened-helpless!Snape, and angelwing-loving-saintly!Snape, and a few of the other Mary Sue crossover-ish ones that seem almost to be written for some other fandom entirely.)

See, now I agree that each is "powerless" to directly discuss the other with the students, but at the same time, there are many indirect ways that Charity, at least, can approach it. Any teacher worth her salt knows how to slip in a moral lesson! I certainly wouldn't let students or young employees bash somebody without at least deciding *on the spot* that the next day's lesson will just happen to be all about "tolerance - let's define it!" Or logic, or respect, or karma, or anything that fits in the course.

Hmm... since we really don't know from canon what Muggle Studies courses cover (aside from the Carrows' version, which, just. No.) I wonder what book or fic or social aspect of the Muggle world Charity might introduce the students to that make this point about "cover /= book"? Ha, maybe something as simple as "aphorisms: let me tell you some." I had a high school Spanish teacher who taught us a saying each day, often little rhymes or with clever wording (as good cliches are - "a stitch in time save nine," or "handsome is as ~ does ...") and it's amazing how they stuck with us.

"Aunque la mona se vista de seda, la mona se queda": the monkey dressed in silk is still a monkey. "De musico, poeta, y loco, todos tenemos un poco": Music, poetry, craziness - we've all had our bit of foolishness. Hey, those kind of apply, no? (The first one applies especially to Lockhart - or Umbridge - or Draco!) "El sol brilla para todos" might apply: The sun shines equally on everyone (or, we are all equal in the eyes of the Lord).

haha, and now I remember he also said: "Consejo no pedido, consejo mal oido." If advice was not sought, don't bother giving it! (because it will also not be listened to). *fails at witty translation* So YMMV, don't mind my rambling, dl;dr, etc.!

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bohemianspirit
2009-05-01 03:46 pm UTC (link)

Actually, I hadn't given a lot of thought to students making comments about Charity, because I was focused on Severus' unpopularity and image among the students. But given the subject Charity teaches, and given the house Severus heads, it's a good point: She might not be the "unfair, ugly, greasy git," but she does teach Muggle Studies. That alone would subject her to ridicule in some quarters.

First, because what's ugly is people assuming that only pretty people have sex lives.

Or, for that matter, assuming pretty people have nonstop sex lives and never experience times of celibacy. ;-) Maybe trust issues are even harder for the Beautiful People! Are they really being desired for themselves? Etc.

Snape might well *not* have much of a sex life, but it would be by choice - his choice

I agree that it would be his choice, not by default of being some horrible pathetic creature incapable of hooking up with someone. Just because he didn't get Lily doesn't mean nobody would be willing or interested in sleeping with him. I mean, look at real life, for crying out loud: I've seen a lot worse people than Severus Snape out there, and they still manage to get laid, or even establish LTRs!

I don't realistically see Severus being a virgin all his life, but I do see him being the sort of person who doesn't (intentionally) enter into sex casually, someone who has the occasional encounter or relationship, with periods of celibacy in-between. But it's pragmatic, self-chosen celibacy, not some Idealization Of Sexlessness celibacy.

I will admit that I have a VERY strong bias (religiously, psychologically, and otherwise) against the romanticization of virginity, so I don't particularly find those kind of fics appealing. And frankly, I don't find it likely in terms of in-character Severus; he's too goddamned curious to go his whole life without at least trying sex and seeing what the fuss is about!

As he gets older, yeah, I can see a meh, been there, done that, wish I had time and energy to even think about sex right now, kind of attitude. Unfortunately, that's not uncommon for people over 30--even the married ones. ;-) OTOH, I can also see him finding refuge from the insanity of his life and attendant stresses in an ongoing, albeit possibly sporadic, sexual relationship.

I think he'd have rather strong control over his sex life too, as far as that is possible

I'd say, rather, that he would strive to exert strong control, in this as well as other areas, because his visible efforts at control are overcompensation for his fundamentally impulsive, strongly emotionally-driven nature--something that seems to be a source of shame/embarrassment for him, but still pokes out through the cracks of control.

Now that I think about it, I do tend to write him entering sexual relationships by means of lapses in his self-control: emotional impulse, strong initiative on the part of the other person, anything that cracks the stoic facade and sets loose the passion he's repressing. ;-) Once the ice is broken, he tends to relax--but only in private. Of course.

And most definitely, your normal-real-human-person Charity/Snape fics!

Heh. However I write him or pair him (or not), I always write him as a normal-real-human-person. Of course there are a few people (outside of Snape fandom) who apparently find that ridiculous, but they also seem to be wed to the long-ago jossed notion of SnidelyWhiplash!Severus--and they can have him. :-P One of the good things I got out of DH was the happy revelation that Severus turned out to be "just" an ordinary, albeit wounded, guy with a rather mundane and totally human shitty background, someone with whom any compassionate person with life experience could empathize.

(more in next comment...)

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bohemianspirit
2009-05-01 03:47 pm UTC (link)

--Talk about overanalyzing the sex life of a fictional character! ... anyway... :-D

feminized frightened-helpless!Snape

On the other side of the coin, I think it's equally unrealistic to write hypermasculinized badass-invicible!Snape. Again, I guess I tend towards realism, blending the outer "toughness" and "control" with the inner "insecurity" and "vulnerability," and seeing how those clash against each other in his psyche. He can certainly be frightened and helpless at times, but he wouldn't express it like some fainting Victorian heroine. ;-) If that's what you're getting at, there.
See, now I agree that each is "powerless" to directly discuss the other with the students, but at the same time, there are many indirect ways that Charity, at least, can approach it.

Good point, though of course the emotional tug of the story (and the point of the prompt) was to emphasize how she felt her hands were tied in the situation. We'll see what emerges with future fics. ;-)

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